Decided that I should choose a fairly easy kit for starting back again.
Building has been straight forward, with some head scratching and modification needed to paint correctly.
So far I just have the upper torso, arms, shoulders and head build (or glued) so far. The only cosmetic modifications I will be making are replacing the antenna and power connector (?) on the beam saber with thin wire. I also drilled the head vulcans a little deeper.
I need to figure out what to do with the shoulder thrusters. The molding left small unfilled areas and getting them to look good will be a bit of a problem. I have thought of getting some plastic thrusters to replace them, but no idea what they would be called or where to get them. Suggestions?
Ok, on to the current modifications.
First is what I did to the shoulder armor.
I learned this trick a long time ago. I cut away some of the bottom of the female part to allow me to build the shoulder armor and inner shoulder apart. After they are painted and finished, I just push the inner shoulder up into the shoulder armor and they fit together. A little glue (if needed) is all thats needed to keep things snug.
Next is the elbow modification.
The elbow cover joins the upper and lower arm assemblies. Both assemblies have a "joint" piece that this cover connects together. Problem is, the cover will actually cover parts of the "joint" and would have to be repositioned when painting to make sure the entire area is covered. Also, where it attaches to the lower arm would be impossible to paint easily without painting, masking, assembling the lower arm, puttying, priming and then painting.
What I decided to do is assemble the lower arm with the "joint" in place. I then removed some of the connector from the cover to allow it to be slipped over the "joint" easier. Since the cover will be dark and the seam easy to hide, this will be an easy way to make sure the joint doesn't show bare plastic when adjusted.
Lastly is the ankle armor.
The ankle joint has 2 female receptors for the armor to snap into. Problem is the way they designed the armor there is a seam what will show easily. I decided to just cut down the male parts on the armor to allow it to be slipped in with as little bending as possible.
Luckily, the legs will need almost none of this joint work. The upper leg halves has a pronounced panel line separating them, and the lower leg will just need a scribed panel line on the back calf. After that I can paint the entire joint assembly in one shot without worrying about appearances.
I plan to use the load out on the box cover, just a bazooka and shield.
