{"id":1665,"date":"2005-01-23T17:02:19","date_gmt":"2005-01-24T01:02:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/fichtenfoo.net\/blog\/?p=1665"},"modified":"2009-02-11T17:04:47","modified_gmt":"2009-02-12T01:04:47","slug":"in-progress-%c2%bb-vorflugkontrolle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fichtenfoo.net\/blog\/in-progress-%c2%bb-vorflugkontrolle\/","title":{"rendered":"In Progress \u00c2\u00bb Vorflugkontrolle"},"content":{"rendered":"

11.17.04 \u00c2\u00bb The Story…<\/p>\n

“Twenty minutes until commencement of operation!
\nTwenty minutes until commencement of operation!” boomed the
\nvoice over the carrier’s intercom. The flight deck personnel hurried
\naround the bay, performing their pre-flight checks and assisting
\nthe pilots with boarding their craft.<\/p>\n

In moments, several squadrons of Fliege and Kauz armors
\nwould be on their way to take out an unsuspecting Mercenary supply
\nconvoy. Meanwhile, propellant tanks needed to be filled, weapons
\nneeded to be charged, and pilots needed to be suited up. The latter
\nwas no small task as everything needed to be checked to ensure the
\npilot would be protected against the rigors of solo space-flight.<\/p>\n

11.30.04 \u00c2\u00bb Panzer Kampf Anzug Space
\nType: Fliege<\/p>\n

Since I’m still gathering parts for my Pak
\nKrote<\/a> project, I decided to move on to the next kit. This is
\nthe Fliege from Maschinen Krieger. I wanted to do something with
\nthe larger scale figures so I’m making a small dio consisting of
\n2 figures and the Fliege.<\/p>\n

The setting will be inside of a ship in zero-g. The
\nbackground will be a section of the ships hull with pipes, monitors
\nand equipment inspired by this<\/a>,
\nbut not destroyed as such. The inside will be detailed similar to
\nthese images from a submarine…<\/p>\n

\"\"
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

The Fliege will have the red tags that say “Remove
\nBefore Flight” only in German as well. The figures will both
\nbe “floating”.<\/p>\n

By the way, “vorflugkontrolle” means “pre-flight
\ncheck” in German. Thanks to Tuffskull for the translations!<\/p>\n

I’m giving the Fliege a blue and gray “camo”
\nfor space use. Sure, black or dark gray would be better space camo,
\nbut not nearly as interesting visually. Here’s the scheme with the
\ndecals I designed for it.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

I’ll be modifying the interior of the Fliege to look
\nmore detailed since it will be posed with an open cockpit.<\/p>\n

The first figure will be the pilot that came with
\nthe fliege, but with a different head since I’m not big on the mustached
\nfellow that comes with the kit. The second figure is a flight crew
\nmember which will be a modified Tamiya 1\/20 pit crew figure.<\/p>\n

11.30.2004 \u00c2\u00bb In-Prog Extravaganza!<\/p>\n

I’ve been slacking on creating this in-progress page,
\nbut I’ve been taking a lot of pics and doing a lot of work to this
\nkit so there’s a lot to see.<\/p>\n

11.30.2004 \u00c2\u00bb Recasting the Prowler Head<\/p>\n

Since I don’t want to use the mustached head of the
\nfliege pilot, I’m going to use the goofy, but more detailed one
\nthat comes with the Prowler. I like the hat better as well.<\/p>\n

WhiteBase posted a technique for casting with “Miliput”
\nso I decided this would be a great way to use the Prowler head without
\n“wasting” a good looking head that I could use again later.
\nPlus with multiple heads, I can practice and pick the best looking
\none.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Basically what you do is take a glop of miliput and
\ncoat it lightly with talcum powder. You then coat the head as well.
\nYou push the face into the miliput (MP) and wait till the MP hardens.
\nAfter its cured, you redust the back of the head, the hard MP and
\na new glop of MP and press over the top to make the other half of
\nthe mold. When the second glop is cured, remove the piece from the
\ncenter.<\/p>\n

Make sure you don’t have any undercuts or else you
\nwon’t be able to remove your part later.<\/p>\n

I drilled a few holes after my first casting attempt
\nfailed (a). You can see the hole in the nose and back of the head
\nin the mold. The second attempt worked out much better (b). You
\ncan see the “flash” on the nose and around the head compared
\nto the original (c). I’ll clean up all that later.<\/p>\n

Once you have the molds made, you can put that extra
\nwad of miliput to use instead of making a “rock” out of
\nthe extra. It’s not as clean as resin casting, but works great for
\nball joints and other small extra parts you use a lot of.<\/p>\n

11.30.2004 \u00c2\u00bb Pilot Parts<\/p>\n

Here’s a shot of the pilot body. I’ll be cutting and
\nmodifying it later to have a different pose. You can see where the
\npilot body comes in 2 halves in case you want to put it into the
\nFliege cockpit. Since I’m not putting the pilot into the cockpit
\nand leaving the hatch open I’ll be detailing the insides which is
\njust an undetailed hollow space really.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The helmet is great if you’re planning on placing
\nit onto the figure which unfortunately I am not. The helmet will
\nbe held by one of the figures.<\/p>\n

The outside seams sanded down nicely, but there’s
\na bad seam inside of the helmet which needs dealt with. Unfortunately,
\nmy fingers are way to big to get into there with sandpaper.<\/p>\n

My solution is “flocking”. After the helmet
\nis painted, I’ll be adding flocking which gives it a fluffy fabric
\ntexture. It’s used a lot in auto modeling. First though, I used
\nthinned putty to smooth out the inside as best I can. Here’s some
\npics.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\n\"\"
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

Next I’ll be adding “padding” to the inside
\nof the helmet with miliput. More pics about this after I do it.<\/p>\n

11.30.2004 \u00c2\u00bb Feets and Legs<\/p>\n

The feet and legs are a bit of a change from what
\nI’m used to with MG kits. They use less polycaps and the joints
\nare covered with a ribbed rubber tubing for detail. Here’s a shot
\nof the p-caps and tube.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The feet are in 2 halves with a piece for the sole
\ndetail. These don’t fit together that great and require a lot of
\nputty and patience.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

I’ve been really diggin’ Tamiyas extra thin cement
\non this kit for the seams. Basically you put the two parts together
\nthen run the water-thin cement down the seam. It melts the plastic
\nas well as the normal cement IMO. Both have there uses however.
\nThe black circles are a reminder of where I need to putty to fill
\nsink holes.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

The hip joints are the weirdest of all. They consist
\nof a plastic ball which is held by 2 cups in the thigh halves. At
\nfirst I thought the balls would be seen so I cleaned them up and
\nputtied them. Later I realized that they’ll be covered by the ribbed
\ntubing as well.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

After reading the kit
\nspecific tips<\/a> for the Fliege on Kruegers Kriger, I found that
\nthe thighs would have to be widened a bit to prevent a gap. Plus
\nthis keeps the balls from being too tight. (I sanded down the “cups”
\nto help this a bit which ended up being a mistake since after all
\nwas done, the balls are now too loose. Ahh well… white glue will
\nfix that.) So I glued the thighs together with a shim of really
\nthin styrene. When the glue dried, I sliced down the excess with
\nmy blade. I also removed the details along the seams and added them
\nback in later.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

Here’s a shot of the puttied and sanded down leg.
\nLooks good, but we’ll see how it looks after it’s primed. Notice
\nthe “T” connector?The calves were supposed to fit over
\nthat. Well, I like to keep as much of the kit separate as possible,
\nso I cut the “boxes” that hold the “T” so that
\nthe T could slide in and be glued after painting. The calves have
\nsince been glued and sanded.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

Here’s the finished Thigh pic with the details.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

11.30.2004 \u00c2\u00bb Body and Cockpit<\/p>\n

The cockpit was really made to have the pilot bust
\nin it so as a result it’s very underdetailed. Which is fine since
\nwith the bust, you wouldn’t see anything anyway. However, I am having
\nan open cockpit without a figure, so I needed to add some details.
\nYou can see the lack of detail and the bust support pegs in these
\npics.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

I had to sand down the bottom inside of the hatch
\nto allow it to open and close properly. In the first pic, you can
\nsee how far it’d go before getting stuck.<\/p>\n

In the second image you can see some of my added details
\nto the cockpit. These were in my “big bag-O-resin” that
\nI picked up at the Morgantown show for $5. Basically they’re the
\nsleeves for control levers in aircraft, but they looked like hose
\nconnectors to me so I added them inside with some “hose”
\nmade from wire. There will be more hoses coming out from the holes
\nin the connectors later. You can also see where I cut off the connector
\npegs from the figure\/arms. Since this will be fixed posed, I didn’t
\nneed the peg holes anyway. They’ll be covered with the modified
\nshoulder padding intended for the figure bust. For those that don’t
\nknow, the pilots arms would go through those holes and into the
\nFliege’s arms.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

The hatch had a pretty good sized sink hole on the
\nfront. I applied Tamiya putty with a q-tip and sanded it smooth.
\nStill needs a little pin-hole fixed, but looks good.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

So in the cockpit, the pilots legs would go into the
\nlegs of the Fliege. The cockpit however is just a hole at the bottom.
\nI wanted to make the leg holes, or at least an approximation of
\nthe leg holes, so I pulled melted styrene sheet over 2 exacto handles
\nto make the leg holes area.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

Inside the cockpit I used a bent piece of styrene
\nto first cover the leg joint connectors. Then I glued in the leg
\n“cups”. After the glue dried, I used miliput and “blended”
\nthe leg hole cups into the rest of the cockpit and covered a few
\nseams as well. Aside from the head\/backrest, this will all be covered
\nwith flocking to make the inside look insulated and to cover any
\nimperfections.<\/p>\n

Now this isn’t the perfect design set-up for this
\ntype of cockpit as the pilot would be very uncomfortable, but I
\nhad to leave room for the leg support rods. It’s still better than
\nwhat was there though.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

In the above pics, you can see where I drilled out
\nthe seatbelt holes in the seat. I’ll be making seatbelts from thin
\nstyrene, just like I did with my Cloud 09’s straps. Below is an
\nimage of my 2 seat belt buckles so far. They still need some shaping.
\nI still need to make the other end of the buckles for the front
\nof the Fliege’s cockpit as well.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

12.02.2004 \u00c2\u00bb Body, Arms and Booster
\nGuards<\/p>\n

Here’s more shots of the body as of yesterday. The
\nsensors have been glued onto the front and the panel lines on the
\nhatches have been rescribed and molds redrilled.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\n\"\"
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

Here’s a shot of the arms. The hand is from a 1\/60
\nscale Patlabor kit. The black rubber tubes weren’t working that
\ngreat so instead of using them, I sculpted new ribbed covers made
\nfrom miliput over the joints. The arms no longer bend, but this
\nwill be a fixed posed kit anyway.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

I wanted to make some booster armors based off of
\nwhat I saw on someone’s Kauz kit. I wanted rounded armor pieces.
\nI first tried bending them with my bare fingers in hot water and
\nover a candle. Both yielded sore fingers. So after some thought,
\nI wrapped the armor piece over some PVC pipe and taped it so that
\nit would hold it’s shape. I then rolled the PVC over a candle for
\na bit. After removing the tape and armor, the shape held and had
\na perfect roundness to it.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

Afterwards, I glued some bent styrene strips and rivets
\nto it for detail and to connect it to the mech.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

Here’s some shots of it sticky-tacked to the hull.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

12.08.2004 \u00c2\u00bb Crewman<\/p>\n

My Tamiya 1\/20 Pit Crew set arrived the other day
\nand I got started on the crewman for my dio. Luckily there was one
\nfigure in pants as the rest were wearing shorts. I used his legs,
\nanother figures torso, and arms from two other figures to make this
\nguy in the zero-G pose I wanted. I used sticky-tack to test poses
\nout with the various limbs till I found one that I liked. I used
\nmy exacto to scrape off all of the flash and needle files to get
\ninto the recesses.<\/p>\n

Once the flash was cleaned up a bit, I glued the figure
\ntogether. The last 3 images show where I’ll need to putty and reshape
\nto blend the misc limbs to this body. The blue lines are where I
\nwas testing out my new seams for the shirt.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\n\"\"
\n\"\"
\n\"\"
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

12.08.2004 \u00c2\u00bb Pilot<\/p>\n

The pilot is taking quite a bit of work to repose.
\nI need him to be in a floating position as well. His pose can remain
\nsomewhat stiff though as he is in a bulky space suit. To repose
\nhim, I wanted to bend one of his legs and reposition an arm so that
\nthe hand can rest on the Fliege. That hand will be where he is connected
\nto be in the floating pose. Same for the crewman.<\/p>\n

The first images show the leg mods so far. First I
\nhacked off the leg at the knee. Then I cut a taper in the lower
\nleg so that I can bend it.. (image 2) I added a bit of styrene tube
\ninto the leg cavity to extend the leg a bit since I had to remove
\nsome for bend. Next I’ll use some Miliput to fill in and shape the
\nknee.<\/p>\n

For the arms, both were in the “hands on hips”
\nposition. O cut the left arm in half and rotated it so that the
\nlower arm was pointing outward. This way, I can add the hand in
\nan up position so that he looks like he’s resting his hand on the
\nFliege while floating.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\n\"\"
\n\"\"
\n\"\"
\n\"\"
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

12.08.2004 \u00c2\u00bb Hull<\/p>\n

I got to start the backdrop of the hull as well. This
\nwas made from .06 inch styrene heat-bent over a very hot<\/strong>
\npasta pot. I-beams were added to support the thinner sheet of styrene
\nthat will be the inner hull and will stick out for visual interest.
\nA panel line was scribed in the outside and sidewalk scribed styrene
\nsheet was added to simulate ceramic heat resistant tiles.<\/p>\n

For the rivets, I took a tip from the StarShip Modeler
\nforums and used straight pins that were cut short. These were put
\ninto pin-viced holes and CA glued.<\/p>\n

The hull is attached to the wooden base using brass
\nrod and tubing.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\n\"\"
\n\"\"
\n\"\"
\n\"\"
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

12.17.2004 \u00c2\u00bb Figure Mods & TV<\/p>\n

Since my last update, I carved up the excess on the
\ncrewman and used miliput to fill in gaps and reshape a bit. The
\nimages below are of the dried and unsanded miliput. I’ve since sanded
\nthem down and reshaped them a but with files and sandpaper. I have
\nalso applied a coat of tamiya putty and will take more pics when
\nthat is dried and sanded.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\n\"\"
\n\"\"
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

Here’s the pilots leg. You can see where I added the
\nmiliput around the styrene tube to bulk it up. Next is more shaping
\nand putty.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

For inside of the hull, I’m adding a TV monitor. I’ll
\nbe lighting this up with some LEDs. It’s made from styrene and a
\nclear plastic sprue “box” that was protecting a patlabor
\nlens. The screen will be frosted acetate with a printed transparency
\nover it for the monitor interface.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

12.17.2004 \u00c2\u00bb Pilot Ready to Prime \/
\nHull<\/p>\n

The pilot is just about ready for priming. I have
\na few little dots of putty left to sand, then I can prime and see
\nif there.s anything major that needs fixed. You can see in the photos
\nthe details I changed\/added to the pilot suit. Originally on the
\nchest there was some shallow details. Not sure what it was exactly.
\nI used some miliput and extra parts from an M-8 and made it into
\nsome ventilation equipment and a air hose connector. Mode detailes
\nwere added where they were shallow on the waist and the back. Treads
\nwere added to the bottoms of the boots.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\n\"\"
\n\"\"
\n\"\"
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

I also started detailing the inside of the hull. I
\nmade a cabinet from scraps of styrene, and a rise on the floor which
\nwill contain lighting. The cabinet will hold batteries. I’m still
\nworking on the doors.<\/p>\n

The detail on the wall is clapboard siding shaped
\nstyrene on the lower portion and to change the texture a bit, IDE
\ncable on the top. Pipes, tubes, and misc greebles from my $5 bag-O-resin
\nwill be added. The floor is 1\/48 scale diamond plate embossed styrene.
\nThe 1\/20 was WAY too big. The 1\/48 looks far more realistic.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\n\"\"
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

12.22.2004 \u00c2\u00bb More Hull Detail<\/p>\n

Here’s some pics of the added hull detail so far.
\nI’m using various sizes of brass and aluminum tubing for pipes and
\nwires for… well wires. I’m adding some misc. stuff as well such
\nas bed rolls, computer equipment, the tv, and eventually I’ll be
\nscratching some gagues and valve knobs for the pipes. The cabinet
\ndoors were cut from thick styrene (.06″) and the edges were
\nbeveled using a power sander.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\n\"\"
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

01.02.05 \u00c2\u00bb Nice Bike…
\nWhere Do You Put The Batteries?<\/p>\n

So like I said before, this piece will have some lighting.
\nThe batteries will be hidden inside of the cabinet. Here’s a few
\nshots.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

01.02.05 \u00c2\u00bb Priming and Painting!<\/p>\n

Woo Hoo! Finally after all the construction, I’ve
\nstarted painting! So first off, an obligatory shot of the skewer
\nforest and duct-tape small parts holder.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

So first I primed all the parts with a dark gray Duplicolor
\nprimer. Nice stuff! After that dried, I gave all of the pipe parts
\na coat of a brown-orange copperish color. I have a bottle of Tamiya
\ncopper, but it’s VERY sparkly and wouldn’t look right on this piece.
\nWith the copper colored (non-metallic) paint, I can use some copper
\nrub-n-buff over it for the drybrushed shine where needed for a more
\nrealistic and in-scale look.<\/p>\n

The other pic is of the main Fliege body. I first
\npainted the insides and sensor a dark gray. Next, I masked off the
\ndoor and sensor and sprayed flat white where I needed it for the
\ndoor and other sensor. Next I’ll mask and paint it all a light gray
\ncolor, then add the blue camo on the main body.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

Finally for this update, I started painting the helmet.
\nAfter priming with duplicolor, then spraying the helmet with flat
\nwhite, I masked off the stripes with Tamiya tape. I then sprayed
\nthe whole helmet a yellow orange color. When dry, I removed the
\nstripe masking and masked off the visor.<\/p>\n

To make the visor look tinted without painting it
\njust solid gloss black, sprayed it with a mixture of 1:1 Future
\nand Tamiya Gloss Black. I slowly built up several layers of this.
\nIt allowed the striped to show through and makes the visor look
\nlike an added clear part instead of just a raised area of the helmet.
\nAdding the stripes makes the effect more noticible.<\/p>\n

There are 2 pics of the helmet tinting. One without
\nand the second with a flash. I had a hard time photographing the
\nvisor so you can see the stripes like you can with the naked eye.
\nNext I need to hand paint the rim of the visor and the added padding
\na dark gray. Then I’ll coat the whole helmet with Future to make
\nit gloss and apply flocking to the padding. I’ll also be brushing
\non many layers of Future to the visor to smooth out the slight lumpiness
\nI got with the gloss black mixture.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\n\"\"
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

01.03.05 \u00c2\u00bb Copper!<\/p>\n

My idea for better looking copper worked out great!
\nI went to the craft store today to purchase some copper Rub-n-Buff.
\nThey didn’t have it. However they had a color called “Autumn
\nGold” which was basically copper colored. I purchased it.<\/p>\n

My brass tubes were already primed and painted with
\na flat brown-orange color. (BTW, the raised areas on the pipes are
\njust Tamiya tape) First I tried drybrushing it, but it didn’t look
\nquite right. Next I tried putting it on a q-tip and buffing it on.
\nPERFECT! In the first pic, you can see the difference between the
\nplain flat brown orange pipe and the copper buffed. The second pic
\nis drybrushed. Later I’ll post shade it with a “soot”
\ncolor around the connectors.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\n\"\"
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

I also painted the light gray of the armor and the
\nblue-gray camo for the body today. First I masked off the white
\nthat I painted yesterday. Then I painted all the armor the light
\ngray. Next I used my airbrush and made a faded “spotted”
\ncamo pattern on the top-front of the suit. Then I faded a blue-gray
\naround the window area. Finally I removed the masking tape and you
\ncan see the results below. The suit looks bluer in person than in
\nthese pics. Even my blue cutting mat looks dulled for whatever reason.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

01.04.05 \u00c2\u00bb Eighty Four<\/p>\n

I did some searching on navy ships last night for
\nnumber reference. A lot of what I saw had numbers similar to what
\nI did below. Stenciled block lettering. Instead of a huge decal,
\nI decided to mask this and spray it on. First I designed, then printed
\nthe numbers out in the size I needed them. I taped this over several
\nstrips of tape which were latered on my cutting mat. I cut the paper
\nand tape at once and ended up with a great stencil. I applied it
\nto the hull, added additional masking and paper for overspray, and
\nsprayed on the numbers. I didn’t spray them on very thick. I wanted
\nsome of the gray beneath to show through as a slight weathered\/stenciled
\neffect. Why 84? Don’t know… it was a good year with great music.<\/p>\n

The inner walls were painted a thin white over a dark
\ngray primer. A lot of my hull painting is being done thin to allow
\nthe primer to show a bit so that it looks old, worn and dirty. More
\ngrime will be added later.<\/p>\n

For the diamond plate, cabinet, light step, and thingy
\non the wall, I used a blue-green-gray color similar to my heating
\nducts in my basement and of old metal cabinets. I gave the floor
\na coat of futuer, then masked off some squares to warn people of
\nthe d-rings sticking up. I lightly sprayed the squares with yellow,
\nthen I took a toothbrush and gave them a good scrubbing. This removed
\nsome of the paint to make it look somewhat worn. More yellow was
\ntaken off by slightly rubbing the yellow with the side of a bamboo
\nskewer.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\n\"\"
\n\"\"
\n\"\"
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

01.08.05 \u00c2\u00bb Chip off the old paint…<\/p>\n

So I’ve been really into this project the past week,
\nplus I am finishing up some freelance, so that means a lack of updates.
\nNo worries though since I’ve still been taking pics.<\/p>\n

First up is the clear covers for the gauges. These
\nwere made but heating up small squares of clear vacuform plastic
\nand pulling them down over the end of a cheap rounded exacto-handle.
\nI sliced off the rounded tips and will glue them over the gauges
\nwhen I’m close to being done.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

Next up, I started decaling and weathering the kit.
\nFirst up I put 2 coats of Future Floor Acrylic down on the kit.
\nAfter that cured, I decaled it. Decaling went quick since it’s not
\na very large kit. The decals as usual are my own designs.<\/p>\n

Normally I’d seal the kit with another coat of Future,
\nbut some of the thin panel lines are really starting to fill up.
\nSo before I coat it again for a panel line wash, I started the paint
\nchips. I’ve never done chipped paint since I mostly work with 1\/100
\nscale stuff which paint chips would be out of scale on.<\/p>\n

I read an article on chipped paint effects (here<\/strong><\/a>)
\nwhich really helped. First I painted on the chips over the white
\nstripes with the color underneath to make the white look like it
\nwas flaking in spots. Over some of those chips and on the rest of
\nthe kit I used a medium gray to simulate paint chipped off the primer
\ncoat. Them on a few of thos chips, I used some rub and buff to make
\nit look like the primer had chipped to the bare metal.<\/p>\n

Since this is a combat robot, I chipped on any surface
\nthat may come into contact with any surface such as walls, terrain,
\nother mechs, etc… After I put my next coat of future on to do
\nthe panel lines, I’ll start weathering the kit with smoke, dust
\nand rust. Since it’s a space-suit, I won’t be doing too much in
\nthe way of weathering since there’s not much mud and earth in space.
\nThe dust will be from lunar\/asteroid missions and general storage.<\/p>\n

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01.12.05 \u00c2\u00bb Flat Coat and Greebles<\/p>\n

Before flat-coating the parts, I washed the panel
\nlines with artist’s watercolor. The watercolors worked great. I
\nused a mixture of Burnt Sienne, Black and White and diluted it with
\nwater. I applied the wash with a small brush only where needed.
\nIn reallity, I applied it as I would with a pen… carefully. What
\nI like about the watercolor its that it cleans off with water instead
\nof a solvent that could damage the undercoats.<\/p>\n

I applied the flat coat of Future (70% Future Floor
\nAcrylic \/ 30% Tamiya Flat Base) and the parts look great.<\/p>\n

Also pictured is the “remove before flight”
\nplugs for the rocket nozzels. They were made from headlight covers
\nand d-rings from an M-8 Greyhound kit. The lens in the gun sight
\nis just a straight pin dipped in Tamiya Clear Red. It’s the most
\nbeautiful lens I’ve ever done. Nice and shiny!<\/p>\n

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Here are the insides of the hatch and cockpit with
\nthe flocking applied. I still need to add some more greebles to
\nthe cockpit and a little more “wear” to the leather seats
\nand arm sockets. I was a little worried about the flocking looking
\ngood and not out of scale, but the end result is great. Better than
\nwhat you can see in the pics.<\/p>\n

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Here’s the kit without the arms added yet. I had some
\nsmall black o-rings that fit perfectly in the arm holes. I have
\nalready cut the pegs off the arms and glued them into the holes
\nwith epoxy. Pics of that later.<\/p>\n

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This is the insulation material (for doors and windows)
\nthat I got at Wal-Mart for the gap between the inner and outer ship
\nhull. I’ve already applied it and it looks fantastic. Pics later.<\/p>\n

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The first pic is of the “clamp lamp” I made
\nto attach to the large pipe. The clamp was made from green floral
\nwire whice was bent into shape and painted. The “rubber grips”
\nis just cheap thick acryllic paint. The second pic is of the lenses
\nbefore I applied them to the gauges. I sprayed them with a touch
\nof transparent yellow to make them look old.<\/p>\n

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Lastly for this update is a shot of the base in-progress.
\nNote the clamp lamp.<\/p>\n

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01.12.05 \u00c2\u00bb Holy Crap! Large In-prog
\nPics!<\/p>\n

Here’s the latest…<\/p>\n

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Here’s the outside hull paint chips… still gotta
\nweather it. And here’s the inside with the LED’s lighting it in
\nthe dark. Obviously, this was never meant to be a fully lit piece
\nlike the Zaku dio. Neat effect though.<\/p>\n

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01.13.05 \u00c2\u00bb Hull Weathering<\/p>\n

First off, I shaded my bedrolls using oil paints.
\nI had painted them with Tamiya light blue (which is more of a blue-green)
\nfirst, then applied 2 gloss coats and 1 flat coat of Future. The
\nflat coat gave the surface some tooth.<\/p>\n

I brushed on my oils in spots where I wanted lights
\nand darks, then let them sit a few minutes. Next I took a stiff
\nsmall brush and blended the light and dark spots into the base color.
\nI’m very happy with the results, but the pics aren’t doing it justice.<\/p>\n

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Okay… I really like MIG pigments. This was my first
\ntime using them and I must say, they work so much better than pastels.
\nThey stay on the kit as opposed to just blowing off and blend really
\nnicely.<\/p>\n

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Here’s a shot of the “insulation” between
\nthe hull layers. The second pic is of the clamp lamp with some dirty
\nhand\/finger smudges from adjusting the light.<\/p>\n

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Next in a close-up of the floor d-rings. I rusted
\nthem a bit. I figure the inside of the ship may be humid from all
\nthe perspiration and people on board. Plus I wanted the ship to
\nhave an old worn look to it. I used MIG light dust to dirty the
\nfloor and MIG smoke and a tortillion to make the dirty scrapes on
\nthe floor. The second pic is of the cabinet doors with more rust,
\ndirt, and finger prints.<\/p>\n

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Here’s a full shot of the inside. All I have left
\nto do is add the pictures, postits, fliers, etc to the doors\/wall.
\nThe outside hull was first streaked with black smoke on the tiles
\nsimulate reentry burn. Light dust was then streaked vertically to
\ngive a dusty old look from countless planet landings. Around the
\npaint chips, rust and light rust was applied using a small brush
\nand water. I then tok a tortillion and blended them out a bit and
\nstreaked them down. I then rusted the i-beams using the same colors.<\/p>\n

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01.14.05 \u00c2\u00bb Personal Touches<\/p>\n

The inside is almost done. I added pics and post-its
\nto the cabinet doors. Now I just need to “yellow” some
\nof them a bit with some tea to make them look old. I think they
\nadd another level of realism to the piece. I used white glue to
\npaste them up, but might add little slices of tape to make them
\nlook “attached”. I might make a sign to but above the
\ngauges to fill that space. It looks too empty.<\/p>\n

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01.15.05 \u00c2\u00bb Hi-Res
\nImages of Fliege and Base<\/p>\n

That’s right! The Fliege and Base
\nare done for now. After I finish the figures,
\nI’ll put everything together and take the final
\nimages with the lights on.
\n<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

01.23.05 \u00c2\u00bb Figure
\nPainting<\/p>\n

Okay, it’s been a bit since my last
\nupdate, but I’ve been rather busy. First off,
\nI’d like to thank Craig Whitaker (aka MONGO_MEL
\nat www.armorama.com<\/a>)
\nwho I met at my local IPMS meetings for giving
\nmy lots of advice on figure painting. He even
\nsent me a link to a great article he wrote on
\nthe subject. Click
\nhere<\/a>. Craig does fantastic work so check out
\nthe article. I deviated from the article a bit
\nfor the Fliege figures at first, but followed
\nit to the letter for the heads.<\/p>\n

First I base-coated the figures
\nwith Tamiya acrylics, 2 coats of Future floor
\nacrylic and 1 coat of flattened Future. The flesh
\ntone was painted first, then masked off for the
\nclothing colors. The hair, hat, gloves and shoes
\nwere hand-painted with the Tamiya.<\/p>\n

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After all of that cured for a day,
\nI began using my oil paints to do the shading.
\nFirst off I laid down a darker color which I custom
\nmixed to go with the olive drab, into the folds
\nand recesses. Then with a flat blender brush,
\nI blended the darker colors into the base coat.<\/p>\n

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Next I added titanium white on parts
\nwhere the light would hit. I used the same blender
\nbrush to blend that color in. I had to redo the
\ncrewmans pants because I smudged them all up while
\npanting the head.<\/p>\n

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I haven’t taken pics of the heads
\nyet because they’re drying and I don’t want to
\nrisk smudging them, but when they’re dry, I’ll
\nwrite up about them and take some pics. Oils take
\na while to dry and I don’t have a great place
\nto use heat to dry them faster, so I’m playing
\na little waiting game.<\/p>\n\n\n