#hda modelworx

[stevethefishdotnet]

1:72 Bandai/IMAI Macross VF-1J Super Valkyrie plamo build update 2 November 28th, 2017

Progress is slowy being made on this Valkyrie kit. Above you will see that the thruster parts are prepped for lighting. The three small engines on the “backpack” are perfectly-sized for 3mm LEDs, and the two big engines on the fastpack boosters are perfectly-sized for 5mm LEDs!

I decided to clear-cast some parts for lighting this kit. On the right is Oyumaru, which is marketed as a child’s toy here in Japan. I bought it at a toy store. Take out a stick, put it in boiling water, wait for it to get soft, and then use it to create molds. On the left is UV-curing craft resin, which I bought at the 100 yen shop Daiso. It’s unnecessary to mix two equal parts or anything. You just squeeze the liquid resin out of the tube and set your part out in the sun to let it cure from ultraviolet radiation. Neat!

I wish to light up what I believe is the infrared sensor on the top of the gunpod. So I taped the gunpod halves together for a dry fit and squished the top of it into the warm Oyumaru to create a mold. I then poured the clear resin into the mold, cured it, and cut it down to shape.

I used a Tamiya saw bit to cut out the plastic-molded to cut out the sensor. Above you will see the replacement clear resin part I made. The parting line showed up in the mold, so I sanded it down. This also will help diffuse the light, of course.

Here I have temporarily situated a 0402 pre-wired red SMD from HDA Modelworx inside the gunpod.

I carefully placed the clear resin piece I made on the top. I will have to work with this piece to get the fit right. You can see some light leak coming from the gunpod’s barrel. I will have to work on that. This is where a rapid-flashing yellow 3mm LED will be placed. HDA only has slowly-flashing LEDs, so I bought this from Lighthouse LEDs.

I also realized that there is a sensor in each fastpack booster. This detail is shown on the box art, but not molded into the part. So what I did was take some .75mm fiber optic and used a cigarette lighter’s flame to mushroom the tip into a nice lens. I just used my best judgment to determine where to place these and fortunately they are pretty symmetrical. I drilled a hole into each nacelle with a .8mm drill bit with my pinvise, and then used a larger-sized drill bit on top of that to drill onto that hole to make a shallow indentation around these holes.

Here is a test fit with the fiber optic in. You can see where I used a bit of epoxy putty to correct a mistake I made. Notice the fiber optic trailing out of the hole that is where this part fits onto the backpack part.

Here I have tested it with a red LED.

Here I’ve situated three 3mm flickering blue LEDs from HDA Modelworx into the backpack.

Here are the flickering 5mm blue LEDs in the fastpack booster engine cans. Looking nice!

OK, so the blue part you see in the upper left of this picture is supposed to go into the foot thrusters. You can see where I carefully drilled out the holes before I realized that this whole part is crap. It is not at all accurate, so I have decided to ditch this. So I went back to using Oyumaru and UV-curing clear resin to recast the foot thruster piece from the 1:72 Valkyrie Battroid model from Hasegawa (bottom right).  You can see one cast piece that didn’t turn out right. The two that turned out well are the ones you see stuck onto the stick. I have applied Mr. Masking Solution into the thruster modules I wish to remain clear. The rest will be painted steel or something.

Here you can see the holes I’ve drilled where the wires will need to be fed through. There is a hole in the central hub which allows articulation and another hole you can see behind there, which is the top of the foot. The wires will lead up through the top of the legs and into the bottom of the fighter where they will be soldered with the other wires. I am hoping that I could somehow attach the replacement thruster modules into this central hub.

I’ll update you all later on this project.

Update 3 link.

[anakinflair]

USS Defiant- partially finished. Aztec decals from HDA Modelworx. I plan on mounting this on a wooden base, finishing mounting the switch. And wrapping the wires. I also still need to get replacement registry decals. Almost done!

[scalemodelbuilderenthusiasts]

On the Bench

Brand: Polar Lights (Playing Mantis, not Round 2) Product name: The 1960’s DC Comic Book Batmobile Product number:  6901 Scale: 1:25 Type: Styrene Plastic Includes: Plastic parts (110 pieces), Waterslide decals, Chrome and Clear parts, Batman and Robin figures Released:  2002 | Initial release - new tool

January 12, 2016 – On the 50th anniversary of the 1966 Batman television series, I thought it would be appropriate to write about my current model project, the 1960’s DC Comic Book Batmobile from Polar Lights.  This kit was originally issued in 2002 and I actually started on it around the same time frame.  It has been relegated to the stash and in storage for some time, and it is pass due time to get back to her!  With that in mind, let’s take a look at where I left off and what still needs to be done…

Okay, the engine has been fully assembled and painted according to the suggestions in the instructions.  The paint colors were all Testors Model Master brand and include Ford engine blue for the block, steel for the transmission, orange oil filter, rust for the exhaust manifolds, gloss black for the air cleaner and fan, semi-gloss black for the fan belt, aluminum oil pan, and silver for the accessories (pulleys).

I also previously painted the Batman and Robin figures with mostly traditional colors. 

Batman’s shirt and tights are a gray/blue mix.  A dark blue (I don’t recall the exact color) was used for the trunks, cowl, cape, gloves, and boots.  His utility belt is yellow as is the background of the chest emblem.  The exposed lower face is flesh colored and the front of the cowl is satin black with white eyes.

Robin’s exposed arms, legs, and face are all flesh colored.  Robin has dark brown hair with light brown highlights.  His mask and belt are satin black.  Trunks, gloves, and shoes are gloss green and his vest is flat red.  The Robin emblem has a black background with a yellow R.  His cape is also yellow.

I originally painted the body of this car Model Masters True Blue Pearl.  It was the color I was fond of at the time. 

Since then, I have decided to go in a different direction and will paint the body “grabber blue” instead! 

I am going for more of a comic book/ Super-friends representation of the Batmobile. 

So I will be stripping the True Blue Pearl paint (a tutorial on the process will be provided) and repainting the body.  Thus what remains is the painting and assembly of the chassis, interior, and finally the body.  

The kit provided decals leave much to be desired and are essentially nothing more than a black and white line drawing representing the hood emblem, and instrument panel gauges. 

I opted to make my own decals which were an improvement, but still not the best quality.  I decided to hand the custom decal project over to a pro, and my good friend Jerry at HDA Modelworx did an incredible job!  Not only did he re-render my original art work, he also created new and highly improved markings including the door emblems I wanted!

Jerry does amazing work and provides outstanding customer service.  I strongly recommend you check out his Web site for a variety of modeling related products and kits at http://hdamodelworx.com/.

That’s about where I stand on this project for now.  Please stay tuned for future updates here, and I will also start a video series on my You Tube channel! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCw9TZo1u7Y1wa3s2e79RwfA

Take care!!

Marc

[stevethefishdotnet]

PLUM R-Type 1:100 R-9A Arrowhead plastic model update July 6, 2017

This is getting pretty cool. The color of the main body is a misture of leftover paints of purple, pink, and plenty of gray. There are five thrusters in the back of this ship. These are lit by four 3mm flickering blue LEDs and one 5mm flickering blue LED, which I bought at HDA Modelworx. The cockpit monitor is lit by a UV 3020 SMD (the purpose of this is to make the fluorescent paints on the pilot figure glow, as I showed in an earlier update), and smaller cockpit lights are lit by .5mm fiber optics lighted by a white 3mm LED I had dipped into Tamiya X-24 Clear Yellow paint. I lit the bottom of the ship with another LED I dipped into Tamiya X-27 Clear Red. I was going for a sort of Knight Rider scanner ambience with this part. I drilled it out and filled it in with Micro Kristal Klear to make a surface. I then painted this created surface with Tamiya XF-86 Flat Clear a few times to help diffuse the light. After I had painted the pieces, I attached the LEDs and began wiring them up. Then it was time for assembly.

I assembled the engine pods and ran the wires through the holes I had drilled into the pegs that snap into the main fuselage of the ship. These became the sub-assemblies.

I used a short length of plastic gardening tubing I’d bought at the home center store. Its inside diameter is 3mm, so naturally the yellow-colored LED fit perfectly into it. I glued the LED into one end with epoxy glue and stuck the fiber optics into the other end. This was all set into place with epoxy glue. In the pictures above, you can see how I tested this out on the breadboard.

Here is a test fit of the bottom part of the model with the red LEDPower is supplied through metal contacts and the wires are fed up into the ship from there.

Here is a test of the power conductivity from the stand. You can see the LED lighting up, so it works!

I connected the wires together while power was going through them, just to make sure that the lights didn’t go out with a short somehow. Once the wires were all soldered together, I needed to scrunch the wires all together and fit the pieces together. I had some difficulties, but after I glued the pieces together, it lit up beautifully!

Here are the engines.

Here is the red light on the bottom.It looks more amber than red, though. I tried using a real red LED, but it drained the power too much. I’ve learned before that red LEDs pose this problem. I’ll have to figure this out later.

[stevethefishdotnet]

PLUM R-Type 1:100 R-9A Arrowhead plastic model update May 11, 2017

After I bought a large bag of 30 3mm flickering blue LEDs in bulk, I was looking for a model to use them in. This model of the R-9A Arrowhead starfighter from the shmup video game R-Type Final by Irem. This model was perfect. It has four smaller thruster bells and one large one.

The four smaller engine thruster bells were the perfect size to accommodate these 3mm flickering blue LEDs. Drilling these out with my pinvise was easy.

Next I had to drill out the large, central engine bell to hold a 5mm flickering blue LED. This was far more challenging because this thruster bell was a bit more detailed and the center was not quite big enough for the 5mm LED. I somehow managed to get it working.

I have some cool ideas for the cockpit. Inspired by the pilot suits from the Macross: Do You Remember Love? animated movie, I have a plan to paint the harness of the pilot figure fluorescent yellow and the helmet mask with fluorescent blue and make them glow. I don’t want to go overboard, so I will limit the fluorescence to the harness and helmet visor. To achieve this, I’ve been buying several of Gaia Notes’ glow-in-the-dark, fluorescent lacquer paints in their Arpeggio of Blue Steel paint line that is marketed for the Arpeggio models made by Aoshima, Hasegawa, and Tamiya. I am hoping that I can also use these paints to paint some lines inside the cockpit to simulate buttons.

So how will I accomplish this glow? I have a pre-wired, ultraviolet SMD LED from HDA Modelworx, the same place I got the 5mm flickering blue LED. I drilled out a square where the front console would be in the cockpit.

What I did was cut out a square from masking tape to use as a template and drilled out some holes and used my hobby knife to take care of the rest.

After filing the hole a bit, the UV SMD LED now fits right into this square!

The next task is to light up the force orb. The kit has a plastic ball, about the same size as a ping pong ball. The token gameplay in the R-Type games (save for R-Type Leo) revolves around a force orb. This is how you power up your ship in the game to increase your firepower. It is indestructible, so you can use it as a shield and launch it into enemies. This gameplay has been replicated such as SNK’s Last Resort and Konami’s Xexex, but Irem’s R-Type is the original.

The trick is how to light it. Light from typical LEDs tend to be rather focused. I requested input from the members of the Sci-Fi Model Action forum on how to go about this. The problem is that that this ball is made of nearly-transparent yellow plastic and any lighting source would be very obvious.

This force orb has four “arms” around it, and my plan is to attach a small SMD with a 120 degree shining radius to the plastic pegs that fit inside of the ball when they are attached. I used a 400 grit Tamiya sanding sponge to roughen up the exterior and interior surfaces of the two halves of the orb pieces. Then I went over these again with a 600 grit sanding sponge. After that, I washed them off with water. Once dried, I airbrushed them with Mr. Color Flat Clear with Flat Base added to it. This new surface refracts light very well and is no longer translucent.

I used magnet wire due to its thinness to wire these four lights in parallel. I measured how far between the holes around the circumference to which these arms attach and cut the lengths of these wires accordingly.

Looks nice, doesn’t it? Here is a test fit.

I’m currently also working on building and lighting-up a 30th Anniversary Revell Battlestar Galactica Cylon Raider model kit. I must say that this R-Tpe project is far more interesting. Follow this build on my YouTube channel.