This is my first post here. Most of the models I have built have been extremely amateurish. In the past I generally followed the directions and often rushed the build to simply get a decent display. This has all changed about two months ago when I discovered the Polar Lights 1/350 Enterprise. I looked at hilipilot27’s 10 part videos on you tube and was amazed at his final product. There is so much I do not know about modeling. Photo-etch additional parts, lighting kits, Extra thin Tamiya cement, Enamel vs Acrylic paints, emory boards as sanders, and the list goes on...
Having said all that, here are the very poorly built models I have completed.
1. First is my most recent build.
A Bandai 1/700 Space Battleship Yamato. Sept 2010 $18.00 plus $15.00 shipping from Japan.
I would have preferred the 1/350 scale but it cost way too much and comes mostly painted. Its not exactly a model in the the fullest sense and more of a toy that you put together. So I tried to find a 1/500 scale and found 1 but they wanted 80.00 for it. I don't mind spending money on a good model but 80.00 is a bit too much. I would have spent 50.00 for it.
In any case this is my 1/700 scale and it was a very simple kit to build. My problems rose when I attempted to paint it. I have an air brush but chose to paint directly from the can. I purchased a can of Testors Guards Red and a can of Gunship gray. Unfortunately I rushed to paint the bottom half red and the gray was not full dry. This caused numerous blemishes in the gray areas on the hull. so I stripped the entire Hull with paint thinner, cleaned all of it and ran out of gray paint. I went to a different Hobby shop to get the gray and found two cans. Re-painted the model but the paint would not dry. I let it sit in a humidity free cool room of my hose for 3 days and the paint was still tacky. So I stripped it again and this time I primed the plastic then repainted it, again it would not dry, stripped it for the this time and purchased another bottle of the gray form the first hobby shop, this time the paint dried. I assume that the two cans I got from the second shop were part of a bad lot, or were old, or were left in a bad climate (like a warehouse). In any case, once I re-assembled it I discovered that the stripping of the plastic 3 times had eaten away some of the plastic on the tail end and I now had a 1/4” gap between the hull and the exhaust end cap. I had to fill this with squadron white putty, sand and repaint. All in all it turned out ok. I would have liked to detailed it more but I plan on building a bugger one in the future that I will do a full on job with.
2. Next up
Revell 1/144 Saturn V Rocket, Sept 2010 $ 28.00
I had this model years ago and love it because the sections separated. Again this is a simple model to build and there is lots of room to accurize it but I just wanted something like what I use to have, so I built it following the instructions and added very little to it. No major issues with the build. However, I have decided that I want a LUT and mover for it and will not pay the 700.00 for them that I have found on the internet. I will end up building them from scratch in the future and will most likely use the paper one available as a guide.
Next up
AMT 1/650 Star Trek Enterprise, Sept 2010 ~ $ 20.00
This is a re-issue of the kit I had as a kid. I love this ship and there have been many improvement to the original kit. I recall having a hard time getting the Nacelle Pillions to stay in position to allow the cement to dry. In any case the hardest part of this kit is deciding on what the actual color should be. I chose to go with a simple gloss white. I have another of these kits and will be building it lighted and I will paint it the screen gray color.
4. Next up
Revell 1/4195 BSG Colonial Battlestar Galactica, Sept 2010 Used w/ missing parts and no decals $50.00
I had the original kit in 1978 and built it. My youngest brother decided to see if it would fly and tossed it down a staircase to a slate floor in 1988. That was the end of the mighty Galactica. I started look for a new one to build in 2002. I have seen them go on e-bay for ~ 200.00 unopened. Then, this year I attended Dragon Con and spotted an open box and partially started 1979 re-issued Revell Battlestar Galactica. The seller wanted 100.00, I offer 50.00 and took it home. Since the kit is about 10 pieces, I finished it in an hour and had to recreate the “Galactica” decal. This Model is what got me back into the building spirit. In an effort to locate some screen pictures of the studio model I ran across the 1/350 scale Enterprise and decided that would be my next “Big” project. That Said, I overcame any difficulties with the Galactica Build and will build another with some accurizing parts and possibly lighting in the future.
5. Next up
Revell 1/26,000 Babylon 5 Space Station, 2006 < $30.00
This is almost as simple and lacking in detail as the Galactica was. What it there to say, I followed the directions and had no issues.
[IMG]http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a208/11B30B4/Model/Collection/bab5.jpg[/IMG
6. Next up
Revell 1/32 Colonial Viper Re-issue, 2006 $ 25.00
Well, I had one of the originals as well, this one turned out much better. this is also the first model I have ever built with a liquid cement rather than the old testors orange tube cement. I also brushed graphite on the model to give a worn appearance. I would have liked to have added the accurized cockpit and pilot and lighting but decided against it. I have one still boxed to build in the future. No problems with this build and I did deviate from the directions at times.
7. Next up
AMT/ERTL 1/100? Space 1999 Eagle, 2006 < $ 30.00
I purchased this kit in 2000. I love this ship and the model it not too inaccurate. Never the less there are I deviated from the directions and lost the entire decal sheet. So every thing was done “badly” with paint. No major issues with the build.
8. Next up
AMT/ERTL 1/4222 Star Wars Star Destroyer
Simple build, no decals
9. Next up
AMT/ERTL 1/58 Star Wars Millennium Falcon, 2006 ~ $ 40.00
I liked this model a lot. The kit had over 100 parts and the build provided several opportunities to improve on the details. The build went fine and I will be looking for another one of these to build and light. Probably the best model I have built to date.
10. Next up
AMT/ERTL 1/63 Star Wars X-Wing Snapfast kits X3, 2006 $12.00 each
With AMT/ERTL 1/520,00 Star Wars Snapfast Death Star, 2006 < $ 30.00
Well, these were simple and fast to build. I would have liked to have built a much larger Death Star and lighted it.
Lastly, this is what I still have on the shelf to build
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