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Post by banzai on Jan 3, 2014 15:40:36 GMT 8
Hi guys! So I stopped working on the IMS Neptune for awhile because I got distracted over the Christmas break. Distracted by THIS! This isn't an original VOLKS cast, its a recast from China but I could not get the original cast since its no longer available so this will have to do. Besides, its a Christmas gift so meh... From what I understand, Volks has several categories of resin kit and this one belongs to the HSGK category (High Spec Garage Kit.) There's of course there's their IMS line, which is injection polystyrene. I've been nervous about working on resin since my last experience with the stuff was nasty... Fingers and hands itching because it reacted to my skin. This stuff however hasn't done that. This leads me to believe that its only a certain kind of resin that creates that reaction. So far I've been okay working on this stuff. Still using a mask and lots of water when I sand though, not taking any risks. So here we go, pictures! This is part of the shoulders. Thought I'd show you guys the extent of the casting errors and the flash. Mmm nasty. Resin flash Resin flash sharpened, 1st round of cleanup and sanding. Look at the size of that shield! Lookit the tiny little intricate carved detail at the bottom. Mmmm delicious. Now if you think the shield is big, wait till you see this... This is the body of the "buster rifle," basically its meant to be a WMD in FSS, equivalent to a nuclear weapon. I'm not done yet though! I joined the sub-sections of the barrel and look at the size of that thing! Its so freaking long. I can see the jokes already. Couldn't resist putting a few pieces together to show you guys. He looks sexay. He, she... Who can tell with FSS stuff. Close up shot of the face. Still some cleanup to do, tiny bubbles that need putty and surfaces need smoothing. Here was the worst error in the kit... The side face guard was cracked off. Had to super-glue it back. Sanded it smooth but looking at this picture I think it needs more sanding on the interior and top surface to be completely smooth. 2nd round of sanding here we go! Overall pleased with the quality though some casting errors were really nasty and needed a lot of work to clean up. I saved showing the nastier ones since they're really frustrating. If you guys want to see them though I can upload a few. Anyway, this is what's been distracting me so far! Will continue both builds, the Neptune and this one till completion before starting anything else.
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Post by Phoon on Jan 4, 2014 11:54:30 GMT 8
Good luck lad! Mecha resin ain't a joke at all ~~
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Post by banzai on Jan 5, 2014 0:30:50 GMT 8
Thanks sifu! Yes really no joke. The cleaning up is crazy, a lot of work. Lucky I like sanding. I kinda like the material too. More rigid than plastic, but more porous so it sands a bit smoother. Really damn heavy though. Haven't started pinning yet, that will be another adventure.
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Post by Phoon on Jan 6, 2014 8:27:40 GMT 8
Great to hear that you like sanding stuff, else.... well anyway, keep us posted then ~~
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Post by neosigma on Jan 27, 2014 15:00:43 GMT 8
Beautiful !!!! This resin kit is quite big judging from the size of the rifle .... Keep it up man ...
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Post by banzai on Jan 27, 2014 18:42:45 GMT 8
Undoubtedly my man. Just got some magnets I want to use to attach the armour pieces. I'll be doing that and working out how I'm going to do the pinning next.
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Post by apainine on Mar 12, 2014 23:34:48 GMT 8
Recently fell in love with FSS kits. got to see one up close. Size aint a joke man. Keep us posted with the WIP! would love to see all the details of this model.
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Post by banzai on Aug 1, 2014 20:38:33 GMT 8
Heh sorry for the slow reply. Work has hammered me for the last few months but now finally, I can give more attention to my models again.
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Post by banzai on Aug 18, 2014 15:36:27 GMT 8
Ok, progress again, finally! Done with the initial cleanup and started pinning and test fitting pieces yesterday. Chest and hips. Foot Erm... Thingy. Heh actually its the elbow. This is actually what I think are meant to be stabilization fins for flight, since this is supposed to be a flying MH. Very small pins! Check out the exquisite raised detail on these fins - I think I'll paint them in gold or silver. Undecided yet. The waist. It occurs to me that the one thing that really identifies any FSS... Its the waist profile. Unfortunately the waist always seems to have errors in moulding/casting as well because of the particular "stair-step" nature of the design. I guess its difficult to cast? I find myself always having to sharpen up details and most of the time, fill in errors on the waist section. Arm, pinned together temporarily to check if the pose needs adjustment. I'll have to remember the "Nagano twist" when I test fit the arm to the shoulder. (More on that later!) I thought I'd show you guys the beautiful details in the shield as well. Look at the back of that shield! The details always impress me. I wish I could get Volks originals but they're so limited and hard to come by. Sigh... One day. The shield also has the same raised details on the lower end. Of course the biggest detail on the shield would have to be the engraved Blood Cross of the Mirage Knights! So a bit more pinning to get done, then I'll leave the epoxy to harden around the pins and do a quick test fit before priming. More to follow. God how I've missed this. -Note to self... Try to get brass rods that are NOT hollow next time! More difficult to cut but I'm sure much stronger as well. And the damned epoxy won't be able to flow up the hole in the center!
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Post by beckylaw on Aug 18, 2014 16:09:58 GMT 8
Tedious work. Sure this will be a beauty once it's done.
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Post by banzai on Sept 1, 2014 3:11:57 GMT 8
I've actually been really lazy with the photos, been just going with the flow of priming and fixing errors and stuff. At this point I've already primed, corrected errors and re-primed. Sorry only have photos of the initial priming. Besides you guys don't want to see my 1/2 sanded, gap filled stuff right? Course you don't. On with the show. Heel turned out ok. Shoulder wasn't so lucky. It occured to me at this point that its a bit hard to spot casting problems without priming. I did not see the fine scratches and uneven surfaces on the shoulder at all until after priming. Really happy the helmet came out ok, since the little side armor skirts were broken off when the kit arrived. Looks like the repair job is holding up ok. Shin -A OK! Just a bit of light sanding and it'd be fine. Side skirts. Ugh... Uneven rough surfaces I couldn't spot again. More to clean up. Jetpack. One of the numerous bubbles that I found on the kit. This one absolutely refused to be filled with any kind of putty that I had, until Lim Shermen shared his talcum/superglue putty trick with me. Amazing stuff, fixed it up nicely. Thanks again Lim Shermen! Glad the neck is more or less ok as well. It would have been a pain to scribe those tiny little nerve bundles again. Looks like it just needs a bit of delicate sanding. Rear shield detail - Again, stuff I didn't notice till priming. Shaky lines, nasty uneven surfaces, dirty casting in the corners... Unacceptable! Needs a lot of cleanup. Rear skirt. From behind it looks ok, but from the front... Uneven surface again! Razzerfrazzer@#$%!#$T^!! Confusingly really detailed parts like this blast shield where I'd expect there to be errors seemed to turn out alright. I love the details they put on the rear of their skirting and armor pieces. Messed up jagged edges on this piece need fixing. That's it for now. These errors (and more) have actually been corrected so next will be the painting. I can see the FUTURE... I see in my future, masking tape. Lots of masking tape!
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Post by beckylaw on Sept 14, 2014 17:42:58 GMT 8
I can't wait to see it complete.
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Post by banzai on Sept 15, 2014 4:10:20 GMT 8
More coming, just have to take the pictures! Buster launcher with attached blast shield is masked and painted. Will edit this post when pictures are done.
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Post by banzai on Sept 29, 2014 13:42:00 GMT 8
Okie dokie. Been lazy with uploads, so first, a drink to steel myself. A nice tall vodka screwdriver. Ahhh! Now here we go. Was very nervous about 3 colour masking initially. This blast shield on the Buster cannon was the first piece I tried it on. I think it turned out alright! With my new confidence found in masking I decided to try it on something bigger... More important. Ze shield/veil. Then I worked on the under skirt detailing... Shoulders... Yeesh they are rough in spots, but the underside will be covered anyway. Back... under the feet, and finally... The face. Man they have small faces. Got to go in there with some enamel for the eye detail and eyeball. Masked off the body parts for the gloss red/yellow sections as well. Here they are, drying happily. And here's the pieces in my "curing box." Still some small errors to fix but things are coming along nicely. Quite pleased, the blood crosses was very nerve wracking masking. I was so afraid that the red would bleed under the masking. Red on white? Horrible cleanup! Looks like this build will be done soon. I can't help but feel a little rushed! Its funny how when you see things start to come together, you get more motivated to work. Probably only about 1-2 weeks more of work left on this kit before final assembly. I'll make another post when I start epoxying pieces together.
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Post by beckylaw on Oct 9, 2014 9:36:32 GMT 8
Coming along nice and clean. Good work on the masking, really salute your patient for making that tri-color inner skirt details.
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Post by banzai on Oct 12, 2014 18:48:23 GMT 8
Ok in the middle of putting together the sub assemblies. Torso coming together well Arms The red sections I touched up with red enamel didn't turn out as well... There's a sort of bumpy texture that appeared, not that the cast wasn't already a bit poor. Fuuuuu...! She stands! Almost done now. Yes I drink XO when I wait for glue to dry! EDIT- Almost forgot! Lost one of the tiny pieces and had to re-cast it with epoxy. Looks like it turned out ok. Just have to rescribe a bit of the detail and give it a coat of paint.
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Post by banzai on Oct 18, 2014 18:05:27 GMT 8
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