Let's see the cool stuff you make! Official "show off thread"

[Colt556]

I like to make these World War Toons tanks now and then..

I like those too. A fun alternative from the 11/35 scale stuff I normally build. Come to our show on April 6 at the fairgrounds in Lebanon. Some fantastic models in the contest and a big vendor area with good deals on kits, paints, supplies and publications.

 

[Colt556]

I enjoy building military armor and aircraft, mostly WWII, but some Vietnam and modern stuff too. None of these kits are finished except the Ontos which I presented to my brother at the Vietnam Veterans Reunion in Kokomo. I’ll have a vendors table at the show coming up in April in Lebanon.

 

[Frosty]

Thx! A German company called Nunu Platz. I think it's a relatively new company they do a lot of race cars that are like rally cars, 24-hour cars, LeMans that kind of stuff.

It was a two-month project. Full interior with seat belts, carbon fiber decals, photo etch. The decals were a mfer. They could have been printed a little thinner which made them hard to go around the edges and the body panels. I had to use a lot of decal softener to make them conform.

My son and daughter-in-law got me the kit for my birthday last year. I had to clear some stuff off the bench to finally get into it and get it done. The best part was that I got some real world research when I saw one at the 8 Hour endurance race in Indy last October

Very cool. I have been out of the scale models for several years, just sold my whole stash as a matter of fact but I do like to occasionally check out the new stuff.

I used to use a lot of carbon decals from scale motor sports, they make really nice stuff and it looks killer with a nice glossy clear coat over it but man they are super thin!

 

[Dog1]

Very cool. I have been out of the scale models for several years, just sold my whole stash as a matter of fact but I do like to occasionally check out the new stuff.

I used to use a lot of carbon decals from scale motor sports, they make really nice stuff and it looks killer with a nice glossy clear coat over it but man they are super thin!

My first car that I did in a long time was a BMW GT4 car and I used some aftermarket carbon fiber decals that were super thin but by God when they dried after using the decal softener they conformed to every nook and cranny and it looked great I should have used them on this model but I used the upgrade kit that they make for this one and the carbon fiber decals are nice but they're way too thick. I had to use a lot of softener just to make them conform. The more softener you use the more likely you're going to damage it so you have to be extra extra careful. But you're right once you get them down, and you got all the little nooks and crannies filled with the decal and then you clear coat it it looks fantastic

 

[Dog1]

 

[Colt556]

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Love the Skyraider! Great job on the camouflage. I use rattle cans for the base and hand paint everything else. I need to learn to use an airbrush to really get to the next level. Very nice collection.

 

[Dog1]

Love the Skyraider! Great job on the camouflage. I use rattle cans for the base and hand paint everything else. I need to learn to use an airbrush to really get to the next level. Very nice collection.

Thank you! I'm 57 years old and I've been using an airbrush since I was 22 and I'm still learning stuff.

 

[Colt556]

Thank you! I'm 57 years old and I've been using an airbrush since I was 22 and I'm still learning stuff.

I’m on several modeling forums and have many friends that do fantastic work with airbrushes. I wish I would’ve started years ago when there wasn’t such a variety of paints, thinners, hardeners and other substances being used modelers and their airbrushes. I actually have one and a compressor I just need to learn to use it and develop my own technique. Need those skills to make me models more realistic and less toy like.

 

[Dog1]

I’m on several modeling forums and have many friends that do fantastic work with airbrushes. I wish I would’ve started years ago when there wasn’t such a variety of paints, thinners, hardeners and other substances being used modelers and their airbrushes. I actually have one and a compressor I just need to learn to use it and develop my own technique. Need those skills to make me models more realistic and less toy like.

I have learned a lot of different techniques as well as airbrush techniques off of YouTube. I wish YouTube would have been around when I was a kid built models because I have learned so much in the last 10 years of watching guys build models on YouTube that it's mind-blowing. Like the studio scale TIE fighter model I finished last week. One of the things I did to give it kind of a metallic look without any type of metallic paints was to take a number two pencil grind up the lead on a piece of sandpaper and then using a medium bristle brush just brushed it all over the model. It gives it a subtle metallic look when clear coated over. I saw that in a YouTube video.

I also watched the guy in England hand brush the southeast Asia camouflage on a Vietnam era B-52. It was incredible how he did it. It looked like it had been airbrushed but he did it by hand with a brush. Lots of talent out there

 

[Colt556]

I have learned a lot of different techniques as well as airbrush techniques off of YouTube. I wish YouTube would have been around when I was a kid built models because I have learned so much in the last 10 years of watching guys build models on YouTube that it's mind-blowing. Like the studio scale TIE fighter model I finished last week. One of the things I did to give it kind of a metallic look without any type of metallic paints was to take a number two pencil grind up the lead on a piece of sandpaper and then using a medium bristle brush just brushed it all over the model. It gives it a subtle metallic look when clear coated over. I saw that in a YouTube video.

I also watched the guy in England hand brush the southeast Asia camouflage on a Vietnam era B-52. It was incredible how he did it. It looked like it had been airbrushed but he did it by hand with a brush. Lots of talent out there

I’ll be 68 this year and have dabbled with models since my dad built me a 1/72 Eindecker when I was in the 1st or 2nd grade. I fell in love with model airplanes! When my oldest brothers went to Vietnam I remember building F4s and spray painting them with rattle cans on the kitchen table. Got overspray everywhere of course and made a holy mess! Then I went to German aircraft and was stuck on them for years and still collect them.
Then one day I bought a 1/35 scale Tamiya Jagdpanther with a little remote control from K Mart for about $8! Been in love with armor ever since. Odd since I worked on A7E Corsairs while in the Navy.
Anyway I started out with Testor’s glue in the orange tubes and Testor’s paint in the little 15 cent bottles. Now they have it so easy with all the specialty glues and paints and the myriad of weathering and special effects products available. I use Tamiya and Testor’s liquid cement now but still use the old rattle cans, the cheap Walmart/Lowes brands for a primer/base coat and hand paint everything else. I use my own washes and highlight techniques and somehow the kits don’t turn out terrible. My main problem is that I never actually finish anything! I love to build and prime but after that I lose interest because my painting skills just lack what is needed to produce a quality model. I really enjoy the build process though so I’ll start another kit, or two or three, and not finish the ones that I’ve primed. Seems trivial to some I’m sure but I guess I set the bar too high for myself, like many other endeavors I’ve attempted.
Sorry for the long post.

 

[Dog1]

I remember those Tamiya tanks with the motors in them! Built a ton of those in the '70s. Used to wire them up to model train transformers and you could control how fast they went... my dad always thought that model building was stupid he would never sanction my mom buying me any model kits. My grandparents were the ones that encouraged me to build model kits and my grandpa would buy me a kit every time I went down to their house.

 

[Dog1]

Viper MkIIIB from the reimagined Battlestar Galactica

Raptor Gunship

 

[Dog1]

Robocop ED-209 kit.

 

[Colt556]

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Viper MkIIIB from the reimagined Battlestar Galactica

Raptor Gunship
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Very nice work!

 

[Dog1]

Very nice work!

Thx!

 

[Frosty]

Got a couple finished up today
First one is a 240 layer raindrop Damascus with maple composite scales.
Next one is an 80CrV2 drop point with stabilized poplar Burl with G-10 liners.

 

[Frosty]

Finally got the sheath finished for the drop point

 

[Frosty]

Had a buddy request 3 matching knives for Christmas presents. 80CrV2, tapered tangs, East Indian rosewood scales and g10 pins and liners, and a stonewashed finish.
Throwing in some carved sheaths because he’s a good guy and I like making them

 

[Frosty]

Finished the sheaths for the three knives I just finished.

 

[Lpherr]

Have some composite material to get used up, so I poured a few blanks.
Peeling off the mold skin doesn't show all of the colors and the patterns, but it gives a good representation.
Pics also don't show the movement and layer effects.
I'm pretty happy with the results.