Quote:
Originally Posted by Urei
Great, thank you for the picture. It really looks nice even without painting. Be sure to show us the completed model. About the paint. I think that the kit is mostly dedicated to people who take their time and do the paint job. I always thought that stickers and decals are 'our', the moderate level assembly type people, way of completing the model
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Hey there... here's where Alto's ride is as of tonight:
Another cr@ppy phtog I know. I think the focus on my camera is shot. Time to invest in a new one.
Its starting to look like something now. I still am amazed by the tight tolerances of this kit. If you're going to build one of these, make sure you have either a small flat needle file or a way of sanding off the excess sprue flash even if you've trimmed it close. pretty much every part is hinged in some way and if you don't get everything smooth and clean, you could have binding in the joints. Also, really pay CLOSE attention to the direction of the parts as they go together. I ended up pulling a whole engine section apart because I'd gotten one small tab upside down in an early step. Pay attention to left and right for this same reason. The instructions call it out, but its still easy to slip up and get 5 steps along before you realize the mistake.
Cool thing is that being a "snap fit" you can break a section down and rebuild it, but be careful as some of the pieces snap in REALLY tight and are a trick to get apart again without risk of breakage. Having a sturdy blade on hand to pry things apart is useful. OTOH, the parts are so accurate that there's virtually NO test fitting. Once snipped and cleaned, they go right together.
On the decals vs stickers vs paint. This is the first kit I've ever built with the stickers. Let me tell you its not just an easy-peasy thing to do. As a matter of fact, the water slide decals would be MUCH simpler to put on because they are easier to align. The stickers are a real trick to keep straight and flat without bubbling, stretching or binding them. Fortunately for me, I have years of practice pulling lines of tape from my time as a car designer.
As I said earlier , I'm only using them because I think they will be more durable than the decals. Normally I'd just paint it.
I may just stop for a few days and paint some of the vents and intakes afterall since they are still easy to get to at this point. If I wanted to go the "master builder" route, there are ample details in the moulding that would make for a spectacular display model if the time to make it cherry was spent. I mostly want it to be a semi toy, so that's why I'm not bothering. I might go further with the Ozma version when it arrives since I'm kind of an Ozma(Focker) fan. Something about the yellow and black machines really do it for me.
Its a great kit. I hope some of my comments are useful to you other builders out there who are about to tackle this model.
Have fun!
Mughi~