I’m sure that more than a few modelers have a “white whale” of a kit. The one that got away…that went awry…that gnaws at you.
For me, that kit is Academy’s 1/32 F-16D Block 52+ Viper (or, alternatively, the F-16I Sufa…). My first go at this kit – in late 2013 – was cursed from the start. At the time, it felt like everything that could go wrong did go wrong. Beginning with my ill-fated decision to use Eduard photo etch in the cockpit.
These days, we modelers face an embarrassment of riches when it comes to quality metallic finishes. But as good as many of them are, none of them seem up to…
I’ve been in a decal state of mind lately. In part because I’m neck deep in the decal stage on my F-104, and in part because of some, let’s say heated discussion about the quality or lack thereof of certain decals.
Perhaps more than any other aspect of modeling, decals seem prone to disclaimers of your mileage may vary. Tamiya decals may work fine for one person, and terribly for another. One decal sheet may respond very well to Micro-Sol, while another’s decals shatter under the stuff. But try Solvaset or Mr. Mark Softer or some other option, and you get the opposite reaction. Some decals need very warm water to work, others don’t care, and still others fall apart in the increased temperatures. Even on the same decal sheet, major markings may perform wonderfully, while stencils may be prone to silvering despite all attempts at prevention.
This is because decals are magic. (more…)
The Combat Workshop asks an interesting question for the first Sprue Cutters’ Union of 2016:
At what point of the build do you tend to stall?
Well, shit. That’s not really an easy question for me to answer, since it tends to bounce around depending on what I’m building. So…I can potentially stall out at multiple points. Which is a huge part of why my completion rate was 25% last year.
Let’s walk through them: (more…)
I did something yesterday, and it's still eating at me. I came across a build. Not a good build at all. The paint job was your typical "hairy stick" special.…
Ever since I posted about Black Basing a year and a half ago, I've wanted to follow it up with a better, improved version. And since I'm making the foray…
Yesterday, I was doing a bit of bench cleanup…
And came across my big, unwieldy bottle of Future. What to do about it? Well…
When I posted this over on the Facebook page, it elicited some cheers, some laughs, some “but…why?!?” comments. As well as questions over what I use instead. And that little blog post idea light bulb started blinking above my head. So here we are.
TL;DR version if you want to skip to the next section – Future is inconsistent in performance and therefore not to be trusted. (more…)
