Bronco Chih Yuan in 1/144 Scale

So, I must be living under a rock. I came across this model recently and thought it was new, the sprues are embossed "2015". The Chih Yuan is turn of the century Yalu river combatant and was sunk in 1894. Typing in Chih Yuan brings you to a Wiki entry "Chinese Cruiser Zhiyuan", being somewhat illiterate on this subject, I finally realized that this is the same vessel. There are several english versions of the Chinese name. Anyway, I thought it was pretty cool and at around $100 a good deal.

Here is my take on this kit, call it a review. It comes in a nice sturdy box, good instructions with basic color call outs. There are two schemes, the white (above) and a grey, in which the white is replaced by grey.

What was especially appealing to me was the one piece molded hull. Very nicely done.

Here is the ramming end of the hull. As you can see, very nicely done. Dragon is a nice touch, the model is essentially "steampunk".

Parts details are well done and consistent throughout. The railings can be made in plastic or etched brass. Personally, I'd use the plastic, it's very thin and looks better than the flat brass.

Main guns (in open turrets) are slide molded.

Here are the air vent thingies, notice they are molded as one part, which will contribute immensely to my joy.

Here are those PE sheets and the plastic railings. All in all I am looking forward to the building. This kit is well done, not overly complex and an interesting subject. My only complaint is a lack of figures. There is some aftermarket (wood deck and turned guns), we shall see if I fall victim to this or not at a future date.

Here is the Wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_cruiser_Zhiyuan

A full sized (working?) replica was also built in China.

Idiot!

So, I am like totally, building Tamiya's 1/350th Yukikaze. It has these raised things molded on the deck...they look like grossly out of scale tread plate. Why would Mr. Tamiya put those on there? Who is he trying to fool? So I thought I would be a smart guy and chisel them off.

The left deck is my masterpiece, the other deck is the replacement deck sent by my nice friends at Tamiya America.

Here is a pic of the Yukikaze. Oops. Large wooden slats. Yup. Idiot. I'm sorry Mr. Tamiya, I will never doubt you again! Here let me get your slippers.

Time to get to work. First, grind opening in old deck.

Then use pliers to carefully rip the deck sections out while constantly reminding myself of all the wasted effort...

Main deck is next. Actually, I like grinding. Very manly. (coughs).

New decks. Time to start again. Thank you for your  time.
And don't be an Idiot.
Trust Mr. Tamiya.

Tamiya Modeler's Knife Pro 74098 Review

This is a thing of pure beauty. This handle, essentially the banal holder of your blade and the most basic tool for the building of the models. I bought this on a whim. I have used X-Acto branded handles from the dawn of time ranging from the classic all-metal to the newer plastic versions.

Once I hefted the Tamiya one the old X-Acto ones are now scrap.

Here are the two side by side. Conan would definitely use the bigger one. The overall aesthetic is a lot nicer...it's like giving yourself permission to do this thing for real.

The blade mandible is larger. This gives the tool a nice feel. It's heavier and well balanced. The wider knurled collar is easier to unscrew, making it easier to swap out the blades. (I typically use pliers on the X-Acto ones). The blade is gripped differently, the two jaws with slots cinch it in place.

The solid rear handle. By screwing it in, it pulls the collar to tighten the spring loaded jaws. 

Comes with cover and 3 pairs of extra blades. Highly recommended. Does the hat make the man?

Here is the actual product, I got mine from Amazon for $17.23. It makes me feel like Conan and a concert violinist combined. Building models. Yup.

Mad, San & Cosmo: 3 New Gallery Pics

More pixels for your eyespheres...Enjoy!

Mad

San

Cosmo

Top is a scratch build of a Mad Max era vehicle called "Mach Fury". Middle is a vintage Hawk model of a San Francisco Streetcar. Built out of the box, I added the figures. Lastly, we have a 1/72 Bandai (GO BANDAI!) Cosmo Zero as piloted by Akira Yamamoto in Space Battleship Yamato 2199. Dig that cool aotake deck color!

Bandai Perfect Grade 1/72 Millennium Falcon Review

I found myself at NYCC last week. I've been to a lot of events, and yes these things are amazing, but I'm getting old and after a while the noise starts to sound like a thousand invisible air horns. After Gen Con last year, I said no more. BUT, I had to go for "work"...

So here we are. I made myself enjoy it.

This is me ENJOYING it. Look closely, I am almost smiling.

I planned on not buying anything. Not pictured above are the PO-ZU shoes I bought. I justified this by saying they were shoes. I got Finn's, they are all white. My wife has some issues with this.

In the box is the Falcon. The excitement broke my spirit to the tune of $400 bucks. I waited in two lines for 45 minutes just to get in the tiny Bandai store. There is no "shopping". You move through like an animal in an abattoir. Before your hit by a friendly electrified baton you point at your purchase and the nice girl at the register scans your credit card before your body hits the carpet. I LOVE BANDAI!!

I have this thing now, so let's review it:

This is a big kit. A box in a box in a box. Just so you know, I am already a "Bandait", meaning that I buy their kits sight unseen, because they are better than Tamiya. DO NOT SEND ME HATE MAIL.

Here is all 36 sprues. $400 divided by 36 equals $11.11 per sprue. Given that Disney/Lucas charges Bandai 20% for the licence, this is probably about right. Some of the parts are large, this doesn't include the frills such as the lights and PE.

Unlike Laura P., this thing is staying in plastic. What if I want to resell? Bandai always gets the detail.

More sprueage. 

All of the piping is separate and secured in a box to keep it all fresh during shipping.

Here is the PE and masking. Decals of all the "red wine" panels on sheet (reversed).

Here is the light module. Engines, landing, ramp and cockpit.

This is the frosted light piping for the engines. These are pretty thick.

Another gratuitous sprue shot.

So, this is an expensive kit, but probably the best Falcon period. I have not test fitted this, but I am sure it will slide together like clockwork. When I bought it I wasn't sure if I was completely happy. After a few days, my happiness is complete.

Here are my nit pics: There are lights, but no sound. The new Andromeda has sound. The painting guide is a bit skimpy. Should be more call outs, like those Wingnut kits.

Hey, I know how to make my nit pics go away. SEND ME A REVIEW SAMPLE and poof they are gone.

Keep up the good work Bandai!

Hobby Plug!

Link to full res version: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B4SbN-rtbAlgdWNfSGRDcFV1RDA

Oscar Goldman Builds The DMB-87: PART 9

OMG, ready for more punishment?

Here's that main landing gear swing arm from last time, part 8. One end has been cut off.

This is the side with the tire. A 1/4 styrene rod section is glued on using Weld-on.

The outside is sanded flat.

The inner section is cut away.

The inside of the arm is sanded flush.

Ready for casting. I'll need to do a lot more to get all this to fit together, by making a casting I have free licence to hack away on cloned parts.

I try to bundle up my casting. This means more parts. This is a tool I made to emboss a diamond tread detail onto the tire.

The tire is pressed on. Equal distant tick marks are Sharpied on. The tire is turned on tick at a time and gently whacked with the hammer. 

Like so.

On the lathe I slice off the ends so the pattern is in the middle.

Two sidewalls will be cut and added.

The Snuka has a large under chin blister for the front landing gear. Right now it's important to get all the gear sorted out to get it's stance. Then back to the rest.

Basic shape is cut out in thick ABS plastic.

The pattern is smaller because I'll be pulling .100 thick styrene over the top. Here is the pull cut out. I wanted a shell (there is guttiworks in there) and the thickness will allow me to shape more easily.

To match the fuselage contour, sanding paper is attached to the nose and the blister is sanded to fit.

OK, so here is where things get a little weird. What you are looking at is a mold to cast the swing arms. The part has lots of fragile parts and in order to keep these intact during de-molding I chose to create five inserts. What you are looking at is two walls of the mold before completion.

This is a pretty tricky mold, but most of the fun is figuring these things out and stretching my mold making skills. Here you can see the funnel and sprue. I build molds upside down, so you are looking at the bottom.

The cured silicone mold with all the inserts pulled out. This mold will get sliced open on one end so cast parts can be removed (I don't have a pic, I'll take one so you can see).

I made another mold at the same time, this is to cast the landing spat, gear doors and tire.

It gets cut open like so. The slit goes down to the bottom, but not all the way through.

Like so. The uncut bottom acts as a hinge.

Here is the first resin castings. Rubber bands are used to hold it together.

The parts.

Here you can see the spat and landing gear doors. Being clones I can slice and dice at will.

The first casting from the swing arm mold. Later casts were complete.

One of the spat clones is cut, then a second...

All the bits are carefully sanded and it looks like everything will even fit...

That's it for now, this Oscar is tired. See you in part 10!