Time flies

I can't believe 4 weeks went by without any post. It's not that I've done nothing, but certainly not as much as I would've liked.

Where were we?

• The patriot radar truck was being painted.
• The Vipers had been painted and needed a coat of varnish.
• I had finished the photo-etch on the Panzerjäger.
• The Chinook was "finished" late september, but requires some light weathering.
• The castle hasn't been touched since november, when I did some experimenting with oil paints.

Do you feel the disadvantage of not being able to focus on one kit?

So, if I haven't done nothing the past month, what HAVE I been doing?

Patriot Radar

Painting was finished, the entire thing was varnished and decals have been applied. The building instructions only mention where to place 15-20 decals, but many more are provided on the decal sheet. I guess I went a little crazy creative.

Vipers

The Vipers both needed just a coat of varnish, before decaling. Because the Mark II is going to receive many big decals, I sanded the entire body extra smooth (Tamiya sanding paper, 1200-2000 grit) before I started with varnishing.

I've been experiencing issues with spraying the Alclad II varnishes lately, but if I thin it 50/50 with white spirit (or "mineral spirits") it sprays perfectly, more controlled and levels smoother. It does require at least 2 layers however.

The Mark II has been giving me troubles. First the paint lifted after I masked off the side engines. Then when everything was smooth and done (again), I dropped a big blob of glue on it when attaching the nose gear. Some harsh words could have been heard ...

Panzerjäger

With the photo-etch done, I primed it black, added a layer of chipping fluid, then the sand-coloured basecoat. I'm doing both the plastic and PE version to see if all the extra PE- trouble is really worth it in the end.

Chinook

I finally convinced myself to finish the Chinook. I started with a very fine layer of AK dust effects, because I want to make the black and red less "in your face". The dust managed to creep under some of the decals, distorting the intended effect somewhat. I'll add another layer of matte varnish, then do some darkening aft of the exhausts. (and also some dust over the rotor blades)

Also some light dust effects on the Patriot truck, if you can spot it, near the bottom of the side thingies (fuel tanks?).

Patriot Radar - Part 2 (rubber)

I've had these 2 bottles of Vallejo Panzer Aces for a long time : Dark and Light rubber. I'm sure I used the dark one before, but I've not quite had an opportunity to really try them out.

The dark rubber looks really great as a base colour. Light rubber is supposed to serve the highlights, but I found the contrast a bit too stark (left tire in picture below), so I mixed the dark and light bottles up a bit. I think I settled around 4:1 light to dark rubber.

Under the flash of a camera, contrast is always more apparent than when viewed normally, but even when I mounted the test-wheels under the truck, the lightest version was really too light,.

 
I've now done all 18 wheels with the darker mix. The contrast is still high, but less so underneath the assembled model and I'm pretty sure some light weathering will further tone down the difference.

I'm gonna go stare into the distance now, because the hour it took me to paint all wheels has caused some serious eye-strain. It was very TIRE-some. (Bazinga!)

Patriot radar - Part 1

I already announced that this kit would end up on the workbench very soon and indeed it has. The buildup is insanely quick, as there are only 73 parts. The larger parts are cleverly moulded in large single pieces. Some mould seams require cleaning up, but it's not that difficult and definitely worth the little extra effort.

One of the axle guides had broken off, but it's a sturdy piece, easily glued and repaired.

Big seams along many pieces, most prominently along the roof of the trailer. Easily fixed with putty and some sanding sticks.

After the small tragedy with paint lifting on one of the Vipers, I won't be fooled again into thinking you do not need to properly clean your parts. Some warm, soapy water and a good scrub should remove most mould release agents and greasy fingerprints. The pieces are left to air-dry on the stove overnight.

Halfway the painting stage, I ran out of Olive drab. Since the nearest hobby shop is about 45 minutes out in the wrong direction, it could take a few weeks before work can continue, which is a big bummer, as I had really intended this to be a quick build.

Patriot Radar unboxing

So, as predicted earlier, I couldn't wait to tackle this new box, as I really like how it looks and I'm anxious to see it in progress on the workbench.

This is Arii Plastic Models (now "Micro Ace") 1/48 scale "Patriot Ladar MPQ53" from 1991. During Operation Desert Storm, it was a necessary component in defense against enemy missiles (or even airplanes), for acquiring targets and directing US Patriot missiles to take down the larger Scud missiles.

The kit is 1 in a line of 4, namely the Patriot missile launcher, Patriot Radar, Patriot Controller and Antenna Mast. A friend from IPMS has the Antenna kit, but the Launcher model is bound to look a lot cooler. Should the build prove agreeable and eBay yields affordable results, I might be tempted to find and make all 4.

The box contains 4 sprue frames and the cabin top.

Detail on the parts is acceptable, but no more. A cabin interior is not available, except for one plate, which I assume is meant to represent 4 headrests? Luckily, the provided clear part for the windows is tinted black, limiting the view inside.

The decals have totally yellowed. An old trick is to put them in the sun for a few weeks (tape them to a window or something), which *should* remove some of the yellowing. This trick did not work for me on the Starfury decals, but I'll try it again anyway. It probably works better in summer anyway, as I can't even remember seeing the sun the past weeks.

A nice touch, the axles are provided as steel parts. Wheel alignment should be easier like this and no warping will occur.

Building instructions are in Japanese (I assume?) and English. 13 easy steps guide you through the build, on to the decal guide and some limited colour instructions. It's best to find reference photos to realistically pick out details that will NOT just be olive drab.

A small booklet is included, with some information on how the 4 different vehicles work together for the Patriot missile defense.

Trading at IPMS New Year's party

IPMS Ghent's traditional New Year's party is always fun and potentially very rewarding, Snacks, drinks, stories, a few works-in-progress and .. gifts!

Everyone is asked to bring a €5 gift and put it on the pile. Many of these gifts actually value around €15 but it's better to give a never-to-be-built box to someone who might actually do something with it.
I brought a Revell Tornado from my stash, since I'm very unlikely to ever build it. It was part of a second-hand batch I bought a few years ago. I'm not into airplanes anymore, especially not modern fighters. The Harrier, F-16 and C-130 in the stash are much more likely to get built.

About halfway of the evening, everyone can go and pick a random gift. Since not everyone builds just anything, a lot of trading goes on after the unwrapping. I initially got a helicopter (forgot which one), which wasn't bad, but I traded it for a Patriot Ladar MPQ53 from Arii plastic models. I have nothing in 1/48, but it just appealed to me. It might hit the workbench very soon actually.

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Nobody seems to actually call this thing a Ladar (which stands for LAser Detection And Ranging), bit googling "Patriot Radar" will yield many images. The truck in the kit seems a bit weird, but I'm thinking it'll look very nicely on the shelf.