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trojansamurai

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About trojansamurai

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    Tenax Sniffer (Open a window!)

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    Pasadena, California USA
  • Interests
    1/48 WWII and Modern Aircraft<br />1/24 Classic Autos ('60s to early '70s)<br />1/24, 1/20, 1/43 Formula 1 and Le Mans Racers<br />Eggplanes

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  1. Disclaimer: The following will likely create controversy, but is intended with a bit of humor in this otherwise sad and depressing time we’re in at the moment. Recently shifted to building models with gear up because I feel planes look better that way - especially jets. Plus, kit landing gear (and wheel wells) are often a weak link both figuratively and literally. But also realized that some planes have landing gear that look like afterthoughts at best. At worst, they destroy the beauty of the plane and I don’t want to build the kit with the gear down for that very reason.
  2. A bit of historical and cultural perspective on how things came about. Recessed panel lines pre-date Hasegawa of the ‘80s. There are even some Revell, Aurora,Lindberg and other kits from the ‘60s or earlier that had them, but didn’t become a “thing” yet and presumably manufacturers realized panel lines can be simulated more inexpensively with raised lines. Japanese professional modelers who wrote for publications like Model Art and Hobby Fan in the ‘70s began to rescribe their builds because they were considered to photograph better when panel lines were inked to show the
  3. Huge F-14 fan, so this will sound biased, but the Tomcat is the sum of many things that makes it so popular: 1) As a kid, nothing seemed cooler than a jet with swing wings and twin tails. The F-15 didn't swing and looked somewhat anemic compared to the 14, while the F-111 lacked the twin tails. The Tornado didn't arrive till later, and still can't compete on pure aesthetic beauty vs Tomcat even though I like the Tornado too. 2) Also examine the profile and you notice a gooseneck-cranked fuselage that sits lower in the rear giving it a more aggressive look like a cheetah
  4. I once had a Dremel cordless, but felt it didn't have enough torque to handle non-modeling uses, such as grinding down steel. And it's pretty frustrating when the battery dies in the middle of a project. After it burned out I then got a Dremel corded one and picked up a voltage regulator at Harbor Freight to slow down the speed of the Dremel for plastic work. Really helps prevent plastic from melting when grinding or polishing. I also picked up a small private-label rotary tool set at Harbor Freight, but it's so cheaply made and the motor is so wimpy that I can barely find any uses for it. Th
  5. I like Magic Sculp 2-part epoxy putty because: - sticks to plastic well - smoothens out with water - cures to similar hardness as plastic and isn't brittle or chalky - sands and feathers really nicely - scribes nicely without chipping - extremely fine texture has no grittiness or air pockets - won't shrink so it can be applied at any thickness and shaped - cures overnight - can be used for small cracks and pinholes or large areas and conversions - can be carved, drilled, turned on a lathe, or milled - primer and paint adhere well
  6. What kind of paint is the white? If enamel, you can wipe it with cloth dampened in enamel thinner. If water based acrylic, you can try cloth dipped in a laundry detergent solution. Most dish soaps don't work; only laundry or some bar soaps have worked for me. Neither should hurt the Future coat. If neither of these work, you can polish it out with rubbing compound. You'll have to go back and spray a clear satin coat, but better than reprinting the whole model.
  7. Could be a number of reasons, but are you seeing paint come out of the airbrush not fully atomized (e.g., not a fine spray)? Or is the paint coming out ok but it's splattering when it hits the model surface? Or are you experiencing bounce back, where you're getting a rough pebbly finish where the wing joins the fuselage? If the former, it could be that the airbrush tip isn't fully clean and/or the pressure is too low for your paint mixture. It could also be that the paint isn't being drawn into the brush's internal chamber satisfactorily. This can happen when using a color jar with siphon tu
  8. I'm a native speaker, so here's the closest approximation in English: Yok deki mashta Yok - rhymes with "spoke" ; although phonetically spelled "yoku" the "u" at the end is not a long "ooh" sound. You almost swallow the last "u" and is barely pronounced deki - rhymes with "Trekkie" mashta - rhymes with "mobsta" ; the first "a" should not sound like "mashed potatoes," but more like "mosh pit" While all Japanese sounds either end in a vowel or "n," the pronounced length of the ending vowel sound may differ by situation. Also, something that's very hard for certain non-Japanese speakers is
  9. In aircraft, I'd say either the Tamiya 1/32 Tomcat from early '80s or Hasegawa 1/8 Sopwith Camel/Fokker Dr.1/SE.5a from mid-'70s if you allow for non-all-plastic kits. But the model that I think started and defined the "wonder kit" category was the Tamiya 1/12 Honda RA273 F-1 car (first issued in 1968?). Attention to detail, use of different materials and slick packaging paved the way for future wonder kits to come from Tamiya throughout the '70s. I also remember a Tamiya tank model in my childhood that had separately packaged motor, gearbox, tracks, etc. I think it was a 1/16 Panther or vari
  10. I have an ALPS MD5000 and has served me well for most decal projects. However, it does have drawbacks such as not being able to reproduce certain colors and halftones like orange very well. It comes out like a zebra pattern of yellow and magenta/red. There are ways around it, but that requires an entire page of how-to's. There's a Japanese product called Print Gocco that can be purchased thru Amazon or some craft stores. It's a home silk screen printing kit that includes screens, ink, a printing jug and flash bulbs. You create a black and white image for each color you want to print. Suppos
  11. Adding to what others have posted, whether you are using gloss or flat, the only way to getting a deep, smooth shine is to wet sand and polish at some point. Also, it needs to be a hard paint like automotive lacquer or Gunze's Mr. Color, rather than soft paints like enamels and most water-based acrylics, including Future/Kleer. The soft paints simply gum up or never reach full reflectivity after sanding and polishing. Water-based acrylics also don't feather as nicely when sanding, meaning that if you sand down to the primer, you can see noticeable edges between the color coat and primer. Sinc
  12. Agree. It also releases oils over time, which can a) stain the paint around it and B) cause loss of adhesion for surrounding paint. Under certain conditions, it may very well not have adverse effects for a very long time. But what those conditions are, I don't know, so personally, I wouldn't take a chance. Virtually all pliable and "non-drying" materials have oils in them to give them those properties. However, climate, air contaminants and reaction to other chemicals do cause those properties to break down eventually. How many of you have had to replace rubber hoses in your cars? I'm sure St
  13. Actually, Tamiya does make enamels, though not widely available in the U.S. Here's a website showing both Tamiya's enamel and acrylic ranges.http://www.gundammodelkits.com/how-to-gundam-model-kits-paints-tutorial.html Tamiya started out doing a joint venture with Pactra in the early 1970s with a line of rebranded Pactra enamels called "Pactra Tamiya Color." In 1984 Tamiya then switched over to producing its own line of enamels that responded better to Japan's more humid climate. There was also the aforementioned Tamiya Color lacquer series which was very limited in color range compared to now
  14. I don't think the original post is necessarily true. Having lived in both the U.S. and Japan, and met with European modelers, I don't think there is a noticeable talent gap at the TOP. Where there may be some differences is where modelers from certain countries place their emphasis. I'm sure the following GENERALIZATIONS will stir up debate, but these are my personal observations of AVERAGE MODELERS. Can't speak on behalf of non-Japanese Asian modelers, so the observations are limited to Japanese modelers. - Western modelers: Really get into detail like cockpits, open access hatches, landin
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