Weathering Stage

Mr.Weathering Station

It was a pretty productive weekend: I temporarily setup in the kitchen as the missus is currently working on her thesis and decided to give her the studio area until she's done. I have to admit it's not a bad compromise as I have lots of natural light coming in and within reach of copious amounts of coffee & beer! After a two week hiatus I finally began the weathering stage. I first sealed all the sub-assemblies with a satin clear coat I mixed from Tamiya acrylics. I was a little concerned with what wash I should use as I felt a black/sienna wash would look too strong on such a light colored paint scheme. I opted to go with a mix of Panzer Grey (P035) darkened with Russian Earth (P034) pigments by MIG Productions, which gave it the subtle grungy look that I was looking for. I then highlighted some areas with a darker shade and let it all dry. Strangely, even though I had protected the sub assemblies, I think the thinner I used weakened the plastic and partly due to my clumsiness some of the parts cracked or broke off, most notably three pieces of plumbing. I manage to find and glue one of the pipes back in place but the remaining two had to be remade from wire. I decided then and there to glue everything together (before anything else broke off!) and leave her be on the display stand. I have a few details to finalize and then I can put her to bed, stay tuned! _pL

Say "Hi" to my Little Friend

Mr.Droid

I wasn't making any particular Y-Wing, so why settle for the astromech droid that came with the kit?
I took the R5-D4 head from my FM X-Wing kit, some plastic tube and surgically removed the legs from the droid provided and then up-detailed it with MIG Productions PE washers, leftover photo-etch and wire. I then decaled up the little fella and sealed it with a semi-gloss coat in preparation for the weathering stage. _pL

Getting Closer To Completion

Mr.Decal Time

More often than not, my plastic subjects rarely progress to the point where I get to apply decals (I am hoping to change this in the coming months). But, here we are! I know I said I wanted to paint on as much detail as possible but I figure let's test my decalling skills. The yellow bands on the nacelle caps were a breeze but the front module was something else. A lot of Micro Sol and Micro Set was use but in the end the decals complied. Next stop: weathering! _pL