Colorado 2013 - The IPMS Nats

I'm recently back from the IPMS Nationals in Loveland CO. WOW what a show! The exact numbers haven't been released yet. In talking to a member of the Exec Board, the Loveland guys were VERY close to breaking the record for entries. So tune back in soon, and I'll have the numbers for you.
Some asked if I had entered anything, and my answer was no, that I don't really want to work on a kit for month's only to see it bounced around in the hands of the airlines. So unless I have something small and relatively indestructable or it's a Nationals where I can drive to, I'll will be leaving my work at home.

But anyway a lot of others did bring their kits to the contest. It would be impossible for me to photograph them all so here's the link for the IPMS USA's Gallery.  There was a team of guys charged with photography for the website. My category was Space and Sci-Fi. So my pics are mixed in with my partners.

We also took a number of days to tour around. See that separate post on my Family Matters blog.

Enjoy!

Let's Not Forget MacReady!

While listing my new acquisitions I neglected to include a very nice kit.  It's MacReady from John Carpenter's The Thing! sculpted by Chris Elizardo it's a 1/4 scale (8in. tall) bust. I've included a still from the movie and this kit is dead on to  Kurt Russell-

And here's the back showing that giant hat he wore ;-)   - 

Friede again

One final update for today is the latest image I have for my Friede.  The base which comes with the kit isn't done, and all I have to do is give the craft a shot of semi-gloss and I'm calling this one finished. 

Apologies that the lighting isn't very good - 

In the Mean Time...

They just keep producing models I can't seem to live without. One of my newer kits is Joan of Arc, sculpted by Marcus DeLeo.

Looking online there are a number of images of St. Joan, with all types of hair color, etc... But I think I will do my best to mimic Mila Jojovich's characterization of her - 

 But more on that as I get to the kit. I have to be honest with you. While I really love the sci-fi, real space and x-plane vehicle kits. I getting a real affinity for figure kits. They can easily leave you speechless with their detail! If you want to have a look check out The Clubhouse. I'm a regular in the Tar Pit.  ;-) Yeah, I'm a huge dinosaur fan.

Next kit is a continuation of the Friede theme of classic spaceships in the form of Luna from the movie Destination Moon. As with Friede, Luna was produced by Fantastic Plastic.  Here it is at the same scale as The Friede (1:288) -

Another I picked up is the shuttle Bruce Willis flew in the movie Armageddon. Once again by Fantastic Plastic. The kit actually comes with decals for both shuttles. I think I will build it as the Independence, in memory of those who "died" when the Shuttle went "flat line." This model is in 1:144 -

The last two models I have is from the Australian sculptor producer Wayne Pugh of Scale Solutions. His car died so he was offering his kits at a discount to raise money for a repair. I picked up the Star Wars TIE D Bomber a 1:72 scale (the scale of Kngs) :-)  automated bomber. I have no pics of mine so here's one from Wayne - 

I also picked up a rather ingenious  kit of the Mars rover (speaking of real space) still in it's landing airbags - 

The kit hasn't been cleaned of a little bit of flash yet, so it doesn't look perfect, but it's a nice little 4 piece kit that looks to be a very easy build. It doesn't come with a base but you imagination can go wild as you create your own Mars landing area!  His sale is still in effect for a few more days if you hurry! I plan for an out of box review in the next day or two. So check back.

Friede: another step fwd.

Well, it's been a while. I've been working away on a few kits, but seemed to have forgotten to post. Firstly I mentioned a few failures, and said I would post pics. well, here they are -

This was the primer!  I washed the kit with Purple Power cleaner. The rinsed really well and let it dry. when I shot it with some Tamiya primer it ran like you see as if I just poured milk on it. Also, when I got some thinner and a rag and tried to get the drips off - I found that it was completely dry! WTF! So I then had to get out the sanding sticks to try and smooth it all out again. 

After ward I *was* able to get the primer on, and a nice coat of white. Next step was to paint the capsule. The capsule is split and half is black and the other half is silver. In some images of other Friede models the windows are yellow. So I wanted to mask the windows for a later painting. So anyway, I got the Masking done to split the cockpit and got the silver painted. I waited a few days and then to the masking off and reapplied to to the otherside to get the black. Here it is with a another kit of Luna -

While re-masking I put a little blue tape on just to make sure there was no over-spray on my white. The black went on great. while taking the tape off I see a bit of the blue tape had stuck itself to one of the legs. I ever so gently pulled the tape and it came off with a bit of the white!!!    Arrgggghhhh %^*&^%!!

So out came the sandpaper again, but while wet sanding the white paint kept coming off and coming off. In the end almost all of that leg was back to bare resin.  More primer and more white went on .... Stay tuned.

Success!

This afternoon with a little trepidation I went out to spray the white topcoat on Friede. From my last postings I've had two failures, one with the spray paint and the other I'm guess that I didn't get the mould release off the model well enuff. With a new can of white spray - I was hoping that the second time around would be the charm. And the result was Hooray!  The paint went on without any problems. Some pics tomorrow.

A big Ugh of Friede, plus some new colors

I have no idea what went on with Friede. Firstly, if you remember it was primed and ready for its topcoat of white. I finally got to spraying the white and have no idea what went on with the can. The paint went on like milk- instantly running down the model. Besides that, numerous fish eyes appeared like I was trying to paint on bare, unwashed resin! WTF!
Letting it dry I attacked it with some thinner and nothing... That paint was on there. So next was taking out some sanding sticks and getting rid of the drip marks. That's been done, Plus a rewash and another coat of primer. I found a few more uneven spots which I took care of. I bought a new can of white paint so we'll see what's happens with that in the next day or two.

Re: the new colors. I bought a set of Vallejo Game Colors. I have a few (okay quite a few) smaller scale dinosaur models and the VGC looks like it might fit the bill. I've been watching a few You Tubes vids of "awesomepaintjob" and amazing things happen. I'm sure it's his talent, but the paint goes on great I'll let you know on this too.