Finally something to report. I have applied around 80 decals to the body. A few were layered, not many. Tamiya Decals from the late 1990’s are very thick but laid down nicely with MicroSet & MicroSol and some Heat from a Hairdryer. It took about 3 weeks working about 2 hours per evening. I then left them dry for around 10 days. I was very fearful of any clear coat causing bubbling or attacking them. Any moisture trapped underneath can cause bubbling  of the decals. My favorite Go To Clear is Mr Color GX100 clear thinned about 80% with Mr Leveling Thinner. I sprayed the rear bumper first to see if there world be any adverse reactions. Seeing none, I went ahead and put on a light, misting coat.  Four coats later I was satisfied with the coverage and not seeing any Orange peel.

After letting it out gas for 2 weeks, I looked to polish the finish before moving on to adding the glass and chrome. Examining the Rear Body, I saw what looked like fine pebbling. Running my fingers over it, it was smooth. It looked like I used a Flat clear coat, yet the Front section was very Glossy. So, I started with Tamiya Course polish. Didn’t touch it. Then I used my Proxxon with a buffing wheel with the Tamiya Course polish. Still no effect. Just a shinny pebble finish. Before resorting to Hand polishing, I tried the Mr Polishing Course paste applied with a sponge applicator and buffed with the Proxxon. That did the trick. Took around 3 hours to buff the body. The results were amazing. I took my time and went very slowly as it is very easy to chip or damage the decals and/or paint. Once I get the glass and chrome attached, I will buff the body with Mr Polishing Fine and Extra Fine to get that Glass like finish.

Next up is polishing and installing the glass and adding the Fuel Filler. The interior needs to be painted black. Once that is accomplished, I will glue on the front part of the body and add the last little details. Maybe Late October or early November completion date.

Mark Tutton

Gents. Hope all is well.  I am working on Randy’s punishment to me of the 1/35 CH-54 Tarhee helo along with 2 figures-each with a dragon!   I visited Frontline [Sept 19th] on my way to VMI.  Good news for us-he is giving our club a increased discount on in-store and online orders!  Woohoo.   Email for for the code if you like.

Cheers,

-Chris

Gents; here are a couple of photographs of my workspace.  It looks busy right?  I am working on star destroyer as you can see.  The work on these models takes an immense devotion of time – as in two to three years! I am hoping to have it ready for display/show in 2026.  This is zen monastery building at its best!

– Todd

Hey gents,

Y’all got some catching up to do!! “Build” 36 done.  Just playing. Now this isn’t a typical build. It’s fake Legos. It’s the War Rig from Mad Max Fury Road. 3300 pieces, 25 hours and a lot of swearing. Because it’s not Legos, the pieces are randomly packaged. Took 3 hours just to separate everything. Anyway, model on folks!!

Jeff

Hey gents

Are you building??!!  Here is a shot of my desk.  There are 2 German soldiers and their bases about to be finished; a German POW bust that just needs a metal name placard to top it off; a dragon and its female warrior master; a mythical prophet of doom on his horse; and the “now-I-see-Randy is evil” for giving me the GIANT CH-54 helo to have ready by 2025 Nats (I swear I will get even with that guy!).

So let’s go you procrastinators and never-doers!   Finish your builds and show them off at a meeting.  We can’t have Jeff Muir outbuild us all!

-Chris