Haruhi season 2 !

Just finished watching Bamboo Leaf Rhapsody, the new episode for season 2 of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya.

Had to go back and re-watch some of the first season, kinda forgotten what happened and the last time i watched it is was in the mixed up broadcast order. This time seeson 1 and 2 a combined into one chronological order starting with 7 episodes from the first season. Then Bambo Leaf Rhapsody and a another season 1 episode Mystérique Sign which even mentions what happened in the new episode!

Rewatching it again and watching this new episode certainly reminded me why i like this anime so much, itching go more.

Seems that no is really sure what episode is going to be next so im waiting to see whats broadcast then either watch a season 1 episode or have to wait for a fan sub.

Really like the pic i found.

Ian

New brushes and some decal softner.

After decaling about 5 1/144 aircraft i kinda got annoyed with my very amateur effort and had to go and search about applying decals correctly. Discovered that with every decal should be softened so that decal really adheres to the model and a decal should always be applied to a satin or shiny smooth surface, so have to put at least 2 clear varnishes onto the model and let them dry before even thinking about decaling.

Bought a Humbrol decal softener called DecalFix but it seamed to me like it did not do anything so did another search and found that most modellers use this Mirco Set and Mirco Sol. Micro Set is the one you us for flat areas which the decal will easily fit onto and Micro Sol is the one for all the tricky bits which has caused me trouble, this one really melt the decal so that it fit into any irregular are, like extreme curves on a fuselage.

Been waiting for this stuff to arrive, got a few models which i have not wanted to to decal because i knew they would not look all that great without some to help them fit.



Got a pack of these Tamiya High Finish brushes for some time ago and they a really good for someone like me whi does not yet have a airbrush. Don't know how this brushes work any better from the normal brushes i use to use. Using the flat wide brushes really makes the paint (especially Tamiya's own) applied to the model look really good. Kinda evens it out onto the model, leaving a nice even coat.

I accidentally put the middle sized brush into some super glue and as that was my favorite i immediately order some more

Ian

Banpresto Macross Frontier Valkyries 1/144 i hoping

Link to the orignal Japanese news: http://ga.sbcr.jp/mprize/012977/

New frontier Valks from Banpresto, really hoping these are 1/144. Doubt they will be as good as the chara-works valkyries but think this might be my only chance to own 1/144ish Messiah's

The Pic with the VF-25G in hand makes it looks promising. Means that i have the valkyrie from every series except Zero. I don't really want Macross II valkyires, don't really like the OVA.



Looks kinda toyish, wonder if it the strange soft plactic? Hope productions ones are better than these, please have good paint apps.



Skull looks good but the detail kinda lacking where the valkyrie head is.



Can have either a sniper rifle or normal gun pod on this one.



Best of the bunch, the RVF-25 looks quite cool, lets send the strange little boy out on recon.



Would love to paint one up in brown mass prodution colours, wonder of a super parts verson will be release or some Queadluun-Rea's.

1500 yen price range which i think is in the £10 price range so kinda expensive.

Ian

Lots of Works In Progress

Got quite alot of building done yesterday, Bank holiday Monday and what do you know it was raining.
Really wierd one is the clear hurricane from Sweet, could not really see what i was doing.
The Machi Mc.200 is almost complete and so is the Jaguar except the canopy is really lame, too short!



Some of the model boxes ive got out at the moment, there are more but this is what was in front of me.
Ian

[Kit Review] - Sweet 1/144 - P-51B Pioneer Mustang -

New Sweet kit of the week this time a P-51B, something i did not know existed with the Spitfire canopy which i got to use as it looks really different on a American fighter.

Painting guide, would like to paint the 2 fighter as the top right and bottom left designs but i haven't research about this yet so might change.



Usual easy to follow instructions. First time ive seen English on the Sweet intructions, should be really helpful with the colours.



Excellent detail as usual with Sweet, lots of paneling which will look great once a wash has been applied.



Ian

[Kit Review] - Revell 1/144 - Hawker Hunter FGA.9 -

Heres one of those kit i saw and instantly wanted to build, love the look of the Hunter. Kinda worried about the paint scheme, when the 2 tone camo is painted in this small scale it looks somewhat fake.

Ian

[Kit Review] - F-toys 1/144 - Star Wars Vol.1 - Tie Fighter -

Another 1/144 Star Wars vehicle The Empires mass produced Tie Fighter.

Usual securely packed model and instructions with information about the Tie Fighter except in Japanese which means it kinda unreadable.



Super basic intruction as this is almost a toy but i will fix it up to the standard i want so that its a model.



Really excellent detail on this little fighter,one of my favorite Star Wars vehicle and it looks perfect.

Got as couple of these as i want them to flank the vol.2 Darth Vader Tie Fighter in the Death Star trench.

Ian

SDFM: DYRL? Skull squadron with fast packs begins.

The Super Dimension Fortess Macross: Do you remember love? Skull squadron from the movie first opening sortie.
Consists of:
Roy Fockers VF-1S with Strike Parts.
Hikaru Ichijo VF-1A with Super Parts.
Maximillian Jenius VF-1A with Super Parts.
Hayao Kakizaki VF-1A with Super Parts.

Ive taken them apart, super glued all the joint s and filled them with a whole load of putty. Bought some more sanding sticks for this massive job, going to do it outside cause i reckon there will be a load of dust.

Youtube clip of what im going for:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xcANplqmGIw

Ian

Eurofighter Typhoon, Wildcar IV and USA modern support equipment WIP

Latest kits ive put together this Sunday, a rainy day so lots of model building.

The Revell Eurofighter Typhoon is OK but i kinda thought that i was going to fit together better than what i has. Still looking nice after all the sanding ive done to get it to fit how i wanted it to.

The Sweet Wildcat IV has gone together like a dream, such high quality. This is before i assemble the front and the engine is all painted up and had a black wash over it to bring out the detail. Shame how much you can't see, there 2 shades of silver and copper there but that will be mostly hidden buy the piece on the far right which is now in place.

The Dragon Support Equipment went together nicely especially considering the size. Hope i don't break any of the little details when i started to paint them up. Don't know if i should use them for a modern USA diorama or a Macross one.

Ian

Chara-works 1/144 Macross Valkyrie VF-1A Hikaru Ichijyo

My first completed 1/144 Macross Valkyrie, a VF-1A flown by Hikaru Ichijiyo from the movie The Super Dimension Fortress Macross: Do You Remember Love?

Compare of what i started with and the completed VF-1A.



Used putty on the nose and leg/engine seams, repainted and the marking either corrected or repainted, panel line drawn with a 0.5 mechanical pencil, bit of weathering.



Repainted the gun a real dark metallic colour, painted the arrow on the head which took some time to get looking good, painted the engine intakes and added a line for the vents, painted the landing gear lights and glued in the landing gear.



Coulpe more images from different angles.





For my first one im really happy with the way it turned out, got loads more to do and hope to be able to improve on them.

Ian

[Kit Review] - Sweet 1/144 - Bf 109f-4 Tropical "Star of Africa" -

New sweet kit of the week, the WW2 German Bf 109f-4 in Africa corp tropical or desert paint scheme.
Really interesting thing about this kit is that it centers on the "Star of Africa" Hans-Joachim Marseille who has a confirmed 158 victories. Here's his wikipedia post as it s a interesting read

The kit comes with decals in 1/144, 1/72 and 1/48 for Marseilles personal Kubelwagen "OTTO", going to have to go find one in 1/144 and make a small diorama me thinks.



Usual excellent instructions with 1/1 painting guide of the 1/144 aircraft, luckily not a massive difference in paint schemes so no hard choice.



Easy to follow instructions even though there lots of Japanese texts.



Fantastic detail which ive come to expect from sweet.


This is one of those kits im inching to get started, especially as the subject is very interesting.

Ian

AirFix Mini Kit 1/144 F-117 Nighthawk

Something which i never really thought I'd buy a AirFix pre-painted kit but it was on sale at a model shop so alas.



Picked it up because of the cool belly art on the F-117, big problem are the really obvious seam lines might mean a complete repaint and if that happens i would prefer to build the Revell kit instead as it much more detailed.

The landing gear is really toyish, the more i look at this the more i think i should bin it.

Ian

Preiser 1/144 World War 2 German Tank Crew

Got some super tiny German tank crew to go with my new German tanks, really surprised how detailed there are but they come in pieces which might be a paint to assemble.

Gluing a head the size of a strawberry seed onto a body the size of a grape seed sure sounds fun.

Ian

Can.Do 1/144 Tiger 1 and Pather G

2 little German tanks i picked up which i hope to make some little dioramas with, though when i do that will no doubt be a long time coming.

Both have excellant packageing and are incredablie deatiled, should have taken a photo nezt to a coin or rular because there a super small, like 1 inch in length small.

Can.Do 1/144 Tiger 1 Sd.Kfz.181





Can.Do 1/144 Panther G Sd.kfs.171





Will proablie repaint both of them, i know that the panther will have to be because the turret does'nt match the rest of the tank. little bit of work to imorove them like removing seems.

Ian

1/144 Anime Mecha scale

Little scale guide of the 1/144 anime mecha ive got so far. The scale difference looks about right between the different mecha. The figure looks like it the correct size compared to the VF-1S Strike Valkyrie (one of the first upgraded chara-works valks to be almost completed)
The gundam towering over all makes the Votoms look super small, believe its one of the smallest anime mecha, biggest being Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann i guess.

Ian

Osprey Hurricane Aces of World War 2

To give it its full name: Osprey, Aircraft of the Aces: Men and Legends. Hurricanes to the Fore, The First Aces.
Got nearly every Hurricane which i can make with the Sweet decals, same style as the Wildcat aces book. Lots of black and white photos and lots of colour side profiles of various Hurricanes.

Should start putting a few Hurricanes together soon but need to find the correct paints for the camouflage so that it looks correct at such a small scale.

Ian

[Kit Review] - Sweet 1/144 - Mitsubishi A6M3 Model22 Zero Fighter -

New Sweet kit of the week and it one of Sweets favorite subjects a Zero, which would make sense since there a Japanese company.



5 different desplay option with the decals, going to have one the creme colour and the other green.


Excellant intructions are usually from Sweet, got to find out what the little bits of advice are in Japanese.


Like how the plastic is the clour i want the Zero painted in, like a undercoat.

Ian

Doyusha 1/144 Macross Plus YF-21

This is a die-cast YF-21 from Macross Plus which i nice but not as detailed as i would have liked it to be. And because its die-cast the paint work looks really strange kinda, no character to it.



Comes in a really nice box and well protected.




Seems to be a fairly accurate version of the VF-21 but it the paint work which really brings this down for me. The paint is factory perfect but it just looks so lifeless.



Wonder what i can do to improve this, will have to be repainted and the landing gear is really lacking detail so that will have to go.

Most expensive 1/144 fighter so far bought but i knew because its die-cast that it would not be as good as a model kit but i really do like the design.

Ian