Bumblebee, Autobot Transformer in vehicular form [WIP - Bodywork and Paint]

 In what seems to be a pseudo-Groundhog Day situation, first quarter (1Q) 2021 finds me seemingly entangled in either just color tests or plain base-coating. February is but a day away from its end, and here I am at the base-coat stage of the Volkswagen Beetle's bodywork. Pair this with my previous color test for the Speeder Bike black section and a near future color test for the Sturmgeschutz III Ausf.B armor, you can perhaps understand my feelings of déjà vu. In short no substantive progress is expected on any project before 2Q 2021. Yet it's still a start beyond inertia, so there's that.

Tamiya 1/24 Volkswagen 1300 Beetle work-in-progress: Bodywork and Paint

 More so than perhaps any other vehicular project I have undertaken thus far, the Beetle required more meticulous prep work to ensure a smooth as possible surface for the subsequent primer and base-coat layers. It helped tremendously that the Tamiya Beetle bodywork parts had minimal mold lines, especially the Bonnet and Boot covers. While the main bodywork itself had some mold line issues (see below) which required some prep work, it wasn't considered too major an issue. 

Main bodywork of the Volkswagen Beetle had some mold line issues ...

... particularly above the headlight cavities ...

... running all the way below the said cavities, and ...

... on the roof surface, located close to all four  side doors, as well as ...

... two lines running parallel to each other near the bottom third of the rear bodywork

 After carefully shaving off the mold lines using a hobby knife with a rounded blade tip, I applied my go-to primer product namely the light gray Tamiya Fine Surface Primer (see below).

Volkswagen Beetle after the priming stage and prior to receiving its base-coat layer

 Having an airbrush system is a prerequisite to achieving the smoothest base-coat paint layer possible. This is because an airbrush allows the consistent application of several thin layers of paint, which translates into a final coat of paint with a fairly uniform thickness. Painting via hand can still accomplish this but it will unrealistically lengthier amount of time. Meanwhile, using a spray paint injects a level of unpredictability due to lesser control over the amount of paint being dispensed. Regardless, an airbrush was used and first to be painted was the Beetle's roof interior.

Area surrounding the roof interior was first masked off before being painted

Roof interior with masks removed; note interior color is a variation of beige

 As for the outer surface area of the bodywork, a previously determined shade of Bumblebee Yellow was airbrushed onto it in several light, thin coats. In addition, a protective semi-gloss clear topcoat was sprayed on top of the paint base-coat. I used a spray can to apply this protective topcoat, which is hypocritical of me seeing I had already established that spray cans did not afford good dispensation control. But not really, for I had used Mr.Hobby Super Clear topcoat, which based on experience is well-formulated to be almost fool-proof. Specifically, if you didn't depress the nozzle all the way down for long periods and at a too-close-distance to the paint surface, the topcoat should even out nicely.  

Volkswagen Beetle with its base-coat and a protective semi-gloss top-coat applied

Closeup from the front; isometric view of the main bodywork

Closeup from the back; isometric view of the main bodywork

 Shown below are photos of yet more angles of the base-coated Volkswagen Beetle bodywork.

Front view of the Volkswagen Beetle main bodywork and bonnet

Back view of the Volkswagen Beetle main bodywork, and the boot cover

Volkswagen Beetle main bodywork, after base-coat as viewed from the left side

Volkswagen Beetle main bodywork, after base-coat as viewed from the right side

 Next on the Beetle's progress I'm faced with a figurative fork on the road. I could choose either to weather the painted bodywork first, or install the headlights, back-lights, door handles, side windows, windshield and such before attempting any weathering effects. The latter seems the likelier route but I'll have to put some thought into it first before I deciding. And if it seems impossible my projects can go any slower, I am afraid it can. For you see, I've rekindled my love of reading in a serious way with a backlog of hundreds of scifi/fantasy/horror titles to be consumed. On that note, I leave you with a Lemony Snicket quote ... “Never trust anyone who has not brought a book with them.” 

Happy Lunar New Year 2021

 Happy Year of the Ox everyone. It's that time of the year again when the Chinese diaspora all over the world celebrates the lunar new year. Here's wishing you, dear reader, a healthy new year.

 Since my family is still in the midst of a three-year mourning period for my late-father, we won't be celebrating the occasion this year. Also the family and I won't be doing much celebrations anyway with the pandemic and all. Anyway, have a great year, stay safe and be well!

Star Wars Speeder Bike [WIP - Assembly of, and Color Test for the Black Metal Parts]

 Calling the sub-assemblies on display as the "Black Metal Parts" is admittedly an oversimplification on my part. Technically speaking the said parts (generally from front-to-back) comprise the Speeder Bike's multi scanner array, outriggers, tracking sensor/comlink, steering linkages, guidance system electronics, power converter, structural bracing, repulsor block, power plant, and repulsor projection units. As you can see, that is a real mouthful of make-believe-techno-babble that is of no interest to anyone but the nerdiest fans (like myself). So I'm keeping it simple, hence "Black Metal Parts". 

1/12 scale Speeder Bike work-in-progress: Assembly of the Black Metal Parts

Assembled parts above form the black metal bits of the Speeder Bike's main structure

 Actually there are more black metal parts than the ones you see assembled above. Not shown here, the aforementioned parts extend outwards from the Speeder Bike's main structural block, and are slightly more complicated to put together. As such they will be dealt with at a later date. These yet-to-be-assembled outward extending black metal parts consist of handlebars and handgrips (that house the steering sensitivity adjuster as well as blaster cannon firing controls); rocker-pivoted footpads (that control speed and altitude); blaster cannon; and rear repulsor deflectors.

Plastic sprues containing the black metal parts of the Aratech 74-Z Speeder Bike

 Rather than painting all these parts with a pure metallic paint, I instead plan to mimic the Speeder Bike's futuristic metal alloy by painting as well as dry-brushing metallic paint (or maybe pastels) onto a black grey basecoat. This basecoat layer was created by airbrushing Gaia 075 Neutral Grey V onto a Mr.Finishing Surfacer 1500 Black primer coat and then sealing it with a protective Mr.Super Clear Semi-Gloss topcoat. While final results on the test spoons (see below) seem a tad too glossy, it might be just because of the spoon's curvature. If at the end the Black Metal Parts still look too glossy even after undergoing washes and metallic effects, then I could always apply a final flat clear coat.     

Color used to mimic black metal was the semi-gloss coated ...

... Gaia 075 Neutral Grey V lacquer paint on top of a black primer coat

Resulting color is darker than the molded plastic parts; perfect for my purposes

 To be clear, the painted black metal color was intentionally made to look darker than the original greys of the molded parts. Based on past experience, I believe the overall color scheme should lighten after application of the metallic/weathering effect. Time will tell for sure but for now my gut feeling is to go darker from the get-go. Meanwhile with the missus's birthday days away as I finish this post, I am going to leave you with this apt quote from what is fast becoming my new favorite show ....  “If soulmates do exist, they’re not found. They’re made.” – Michael, The Good Place.

Bumblebee, Autobot Transformer in vehicular form [WIP - Tyres, Wheels, Rims and Hubcaps]

 With the pandemic situation in the country going from bad to worse, I have been spending even less time on the hobby in my free time. The lockdown's new normal is infinitely more tiring on an old guy like me because it has made regular errands more time consuming and complicated. So whatever little free time leftover is being spent on less energy-sapping hobbies like computer/video gaming. Thankfully though, I still have some yet-to-be uploaded work-in-progress photos to work with, hence the blog you read today about the Tamiya 1/24 scale Volkswagen 1300 Beetle tyres, wheels, rims and hubcaps update for my Bumblebee Autobot Transformer in car-form project.  

Tamiya 1/24 scale Volkswagen 1300 Beetle work-in-progress: tyres, wheels and rims

 Already impressed by the level of detail inherent in this Tamiya scale model kit, I would not have thought it possible to be furthered wowed by the molded details. But I was. Everything about the 1/24 scale Volkswagen 1300 Beetle's tyres, wheels, rims and hubcaps looked like an accurate replica of the real thing, all the way from the hubcab logo to the brand name on the tyres. Putting them together was also simple as the instructions (shown directly below) can attest to.

Assembly instructions for the Volkswagen Beetle's tyres, wheels, rims and hubcaps

1/24 scale rubber tyres are provided as individual parts ...

... separate from the wheel and rims of the Beetle ...

... as well as from hubcaps engraved with the Volkswagen logo

Coated with chrome, the hubcaps only had a wash applied and weren't painted

 Still at two minds as to whether I should weather the tyres, wheels, rims, and hubcaps with a dried mud/dusty effect, I decided to limit the actual work done to just painting the wheels/rims with metallic chrome and them applying a black wash on the said wheels/rims as well as on the already chrome-coated hubcaps. The rubber tyres were left in its original state. Final decision on the dried mud/dusty weathering effects will only be made once the entire Volkswagen Beetle has been assembled.   

All the parts (after paint/wash where applicable) prior to assembly

Rubber wheels after being attached to the wheels/rims

It's optional to either put the hubcaps onto the wheels or not

Like in real-life, hubcaps are only available for the main wheels, and not the spare

 If there was one thing that truly encapsulated how fantastic the molded details on the 1/24 scale Volkswagen 1300 Beetle were, it was the Continental brand name molded onto the rubber tyres (see below). It's such simple attention to detail that to this day still has me in awe of the hobby's potential to mimic reality in miniature form. It's what has been dragging me back year after year, even beating out a long-drawn out malaise that threatened to scupper all interest in miniature painting/scale modeling.

Even at 1/24 scale, you can still make out the brand name on the tyres

 Next in line for the Beetle is its bodywork and paint. In the past, the only option available to me when painting large surface areas would have been spray cans only. While results were usually not bad, the finish was never as smooth as I would have liked it to be. Now with airbrushing as a viable and more accessible technique, I finally get to work on a car's bodywork which requires a smoother than usual paint finish compared to say tanks. Getting back to the hobby in this pandemic should be a good diversion. That's better than raging at hypocritical politicians who continually flout pandemic lockdown rules without repercussions. As they say in The Good Place .... What the fork? Bullshirt ashholes. Okay that's out of my system for now. Rant over. FourEyedMonster, over and out.

State of my Hobby Worktable ... what's in store for 2021

 Lesson learned ... at least I would like to think so. About a year ago, my 'what's in store' post was filled with previously shelved projects that I had optimistically believed could be revived and finished by that year's end. For the record, I only manage to complete one ... yes one ... out of five of the said shelved-projects, i.e. the Millennium Falcon. The rest remains in storage, slowly gathering dust. So for 2021 I'm adopting a cautious and prudent approach of only considering (a) actively ongoing projects and (b) unboxed projects with painting strategies already formulated from extensive research.  

 With both criteria in hand, the first project likely to see more progress in the coming weeks is the Tamiya 1/24 scale Volkswagen 1300 Beetle (1966 Model). Funnily enough, the Beetle was the only ongoing project from the previous year's 'what's in store' blog post that's listed is this year's iteration. Encouragingly though, there has been substantial progress since then with most of the Beetle's interior and engine done up (see below). While he initial buzz for this Bumblebee-Transformer-in-vehicular-form project may be gone, I assure you the determination to finish it has not.     

 Another ongoing project with significant progress is the Bandai 1/1000 scale Space Battleship Yamato 2199 (Cosmo Reverse Version). Technically, I guess one could say that the easy part is over and done with. What comes next is relatively way harder. For example, among what needs to be done next are the 1/1000 scale space fighters as well as the Bridge and the many deck guns on board. All these sections comprise tiny and detailed parts which are not only difficult to handle without breaking but also difficult to paint. In a way, that's why the project had hit a temporary roadblock. 

 A more recent project is the Bandai 1/12 scale Aratech 74-Z Miltary Speeder Bike. This Star Wars scale nodel kit actually consists of two parts namely the Scout Trooper and Speeder Bike itself. While the former has been completed, the latter's Hull Plating and Speeding Vanes have only been base-coated recently (see below). So a fair amount of work lies ahead for the bike.

 Further back along the progress chart is the Hasegawa 1/12 scale Girl's Rider resin figurine, which thus far has been unboxed and give a preliminary dry-fitting exercise (see below). And before prep work on the Girl's Rider figurine starts, I plan to first edit and upload a video of the unboxing and dry-fit process. Once that's done, work progress should resume on the figurine. Incidentally, the figurine is expected to become part of a wider project of Star Wars-themed mini-vignettes that fall under an all encompassing project umbrella titled Star Wars: Join the Empire.   

 Apart from the Hasegawa Girl's Rider figurine, there are two other unboxed projects that have not been worked on since their unboxing reviews. These are the Tamiya 1/35 scale Sturmgeschütz III Ausf.B Sd.Kfz.142 and the Bandai Limited Model High Grade (LM-HG) Neon Genesis Evangelion EVA-01 Test Type Unit plastic model kits. Unless there is an inspiring and unexpected project that cuts queue, both the Sturmgeschütz and the EVA-01 will take precedence in the project pipeline.  

 So in a nutshell the above is what I've to look forward to barring the almost inevitably 'sudden-inspiration-projects' that are bound to hijack the existing project pipeline's queue. I can live with that.    Moreover compared to my previous 'what's in store' post, this year's posting is infinitely less complicated with way less categories to consider. Just keeping it simple. On that note ... au revoir.