Hope to treat you guys to the completed project sooner than later! Until then, I'll get back to these M113s so I can finish them up and move on to the Namers.
28 July 2013
F-16I Sufa Project on Hold
Well I slapped some primer on her and with that, I've taken her as far as I can for now. I want to do the 3 color pattern which is dark brown, light brown, and pale green. The belly will be light grey and the nose will be dark grey. So that's 5 colors I need that I do not have and I'd still need to buy some Israeli Airforce decals to complete it. I resume the hunt to find full time work tomorrow and failing that I have staffing agencies I can utilize.
Hope to treat you guys to the completed project sooner than later! Until then, I'll get back to these M113s so I can finish them up and move on to the Namers.
Hope to treat you guys to the completed project sooner than later! Until then, I'll get back to these M113s so I can finish them up and move on to the Namers.
27 July 2013
Project Nearing Termination!
So freaking excited right now. Today was a long day of working on this thing, drinking lots of dew, and smoking lots of cigarettes.
Pulled everything I sculpted off the aircraft and glued it all in place.
More detail sanding.
Attached remaining payload.
Hand made second drop tank since my duplication attempts proved unsuccessful.
Glued the pylons I stole from the Mk82 clusters onto the drop tanks.
Glued the drop tanks in.
Cut and filed a couple of nails to use as the Amraam-120s.
Moved the AIM-9s under the wing next to the GBU-16s.
I love it! It could be so so much better especially if GHQ would just make modern F-16s or at the very least, make a modernizing kit people could buy for their current F-16 model but as I've stated, this was my first ever attempt at sculpting and now that the payload is completely on this thing looks FIERCE. Ready to kick some Hezbollah ass.
Pulled everything I sculpted off the aircraft and glued it all in place.
More detail sanding.
Attached remaining payload.
Hand made second drop tank since my duplication attempts proved unsuccessful.
Glued the pylons I stole from the Mk82 clusters onto the drop tanks.
Glued the drop tanks in.
Cut and filed a couple of nails to use as the Amraam-120s.
Moved the AIM-9s under the wing next to the GBU-16s.
I love it! It could be so so much better especially if GHQ would just make modern F-16s or at the very least, make a modernizing kit people could buy for their current F-16 model but as I've stated, this was my first ever attempt at sculpting and now that the payload is completely on this thing looks FIERCE. Ready to kick some Hezbollah ass.
No Sleep Til Sufa
This is one of the few instances where I am happy that I have not been able to find full time work around here. This thing has absolutely consumed every waking hour over the last few days. I have learned a trick to speed things up though. I read on the packaging for my kneadatite that if you have it under a warm lamp it speeds up the curing process and if you freeze it it stops the curing process. So now any time I make something and don't feel like waiting, I toss the model and or part I made into the toaster oven, set it to convection, and have the temperature setting set to about 100°F to 120°F. After 10-20 minutes in the toaster oven, the part is ready to be sanded, cut, drilled, fed to my cat, whatever and since the melting point of pewter is around 450°F there is no chance of anything melting. I would obviously not recommend this for plastic miniatures since even a lamp gets hot enough to melt it but this is a non-issue for me since everything GHQ makes is pewter or whatever white metals they use.
Anyway I did some more fine sanding to the plane and trimmed up the nose part just a little bit. I stuck on the AIM-9 missiles and the GBU-16 LGBs and that's when I realized that trying to fit a pair of Amraam-120s in might be folley. GHQs ordnance is kind of chunky so there isn't much space under the wings to fit the 4th hardpoint. Unfortunate but I might just have to scrap the idea of adding Amraam-120s or HARMs to this model.
The ordnance also comes with some Mk82 dumb bombs in clusters of 3. I had no intention of using these so I cut the bombs off of the pylon in order to use the pylon to attach the drop tanks. As I tossed the scrap metal aside I realized that I had cut off one perfect bomb from each pylon. I had a eureka moment and realized that these would be useful. I cut the tails off and glued them to either side of the engine intake. BAM. Instant optics. TAG and whatever the other one is. Looks pretty cool if you ask me.
On to the drop tanks themselves! I took more scrap metal and glued two nails to it. I then coated the nails in the lubricant I've been using, grapeseed oil I happened to have already for cooking, and then I stuck kneadatite on them. I coated my fingers in oil and gently massaged the putty into the shape I needed. After baking the drop tanks for 20 minutes they were ready to be sanded. One turned out perfectly. The other looked like it had been hit by a bus. I pitched the shitty one and did some fine sanding on the good one which you can see in the pics below. Rather than attempt to make another perfect one, I think I am going to make a mold of it and cast two drop tanks from the mold instead. I havn't decided whether I will cast them in kneadatite or two part casting resin but both are an option for me. In retrospect maybe I should have made molds of all the parts I made for this plane? I doubt I'll ever want to make another one again unless I had the parts readily available.
Anyway I did some more fine sanding to the plane and trimmed up the nose part just a little bit. I stuck on the AIM-9 missiles and the GBU-16 LGBs and that's when I realized that trying to fit a pair of Amraam-120s in might be folley. GHQs ordnance is kind of chunky so there isn't much space under the wings to fit the 4th hardpoint. Unfortunate but I might just have to scrap the idea of adding Amraam-120s or HARMs to this model.
The ordnance also comes with some Mk82 dumb bombs in clusters of 3. I had no intention of using these so I cut the bombs off of the pylon in order to use the pylon to attach the drop tanks. As I tossed the scrap metal aside I realized that I had cut off one perfect bomb from each pylon. I had a eureka moment and realized that these would be useful. I cut the tails off and glued them to either side of the engine intake. BAM. Instant optics. TAG and whatever the other one is. Looks pretty cool if you ask me.
On to the drop tanks themselves! I took more scrap metal and glued two nails to it. I then coated the nails in the lubricant I've been using, grapeseed oil I happened to have already for cooking, and then I stuck kneadatite on them. I coated my fingers in oil and gently massaged the putty into the shape I needed. After baking the drop tanks for 20 minutes they were ready to be sanded. One turned out perfectly. The other looked like it had been hit by a bus. I pitched the shitty one and did some fine sanding on the good one which you can see in the pics below. Rather than attempt to make another perfect one, I think I am going to make a mold of it and cast two drop tanks from the mold instead. I havn't decided whether I will cast them in kneadatite or two part casting resin but both are an option for me. In retrospect maybe I should have made molds of all the parts I made for this plane? I doubt I'll ever want to make another one again unless I had the parts readily available.
26 July 2013
CFT v2.0
Woke up today and realized that while the CFT I sculpted last night looked pretty damn cool, it was extremely exaggerated and shaped completely wrong and I hated it for that. I pulled it off the jet and took this opportunity to do some sanding on the dorsal spine to thin it up just a bit.
After studying about 50 different pictures of F-16Is I went ahead and did the easier part of the project and sculpted the nose a little bit. The GHQ model is pretty much flat on the underside but the F-16Is nose is rounded below the wing and this rounded area extends back a bit behind the engine intake. It looks a little too beefy so I might end up sanding it down a little bit more.
I then did some practice sculpting with clay to try and get a feel for how I wanted the CFTs to look. After an hour or so of that I started doing the actual sculpting. It took me about 3 hours to get the first one right and then another 2-3 hours to get the second one to match the first one. This was an absolute headache. I don't know how people out there sculpt this kind of stuff but I guess practice makes perfect and they sure seem to have a shit ton of practice.
The model is far from the perfection I had envisioned for it and it isn't quite symetrical but this is going to have to do. I am at the limit of my abilities to do any better than this. I already have probably 20+ hours invested in this thing and I still have another 2-5 hours to go I think before I can even get the primer on.
Up next is the 600 gallon drop tanks. Attach the AIM-9 missiles. Attach the LGBs. Maybe attach a center drop tank and a targeting pod for the LGBs. And maybe modify the model to go from 3 hardpoints per wing to 4 hardpoints per wing in order to accomodate a pair of amraam-120 missiles.
After studying about 50 different pictures of F-16Is I went ahead and did the easier part of the project and sculpted the nose a little bit. The GHQ model is pretty much flat on the underside but the F-16Is nose is rounded below the wing and this rounded area extends back a bit behind the engine intake. It looks a little too beefy so I might end up sanding it down a little bit more.
I then did some practice sculpting with clay to try and get a feel for how I wanted the CFTs to look. After an hour or so of that I started doing the actual sculpting. It took me about 3 hours to get the first one right and then another 2-3 hours to get the second one to match the first one. This was an absolute headache. I don't know how people out there sculpt this kind of stuff but I guess practice makes perfect and they sure seem to have a shit ton of practice.
The model is far from the perfection I had envisioned for it and it isn't quite symetrical but this is going to have to do. I am at the limit of my abilities to do any better than this. I already have probably 20+ hours invested in this thing and I still have another 2-5 hours to go I think before I can even get the primer on.
Up next is the 600 gallon drop tanks. Attach the AIM-9 missiles. Attach the LGBs. Maybe attach a center drop tank and a targeting pod for the LGBs. And maybe modify the model to go from 3 hardpoints per wing to 4 hardpoints per wing in order to accomodate a pair of amraam-120 missiles.
25 July 2013
F-16I Sufa CFT Attempt
Got the first CFT sculpted onto the F-16I. The shape is nowhere near perfect but then nothing I've sculpted on this model so far is. It's such a small scale to get just right. Will have more pics tomorrow when I finish the other CFT, the nose, and the pylon mounted drop tanks.
2Aircraft1Tank
Well I've gotten the attack helicopter built. Once again GHQ delivers superb quality and detail. I've looked around at many many other manufacturers of 6mm scale models and I honestly don't know how any of them stay in business. Their models just can't hold a candle to GHQ's. This is a similar situation to when I played Flames of War where I only bought figures from Battlefront because the quality in my opinion was worth the extra expense.
Here is the AH-64D Saraph. Paint is a long ways off as I do not have the proper colors for the IAF. Note that the doodad that sits on top of the main rotor fell off so I have to figure out a good way of securing it. Probably going to need pinned although I have never pinned anything before so it'll be new to me.
Next up is a test Merkava Mk IV. Nothing special here. Just a magnetized turret and custom antennae. The antennae were made by using the bristles from a $1 black paint brush from Walmart. The synthetic ones you'd paint your house with. A $1 brush has enough bristles to give like 100-200 tanks aerials. I felt this was a better option than some of the other ideas I've seen kicked around such as piano wire. The bristles are flexible so you're not having to bend anything back in place.
Finally, I bought a GHQ F-16. This model was chosen to become an extensive conversion project to change what appears to be an early model F-16C (Block 30?) into a modern Israeli F-16I Sufa. The only F-16I Sufa currently available in 6mm anywhere is a model on Shapeways at https://www.shapeways.com/model/327961/1-285-6mm-f-16i-sufa.html?li=productBox-search&materialId=62 . That's all good an dandy but I worry about the detail and the material the model is made of. There are no panel lines to speak of and all details must be painted on. The other downside is that that model isn't even an F-16I. It's just an F-16 with CFT (conformal fuel tanks) which aren't even shaped accurately.
What sets the F-16I apart isn't just the use of the CFT but also a modified cockpit that utilizes a crew of 2 instead of 1 and an interesting dorsal spine that runs from the cockpit to the aft stabilizer. Go easy on me with this model because it is the very first time I have ever modeled anything with kneadatite. I've always wanted to play with green stuff but just never had a reason to use it. So far I've gotten the extended cockpit modeled and just finished doing the preliminary work on the dorsal spine. I've gotta wait a day for it to fully cure so I can do some detail sanding on the spine and reduce its size slightly. It also needs to be a bit more teardrop shaped and remain wide in the middle while tapering at either end. I gotta say though, for my first time ever sculpting anything, I am fairly proud of myself.
Up next are the CFT which I am absolutely dreading. They are curvy and I think it is going to be very difficult for me to get them just right. After that I will add some kneadatite under the nose to round out the bottom a bit. The GHQ model is nearly flat under the nose and I don't know why that is but the F-16I is rounded. Finally, I will take some of the bomb pylons the model came with that I will not be using and I will cover them in kneadatite in order to model the 600 gallon drop tanks that many Israeli F-16s use. Having a whole hell of a lot of fun in this GHQ stuff so far.
If you're interested and you chanced upon this blog because of my Flames of War stuff, check out GHQ at http://www.ghqmodels.com/
Here is the AH-64D Saraph. Paint is a long ways off as I do not have the proper colors for the IAF. Note that the doodad that sits on top of the main rotor fell off so I have to figure out a good way of securing it. Probably going to need pinned although I have never pinned anything before so it'll be new to me.
Next up is a test Merkava Mk IV. Nothing special here. Just a magnetized turret and custom antennae. The antennae were made by using the bristles from a $1 black paint brush from Walmart. The synthetic ones you'd paint your house with. A $1 brush has enough bristles to give like 100-200 tanks aerials. I felt this was a better option than some of the other ideas I've seen kicked around such as piano wire. The bristles are flexible so you're not having to bend anything back in place.
Finally, I bought a GHQ F-16. This model was chosen to become an extensive conversion project to change what appears to be an early model F-16C (Block 30?) into a modern Israeli F-16I Sufa. The only F-16I Sufa currently available in 6mm anywhere is a model on Shapeways at https://www.shapeways.com/model/327961/1-285-6mm-f-16i-sufa.html?li=productBox-search&materialId=62 . That's all good an dandy but I worry about the detail and the material the model is made of. There are no panel lines to speak of and all details must be painted on. The other downside is that that model isn't even an F-16I. It's just an F-16 with CFT (conformal fuel tanks) which aren't even shaped accurately.
What sets the F-16I apart isn't just the use of the CFT but also a modified cockpit that utilizes a crew of 2 instead of 1 and an interesting dorsal spine that runs from the cockpit to the aft stabilizer. Go easy on me with this model because it is the very first time I have ever modeled anything with kneadatite. I've always wanted to play with green stuff but just never had a reason to use it. So far I've gotten the extended cockpit modeled and just finished doing the preliminary work on the dorsal spine. I've gotta wait a day for it to fully cure so I can do some detail sanding on the spine and reduce its size slightly. It also needs to be a bit more teardrop shaped and remain wide in the middle while tapering at either end. I gotta say though, for my first time ever sculpting anything, I am fairly proud of myself.
Up next are the CFT which I am absolutely dreading. They are curvy and I think it is going to be very difficult for me to get them just right. After that I will add some kneadatite under the nose to round out the bottom a bit. The GHQ model is nearly flat under the nose and I don't know why that is but the F-16I is rounded. Finally, I will take some of the bomb pylons the model came with that I will not be using and I will cover them in kneadatite in order to model the 600 gallon drop tanks that many Israeli F-16s use. Having a whole hell of a lot of fun in this GHQ stuff so far.
If you're interested and you chanced upon this blog because of my Flames of War stuff, check out GHQ at http://www.ghqmodels.com/
13 July 2013
Namer AIFV
While I'm working on all of the M113 variants, I decided to take a whack at one of the Namer armored infantry fighting vehicles for fun. I was complaining about the M113 being a bit boring to paint but these Namers are anything but! Wow what a challenge!
Here is one of them first in primer and then with basecoat and ink with the top coat being picked out by hand. I cannot believe how much detail these things have. People also rail GHQ for the cost of their figures but I think these are a bargain at $2 per hull and certainly worth it. LOOK AT THE DETAIL.
Here is one of them first in primer and then with basecoat and ink with the top coat being picked out by hand. I cannot believe how much detail these things have. People also rail GHQ for the cost of their figures but I think these are a bargain at $2 per hull and certainly worth it. LOOK AT THE DETAIL.
First Submission into 6mm
For my first batch of items I got the Israeli combat force, two packs of Merkava IV, two packs of Namer, and a pack of Apache Longbow, all by GHQ miniatures. So I've got some infantry, 20 Merkava IV, 20 Namer, 11 Zelda (Israeli M113), 1 M125 (M113 mortar carrier), and 1 M109 (M113 TOW). The company I bought the models from screwed up and instead of sending me a pack of 1 AH-64D Apache they sent me a pack of UH-1D Hueys. The Apache is on the way but as I'm building an ultra modern army I don't really know what to do with the Hueys or the M113s for that matter. I'll likely paint them up nice as I can and sell them.
To start out I've done a single test model to get a feel for painting at this scale. I chose to do the M125. I gave it a primer coat of Khaki camo paint from Walmart, base coated it in US Field Drab from Vallejo model color range, and then gave it a sepia ink wash from the Vallejo game color range. At such a tiny scale I decided that it would be a bad idea to do any drybrushing to pick out details so after inking I picked out all the raised areas again with a fine brush in US Field Drab. I then painted some small details such as guns, the mortar, view port, shovel, cabeling, tracks, and hatch levers black.
I thought about doing a light highlight at this point but decided against it because I felt that it would brighten the model too significantly. US Field Drab is an inappropriate color for modern IDF forces (though I have seen several vehicles just a light) because the Israeli sand color is darker. But Israeli sand is hard to match to the Vallejo range and I didn't want to do any mixing so I opted for the US Field Drab so that it would be a close match but also so that any black details would stand out better against the base coat.
I think it turned out nicely and the details on the GHQ models is incredible but it is a rather boring model to paint. It would be more fun if I chose to do some wild camo scheme but the IDF seems to just coat everything in brown and call it good. Even their infantry camo is rather boring in a dull olive drab. I have a limited collection of paints at the moment so I have opted to not do any weathering to the model. I have several colors of sand I could easily brush on but I have nothing in the red spectrum to rust up the tracks. Now it's time to move onto the rest of these M113 things so I can get onto the more exciting models, Namers and Merkavas!
To start out I've done a single test model to get a feel for painting at this scale. I chose to do the M125. I gave it a primer coat of Khaki camo paint from Walmart, base coated it in US Field Drab from Vallejo model color range, and then gave it a sepia ink wash from the Vallejo game color range. At such a tiny scale I decided that it would be a bad idea to do any drybrushing to pick out details so after inking I picked out all the raised areas again with a fine brush in US Field Drab. I then painted some small details such as guns, the mortar, view port, shovel, cabeling, tracks, and hatch levers black.
I thought about doing a light highlight at this point but decided against it because I felt that it would brighten the model too significantly. US Field Drab is an inappropriate color for modern IDF forces (though I have seen several vehicles just a light) because the Israeli sand color is darker. But Israeli sand is hard to match to the Vallejo range and I didn't want to do any mixing so I opted for the US Field Drab so that it would be a close match but also so that any black details would stand out better against the base coat.
I think it turned out nicely and the details on the GHQ models is incredible but it is a rather boring model to paint. It would be more fun if I chose to do some wild camo scheme but the IDF seems to just coat everything in brown and call it good. Even their infantry camo is rather boring in a dull olive drab. I have a limited collection of paints at the moment so I have opted to not do any weathering to the model. I have several colors of sand I could easily brush on but I have nothing in the red spectrum to rust up the tracks. Now it's time to move onto the rest of these M113 things so I can get onto the more exciting models, Namers and Merkavas!
12 July 2013
Gone with the Shinies
A few things happened.
Not really a big deal but I realized how much I hated a good chunk of the FoW community over at their forums. There's a few really really really huge assholes that tend to think they run the entire show which makes newbloods having ideas very prohibitive. There was no fighting it. These are 50+ year old guys that have been in the game a long time and trying to convince them of something fresh is like trying to budge a bull that is stuck in mud. Not happening.
The big deal part is that I have a low attention span when it comes to shinies. I was so disgusted with the FoW community that I accidentally saw some other miniatures. Those miniatures were by a company called Hawk Wargames and were for a game called Dropzone Commander. The game was very new. The miniatures were so new they were hard to get in America at the time, and they were VERY shiny.
So what did I do? Regretably I sold off my entire FoW collection. All my Soviets and Germans that I had spent half a year amassing. An entire Soviet Strelkovy Batallion gone in under a week via ebay. Some folks out there got a sick deal. I then set about procuring a ridiculously sized force of Post Human Republic miniatures for DzC.
Then it happened again. This time some asshole shot up a bunch of children in Connecticut and the entire nation freaked out and whined and cried for gun control. Before the price gouging started, every miniature and every paint and every brush I owned was out the door and promptly replaced by a sexy FNX-45 pistol.
I think I regret selling the FoW miniatures because they were really cool and I would have loved to finish that Soviet army. I don't regret selling the DzC miniatures because the pistol I bought is just that freaking awesome.
But now I'm back painting again so the future of this blog remains to be seen. I have opted for 6mm modern historical this time and my first batch of GHQ Micro Armour showed up yesterday. I am looking to start off with an ultra-modern Arab/Israeli conflict set around the year 2014. I've got 20 Merkava Mk IVs and some other assets to start with. I intend that conflict to spark WWIII so I can "simulate" the world's next full scale conflict. This is very exciting stuff for me but it is still a ways off.
So I have two options. I can continue this blog under my new interest (mainly modern Israelis) or I can let this thing die and leave it as a memorial of what could have been. If you don't see any posts here within the next month, you have my decision.
Ciao!
Not really a big deal but I realized how much I hated a good chunk of the FoW community over at their forums. There's a few really really really huge assholes that tend to think they run the entire show which makes newbloods having ideas very prohibitive. There was no fighting it. These are 50+ year old guys that have been in the game a long time and trying to convince them of something fresh is like trying to budge a bull that is stuck in mud. Not happening.
The big deal part is that I have a low attention span when it comes to shinies. I was so disgusted with the FoW community that I accidentally saw some other miniatures. Those miniatures were by a company called Hawk Wargames and were for a game called Dropzone Commander. The game was very new. The miniatures were so new they were hard to get in America at the time, and they were VERY shiny.
So what did I do? Regretably I sold off my entire FoW collection. All my Soviets and Germans that I had spent half a year amassing. An entire Soviet Strelkovy Batallion gone in under a week via ebay. Some folks out there got a sick deal. I then set about procuring a ridiculously sized force of Post Human Republic miniatures for DzC.
Then it happened again. This time some asshole shot up a bunch of children in Connecticut and the entire nation freaked out and whined and cried for gun control. Before the price gouging started, every miniature and every paint and every brush I owned was out the door and promptly replaced by a sexy FNX-45 pistol.
I think I regret selling the FoW miniatures because they were really cool and I would have loved to finish that Soviet army. I don't regret selling the DzC miniatures because the pistol I bought is just that freaking awesome.
But now I'm back painting again so the future of this blog remains to be seen. I have opted for 6mm modern historical this time and my first batch of GHQ Micro Armour showed up yesterday. I am looking to start off with an ultra-modern Arab/Israeli conflict set around the year 2014. I've got 20 Merkava Mk IVs and some other assets to start with. I intend that conflict to spark WWIII so I can "simulate" the world's next full scale conflict. This is very exciting stuff for me but it is still a ways off.
So I have two options. I can continue this blog under my new interest (mainly modern Israelis) or I can let this thing die and leave it as a memorial of what could have been. If you don't see any posts here within the next month, you have my decision.
Ciao!
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