Hi all,
I haven't posted here since about 2009 or so because of various factors, but I wanted to share my latest build. This is a garage kit from FCY Battlemech Club of the 90-ton Mad Cat Mk.II. The kit stands about 10 inches (25.5cm) tall, all resin and very heavy. It's been a lot of fun to put together and I'm about to start painting after about two months of assembly. The torso and hips are actually held together with some larger size rare earth magnets, allowing the body to rotate 360 degrees. The arms are also mounted with magnets. This will not only give flexibility for posing, but it'll also make my life a lot easier to paint this bad boy. The LRM10's at the feet of the kit will be glued on after the rest of the painting is done. Other parts not using magnets have been put together using a combination of carbon fiber rod for reinforcement and Locktite plastic epoxy resin (very tough stuff). Check out http://battlemechclub.blogspot.com if you're also into big stompy robots. The Mad Cat is sold out right now, but there are a three other kits available at the moment.
I'm posting a few pre-painting shots for feedback/opinions/input before I start in on the fun work. Since these shots were taken I've primed the entire model. I used Alclad's gray lacquer primer/microfiller on this kit, applied using an airbrush. Lacquer paints are difficult to work with, but they are much tougher than acrylics or oils once they dry. My paint scheme idea right now is to paint the top half of the torso and head, hips, (most of the) legs and tops of the feet in a green/beige tiger camo scheme. The bottom half of the head/torso, parts of the legs, bottom of the feet and other joints a combination of Alclad's aluminum, steel and jet exhaust. The cockpit glass will be painted in multiple layers of Alclad's transparent armored glass. I'll have to do all the metal/Alclad lacquer work first before I do the colors/camo - you can paint acrylic over lacquer, but not the other way around. I have some other bits (tow cable, stowage, etc.) I'm going to stick on the kit when they're ready to give it a more "well-used" look. I've also cut out some brass etch grilles to place over some of the vents. I'd love to hear from people what they think. (also let me know if the photos are too small - I'll re-post some larger ones.)
I haven't posted here since about 2009 or so because of various factors, but I wanted to share my latest build. This is a garage kit from FCY Battlemech Club of the 90-ton Mad Cat Mk.II. The kit stands about 10 inches (25.5cm) tall, all resin and very heavy. It's been a lot of fun to put together and I'm about to start painting after about two months of assembly. The torso and hips are actually held together with some larger size rare earth magnets, allowing the body to rotate 360 degrees. The arms are also mounted with magnets. This will not only give flexibility for posing, but it'll also make my life a lot easier to paint this bad boy. The LRM10's at the feet of the kit will be glued on after the rest of the painting is done. Other parts not using magnets have been put together using a combination of carbon fiber rod for reinforcement and Locktite plastic epoxy resin (very tough stuff). Check out http://battlemechclub.blogspot.com if you're also into big stompy robots. The Mad Cat is sold out right now, but there are a three other kits available at the moment.
I'm posting a few pre-painting shots for feedback/opinions/input before I start in on the fun work. Since these shots were taken I've primed the entire model. I used Alclad's gray lacquer primer/microfiller on this kit, applied using an airbrush. Lacquer paints are difficult to work with, but they are much tougher than acrylics or oils once they dry. My paint scheme idea right now is to paint the top half of the torso and head, hips, (most of the) legs and tops of the feet in a green/beige tiger camo scheme. The bottom half of the head/torso, parts of the legs, bottom of the feet and other joints a combination of Alclad's aluminum, steel and jet exhaust. The cockpit glass will be painted in multiple layers of Alclad's transparent armored glass. I'll have to do all the metal/Alclad lacquer work first before I do the colors/camo - you can paint acrylic over lacquer, but not the other way around. I have some other bits (tow cable, stowage, etc.) I'm going to stick on the kit when they're ready to give it a more "well-used" look. I've also cut out some brass etch grilles to place over some of the vents. I'd love to hear from people what they think. (also let me know if the photos are too small - I'll re-post some larger ones.)
