The Stig - Complete

You can see the full set of the completed 'The Stig' figure here:

http://www.bhop73.com/galleries/fig_gal.php?model=stig

Rear Bumper

Removed the rear bumper and rear right fender. It's going to take some work getting things lined up properly, probably a lot of putty in my future.. :(

RWB Step one.. sawing...

This is my first conversion kit that requires sawing off body panels to fit replacement parts. I'll be honest here, i'm kinda just "winging it". I already can see that i'll have to do some repairs/filling and more cutting to make things fit right. It's kind of a pain, to be honest. I guess i've been spoiled by the way modern model manufacturers make everything so easy.

Here it is before anything has been done.

..and now, the side panels.

The front bumper.

Sawing off the fender, just like Nakai! Unfortunately, I still have 3 more fenders to go.. and the rear bumper, and the engine cover/wing. Not a bad start though!

Catching Up

Man.. a lot has happened since my last post. I guess I dropped the ball on the blog.. whoops.

The Fiat is done.

http://bhop73.com/galleries/car_gal.php?model=abarth

I've also finished the Panzer III M 1/72

http://bhop73.com/galleries/mil_gal.php?model=pz3

And... i've been painting this figure. “Some say that his tears are adhesive, and that if he caught fire he’d burn for 1000 days. All we know is he’s called the Stig.”

After he's done, which should be soon.., he's all white after all, I have another car I'm planning.. it should be pretty sweet. I'll be sure to update once I get started.

Progress 03-26-15

After some setbacks, i've finally got the body of the Abarth where i'm ok with it.  It's still not perfect, but honestly, i'm tired of messing with it. It needs a coat of wax, but the main paint is done.

The 1/72 Panzer III has a little more progress as well.  Mostly still working on the photoetch bits.  It's kind of difficult because of the size, i'm probably going to leave a lot of etched parts off because they're so small and fiddly, but it's coming along nicely.

Some modeling.

Been a while since i've updated my blog... i'll try to be more on top of it. I've been building models at a more steady pace the past few months.  Finished a Macross Battroid.

http://www.bhop73.com/galleries/scifi_gal.php?model=battroid

I've also been working on a Fiat Abarth 500. My girlfriend likes this car, so I thought i'd build her one.  It's been kind of a pain in the ass to be honest.  I can't seem to get the paint right.  Everytime I try to buff out a bit of dust or orange peel, I end up going through the plastic and have to re-prime whatever panel it is and respray. Hopefully this next time i'll get it right.  The interior's been done for  a little while.  Just trying to get the body fixed.

http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=7157854#post7157854

.. and finally, something else I picked up again while waiting for the Abarth's body paint to cure some is this 1/72 Revell Panzer III M. I started it years ago, but got distracted by other things. It should be fun. I ordered some extra detail stuff to go with it. Stay tuned.

Portable Spray Booth

Recently I bought this cheap portable spray booth from amazon..

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004ZH7RSM/ref=oh_details_o04_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I finally got to use it.  It's not very big, but it seems to do the job as long as you're just painting small-ish parts.  The fan's not very loud, it sucks pretty good and the detachable hose that sticks out the window takes most of the fumes away as it should.  It comes with a little lazy susan, so I used it to stick some stuff to that I needed to paint.  When you're done, it folds up into a little box for storage (the hose doesn't fit inside unfortunately).

Overall, i'd recommend it if you've got a limited work space like I do.

Nissan 180sx Type-X

Been a while, but i'm still building.  Off and on.. but here is what i've been working on.  Fujimi's 180sx Type-X.  I didn't really do much in the way of modifications.. really, i'm just putting different wheels on it, adding brakes, racing seats, and exhaust.  I chose this grey color that i've been seeing in the car scene.  I think it looks pretty good on this car.  Anyway.. here it is so far.

1/48 Early Tiger - Tamiya

So, i've been building again. It's been awhile, I think I only finished one or two things last year. I need to start digging into my closet pile.. it's around 150 deep.. probably more actually.. dunno.. but anyways..

Here's the kit.




So far i've shaved off some of the molded on hull parts and i've been replacing them with eduard photoetch. Time consuming and annoying. Everything's so damn small.. I lost a couple things and had to make stuff from scratch, but you can't tell in the pics.

Here's what i've done so far.



That's it for now. I think this post will be taking my blog into a new direction, mostly updates for my model builds. I should update this damn thing more often anyway..