Scale Modelling: Painting on a budget

As an update, I found that most of the parts of the L.E.D. Mirage kit were rather damaged. I assumed that this was a result of prolonged exposure of the parts to a variety of chemicals and solvents which include lacquer paint solvents, Dettol, alcohols and caustic soda which were used for paint stripping and cleaning of the parts. Hence, as a result, I've decided to brush paint the parts individually without priming in order to minimise further damage to the parts and also to preserve the details as re-scribing would damage the parts further. As it was also a rather old kit, I also decided to minimise the cost for the reconstruction as well.

Painting Models: A cheaper alternative

For this project, I've decided to experiment with regular weather-safe gold paint which I got from a local hardware store. The guy at the store told me that the paint can be thinned with water and hence, I thought, would be easy to paint with and clean up afterwards. I tested the paint on a piece of scrap plastic and I found that the paint was the perfect shade of gold that I was looking for. The paint was water soluble and rather quick to dry (~15 minutes) with light coats and was water resistant after drying which led me to believe that the paint was some sort of acrylic paint.


It was then that I had an interesting idea. The paint could be thinned with water and hence, must be water-based. So, what happens when I add other water based paints/pigments to the gold paint? Could I have different shades of gold or other colours? I tried mixing the gold paint with some watercolours that I had with me and found that the two different paints could actually mix together quite well. I tested the mixed paint on some scrap plastic and I found that the mixed paint retained the properties of acrylic paints and was water resistant after complete drying. I also notice that the water resistant properties of the mixed paint started to decrease when the ratio of watercolour to acrylic gold pain was increased. Hence, it can be concluded that the watercolour and the gold acrylic paint could be mixed and remain water resistant as long as the watercolour remains below a certain threshold.

From top left: Standard weather-resistant acrylic gold paint from my local hardware store, watercolours, some glow-in-the-dark fabric paint that I thought would be great for the eyes; Middle: Masking tape, Art liners for panel lines etc., a medium gauge brush and a fine brush for detailing; Bottom: large soft brush for dusting parts before painting.

Painting the parts of the L.E.D. Mirage

Although the gold paint I used was rather inexpensive (less than $3 for a 100ml bottle), the pigment load for the paint was horribly low. I had to apply a minimum of 5 coats of undiluted paint before an opaque coat could be achieved. I blended different watercolours with the gold acrylic paint to produce the other colours that I used in this project. I then did a wash with watercolours over the individual parts to raise details and panel lines. I also mixed black watercolours with the gold paint and dry-brushed it onto the back part of the leg armour to produce a weathering effect. It took me more than 2 weeks just to paint all the parts of the kit. I'd have to say that overall, the hardware store-bought gold paint worked out quite well with the kit. Although the pigment load was rather poor and the pigment grain was rather coarse, I think it did a good job of giving a realistic natural weathered golden-metal feel to the kit. I also decided to not give the parts a top coat as the paint already had a matt-like finish to it.

(-_-)...zzZ

Scale Modelling: Stripping Paint & Superglue

The method of striping paint varies greatly depending on what paint was initially used. Paints can generally be divided into 2 categories, aqueous base (water soluble) and non-aqueous based (soluble only in organic solvents such as alcohols, spirits and thinners). All paints are composed of 3 main components; colour pigment, a binder and a solvent. The pigment obviously provides the colour and also contributes to the lightfastness of the paint. The binder is responsible for the cohesion and adsorption of the paint onto the painted surface. The solvent (or diluent) on the other hand is the agent that keeps the paint "runny" and prevents it from hardening. Most paints set in 2 stages. In the first stage, the solvent dries or evaporates off which results in the paint "drying" i.e. the paint begins to thicken and is no longer runny. In the second stage, sometimes also referred to as the curing stage, the binder reacts chemically to cure the paint on the painted surface. The curing time for paints vary greatly from acrylics that typically cure within a day or two to lacquers or enamels which may take up to a week or more.

Parts were painted with lacquer based paints

The removal of lacquer paints is excruciatingly messy. Lacquer paints are non-soluble in water and have to be stripped using organic solvents. The problem with organic solvents is that they are mainly oil-based (with the exception of the alcohols) and would be extremely hard to clean given that the lacquer would dissolve into it and turn it into a sticky and oily gunk. After doing a bit of research, I discovered a variety of ways to remove lacquer paints. Among them were: Isopropanol, ethanol, acetone, petrol/gasoline, thinner and Dettol. The alcohols (isopropanol and ethanol) were found to be generally inefficient in removing lacquer paints with the exception of acetone. However, acetone is such a strong organic solvent that it is also capable of dissolving plastics & styrene if they are soaked for extended periods of time. Hence, none of the alcohols could be used. I remember seeing my dad using petrol to remove spilled lacquers before however, I only left it as a last resort option due to obvious safety issues. I also believe that plastics will dissolve in petrol if they are soaked for extended periods of time. Thinners are efficient in dissolving lacquer-based paints, however, they tend to be oily and often do not wash off with water afterwards. Even after washing, the parts still tend to remain oily and sticky.

A method of stripping paint that I recently came to know about was by overnight soaking in 100% UNDILUTED Dettol. The soaking time can vary from a minimum of 6 hours to 48 hours. Longer soaking allows better removal of paint.

Dettol Solution

Dettol is a common household disinfectant containing  chloroxylenol (an aromatic chemical compound), pine oil, isopropanol, castor oil and a detergent. It is excellent for removing lacquer based paints because the alcohol (isopropanol) and oils help to dissolve the lacquer while the detergent helps emulsify the oily gunk allowing it to be washed away by water. Dettol can also be used for the highly efficient removal of acrylic and enamel based paints. The removal of lacquer paints with Dettol is significantly harder than acrylic and enamel paints as acrylic and enamel paints tend to just flake off after an overnight soak in Dettol. 

Parts soaking in undiluted Dettol

Any remaining acrylic or enamel paint can be scrubbed off easily using a soft toothbrush. lacquer paints on the other hand, tend to dissolve in Dettol producing a mucky gunk and thorough scrubbing with a toothbrush is required the complete removal of the remaining lacquer paint. Fortunately, the detergent in Dettol allows most of the gunk to be washed off conveniently with water. One IMPORTANT thing to remember is that water should ONLY be used for the final rinse and wash.

After 24 hours...

Water will emulsify the Dettol solution and cause it to lose its organic solvent properties (i.e. it cannot dissolve lacquers anymore). As a result, the lacquer precipitates out of the Dettol solution and turns into a sticky gunk that is extremely difficult to clean. For the last wash/rinse, water can be used as you DO WANT the dissolved lacquer to precipitate out and be washed away.

IMPORTANT!!!===Gloves are essential for skin protection!!!===IMPORTANT!!!

Undiluted Dettol can cause severe irritation if in contact with skin for prolonged periods of time. In addition, some paints contain lead and when the paint is dissolved in Dettol, the lead can potentially enter your system through your skin! While I was cleaning the parts in undiluted Dettol, I noticed that the Dettol solution was even softening my gloves! I use nitrile gloves and I'm not sure if this is usual... Anyway, some Dettol managed to leak into my gloves and the skin of my hand started to peel after 2-3 days. The effect of Dettol does not always appear immediately and usually starts 2-3 days later. Wash hands immediately if in direct contact with undiluted Dettol! The used Dettol can be reused for stripping paints repeatedly without any decrease in effect as long as the Dettol solution remains undiluted with water. Just allow the residual paint to sediment at the bottom of the container and drain the clean top portion into a new container. This is most easily done if the Dettol was used to strip acrylic or enamel paints. It gets a bit more messy with lacquer-based paints as seen below...

Removal of old "superglue"

After 24 hours of soaking...

An efficient way of removing superglue is by using acetone. A common household product that can be used is nail polish remover containing acetone. However, acetone is also known to dissolve some plastics if they are soaked for extended periods of time. Since I was too lazy to remove the glue from each of the individual parts one by one with acetone (not to mention hours of exposure to the hazardous vapours released from the acetone) I decided instead to soak the all the parts in 100% isopropanol (a.k.a. isopropil alcohol or rubbing alcohol). Isopropanol DOES NOT dissolve the superglue and is totally harmless to most plastics even after extended periods of soaking. It does however weaken the bond between the glue and the plastic allowing the solidified glue to be easily removed by careful scraping with the back of an Exacto knife or blade. The glue can also be peeled off rather easily with fingernails after 48 hours of soaking. The plastic parts should dry rather quickly as the isopropanol evaporates, however, they should still be rinsed with water to remove all traces of alcohol before sanding, priming or painting.

Whew, finally done! The whole process took me nearly a week to complete! Now all I have to do is repaint the parts and reassemble the L.E.D. The original L.E.D. Mirage is supposed to be white but I think I will stay with my old decision of painting the entire L.E.D. Mirage Gold =)
I think I will go for a lighter shade of gold though as the old one was rather dull. This time perhaps, I'll brush paint instead of spray too =D


(-_-)...zzZ

The L.E.D. Mirage: Complete Disassembly

I finally found my old L.E.D. Mirage 1:100 scale model kit! The box was still in relatively good condition. The inside, however, as I soon discovered was in much worse condition...

The cover art on the box of the L.E.D. Mirage kit is a coloured illustration of a scene from the first chapter of the original Five Star Stories manga. The scene depicts the opening battle between the two Mortar Headds (MHs); Vatshu, The Black Knight (back facing) and an L.E.D. Mirage (forward facing) piloted by their headliners 'Grard Sydmian' and 'Karrer Crytharis' respectively.

L.E.D. Mirage 1:100 Styrene Scale Model

Apparently, I really did leave the "completed" model in a terrible state 10 years ago... One of my biggest mistakes was to actually take a short-cut and spray the model parts while they were still attached on the sprue. Terrible amateur mistake! As a result, the parts looked horrible post-assembly as the paint job was terribly damaged during the cutting and assembly process.

10 year old L.E.D

The cheap lacquer spray paint that I used also cured horribly. After 5 days of waiting I assumed that the paint had completely dried and cured. Big mistake number 2! The paint had not cured sufficiently and as a result, the paper lining on which I left the model parts got stuck to the uncured paint! (x_x)

Separated: Parts of the L.E.D.

After evaluating the damage, I finally decided on a complete overhaul of the model from scratch. Fortunately, the super glue that I used 10 years ago was of the "cheap" variety and the bonded parts could be carefully pried apart rather easily using a sharp blade. The problem was actually the lacquer paint that had cured and bonded the parts at the seams! Nothing a little careful blade work wouldn't solve...

Dismantling the L.E.D.

I was rather pleased with the dismantling process as all parts were still fully intact. However, one problem that I realised was that the black poly caps which connect most of the parts had been damaged over the years. I tried looking for replacements parts at my local hobby stores and over the internet but to no avail. Luckily, there were a few extra poly caps left in the kit from before. Hopefully they will suffice...

L.E.D. Mirage: Complete Disassembly

The next step would probably involve the stripping of the old paint and cleaning of the individual parts.

(-_-)...zzZ

The revival of an old hobby

The Five Star Stories Series was the main reason for the revival of my old hobby of scale model making. The "robots" (sometimes also referred to as 'mecha') or "Mortar Headds (MH)" in this series are GORGEOUSLY designed! *droll* Seriously, Google it up and you'll notice that the MHs are not like any other! The MHs in this series have a somewhat unique design that I can only explain as "organic". The interesting thing was? I already owned one of the L.E.D. Mirages (one of the many types of MHs in the series)! Sweet! :D

Then I realised:

Sad thing was? => I already mutilated it almost 10 years ago... (T_T) *sobs*

I dug through my store room and managed to find the old L.E.D. Mirage kit. Well, it is now time to bring out the dusters and get back to work and see if I can salvage what is left of the 10 year old kit...

(-_-)...zzZ

The Five Star Stories

The Five Star Stories Cover Art

The Five Star Stories

The Five Star Stories is a manga series created by Mamoru Nagano. The story is staged at an alien cluster of four major planetary systems. The God of Light, Amaterasu, the immortal emperor of the Grees Kingdom on the planet Delta Belune, is destined to rule the whole Joker System. He and Lachesis, his bride and fatima, are the main characters of this epic story.

Plot

The Five Star Stories takes its name from the Joker Star Cluster where the stories take place. The star cluster is made up of four stars: Eastern, Western, Southern and Northern. The "fifth star" is a large comet named Stant that passes through that sector of space every 1,500 years pulling with it its own collection of orbiting planets.

In the distant past the Farus Di Kanon Empire, now commonly known as the "Super Empire", controlled all 4 solar systems of the Joker Cluster. They enjoyed a level of technology much higher than is currently known and sent explorers to the far reaches of the Joker Galaxy. Around the year 9000 AD (Ammon Duul) the empire collapsed due to internal strife. The explorers were called home and what remained of civilization focused mainly on survival. Much technology and knowledge was lost by the time the imperial families of Amaterasu, Fillmore and Hathuha gathered and established the JC era. JC stands for "Joker Calendar" and was meant to give a common frame of reference to all nations to help foster a lasting peace. The JC calendar was adopted but the dream of peace was never realized.

The first story of The Five Star Stories begins in JC 2988. At this time interstellar travel is common and genetically engineered "fatimas" are well established as necessary co-pilots of the fearsome mortar headds that dominate the battlefields. Warfare between nations is commonplace and few still hope for peace.

Mortar Heads are the combat mainstays of the Joker Universe. They are machines which require superhuman reflexes and skill to control, and are therefore only utilized by headdliners with Fatima co-pilots. Fatimas are humanoid creatures genetically engineered for a life of service on the battlefield. Fatimas are necessary copilots for mortar headds and mentally merge with the computer systems of these devastating machines to control weapons, communications and other vital processes. As such, Fatimas are designed to have computational skills rivalling any computer.

Source: Wikipedia


(-_-)...zzZ

Scale modelling (my brief history)

I have been interested in making scale models ever since I was 8. I started my hobby by constructing miniature Tamiya race cars (a.k.a. racers). However, the race cars never lasted long since they were styrene injection kits and would often crack or break upon impact at high speed. The circuitry that kept the miniature 3 Volt DC motor running would also often get busted pretty badly and often require regular maintenance. At approximately $10 USD a pop, it was rather hard for a 8 year old to afford. I did manage to make some small earnings with commissions from other kids around the block for making kits for them, but it just wasn't sufficient.

I soon found interest in conventional Gundam models. I started by collecting the miniature Gundam snap-fit styrene injection kits by 'Bandai' which were a lot more affordable as compared to the Tamiya racers. Back in that time, they only cost about $5 USD each. I remembered owning about 10 mini-models back then. Rather unfortunately, none of them survived to my adulthood (T_T). I also made a couple of standard Gundam snap-fit styrene scale models during my childhood. They were mainly 1:144 scale styrene injection kits. However, like my miniature kits, none of them survived to date.

I also used to own a 1:100 scale L.E.D. Mirage (from the Five Star Stories series) manufactured by WAVE Corp. I won the model in a logo designing competition organised by a magazine that I used to follow during my teens. I had absolutely no idea about the series at that time. Being only 15 and inexperienced in model kits which require painting, I terribly underestimated the difficulty level of the kit. As a result, I made a terrible mess out of the kit and got it terribly "mutilated". My interest in scale modelling soon came to an abrupt halt in my late teens as I was severely lacking in funds and space to fuel my hobby...


(-_-)...zzZ

First Entry & Introductions

Warmest greetings,

This blog is dedicated to my two main interests in life. The first being the my in-depth interest in the subject of Biology, more specifically, molecular biology. For those who do not know me yet, I'm a graduate molecular biologist specialising in plant molecular biology (lots of complicated words :P). The second of my interest is crafting. Which includes model making, both mechanical & electronic work and creating new whatever-nots. Recently, I have regained interest in scale models. It was an old hobby of mine which I started more than a decade ago...


Warmest regards,
(-_-)...zzZ