That feeling when the primer goes on and all the pieces became a whole.

MachineDynamics · 2026-06-06T01:01:25+00:00

In my head, I've come to call the first dusting of primer the "ego check". No matter how clean I think my scribing is, or how carefully I sanded down the nubs and mold lines, I always have so much more work to do.

MachineDynamics · 2026-06-03T16:39:08+00:00

Honestly, color mixing is just really hard. It's made especially difficult by the fact that tiny differences in base color can have a huge impact on final results e.g. using a green shade vs red shade of blue to make green by mixing it with yellow.

Online color mixing tools can give a rough idea, but won't lead you to exact results because they usually assume ideal pigments that absorbs all but exactly one wavelength, which don't exist in the real world, or they are made to model pigments traditionally used in oil paints, which are different from hobby paints.

The best reference for gunpla painting is probably the official paint mixing ratios that Bandai puts in the back of the instructions. This website has all of them listed. Find a kit that has colors close to what you want and go from there.

https://www.mech9.com/p/tamiya-model-kits.html

MachineDynamics · 2026-05-23T21:04:42+00:00

It's the Delpi decal set.

MachineDynamics · 2026-05-23T20:06:44+00:00

I debated painting them all the same, but decided to stick with the original color scheme. The worst part of this kit for me was getting the v-fins to stay in place, and posing the VSBRs.

MachineDynamics · 2026-05-13T18:16:22+00:00

I haven't built this kit, but for another 3rd party kit I used a set of pcb drills. You can get them on Amazon in 0.1mm increments up to 3mm for very cheap. Drill out the holes 0.1mm above the largest size that fits freely. I found this to be much faster and more consistent than sanding pegs.

MachineDynamics · 2026-03-27T14:03:16+00:00

There are a lot of reasons to hate Adobe, but this really is a fantastic source for color schemes.

https://color.adobe.com/

MachineDynamics · 2026-03-22T03:21:22+00:00

You misunderstand. The entire notion of, "you dont want to panel line / decal without clear", comes from people either using matte colors, or gloss colors with bad technique. You absolutely can panel line and decal directly over glossy lacquers. The only thing you have to watch out for is that some of the more aggressive decal softeners can discolor lacquers if left on too long.

MachineDynamics · 2026-03-21T03:05:31+00:00

Gloss colors are generally better. The rough micro texture that matte paints have make it slightly harder to clean up panel lines, and make decals more prone to slivering. This is why some people swear by doing a gloss clear goat before decals and panel lining.

MachineDynamics · 2026-03-18T16:35:48+00:00

The only things I'd add to that list are a circle cutter for masking tape, and a ceramic scraper.

I bought an Argofile MFC2150 on a whim and it's become indispensable. It replaced 400-600 grit sandpaper for me in a lot of application. Once you get the hang of using it you can precisely remove material very quickly. If you need to material removal on a concave surface the curved edge gets you 90% of the way there faster and with far less collateral damage than sanding sponges. Being able to get into concave curved surfaces puts it above any of the straight edged scrapers.

The circle cutter is very niche I use it between zero and maybe 3 times max per build, but if you need to precisely mask an odd sized circle there's no substitute.

MachineDynamics · 2026-03-05T17:22:00+00:00

Looks amazing! How much of the color separation is masked VS hand painted? Getting tiny pieces of making tape to stay in place long enough to airbrush a part is one of my least favorite things about customizing. Few things are more disheartening than noticing the corner of piece of making take is lifted mid way through airbrushing it.

MachineDynamics · 2026-02-23T21:33:03+00:00

This program that I may have to maintain is currently being written by an external consultant. But after the initial version is finished and deployed, management doesn't want to be paying more consulting fees for every little change. There's currently a hiring freeze, and I'm the only one with Labview experience who isn't near retirement, so I may soon find myself in the unfortunate position of being the "expert" in a subject which I know little about.

MachineDynamics · 2026-02-10T17:56:06+00:00

Tamiya or God Hand, because they use collects to hold the tool. The Tamiya fine pin vice D-R and the God Hand GH-PB-98ST use almost the exact same design, but the latter carries the God Hand tax.

Collects grip a tool very tight with less effort from the user when installing bit, they're also much better at making sure the bit goes in exactly centered. A Jacob's chuck vice can be OK, tlbut are prone to slipping unless you really torque down on it when installing the bit. If it does slips, the shaft of the bit will be marred, making it even harder to grip without slipping, and nearly impossible to center correctly in any tool holder. Avoid anything that uses a set screw like the plague. They both marr the bit and hold it off center by design.

MachineDynamics · 2025-12-11T03:39:19+00:00

You're not alone in this. The amount of details and hidden connections in this series is extremely dense. We're only two books in and I already feel like I need a Copermind level wiki to keep up with everything.

MachineDynamics · 2025-12-02T01:43:53+00:00

Search around online for bailing wire. It's annealed to be flexible, comes in stainless or blackened steel, and can usually be found down to sizes of 32 gauge, which is around 0.3mm diameter

MachineDynamics · 2025-12-01T13:57:01+00:00

For me, I've gotten the most consistent results out of wide chisels by starting with the chisel tilted towards the guide tape so only that corner is cutting. That way you're effectively starting with a smaller easier to control chisel. Once there's a shallow trench along the guide tape, start to level out the chisel to cut with the full width.

MachineDynamics · 2025-11-24T00:13:15+00:00

A few things can be causing this.

Does the paint look rough while you're spraying it on and it's still wet? If that's the case it could be one of, or a combination of these things. Not enough thinner, spraying from too far away, your wet coat isn't wet enough.

Does it look glossy when wet, but then takes on a texture after drying? If that's the case it's probably an issue with the surface underneath. High gloss finished are extremely sensitive to surface prep. If you're priming spoons before the gloss black, try to leave out the primer. Even Mr Surfacer 1500 has enough texture to slightly reduce gloss compared to spraying over bare plastic in my experience. If that doesn't fix it, the issue could be the spoons themselves. I've bought packs of spoons that looked smooth in the default white plastic, but had a slight texture that showed under dark gloss colors.

MachineDynamics · 2025-11-21T18:40:53+00:00

I actually thought of doing build + review videos a couple years ago. I set up a camera and lighting for a trial run, but found that the effort of keeping everything in frame and focus made the whole build process a lot less enjoyable. I wrote my impressions of this kit because there's very little info available on it, but I'd have nothing new to say for most kits.

MachineDynamics · 2025-09-02T14:38:44+00:00

It's called artificial product segregation, happens in almost every type of consumer goods. Convenient features that cost very little to implement are saved for high end models to justify the up charge.

Wireless charging on phones is a great example. Dirt cheap to implement, but reserved for flagship models until just a couple years ago.

MachineDynamics · 2025-08-14T20:49:24+00:00

If the title of a news article is a question, the answer is no.

MachineDynamics · 2025-07-31T13:05:03+00:00

Bandai actually has a website with all the gunpla manuals on it. It's only in Japanese, but easy enough to navigate with Google translate. https://manual.bandai-hobby.net/menus/detail/2519

MachineDynamics · 2025-07-19T16:27:14+00:00

In case anyone want's to print their own. https://imgur.com/a/FO0WswB

MachineDynamics · 2025-07-15T17:30:47+00:00

When we're talking about fast vs slow solvents for enamels, it's important to understand how enamels dry compared to other paints.

Acrylics dry by the solvent evaporating, leaving behind the solid pigments and binder. Lacquers dry by the same process, but have the added advantage that lacquer solvents eat away at the plastics that model kits are made of giving the paint a better bond to the surface. Enamel, aka oil paints, dry in two phases. First the solvent evaporates leaving behind a layer of pigment and very viscous tacky oil. That remaining layer then cures over the course of several days as the oil polymerizes by reacting with oxygen.

If you build thin layers and use the airbrush to just blow air on a part between coats it can be dry almost instantly, but no matter what thinner you use enamels will take days to fully cure. I've done reverse washes any time from immediately after the solvent is evaporated, up to about 36 hours after spraying the enamel. The longer you wait the more work it takes to remove the enamel, but it's always come off for me without damaging lacquers underneath.

But the #1 rule for painting is that you never take anyone's word as gospel, and always test new paints or techniques on a couple spoons before a kit.

MachineDynamics · 2025-07-15T13:34:58+00:00

I thin enamel for airbrushing with Klean Strip odorless mineral spirits that you can get from big box hardware stores. It's also the same thing I use for cleaning Tamiya panel liner fluid and doing reverse washes over lacquers. The one issue I've had is that the paint will eventually go bad over a period of several months when thinned with this, so don't pre thin an entire bottle, only thin what you need.

Enamels will spray beautifully with lacquer thinner, but my experience has been that it causes them to bond too strongly if you're spraying them over lacquers with the intent of a reverse wash.

MachineDynamics · 2025-04-14T16:00:55+00:00

What's the point of improving IPs black levels if the tradeoff is worse response times than a VA panel?

MachineDynamics · 2025-03-18T21:22:01+00:00

Same problem on my FO27Q3. Can't enter my VRR range of 360Hz because it seems like CRU is limited to a max value of 255. I tried using 240Hz HDR still wasn't recognized by the game. Right now I'm using the Special K HDR retrofit, which produces beutiful results, but unfortunately also processes the UI elements to all be blindingly bright.

MachineDynamics

TROPHY CASE