# First post-first build of Mk II Viper!



## modelguy1 (Sep 10, 2011)

I have read these threads many times but never posted. I finally got off airplanes, retreated in haste from my 2 year project on a 1/350 Refit, and built this. Photo taken with an iPhone held at 3-4 inches down low.


----------



## John P (Sep 1, 1999)

:thumbsup:


----------



## Lou Dalmaso (Jul 13, 2004)

very dramatic! looks like the full sized set


----------



## Styrofoam_Guy (May 4, 2004)

I like the silver highlight on the nose for the weathering.


----------



## scooke123 (Apr 11, 2008)

Nice work - the weathering is just right!
Steve


----------



## Paulbo (Sep 16, 2004)

Nicely done. The second photo looks like it's the full-sized piece - the angle and height are just right and the lighting really adds to the affect.


----------



## kdaracal (Jan 24, 2009)

Paulbo said:


> Nicely done. The second photo looks like it's the full-sized piece - the angle and height are just right and the lighting really adds to the affect.


Exactly! Check out this photo I took at the Seattle S/F museum of the *full size mock-up*:










What an awesome build! And photo angle!!
:wave:


----------



## Mitchellmania (Feb 14, 2002)

Awesome work! Post more!!


----------



## kdaracal (Jan 24, 2009)

Mitchellmania said:


> Awesome work! Post more!!


Yea, now you are just teasing us. Try to post more when you get a chance!!


----------



## modelguy1 (Sep 10, 2011)

will do! working on a mark VII, I will be departing from the "traditional blue" as seen in the series, and using the tradition "white with red stripes". 

I will also try and post the settings for getting a real good exposure on the iphone up close- it takes a lot of screwing around with lighting and settings to get the "right up close" look!


----------



## modelguy1 (Sep 10, 2011)

Actually, I left this photo off my original post...To be honest I was nervous about how my first post and and a rather explicit display of my modelling skills so publicly... Anyway-really thanks for the compliments, they feel great and encourage me!


----------



## modelguy1 (Sep 10, 2011)

*quality of Viper mk2 kit!?!*

I just recently bought another kit after my model shop was out of stock for a long period. I expected to find the same quality as this past one. NO! I am not sure what has changed, but i noticed some things right off- the materials was flimsy, flexible, and translucent. The texture on it was grainy. The rear nozzles section was warped, and the nozzles were NOT the same length, I had to cut them and shave them to match. The fit of the parts was terrible. And finally, I wash all my kit parts carefully, and primed and painted it with Krylon. A wavy sort of grease smear keeps coming through the paint...

Finally, the box quality was very different (same graphics) than the last one. 

It is almost like a totally different kit. Has anyone seen this? Can anyone tell me what is going on?


----------



## Xenodyssey (Aug 27, 2008)

I'd wonder if that was a pirated kit, ie an illegal copy.


----------



## Paulbo (Sep 16, 2004)

I've gotten like 7 or 8 of the Viper MK IIs and not had an issue with any of them. There's something terribly odd about that.

Though I can't imagine there'd be a big enough market to warrant it, Xenodyssey's is about as close an explanation as I can figure out.


----------



## falcondesigns (Oct 30, 2002)

modelguy1 said:


> I just recently bought another kit after my model shop was out of stock for a long period. I expected to find the same quality as this past one. NO! I am not sure what has changed, but i noticed some things right off- the materials was flimsy, flexible, and translucent. The texture on it was grainy. The rear nozzles section was warped, and the nozzles were NOT the same length, I had to cut them and shave them to match. The fit of the parts was terrible. And finally, I wash all my kit parts carefully, and primed and painted it with Krylon. A wavy sort of grease smear keeps coming through the paint...
> 
> Finally, the box quality was very different (same graphics) than the last one.
> 
> It is almost like a totally different kit. Has anyone seen this? Can anyone tell me what is going on?


Please show us pictures of this new kit.........


----------



## modelguy1 (Sep 10, 2011)

I will take a photo of the box and post. The model is built and painted but I did not attach the nozzle piece, so I will take a photo of that and describe what I had to do to modify.

I too am perplexed, it does not seem that Itwould pay to copy this kit , selling a few hundred thousand bogus iPads is one thing, versus selling a few thousand (at best!) model kits. But something is way off on this. It is not short shots in the mold, I used to work in a plastic injection molding plant in Fitchburg, ma, and I know what a short or warp looks like. 

But I will follow with another post on this.


----------



## kdaracal (Jan 24, 2009)

I sure hope you continue to post your build here. Your skills are awesome!


----------



## modelguy1 (Sep 10, 2011)

As I promised-

Attached are several thumbs. I will walk you through what is strange:

1) The nozzles are way warped to the right. You can clearly see this in the photo. I really cannot use this part it is so bad. Also, the RH nozzle was already cut off, the mounting stub shortened, and glued back on. And dammit, it is still too long! Prior to alteration, it was even longer!

2) There is this weird texture to the parts, grainy, gravelly (hard to see in photo). I washed, sanded smooth, and painted with Krylon, which has good self-levelling properties, and is sort of like Kilz for models. This streaky greasy look came through, 2 coats. My biggest beef, the actual parts themselves were almost floppy on the sprue and translucent. When I bonded the wing halves together they were so flimsy the seams kept cracking open. I cannot show this phenomena, it is too late in the build...

3) Finally, the photo does not do it justice, but the box is made of a very flimsy material, and the printing is simply not a nice crisp look...

On the flip side- the clear parts appear perfect, they even came in the baggies like the last one. The instructions look good, no sign of an issue there.

Just very disappointed with these oddities. I am abandoning this build (too bad-the cockpit was pretty sweet- I may break this out and reuse it in another model).  I will buy another- I am the type who will get on a kit, max it out, and move on. But I wanted to show this.

Richard


----------



## Paulbo (Sep 16, 2004)

That's really weird.

Have you contacted Moebius about this to see if they can make things right?


----------



## modelguy1 (Sep 10, 2011)

New question!

So I really was paying attention to the last build and was putting on the landing gear doors. I noticed that the rear doors (all 4) have curvatures even though 2 of the doors should be flat. Since I have not built one with closed doors, I wonder if this is correct?


----------



## JamesInNC (Sep 17, 2011)

Contact Mobius and share your story. I bet they will send you a replacement kit.

James


----------



## modelguy1 (Sep 10, 2011)

*Much work- salvaged the build- neat picture!*

OK, after all my b_tching about the kit, I finally got it all together. Well almost. I got so excited about the beauty shots that I set up some angles even before I finished the guns and put on some additional battle damage, and finally the antennas at wing tips. Sure, those will last long..

Anyway, I put a piece of black construction paper on the kitchen counter, propped the empty box back from my previous model build, and started trying to find the right combination of box angle (can't be too flat or the flash shows on the box) and the model. I think this one came out shockingly well. Mostly because my expectations were low!

I have received some purple, blue, and green decals from jt graphics, next ones will be variations.

Please see below.


----------



## modelguy1 (Sep 10, 2011)

*dammit*

I just noticed on the blowup I forgot to sand the small "12" off the gear door! Prep for surgery!


----------



## martinh2 (Mar 7, 2010)

*Flakey batch ??*



modelguy1 said:


> I just recently bought another kit after my model shop was out of stock for a long period. I expected to find the same quality as this past one. NO! I am not sure what has changed, but i noticed some things right off- the materials was flimsy, flexible, and translucent. The texture on it was grainy. The rear nozzles section was warped, and the nozzles were NOT the same length, I had to cut them and shave them to match. The fit of the parts was terrible. And finally, I wash all my kit parts carefully, and primed and painted it with Krylon. A wavy sort of grease smear keeps coming through the paint...
> 
> Finally, the box quality was very different (same graphics) than the last one.
> 
> It is almost like a totally different kit. Has anyone seen this? Can anyone tell me what is going on?


I must admit I also had issues with the quality of my model, although maybe not to the extent you had. The fit of the parts were really not very good and I had to do a lot of work to get it right. Especially at the back end. Some of the parts on the back were misaligned and there were big gaps I had to fill to make it work. And now that you guys mentioned it I realized my landing bay doors were also all curved. I did not have the same issues as you with the grease line. I used Tamiya primer first to see if all my filling was OK before spraying the base white on. I will post some pics I took while building mine for you as well. Maybe we got the kits from the same batch or something.


----------



## modelguy1 (Sep 10, 2011)

We are kit-brothers then!


----------



## martinh2 (Mar 7, 2010)

*My Viper problems*

I hope the pics work this time. Just a few pics I took during the build that highlighted the problems I had. The kit came out ok but with a lot of work, and I must say I have built much better quality kits before. I wonder though if I was not on the receiving end of a flakey batch or something because looking at the general comments here on the forum it seems like this kit is very good quality and fit. I will however build the Viper mkVII....if only I can get my hands on one....Moebius..how about a test kit there ??


----------



## kenlee (Feb 11, 2010)

modelguy1 said:


> As I promised-
> 
> Attached are several thumbs. I will walk you through what is strange:
> 
> ...


Really strange, I have built two of these kits and had only very minor problems, mostly with the brittle decals and that was fixed by spraying a clear coat on the decal sheet. I built one straight from the box and one as if it were used on the original series.

http://photos.hobbytalk.com/data/509/100_1293.JPG


----------



## teslabe (Oct 20, 2007)

martinh2 said:


> I hope the pics work this time. Just a few pics I took during the build that highlighted the problems I had. The kit came out ok but with a lot of work, and I must say I have built much better quality kits before. I wonder though if I was not on the receiving end of a flakey batch or something because looking at the general comments here on the forum it seems like this kit is very good quality and fit. I will however build the Viper mkVII....if only I can get my hands on one....Moebius..how about a test kit there ??


IMHO, I think you and modelguy1 ether got kits from a bad production run or,
as crazy at it might sound, got counterfeit kits......:drunk: I just did a fast tape-up of one of my kits and even without trimming any flash, the fit is very nice and tight. I would contact Frank at Moebius and offer your kit for investagation or at least a replacement. Just a thought.......:wave:


----------



## teslabe (Oct 20, 2007)

kenlee said:


> Really strange, I have built two of these kits and had only very minor problems, mostly with the brittle decals and that was fixed by spraying a clear coat on the decal sheet. I built one straight from the box and one as if it were used on the original series.
> 
> http://photos.hobbytalk.com/data/509/100_1293.JPG


Oooooh, pretty....... That turned out great.........:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:


----------



## martinh2 (Mar 7, 2010)

mmhhh interesting, I like the way you took pics with the same angles I had. Makes for good comparison. Granted you did not trim off yet etc, and like you say even then it looks like it fits better than mine. Oohh well the Viper is at least space worthy by now....

Now if Frank at Moebius would like to send me a Viper mkVII to compare I will not protest.


----------



## teslabe (Oct 20, 2007)

martinh2 said:


> mmhhh interesting, I like the way you took pics with the same angles I had. Makes for good comparison. Granted you did not trim off yet etc, and like you say even then it looks like it fits better than mine. Oohh well the Viper is at least space worthy by now....
> 
> Now if Frank at Moebius would like to send me a Viper mkVII to compare I will not protest.



Are you too far along with the build to send it back or is it not worth the trouble? I had problems with a kit, sent back the parts that were at fault and got a whole new one, Moebius's customer service is the best......:thumbsup:

Sorry, I should have paid more attention to your earlier post where you said that the build was done.


----------



## kenlee (Feb 11, 2010)

martinh2 said:


> I hope the pics work this time. Just a few pics I took during the build that highlighted the problems I had. The kit came out ok but with a lot of work, and I must say I have built much better quality kits before. I wonder though if I was not on the receiving end of a flakey batch or something because looking at the general comments here on the forum it seems like this kit is very good quality and fit. I will however build the Viper mkVII....if only I can get my hands on one....Moebius..how about a test kit there ??


The MK VII is a good kit as well, the only real issue was the placement of the seam lines on the underside of the wings, an easy fix with a little putty. Here is mine, again painted as if it were in the original series.


----------



## martinh2 (Mar 7, 2010)

Great stuff Kenlee, now you just got me more interested to build the mk VII. As I work offshore building kits is a periodic thing for me when I am at home. I travel all over the world regularly and I try to visit hobby shops wherever I go. The mk II I bought in a hobby shop in London and I have been to a few shops in the USA as well, not to mention every one I know of at home in Cape Town. Alas I have yet to see the mk VII in any one of them....so How do I get my hands on one from Cape Town ? Any suggestions ? I was considering internet purchase but I do not have faith in the postal service delivering me a kit still completely intact.


----------



## modelguy1 (Sep 10, 2011)

I have never seen a mkvii in a store either- you have to get them off the Internet, which is a shame, because I like to support my local hobby shop!


----------



## kdaracal (Jan 24, 2009)

kenlee said:


> The MK VII is a good kit as well, the only real issue was the placement of the seam lines on the underside of the wings, an easy fix with a little putty. Here is mine, again painted as if it were in the original series.


kenlee,
Sounds like you solved the seam issue pretty easily. But I have a question:

Even though the seam was a little too visible, did it still follow a natural grid line? That is to say, if there was NO model pieces coming together there, would there have been an engraved panel line at that spot? Moebius seam lines are usually placed well, where possible.


----------



## martinh2 (Mar 7, 2010)

Took the plunge and just bought the Viper mkVII, BSG Spaceship and Ironman figure (Deviating a bit, but always wanted to try a figure..) from Megahobby.com


----------



## kenlee (Feb 11, 2010)

kdaracal said:


> kenlee,
> Sounds like you solved the seam issue pretty easily. But I have a question:
> 
> Even though the seam was a little too visible, did it still follow a natural grid line? That is to say, if there was NO model pieces coming together there, would there have been an engraved panel line at that spot? Moebius seam lines are usually placed well, where possible.


In most cases the seams do follow natural panel lines with the exceptions highlited below, even though the seam crossed several natural lines, it was an easy fix with putty since the lines are recessed and were easy to restore.


----------



## kdaracal (Jan 24, 2009)

kenlee said:


> In most cases the seams do follow natural panel lines with the exceptions highlited below, even though the seam crossed several natural lines, it was an easy fix with putty since the lines are recessed and were easy to restore.


Understood. Thanks!

BTW: great Gemini 12 I see in the background!


----------



## kenlee (Feb 11, 2010)

kdaracal said:


> Understood. Thanks!
> 
> BTW: great Gemini 12 I see in the background!


Thanks, got to finish that, haven't worked on it in months. I also replaced the photo showing where the seams are on the MK VII as the first photo was inaccurate.


----------



## kdaracal (Jan 24, 2009)

> _I also replaced the photo showing where the seams are on the MK VII as the first photo was inaccurate._


You are a master of the doctored photo, my friend!


----------



## modelguy1 (Sep 10, 2011)

I am posting some pics of my first Mark Vii that came off the production line a few weeks ago. I am more pleased with the model than the pictures=. I think I struck a neat combination to make up the main color blue, which actually is not that far off from the model recommendation, but gives it a lot more depth. 

I started with Tamiya Fine White Primer. Then the recommended Pontiac Engine Blue Metallic. That seemed good, but dead and thin (you know what I mean?). So I oversprayed that with pactra Racing Finish R/C Acryl Change-Blue (but here is the trick- do NOT mix the bottle- draw it right off the top, a quick shake s all). Then gloss cote for the decals, and then a matte. The finish looks much deeper. This is about the 4th time I have used that color change, and it really lends a "coolness" of color along with a visually catching effect that is very, very subtle.

See below!


----------



## modelguy1 (Sep 10, 2011)

I am posting some pics of my first Mark Vii that came off the production line a few weeks ago. I am more pleased with the model than the pictures=. I think I struck a neat combination to make up the main color blue, which actually is not that far off from the model recommendation, but gives it a lot more depth. 

I started with Tamiya Fine White Primer. Then the recommended Pontiac Engine Blue Metallic. That seemed good, but dead and thin (you know what I mean?). So I oversprayed that with pactra Racing Finish R/C Acryl Change-Blue (but here is the trick- do NOT mix the bottle- draw it right off the top, a quick shake s all). Then gloss cote for the decals, and then a matte. The finish looks much deeper. This is about the 4th time I have used that color change, and it really lends a "coolness" of color along with a visually catching effect that is very, very subtle.

See below!


----------



## martinh2 (Mar 7, 2010)

I don't see the photos...


----------



## Scorpitat (Oct 7, 2004)

I see dead photos. LOL :wave:


----------



## modelguy1 (Sep 10, 2011)

*Photo*

OK, that last one was actually very clever...


----------



## martinh2 (Mar 7, 2010)

More pics ? My MkVII is still in the box. I somehow managed to pile up quite a few kits to build 

First have to save my Moebius Ironman figure.


----------



## modelguy1 (Sep 10, 2011)

OK- Here is another


----------



## martinh2 (Mar 7, 2010)

Very nice. Liked how you posed it on the hangar background.


----------



## modelguy1 (Sep 10, 2011)

How is life in Cape Town? One of the places I have always wanted to visit! Good luck with your mark vii build- I would recommend buying a photo etch cockpit kit- the stock cockpit is bare bones to put it optimistically.


----------



## martinh2 (Mar 7, 2010)

Done already. My MKII Viper is proudly standing it's ground in my display case next to my Wright Flyer. (Talk about extremes..ha ha) I bought the ParaGrafix set 

http://www.paragrafix.biz/product_detail.asp?PPartNum=PGX144

As well as the detail sets for my Battlestar Galactica. Now all I need is time to get to build them.


----------



## modelguy1 (Sep 10, 2011)

Cool- definitely lighting my next Viper- Just finishing up this- debating an immediate launch into another 1/350 refit while all the painful memories of the first one are clear (SO many things I would do different! argh!) or taking a well-deserved Trek-break and building the oft-rumored Galactica model. I started the refit in 1/2010, and it has been the proverbial labor of love, with may transgressions of the lover to the loved. I cheated on her with several Vipers, and a couple of other models along the way!

Good luck on the next build and let me know!


----------

