Heyyy, what's taking so long?!!!

Yeah, about that...

So, around the time I was about to get my workbench cleaned off, dust off the airbrush equipment, and get to work, some kitties happened! 😱 Now, am I blaming the cats for my inability to get stuff done? Well, yes and no... I cannot work on resin stuff while they're around, as I fear for their health. Same with painting, though I'm more worried about fur getting into my brushes than anything else, as I do have the fan to ventilate my work area. The kitties also like to get on my work table when I am building, and Gemma has taken to snatching parts, soooo... yeah, most stuff is on hold, ESPECIALLY my recent Enterprise and other heavy conversion kit going on... 😅

We have been trying to catch this cat for 4 years now!!! FOUR!!! Needless to say, she is laser quick and wouldn't go for our traps!!! But she happened to have her kitties in one of our porch bins, so we trapped her and the kitties inside of that and just brought the whole bin inside, then locked that inside a kennel! 

 

 

So from there it was just a matter of getting them fed and watered and keeping up with cleanup. I eventually took the bin out, and actually started letting them run around. This has cost me some model parts and some Transformers weapons, but in the end it's worth it! The pic above was after I had them taken out of the bin and moved them back into the kennel.

This one is Gemma! She's going to my Dad's house here shortly! I've nicknamed her "Zooms" because pretty much all she does is zoom back and forth! 😱😅 She's also gotten to be really friendly and even takes naps in my lap from time to time! 🥰

 

 

 

This is Griffon! He's fussy at times, but he's getting more playful and friendly over time! He'll be going to my friends Jeff and Krysta here shortly! 🥰

 

 

 

Now I gotta get to work on getting the momma back outside at some point. She is not friendly, is extremely feral, and does not want to be in the house. She hasn't really messed with anything, but she takes massive dumps and sometimes uses the outside of the litter box! 🤦 I'm just going to guess this is her "protesting" being locked up inside. In actuality, she is not locked up, but she won't come out long enough for me to coax her outside. I wish I could leave doors open, and that way she could just leave whenever she wants, but we have too many other indoor cats upstairs that we don't need them getting out, soooo...

Yeah, I'll get that part figured out. But she is a beautiful cat, and made two extremely cute kitties! I'm really grateful that they'll be going to good homes!

Edit/Addendum; Momma cat has been let go, and the kitties are at their new homes! I felt bad just letting momma cat out of the house, but she definitely doesn't want to be in there. It's a relief, for both of us, I'm sure!

Well, back to work! 😅

~Sean Kneeland, aka Zakuformer 

Star Wars kit reissues versus their vintage counterparts

Round2 recently started reissuing their Star Wars kits from the MPC molds, and it's awesome to see! The best one yet isn't really a reissue, however; it's even better! 

The three kits I'll be focusing on in the post are the Snap X-Wing, Snap B-Wing, and the TIE Interceptor. The TIE Interceptor was originally issued as a snap kit back in the 80's after Return of the Jedi. The kit wasn't necessarily bad, but it did feel rushed. The only real bad thing about the kit was the very poor pilot figure. I almost felt sorry for the thing! But anyways, on to the pictures... 

This shows the "reissue" (dark grey, left) versus the vintage kit (light grey, right). Note the number of pieces in the reissue... that's because Round2 substuted their newer TIE kit's body, cockpit, and pilot and just used the original kit's wing panels! So essentially we're just getting another TIE fighter with the sleeker wing panels! 😁

These pics are closer shots of both kits.

Showing the wing panels next to each other on their respective trees. You can see how much the factory either cut off of the trees on the "reissue" or blocked out the parts on the mold. 

Now we're getting down to the body! While the body on the original wasn't necessarily bad, it wasn't really all that accurate. I'm glad Round2 took the substitution approach with the "reissue"!

The original kit didn't have an opening hatch at the top of the body. Definitely another upgrade here. The original kit did have a rear door, though, which was really weird, as all it did was reveal the back panel of the pilot seat... 😅

The back panels of both kits. Not sure why the old kit had the clear window. Nothing can be seen through it... 🤷

The new kit also has the optional clear part for the main window. You could do the studio style of windowless panels! 😁

That's right... the older kit's cockpit only has two parts... 😱

Yeah, that older kit pilot... Oi...

The only kit parts shared by both kits! The wing panels were slightly retooled from the "slide and pin lock" version used on the original kit to the slightly more modeler challenging glue required assembly on the new kit. Everything on the TIE needs to be glued anyways, so there was no need to incorporate the older method of assembly into the "reissue". To me this is a welcome change!

The only other change to the kit was the addition of Round2's standard small dome base being included in this kit. I'll have updates of both the old versus new once I get them assembled and painted side by side!

In case you're still here and also wondering about the other two kits I mentioned; the Snap X-Wing and Snap B-Wing kits, side by side on their parts trees;

No changes were made to either kit. Although my copy of the reissue X-Wing had no clear parts, but no issue there as the vintage B-Wing had a spare X-Wing canopy. And I'll likely use the landing gear on that one. Both kits are still as neat as the originals I remember building back in the day, if only slightly more chunky than I remember. Still, they'll look great painted, weathered, and detailed!

Addendum; anyone looking for the old Snap kits of the A-Wing and/or Y-Wing, you best scope out antique shops and flea markets to find them, for there will be no reissues. The molds were apparently destroyed at some point. 😱

Until next time!

~Sean Kneeland, aka Zakuformer