Category: News

As I spend more time than ever at the bench/ computer, I thought I’d treat myself to a new chair.

After looking around at some different choices and reading some reviews I decided to go with a SecretLabs chair. Using their site I entered my height and weight to let them choose the best model for my needs.

I ordered on Friday evening, and on Tuesday morning this arrived:

The packaging is great. On opening the box you get this:

The guide has a QR code to show a video of the assembly, as well as easy to follow pictures.

Also included is a small toolkit with everything you need.

After around 15 minutes, I ended up with what so far seems a very comfortable chair.

So far, so good. Hopefully I have a good few years of comfort ahead! #Secretlab

It’s been a busy few days here at Gross Models Incorporated. Just finished this months delivery of the Enterprise:

When 2 boxes appear from Fanhome!

A day of building and filming later, and I have lots of footage to edit and upload!

4 issues of R2 and 4 more of Ironman built, and started editing.

They should all be ready to fit into my daily release schedule at 8:30 every morning, ready for you to view at your convenience throughout the day!

I also have the other 3 partworks I am building all out for delivery in the next couple of weeks, so I should be able to keep the releases coming for a while!

I am due a few deliveries over the coming days, as ever starting a new build is both exciting and nerve wracking.

First up is the new one from Hero Collector, the Enterprise D from Star Trek The Next Generation. This is going to be a big one!

The is the R2 build from Fanhome. Although I have already built the DeAgostini one which is the same build, having been approached by Fanhome to build it for free is a massive thing for me, and I am really looking forward to getting into it again. Also I didn’t film the first third of the other droid so it will be nice to get a full series done!

Big thanks must go to Sal for doing the thumbnail art for all my ongoing partworks. Hopefully they will create some interest in the builds!

I need ideas and suggestions.

I expect you are aware of my continuing series of diorama based on the Star Wars series of films. So far I have completed 4 and have 1 in progress and another in theory. That means there are still several films I would like to cover!

A lot on my trouble is the lack of kits in 1:144 scale. I would rather not re-use kits again, but it look like I will have to. (Slave one and the Falcon do have slightly different variants….)

Anyway, if you have ideas for a scene from any of the series, please let me know! If you know of a kit that is available and can think of an iconic scene that it fits into, leave a comment and I’ll look into it!

You may have noticed I don’t do “screen accurate” as much as “inspired by” so feel free to re-work what actually happened to fit your inspiration!

Obviously I can’t commit to making all (or any!) suggestions, but it would really help me out to have some input!

A new month has begun, and I decided as I have been working on the new diorama i should probably update the thumbnails of the old ones. Especially as they were just pictures with no branding on them, and they are some of my most watched videos!

I have picked up some new editing tools, so I thought it would be a good time to have a play and see what I could do to improve the look without changing the picture.

As you can see above, the pictures are alright, but dont actually give any info at all.

I added my logo, and titled them accordingly:

I added the subtle colour shift in the corner that YouTube put the video length and re-sized them a little bit.

Let me know what you think in the comments, and lets see if they stop getting views!

Only a few subscribers away from 4K, and it’s close!

Chefhawk 17:45 31/11/20
Modelmaking Mayhem: 15/12/20
David Foxx: 20:00 17/12/20
James T : 25/12/20
Ian M. G. Thompson: 20:10 31/12/20
Shane Youngs: 15:08 14/1/21
Phil Lewis: 13:00 21/1/21

Redlen08: 28/1/21
Pascal Lieverse: 6:00 1/2/21
Candygramformongo: 12:34 7/2/21

Who’s going to be closest?

There’s always a chance to add to your knowledge. I have recently been working to improve the streams I do, and I feel my audio is a good place for improvement!

I have been using OBS studio for a while now, but only scratching the surface of what can be done with it.

I use a Blue Yeti Mic, which is lovely, but with a little tweaking it can be made better.

I have been using Voicemeeter to give me more options wheere to put my audio outputs when I want to stream and listen at the same time, but now I am also learning about plug-ins with OBS.

Here I have 3 plug-ins from Reaper to cut down on background noise, balance the sound to give a richer feel, and a compression setting to make the audio a little more balanced.

I shall see how it all works when I stream from it, but listening to it myself I can hear a nicer, cleaner sound.

Soon I will start working on the video balances to get some improvement there.

Just having the gear isn’t enough. you also need to learn how to best use it!

ok, ok, I forgot to post about the series going live!

Its been an interesting Christmas time, what can I say!

Anyway, the Ironman series has begun! I have completed the first 2 issues, and they are ready to be watched!

The first one is here: https://youtu.be/0kvcVho5Rw4 and the second one should follow after. Part 3 will be available just after they send it to me…..

Do let me know what you think, the kit is looking very nice so far!

I have been keeping an eye on subscriber numbers, and the dates you submitted to the competition.

Chefhawk 17:45 31/11/20
Modelmaking Mayhem: 15/12/20

David Foxx: 20:00 17/12/20

James T : 25/12/20
Ian M. G. Thompson: 20:10 31/12/20
Shane Youngs: 15:08 14/1/21
Phil Lewis: 13:00 21/1/21
Redlen08: 28/1/21
Pascal Lieverse: 6:00 1/2/21
Candygramformongo: 12:34 7/2/21

So far 2 of you are out, and it’s unlikely I will reach the milestone in time for David to win, but who will be closest?

My current prediction is that it won’t be until after the last date entered, so I am expecting Candygramformongo to be the champ. But things change…….

Soon, a new series will start…..

Yes, it seems that the Ironman build is finally coming to the UK.

I have subscribed, and should receive the first issue before Christmas!

Keep an eye on my YouTube: http://youtube.com/GrossModels for the first issue almost as soon as I get it!