Chas

Been to Udisco a few times myself and I think an hour is quick. The place is essentialy a Hobby wharehose think Ikea, but with models - there are two floors! haven't been over to the RC side so can't comment on that, but man oh man the plastic kits in that place Phew! wares me out just thinking bout it! Not a whole lot of SF mind you, but deffinately worth a visit if you are in the neighborhood.

Here's a basic tutorial that pretty much lays it out. http://sx2gundam.blogspot.com/2011/09/how-to-recast-parts-of-your-gundam.html When you search you'll find many others (probably some video tutorials as well). There is also Oyumaru That you can order from HLJ among other places. The plus with that stuff is it can be re-used.

There are easier and cheaper ways to reproduce a small part othe r than resin casting or 3-d printing. Most small parts can be successfully reproduced by making a mould with epoxy putty. Try searching google with the term "recasting using epoxy putty" and you should find some help.

Hey if anyone here is interested in aquiring anime LPs I just found this site that will take international orders, has a great stock, and an english site. Haven't ordered from them yet, but plan to in the near future. check them out if you like. Lots of old anime titles! http://www.snowrecords.co.jp/servlet/StoreFront

Well then I'd say getting ther kit was well worth it for you! You'd found what you'd been looking for, but had 1 last lingering doubt, and now you know (with the Yamatos) that you have truly found what you've always wanted. So you gonna build it or resell it?

Sorry for the misread. Got it now. No offence taken and I hope my post didn't cause any.

Not ignoring a thing. Personally I prefer the models, just taking Shaorin at his word, and wondering why, if he prefers the 1/60's so much, he would bother with the models? I didn't find anything in his posts that pointed to a possible explanation, or reason for his decision to go with the Hase kits instead of the Yamoto 1/60's, which he obviously owns and prefers. (not that he needs to explain himself at all, it just seemed odd to me, so I asked.)

I'm sorry, I don't get it. Why bother with the models at all then. just collect the V.ii.1:60th scale Yamatos and be done with it. Why set yourself up for disappointment?

Thanks for the reference to my earlier build big F, just to let you all know I have two of these and have started on my Hase. 1:48 Gerwalk, but I don't get much time to build any more so don't expect to see anything for quite some time. Great work on your 1st build Chaser1. Did you use a pre, or post-shading technique for the weathering? I'll be interested to see how you resolve the issues of modding the legs of this kit for Gerwalk mode. hopefully I'll learn a few new tricks. Good luck!

So i was browsing Jbox again and came across this, thought some here might b interested LINK ( damn! forgot the 2nd 't' in toTe)

Guys there is no way this would be made into a resin kit. If it is at all possible it would require a fibergalss mould in a wooden lay-up (rtv would too heavy and probably tear itself up under it own weight when demoulding) FG moulds are expensive, time consuming, and pretty tricky and demanding things to make plus the tend not to last as long. so we are talking about a very expensive process here. Oh yeah and by the way Maverick fabulous job! she looks beautiful. you should feel proud?

I'm with David on this it is exactly what the 1/60 toy is No different. Do you have any idea how much work it would be to redesign this to be snap fit? I also agree with the suggestion of Plastruct weld when assembling. Imagine a 1/60 with no seamlines! Personally I'd putty over the screw holes as well, I guess that's why I build models. A little OT but do you suppose this is Yamato's way of competeing with Bandai's snap kits? I mean look at the price point. If this takes off I dare say we could be seeing the beginning of a new hybrid genre of the scale model/toycollecting world. Consider, in the past we have had: the traditional sacle model - designed to be a highly detailed, ultra-realistic, miniature, staic display piece for the skilled enthusiast. Bandai's snap fit model kits - superbly engineerd, increasingly articulated, moderatelly detailed, relatively easily assembled kit that can be mildly played with for a short time untill the wear become too much for it. Collectible toys - high priced well designed (supposedly), detailed, very accurate representaitons of their subject, meant for the adult "collector" but also robust enough to be played with. Now enter Yamatos new 1/60 toy kit - it fits right between Bandai' snap together model toys and the high-priced collector's toys. plus the price point puts it in competition with Bandai's MG line. Just imagine the possibilities if Yamato secures some new licences.

Eureka Seven never seen it but I've been meaning to. Mostly cus my fav. Japanese band, Supercar, has some music in there somewhere. Any one know more about that?

so when i mod it which end should i put the vibrating motor in ?? hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm?

Hey John the blue line on the large one, I take it that's to be the parting line? Are you planning a single pour two -part mould?

Beautiful sculpt John! Is that Chavant (or however it`s spelled) modeling clay - the same stuff they used to use for automotive concept models (before computers)?

Resin will not bond with regular (styrene) model glue so CA is usually used (sometimes 2 part epoxy). Resin parts are solid which makes them heavier and so they will often require the insertion of wire supports at the joins (called pinning). Some resin kit manufacturers may use low-tech, or low quality mould release agents, so washing the parst throughly in a mild soap and warm water is usually required. Depending on the quality of the casting there may be tremendous amounts of FLASH (eccess resin that had leaked into the spaces between the different parts of the mould.) This could reqire anything from a hooby knife to a motor tool to remove. Nice score Thom! I'd love to have an SDF-1 in my colletion. I may have to add this to my want list now ( unless a styrene version is released by someone)

Very nice figures! I figured that once they were painted up the likenesses would 'click'. I like your take on the characters. There is a good resemblance and you have kept a distinct style. Kudos on these. It's good to see more fan made macross figures. Thanks for showing these off.

Ah, but then they wouldn't be able to release a seperate DYRL 1/48 varient kit and milk the molds some more.

Everyone is assuming that the show was made first. I suspect that it was in fact the other way around. I propse that these cheap toys came first. Initially meant as a modern day equivalent to the old-skool VF-1 boots we all came to love/hate. But then some mucky-muck thought "Hey why stop there? Why not rip off the entire show and call it an homage - then we can make lots more money and everything will be ligit!" [of course these thoughts would have been in chinese in said mucky-mucks head - I'm translating] That's why the toys were able to be released so quickly! And why the show sucks SOOOOOO MUCH - It's just a vehicle to sell bad bootleg toys - why pay writers? Have the president's secretary's kids write it!

I don't see any Picasso there - Gustave Klimt yes, but Picasso? Hontoni? Anyway Watched the first two eps. Not bad, still to early to say it's fabulous but it is not terrible. But Moe-less? I DON'T THINK SO!

+1 I think it is best to keep it simple. What do you want it for? If you're going to display it only - get a model. If you want to transform / play with it - get a toy. simple as that. How much does a DX go for anyway? get three models of each VF to display in each mode, would it realy be that much more expensive than one DX? (keeping in mind how much better the models look?) Same for the Hase. VF-1 kits (but you'd have to buy two fighter and two battriod kits + do some mods/scratch building if you wanted to have all three modes) vs. the Yammies. I build models because I like to 'build' them, once I'm finished and they go on the shlef there is a great deal of satisfaction and (sometimes) pride, but then it's on to the next build - 'cus that's what juices me. So, while I do share a little of LTSO sentiments for the 'TOY BOYS', really, it's up to you. Whichever you choose is fine, just make sure the choice will serve you. If you want a toy to transform and play with then get a toy and screw what anyone else says. Lastly I know that the Bandai's are 'transformable' and while it is technically true - it does (drastically sometimes) reduce the life of the model. So if you want to have it around for a while (and after all the work that goes into building a model most of us do) then I (like others) would warn against transforming it. That's my two scents.

Has Bandai ever made anything in 1/48 scale?

Both are looking good! Like Jardann said it's a lot of fun to see all of these classic kits being built of late. Now your next assignment, should you choose to accept it is to work out those seem lines! it looks like you've got some good skills with assembly, paint, and decals, so now would be a good time to take it up to the next level - putty and sand those seem lines. When you've gained confidence in doing that you will have all of the basic skills you'll need to tackle any kit. Seriously, though if the seem lines don't bother you then forget about working them out and ust keep having fun! That's what realy matters!

My guess is that they don't do it in-house. I think they probably out-source it to a commercial printing firm. Commercial decals are, I believe, produced through a screen printing process. Some companies (i.e. Hase.) may do it themselves, but I suspect that the majority probably out source it - probably to the same printing firm that produces their packaging. Try a google search for "commercial water-slide decal manufacture" and see what you get. If any of them do manufacture the decals in house they undoubtedly use a screen printing process as well. That's my guess anyway.