AKD001

I love resin kits. Some genres don't really need it to pull off a good kit. Take a VF-19, for example. Hasegawa can execute a gorgeous model of it using plastic, because of its general shape and lack of extremely meticulous details (besides the panel lines, which are cake) in 1/72 scale. That's all fine and dandy to me, don't get me wrong. Planes and stuff have general shapes, with large, flat, aerodynamic surfaces. But some other kit genres are very hard to model accurately in anything but resin in a typical scale (1/100, 1/72), simply because of their design. Kits from the mecha series Five Star Stories are a prime example. They are semi organic; basically robotic, soul-infused animals with armor bolted on to them. The detail inherent in FSS designs require a medium that can portray such detail accurately and vividly. In this case, plastic just doesn't do the job, thus resin comes in as the primary medium. To this day, the majority of FSS kits are resin of neccesity. It is simply too hard to render an accurate plastic FSS kit comparable to a resin. The standard is off the scale. Cost is high, neccesarily because of material cost, availability and demand, yes, but the detail is incomparable. 'Just my two cents... Check out hobbyfan.com's section on Five Star Stories resin kits for an example. The clear resin armored Mighty Series are good examples of a kind of kit on a level that plastic can't touch. Again, this isn't to diss plastic; Alot of the gundam and macross series kits that I have and play to buy are plastic, because plastic suits them fine, but all except one of my FSS kits are resin. Things are better that way. -Z

wow, that's really nice. I haven't seen the panel line detail on these Hasegaw VF- kits until now. Really crisp and thin (though I heard that that can become a problem on some kits, where they're TOO thin) What kind of wash and shading tech did you use?

I'm trying to make a tri-mode Hasegawa YF-19 (my first Mac kit), and possibly a VF-0S when it comes out. The problem is, I've got very few resources for accurate transformation mechanisms. In fact, all I have right now is the detailed VF-0S transformation sequence shown in M:Zero. What is the best, most accurate and proportion-friendly transformable kit in 1/72 scale out there? I'll take your suggestions and buy one to examine the transformation process and stick it in my -19. Thanks alot. It's good to build something other than an MS or MH for a change! -Z

Thanks, 007. Those are just what I needed. I think I'm going to buy another -19 as well to finish this tri-mode conversion. As far as keeping the best proportions in all modes, could y'all point me to some good resources?

Terrible... I like those flying, limited edition Super Sentinels better...what were they called again?

Hey y'all. This is AKD001 from the g.com and hobbyfan boards. wm cheng referred me to this place to satiate my new found infatuation with Macross kits. I've been building G and FSS pla/resin for a decade, but never got into the Macross scene until I watched M:Plus and M:Zero (what's out so far) a couple weeks ago and then broke down and bought a Hasegawa YF-19. It's a sweet kit, and now I'm looking for more. What are y'all's recommendations as far as Valk kits go? I hear there are some, more "toy" than model, which transform, but that's not really my deal. I'm busy at it is adding joints to my YF-19 so it can go between fighter and gerwalk mode. Stand alone, well sized and well detailed fighters are what I'm after. I hear there are alot of Hasegawa kits coming out that are good. Which one's are best? Also, are there any reputable resin kits that are worth looking at? I've seen those 1/48s... pricy suckers. If y'all could fill me in on what kits are best and worth the price, that would be great. Links to finished models are always choice. (I've seen wm cheng's stuff; his Mave is what caught my attention back to "fixed wing" kits). Anything you could provide would be greatly appreciated. Thanks! -Z P.S. Are there any scratchbuilders out there? I keep hearing that fully transformable kits have terrible proportions. Has anyone modded a YF-19 or Super Valk into a respectable looking 3-mode model to remedy this problem? Also, I need better reference pics of the YF-19, for proportion questions I'm facing. Preferably in all three modes.

Is the cockpit canopy going to be a clear part as well? It seems obvious to make it so, but it doesn't say here, and the pic is a bit hard to make out.