Model-Junkie

Actually, there were proposals for a naval version of the ATF competition winner - not sure about the YF-23, but the projected naval F-22 would have had swing wings...

YF-19 looking J-20! Someone created some CG images of the J-20 with forward swept wings:

Welcome to the forums, the Nothung 2 is from Macross The Ride, the regular VF-11B Thunderbolt is from Macross Plus. The VF-11B Thunderbolt and Super Thunderbolt include what can be considered low viz grey schemes on the decal sheets but there are no low viz aftermarket decals.

An option is to use 1/72 low viz decals from real aircraft / squadrons, which is what a lot of Macross squadrons seemto be based on anyway. For example, the VE-11 Thunder Seeker SVAW-121 Squadron seems to echo the real life USN VAW-121 AEW Squadron. There are numerous low viz F-14, F-16 and F/A-18 decals out there available for you to appropriate and use for your own custom Squadrons.

Edited to correct spelling

Looking at the seller's completed auction history, it was previously listed it for sale at $74.99

I assume the auction price is a placeholder whilst he/she is away or maybe they just went crazy and figured the next lower relisting price would make the price seem more reasonable

Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370 missing. Outcome is not looking too great. Was hoping the wife would not see the news as we are flying at the end of March and she hates flying

Bandai does not make any 1/48 Macross kits so Hasegawa is the winner.

If you are referring to 1/72, Bandai does not make any non-transformable Macross fighter kits and again Hasegawa would be the winner if you are looking for a kit in fighter mode.

Thanks for offering this service! Have you ever ordered decals / parts for Hasegawa's limited edition kits? Just wondering is those items are as readily available as the regular release kits. For example, I am interested in picking up the two seater parts from the VF-11D and that kit is currently sold out.

I have bought over 30 items from Mandarake in the last 6 months. Those statements are NOT usually listed on the product page; it makes me a little suspicious. However, Mandarake will usually take detailed photos of the item if there is obvious damage.

Perhaps the photos of the Cat's Eye built by PetarB will help

I finally received a cancellation notice for my order from Dec 19th. I was afraid it was cancelled because I did not pay in time but I am still able to order (at least it appears I am still able to) so hopefully my account is not banned. The strange thing was I submitted two other orders to the same store and they were processed quickly and I was even able to combine the latter two orders together but the cancellation request took a long time to sort out.

With regards to shipping costs, I am not sure how they operate but I never expect to pay the exact cost of shipping. I always assume there are extra charges incorporated to account for the shipping box(es), packaging supplies and overhead.

The only Mandarake store I am having trouble with right now is the Nakano store. SAL was not an option for one of my orders so they set shipping to EMS but it put the item out of my budget. I've been trying to get them to cancel the order since before Christmas!

Is BAe still involved in the export of the Gripen? If so, I doubt Argentina will be a potential buyer...

Update on my debacle. USPS emailed me today confirming they've lost my package. I guess all that money I've ever saved using SAL instead of EMS just got made up for... Super bummer since it was tracked to within 50 miles of my house before falling off the radar. They told me to contact the shipper and have the shipper file a claim. It was Mandarake but I assume since I used SAL they're just going to tell me to fly a kite. Does anyone have experience with this?

Sorry to hear the package was lost so close to your address. Has Mandarake offered to give you a refund?

Have you had any update on this? I was out of town last week and hoped I'd come home to find it had been all sorted out and delivered but no luck.

Sorry I did not check back in this thread until now. My package was eventually delivered just before Thanksgiving, USPS gave me no updates on what happened of where it was. I hope you receive your package soon if it has not arrived already.

The part swapping is not complicated at all, the Hasegawa VF-0 kits are modular. I have all of the VF-0 kits in my stash and can confirm that the VF-0C is essentially a VF-0D with the cockpit / front aircraft section from a VF-0S (plus the weapons from the VF-0A/S kit) & the VF-0B is just a VF-0S with the front section from the VF-0D.

You just need 1 VF-0D and 1 VF-0S kit, swap the cockpits, canopies and front sections and you have 2 new aircraft.

New paint scheme for Blue 55

Jenius, I have the exact same problem. I have an order from Mandarake and it last left New York ICS on 10/22. Since then, nothing. I ordered 5 other packages from Mandarake at a later date and those packages are already here. The packages all went through the same route. After leaving New York ICS they were headed to another Sorting Office in New York. I contacted USPS but they tried to blow me off by saying the last update was 10/22 and its fine. I printed out tracking for my 5 other packages and showed that this is not a normal wait time so they are now investigating for me.

For some reason a lot of CGI from Asia seem to be lacking in quality / realism. The weird thing is, if you look at the credits for a Western produced movie you will see a lot of Asian people are involved in the special effects and CGI. I have to assume it is just that Asian movies have a lower in budget compared to ones produced in the Western part of the world or they are just really cheap on the effects. I've seen some newer Jet Li movies from Hong Kong / China and the CGI were really bad.

I want to follow up on my previous post with a complaint about HLJ.

Last week I had 13 items in my Private Warehouse, I noticed 2 items had 8 days left before an automatic shipment was generated so I put together a shipping request for 5 of the items in my PW. I received a payment request and paid. A few days later HLJ e-mails me to apologize that one of the items in my order is out of stock (one of the two that was nearing the 60 day limit) and they are unable to ship the item to me so they issue me a refund store credit for the difference in shipping (380 yen) and "returned the item to my PW".

At this point I was not too upset as mistakes happen and luckily the item is still in production. I was however, concerned that I paid for an item but it was not reserved me... wasn't the PW created for this exact reason?!

A few more days go by and I get an automatic shipment generated for the item that was out of stock. I contact HLJ and they tell me that the item is back in stock. I explained about the situation THEY created and I was told it was unfortunate but I cannot do anything - I cannot add any other items to this shipment not can it be shipped with my previous order, which had not yet been sent out to me. The shipping for this item is 680 yen. I also want to add that HLJ never sent me an e-mail to notify me that the item was back in stock.

Now, the cost is nothing major as I only end up paying an extra $3ish for shipping and its not exactly breaking the bank. The thing that really irks me is how HLJ caused the issue and was unwilling to work with me on the problem, which is not my fault. I followed all of their rules and did not allow anything to go beyond the 60 day limit. I am just glad it was not an expensive or large item either as I could have been screwed by the postage.

Mandarake has 2 pre-painted ones for sale between $550-$600.... Shipping from Japan will be a little expensive though

The Comanchero shares some similarities to the AH-56 Cheyenne, which had a retractable wheel in the rear fin

Radar absorbancy is dependent on coatings and possibly construction materials, it has little to do with looks. I believe you are referring to Radar Cross-Section (RCS) and even then it is mute to argue how 'stealthy' an aircraft is. All stealth aircraft can be detected one way or another, it all depends on the tradeoffs you want.

Thanks, Jason. I received mine earlier in the week.

Pak-Fa / T-50 formation flight and flight demo:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=B4Q2-1IiaOk

How long it was between them asking for payment and canceling your account? I've received a payment request, followed by a reminder 5-7 days later and up to 14 days later I get a final warning for payment with a threat that my order would be canceled. I've never gone beyond that stage but it looks like they give you at least two weeks to pay.

I've had mostly good experiences with HLJ. My only complaint was the one time where I accidentally let one item sit in my PW for over 60 days. They sent me a notice and invoice that the kit was automatically shipped and to pay for shipping. I asked them to cancel the shipment and I would combine a few orders together but they refused as it was already shipped... so I finally paid after a few days and low and behold the item was waiting for my payment the whole time. I accept it was my fault since its part of the T&C for using the PW option. I mostly buy stuff when they are on sale so I guess my view point is different.