salsaking

Hi all, I'm currently working on a recast ihp vf-11 kit bought ages ago here. Getting pretty far along in the build, but some pre-cast holes in the kit where some articulations meet are too wide, causing the required articulation to be waaay too loose for its own good. any tips too stiffen those up? Thanks

thanks for all the tips guys, I'll try that decal coat and MechTech's sunlight trick, because one of the decal set is yellowed. Yup, the decals are dried and wrinkled, which is kinda odd considering the kits' parts were all sealed in their original plastic bags with no visible holes or dents on the bags. Those things must've eaten up a lot of humidity then. I'll get back to you guys on this, but I have to finish decaling my vf-0s battroid first, which seems to take forever

Hi all. I just bought a few pretty old bandai macross kits from Spiff, namely a 1/72 vf-1s battroid, a 1/100 variable super vf-1, and a metallic coated 1/100 vf-1battroid. Yeah, the overall quality is quite different from the hase vf-0s battroid kit I'm currently finishing up, but I can't build hases all the time, I need to build a few simple kits from time to time Now, the metallic kit I can manage just fine, but the two other ones come with some pretty dry, wrinkled decal sheets. I tried test-removing the bandai logo on the decal sheet, and it's very hard, if not downright impossible to remove the decal properly without tearing it. It's as though the decal is thoroughly stuck. Any tips for that?

Hi there all. Long time no post here. I'm an avid macross toy fan, but these days, I've been having an urge to build models. The only models I've built so far are the Gundam MG models. Nothing too complicated there. I'm talking about the onesyou have to cement and paint. I've been wanting to try it for some time, I've ordered some Hasegawa kits from HLJ, but before starting, I'd like some advice, like: 1) what's the ideal cement for injection plastic model kits? 2)what's the best way to paint them and with what type of paint? 3)what to do with floppy joints on poseable kits? Thanks a bunch already.

My brother and I used to have "fights" with the toy jets, Power's X-Jet and the other, black one. He always beat me at it. The show was pretty good, I used to have a big crush on Pilot, I thought she was quite attractive. I also remember how cheesy the costumes looked, but I loved the jets.

Did anybody here build the MG Zeta Test type? If so, is it recommended?

Looking good. Can't wait to build one of those...

The only thing I don't like about the VF-19A, part from its lack of poseability, is the fact that the torso isn't locked by anything, so it feels like an origami mecha at the top. However, it's quite sturdy indeed, with ratchet joints everywhere, but paint chips are impossible to avoid. Mine is already quite banged up around the legs but I still love it. And yeah, hook up with Valk009, I got it from him.

Hi everynody. I've recently started work on an old plated imai legioss kit (thanks, drewsky), and I've been wondering, how do I efficiently get rid of the seam lines on those types of kits? I mean, what should I do to not completely rip off the metallic paint and expose some unsightly plastic? Anybody have any tips?

It looks extremely nice. Could you see if you could incorporate some locking mechanisms of some kind so that things don't flop like on the 1/48 imai kit? If not, definitely no biggie, this thing's gonna rock. As soon as you get it done, I'll build it pronto! I love the alpha, but I don't have enough money for a mpc yet, so I'm all for cheap paper and glue!

As long as it doesn't "transform" like the Bandai VF-19 model, or cheap Zeta Gundam models where you practically have to disassemble the whole thing, I'd be happy. Removeable legs are okay with me, but the nose-swapping kinda irks me though. Makes the upcoming VF-0 closer to a model than a toy IMO. The 1/60 was walking a fine line between model and toy, and I guess the 1/100 VF-0 would cross into model zone. However, anything besides a VF-1 would be quite welcome by now.

Yes, the 1/48 blows the 1/55 to dust in just about every department, but the 1/55 is still the undisputed king of sturdiness. The thing was probably primarily designed to be a toy and not a display item, and it shows. Sure, I got Yammies on display and I transform them once in a while and they look beautiful. But nothing beats the quick and painless transformation of an old chunkey monkey...

To be quite honest, I was quite disappointed with the Yammie 1/60 I bought (the Max type) a couple of years ago. Granted, it looks a helluva lot better than the Chunky Monkey, the detachable legs I could stand, but the poseability is not quite what I expected. You can't rotate the arms much in battroid mode. And the hip joints can get FLOPPY. And Gerwalk feels unstable. After having read the praises of Graham at the time the 1/60 came out, I felt underwhelmed by the toy when I finally received it. It's much more of a display model than a toy, but that's not a secret for anybody.

I'm planning to build this kit, does anybody who built the kit tell me about how the transformation process is accomplished. I mean, which parts need to be swapped...etc...etc. It'll give me a little idea on how to tackle it properly. I sure hope it's not as bad as the Bandai 1/100 VF-19s... Those things were SHAKY... Thanks all!

Gee, so the VF-19 Pilot dude wanted to start a little controversy. While I am not quite sure WHY he wanted to do that, and what possible good can come out of making some people's blood boil, he sure accomplished what he was set on doing. Oh well, to everybody their little schticks. I'm heavily into salsa dancing. Surprised, huh? As for "playing" with my valks (a few 1/60 Yammies), I don't really play with them. The only thing I do is transform them once in a while, get them in a nice pose and let it sit there until I transform it again. I just love the aesthetic of the Yammies, and their engineering is very impressive. As for Bandais, well, their articulation is woefully limited especially compared to all the new Macross toys that come out now, but their nostalgia factor is undeniable. But they're rock solid. Reason I got rid of them is because of college. College is expensive, especially in my department but it must be said I was growing bored of them because of their limited articulation. While a good debate is always welcome on the boards, I am against the fact that someone deliberately want to spark controversy to stir up some action. I can see that VF-19 Pilot doesn't want his comments to be taken too seriously, but there are more sensible ways to get your point across. And ways to state your opinion without insinuating anything. "level of sophistication as a collector"? Yes, you may be right, but the way it was written, it was a badly disguised diss for many ppl on this board. Though it may have not been his intention to diss, the effect is still there. I could ramble on, but I don't want to add any more fuel to the fire. MW users shouldn't diss themselves for any reasons, that's just low. Let's keep it civilized ppl...

Bashing other countries? Where the hell do you get that from? Dude, have you been reading the posts right? I've been browsing the MW forums for a long time, and I've never seen anyone bash a country, only you. MW users are polite and good-natured. The only times we're "bashing" a country, it's not even bashing: it's complaining that the customs are always trying to rip us off. If you look at this thread, there's only discussion about how to not get our asses ripped off when ordering Macross from other countries. If you took the time to actually try and translate our posts, that's all we were talking about. I live in Canada, not an extremely good place for finding Macross goodies at a reasonable price. So we have to look elsewhere. From the few times I have dealt with US sellers (and not just from buying Macross stuff), too many times I had to pay an absurd amount of extra money just go get the damn things. So I say I'm not too keen on ordering from the US, is that bashing a country? Anyhow, I don't want to start a war here. Harlock Fan, you have your opinion, and I'm okay with that. We live in a free world, no? But I seriously think your attack on the French was totally uncalled for. This is a forum to talk about our love of Macross, not to start a political war. All right, time for salsa class now...

Le 35$ CAN équivalait à un peu moins que le tiers de ce que ça m'avait coûté pour le Valk, après conversion en dollars canadiens. Inutile de dire que j'étais en beau pétard. Il faut dire que c'était livré avec UPS, un belle bande d'arnaqueurs. Merci pour vos conseil les gars, je crois bien tenter ma chance avec VE.

Hé Montarvillois, moi aussi je suis un Montréalais (nice! un autre!) Lorsque j'avais commandé un VF-1A Max des USA de robozone.com, les douanes m'ont royalement fait chier et j'ai dû payer un extra 35 CAN$ pour frais divers. Merde, laissez donc un pauvre étudiant comme moi tranquille. Morale de l'histoire: que les gens d'UPS aillent se faire (censuré)... Je me demandais quelles sont tes recommendations pour les dealers et quels sont tes conseils pour pas que les douanes me crossent encore une fois? Des USA, ça a l'air d'être peine perdu. Tu dis que tu commande des trucs de HK, tu les commandes de particuliers ou de "magasins"? N'importe quel éclaircissement serait bienvenu! As-tu essayé avec HLJ? J'ai jamais commandé d'eux avant. Oh yeah, hi guys! Nice spiffy new board, it's been a loooong time since I've been here. It's just that Christmas is around the corner and I usually use St-Nick's holiday as an excuse to indulge in my Macross needs