JLYC

If you want something more sturdy, but which still looks great, I'd recommend buying a toy like the Yamato 1/48 VF-1 instead. Hasegawas are supposed to be traditional (fragile) model kits, not the half-toy half-models that the Bandai Gundam kits are. Although I'm not a model builder, I recently comissioned a pro-painter to build me 3 Hasegawa kits (VF-22S, VF-0S and SV-51 Nora), all built wheels up as if flight and I'm absolutely blown alway by them. I can't believe how big the SV-51 is, it's a monster. Graham Graham I agree with you that the 1/48's, especially when customized, almost approach model quality. However, models are always more finely detailed (eg panel lines) and for one 1/48 I can get about 6 or 7 Hasegawa's and have hundreds of hours of fun time. With toys, I usually take them out of the box, admire them, put them on the shelf and transform them once in a while. With models I get much more interaction in the building process and when I look at them, I remember all the fun and challenge I went through to get them where they are. I got 3 yamatos and 1 hasegawa last month and by far the hasegawa gave me the most fun. I believe there is no reason why they can't make the joints more sturdy like the bandai kits. I reckon this is hasegawa's first robot kit so flaws are expected (e.g. weak joints, non-aligning pins and holes). They're learning though, as seen in the improved hip joints of the strike battroids, so I have hope. In fact, I think that they DO want to make them playable so they're making it a mostly snap-together kit to make it easier for people who are otherwise averse to models. When the bugs are fixed, we'll have the best of both worlds!!

models are keeping me company for my long distance relationship with my gf too. I see you live in Calgary...I used to live there until I moved to vancouver about 5 yrs ago (currently in Montreal now). always good to see fellow macross fans in canada and I'm very impressed with Hasegawa kits as well, although I've only done the battroid. I do wish that they'd be more sturdy though (so it'd be more playable like gundams). I'm sure it's not a problem with fighters though as they're not meant to be movable anyway.

thanks guys

Is $18 USD a good price for the bandai 1/100 VF-2ss?? I've seen quite a range of prices for this model and am wondering what's a reasonable one. thx

Not yet finished the touch-ups of this battroid, nor the hands or gun. It's now holding the gun from a 1/60 that's why it's so out of proportion. I didn't do a very good job with this model, mostly due to the fact that I had to paint all white by hand and had to do many layers, thus ruining the panel lines. I'm getting a spray can for my next one!! Sadly, about a minute after I took these pics, the battroid fell of the shelf and one of its arms broke. The joints on these Hasegawa kits is really quite weak (and the soft plastic doesn't help). I think it fell because the feet are very loose and it just lost balance. The kit is also very, very light and I had to use putty to glue in some washers in the leg to give it more gravity. It's too bad because since it's such a botched job I was thinking of using it as a toy, but I guess I have to handle it with kids' gloves from now on. Any tricks for reinforcing joints? I managed to extract the pin from the rubber socket and I'm just gonna glue to back with super glue and maybe use some putty. I know that epoxy or something else might be better but I hv limited resources. At least it didn't shatter to pieces otherwise I'd probably be crying now...haha...

the arms are where the gunpod is attached to and is located in the middle between the legs. if you go to fan works section of the forums there are some transformation videos that may help you. please do post more pics when you're finished. you use airbrush for your painting right? I'm doing a battroid by hand brush and it's such a pain, especially for the white. I really wish I had an air brush but once school starts in a few wks there is no way i can be making models.

i see seams on the arms.

I just finished the 1/100 Bandai Supersylph and I think it's a great model. I would suggest getting version 1.5 rather than original version though- it has improved details on the landing gears and exhaust. I think the Mave is in higher demand. About a few months ago I still see a 1/100 pop up here and there but lately I haven't seen much.

hi. i tried the future on one section and yes it improves the results drastically. before I thought since I'm using white gloss paint and both the paint and future are acrylic it's not necessary to apply the future, but guess i was wrong. i'm applying the oil to the rest of the battroid now- hopefully it will work out otherwise I have to repaint the whole thing, by hand!! i can hardly wait for the oil to dry......

thanks guys. that's exactly what i'm doing now- future floor finish followed by oil wash. i've been applying a few coats of future and have not applied wash yet. however, when i tried the oil wash without applying future first (applying oil on acrylic tamiya white), some of the oil does not wipe off cleanly even with oil solvent. i'll see if it improves with a coat of future. thx

i agree with you that we're spoiled by the incredible talents we have on this board. Heck- some of the work here rival those in hobby magazines, and sometimes even beyond. I do think the price is high, but probably because it's because I can build models myself, albeit perhaps not to the same level as the ebay seller. For those that can't build kits I reckon this is the only way they can get their hands on a valk model. It's like this- my dad thinks it's outrageous that they charge $20 for an oil change because he can do it himself. but the majority of people don't think twice about it. hope my analogy kinda makes sense.

thanks. for your technique, do you use watercolor paint? thanks!!

I'm currently working on a 1/72 battroid and I'm experimenting with oil washes for the panel lines. I've painted the white with tamiya acrylic and painted black oil all over. But I have no idea how long it takes the oil paint to dry before I can wipe the excess off without destroying the panel lines. Can anybody tell me? I have seen that it takes 'a couple days' but exactly how many days?? Thank you!!

ya I don't see why people should feel pissed off unless they're intending to make a profit from the items they supposedly thought was limited. I would understand how they feel if hasegawa stated it was a limited production but then re-released it again, but such is not the case.

The timeline stuff on the DVD: Does it have this guy saying out the years in English in this kinda stupid voice, followed by description of events in Japanese? I have a 'timeline' on my pirate Macross Plus OVA VCD and I'm just wondering if it's the same thing for the 20th anniversary DVD. thx

I'm thinking about getting this DVD or the Macross II movie. Which one should I get first? I'm also getting Macross the Complete CD set- any opinions on this?? thx

posted a few pics here http://www.macrossworld.com/mwf/index.php?showtopic=9600 Here's a couple more pics. Any comments or suggestions for a newbie modeler would be helpful

After looking for my camera cable for 3 days I finally found it!! Here are some quick pics. Technically the model is not completely finished yet because I haven't added the missiles or decals for the bottom of the plane. This has got to be the model that I've spent the most time on after a long drought of not making models for almost 10 years. The posts and works here are really inspiring!! Of course I'm a real novice so I hope it's ok to show my work here. (compared with the ones mwcheng and superostrich (i think he's the one who also made one), my yukikaze looks pretty amateur). After watching Yukikaze I just loved the Supersylph so I immediately ordered the kit to make during my summer holiday. I don't have an airbrush, so I did all the painting by hand except the grey of the plane, which is actually just the primer. It came by accident because I thought the primer grey actually looked quite good, and I'll probably do a worse job if I repaint the grey by hand. It's hard to do the camouflage shading without an airbrush, so I just used a fine point marker to do the panel lines and smudge it to do the weathered look. For the bottom of the plane I used a pencil for panel lines and weathering. I really ought to try washes and experiment with different medium, but since I don't really have much time to do models I just don't want to invest the $$ at this point. just using the brush is very furstrating sometimes though when you're trying to make an even surface. It's also very hard to mask surfaces because it tends to bleed more when using a brush than spraying paint from top. I still haven't decided to make it as landing mode or flying mode with TARPS extended out. Any suggestions??

when you cut the parts from the sprues, wouldn't it leave a mark that's not metallic finish where it was attached to sprue? also i guess you can't fill seams with putty without having to repaint right?

just finished my 1/100 Yukikaze and I want to get a display case for it. I just want a plastic case to protect it from dust and such, nothing fancy. Anybody has any recommendation on where to find one?? thanks

i agree it's definitely painted. I got the same kit and the bare plastic is unlookable. You definitely need to paint this kit to get any sort of respectable look. This is not like MG Bandai Gundam kits where you can just throw the plastic and stickers together and get a very good look.

I'm just wondering if there is any place to purchase ORIGINAL anime artworks- not prints or posters or cels but original works by artists. Thanks!!

thx guys!

hello. I just got my yamato yf-11b (without fast pack). When I try to transform it into fighter mode, the shoulder plates of the arms don't flush into position despite many attempts. they always want to 'jump out' and when forcibly moved into position it makes a bulge and as a result it's very hard to get the arm shield into place. Another quirky thing is that one leg seems to be longer than the other (due to asymmetry at the hip joint, which I know is problematic in the first version), so that when displayed in gerwalk mode it stands flop-sided. I'm just wondering if anyone else has this problem and if there's a solution. thanks!!! The toy looks good in fighter and gerwalk, but not good in battroid imo. Also I think the quality of the vf-19b that I have is better than the vf-11b (which many people seem to disagree). Is the fp vf-11b much better than the original besides hip-joint replacement? The arms and esepcially shoulder is kinda weak in the vf-11b. Also I wished there is some die-cast parts like the vf-19b.

I got the Flashback 2012 and I'm just wondering if anybody else think it's weird that the song "My boyfriend is a Pilot" is not part of the dvd, since it is after all Minmei's debut song? thanks!