jardann

Thanks for clearing that up. I should have known what that was. Now that I look again, I know I've seen pictures of that Skyhawk before. I'm just finishing up an OA-4M kit on my model bench. Your Wiki info makes me curious though. Why would Lockheed be performing modifications on a McDonnel-Douglass aircraft? Maybe Singapore just had a better business relationship with Lockheed. Anyway, if he can pull it off, I think that style/configuration would look pretty cool on the VF-22. And the method to do it shouldn't be too difficult.

Why not just use sheet styrene and some stock styrene shapes from Evergreen or Plastruct to build up your extended cockpit? That stuff is easily available and easily glued cut and shaped. Form the general shape of what you want and then you can either build up the outside contours with small additions of more bits of styrene sheet or small applications of Bondo, Milliput or Aves Apoxie Sculpt etc. whatever you prefer. Just start with the basic shape and then add the more organic forms in little bits at a time. Very cool idea by the way. if you can heat form some clear plastic over a sculpted plug, you could then pull off a nice big clear canopy like that camoflauged Russian jet in Hobbes last pic.

Ha! I just got that kit from my Secret Santa over on Starship Modeler. I just started building it the other day. I think his exploded view looks a lot cooler than mine will when finished though.

The GBP looks great on the new 1/60. I especially like the way the leg armor fits better, shows more of the feet and looks a lot better. Yamato would be crazy not to modify and rerelease that armor. Your Q-Rau is shiny-sweet too! You are definitely doing some good work on the customs!

There is an important step that you are skipping. After you apply the color coats, you should then apply a clear gloss coat. A coat of Future floor polish (I believe now called "Pledge with Future shine") is ideal. Let that cure overnight, and it will give you a nice hard smooth surface that should be much easier for you to wipe off the excess marker paint. After you finish the panel lines, then you can put on your clear flat coat. Good luck and keep experimenting!

Ha Ha! Me too! Those flanker type colors look verrrrry interrressssting! Can't wait to see the end results.

Ha! 1/200 sure makes it very convenient for you! Go ahead, rip the space-time continuum and combine some disparate universes! That's good to hear about the quality of the kit. I saw some of the other mylar wrapped kits in my LHS. They looked promising, but they were priced at $13.50 each. They looked a little small to me for that price. I don't think the gunship has made it over here to the States yet, but I'll probably have to pick up at least one if I run across it. Thanks for the info!

Hey MT, that sounds like some great "quality time." Those are the things the kids will remember. If you don't mind, I've got a couple of questions about that kit. Is that one of the smaller easy kit type of things? Any idea what the scale is on the gunship? What were your impressions of the kit?

Yes, interested in all sorts of figures for Macross. Bring em on!

The first thing to do would be to spray them with a clear coat sealer. If the decals are in that bad of shape, they will probably disintegrate if you do manage to get them to come off of the paper. Look around for a top coat sealer for decals. Microscale makes one and Testor's makes some too. Once you've resealed the decals, then soak them in hot water and see if that will get them to release. I'm not sure how badly they are wrinkled, but that may be a sign that the decals have gotten wet sometime in the past. That would be pretty bad, but I would think you should still be able to get them to release from the paper eventually. If you do get them to come off of the paper, you will probably need something to help them to adhere to the model. You can brush on some Future floor polish in the spot you want each decal to go and then add the decal while the Future is still wet. After it dries, you can spray another layer of Future to help protect the decals.

Very cool, thanks for posting these for us!

Great build! It's always good to see justice done to those old kits. For the time, the Bandai and Imai kits are really outstanding. Thanks for showing this one off!

Yeah! Keep it up. I'll be watching this thread with interest. I've got one of these that I built as a kid that really needs to be refurbished to look better.

Mark, the Tomcat looks great. It will add nice variety to your 1/100 Macross collection. I really like the pic next to the VF-1. The GU-11 looks pretty mean slung under the Tomcat. Have you made any start on that factory kit yet?

Hey PetarB, the Vic Viper looks great! I really like the low-vis star on the port side. I'm sorry to hear about your disappointment with the kit though. I have one in the stash and was looking forward to it. I got it for a good price though so it won't be bad to put a little work into it. Sean, your kit is looking fantastic! I have to say that I've been watching your posts about it and, while I was always hoping for your success with it, I've kept telling myself that it isn't really my thing, and I should just stay away from it and save the cash. Seeing the pic you just put up and the look of the parts is beginning to tempt me though. I'll be keeping a closer eye on it and can't wait to see your example. It looks like you have outdone yourself! I hope it will be very popular for you. Keep up the great work everyone!

Internal weapons sound great to me! This is going to be really sweet to watch you bring this together.

That hover tank looks interesting. Is that Turn-A giving us a Dr. Evil pose?

Yeah, both of those suits look waaaay off. This should be good, but I doubt if the true themes of the book will get through in a movie adaptation. There really isn't a lot of action in the book, enough for sure, but a literal translation of the book wouldn't be what you call an action movie. The key will be relating the brutality of the fighting environments set against the realities of home that the character has to return to. The biggest obstacle I think will be relating the immense time frame of the book to a movie audience. I don't think most people will get it. I highly recommend the book. It's better than Starship Troopers IMHO.

Amazingly quick build up there 505th! The colors look great, and the panel lines look just right too. What color did you use for the feet/thrusters? It looks simple but effective.

Those are looking cool! Did you just do a freehand design for the wings of the 0B? I really like that random, sharp edged look to the colors. Speaking of touch-ups, don't you just hate it when you get those little spots that pop out right along an otherwise nice, crisp straight edge? That always frustrates me to no end. Oh well, you'll have those fixed up in no time I'm sure.

I'll be in for one, possibly two if finances allow.

I think I've seen some better scans of these pics, but here are some of the DYRL cockpit. Hope they help! DYRL_Cockpit.bmp DYRL_Cockpit_2.bmp These two kind of show how the canopy HUD display works. DYRL_Cockpit_HUD_display.bmp DYRL_Cockpit_HUD_Color.bmp

Yeah, those pics are of the TV version cockpit. You can see the HUD in the first two pics. It is the two clear panes that stand up over the "dashboard" area in the front above the display screens. The DYRL valks don't have those kinds of HUDs. In DYRL, the HUD type info is projected directly onto the canopy glass for an all-around effect. Also, in the DYRL cockpits, the control stick is on the right side console, not in between the pilot's legs. I'm sure the Hasegawa photo etch is patterned after the DYRL cockpit so that's why it doesn't look right compared to your photos.

You have to be careful using future over a lacquer or enamel base. It can be done, but lacquer and enamel paints "outgass" for quite a long time after they are applied. (sometimes weeks or months) The acrylic Future will cure very fast and if the underlying paint is still curing, the outgassing will cause the Future layer to crack. Usually, lacquer and enamel paints will be much harder than acrylic paints though. They might hold up well enough without the clearcoat.

These are just some suggestions, I have only attempted metal casting one time before. Someone else will hopefully have more accurate information. You could try using plaster or plasticine clay like Fimo to make the mold. I think either of those, once cured, could hold up to the heat of metal casting. The problem I think you will find though is that most of the metals used for hobby casting are relatively soft also. Depending on the way the joint is shaped and works, the metal might just bend or break too. I think the stronger metals will require a much higher melting point so that may open up some more things to take into consideration. It sounds tome like a strong vinyl would be ideal for your situation. But I don't know nuthin' about dealing wtih that. Definitely look for other advice though because I could be totally off base here. Hopefully someone with more experience can chime in and help you out. Good luck with the project!