HWR MKII

Its not that bad of a kit overall. It certainly holds true to the line art to be sure.

Thanks for the interest so far guys. I hope to get some future and decals worked out tonight for it. Keep your eyes peeled.

I dunno either. Its seen for all of about 3 seconds of screen time in DYRL. Its just a cool looking bird though. But it does make some sense. While at saturn the Macross was hidden in the rings so its sensors would have been clouded. The Elint was probably at a higher orbit clear of the debris and had its jamming going to avoid detection. This way it could see for the macross and other fighter craft and give them direction. Quite the same as how we use the E-3 these days to do the same thing.

Heres the days progress. Going with the orange nose on this. It adds a splash of color to an otherwise drab looking all grey model. The orange will be carried into the boosters with the open eye marking as well. Next will be a coat of future on the darker grey parts, decals and a wash. Theres a couple small touch ups before then but overall its ready.

I was thinking of actually making a mask from frisket film for the UN Spacy kites since i cant find my low vis decals for it. Also the markings for the boosters are high vis.

A macross Plus or DYRL version of the N' Ger would probably be more profitable. Seems that after DYRL all the designs used and made for it have become the accepted canon in terms of detail and form. Lets not get into the retconning that has been done. Im talking purely in terms of line art here.

I started applying the greys to the boosters and fast packs last night. Ill post some shots tonight after work.

i did a build up of this kit a few years back. it goes together well just check alot before you cut.

Hasegawa tritool scribing tools and templates. All the lines on the back of the fuselage were rescribed and the fowler flaps on top of the wings. ahead of the main flaps.

Got the wing root seams cleaned up and the upper fuselage scribed with more details. Base coat of aircraft grey is on it too. The scribing turned out really well i think. Next up ill hit up the fast packs and boosters. start getting the dish and other parts ready to go .

Right now im going classic but there are 2 schemes to consider. One overall aircraft grey for the fuselage and the other with an orange nose.

I think it looks perfect as it is. You enhanced the details as they are but the model still has an animated feel to it remenicent of the original series and DYRL. the weathered look really didnt come into the look until Macross Zero.

If you had asked me 2 years ago i could have alas my 2 hasegawa Elints suffered a slow death at the hands of military hired moving companies. But overall it depends on what your idea of better is. The hasegawa kits have a more realistic tone and feel to them while these kits are more on screen correct. they are both good models in their own way though and capture the look of the craft.

Im trying to do what i can. These VF-1s are just the projects i need. Quick to do yet still very attractive models when done. Well back to the bunker to work on the elint.

Well that and the board seems to be flooded with VF-25s (including mine) so i thought id put up some VF-1 love. Show the new guys that just found macross from frontier what elses is out there. The VT-1 would have been done by now but is on hold for some much appreciated things which will really enhance its look.

Well in lieu of my super ostrich turning into a much better project than i had imagined im going to work on the next one i had in line. A pre haasegawa VE-1 Elintseeker. Same company and the main fuselage is from the same molds. So i had to fill in the un needed color demarcation line that was present for the SO version. Next will be rescribing similar to what i did on the ostrich. Hopefully paint by tomorrow night.

Excellent work. Looks like a good clean straight build.

just pick ONE model and finish it. Your distracted. Too much going on. Dont worry about perfection just do it for the fun. Perfection will come later.

i could probably get it looking like VF-4.

Email them repeatedly. At least weekly. it will annoy them to they point where it will arrive at your door. I had to do this to get my terminator 2 ground HK from them. Not good customer service at all. Badger them endlessly.

Are these still available? i may be able to get one soon.

Theres alot of factors to the brush work. most important are a good base, a good soft round sable and the right paint consistency. The base on this was the tamiya deck tan. It was smoth but created a good tooth for the first layer to grip and spread evenly on. It only took 2 coats to get even coverage. A round brush holds paint better and spreads it more evenly than a square or flat brush. Alot of people try to use flats and thats where the streaks really happen. The paint just has to be thinned just right. Not airbrushing thin but not straight from the bottle either. Its a matter of trial and error for that one im afraid. Let the paint dry fully between coats as well so you dont lift the underlying layer. this is where a good base comes in handy again. Also dont try to paint the etire area with the one brush. use a liner brush or a smaller round to get close to details. these normally only need one coat since its a smaller area. also once you have a good edge it gives you breathing room to get in with the larger round.

Thanks Ben It will look even sharper after a wash. All the demarcation lines for the color came scribed into the model. The black line left from the wash will tighten up alot of things

Ok no longer cranky. Things went as smooth as silk for everything else. I decided to dust off the ol brush painting skills on the orange. Saved alot of tedious masking and possible paint pull ups. I am satisfied with the resultsGood solid color and clean demarcations. That being said. Within a week i will have a sample set of some of PetarB's 1/72 pilots. These will be used to occupy the cockpit. I cant wait to get them. His sculptings are top notch. Also i am awaiting the decals from greyson 72. I cant do any of the landing lights until after the future, decals and matt coat are applied. SO the Ostrich is on hold for about a week. I dont mind though i have another Orange collection Valk to work on....and a Schira-Dow....and a VF-25. Man i really need to clean off my bench

Oh you will. Please see the above linked thread for further updates.