KOG Water Dragon

I'm not sure what you mean, the Armored VF-25F and Armored VF-25S sheets are still up on ebay. http://cgi.ebay.com/Macross-Frontier-VF-25...p3286.m20.l1116 http://cgi.ebay.com/Macross-Frontier-VF-25...p3286.m20.l1116

I don't think everyone has that idea. Only one person seemed to have that idea.

As I thought, sounds like they are still finalizing the new artwork to be used for the decals. So it should be a new kit, not a re-issue of the old Minmei Guard.

Sorry, typo. I meant Armored VF-25F.

OK, so I just got copies of the Armored VF-25F and VF-25S deculture decal sets. Does anyone know if there are any other sheets released, or soon to be released? I already have the Sheryl and Ranka sheets that were released a while back. I seem to remember a bunch of new deculture designs being shown at some hobby show a little while ago, but I don't know if those are actually being released, or were just for show. I'm guessing the VF-25F and VF-25G deculture designs seen earlier in this thread are the next due out? I'm still not sure if those are meant as standalone decal sheets, or will be packed with kits. I just want to make sure I don't miss any sheets. By the way, for people who want to get the Armored VF-25F and Armored VF-25S sheets, I can highly recommend the ebay seller 'Ministry of Toys'. The seller is based in Malaysia, and the price per sheet was a bit steep ($20 each), so I was a bit nervous about purchasing at first. But I couldn't find the sheets anywhere else, so I went ahead and purchased. Shipping was only $5 for both sheets combined, and they actually arrived pretty fast (just about a week I guess?). Communication with the ebay seller was good too. So if you want those sheets and can't find them elsewhere, the ebay seller is a safe way to go.

Revising the final decal artwork perhaps? Or waiting on someone to finish the box art? Dunno... I just hope the final product looks nice.

It wouldn't make sense for the Minmei Special 2009 to be the same as the old Minmei Guard kit, if that's what's being suggested. If it was a re-issue of the old kit, why would all the hobby sites create a new listing for the kit, when they could just mark the old listing as back in stock when the re-issue is released? And why do all the listings for the Minmei Special 2009 feature artwork of Minmei that doesn't appear on the old Minmei Guard kit, if the kit is just a re-issue? I would be inclined to think this Minmei Special 2009 kit is something altogether new.

So if I interpret correctly, these will be actual releases, not limited edition freebies that you have to scramble to get a copy of? Yay! It was rather a pain to get copies of the recent Armored VF-25F/VF-25S sheets. I paid $20 per sheet and had to buy them from an ebay seller in Malaysia... Being able to order these things as proper kits from a normal online shop like HLJ will be a relief.

So did anyone ever get one of these? I'm a sucker for these limited edition decal variant releases (and the box art is fantastic) so I went ahead and bought a copy of Y!J auctions. Anyone else? I think the production run was limited to just 500 copies...

Has there been any word on a 1/72 Super Luca or Super Mikhail/Michael/whatever kit?

Hm. My problem used with the particular silvering technique used here is that it is too heavy, and too evenly dispersed. On the one hand, one would expect this kind of 'paint scrapage' to occur on surfaces that are likely to have a lot of contact with exterior surfaces. Obviously the lower areas of the feet would have a lot of contact with ground, spacecraft decks, etc. Other areas that could be expected to experience a lot of contact would be the shield, maybe the knees if the gundam was often put into a kneeling position... and perhaps the shoulders if the pilot of the gundam liked to ram other targets with any sort of tackling maneuver. But certainly, other areas would be more protected from physical blows, and should have little or no paint scrapage. On the other hand... such heavy scraping (as indicated by really large areas of exposed silver metal) would only result from truly heavy blows or abrupt impact with surrounding surfaces. And in the case of such a heavy blow or impact... one would expect some real physical damage in addition to whatever paint might be scraped off. But this kit shows no such physical damage... it's all a paint effect. So it just feels a little anomalous. If one doesn't want to get into the physical damage aspect (such as gouging small pieces of plastic away from the affected edges and surfaces), one should keep the silvering very light, so as to suggest only moderate blows and contact with surfaces. How's that for backing up things a little better? Like I said, I did this on a couple of kits myself when I was first starting out, so I can see where the guy is coming from. But some years of experience have tought me the value of subtlety. And by paying close attention to the methodology behind one's efforts, one can really achieve a much more convincingly realistic effect.

I more or less agree with your points #1-4. On the topic of criticism, I feel thusly... if work is genuinely mediocre, and all a person hears is good-natured praise, there's not all that much motivation to work harder next time, and to expand and improve one's technique. Now, some people may be fine with maintaining their work on a relatively low level. Others may come to find that a more advanced level of craftsmanship is both more rewarding and more personally satisfying. But if a beginner never gets a a genuine and honest critique, he may never have the chance to find out what level he is ultimately capable of. When I first started models of any kind, I had no real frame of reference for comparison, so of course I thought my crap was good. But when I started browsing import model magazines, and started seeing other people's work on the internet, I was obliged to accept the fact that I was, in fact, not that good at all. This realization prompted me to seek guidance from those with more experience, and eventually helped me to attain much better results in my own work. That's how anyone improves in any field really... by having someone point out the areas where one needs improvement. For all you kids still in school... think about your classroom environment. Don't your teachers correct you when you've made a mistake, or when you're not approaching something the right way? It's all meant to spur the student on to greater heights of achievement. So if the modeler here would like to go on, and improve, he should be open to comments. If he's perfectly happy with his current level and has no wish to improve, then he's free to disregard all comments here. Pretty simple, no?

One may also make special note of the PG mk II by Kevin Comer here: http://www.cybermodelcomp.com/old/past_ent_dec.shtml Nice work.

Alright then, here's someone who painted a Perfect Grade mk II: http://mechaworks.qsurf.org/Gallery/Thirteen/thirteen.htm Being someone who's spent upwards of 2 months on a project before, the notion of 6 hours being a 'long time' is a bit ridiculous to me. I must confess, I've done this 'silver all over the edges' kind of work before. When I first started modeling gundams. When I was about 12. I'm assuming this guy's PG mk II is a beginner work as well, so all I can say is 'keep at it, keep working on building your skills'. Even now, 14 years later, I am still striving to improve my work evermore.