wm cheng

I for one would love to see a step-by-step of your amazing custom... thats really great work!! What happened to the rear rudders when you fold back the two packs on either side of the backpack? Exactly what extra pieces were needed - which recasts was required for this transformation? I only have one of the Bandai kits - and may consider your process (someday... ) but you did a really fantastic job creating the hinges. Kudos, lets see some more pictures please.

Who will get them in first!! More specifically, who can get them in Toronto first!! Man we need a price - whats in the full set!

I think spraying the inside rear nozzle of the missiles really adds to the realism. Now I wish there was a easier way to attach and detach that gun strap.

Well, here's a shot with the RMS-1 missiles done and clear-coated in semi-gloss. I also did a wash of that central piece that re-inforces the area behind the head. You can see that Anasazi was kind enough to provide those details that the Hasegawa weapons kit had on the missiles as decals to apply. Unfortunately, the white triangles shows a bit of bleed through of the stripe underneath, I would suggest scraping the black stripe off in that area first. Do you guys still want me to hog up more bandwith by taking some decent pictures of this in the sunlight against a more neutral background? Man detailing these fastpacks are more time consuming that the Valkyrie itself!! Yes, I know the feet are not weathered like the rest. However, in fact the Valkyrie itself isn't really weathered, I just did a light panel wash in light grey on it. The Valk is pretty much like the anime - hence the grey feet and gun. If I were to dress it up - I would re-spray the gun and feet in metallic gun metal then weather that up - but I feel that would be too much - I think the packs provide the contrast. Also, the packs don't really transform or sit against anything - they are just attached - so I feel there will be less wear on them. The feet will support the Battroid or Gerwalk, I am afraid that if I "burn" the feet a bit, no matter how many clear coats, they will eventually chip or scratch. Well, thats my reasoning for being lazy Enjoy...

Hey pfunk, I use my trusty 16/17yrs old Badger 200NH bottom feed with a fine tip and needle assembly. Its a very simple single action cheapie - but it does the trick. The bottom feed is great, it can accept a bottle or a cup. Highly recommend it!!

Oooops, forgot post (why can't edit allow me to attach a picture?)

Last parting shot with the internal micro-missile launcher - now I'm off to decal the RMS-1 missiles... I might have some finish photos soon in the various configurations.

Side view (excuse the blurriness again) - but I think I have cured my wanting for the 1/48 scale resin model (for the time being)...

Close up of the leg packs - I love those little panels Anasazi provided to go over the U.N. SPACY white letters like the Hasegawa panel lines.

Close up of the back fast packs (sorry for the blurriness - slow exposure) You can see a bit of the silvering at those little rectangular access hatches. While the decals are great when applying to a light background, the darker textured background has proved slightly more problematic.

Here's a rear shot - I might of gone a little heavy on the forward micro-missile launchers and the rear leg pack manouvering thrusters? <_<

The matte finish does provide a nice contrast to the Valkyrie - as well as the weathering - the Packs are well used The matte finish also lightens up the plastic and brings out the blue in it (which I like more than the green anyways IMHO).

Here are all the fast packs done!! Yah! not bad for a toy! Now I didn't go overboard and repaint them or fill the seams - I do want to play with them and I might take them apart for repairs or mods. I decalled them onto the bare plastic (although now I reccommend some surface preparation first either with a gloss coat (like future) or a glossy finish paint - since the flat finish does bring out the silvering - believe me, I've tried to eliminate it as much as possible (I think I'm pretty good at decalling too ) but its next to impossible when its sitting on this bare textured plastic surface). I would not recommend putting the little panel details that Anasazi has so thoughtfull provided (silvers in the middle) and trimming as close to the image as possible. I liberally put several coats of MicroSOL to get the decal to stick down - during the decal process when its still wet, and afterwards a few times to get them to lay flat. Then I lightly post-shaded with flat black all the nozzles and some panel lines and over some white stenciling to tone them down a notch. I then sprayed down a rather heavy coat of ModelMaster Acryl clear coat flat matte finish to protect the decals and the light black post-shading. I sprayed rather heavily especially around the nozzles - since the rub against the plastic when removing the panels to show the internal machine guts (becareful when removing). All the internal mechanisms were given a black artist oil wash to pickout all the wonderful engraved details that Yamato provided. Lastly, I did a white dry brush over just the corners, highlights and certain panel lines - very subtle. I feel this should adequately protect this toy - I play with it a few more months and give you an update as to its durability.

Here's a shot with the flat base clear coat protection - it seems pretty tough although I would still becareful while transforming - it is a $300+ toy (cdn) I took apart the rear bell nozzle and sprayed it with a flat black, I finished the exterior in a semi-gloss to preserve the metallic sheen, and I sprayed the interior with a flat clear coat - these clear-coats are necessary since the light weathering of the flat black is delicate and can scratch off unless its protected by the clear coats.

I do wish the packs were bluer like they were in the initial Yamato teaser photos - I guess someone could totally re-paint them, and eliminate that seam down the center of the forward micro-missile launchers. These water slide decals from Anasazi will be so much thinner than any stickers, the edges already almost dissappear without the clear coat seal!! Man!, I already spent a day at this !! Hopefully there will be more to show tomorrow.

Hey all, I just couldn't wait, I spent the better part of the day decalling the fast packs when I got my set from our resident decal master Anasazi! Now, I just applied the decals with a lot of MicroSOL solution to aid them to sit directly on the plastic better. Unfortunately, the Yamato plastic has a bit of a texture to it, so its important to get the decal to sit and conform tightly to reduce the silvering on them. In hindsight, I would suggest people to coat the packs in future or gloss finish first, then decal - it would help. I intend to do a burnt black light airbrushing around the forward micro-missile ports on the back packs, and around all the manuvering nozzles (they are just too bright) as well as the main rear bell nozzle. Then I intend to seal the decal in with a clear coat of flat matte finish. So just like my model in the background, the Valkyrie is in semi-gloss, and the packs will be finished in flat matte (this will tie the finish of the decal into the packs). I intend to do a little white dry brushing over the corners and ridges after the clear coat - it is a toy after all , I didn't want to go crazy and turn it into a model or something. Gotta get some sleep now...

Wow fantastic!!! Hey Grayson, your stuff is really comming along - I love the CF colours, hmm... maybe I should do one someday - I must admit, I hadn't thought of doing them since I was kind of fixed on doing at least one of all the box art covers Your's turned out great!! Man!, those wing tip lights are tiny! you're crazy The exhaust cones turned out great. I tend to agree the post shading is a bit on the heavy side, you could lighten them up by masking (with post it notes - unless the decals are properly sealed under a thick clear coat) at some of the panel lines and lightly spraying a lighter tan colour from front to graduated towards the rear of the plane. It would tend to wear the panels a bit, vary the tan shading, and lighten up the dark post shading. Look to the desert storm vehicles for inspiration. Thanks for sharing, keep up the great work!!

Hey thanks Bsu & all, I tried a google search and came up with only US and UK dealers. I would really appreciate any leads you might have for Canadian or Toronto dealers. How realistic are they? Are they plasticy? Thanks.

Hey thanks for the quick reply, Hmm... to bad they are prohibited now. So can anyone tell me more about these airsoft pistols, I don't really care about shooting them - I just want the most realistic ones they make, or are they all "plasticy"? What is Gasblowback? Does it work without firing a plastic BB? Are there better companies than others? Is there a brick & mortar store in the Toronto area I can go see them or are there any good distributors within the Canadian border that I should try?

Hi all, I'm not sure if this is the place to ask, but have you guys heard of replica guns? I remember when I was younger there were all these hobby shops selling Japanese made replica guns, with brass shells that contained caps, and even ejected from the force of the caps. They were really realistic. However, I think people were using them to hold up stores - I'm not sure, but I don't see them around anymore. I am curious, are they outlawed here in Canada, especially Toronto? I would love to get a realistic Walther P99 with silencer like the James Bond gun now as a display piece. All I could find are those airsoft BB guns, I don't care if it shoots anything, I just want it to be a realistic as possible - a working slide and realistic weight would be cool - I have a bit of a bond collection going. Or is this kind of collecting illegal now in Canada? Does anyone have any more info on this, or can point me in the right direction? Thanks,

Wow, what a tight deadline - modelling under pressure... Good luck, lets see some pictures.

Hey Sebastian, Very nice custom scheme - I love the light grey accents!! One of the best schemes I've seen - subtle yet totally in keeping with the genre! Great work!

Well, I'm not sure if I qualify to clear this up, but here are my experiences, I own a real non-bootleged Perfect Memory - I bought it in high-school in 1986 from a Japanese book store and it does indeed say OUT8 on the front cover. However, it does come with the poster, orange bookmark, mail in tear out and cover stripe exactly like the one as illustrated on the MW books section. I would tend to guess that the "second" printing with the "8" has all these things and you've gotten luck to get it all.

Hey, I just checked HLJ and it says they are not available! Whatsup?

Ok, Ok... enough sci-fi trashing! The original true aim of sci-fi was to subversively educate the public as to current plight of the society without infringing on the government restrictions of the times. Sci-fi ws borne out of the neccessity to point out problems in the direction technology and governement were heading. Such as pre-war Germany and Metropolis or Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari. Hence the all menacing and un-named "company" as head of state - little did they know that these companies would actually become governments in their own right (as fortold by William Gibson and Blade Runner). It makes sense that you don't name the people you are criticizing. Since the "aliens" are actually just a safe way of explaining our own problems (be they luddites, or communist etc...), they would be more accepted if they didn't look too different than us. So if we are looking for the small details in sci-fi to add up, then we are overlooking this genres true purpose and missing the big picture. (IMHO) whaaaaa!!... fell off my soapbox Now, what I hate is secret explosives hidden with flashy red LEDs that tell us where they are hidden!