MechTech

You can do it man! Try modifying some exhisting figures like the MinMei Sculpt.

Aaaah, now you know why I built these suckers: http://www.macrossworld.com/mwf/index.php?...=15542&hl=vc-33 The Mom's Kitchen, Tunny and of course Valkyries would definitely go on deck. There's certainly enough room. It's bigger than any super carrier of the same scale. It's like a supertanker, but with destroids instead of oil! I have all the Nichimo releases, plus a ton of the Testor's "Robot" kits, repackaged from Nichimo's first release. Thank you for the e-bay postings. If I buy anymore, my wife might kick my butt! - MT

Hey everyone, thank you for the compliments and encouragement. I’m pushing through this as fast as I can. What you’re looking at so far is just the lower half. The upper half will be mostly square in construction, so hopefully it will fly along. All the compound curves on the bow section are taking a long time to form! I m u s t b e p a t i e n t… (Three months construction so far...) The model is mostly styrene. The keels, bulkheads, and other “heavy load†parts are 3mm styrene. The main hull parts are covered with 2mm styrene. The quarter round grey parts are 2mm thick ABS tubing (nobody makes styrene tube that size! GRRrrrrrr) that I ripped longwise; twice on my micro band saw to quarter up. All the inside intricate cuts in the bow section were by hand on a coping saw. The outside curves I cut on the band saw. All the planking is 1.5mm styrene. I might have top heavy problems with the upper hull, so I’m working that out as I go along. My main styrene source is: http://www.modernplastics.com/. They’ll even do small jobs for us little guys! Oh yeah, I have countless Nichimo kits to go inside. Do I have to build those too? I built the lower hull in two halves because of the shape. Plus, how on earth do you transport a six foot long model inside your car? The upper and lower halves separate to make transport easy. Thanks for the compliments on the work area too! I had to get that together to put my ship together! That included taking my tiny table saw and building it into a larger table area. You don’t know how much it pained me to wait building up my ship while building my shop. Baby steps… MACROSS EUROCON ALL THE WAY! But where/when do you guys wanna have it? I know there’s a lot of large scale modelers out there. I got your large “20 foot model†right here: http://wmunderway.8m.com/gallery6/gallery6.htm I’ll let you guys know when the ship launching ceremony is. I think that would be a blast! - MT

Shawn posted comments looking for help on this for me four years ago! Long before I was a MW forum member! The photos below show the construction of my 6 foot long, 1:200 scale SLV-111 “Daedalus.†The ship will be radio controlled with working bow door and ramp, elevators, and other accessories. I always wanted to build something “BIG†from Macross and I figured this would be my best bet. (The SDF-1 would just take too much time, money and sanity!) The upper hull port/left side will open up and double as a display case and diorama since it’s so big. It’s been tough doing all the engineering; but fun at the same time. A lot of people are going to say, “That’s the wrong length!†(It’s listed as 488m in Macross Perfect Memory). That’s 244cm or about 8 feet long in 1:200th scale. After four years of planning and design for this project, I have discovered that it’s actually about 6 feet long. (It's still bigger than a supercarrier) When scratch-building, you always go with details you can verify the size of. The most accurate “measurements†I have in this case are the 1:200th Nichimo destroids. How did I get my measurements? Kazutaka Miyatake’s final draft drawings mentioned 7 destroids across (abreast) in the doorway. Ceiling/deck height is just a bit higher than the destroids, and we can even see how a Monster fits in. Knowing the width and height, we can go with the length from the drawings – about six feet long. In short, there are contradictions. The comparison drawing below will illustrate what I mean. Several of Miyatake’s drawings contradicted themselves in some areas, so I stayed with the ones marked “final draft.†Those are the ones with the little cartoon character/seal on them. Not all the details are the same or in the same location. Sounds geeky, but where do you put everything-right? A lot of the animated scenes with the Daedalus in them were wrongly sized or scaled which made for a lot of frustration. So I used them as a last resort. I’m still trying to figure out what would be the best colors to paint it in. Blue and red reminds me of a clown car! I’m looking for suggestions. I’m almost siding with good ole’ battleship grey for the upper hull area and rust red for the lower hull area. Any inputs or corrections are always welcomed! - MT - Special thanks to Nanashino for verifying and translating Japanese text! Same scale destroyer looks like it's in dry dock! The sheets are glued together then cut to make them even. Planking, the only way to get the plastic to hug the contours. This hull design is unlike any ship on the seas today. I need a bigger workbech! Here's where I'm at so far. The planking has been done with strips of various thicknesses cut with 35 degree anges to verlap and seal when glued in place. UPDATE 30 March These are the internal detail parts cut by laser engraver. They need to be redone since they got "blurred" when the operator moved the sheet. The detail is not the deeply etched either. The ramp will be redone due to engraving detail issues too. The door will fold on a threaded rod that will screw in and out to drive it open or closed. It was the strongest and most discrete mechanism I could devise. UPDATE 17 APRIL Here are shots with rough planking, sanded smooth, and additional panels on top to give it a realistic welded panel appearance. The panels are paper thin styrene sheet cut at random lengths. I used Squadron Green putty to fill some uneven areas underneath and the glue picked it up highlighting some panel lines for now. The paneling will get a light sanding to smooth out bumps and joints to make it more hydrodynamic. I'm hoping to finish off the bow section this weekend. UPDTE 29 APRIL Impeller Parts Completed Impeller Bow Thruster Housing Construction Completed Bow Thruster Assembly Bow Thruster Mounted in Bow I had to build my own bow thruster since I couldn't find one commercially available with enough thrust. I tested this in the tub and it gave me bout two pounds of thrust. It almost jerked itself out of my hand! Not only is the ship big, but the large hanger area for the destroids will act like a sail in the breeze, so the extra power is needed. I'm hoping to foam and cover the bow this weekend - again. The extension from the thruster will be cut off once the bow is covered. - MT UPDATE 24 MAY 06 This is what I've been doing for the last month. I realized I had to have the radio controls configured for what I wanted them to do. This is an FCC legal modification. Only the switches were swapped around to fit my needs. This would work great for a tank too (turret controlled by wheel)! The 8 buttons are a module from MDC that fits anywhere on your transmitter (the wheel is custom). http://www.modelcontrol.com/switch81.htm This is an awesome way to take one channel on your radio and make it 8 (or 16). All you have to do is push a button for whatever function you want! I'm using a plastic template to cover a fancy computer printed template with pictures and words. The plastic is soft enough to still push the buttons through. I started back in on the bow this evening. Glue drying as I type. - MT UPDATE 11 JUN 06 ALL FUTURE POSTS WILL NOT BE IN THIS SECTION, BUT IN REPLIES (this area is gettin' way too big! I've done more changes to the bow section than an "Extreme Makeover" contestant! The stem is made up of styrefoam covered with Milliput, the lower bow is expanding Polyurethane foam (for filling cracks) covered with Milliput. All have been blended and smoothed out. I just have to sand everything and fill in the imperfections. Ready for final sanding and almost a coat of primer.

I'll take my plane ole' highly innacurate plastic kits thank you! Wow! A bit too pricey for me!

Yeah, the crash helmet! They sell little NASCAR driver’s helmets in the states with candy in them. That’s an idea. Maybe little MinMay doll candies inside . Someone did a helmet on the back of the Macross Hobby Handbook 1. I’ve always thought that would be cool. If someone made the cola vending machine, would it be complete with bratty kid?

Looks great LTSO! Nice touch with the dark highlights.

Specr0101 I made several 1/200 models. I also made the VC-33 “Mom’s Kitchen†you spoke about Lisa flying in. In fact I still owe to Neptunesurvey (sorry dude). If enough people are interested, I’ll do one, but in 1/200. If anyone knows of a good caster, I’ll have copies made of my VC-33 “Mom’s Kitchen†if there’s enough interest. I haven’t given Neptunesurvey’s his yet because I’m not happy with the bubbles. The shape and thickness of the wings lend to a lot of bubbles at the wing tips. I don’t have a pressure chamber to shrink the air bubbles and there’s just no getting around them no matter how I turn the mold. Here’s a link to the postings I made earlier on. - MT http://www.macrossworld.com/mwf/index.php?...=15542&hl=vc-33

One other thing, make sure that if you have an air tank on your compressor that you drain it every day you use it. Especially before you put it away. A lot of people forget that and rust their tanks out. Don't be afraid to get scrap/spare sheets of plastic and practice on them before destroying your hard work on the model. The extra time spent is worth it!

I always wanted one. I seriously considered doing one myself. I've put it off because I'm working on a LARGER project. If I did one, it would be in 1/200th scale to match the rest of my scratchbuilt/Nichimo models. If anyone else is serious enough, I'd do it. It would be best to have someone else cast it due to logistics on my end.

Welcome Repiv_Onex! I highly reccomend you DO NOT airbrush in a closed room. Even with water based paints. The best I have been able to do is: 1) Get a room dehumidifier, let the room sit closed and get dehumidified. It's best to use a room that you won't go into for a while. If you don't have a room dehumidifier (or the money for one ) turn on the air conditioning in there. 2) Go paint your model outside or in a ventilated room. Do it quickly without destroying your masterpiece. 3). Bring it into your conditioned room mentioned in #1. That's about the best you can do without a room dehumidifier. When I lived in eorgia and couldn't wait to paint, I painted outside and quickly brought it inside. I really hate the humidity. It makes modeling tough sometimes. Anybody else got some good inputs? Buehler...Buhler?

1/100 Rocks! (Only 'cause I scratchbuilt one) I couldn't imagine where I would display a 1/72nd Monster. I don't have a garage at this house. The build up looks good Ostrich! If you can find it, there's a Tamiya Olive drab that seems to be perfect if you wanna just spray outa the can.

Don't laugh, but one idea I keep seeing pop up is using Silly Putty. Push it flat into the shape you want. Then use it again later. I think it was in the last Fine Scale Modeler that had a whole article on it. Another good "non-bleeding" method is liquid mask if you can find some/order some. Let your paint set up for a couple days at least to cure and prevent it getting lifted by your masking material. Sometimes it helps to put a clear coating on before your upper coatings. Might be a good idea for your project. It'll take extra abuse. Hope that helps.

One trick is to use a dehydrator, like you dry fruit and meat slices in. That's if you have one. The only other cure I can recall is watching the weather and patience. The food dehydrator idea came from a dude in Florida where it's ALWAYS humid.

Thanks Bad Scorpion. That's an awesome site. I just bought a DSX/DSM radio from Spektrum. I think I know what type of plane to put it in next!

Much better than stock! It could almost pass for real except for that whole size thang.

HWR MKII is right, HLJ is slower all around (being across the ocean doesn't help). But their saving grace is selection. I've ordered bunches of stuff from them, just be prepaed to wait a while...

Hobby Link Japan. Check out these... http://www.hlj.com/company/WAV/ They have balljoints, polycaps,hoses etc, etc...

I hope no valkeries were hurt in the creation of this project

Spawn and Macross, that would like be a Gerwalk with long grotesque fingernails, entrails off the fusealage, and some kinda bio weapon thingy. Maybe they could do a Macross Zero Plus Bio or something!?! About Micro Mark, their tools are a bit pricecy, but the quality of their Micro Lux tools are great. I have the Bandsaw, Tablesaw, 10" Disc Sander, and some other smaller tools. They're all made in Japan. Yes, I'm a aheavy duty scratch builder!

Yeah, the ostrich man is right, check out MicroMark.com. They've put me back about a grand over the past few years. Mainly in power tools, but they have everything tools wise and then some. Wait and get a free catalog from them, first, trust me! They of course do all the resins, glues, blah blah blah blah...

honneamise, thanks for the clue. I think my local shop has that stuff. I have that same kit and it's awesome for it's size. I'm totally modifying it though. I'm making it into something more "Macrossy" to go on the Daedalus. These are BERP blades on the rotor head...

Play in the yard. Yeah it was like forty somethin' outside today. That's the problem about being in England, the cold. I wouldn't trade it for the world though. The humidity was caramping my style and the days I could paint too!

SDF-1, have you tried snap-together models? Just joking! A brushless blower (when spelled correctly) fan has a motor without carbon brushes to spark. Thus igniting your sprayed exhaust (unless you want to blow up your apartment ). The spray booth should not emit any liquids if you have a filter on it, so putting your exit vent where the cars are would probably offend people the least. Get a cheap air conditioner or heater filter from the hardware store. You can replace it when it gets dirty and it helps keep your blower clean. PlayDoh is a brand of children's modelling clay. It keeps the children busy while I build too!

big-F said. Make it yourself. I got rid of the one I made when we moved. I'd make one, but I'm using a respirator for now. I'm working on a six foot model of the Daedalus, and the first half of it is over three feet long. It'll hardly fit on my workbench! Superglue has less hazardous fumes or try Revell Contacta liquid cement in the mean time. It's thicker than the thinner stuff which means it doesn't become a gas cloud right away. I'm using it in MASS quantities in the house because I am gluing three and two millimeter thick sheets together; no problems with it floating into other rooms. Plus Contacta has a styrene filler (clear) in it which gives me an extra strong fillet in the corners; fills small gaps too. I used only a bit of the thin stuff the other day and my wife told me to put it away because it stank! I'd use superglue, but it won't give me the welding strength I need.