MechTech

A lathe would be great to have. Either that, or if you have textured stytene/brass sheets, cut and wrap some around your wheel. - MT

Looks great so far. You gonna include ground crew figures? One idea for lenses I've used is to get a punch (hollow die or paper punch) the size you want and make punch outs of clear plastic. Then get a drill of the same diameter or that's a tight fit and snap the lense in place. I'f your building it as a solid unit for molding, still punch out a piece of styrene the size you want and sand over it with a sponge sanding block. That should bevel out the edges nicely. I've got a collection of various sized hole punches and hollow stamp dies just for that reason. Hope that helps. - MT

Aha. That's what my wife was telling me but she couldn't remember which was which. After I put some primer on there, I'll see what I missed and how bad it is. I'm working on the receptacle now for the bow section's tab. Slow going since I have to use liquid cement for the strongest weld and overall strength. Super glue gets too brittle and cracks much easier I've found. - MT

You know, I'm not sure of the brand names, but I've seen guys on model boat forums take a brass rudder "skeleton" and build it up with similar type sof fillers. I'll have to go back and look at the pictures.

If you have a Dremel buffing kit, it's in there (most people really don't know what it is). If not, get buffing rouge from a good hardware store or plastics store. Go lightly or the heat will make it burn in deeper. Water sometimes helps to cool and lubricate, just a mist.

Neptunesurvey: I mostly use my fingers. The smaller parts like the cushions and steering wheel gotta be tweezers! I'm throwing around the idea of buying a set. I do have some Hasegawas that "need a tow." - MT

Like HWR MKII said, you should be able to buff it out. A lower speed set dremel and a buffing cloth wheel with compound would probably work. I've done that several times on several types of plastic (even works on CD's if you are careful).

Thanks everybody. Tonight I glued ribs into the bow section to cover and make a large tab that will interlock into the mid/stern section. SDF-1: Thanks. If you get the SDF-1 from Imai, you can have two little ones. That's what the photos showing size comparison are from. Neptune Survey: Thanks. I'm hoping to finish it within a year or less. The upper "hanger bay" should be easier and faster to build. Chas: Thanks again. I appreciate the advice. I will be sealing it so water should not be an issue. Big F: Thanks again and for the advice. As I was typing my wife popped by and saw the text. She knew just what to use (she used to be a "motorcycle momma"). She did all the work on her bike and others. When you're experimenting with thinning down the fillers, if you start seeing a light at the end of the tunnel, DON"T GO! And oh yeah, launch party for sure! HWRMKII: Thanks for the advice. I've heard that gel coat can be brittle. I wonder if it will flex alright on the styrene hull. Paintable is good! Whatever I use has to be soft due to the differences in soft styrene and the filling compound. Olivers: Thanks for a brand. It might come down to that.

I feel so much better now. I'm not the only crazy person who has tried to build these! I started on the airfield truck complete with flatbed for a GU-11 (in 1/200 of course). Talk about tiny! I put it aside for "bigger things." The left one is the first start and the right one is the second. All I need is a solid block of plastic to carve it out (1/200 is so cheap) Some of the Aerospace Ground Equipment (AGE) stuff would be cool too! Like the tanks for fuel and carts (gotta get the missiles around somehow). I would love some more views of the "meatwagon" too! Everyone's got to have one of those. You can't win all the battles. Thanks Valkyrie for starting this thread! - MT

Thank you for the encouragement everyone; some days it really helps! Here's the updates I said I'd post a few days ago. SORRY! It had something to do with father's day, setting up my children's pool, (still too small to put my ship in) and sanding the bow section. 3/4 bow view A shot from below (note the curve on top now and hatch) Starboard side view (note the rear block to level it off) I always wondered why someone would want to use Mori Mori or similar filler on their model. Then I sanded down this puppy with too coarse a grit and thought, "oh yeah, gotta buy some now." More sanding keeps thining out the walls too much. I had to recover the other side in a large section again with Milliput since I sanded most of it away! How's that for counter productive? I hope this week to put a primer coat on to catch all the surface flaws and fill them in with something. Anybody got some "home brews?" I can't wait two weeks to order some Mori Mori or other product. I do have Squadron Green Putty (as if you couldn't tell). - MT

I just saw this (I've been burried in family and Milliput stuff). I blew it in not getting a CAM unit for only $1000 bucks a while back! You can build in smaller parts and build them up if you get a smaller unit. That was mentioned earlier and works great. I'm still kicking my butt over not purchasing that unit a couple years ago (I'll get over it with therapy ). Don't give up and keep in mind you can always make the smaller parts and put them together to make a larger model. Smaller parts also give opportunity for great emphasis on detail too! - MT

I always wanted one of those too. I wasn't in to the whole "Southern Cross" thing, but I love this design. I tried to modify another model to look like this, but it's just no the same! - MT Oh by the way, this looks like one of Acadamy's earlier kits. It probably is on the up and up!

I popped in to see how the project was going (SHAWEEeeeet castings by the way!). This thread is gettin' a bit threatening so I'm ducking out before someone starts shooting plasma, or worse, 40cm shells! - MT

Thanks everybody. I'll post pictures tomorrow after the Milliput sets and I sand down the reshaped parts. - MT

What wooden boats? Well, there was that walnut shell boat in kindergarten, but I don't think that counts . I build almost exclusively in styrene. This is my first "planking" model. Sanded down you can't tell on the outside 'cause the seems go away. Inside it looks like old plaster boarding. The bow section is trying to kick my butt with all the compound curves everywhere. Don't follow another model for your model - USE THE DRAWINGS! That's why I've had to make so many changes to the bow section. I think I got it now. I've trimmed the top sections back and covered it with plastic. Tonight I'll clean it up and Milliput the seams and stem area. Gotta go and shop for propellers! - MT

Thank you. I'm reshaping the top of the bow now! Almost happy with the shape, but not quite. - MT

ALL FUTURE POSTS WILL BE HERE IN "REPLIES." Some foam and two boxes of Milliput later, the bow section is nearly completed. I jsut have a about two hours of sanding and I can begin priming. There will be some plating detail showing simulated panel lines. The primer will tell me what detail is left after sanding. Adding panel lines will be the easiest stem if I have to. I purchased my motors and speed controls already. I'm getting an itchy "throttle finger" to take this thing out for a cruise! - MT

Check out the top picture with Daedalus comparrisons. BOTH ships have to be smaller than what the books say. So maybe your model would be only 2M long? - MT

Those look awesome! The Legios IS to scale by the way. How does it feel to have your own squadron? I'm ashamed 'cause I haven't even seen Macross Zero yet I'm sure when I do, I'll buy a "zero." They look great. I've gotta get my "retro" project done and "modernize" with some newer generation stuff. - MT

Greyryder: Now I have the whole picture - 1/35. Tamiya? If you don't have speed controls for each side already, try the Novak SPY. I use it in my destroyer ship model. Isamu Dyson: If you build a 1/200th Promethius, I'll bring my Daedalus over there and we can sail to "Macross Island" together! I think it's somewhere near Calais!? Gutsand Casca: "My 4 yr. old son asks me why he's got so much more Cobra stuff than GIjoe stuff. So I told him that GIjoe is underfunded by the government, whilst Cobra has unlimited money as they are backed by the ACLU after someone in the world was offended by the Joe's "Real American Hero" slogan. (I neglected to tell him that Cobra's arsenal looks cooler to Dad)" Dude - how come that sounds so realistic? I'd believe it? Stupid ACLU backing Cobra. I knew they were up to no good! Now I know how they got their nickname "American Communist Lawyers Union."

If you can set exponential steering on the module that would be great. Then again it may not need it. I haven't messed with aftermarket control modules like that. Just as long as you don't get all or nothing when you turn the wheel. I hope it works out. That is the easier way to go than two sticks. I'm just more accustomed to them myself. Have you contacted "HWR MKII" yet? He's BIG into R/C tanks. He might have used a similar module. Hope that helps. - MT

It might work. Especially if you have a computer radio that you can program special combinations into. I've never tried it personally. I went through the work of two throttles solely because of the ease and simplicity of two levers. A computer radio might even be able to couple the two for you now (in case you do have one). - MT

24 MAY UPDATE. At the very bottom of the pictures you'll see what I've been doing for the last month. It's been fun and tough to do the engineering on this. I had to make everything work and be rugged still. This meant fiberglass board throttle handles and 3mm thick styrene plastic where any stress might be (see, I was still model building). Oh, and then it had to look "store bought" and not a prop from a movie laboratory. I did find a two throttle lever assembly for another brand of transmitter, but at the same cost as my whole radio - forget it! The two throttles mean the left side motors can go forward, while the right go backwards and help make a tighter turn. Or just use one set to save battery run time. If I build a tank later on, this would control my steering/motor control. - MT

I hope to have some pictures soon. I've been working on radio transmitter. I've taken the two, two-way gimbals on the radio and converted them to dual throttles on the left hand side. The right hand side is now a steering wheel with bow thruster buttons and eight other functions all on the same control. It's been an engineering challenge to make it all work smoothly. All my time on line lately has been to track down some good motors for the ship at a decent price. I'm almost there though. Thanks for asking. I'll post pictures soon! - MT

LAUNCHARIFFIC! Great sculpt! - MT