MechTech

honneamise, you're right about the yellowing. I build engineering parts out of resin too other than model stuff. I like dying to see that the resin is thoroughly mixed and for a proffesional appearance. I haven't had any dyed parts yellow yet, even after several years. I can't vouch for the color white though. In your case, I could see not using dye to keep production cost down. Plus everyone is going to paint their's anyhow (those who actaully get to buiding them) It's more of a customizing thing really. Take care. - MT

I'm so there; I mean, Im here! Count me in. I travel all the time. I think my wife (and wallet) would prefer the UK though. Common sdf-1! Haven't you always wanted to see England? It gets cold here too in case you get homesick! I think SAR is in too, but I'll let him speak for himself.

Looks great honneamise! Better get a couple of those on flying patrol to keep our fellow MW'ers under control. It sounds like they're gonna riot! Have you tried any color dies (besides paint) to tint your resin? It's great stuff! I built a whole Destroid Phalanx in color. No more scratched paint to worry about! "Keep 'em flying..." - MT

1.) To come clean, I'm a 1/72nd scale guy at heart. Then those Nichimo guys came out with all that stuff in 1/200. Cool and alright. Then there's the 1/200th Monster. Then Nichimo has all these ships in 1/200 (got a destroyer and the massive Yamato battleship ). Then Hasegawa came out with their line of 1/200th scale aircraft (got some of them too). I have a bunch of 1/100 Macross kits, but there isn't any craft small enough for them to all "go with." I got the crazy idea to build the Daedalus about four years ago and have been working the idea and buying things every now and then to go with it. (Just bought a six channel radio a couple weeks back). I've actaully had the heavy guage plastic for about four years too. In short, I just wanted everything to go together. Like Jardann said, to put stuff side by side for comparison. I finally got the tools to make all the plastic cutting easier and that's why I just started on the Daedalus. The lack of stuff in 1/200th is frustrating! That's the sole purpose for the scratch building. Why couldn't Nichimo make everything in 1/144th! I'm blaming them! I can buy almost anything (non-Macross) in 1/144th! GRRrrrr! 2.) OK, how many people really want a shuttle in 1/200th? I've had a few people ask about scratch building "how-to's". I'll get both done at the same time. Who is there so far?

VF 1s, Thank you for the compliments. I've had a couple of people ask about "how to" scratch build-ups. I'll do a general article and pick a subject. I'm thinking of doing the shuttle due to a couple of requests for it. Does that sound good? It would be hard to describe the build up of the fan jet since I really didn't use any plans. Your aircraft look great. What scale are they in? (I haven't seen those shows yet)

Ooops, double post. MODS can you delete? - MT

Some people asked me before about the laser engraved parts. They're posted above with the rest of the photos. I'm not using these, but you have an idea of what they look. The operator moved the plastic so it blurred and the engraver charred some areas for some mysterious reason? - MT Oh, and I suddenly get the urge for some arromatic duck this weekend.

Don't worry, I'll keep away from the swans. I've been "told off" by them a lot at lake sides. You'd think they were peaceful. We should name a plane after them! Scale Solutions? That's new to me. Do I sense an advertisement coming?

I found some airport ground crews I'm going to get. If anybody asks why there isn't anymore people on board, I'll just say they're on shore leave. I gotta get a Gloval figure though. Does anyone make 1/200 scale pipes! Now that is something you can get away with in 1/72nd. I gotta confess that 1/72nd is my favorite scale (before Macross), but I wouldn't be able to build some of the things I have that large (and still have a wife).

Somebody build a giant paper mache Zentraedi ship and I'll "operate" on it.

Thanks everyone for the further compliments! I'm humbled. Did some more planking tonight. The slower rate of the cement takes a while. I'd use superglue, but it will leave uneven areas when I sand it down. The superglue is harder and doesn't sand down as evenly. Knight26 - I got ya. The RAM-like launchers on the Promethius. I can't believe someone would design a warship without on board weapons (OK, so when would torpedos be a good defensive weapon). I'm going to try to work something in. In real life, I've got to water gun pumps I'll probably arm it with. The swans get really mean (no kidding) if you go near their territory. I seriously looked at doing the Promethius instead, but it would never work. The hull is too narrow and there is too much overhang as compared to a modern day carrier. One giant ship is enough for now. I'm outa shelf space.

Naw, just the plain ole' Phalanx CIWS (20mm Vulcan cannon, as on the destroyer model in the post). But that sounds cool!

Guess who makes 1/200 figures? Preiser. They are greatly detailed even for that size. I have some. The HO ones have to be that much better! I highly reccomend their stuff. - MT

If anyone else wants one, now's the time to speak up. If I go to a caster, they'll probably want a minimum quantity. This way if there's enough, they might be interested. It's a matter of balancing cost out unfortuneatly. Unless you wanna pay a hundred bucks for a tiny plane. Oh wait, we do that here We'll keep it in this thread too. - MT

In order: Like Big F said, we'll work the CON out in the "Conventions and local gatherings section. Knight 26 - The bow will open and the ramp extend. I even got my wife helping me engineer how the ramp works in the drawings. The ramp will probably extend on a screw drive since that's the easiest and most reliable solution I could come up with. Sar - You're in the next "shire" from my area. Don't laugh, it could be your gagrage! I've built several free flight, R/C aircraft and a few other preformed boat kits, but that's it. I love doing engineering projects. Go figure, I'm an electronics technician, but love building stuff more. Career mismatch? Neptunesurvey and Viceland - It will be in kit form when enough rich and crazy people come up to me and ask That would take some serious work. I get tired just thinking about it. Honneamise - YES! It is a fictional model, BUT, the hull and deck is Trumpeter Keifang class (it's lightweight), Nichimo Takatsuki bridge/funnel, and everything else is scratchbuilt. The hanger is Japanese influenced. The ship is R/C too. I've redone the helideck. I've put netting on it and redone the surface since the photo. (I gotta have something to drive in the mean time!) I'm thinking of putting copies of it's CIWS units on the Daedalus inconspiciously.

Alright, you gotta know where I stand on this one. I have a "token" Yamato Hikaru VF-1J and, ah... that's it.

That's what I'm talking about! Turbines ROCK! More power! (Tim Allen grunt Arr-Arr-Arr-Arr)

That's the one. If there are more takers, I might be able to do it through starship modeller or another service. I've gotta get my Daedalus done, but I can put it down for my fellow MW'ers. Obviously the VC-33 is done, the shuttle would require sculpting. - MT

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.