MechTech

That's cool! I haven't seen one before. Nicely done! - MT

That looks great Claus! Nice n clean paint. - MT

@pengbuzz Sorry to hear that! Hopefully you can get it sorted soon. Your model is starting to look cool! @NZEOD None of the artwork I've seen shows any trace of burning around the nozzles. Perhaps they're from compressed air? Some aircraft have compressors on them for pneumatic actuators, why not vernier thrusters? @derex3592 How is your cat in your box my fault! I think you'll love the kit, I'm tempted to get one myself. I got a tiny /144 F-86 for a club build (Godzilla). My cat couldn't fit inside the box, so he put just his front paws into it and curled up while crushing it! Needed something small to bring to our model club meeting, so I brought this tiny 1/60 scale Scope Dog. The sculpture is awesome, but the plastic is the ABSOLUTE WORST! It is so brittle, I went to show my son by breaking a piece of sprue and it shattered into pieces hitting him! So is the model - beyond brittle! Solvent glue and CA do not work properly on it. It would have been done by now, but I have to keep fixing things that break or come unglued. I had to make new armor flaps from other styrene to cover the calves because the originals broke just putting them on. Then they couldn't be repaired. I filed a piece of sprue to make new flaps (which also broke). When plastics get warm they let off a scent. This is NOT normal styrene and its definitely not ABS - It's evil! WAVE made it in Japan, but I think they used cheap import junk to cast it. Gotta go back and repair everything - somehow. - MT

That's cool! Chunky Monkies everywhere will have a little extra smile in their visors. - MT

@sqidd There are actually ABS pipe fittings and then the standard PVC. Both cement types can be thick and gloppy so be careful. Macrossjunkie had a good point with the plastic weld. If it's what I remember it is, use it outdoors with a breeze! It does weld ABS great though. Everyone is right, the CA will prevent the solvent from hitting the ABS. Acetone is also a great solvent for ABS. Too bad you don't have sprue, you can melt a little (sprue goo) to build it up, let it sit for a week or two, and then reshape the area. - MT

@pengbuzz That looks awesome Pengbuzz! That is the perfect backdrop. Who knows what lurks beneath the waters... I'd agree with adding distorted blur behind the the engines and slight vapor condensation off the wingtips. Then you wouldn't know if it was real or not. - MT

@MacrossJunkie Thank you! It looked like it snowed in my shop too! It took as long as shoveling the sidewalks too. Your valks are looking awesome!!! They just need a good background and some Photoshopping to bring them into a Macross scene. - MT

And now for something completely different... One of our club builds are 1/144 F-86 Sabres to "fly" around a 1/144 scale Polar Lights Godzilla. I thought it would be cool to make one actually "fly" around a lighthouse as a tower on an arm. So here's the start of the lighthouse - the yellowed clear piece is just a place-holder. The lighthouse is a 2" styrene tube that had a slice taken out of it and then glued together again to make it conical. Heavy bulkheads were glued to the interior to make it sturdy. Two "D" batteries will fit in this for weight and to power it. - MT

@derex3592 Plastering primer on is a good idea. I might need it for my current project. @pengbuzz That's a great idea and looks fantastically weathered! @MacrossJunkie Awesome weathering! He's probably blushing right now, but did you guys see that Arbit made the Fine Scale Modeler centerfold? Return to Kit Form (Brett) posted this photo in Arbit's thread. We're waiting to hear which issue. - MT

That's AWESOME Arbit!!! I used to subscribe to them for years! I stopped because they rarely had sci-fi stuff in there. It would have been cool to see this! - MT

If I was going to build another Tomcat, I would go with the Fine Molds kit. It looks absolutely AWESOME with hydraulic lines and several open panels including the gun magazine. - MT ]

Excellent work!!! One of the best uses of paper related stock on Macross World! Great engineering with the sound system and lights too! - MT

Looks like it is the same basic kit - from the 70's! The "new parts" are probably weapons, sensor pods, and the like. "New tooling" would be a new kit. - MT https://www.scalemates.com/kits/hasegawa-65761-f-14--1072239

Those look awesome Claus!!! No, you never can have enough missiles! Great work! - MT

@derex3592 Ha ha, sorry! I have the LCS-2 and it's a great kit. It has a lot of the same details as the LCS-3. It even comes with the MQ-8B and MH-60S helos - which are both good kits in themselves for that scale. This version has the 30mm turrets on the back which is another bonus. I'd get it too! Finished the life raft canisters! On to the decoys and smaller stuff now... - MT

@Gabe Q Bummer, BUT - work is good! Now you can buy more kits! @derex3592 I'm glad that is what you're looking for. I don't even know how they painted that full size. Probably caused deaths in the process from dizzy people falling to their deaths. Go with the Sea Shepherd and you can save the whales @Sanity is Optional is right. I think it was just a throw-back. Isn't there a guy around here from Ft. Worth? Check out her namesake (LCS-3) - also with a throwback pattern. The two darkest areas of the pattern are diesel exhaust. Coincidence? Probably not. But more fuel for the fire. - MT

Thanks guys! @wm cheng Great recovery on the canopy! I hate it when the color stripes on missiles get mixed up. You don't know what the warhead or engine is! Don't worry, most people won't notice. We won't tell! @Convectuoso It's coming along great! Have fun with the decals @derex3592 If I'm the master of ships, we're all going down on the Titanic! Are you talking about dazzle camo (see sample)? Take some Dramamine and do a search. It will make you sick just looking at it! WWII is a little milder. You can also search "Razzle Dazzle" camo. Have fun masking that! - MT

@MacrossJunkie You make dirty look good! Wait...that sounds wrong. @derex3592 Cool! I always did like that kit. Too bad the canopies are such a pain. @electric indigo Forget the age card, eyes in any scale other than 1:1 are a pain! @UN_MARINE Those look cool, especially for that scale! @arbit Thanks for the info on the paint shaker. I already use nail supply sanding blocks, why not a paint shaker too! The way 2020 is going, I thought some life rafts might be a good idea! I made the smaller life raft canisters (that almost look like beer kegs), but I don't think they quite look right. So I made another larger style of canister. Still waiting on the glue to dry before I clean up the edges and glue the ends on. - MT

The video looks great! Cool way to show off your innovative design! - MT

@MacrossJunkie That looks REALLY good! Much more realistic and helps to give it a bigger size. I think you caught the airflow and dirt areas just right. - MT

@Chas I have them for the battroid mode. Are the green and blue the same, maybe different numbers? They look the same on the boxes. - MT

@Convectuoso That's coming along great! @MacrossJunkie That weathering looks awesome and realistic! @Thom Are you competing with Peter to see how much hardware you can squeeze into a model Just don't drop it now! That sucker will have some weight to it. It will feel more realistic though. Now you REALLY need those Leah headphones to go with it! - MT

@Gabe Q Thank you Gabe! I'm disappointed too The bolts line up with all that junk on top, so stuff on top was awkward to get lined up. Yea! Build the SDF-1! I think new parts are when you plate them in chrome - that's new - right? @Thom Cool Thom. So are you going to make the hair buns to go with it too? Different princess, same idea:

@derex3592 The screen work looks authentic! OCD about wiring is a GOOD thing! It means you'll have an easier time assembling and troubleshooting later. @peter Thanks Peter! Sorry, it doesn't actually work. There might be pyrotechnic effects elsewhere though Way to go with the 'ole school special effects! That looks cool! @pengbuzz That looks awesome! Are you sure you didn't steel that from a movie screenshot @arbit Thank you, I appreciate it! This is some of the smallest work I've done since moving on from 1/350 scale back to good ole' 1/72. I STILL need a magnifying glass though! - MT

@Gabe Q That's funny! I hope you like it. It's too bad Hasegawa never came through with an accurate kit. Is that the cruiser mode kit like Pengbuzz asked? - MT