Chas

True enough Cobywan but what gets me is how "off" the cruiser mode proportions are compared to that pic. I mean it almost looks like a different ship! Personally with it looking that bad in cruiser mode I would only ever have it in storm attacker mode - which makes this a very expensive single mode display piece! Sorry, just doesn't cut it as a dual mode model, or toy.

Forget the Alphas! ( I've always liked the proportions of the LS 1/72 nd series much more - dedicated modes are the way to go with models in my opinion, leave transformation for toys) Now the Mospeada kits, there's something to pick up I just can't wait to get my hands on one or two of those babies! a little mod here and there to increase posability and Wham! georgous model. :>

Ahem! Initial battle scene anyone!

I'm sorry, I know it's O.T. and I'm aware that I may be considered an uninterested party, and I very rarely do this sort of thing, But I just feel the need to chime in here. Hurin, The guy was obviously a little pissed 'cus after 10 months or however long, the thread got moved (for no apparent reason-- if it's been somewhere for that long I think it's completely acceptable for him believe it was in the correct place) All that was needed was something along the lines of : "Oh, yeah, sorry about that - must have been a bit of a shock, hunh? Well we've finaly got a full deck of Mods again and we're doing some house cleaning/straightening up of the forums. This should have been here all along. You'll probably see more of this kind of stuff in the near future. Best . . . " I don't know whether your aware of it or not, but your comments often come off as sarcastic and condisending, and if someone is upset, that tone, in my experience never helps to make them any calmer or more receptive to explanations or Reason. You might want to reconsider your tactics. ---That is of course unless your aim was to explain why the thread was moved AND get in a few digs of your own to rile him up even more, if that's the case then congrats - job well done! Charles.

I'm Baaaack. Hey. So, some of you may remember that a few pages ago I was asking a lot of dumb questions about the PG Aile Striker, Skygrasper and all that. Well as you will recall I got that all straightened out, Thanks to you all, and then went Gundam shopping. I ended up getting my nephwes the PG kits, but I also picked up a couple of MG's for myself, namely: MSZ-006 Zeta Gundam v2.0, and RX-178 Gundam MkII v. 2.0. I am about ready to start building them and I have a few questions I'm hoping to get some help with. You see I truly despise the bright-bubblegum-cartoony colour scheme that is the Gundam mainstay and I want to paint the kits. My problem is I don't know how to go about that with a Snap-Fit kit. How do you test fit This kind of kit without 'Snapping' it together? Can it be 'Un-Snapped' easily? Is it advisable to paint the inner 'skeleton' or will this cause assembly fit, and movement problems? So this is what I'm thinking: cut the parts off of the trees; sand/clean-up sprue nubs; test-fit (if possible); prime- base coat (seal) -assemble sub-assemblies - decal (seal)-panel line - weather (seal) - final assembly. Does this sound about right? What steps do you guys (who paint your kits) use? Is there maybe a website or something where this kind of stuff is covered? Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance Charles.

Well as far as anything specific to this kit, I simply don't know, as I've yet to build mine. And as I don't know what kind of modelling experience you've got, I wouldn't know where to begin with general model building tips except don't forget Have Fun!

Well let's see 1. I look at the instruction book and notice color #318 is called Radome. What color is Radome? Radome is the tan-like colour you see on the fuselage (the parts that are not orange). 2. Is the color guide in the instruction book refers to Gunze-Sanyo Mr. Color enamel or the acrylic kind? It actually refers to both. The white squares in black boxes are Mr Colour (solvent based) and the black numbers in the white boxes preceeded by an 'H' are the Mr. Hobby (acrylics) line 3. I saw some pictures where the Super Ostrich is white and red. Is that accurate? Just stick to the Hasagawa instructions and you'll be fine. They're pretty much dead on as far as colour/markings. As for what you saw, could be a colour annomally due to photo-shoot lighting, of monitor calibration or web-colour non compatibility, or just some crazy custom. 4. Is there such Super Ostrich as one seater with missiles? -NO- the S.O. is basically the DYRL? version of the VF-1D two seat trainer from SDF Macross. 5. Can anyone help me with the line drawing of Lynn Minmay's helmet? You just had to ask for line art didn't you! Hope this all helps. and don't forget to post pics when your done! Charles.

You mean like this?

Glad to be of help. Best of luck to her! Hope she does well.

Second sheet.

As for DYRL thi is all I've everbeen able to find. If you need higher res just let me know.

Um, yeah. Well what instument are we talking about? I've got some for DYRL but it's just the vocal part i.e. the melody line. I can post scans if you want, but unless she's singing I don't think it's enough for an exam.(e.g. if she plays piano there's no left hand part).

It doesn't matter! just pick one. There is no 'right' choice in that situation. You're just procrastinating. .

I'm actually planning to pay these guys a visit on the weekend. Their location is only about a half hour from my place by subway. ( that is if the address on their website is correct!

Try looking here: Doh!

Nevermind nothing to see here. . . These aren't the droids we're looking for . . . move along.

Yeah I think that second one is deffinately a wash. I see what you mean about the pupleish look on that first one too Harsh!

Well here's an image of a pre-shaded Millia super from the Completed models by Hong Kong Modelers thread in the Models forum. Don't know what colours he used for the pre-shading though. Couldn't you just use like a medium/dark grey or something for pre shadinng? I've never used the technique, but my impression was that the colour one used for the preshading was not all that important as long as it was darker in tone than the base-coat colour, but not too dark.

I don't think there is any reason to strip what you've already done and start over. Doing it in the order that you have been should still work out fine. I mean you certainly hven't ruined the model. in fact, if the sample image you posted is anything to go by, your first kit will look a whole hell of a lot better than my first kit did! Just keep going with what you've been doing for this kit and try it the other way on your next. That way you'll be able to compare the two methods directly. Yeah, well my technique has changed a lot in the last year or so. The secret is keeping the coats very thin and painting the whole kit in one direction (say top to bottom) letting it dry throughly then paint the next coat in another dircetion (say left to right ) and just keep alternating this untill you are satisfied with the depth of colour.

Again there isn't a right way to do this. I usually do the panel lines after I decal because when I used to do the panel lines first then clearcoat then decal, I found that I would, more often than not, need to redo the panel lines on the sections where the decals crossed over them to get a good scale effect and make the decals look painted on rather than having them look like something applied on top of the suface. So what I do is: primer, base coat, clear coat, decals, clearcoat, panel lines, weather, dull coat. But as I said that's just what I do, and by no means is my way the only correct way to do this. I' there are better ways but this is what I have found works for me. One adjustment is if I'm going do heavy weathering I sometimes do a clearcoat after the panel lines. Oh and keep in mind I'm a brush painter, don't know how those air brush folks do things.

Holly Crap! How do you put screws in Styrene? That is just nuts! I'm surprised at how good it looks in fighter mode given that I'm preeeetty sure he's using the legs (bottom half- knees down) from the Battriod kit which are much bigger than those of the fighter kit. Am I right in that assumption? What does it look like to you folks?

That is purely a matter of taste. Do you like the way it looks? If so then no it is not too prominent. With model building (particularly SF and Fantasy subjects) ther is no 'Right' way for the model to look (unless you are trying to recreate a specific subject, in our case how a subject looks 'on screen'. If that is what you are attempting it would be best to state what the subject is and maybe post some of the ref. images you are using. Barring that you are the sole arbiter of what is right or wrong. In my opinion it looks quite good! Keep it up and let's see some more! P.S. I usually do panel lines after the Decals have gone on (less coats on the model that way, er. . . well. . . the way I do it anyway, not sure of others here.)

Wow! Very nice looking builds.Very, very clean look. Is it me or does it look to you folks like he uses straight black for the panel lines too? He did a great job on that transforming VF-0, but I'll bet he doesn't transform it much . Still modifying a kit like that is an awesome challenge and, when completed successfully, can be an incredibly rewarding experience, even if you only transform it a few times just to show others what you did! Mad props to this bloke for his incredible skill.

Well it sounds fishy to me! This is what Wiki.org has to say on the etymology of the term. Otaku: Sounds a-lot more plausible to me.

Well I just started using spray paints recently, and I'm getting awesome results! what kinds have you used? For me it's Tamyia. I think the secret is to wash the parts with soapy water, make sure they are thoroughly dried, then prime them (sand/putty any blemishes) and lay the spraypaint down in THIN LAYERS. I cannot stress enough how important it is to apply THIN layers of both paint and primer. Make sure you are holding the spray can the requisit 12" (30cm) away from the object. Another tip is to try and keep the can in a verticle position while sprying - tilt the part not the can!. As for weathering/panel lineing there are many different techniques each with there own tools. I always refer folks to the A.R.C. for a good pimmer on some of the different methods. Just visit the 'Tools 'n' Tips' section and read untill you feel confident in what you want to do. When you've decided on what kind of paints you are going to use (i.e. acrylics?/ lacquers?/ enamels? ) for your base coat then we can talk further about how to tackle the panel lines, as the choice of base coat can have an effect the steps that follow it. One thing I'd like to add is, as I said, I keep my primer/paint coats thin, but when I aplly the clearcoat (Future in my case - and I use a brush for this) for the decals I make that a thicker coat. (something I learned on these very boards!) Hope that helps a little. Keep us posted. (Ha, Ha, I slay me )