honneamise

As for Bandai reissuing the same (Ex IMAI)kits over and over again, I am pretty sure that they don´t even have the molds for the 1/72 destroids, 1/200 Monster, 1/5000 Macross Fortress etc. . On some japanese collectors site I have read that those molds are considered "lost" whatever that means.

I wonder where the Arii molds have gone, none of those except the variable 1/100 Valks have ever found their way to Bandai and Arii themselves have only reissued the small stuff (10 years ago) - where are the 1/5000 Storm Attacker, 1/72 Glaug + Tomahawk and the retooled 1/100 Regults? "Lost" as well? Just curious...

The biggest loss -at least to me- is the IMAI 1/72 VF-1 D Gerwalk - not the transformable one! This one was based on the "raven-nosed" Gerwalk and Super-Fighter kits but they added a completely reshaped nose that looks fantastic. The only old 1/72 Gerwalk kit that looks good out of the box (except the Hands) IMO. I have only ever seen it once on E-Bay but got outbidden.

What's on my workbench, Special Cloverfield Edition. (I saw Cloverfield over the weekend, and think it's a really worthy addition to the daikaiju genre!)

Anyway for a while I've been working on various Godzilla kits.

This is a Goji'54 sculpted by Yuji Sakai, released by Kaiyodo and molded in glow-in-the dark (!) soft vinyl. I painted him entirely with a brush (Tamiya Acrylics with some oil washes) but finally broke out my airbrush and did some work on his fins. I have a 1/285 scale unpainted metal truck miniature under his foot there :-)

Wow the ´54-G looks great! Sakai is really the best Godzilla sculptor out there. The only one I own is a 1/100 ´54 from Paradise I guess but I am not sure. He watches over our livingroom and occasionally scares little children who are visiting... far too big for a diorama but I really had to buy it! 1/285 is a far better scale with all those vehicles available...

Cloverfield is opening on 31st here in Germany... have to see it! The only image of the monster that I have ever seen is some kind of production sketch... does it really look like a giant whalo-saurus with squid tentacles? Please post pics!!!! I wanna see the beast!!!!

MechTech the Yamato is coming along well considering that it I only build on occasions. Main guns are done, I´ll post some pics later!

Great to see this model built! I had the same idea some years ago but I must admit I have only bought two of the old Revell D-VII´s instead of the better Roden kit. Two because I wanted to do the red Hikaru version as well... but I never got started.

A Kibou-Gou from Mars Day Break, isn´t it? Never seen the anime but I like the design, especially with the retracted hands.

BTW the Dorvack "MAK."- Armors are all reissued in two-packs as it seems, at least we get the standard versions of the four different types.

Amazing works guys! HWR MK II your days seem to have at least 48 hours... your model output still amazes me as does the quality of your work.

I am happy that I have (well, almost) completed two models in December/January. One is a Bandai Xabungle Dugger Type in 1/100 that I had on my bench for over a year - once I started again it all went pretty straightforward. The kit is from 1983 but more detailed than one of todays Master Grade kits. I love it and it will definitely build more Xabungles in the future. BTW the kit will be reissued soon!

The other one is a Gunze 1/24 Dorvack Halk Power Suit. Took me about 3 hours to build and another 3 to paint although the optical sensors still need some paint - a fun kit, also of 1983 vintage - only the decals tended to disintegrate.

I like the Dragon design and how this specific kit came out.

Of course it is not Hasegawa. It IS lineart-correct, but, since the dragon was just seen very briefly in the series, there was no need for more details in the Sketches. When Tanmen decided to make a model of this, he should have at least "upgraded" the panels to the then-standard IMAI-treatment of the VF-1 kits. Those have less detail than the Hasegawas but they still convey the look of an actual plane and do not just look like an animated one.

As I consider it completed, I´d not try to add more panel lines and stuff. Depending on the resin and if it was pressure cast, you may end up digging up little bubbles under the surface, resulting in uneven scratches instead of consistent lines.

Maybe you should consider adding lots of small stencils to liven up the big surfaces. The Hasegawa VF-1 J-kit comes with the standard stenciling in black and also in white for the Max/Millia-Versions, so if you have the kit and plan to do the red or blue scheme there should be enough spare decals to use on the Dragon.

As for preshading (or postshading): it is a matter of taste, looks great on low-visibility Tomcats, but I think on a white surface with very few panel lines it easily tends to look forced and pretty unnatural if not done very subtle.

Great work Cool8or!!!

I have only seen the lineart and some small pics of the unbuilt parts so far.

This is the first time I see a completed Dragon in all its glory. The landing gear you added looks believable and you made the canopy fit like a glove. A beauty, very well built and painted!

I have one from the first run and I can only recommend it to anyone. It is a great model and well cast.

I don´t care if you make changes or not - I do not consider this a speculation object, I want it built on my shelf - so the only thing that bothers me about limitations is that my time is just too limited to build it right now.

Oh wow, that's huge where did you get it?

It is from a customer from the Netherlands but he bought it from a German mail order shop and made them send that thingy directly to me. You can also get it from HLJ. The kit is quite cheap for the size (135cm), but shipping will cost a fortune.

I had this model when I was a kid (BIGGEST present I ever got in my life) and I built it in about three days... no paint of course, big gaps, lots of glue but I had the biggest ship! Now I can try again! With the Anatomy of the Ship book all the inaccuracies of this model come to light, but it has still held up quite well considering the age of the mold. At least it looks like Yamato.

I am going naval and have started work on a Nichimo 1/200 Yamato.... maybe I´ll cross the North Sea and try to sink MechTechs Daedalus..... ....no chance, I´ll get blown by the HWR Mk.II´s on board before I get into firing range I guess. Yamato isn´t even worth a Daedalus manoever, it is too small.... still, it is quite impressive on my table. It is a commission so I won´t have to find a proper shelf to display it!

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I have seen those as preorder items at HLJ but thought the´d be available for some months - big mistake!

I still hope that they might see a reissue in kit form - both Platz ans Sweet have re-released some of the more popular Gashapon toys as kits such as the Sea King, Mitsubishi F-2, Phantom etc.. The VFs must be very popular if they sell out that quick and there is almost limitless potential to make different versions and decal options. And if we have kits we could take more care to make the canopies fit better!

That could be a great way to replace some of those rather dated Imai 1/144 kits.

Actually thats the ertl AT-AT Means im doing something right if it looks bigger than most think.

Ertl? Wow never thought you´d build something that small <but of course it looks like 1/35 if you get your hands on it! Great build and really cool weathering effects - you corrected the "face-plate" didn´t you? I remember there are some incorrect angles on the front panels....

Hi guys I´ve been confined to my workbench for far too long so I did not manage to build stuff other than these two:

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That´s the one that is on sale over at the SSM Shop. Next one will be this one, John already posted this pic on his site. Both are 1/72

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Almost forgot I DID build something different in my sunday spare time - not yet finished but only a little bridge and some trees are missing. This is Matsumoto Castle in 1/350, kit by Doyusha, almost out of the box. That was fun - no big conversions, good fit despite the ages-old mold, really just glue and paint!

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I hope to get back to some Macross stuff soon!

And darksoul you need to know that the IMAI 1/72 Regult is in fact too small for the scale, a properly sized Zentraedi soldier could never fit in there. The resin kit (John´s, there is also a resin version of the Imai one) has the right size so you will get a better AND bigger model for your money!

I have John´s Regult and it is an awesome kit. I hope to have some money saved when the new ones come out -I already missed the Destroids. The Imai kits are, well, OK, but remember they were only 1000yen when they were produced. That´s about what you get......

Working on the 1/32 scale A-10 N/AW from trumpeter. Also picked up the new DML P-51D. It is packed with detail and only has 2 faults. FAULT 1= The kit comes with FULL gun bays in both wings, BUT BOTH WINGS ACCESS COVERS ARE MOLDED CLOSED! This is small since on the underside of the wing you can see where the area for the access covers is thinner to allow you to cut them over. FAULT 2= Although you CAN cut these covers open THERE IS NO PROVIDED DETAIL FOR THE COVERS THEMSELVES. No PE parts or anything to replicate the detailing on the insides of these covers. The kit is good and will allow some really nice detailing possibilities. Im just a little disappointed in DML, after their new 1/35 tank kits that are PACKED with all the little details you can think of. this just seems like a smack to the face. You would think if they knew they were putting a full gunbay in each wing they would have made the covers as seperate pieces and detailed on both sides. This reminds me of something TRUMPETER would do.

Trumpeter is well known for ALL the gimmicks that this kit has. Clear engine cover panels. Full detailed parts that get hidden once the kit is completed, and many other little things.

The kit also has a weird texture to the skin of the acft which looks like it will make it very difficult to get a good polished aliminum shine out of it.

Heres some pics of the gunbay parts i have already cut open and the instructions for the steps involved. NOWHERE does it say or even point out that the gunbays can be cut open. Again this is very unexpected from DML. I wouldnt be suprised if this were actually a project that trumpeter dropped.

Some manufactureres seem a little clueless these days... I´ve heard that the DML Mustang has some issues. That gun cover thing seems to be not worked out properly. Moreover, people complain about the "skin texture" with too deep and wide trenches and overdone riveting that does not look like the real thing. But it looks like a Mustang to me and that is more than can be said about some (not all) Trumpeter kits - I have the feeling they either copy other kits to get the proportions right or they try to skip research and get it all wrong (Wildcat, 1/24 Mustang, many of their ships etc.). Then they add thousands of panel lines and little parts to hide the fact that the main parts are all wrong... I´ll stick to Tamigawa kits for now!

I consider myself a macross fan but, despite owning all those Kawamori books, I did not know that the VF-11 B has a limited swing-wing ability! Now I know - the kit has actually 4 main wings, 2 swept forward and 2 swept back. That is frickin´cool!

Just got mine, the quality is outstanding with no big seamlines, bubbles or warped parts. There are even two canopies, parts fit is excellent as far as I can tell - Hasegawa I won´t wait for your Version of a VF-11!! Thank you Ken!

That´s due to the anime magic used on the VF-1.... Hasegawa´s VF-1 looks great in Fighter mode but is far too sleek in Battroid. They could have used the same heads but apparently they decided to add some mor detail and transparent parts to the more prominent Battroid heads.

This is unbelievable! And it does not look like a small floating model ship, more like one of those huge models like that were used in Bond movies, "Liparus" comes to mind!

I really hope you won´t encounter any stability issues once you have added the enormous upper half! I mean, if you build it light-weight there should be no problem, but if you are going to add all the interior stuff and a full complement of destroids, there might be a considerable weight increase. But considering the sheer size of the model, the "machinery" should still outweigh the upper parts.

I´m looking forward for more!!!!!

Verdammt, your models make my eyes hurt (popping out of their sockets)! Freehand camo airbrushing, huh?

Yep I usually mask my models, but this one was a big beast and I had to try out my new Olympus airbrush!

Just finished: a SU-22 Fitter of the former Eastern German Air Force. 1/48 scale, it is made from a Czech kit (Kopro) - not up to modern standards but captures the look of the plane very well, only the wings were way too thick and they cannot swing properly so I thinned them down and glued them on in the forward position.

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Hasegawa are mostly known for their plane kit, so I guess their initial idea was to apply their detailing magic to what they do best, the fighter mode.

I could imagine that only popular demand "pressed" them into making their first ever robot model, the Battroid. But at the time they did these kits, they had already switched over to more fighters, the YFs fromM+.

From what I have heard the Gerwalk mode is usually the least favorite among the fans (not my opinion, though!) so maybe they saw better chances in marketing new designs instead of creating a Gerwalk kit.

IMO that was the wrong decision. With all the Fighter and Battroid parts already done, the cost of re-engineering some parts for a dedicated Gerwalk kit shouldn´t have been too high - and they could make as many versions as they did with the fighters to "milk the mold". Unfortunately, I have the feeling that they won´t go back to their VF-1 and surprise us with a Gerwalk mode some day. I even doubt they do it with the VF-0, even though that design has less built-in anime magic and they would not even need to "adjust" the proportions of some parts.

Of course I hope they´ll prove me wrong

I love to watch your Daedalus grow, this must be the most complicated yet well engineered scratch build project I have ever seen!

I mean, there are people who build mecha and other stuff from scratch (like myself)... complicated at times but it just has to look good on the shelf. There are others who build big scale ships from plans - the hull alone is a BIG piece of work but you can still stick to those detailed drawings. And you manage to build a perfect looking ship based on a bunch of tiny sketches, and add your own, specifically designed propulsion system to really make it work. This thing is growing at a constant rate and everything looks like it has been perfectly thought out right from the start - your work shows a determination that I could never develop unless I had to work for a customer.... this is so impressive!

Can´t wait to see all those hangar/superstructure/bridge etc.-details - but, considering how well you build small things like your Macross planes, the whole thing will surely look perfect to say the least.

Looking good. So you are going to try and add a figure with the kit?

At least one... initially I was going to make a whole set with 2-3 cars and several figures but it really depends on the amount of time I can spend on this project. Maybe it is better to make just single kits, after all, not everybody who wants 3 crew vehicles will need the same amount of cherry picker trucks...

But there WILL be a cola vending machine !!!

Great looking wheels Valkyrie!

After a LONG hiatus due to other projects I´ll try to make some progress on my 6-wheel crew vehicle again!

The major components are almost there - unfortunately Focker´s head is still missing, I´ll try to sculpt the guy with Tamiya resin but I´m not sure how he will come out in the end... maybe a generic driver will have to do the job !

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