Skull-1

Where did these guys run off to? I'm especially concerned about Kanata as he was my prime supplier of spare parts. I have a Valk at 80% that needs a few things to fill in the blanks... EEEEK. Silver just has a lot of my money. *grumble* *grumble*

Are they not too large for the '55?

Nice, huh? Just do my slider-free wrist mod then use a nail and melt a hole through the base plate and the fist. Insert the nail through the hole in the base plate and glue it into the fist. Voila. Swivels *and* you can reverse it to hide the fist without sliders. I am going to try to put ALL my mods into this Valk. It's going to be tough but I think I can pull it off. I finally broke down and decided to build a Max "A" because frankly that's the one Valk that Bandai and Yamato SHOULD make and won't/didn't/don't.

I made it where his fist can twist at the wrist... In progress. Initial build stage.

Do those Gundam hands work on 1/55s? Anyone have any flexible ones they would suggest to replace these fists with?

BigF.... HELLO?????????????????????????????????? Got any pics of this thing?

Wakeup F!

Any pics?

Has anyone taken this little notch out of the inside of a Bandai 1/55 arm to allow it to move closer to the body? I am trying to recreate the Max "A" pose and the arm doesn't reach the gunpod as the bevel in the upper arm keeps it from reaching the gunpod.

Awesome job!

I disagree here. There is no requirement for them to contain FUEL, only reaction mass. This could be water or anything else you can think of that can be expelled. I define them as FAAST Packs. Fuel Armor Armament System Tactical. Though fuel is somewhat a misnomer.

My vote woulda' been for the F-14D, too. The engines, as I recall, were definitely NOT TF-30s in the artwork.

Is the screen shot he posted from the remastered Macross DVD? It looks brighter than mine.

That was a good pose, too.

Oh...my...goodness. THANK YOU!! Quick response! Is that from the remastered Macross DVD? Check out the color difference between yours and mine. WOW! My next custom is going to be a Max "A" and I was wondering if I could get it to stand in that pose... Hmmmm..... Gonna be hard with a 1/55... Max_VF_1A_Battloid_Takes_Aim.bmp

I have the first three episodes of Macross Zero. If I could find the rest I can place them on a dedicated server for everyone... I am having NO LUCK at *ALL* finding the episodes after #3. Any thoughts on how to help an idiot find the rest? Many thanks.

Anyone have a copy of the shot where Max aims his VF-1A's gunpod at Milia's Quadrono? It is the shot I am now using as my avatar. I would love for a large screenshot of this if anyone happens to have it. Many many thanks.

TV Max "J" is the absolute best. VF-0A is the absolute WORST.

Has anyone managed to recast the Stiletto Missiles (MMS-1 ??? I forget the proper Macross nomenclature) in 1/55 scale? Perhaps even with racks? I have some 1/72 Hase Weapons Kit versions but they're too small for the Bandai. Even some in 1/60 would be closer to accurate.

Glad to see the forums back up!!! WOW! I was having some major withdrawal issues.

That is the true curse of the 1/55 right there!!!!! Or you do like I do and have 6 of them at various stages of completion from 80%-95% and none finished. I am definitely going to finish the Harriska gray "J" this week. I have to. Otherwise it's just one more thing left undone. I really made it look like a beat up POS. The sad thing is that it looks like I did it on accident instead of on purpose... But it looks just like a Hornet picture I have so I know I did it right. Oh well...

WET SANDING helps with the seams in a huge way. Make sure you have the parts you are sanding assembled if they are compliments--i.e. arm halves, shoulder halves, fuselage halves, etc.--because you won't get them down properly unless you do. On some of mine I don't care about the seams as much as I should. I guess I am impatient to get them on the shelf... But it *IS* worth the time. I use almost exclusively RUSTOLEUM products. Rustoleum Painter's Choice is really very good. For clear coats and dull coats I think Mr. Hobby is the best.

Thanks! First thing is first... Start with a Jetfire so you can take advantage of the short nose. I usually prep every single part by sanding it thoroughly, ESPECIALLY anywhere that parts touch or rub. If you don't prep these areas by adding some clearance for the paint that will be applied you'll wind up with lots of transformation scars. I took the nose blisters and cut them off with a razor, then moved them down, filled the seams, and sanded them. This is a tough thing to do because of the lines where the nose halves come together. Thorough sanding will again save you a lot of misery. I'm not a firm believer in primer. I think it can help, but if you use a quality paint it is not necessary and can be a detriment to keeping paint on the toy because it will make the overall paint applied thicker. Finding custom parts is a must unless someone has some VT-1 armor lying around. Pine-Sol works well for stripping paint. I use that on areas I can't get the stuff off with sanding. What else??? Once everything is done... Clear coat. Apply decals. Micro Sol the decals. Clear coat. (Dull coat if necessary.) This makes the decals appear painted on. Decide what mods you want to use and go for it... Best of luck and keep us posted.

WOW!