CrossAir

That's an awesome idea! And you printed and painted almost every main female character of the whole Macross universe. And they are looking really good, especially at that size. I Like it, definitely!

Wow, lightening up did really do a thing. And that burnt metal looks really cool. Great looking F15! 

18 hours ago, Thom said:

@CrossAir That is an awesome repaint. I do like the prototype colors of the Prophecy, but when you got the change to change it up might as well take it!

17 hours ago, derex3592 said:

@CrossAir  GREAT repaint on that 25!!!

Thank you guys, too! I just checked on my oldest DX toy, that's Lucas' RVF-25 and it shows slight yellowing, too.  Now I think it'll look cool with its radar dish painted in grey colors. Especially in combination with its three drones. Could be a nice project during xmas holidays 😁

17 hours ago, peter said:

OK, I don't remember much of Mac F and don't know a thing about Mac D, but the repaint looks way better than the original paint scheme.

1 hour ago, MechTech said:

@CrossAir Your revamp of the paint and decals look great! Nice color scheme too! - MT

Thank you both! I'm still a fan of the original colors of the YF-25 but as well of this much more military looking style of the Kairos. And I appreciate the matte finish of the VF-31 DX toys. With panel lining and decals the YF-25 now has the look of a premium finish version of a Macross F DX toy. I would like to do that to my other Macross F Valks, too, but unfortunately a complete painting has a negative impact on transformation. Perhaps if I can grab an already yellowed toy at a favorable price I'd do another re-painting again. Somehow I find a liking in it.

I did it again - though I wrote somewhere back in this thread I would not repaint a DX ever again. But I couldn’t stand the look of my poor yellowed YF-25 and felt I had to do something about it. Use of peroxide was no option. Good thing I had already knowledge concerning disassembly and scratch sensitive parts.

The color scheme was an easy choice: VF-31A Kairos. It took me a couple of weeks as I did not have much free time for modeling but finally it’s done:

YF-25 Xaos Gamma Flight 01

Before repaint (in reality the white parts are much more yellowed than in the picture and on the lower side, too)

And after:

VF-31A and YF25 in comparison:

17 hours ago, leeboo1211 said:

Nice! I've been thinking about this... Not much good GITS merch around. Only got a ijiban kuji Major. Wish they had more Batou stuff, or the OG spider tank from the movie which is still my favorite design. 

Oh yes, if MegaHouse would release the spider tank with Batou in matching size I would be all-in! 

As I'm currently watching "Ghost in the Shell - Stand Alone Complex" I had to get me a Tachikoma.

Got this little guy from Mandarake for a good price (took the Major as bonus 😉)

26 minutes ago, MKT said:

Picked up a loose 1/72 Cheyenne Dropship, by Aoshima.. This thing weights a brick! I wish Aoshima would have continued their sci-fi diecast line.

 

 

 

Great pick! My favorite Dropship of all times. Managed to get 2 of those and 3 APCs via eBay years ago at reasonable prices as compared to where those went up by now. It‘s really high quality and looks so good on display. 

On 9/8/2021 at 12:49 AM, grymg said:

Tamiya Grasshopper 😃

 

This was my first real RC car as a kid! I loved it and used it up until it was completely broken and even repairs did not help any more 😪

(Still have a Madcap though)

51 minutes ago, electric indigo said:

The Siren is on the final mile, some tricky assemblies and the shield still ahead. I need to get this out of system.

 

Although it has been said several times before but this color does really a lot for it. Really nice work!

35 minutes ago, Sanity is Optional said:

...Yeah I'll buy one...

...Even if it's Ranka rather than Sheryl

Me too! It‘s MacrossF so I have to 😉

Maybe they put Sheryl in the next release. Whereas which variant is left? From the original SMS squad only Luca‘s RVF-25. But I‘d like that. 

3 hours ago, General Rasp said:

I have been tempted to buy that Wasp Girl but the last thing my shelves need is another random figure.

That’s always my thought, too. So I started to sell or store away older figures which importance to me declined. Also to avoid overcrowded shelves. But that is often a hard decision  to make 😉

incoming goodies of the past weeks:

Michael's VF-25G to complete my Robot Spirits Side VF collection (Though there's not much to collect 😉):

My first Hasegawa kit for more than two decades: Crusher Joe's Galleon in 1/35 scale even with the main cast figures. Now I can give up being sorry for selling my smaller 1/48 vintage kit some years ago.

And finally: Wasp Girl 1/12 from Snail Shell - Initially it was an impulse buy but now I'm extremely happy 'cause this figure is of an awesome quality (you can even move her eyes in an direction you like):

And still waiting for Metalbuild Dynames Repair III which is stuck a customs - That really sucks! 😣

@peterFull painting and panel lining does a lot to a toy indeed. But honestly this one is now rather a model than a toy as you have to be incredible careful while transforming to not chip any paint!

@MechTechThose spring cables and optics look great. And I just recognized the shoulder part where you attached the spot light to - I think I have this on one of my mechs, too 😉. Although in another function.

@derex3592Amazingly rich in detail. I think with a space background this will look super realistic.

After two months I finished the repaint of Altos' VF-25F DX.

Transformation is possible, although you have to be extremely careful as there are a lot of sharp edges which will scratch the paint easily even with several layers of clear coat I've put on. Before painting I sanded down the edges where the wings fold into the fuselage, the area around the hinges of the tail fins and the inner edges of section where the cockpit/nose rotates in. This seems to be enough as I found no wear resulting from the regular transformation process until now. Still, there are issues where you have wear at points were sections are clipped together. At the point where the forward engine section of the legs is attached to the upper fuselage and on the side of the leg section where where the wing section is hooked. On the former one the paint is stripped from the pins that go into the fuselage but this is only visible from the rear in battroid mode and only from certain angles. The latter is only a tiny white scratch of 2-3 mm length. All in all I can live with that, but by now the VF-25F is transformed back into fighter mode and will stay this way for quite while 😉.

Concerning the building process I went through painting relatively smoothly but ran into several issues while applying decals and panel lining. Those third party decals tended to break easily, especially on the edges. My decal softener had almost no effect on them. Panel lining turned out to be even more horrific as my new thinner I intended to use to remove surplus panel line color rather took away the coating and base color instead of the former.

I the end I luckily could fix all these issues and after reassembly of the valk I'm more than happy with the result!

Before:

After:

@peterI really lost count how many Star Trek ships you've built lately. Must be an impressive fleet by now 😉

And this lazy built Yunagi looks pretty good by the way 👍The flat coating helps a lot.

10 hours ago, electric indigo said:

Fasten your eyeballs and seek out the Five Star Stories.

 

Ah, Five Star Stories - I thought that design was familiar to me, but didn’t think of FSS. Cool looking mechas with unique designs.

3 hours ago, peter said:

Looking good so far! 

I still have to find a toy that's so far gone I'm not afraid to repaint.  Most of the toys in my collection are in pretty good shape so I can't seem to find the nerve to repaint yet.

I think this will be the only repaint of a DX toy for me. I'll rather use peroxide or bleach on my other yellowed ones next time. My three yellowed VF-25 toys were the first ones I got and it seems I was too careless in the beginning and exposed them to direct sunlight too often. My newer toys currently on display are still in perfect condition as they are always kept away from the sun.

@Thom Thank you, I'm curious if all will really fit together in the end as I imagined.

@MechTech Thanks, it's a little bit of trial and error and luck tonot overdo sanding and keep the gaps small enough while avoid scratches in the end. Your Battle Frames looking great - I really love those gun builds of yours with those highly detailed barrels and shells!

@electric indigo As everybody else already said: awesome looking colors. Can't wait to see all set together.

You guys showed up with lots of great builds and projects the past weeks! I could follow up scarcely. My own little project, the repaint of my yellowed DX VF-25F was completely on hold for weeks. Well, until a few days ago. Since then I made some significant progress as the Main colors are almost done for now.

Used up one and a half roll of masking tape already.

I did not try to disassemble the main part of the upper fuselage with the wings as all joints are pinned or glued tightly:

Had to sand down the area around the swivel mechanism of the side rudders to avoid paint scratches as the gaps are very tight. Hope it was enough sanding after clear coating:

2 hours ago, arbit said:

Here is a new Minmay at 3.5cm 1/48 scale. I am in total shock at the detail. I used the same steps as the first one, but took the risk of not thickening her up at all. The fringe of her dress is under 0.1mm, and I didn't know if the print would be possible.  

Congrats, that is really an awesome outcome of the print!

27 minutes ago, pengbuzz said:

In some cases, I will leave a part the plastic color and find a way to work it into the paint job as to not cause issues.

That's my thought, too. As the VF-25F is mostly white colored, I hope I can leave most of the locking points in color of plastic to avoid paint scratches and keep the friction.

7 minutes ago, arbit said:

I always wondered what kind of paint people use when customizing their valks, and what are the steps for clear coating to avoid scratching during transformation? 

I would scare me to death to touch my gokins.

I think I have to sand down some edges to avoid scratches during transformation. I had good experiences with Tamiya acrylics and TS clear coat with my V.F.G valks, which are transformable to a certain degree.

Or, never transform it again! 

Here I have my slightly yellowed DX VF-25F, this sticker sheet that just arrived today and lots of white paint. So it is time to start my next project with working title „Sheryl Guard Custom“ 

First step is dismantling the toy as much as possible without breaking it completely…

10 minutes ago, Knight26 said:

Now that is a nice peace of art! As well as the wall, too