Spatula

Holy... just look at the size difference of the vf-0 and vf-1. 

Indeed, I was like, are you sure that's 1/72? I wonder if UN Spacy would have made the VF-1S bigger when they finally encountered the Zentradi forces. A VF-O would be about 1 1/2 times taller than a Zen-trooper, so I'd take it. Also, I'm taking it that an F-14 is longer in length than your VF-1A?

But then again I doubt that Earth was expecting these visitors.

Where's Spatula?

51.7 Deg N Latitude

114°05'W Longitude

It's good to see there's fellow modelers all around. I joined VERY recently and I'm just about done the construction of my VF-1A Valkyrie and will begin air brushing it soon enough.

I've just begun recently with the whole modeling thing so there's lot to learn, but experience is the best teacher. I think I've perhaps done only 8 kits so far, which is sneazable.

1. Gundam Deathsycthe 1/144 (my first one, and I still have it, but I want to throw it away since it's so bad. This was 5 years ago).

2. Gundam 010-MSZ 1/144 (about 4 years ago).

3. Patlabor - 1/35 Ingram Alphonse REACTIVE ARMOUR TYPE - June 2005

4. Gundam 1/144 RX-78 ALEX June 2005

5. USS Enterprise CVAN-65 1/400 Revell - August 2005

6. 1/4000? AMT Imperial Star Destroyer - Oct 2005

You'll notice the huge gap simply because I was into other stuff back then, mainly video games (which I still am, but I'm serious about getting into hardcore modeling).

Yeah that's quite the reason why I don't start multiple projects. I might start multiple parts in a single kit, like when the cockpit is drying I'll start doing the wings etc, but the more you have, the more your mind is choosy on what to do, then it ends up as wasted time.

Patlabor the movies are very different from the series and OAVs though. While those have their fair share of political thriller/drama, they are mostly action or hilarious comedy and I loved it.

Well Episode 6 and 7 - SV2's Longest Day part 1 and 2 respectively were the substance for making the 2nd movie. The 47 Episode TV series was a sure hit as well. It still had a hint of mystery but also packed with action and comedy. I've never seen the whole series though, only a few episodes here and there.

I can't remember much of the Griffon vs Alphonse fight, but some of it was very good.

*save image to file*

M-Zero is a decent place to start, since they don't involve the Zentradei forces just yet, and plus using very well done CG for it may catch their eye. However I really care less about the characters. They all seem flat and sterotypical - and Focker just doesn't seem as up beat as in the original series.

Anyways how I started out was

1 - M-Zero

2 - M-Plus - Episode Version

3 - Macross II

5 - Macross DYRL

4 - Macross series

I somehow watched it in that order, even though its quite off the proper chronological time line. I swear if you show them 7, they'll immediately never look at any other Macross Title again. I've only seen a few, but then, killing enemies with the SOUND OF LOVE, just isn't my bag.

BTW, Yu-Gi-Oh at 23? oh dear oh dear.

Meh, it seems many aren't "thinking" types anymore. Just run and gun - trigger happy types. I've not seen P3 yet, but the reviews were giving it a pretty bad rep.

I still and forever wil listen to Classical music, no matter what generation. Stuff that is 200+ years old still remain great to my ears.

Also, on the other side of the fence, I throughly enjoy Bleach right now (up to the 1 hour special episodes 52-53), same with Full Metal Panic TSR (Episode 11). Sure they're very cliched and action based with little time devoted for deep meaning. It's usually who ever can go "ARRRRRRRRRHHH I WILL KILL YOU" that makes up most of the dialogue, but sometimes I like simple things, give my brain a break once in a while.

HLJ has the Nu Gundam and the 0017-b Red Zeta+  in stock.

Nu Gundam

Zeta+ Red

336896[/snapback]

I usually only get stuff from HLJ if I definately cannot get it any other way. I've seen a couple at anime conventions so whenever possible, I prefer to buy it on the spot and save on shipping costs rather than paying A LOT through EMS shipping. Stuff like the Valkyrie Weapons Set and the Photoetch are somewhat hard to come by in my area, so those I order online.

I do not want to steal this thread of anime in schools, however on the topic of enjoying classic anime:

Anyone here familar with the Patlabor series? Especially the two movies?

I swear perhaps only 5% of kids (age 12-16) will enjoy Patlabor 2; the rest will say its the most boring film in the world. why?

Patlabor 2, hereinafter referred to as “P2â€, has probably one of the lowest frame movements for an anime that I have seen, however, in my opinion, it is my favorite anime movie that I have ever had the joy of watching.

For those of you who haven’t seen it, here’s a quick synopsis:

Back of the box spin: In the near future, advanced robots called "LABORS" are used for civil and military operations. In order to combat criminals who might misuse this new technology, the Tokyo Police Department's Special Vehicle Division (SVD) is equipped with Patrol Labors, or Patlabors to combat urban crime. The date is 2002, three years after the events of Patlabor 1. The destruction of a United Nations Labor team in Southeast Asia signals the beginning of a deadly terrorist plan that threatens to send shockwaves throughout Japan's military. With evidence of an impending military takeover, the scattered members of the original SVD must gather to defend the city against danger. To make matters worse, the mastermind behind the operation is none other than Nagumo's former teacher and ex-lover Tsuge. Can Nagumo stay true to her oath to uphold the law in the face of Tsuge's destructive plan for revenge? The countdown to armed revolution and panic on the streets of Tokyo begins now!

Notice how the synopsis makes it a perfect ground for an action movie? However it turns it into a political/military thriller.

Too many anime fans now want ACTION and big explosions and the like. I'm also somewhat guilty of that myself as I tend to get bored with Stand Alone Complex 2nd Gig and their talk about life and meaning etc. Now it’s whom ever has the biggest guns and most “awesome†technology that will produce the winner, and therefore a catchy series for young ones to watch.

Back to P2, I find that you need to have a certain taste and perspective when watching Oshii's films. Also most North American audiences will not understand why after some philosophical statement is said in the film, the anime frame will freeze there for some time, perhaps 3-5 seconds. Why? I personally think it’s Oshii’s way of telling us to seize the moment of what’s happening on screen. It’s a very poetic gesture for the director to allow the audience a few moments to let what was said on screen sink in.

Indeed, P2 is filled with 90% talk and 10% action, however, it’s the dialogue that is more than suffices for the body of the film. Most military thriller films of today base their body on the actually happenings at the moment, not what the events were the led up to it – hence what you call an “action movieâ€. However P2 takes a very Tom Clancy approach and tells what happened before and allows the audience to predict how the variables will effect the outcome. P2 is also a movie where you will not understand every thing in one viewing. There are so many subtle hints of information in the talk that make the movie so interesting. It’s a movie where it puts action at the backseat and makes the audience think, “what’s he trying to say?â€. I watched this film at least 6 times already and have discovered new things every time I see it.

Another thing is that it uses what I call the Traditional Hand Drawn Method – THDM in short. Very, very few things were done with computers back in 1992, which what makes seeing this movie so enjoyable. It’s touched mainly only with the hands of people and seeing what they can “animate†using traditional methods gains great respect in my books.

Seeing the opening sequence of the war in SE Asia reminds me why I love mid 80’s to early 90’s animation.

I highly recommend this to military fans who want something more subdued and not “in your face†but prefer to think things out.

Check it.

Actually, yeah good thing to point out the decals. From what I read from cody's coop (http://codyscoop.com/gk.shtml), he seems to use a thinned variant of the base coat to seal over the decals on his Strike Valkyrie , and a coat of future floor wax. I haven't come across any such floor wax before but it''s supposedly the secret key to make a good coat for a matte finish and not show the edges of the decals.

I personally think Gundam Fix Figurations are excellent "model-toy" collector items. I have 4 of them and won't stop collecting any time soon. I'm seriously hunting for the 0017 A or B, and 0009 Nu. I actually plan to get ALL of them...someday...someday.

GFF's I have so far:

0011 - Ex-s MSA Gundam - the first one I got in 2003 in AsoBit City - Akihabara, Tokyo. (AsoBit City, probably what I consider mecha heaven is closed as of April 2004 due to some safety hazards. It's been broken down to smaller units owned by LAOX, just in case you're wondering)

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0013 - Deep Striker ( god this was a pain in the @$$ to fit in overhead compartment, no way I'm checking this thing in the airplane from NYC to my home)

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0022 - 010-FAZZ - Found this in a local anime shop and snatched it.

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0026 - RX-78-2 - Production Type - Found this in same anime shop as the 0013 in NYC.

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As well, some of the cosmic region ones have caught my eye from the Gundam SEED series.

Penguin, I hope you got my PM.

Um well I'm finding that I'm working rather long stretches (in my mind) for about 3-4 hours per day on a kit, and while sure I'm making progress, I seem to keep rushing it and I start to get sloppy and compromise. I'm especially very hasty with sanding and the like. This will probably, or most definately hurt at the end.

I try not to work at it anymore if I'm just starting to slap things together and not bothering with fit, cause it will be a total waste at the end.

I'm sure others might have encountered this where they really can't wait to see how it turns out in the end, but haste makes waste.

I was quite hasty with my USS Enterprise back then, and the quality (or lack of) shows now especially when I'm looking at other ships on the net. But then again it was my first kit for like the longest time.

I usually work on one project at a time.

Well this is my first time doing both a Hasegawa and Macross related kit. It's a very basic VF-1A and I'll pretty much just follow what's on the box, however add my few touches to it. I'm most worried about the fitting and taking out the seams at this moment, and I'm about step 12ish where I just finished doing the landing gear. It's all flat white now, but I'll be doing a wash over it with some dark grey and left over hull red.

After I'll take a break and perhaps start on the VF-1D Trainer.

No no, this is my first Hasegawa kit and I'm investing the time that it deserves. So time and rushing isn't a big issue.

I think the only kit that I've finished in a weekend from cutting sprues to putting the finishing touches was the star destroyer. But then again it really didn't have anything complicated and had only like 50 parts. As well the entire thing was one grey colour so painting wasn't too difficult. I added some shading and the likes and touch ups, but this Valkyrie is an entrie different story.

One thing though is that I don't have a pilot since I didn't get the weapons set. How hard is it to fit the pilot in, assuming I don't glue the canopy on top, at a later time? It will take some time to get the weapons set from hobby link japan, so this should give me time to work on other parts, but I was just wondering if putting in the pilot afterwards was easy to do.

Also, the decals that come with this are water slide decals right? I seemed to have some trouble transfering them. I hope they aren't dry transfers. Can someone confirm this?

Thank you very much for your replies.

Well I sort of can answer that question of the duration of time it takes.

I started just to work on the cockpit of the Hasegawa valkyrie VF-1A and it has taken me about 2 hours now with about 6 small parts. This also includes painting and sanding time. I'm just about to add the nose cone on. I've just finished putting on 2 decals. They're 108 and 109 with the red light and the cockpit console respectively. (This might bring back some memories for you guys).

Seeing that this is about 1 and a 1/2 steps, I guess I'm doing okay, but then again model building isn't a race.

I'm finding that my Tamiya paint has grown somewhat chunky and not sticking well. Sometimes it sticks to the paint brush and then starts to scrape it off. Now that's not good. I'm saving the air brush for the larger parts, such as the wings, main fuselage and elevators.

Hello fellow modelers,

I'm a new member here and I've just begun to get serious about modeling plastic kits.

I don't have a whole lot of experience, but have started on a few other non-Macross kits.

As for the Macross series itself, I've finally found time to watch the original 36 episode series, DYRL, Macross II, and Macross Plus and Zero this year, so most of the material is pretty fresh in my mind.

I recently picked up a Paasche VL double action internal mix air brush as well as an air compressor, since I've decided to do some "hard core" plastic modeling.

I just have a few questions here:

1) How much time have you invested in a single kit (for example sake, say the VF-1)? I know there is no straight answer as most replies will be, "as much time as necessary" or "as much as I want to make it look good".

I changed the question initially from, "how much time should be invested into a kit" into the question posted at the top, since I think that would help bring more objective answers rather than "philosophical-modeling" questions. You can break it down into how much time is spent looking at instructions, sanding, filing, fitting, gluing, painting etc.

2) Which OVA/Series/Movie was the VF-11B featured in? I see screen caps of it in MP however I don't recall seeing one, only the VF-19 and 21. Perhaps I should take another look. Also, I know of a YAMATO toy for this valkyrie, however are there any resin or plastic kits for this?

3) Has the VF-4 Lightning, featured in 2012 Flashback, been shown in any other mangas or OVAs? I only know of a few resin kits shown on Macrossworld, however have not come across an actual plastic model kit.

4) I just recently finished doing an Imperial Star Destroyer using my Paasche brush, however for some reason the quick change cup kept bubbling. Now the instructions say that I should try to tighten the two cover parts just right where the needle exhaust is for the airbrush.

I've tried doing that, however it still seems to bubble. I took off part # 6, which exposes the needle. It seemed to work ok, however it doesn't do very sharp lines, even putting it like a quarter inch away. My question is does this damage the air brush in the long run?

In other news, I've recently bought two Macross Hasegawa kits: namely the VF-1A Ichigo Hikaru black and red stripe version, and the VF-1D trainer which kinda looks like the normal ostrich.

Other series of models that interest me so far are:

1) Gundam (probably a whole whack of you saw that one a mile away)

2) Patlabor (I finished a 1/35 ingram just this past summer)

3) Super Robot War (I have yet to pick up any kit(s) from Kotobukiya

4) Star Wars and other sci fi stuff (currently looking for the Aliens Drop-ship)

I look forward to your replies and hope to make new modeling buddies soon.

Thanks.