mitch

Not a lot to show for it this week I’m afraid. Work has been really busy and I was procrastinating for a while about doing the thigh mod, but now I have a fairly good idea how I’m going to attack this and should just need a set of small clamps to hold it closed while the glue sets (For those of you who have never taken a 1/55 apart before, the ratchet joints housed in the thigh are set on springs). Here are some pictures of a completed missile pod. I’ve tested it out and it sits snugly under the wing. At the weekend I was able to find some time to start the thigh mod. I started using Skull-1’s thread as a foundation, but instead of using pens for a friction joint I am custom making them to ensure I get a tight, solid join and to theoretically make it easier for me to position them inside the thighs. I’ve also started on the feet. I used an epoxy putty called miliput to fill them and have been sanding them to taper slightly towards the outside face and create the raised plate above the ‘toe’. Once that’s done I’ll scribe the line around the base of the feet and they’ll be ready for painting. I’ll have photos next time. Just for documentation’s sake, here’s a shot of the missile clip that didn’t work out. Like I said before, a lot of trial and error...

Thanks veffidas, I'll run down to little Tokyo tomorrow and hope that they have it in stock. If I have no luck there I'll try to figure out amazon.co.jp (babelfish takes some lateral thinking to work with...). Heck, if I get despirate I can always grab a copy off of this guy. Or not.

Thanks Ganbare, they do have them at amazon.co.jp but I can't find anyone that will ship to the U.S. Is there anyone here who lives in Japan that would be willing to act as an intermediary - ie. buy a copy and sell it to me please? I would of course pay for shipping and the service provided. If anyone could please help me then PM me and we can arrange what you would want for shipping and for your effort. Thanks.

Hi, Can anybody direct me to a site that is selling issue 1 of Macross Ace or have a copy for sale please? Thanks.

Only the 25S is currently available at HLJ (and in limited quantities at that). If you want a 25F you're looking at about $190 on average through the secondary market. The numbers say, for better or for worse, that the DX has done well. The fact that they are reissuing it just a few months after the initial release illustrates that. I would bet that the only changes we see, if any, are small fixes (like maybe the torsion on the screws), I would be very suprised if there are any major changes which would cost a lot more to fix through production (like neck length unfortunately). If and when there are more significant changes to the design in the film, then I suspect they will probably release that as a separate variant later. Also, the number of broken shoulder screw cases that I've read about I can count on one hand, where as the number of whole forums dedicated to defective Yamatos is still way in the majority.

I agree, I'm constantly amazed by what people can make out of lego. I grew up with it and think it is a wonderful toy for any child (or adult for that matter!). I passed on both the megablok Gundam kits and the TF Convoy set because I'm very wary of lego impersonators and was concerned that the quality would not mach my expectations. Just because they could make megablok VF-25 kits (however unlikely that may be) doesn't mean they should. Bionicles not only have applications to lego-builders, but I have also heard of their ball-joints being used for custom model building and maquette work.

Nope, this thread is still going strong. Part of the reason I'm posting my progress is to keep me motivated because I want to have something to show every week. Unfortunately, I don't have regular 'net access at the moment (most of my spare cash is going on this and is in my DX VF-25 fund), and last week I had the set-back of the missile-pod clips and the waiting time for paint to dry and H2O2 to do it's magic. Sorry for the delay, I promise I will keep posting until this piece is done. My VF-19S that I was working on this time last year took months to finish because aside from filling holes, adding vents and attempting to custom build a new gunpod (which failed horribly) I was removing each individual piece from the figure, spraying them with Krylon Fusion paint, waiting the recommended 7 days for each piece to dry, masking, spraying, waiting again, panel-lining, re-assembling, applying decals and sealing. Hell, I'm getting tired just remembering all that! Basically, the reason I'm doing this is kind of a tribute to various things - to DYRL, one of the most stunning animated films I have ever seen, to the various artists who created and contributed to the rich and wonderful world of the Macross mythology, to the other customizers out there who inspired me to do this, and to the 1/55 Valkyrie figure itself. It is a masterpiece of design, engineering and 4-dimensional planning that over 20 years after it's inception is still being reproduced almost exactly as it was all that time ago. I may be adding to it, but it is really only small aesthetic things. I would say that every single valk made by bandai could have been improved with maybe one or two tiny changes that would have made a drastic improvement on each figure - knees that bend on the VF-17, die-cast hip joints on the VF-19 that would allow for them to slide up to sit higher on the torso and maybe have a degree of motion, and all of them (except the '17 of course) could use thigh swivels. There are obviously other things that could be changed on them (and I'm still waiting on my VF-25 figures before I pass judgment on them... come on BBTS!!!), but I see good things in all of them IMHO. So anyway, it may sometimes take a little longer than I would like to post my progress, but it will get finished, and if anyone has any questions I will gladly answer them, and any suggestions are always welcome. Thank you.

WOW! That is awesome, great job! Come to think of it, Mr Kawamori used lego to design the VF-25, and Gundam, another bandai property, has had a build-it-yourself block kit (not lego, I know, megablocks I think...the poor mans lego), I wouldn't think it would be completely impossible to see something like this in the shops. Probably not lego unfortunately, but anyway, it's good to see people out there making some awesome lego pieces. Keep it up!

Just had a really good transaction with Dyno, the price was fair and I was impressed how fast the delivery was.

Hey everyone, sorry I haven’t posted for a while. A lot of this project has been trial-and-error for me and the hands, head, missile pods and thigh pivots have needed a lot of planning and forethought before I tackle them. Over the last two weeks I’ve devised how the missile pods will be attached to the wings. I was initially planning on using the clip off of a pen-lid (a type of Bic pen that you can get in the UK) because of it’s aerodynamic shape, but after trying to connect it to the spacer that sits on the top of the ‘pod, I found that it is made of a type of plastic that repels pretty much everything, so I switched to using some scratch-built clips made of copper wire (to prevent snapping over time) coated with rubber insulating sheaths used in electrical wiring. This not only prevents scratching the wing’s paint and slipping, but when heated they shrink to fit the bent copper clip. The next time I post I’ll have pictures of the finished, painted ‘launcher. I also found out that the old Strike Pack forearm clips do not fit the Bandai re-issues (they apparently also started gluing near the nose of the valk). The angles on the forearm were slightly altered and don’t sit flush with the inner gradient of the attachment. So rather than start attacking the clip I just used a set of older arms and cleaned them up (see below) and will use them. I’ve finished painting my pilot and cockpit. I added a new display screen with the mirrors at the top as seen in DYRL’s cockpit variation. I removed the yellowing on some of the parts I’m using off of an old valk. If no one has heard about the technique that I read about on the forums here titled 'fountain of youth', then I have to tell you it really works! Step 1 – Take the plastic parts that you want to remove the ageing on and remove all screws and metal components. You can also wipe them down with alcohol to clean them if you want. Step 2 – Put the parts in a clean glass jar, preferably with a lid, and pour in some Hydrogen Peroxide (I used the 3% stuff you can get from any pharmacy or supermarket). Use enough H2O2 to completely immerse the plastic. Step 3 – loosely screw on the lid (allowing the oxygen released by the H202 to escape and prevent the build up of pressure), and place it somewhere where it can get a lot of sunlight, like a south-facing window. Step 4 – wait for about 4 (sunny) days and the H202 will bleach the plastic back to it’s original luster! It doesn’t even affect paint or tempo printing, it just cleans them! Remove the pieces carefully and rinse thoroughly with cold water to remove any residual H2O2. IMPORTANT: Hydrogen Peroxide in any concentration should be handled with care. You should really read the thread before you start. Take care when using H2O2, do not get it in your eyes, and wear gloves. Now that I’ve got clean parts to work with I’m going to have a go at the thigh modification I’ve read about...

Here is where the Missile Pods are at. Next week I should have some pictures of it with the clip attachment if it all goes well. As for the hands, I’ve hit another snag. The hands from a TF Altinator a bit small and would have made holding the Gunpod either difficult or impossible. I may just end up using the hands from the standard 1/55, but putting in a pivot so that they can at least rotate.

Here is the (almost) finished head. The collapsing neck I devised out seems to be working well so far, but I may tweak the sliding mechanism slightly with some light sanding. Since taking these pictures I’ve filled the gap between the Visor and the Faceplate as well as the small holes at the base of the chin that were created when I trimmed the jaw. I’m thinking of scribing a line on the neck to represent the layered under-jaw plating. That aside, this is how the finished article will look. Like I said last time, if anyone is interested I will post a diagram to show how I went about doing this mod.

Here are the pictures of the head. So far I’ve cut the visor out, rounded the face, cut the ‘jowls’ under the chin, extended the brow, and tightened and lightly drilled the lasers. Aside from needing to replace the visor, I’ve been thinking of ways to do the extending neck, and I think I have it figured out. I’m looking for some styrene tubing that is the same diameter as the ‘neck’, so I can extend the central column and run it into the head to add stability. If it works and if anyone is interested I’ll do a diagram to show exactly what it is I did. This is the casing of the missile pods I am working on. Since these were taken I have added the front and rear panels with the missile warheads and exhausts attached. I had to cut a lot of styrene but I used it as an opportunity to get some new tools and materials that I can use later on. I got the ‘Flexible Pipe’ that I mentioned a few posts back and looked into using them for fingers, but I’ve decided against using it on this project since they don’t have enough bend to make a decent fist or hold the Gunpod, but if anyone wants to buy one and a half packs of Small (3mm) Flexible Pipe then drop me a PM. Instead, I’m going to try and use some hands off of a Transformers Altinator, as they have movable fingers, are about the same size as the original hands, and can firmly grip the gun handle.

There is a store in Little Tokyo in downtown LA that sometimes has Macross kits - I think they said they had the VF-25 kits recently, but I'm not sure if they still have them now. There is also the first Jungle store which is across the street in the 2-storey mini-mall and they have Yamato's and Bandai 1/55's. I can't think of anywhere else right now, but if you go to the Japanese communities we have here you may find something. Good luck with your hunt and welcome to LA.

That is a really sweet looking 19! I saw the pictures Valkyrie Addict posted a while ago, and I was so impressed that I used the scheme for my first attempt at a customized valk. The end result doesn't look quite as cool, but I did use the 1/65 figure instead of the kit. I filled in some of the holes on the legs and shield, as well as adding some detail to the shoulder-vents. I also used the swept foreward wings and dorsal stabilisers of Basara's 19 because I personally prefer the way they look. Thanks again Valkyrie Addict, that kit looks awesome! keep up the good work!

Hi everyone, I hope you all had a good holiday season. I’m back in LA now, and I’ve started work on my project. I’ve got quite a bit to do for this custom, so it may take me some time, but I’m determined to see it through. I’ll be able to post about once a week as I don’t have regular internet access, but please bear with me. Okay, here we go… Here’s the Pilot. As I posted before, it’s a recast of a Toynami 1/55 pilot. I then used Miliput (a 2-part epoxy putty) to sculpt the shoulder-pads for the suit as seen in DYRL, and then added the disc on the chest using Styrene. I primed it with Rustoleum Plastic Primer, which seems to take a few days to dry completely for some reason. It was still early in when I got this picture taken, so I’ll get a chance to smooth off the areas with the bumps on the helmet and shoulder (they are hardly visible really, it’s just that this is a close-up). I’ll attach it and then paint it once I’ve opened the fuselage on the valk I’m using as the base for the custom and had a chance to remove the cockpit. Since then I’ve started work on a new head. I can’t sculpt well enough to make one from scratch, so I’m modifying the head from a beat up old Takatoku. I’ve rounded the corners on the front of the face, cut out the visor, lightly drilled the barrels of the head guns, brought out the brow more to improve the profile, and sanded down the base of it’s neck. I’ll have pictures of it next week. Also, here are some pictures of the project I worked on last year (and my first Macross custom). A while ago I saw the pictures Valkyrie Addict posted of his VF-19S painted in the Ichijo Skull-1 scheme. I thought it looked so cool I decided to use this scheme for a custom of my own. Mine doesn’t look nearly as good, but like I say it was my first transforming robot custom, and of course, I used Bandai's 1/65 figure as opposed to the kit. Although this line of Valks was disappointing in many regards, I still admire the engineering that goes into any transforming toy, and they are at least sturdy. Another thing that separates them is that I wanted my one to keep the front stabilizers from the Basara '19C, as well as the forward swept wings, simply because I prefer the visual aesthetic. I also added detail to the shoulder vents and filled the holes on the legs and shield.

I'm disappointed that there's not even been any word at all about a full armor pack, since the main design impetus behind the 25 series was to be the first variable fighter that allowed for complete transformation and functionality while carrying reactive armor. It's good to hear that the Quarter is on the drawing board, but still no 27 or 171 EX.

I'm not sure it is. I heard that they would be selling it here at the MW forum, so I e-mailed them to ask how much it would cost. Just go to their site ( www.over-drive-inc.com for those who don't know it), and click on the 'contact us' tab at the top of the page. Let them know what you are after and where in the world you are so that they can figure out how much shipping would cost, and they will get back to you. I've not used them before now, but I found them quick to respond and very helpful, so I may be pre-ordering the 25G off them. Also, in their latest newsletter they said that because of the national holidays in Japan they would not be open for business until the 5th of January, so I'm not sure if it's technically the 5th there yet because of the time difference, but either way they will be able to help you in the next 24hrs or so I imagine.

Overdrive quoted me $72.00 for the Alto Super Parts, plus $24.00 for shipping to the US via EMS, so $96.00 It's not cheap, but I'll bet that it will be more if you wait for the Super Packs to hit ebay, or you can play the game of bandai-roulette and wait to see if they do a re-release with the 'pack. I bit the bullet and ordered through overdrive, and resigned myself to the notion that I would buy the F and S again if they get released wit the Full Armor pack down the road.

A happy, peaceful and prosperous New Year to everyone here at Macross World!

Cool, thanks guys. I'm kinda surprised that the article had inaccuracies, but we took what we could get in terms of anime and manga coverage in England in the early '90s (still, with about 3-4 different UK publications back then there was more info on new releases back then than now). A lot of character names in later issues misspelled character names from M7 in later issues, but this was back when it was still airing on Japanese TV, and that was the last a lot of people heard of it I imagine, since it has never been licensed in the west. Bionoids was what got me hooked on Macross back in the day, and like the 'Warriors Of The Wind' release of Nausicaa that got me into Anime proper (albeit in a slightly mangled form) it opened my eyes to what animation was capable of, and now Nausicaa and DYRL remain two of my favourite films ever. Plus, the dialogue still cracks me up (Roy: 'you can still fight when you're drunk!' ). Hell, I would gladly watch Bionoids on my plane flight back in a few days! I've got to start booking my flights with Japanese airlines... Speaking of Miyazaki films and 'plane flights, I think I remember reading that Porco Rosso's first dub was made for 'plane voyages, and I still prefer that version to the dub put out through Disney a few years ago (and Jean Reno played Marco in the French version if I'm not mistaken). Of course, please correct me if I'm wrong on any of this - we are a simple folk in England

Hey everyone, While I'm home at Christmas I was looking through some old anime magazines and found a few articles about Macross. In issue 3 of Anime UK (the May issue from 1995) I found some information on the DYRL film that was dubbed and released as 'Clash Of The Bionoids' by Kiseki films here in the UK. I remember a while ago reading a thread here about the dub and having a chuckle about some of the dialogue and cheesy voice acting, and thought I would share what I found here. * If this has already been posted somewhere before then I would humbly ask the site administrators to move the post or confine it to the limbo where all obsolete topics go. * SUPER SPACE FORTRESS MACROSS Japanese English-dubbed version of MACROSS THE MOVIE aka CHOJIKU YOSAI MACROSS : AI OBOETE IMASUKA (SUPER DIMENSIONAL FORTRESS MACROSS : DO YOU REMEMBER LOVE?). Dubbed in Hong Kong with British/Australian voice actors it was originally used (with Japanese subtitles)for education purposes. The unsubtitled version was used for overseas sales. Released in the UK on video by Kiseki, dubbed as CLASH OF THE BIONOIDS (see entry) and subbed as MACROSS : DO YOU REMEMBER LOVE. The entry it refers to was in Anime UK issue #1 (March '95), and says; 'The movie was released in the UK in 1994 by Kiseki, but without the cuts mad efor US release'. I'm not sure what they cut for other overseas markets, but I know for a fact that my VHS is without the concert footage before the end credits that was expanded on for the FLASHBACK 2012 video.

Now that looks a lot better! What did you use for the extension? I assume that having that added interferes with the transformation?

I'm honestly not sure, It's hard to tell without it in my hands. Anyone want to send me one so I can check?

True, true. Without looking at it in person it is kinda hard to tell how much space there is to work with inside the head. Hopefully my preorder won't take too long to get to the US shores so I can have a look myself...