Valkyrie

Looks like it's got a new tracker now. I'm getting it now at 120k/sec You'll have to cancel the old download and restart it from the new link. It's on the page Bob posted.

Back when I was still fansubbing, I found scripts for episodes 1-4, but no more were ever done. They're out there, but I don't know where. But suffice it to say, if you buy/rent the Animeigo DVDs and give the original Macross a shot, you won't be disapointed

Nope, it's not a kit nor a preview. It's a one of a kind scratchbuild. Hobby Japan seems to like to taunt us with stuff like that... I really wish they'd make resin conversion kits of some of the stuff they feature... As far as I know, no one else is working on an Armored Valkyrie conversion kit, so I really hope you can finish it some day! I'm sure a lot of us (myself included) will be wanting to buy copies from you

Interesting... I've never seen that kit before... but the kit doesn't look like the same one that's in the finished pic. If nothing else, the position of the arms is different, and the legs are very different.

Unheard of? Here's one example for you: Kotobukiya had some Gundam GKs made in the late 1980s / early 1990s whose molds were acquired by B-Club and reissued years later. I did say "almost unheard of", didn't I?

I've got some great and simple ideas to get ya started when you're ready Nah, quite alright. I've already got several scratchbuild projects planned Most are Macross related, and several have been started, in one form or another.

Guess it's about time I chimed in here. Some good points have been made in this thread. Both in favor of and against recasting. And for both sides of the argument, there have been several points I agreed with. But I won't use any of them to justify my actions. I'll just say that morally speaking, my conscience has been clear, because I honestly don't think I've deprived anyone of potential profits. For example, in the case of the VF-4, its maker, Club-M is now defunct. And while technically, it's true that another company could buy the rights to the kit, and re-issue it, I find that to be very unlikely. Such a thing is almost unheard of in the garage kit industry. I can't think of a single case of that happening. It happens fairly frequently in the plastic kit industry (such as when Bandai accuired Imai's kits), but probably almost never with resin kits. And so I see the odds of potential profits being lost as very low. But all the same, this discussion makes me all the more eager to move away from recasting and get going doing what I got into resin casting to do -- scratchbuilding my own original resin kits. I've got my casting technique down rather well, so now all I have to do is hone my sculpting skills

Don't bother re-sizeing or redesigning your designs, guys. Like I said earlier, I'm mainly looking for the design and layout I like best here. When I pick a winner, I'll most likely ask that person to make a few changes. And among those changes will be making the images specific sizes.

Alright guys, after much searching and a few let-downs, I think I've finally found my box. I managed to find a semi-local shipping supply warehouse that'll sell in small quantity (bundles of 25) to the public. The one I'll probably be getting is 14 1/2" x 7 1/4" x 5". In terms of volume, it's about 20% larger than the original box. Which is a good thing, because all those parts just BARELY fit into that box. It's got a flip-up lid with locking tabs, just like the VF-4's. That's the big feature I was holding out for. The alternative was to have a normal box, sealed with tape. And I really didn't want that. Many thanks to everyone who's submitted designs so far. Keep em coming! And BTW, my lack of individual compliments are solely the results of my feeble attempt to remain impartial here

Well based on the I.H.P kits I've seen first hand I say I.H.P is a much better kit maker then he is a mold maker. I was told he brought 8 kits to sell at the WF these were offered at and to my knowledge those are the only ones he's made. It was more a matter of mold quality that lead to the molds' quich demise. Not excessive casting. First, the quality of the mold material seems to be rather low. I found a decent sized chunk of the stuff in one of the parts. It was a rather hard silicone (I'd venture to guess a 50A durometer rating), and it seemed to be rather prone to tearing. Also, I'm guessing that because of the molds' rather poor design, there were a lot of botched casts (which go a long way in shortening a mold's life). So I'm thinking it's very possible that there really are only 8 of these kits in existance. Which kinda amazes me, considering I have one of them in my basement right now

As far as I know, no Macross 7 ship models were ever made

I've got one of those. Awful recast, cast in horrible resin. It's extremely hard resin, and it's brittle as hell. Avoid it like the plague. The same can probably said about every other resin kit of that site.

Thanks a lot, guys. I'm really glad to see that you all still want this kit as much as I do

LOL! The molds look quite rough to me, actually. Mainly because the layout is so disorderly and I've gotta leave in all the 'sprues' attatched to the parts. But the casts come out clean, and that's all that matters. And I don't have to worry much about mold life at this phase. Edit: BTW, I fixed the broken pic link in the first post. Sorry 'bout that.

You're right, most parts only have one gate, out the top. That's because I made them as vacuum cast molds. Vacuum casting is kinda like fighting inside the Matrix... Some rules (of conventional casting) can be bent. Others can be broken

And while I'm at it, I've gotta ask.... I'm wondering how much interest in this kit has waned in light of the news that Yamato may have a Koenig of thier own in the works. http://www.macrossworld.com/mwf/index.php?showtopic=6736 Of all you who are on 'the list', will you still want to order a VB-6 recast even if Yamato DOES make a toy of it? It's looking like it might actually happen. But I'm thinking if it does, it'll either be very large (1/100 or bigger) and be much more expensive than the kit. Or it'll be a smaller scale (1/144 maybe?), and the kit will be bigger and therefore bettter

I thought I'd put up a thread with some of the pics I've been taking, to give you all an idea how the project is coming along. First, I got the hardware from McMaster-Carr, with the help of Fulcy. Some of them were perfect, but others weren't. So I'll be putting in a second order and try to get the RIGHT right ones this time Molding is going well. It's pretty slow going, but there've been no mishaps. And I'm burning through mold material a lot faster than I thought I woud be... Here's my new record for my largest mold to date And the parts cast from it two more molds (one half of each) and their casts another mold, awaiting the second RTV pour final mold and casts latest mold finished. I haven't cast from it yet And this is where I am right now. About to pour the second half of this one. Also, I've been doing some experiments, trying to make sure the screw holes in the joints will be as durable as possible. And I think I've got a good start on a solution. The screws get screwed into pilot holes that the kit builder has to drill out. The screws are machine screws, which aren't self-tapping. But if the hole is sized right, they'll still do quite a good job at tapping the holes themselves (by that, I mean they'll cut threads into the hole so they can be screwed in and out) Now, the big factor in how well that all works is the hole size. If the hole is too big, the threads it cuts will be too shallow, and the hole will strip easily. If the hole is too small, it won't be able to screw into it at all. So I think I've come up with a good solution. I'm going to order several differnet precision sized drill bits, and figure out which one is ideal for each size screw. And I'll include one of each of those drill bits in with the kit. Fortunately, they're pretty cheap (about $1 each), and I think they'll go a long way in increasing the finished kit's durability.

I'm pretty skeptical. Especially considering that Yamato's normal monster isn't even out yet. I could see following up the Monster with the Koenig if the sales were good enough, but that's about it. If Yamato DID make the VB-6, it'd have to be a whole lot smaller than 1/60. If it was, it'd prolly cost upwards of $1000. It'd easily triple the parts count of the normal monster. Plus, it'd be a massive pain in the ass to transform at that size The best theory I've hears so far is that it was actually IHP's kit on display, to showcase their sculptor's talent. I'm not finding the indea that Yamato is using IHP's Koenig design for a toy to be too credible. Having the kit in my posession and having worked with many of its parts in great detail already, I can tell you it definitely wouldn't be that easy. The differences between molding resin and injection plastic are like night and day. The majority of the kit's parts would have to be broken down and modified in order to make a toy of it. And even if it was 1/100 scale, like the IHP kit is, the toy would cost a fortune.

Actually, Hobbyfan has a recast of it listed on their site. But the last time I checked, it was out of stock.

Cool! I've never seen that kit before!

It's a VF-0D. Nothing stylized about it.

heh Nope, fraid not.

The Tsukuda kit? Quite possibly. The Club-M? Not a chance

I can think of 4 off the top of my head. 1) a small scale resin kit by Retpuu. TV series design 2) 1/6 scale hard vinyl kit by Tsukuda Hobby. Pretty good looking kit, but the vinyl is a pain to work with. DYRL uniform design. 3) 1/6 wonderfest resin kit by RSB. Very rare. It's of her in her DYRL uniform, similar to the Tsukuda kit. 4) 1/6 scale limited edition Club-M resin kit. Kind of... different pose (she's kinda huddled up, looking all depressed), but it's quite beautiful, I think. Probably the best Misa kit out there. (I have the Club-M and Tsukuda kits, BTW)

Well, the owner did say he probably got one of the last kits from IHP's molds. And I suspect he's correct. But it's not a big deal, really. Overall, the casts are pretty solid, actually. There's lots of air bubbles, many starter holes are fubared, and the nose nozzles are all kinds of F'ed up. But it's not like there's tons of flash, making the parts thicker than they should be. Or worse yet, misaligned mold seams that are almost impossible to correct. I suspect it'll take a lot of work to fix all the kit's problems, but it'll clean up really nice. The final kit will look like this great kit should have always looked Whoever did IHP's molds on this one seems to have used a rather... chaotic moldmaking technique, but it seems to me he knew his stuff. It takes skill to be able to cast like that and not have tons of flash and misalignments.