Valkyrie

Nice! Now I need to finish my 1/72 tow tractor...

I have a few design sheets of the Jam fighters. Scans of them are Here (page 3)

Yep, I got my shipping notice too! I was quite surprised!

He's still scratchbuilding models, just not Macross. He's done a few commissioned master builds for Starship Modeler, including a 1/72 Raptor from BSG, and the nazi flying wing plane from Indiana Jones. His work is still top-notch.

I'm still in shock... Platz actually made the may release date! Just barely, but still! Mine's prepping to ship too. Along with the 5 most recent issues of Macross Chronicle I'm going to be having a very good day sometime next week! Edit: Pics are up at Hobby Search! http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10063747 And would you believe that it actually has a real cockpit?! The original Pla4U Wonderfest release did too, so it's no REAL surprise. But still, after the last 3 kits, it was almost like Platz just hates cockpits The canopy is clear resin, and looks quite nice. And it looks like the pilot's seat is straight out of a Hasegawa VF-0, just like the Pla4U version...

Subtle... I like it

http://page7.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/g73979098 There it is... it really exists... It's beautiful

Wow, that's quite surprising... especially that it says it's due out in May. But that's one more release date it's about to miss. It's currently 17 months late and counting... And yes, it's still listed as a multi-media (resin and metal) kit, and with its original price (farking expensive).

Sorry guys, I've gotta brag. So you all remember this post of mine from back in January, right? The one where I was all pissed off cause my first shot at a 1/20,000 Excelion kit in 5 years was stolen from me? Well, that story finally has a happy ending. For I now have my #1 grail kit http://page11.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/n76047036

Actually, a 1/72 Lancer II kit will be available at Starship Modeler in the next few days

'Tis true. No release date set, but it should be happening soon. I delivered castings for 10 launch arm kits to Starship Modeler last week.

Wow, nice find! I've never seen that kit before

It's worth mentioning that Gundamhead's 1/72 VF-1 launch arm and Cobywan's 1/72 Lancer II resin kits will finally be available once again, making their return debut at Wonderfest. HWR MKII's Metal Gear Rex resin kit should also be making its debut there at well. Look for em at the Starship Modeler table.

Actually, my iPhone is great for that. Jisho.org has an excellent iphone optimized site, and there are several excellent japanese learning apps, including dictionaries and flash card programs. It's a great platform for japanese students.

Since this one doesn't have certain... connotations attached to the title, I'm inclined to say yes.

The best I've got for you there is this site; http://jisho.org/kanji/radicals/ You just click on one or more radicals, and it pulls up a list of all the kanji that contain them.

It seems whenever I tell someone I'm studying Japanese, they tell me "You should try that rosetta stone thing", despite never having used it themselves. But no. Not for me. I'm highly skeptical that rosetta stone could get me fluent, in any length of time. Fluency will only come from studying how real people really talk. If you're serious about learning Japanese, I highly recommend the AJATT method. Go to alljapaneseallthetime.com and start reading. Then download the sample chapters of Remebering the Kanji and an SRS program like Anki (both are free), and start studying. Shoot me a PM if you need some help getting started.

Ooh, good idea, both of those! I found a japanese site with lyrics for both of those, so I'll see what I can do

So I've been studying Japanese for a while now, and while I still suck at it, I'm starting to get to a point where I can tranaslate stuff. With a lot of help from online dictionaries I'm barely sure how I got started, but I just finished a quickie translation of Ike Ike Bokura no Gunbuster (Go, Go, Our Gunbuster). It's a bit rough, and I had to take a few liberties for the sake of readability, but the core meaning of it all is there. Hope you enjoy. And for those wanting to listen along, I don't have an MP3 link handy, but it's track 2 of OST1, and track 4 of disc 1 of Sound Collection of Gunbuster 銀河の果て　暗闇の彼方から From the darkness at the other end of the galaxy, せまる　せまる　宇宙怪獣軍団 They're coming! They're coming! The space monster forces! 夜空の星　けちらして襲い来る They're coming to attack us, from the stars of the night sky 守れ！！ Protect us! バスター　バスター　バスター Buster, buster, buster, バスターマシン Buster Machine いまだ　合体だ！ Now! Combine! ※青く輝く　ぼくらの星を Our blue, sparkling planet, 正義と愛とて守りぬけ Full of love and righteousness, it must be protected とだせ！　バスターホームラン！！ Hit them, Buster Homerun くだけ！　バスターコレダー！！ Smash them, Buster Collider いけいけ　ぼくらのガンバスター Go, go, our Gunbuster きらめく夢　うちくだく大怪獣 Our sparkling dreams, the giant monsters want to crush them たおせ　たおせ　戦う時が今来た Defeat them! Defeat them! The time to fight is now! 宇宙の果て　とびこえてどこまでも To the end of space, we will do whatever it takes 進め！！ Advance! バスター　バスター　バスター Buster, buster, buster, バスターマシン Buster Machine いくぞ　合体だ！ Let's go! Combine! ひとり　ひとりは　小さな火だが Alone, we are but small flames ふたりあわせて　炎になれ But together, we will become an inferno! はなて！　バスタービーム！！ Fire! Buster Beam! もえろ！　イナズマキック！！ Burn! Lightning Kick! いけいけ　ぼくらのガンバスター Go, Go, Our Gunbuster ※くりかえし (repeat) いけいけ　ぼくらのガンバスター Go, Go, Our Gunbuster

I should be there.　　I still need to figure out how I'm getting there and where I'll be sleeping, but I should be there

I'm just glad to see that Yamato is getting in on Macross model kits

True indeed! I believe I've just found proof http://hobbyworld.aoshima-bk.co.jp/j/HAS09041417/ The text reads: 1/48 スケールが登場; 1/48 series introduction マクロス シリーズ新展開!; Macross series new expansion! 完全新金型; Perfect new tooling (metal mold) 7月発売予定; July scheduled release Wow, that was a good kanji workout for me! Now, who wants to buy a 1/60 Yamato YF-19?

Well, in all fairness, I get a lot of my daily studying done in my free time at work. If you break it down into small chunks, it really isn't too bad. Becoming fluent is a lofty goal, to say the least, and I won't be surprised if I never make it. But then again, I said the same thing about the kanji. I never thought I'd learn 2000 kanji. It just seemed impossible. I fully expected to hit a wall at some point, and just give up. But it never happened, and 5 months later I knew them all, much to my amazement. So I'm taking the same approach to learning the rest of the language. All I can do is keep on running in the direction I'm headed, and see how far I can get. Bottom line is, if I can do it, anyone can. I'm not special (and those who say otherwise are just being smartasses ) All it takes is the right amount of effort and perseverance. Yea, reading is the bulk of my motivation. I want to be able to read what I want to read, without having to rely on others to translate it for me. And with the stuff I'm into, that usually isn't likely. Like the Yukikaze novels. I'm fairly confident they will never be translated, unless I do it. Yea, I can see that, actually. Kinda reminds me of people posting on the 'net with bad grammar, horrible spelling, etc. The all-text medium adds a lot of ambiguity, and I can't help but wonder "Is English not this guy's first language, or is he just an idiot?"

Bandai and Hasegawa make very different types of kits, but both are quite easy to build, for what they are. With Bandai kits, You can usually expect to simply snap the pre-colored parts together, and you've basicly built your own toy. Hasegawa kits, on the other hand, aren't snap-fit, so the parts need to be glued. They're usually molded in the color of the plane's base color, and decals are usually provided for most of the colored sections, like the tailfins. So you can build it the lazy way if you want to. But as always, it will look 100x better if you paint it

Wow, there it is, on HLJ's early bird list... http://www.hlj.com/earlybird.html This is actually sounding kinda plausible! And to think, I had just about abandoned hope of seeing any new Macross kits from Hasegawa! Honestly, I would have preferred a 1/72 VF-11. But at least it's not another VF-1!