Valkyrie

Wow, I didn't expect this thread to get this kind of response! But you see, that's why the AJATT system works. By studying from 'real' Japanese in TV shows, movies and such, you can learn how people really talk, in addition to textbook grammar and all that. Heh, actually, I have a similar goal. One day, I want to be able to translate the Yukikaze novels. But I know that goal is a long way off. There's a novel translation project going at http://www.baka-tsuki.org/, and I'm hoping to be able to contribute to it someday.

So for the past 8 months, I've been studying Japanese. Fairly seriously, too. I'm probably averaging at least 3 hours of study time per day. I first got started by reading the site All Japanese All The Time, by this guy Khatz, who taught himself Japanese to fluency in 18 months. In his method, you study the kanji first, then move on to studying tons of sentences, which you pull from anywhere. Books, TV, movies... anything. And the whole time, you expose yourself to as much spoken Japanese as possible, to sort of learn by immersion without actually being in Japan. This method somehow made all kinds of sense to me. Especially because it focused so heavily on reading. I've always wanted to know Japanese, but I rarely put any serious effort into learning it. The most I did was in the 2 months before I took a trip to Japan in '07. I studied my ass off, thinking the more of the language I knew, the more I'd get out of my time there. And I wasn't wrong. I still didn't know nearly as much as I would have liked, but what I did know was immensely useful. But when I got back home, I didn't keep studying. And I slowly forgot much of what I'd learned. So when I started back up, I did so as if I was starting from scratch. First, the kanji. I learned them using the Heisig method. Using his book, Remembering the Kanji, I was able to learn the standard set of ~2000 kanji in 5 months. However, it only teaches you how to write the kanji. Learning their readings comes later. Another key piece of the puzzle is an SRS (spaced repetition software) system. I chose a system called Anki. It’s basicly a flashcard program, which adjusts the frequency of repetitions based on how well you remember them. It’s immensely useful. And free, even So after the kanji, and for the last 3 months, I’ve been studying sentences, while still reviewing the kanji daily. It’s slow going, but still incredibly effective! With each new sentence you study, you get a few small pieces of the much larger puzzle that is Japanese. Each one has something to learn. Grammar, vocabulary, kanji readings, etc. And so by studying more and more sentences, you slowly grasp more and more of the language. Somehow, I never thought learning spoken Japanese would be impossible. Difficult, yes, but not impossible. But written Japanese was another story. The kanji always seemed like an enormous, impassible obstacle that I'd never be able to get around. But after I’d learned to write (but not read) the kanji, I found that learning Japanese was a whole new experience from my previous attempts. By learning the vocabulary written in full kanji, it really helps you see the ‘flow’ of the language. You start seeing common kanji in unrelated words, and noticing that it gets pronounced the same way. And little by little, stuff just starts to click. The next time you see that kanji in an unknown word, you can make an edjucated guess as to how it’s pronounced. Wow, that was pretty long-winded. And I still left a lot out. The point of all that was, I’m wondering how many others here are also studying Japanese, with any degree of seriousness. I’d be quite interested to hear others’ methods, share resources, etc. Wether you’re a beginner, or have learned to fluency, I’d love to hear from you!

Hmm, I might just have to scratchbuild some boosters with my lathe... I have the 1/72 Club-M boosters to use as reference, and they don't look they'd be too tough to machine. But I have a feeling that finding a good way of attaching them would be the hard part...

Man, between this and Macross Chronicle, this is a good time to be learning Japanese (I've got a long way to go before I can read at that level though...)

Heh, maybe I'll beat you to it then

Wow, I totally missed this thread the first time around! Thanks for the translations! Do you also know about the drama tracks on the Macross Festival '95 Tickemaga CD? It's a fun little crossover with characters from Macross Plus and 7. I'd love to translate it myself, but my Japanese isn't up to par just yet...

I just got issues 1-15 yesterday, and I set to work tearing them all apart and organizing them into the binder right away. It was kinda fun I just wish I had known to order a second binder. I had to leave out all the character sheets to get everything else to fit into the one.

There was a pretty funny comic that was in the manual for one of the PC-9801 Macross games... I'll have to see if I can find scans of it.

Man, I wish I knew enough japanese to be able to help out. I'm definitely envious of your skills! I've been studying for about 6 months now, and even know 2000 or so kanji, but I'm still a long ways off from be being able to read real japanese. But when my skills get up to par, I've got a Macross translation project planned that should be of interest to many around here

I've got a Luxion build that's in the works, but on the back burner for now. I actually picked up a second Luxion on ebay a few months ago for a mere $10. But it was partially built (quite badly) and missing some parts. It took forever to strip the thick coats of spraypaint, and I've still gotta cast replacement parts from my complete kit.

I'm so incredibly pissed... But to explain why involves a bit of a backstory. Bear with me here. In the early 90's, Gainax's garage kit company, General Products made large scale resin kits of 3 Gunbuster ships, a 1/1000 Luxion, 1/20,000 Exelion, and 1/200,000 Extreum. They must have been made shortly before the company went under, because they're not in the last General Products catalog (1989-90). They're all rather rare, but Exelion and Eltreum seem to be exceptionally so. Years ago, I got lucky in finding the Luxion and Eltreum on Ebay and Yahoo Japan Auctions respectively, and at pretty good prices too. Ever since then, I've been in search of the Exelion kit. Almost to the point of obsession. To illustrate this, I have 5 yahoo japan auctions bookmarked that it MIGHT show up under. I search those at least every other day. About 5 years ago, I managed to find an Exelion on yahoo japan. But alas, I was unemployed and quite broke, and wasn't able to scrape up enough to cash to place even the opening bid. As much as it pained me, I had to watch it slip away. Flash forward to last tuesday. I finally found another on yahoo japan. And with a reasonable opening bid of Y6800, and 4 days left on it. I contemplated my bid, and placed one through Celga that would almost surely ensure my winning it. I sent it off, and went to bed. And when I woke up, I checked the auction. And to my horror, the auction had been ended early. With one bid, for Y6800. And it wasn't Celga. http://page.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/114950956 I'm still trying to figure out what happened. My best guess is that the seller's only way of backing out of the auction was to place a minimum bid under a friend's account, and end it early. Maybe he accepted an outside offer, or maybe he just decided not to sell it. I'll probably never know. I just know that I can't have it. And so, the search continues...

I don't know what that is, but it's definitely not the same kit that I have. Here's the official page for the Wave kit: http://www.hobby-wave.com/LINE_UP/gennteis...rmor/index.html I finally got around to taking a few pics of my kit too Top fuselage, partially assembled Bottom fuselage, assembled a bit more Exploded view. The cockpit isn't detailed, but it's hollow, so you can add your own, if you're feeling up to the challenge Weapons. The little parts are the feed chain segments Legs. The vent parts look awesome, and fit perfectly Feet, hands, and thighs A few of the incredibly detailed parts

So I finally got my NES Cockpit Armor kit today. As it turned out, it was only available from the Rakuten website, and Super Modelers, in Akihabara. A friend of mine was out there on business, and I got him to pick one up for me. And wow. This kit is amazing. The sculpt is dead-on, the details are amazing, and the casting is top notch. And what isn't obvious looking at any of the websites, is that it's actually a full-action posable kit. It comes with 10 sets of Wave polycaps for the joints. And the ammo feed belt is flexible after assembling! All the segments get strung together on a vinyl cord, with no glue necessary. After some initial test fitting, it looks like assembly will be a breeze. All the attachment points either have pegs and holes, so they just fall into place, or they'll have holes on both sides for pins to be inserted. This thing's gonna fall together. They really went all-out with this kit. I'm most impressed. And it's a bit larger than I expected too. The fuselage is about 5.25" long. If you've got the money,and you can get your hands on one, I highly recommend it. But be warned, they're only being sold until 12/31 (I guess their license is up after then), so do what you've gotta do to get one

That's a recast of the vinyl kit made by Retppu. It's gotten horrible reviews from all that've owned it. MiM has a pretty bad reputation for customer service too. Consider yourself warned.

Wow, cool! I was working on one in 1/72 a couple years back, but yours is already further along than mine ever got!

Wow, totally awesome to see this happening. I'll be buying a bunch of em. Let me know if you need any help casting them. I've gotten good at casting small stuff

Carbon Fiber rods are the way to go. They're more resilient, and they'll bond with the resin better.

Kotobukiya (I think) made one of those in 1/100 already. Nice kit. Pretty big too.

All 3 are Eve, but that pic isn't one of them.

There's 3 Megazone watercolors in Haruhiko Mikimoto Illustrations

Dunno about that last one. Don't think I've ever heard of it. The Kaiseki Manual is indeed mostly centered on the novels. There's a bit of anime art, but it's nothing special. The other three are all great books, but Fairy Air Force At War is by far the cheapest and easiest to find. It's definitely the best bang for the buck.

My mold release of choice is vaseline thinned down with mineral spirits. It takes a lot of mixing to combine the two, but it works like a champ.

No, if I do that, there would be seams in the canopy that would be near impossible to remove. If my idea works, there would be no seams

Hmm... possibly. I can definitely see how that shape would be problematic to vacuform. But I've got a couple ideas that just might work.

<sigh> Looks like I'll be buying Gunbuster again. For the.... 5th time, in fact. I'm not even kidding.