CrusherJ

Doing everything by hand can be tricky, but there are ways. Lots of people like to spraypaint everything, but I've never cared for the messy setup when I can just brush some small details.

For landing gear, assuming you can assemble them before putting them on the model, you probably should paint them, and attach them after everything else is done.

For hand painting tires, I usually assemble them (if needed) and stick them on the end of a toothpick to paint. Finish one side, let it dry, then flip it over.

Struts are probably best painted while still attached to the parts sprue, at least partially. If it's too late for that, you could possible attach the tires (once they're dry) and use them as a gripping point, but you risk painting the tires. It's much easier if you paint the struts while on the tree, and then touch up the attach points later.

Clear coats have two main effects I think.. one, they protect the decals and seal them once they're on, and two, they give the aircraft the right amount of shine if you do it right.

Someone with more experience could give you more details, but decals also stick better to gloss paint, so people who paint using flat colors (many military paint colors only come in flat) will sometimes spray a clear gloss coat to make the decals stick better, then spray another coat over them to seal them in, THEN spray an overall dull coat to make the plane look right.

For your first kit, especially something like a Corsair, I'd think you could ignore panel lining, and save that for later. It's not something you see much on regular military aircraft models, and when you do, it's mostly just a hint of shading, not a solid panel line. Weathering can take a lot of practice, and I wouldn't recommend it for a first model. You can always come back later if you want to do it though.

Ok thanks! I've got another question about acrylic paints. I bought tamiya acrylic paint and it's very watery. It works fine for flat surfaces, but for things like the landing gear, propeller and other small, rounded parts it's hard to get it to stay because it's so watery and dripping off. Is it supposed to be this way or is there something I'm doing (or not) that's causing it? I'm storing them in my garage which gets pretty cold now, does that make a difference?

Hey guys, I got a 1/72 corsair kit to get my feet wet and I'm SOOOO glad I did (thanks for the tip Vifam7)! I'll probably get one more cheap model before trying out a hasagawa kit. Anyway, I've got a few noob questions:

What's a good way to paint landing gear? It's really small and I have a brush for painting fine details, but wondering what methods you guys use.

When people say they've applied a "clear coat" to a model what does that do for its appearance? I've just been reading that a bit in the model forums and wondering if I need to do that.

What do you use to mark the panel lines? Is that what a "gundam marker" is for?

Thanks for the help guys!

Thanks for the tips guys! I'm gonna order the corsair and 1/72 VF-1 from hlj, though the corsair is out of stock so I'll have to wait till they get it in. In the mean time, I'll read over your step by step guides wm cheng to get a better idea of what to do (and all that I'll need) before the kits get here. This is pretty exciting! I've always been scared to get models cause I was afraid they wouldn't turn out well and I'd waste money, but I'm finally ready to go for it and see what happens!

Thanks Hiryu, aquilon, joscasle and everyone for the response and the encouragement to enter the world of model building! I'll look up that corsair model and maybe get it and a 1/72 VF-1 to start out with. I guess the biggest thing I'm concerned with as far as models go is painting. Any suggestions on what a complete newbie should start out with? I'll check out that glue you mentioned Vifam7, thanks again guys!!

If you've never put together a model kit before (aside from those in the snap-together variety) how should you prepare yourself before tackling a hasegawa kit? After seeing the pics of the 1/48 YF-19 and considering what a 1/48 VF-1 will potential look like, I'm seriously thinking about taking the plunge into the world of modeling!

I always wondered why we never saw any different variants. The whole line couldn't been just cannon folder 1A types? Did even squad commanders pilot a 1B or 1C? I think a J or S version VF-011 would've looked pretty cool, especially with skull 1 trim.

From the looks of things it was never intended to be a hero mecha so maybe SK didn't feel the need to do any variants outside of the VF-11D. The VF-4, VF-9 and VF-14 seem to fall into the same category.

Looks like SK going to bring us a new comedy series in October. Here's a plot summary from the article at ANN:

"The "heartwarming comedy" story poses the following premise: "What if you can really transform into an animal?" Riko, Rimu and Nagisa Mikogami are three cute sisters who live in Kamihama, a Japanese city abundant with natural wonders. On an otherwise peaceful day, the three come across a mysterious Kirumin compact in an attic. With the Kirumin, these character-costume-wearing girls can transform into real animals. The anime's title is an apparent wordplay on "animal," "tantei" (detective), "kigurumi," and "zoo." "Kigurumi" is a type of cosplay that essentially turns a wearer into a giant plush toy or doll."

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2009-...s-images-posted

Looks like a magical girl series, never known SK to do one of those, but my memory could be failing me. I like magical girl series and am pretty interested in seeing SK's take on the genre.

Thoughts?

Another Incredibles would be awesome! I'd love to see more Crusher Joe, Banner of the Stars, Area 88, Utena and Sailor Moon!

I think Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust is much better than the novel it was based off of.

Wow, that is so awesome! Was just looking at the pics of it on Engadget. I wonder what the chances are of us ever seeing a 1:1 scale VF-1?

When the order is placed.

Ok thanks! May put off a big item on my "to buy" list for a couple of weeks so I can preorder the 22

When you preorder with Overdrive do they charge you right when the order is placed or when the item ships?

Got it from one of the local shops over here. =)

Bought SF4 a few days back. All the memories started coming back and I felt like a kid again... and I realized how much I still suck at it Ah well, still fun!

Anybody bought the Wolverine game? Seems the reviews are saying it's a pretty decent movie game and true to wolvie's nature... lotsa flying body parts

Ah man, I was hoping you'd ordered it from somewhere! Guess I'll just go to Wal-Mart or Best Buy to get it. Was thinking about getting the Cloud Edition PS3, but that's alittle more than I'm willing to spend

Count me in the PS3 club finally. Picked up a white 80GB one over the weekend with Valkyria Chronicles.

Essentially bought it to play Valkyria Chronicles. Love the art style from the anime, and been hearing good things about it. Still getting used to the pseudo-realtime combat system. Not used to the fact that if you stop moving and aren't shooting, the enemy will keep on taking potshots at you. Seems like you gotta press the 'cancel' button immediately after your shot to minimize damage.

Where'd you get your PS3? I'm seriously considering joining the club too and hearing how awesome Valkyria Chronicles is, sounds like a great game to jump on board with. Getting that FFXIII demo wouldn't hurt either

I'm watching:

Fullmetal Alchemist 2

Valkyria Chronicles

Dragon Ball Kai

Ride Back (5 eps to go)

Xam'd (on ep. 10)

Tower of Druaga

Legend of Galactic Heroes (on ep. 13)

Anyone seen Kara no Kyokai? Saw a commercial for it while watching Fullmetal and it looked interesting

The offical colors can be done within this year, the enemies and variations next year. What do we have in 2 years time?

Bet ya Graham knows!

Let's see...

I'd pilot a VF-1S Strike or VF-22

A Bronze-X (Gall Force: Destruction)

Gunbuster

The Mighty Gamma (Five Star Stories)

The Nu Gundam

Or Ramrod (sp?) (Bismark or better known as Saber Rider and the Star Sheriffs)

On episode 9 of Princess Tutu and I'm loving it! Really like how the story is unfolding and the mystery surrounding the characters. Also like how the prologue of each episode is made up to look like it came out of a fairytale book, really helps set the mood for me

Watched the first two episodes of RideBack. It's interesting so far, I'll give it a few more episodes before I make a decision on it one way or another.

Le Chevalier d'Eon is really good but somewhat "weird" at times : nothing to do with the unusual "gender bender" theme (which is actually original and interesting in this show) but during a while the plot seems to go nowhere. Of course, I assume you like historical stuff and on this point, it is both faithful and surprising (especially at the end...) as well as very informative. Visually, it's gorgeous. To sum it up, I'd say, yes, it is really worth the watch

As for the Gunbuster movie, avoid it at all cost, especially if you already own the original OVA

Thanks Gui! I think I'll go ahead and pick Le Chevalier d'Eon up in my next order. Thanks also for the tip on Gunbuster; I'd love to have it on blu-ray (which hopefully the ova will appear on that format in the future), but I was really unsure about the movie. I just didn't see them being able to cut alot from the original and it'd still retain the heart of the story as well as the action. I figured one or the other had to give (more likely the heart) and I'm guessing from your response that one did.

I just finished watching 009-1 and Planetes and loved both! Wasn't quite sure what to expect from either, but was very pleasantly surprised. I'm going to start Princess Tutu soon (hopefully today or tomorrow). Been looking forward to that for a while!

A question about a couple of titles I'm looking at though. For those who've seen Le Chevalier D'Eon what did you think of it? I noticed it's for sell on right stuf and was tempted to buy it, but don't know too much about it. Also saw the Gunbuster movie on bluray and was interested in that too. I already have the original ova so I was wondering if it's worth the purchase just for the bluray? Thanks!

I feel Hikaru is heavily underestimated. If we are talking combat pilots then Hikaru is the only pilot thats a match for M&M. Hikaru is both an established stuntpilot in a flying circus and amateur aerobatics champion before he became a fighter pilot. That alone is enough to call him an expert pilot. Kawamori is a airplane fanatic and he knows his aviation history.

I agree with Bri that Hikaru is underestimated as a fighter pilot. The instances that I can recall right now that show his skills are:

1) The battle on Mars Base when he rescues Misa, he landed in the middle of 10 or so battle pods and took them all out without a scratch.

2) The incident that Bri mentioned earlier when Hikaru took on 13 pods and won after he saw Kaifun kiss Minmay.

3) I can't remember the name of the episode (I think it's Photo Album)...anyway, it's episode 28 when Hikaru's squadron answers a call that Zentradi who've stolen pods are running rampant in a city. The two wingmen were fighting what seemed like a losing battle with the pods then Hikaru shows up and defeats both of them in a minute.

4) When he rescued Minmay and Kaifun from Kamjin (forget the episode title)

5) In Farewell to Tenderness when he charged Kamjin's ship after it fired it's main cannon on the Macross.

These are the only incidents I can think of right now, but I think they show that Hikaru was more than just a good pilot. I think he was an ace, not on the level of Max and Millia, but I definitely think he ranks alot higher than some people place him. I'd put him either even with Roy or one below (Roy just had style about him when he flew!)

Mr. Bushido's new ride from another angle.

http://i43.tinypic.com/wmcqvb.jpg

AWESOME!!!!

From that angle the suit looks like it could of come out of Aura Battler Dunbine (I need to rewatch that show). Awesome episode though! Can't wait to see how they use Seraphim, it's kinda funky, but imaginative. The duel between Ali and Setsuna was cool, but alittle disappointing for a couple of reasons: 1) Considering how Ali straight pwned Setsuna and Tieria last time this fight seemed alittle too easy for Setsuna; guess 00-Raiser made that much of a difference, 2) Marina's song kept him from killing him!

Hey sorry to bother you but do you have a link to the spanish version of the song because I'm fluent in spanish and I want to hear it, see if it sounds any good. As for that video, I thought it was great, I understand the lyrics weren't the best but can you really compete with Japanese lyrics, I mean they usually have a very deep and profound meaning in most Japanese songs like this. The singing was pretty good too, but again if you have a link to that Spanish version, I would love to hear it

Hey DeX-kun, sorry for the delay, haven't been on the board for a couple of days. Here's the link to the Spanish version

Like I said, it sounds SO much better than the English version though I wish I were fluent in Spanish so I can make out what she's saying! Enjoy the video though!

Thanks for the reply edwin3060, hopefully they are working on a longer version for the launch ceremony, All That VF is just too good of an idea for them to not take full advantage of it!

This English version of DYRL is so beautiful.

BTW, Happy New Year!!

Sorry, but I thought it was horrible! Not the singing, but the lyrics. Maybe it's just hard to do the song justice in English, the Spanish version was MUCH better!

A bit off topic from this, but I was watching the All That VF clips and they're incredible! I only saw clips featuring the VF-0, SV-51, YF-19, YF-21 and the VF-25. Are there any that feature the good ol' VF-1, 11 or other variable fighters?

It was. Joy of live stream is that I can't rewind, listen and write at the same time.

Rumor has it that Wang will die by Nena's hands. If you couldn't tell, Nena hasn't been happy with Wang over the past few episodes.

I can definitely see that happening, this was great episode.