captain america

Hi all. It's been a while since my last update, so this is a bit overdue. The molds for the Boosater have all been completed, and aside from a few leaks which have since been repaired, all the test-shots look excellent... The quality will be comparable with what you get on a CLUB M/Work Shop CAST kit, save for a tad more flash. The masters and molds are currently en-route to Jesse, and if all goes well, he should be pumping out the first few kits next week. Just as a quick teaser, here are the shots of the instructions for the kit... I'll try to post some pics of the actual castings later this week. Cheers...

Hi all. I have a bit of a technical question for those of you who may have some experience in lighting model kits. I'm currently looking at a newly-purchased Bandai NCC-1701E Enterprise kit, and I had some questions about the small grain-of-wheat bulbs included. Essentially, these look ( to me anyway) like scaled-down versions of regular lightbulbs, and as such, that most probably means that they'll burn out eventually. Problem is, once the model is properly built, there would be no way to open it back up to replace them. So in short, my question is twofold: what is the expected life of these grain of wheat/rice bulbs, and do they have any advantages at all over LEDs (particularly superbrights)? Thanks in advance for anyone who could, um... Shed some "light" on my dimness

The more I read about it, the more it sounds like this thing is a real piece of garbage... Or crap. The term "MPC" suits it well. Bravo Toynami, I applaud you.

Hi guys. Just wanted to give you a quick update on what's going on. I've already begun pouring the molds for the masters, and hopefully that process will be done by friday evening, or Sat morning at the latest (cure time and all), with the first test-shots ready that same evening. My goal is to get a set of molding masters off to Jesse first thing Monday, so that he can begin making molds & casting. My guess is that whole process will take him at least a week to get started, so I'll be making the first kits over here, just so that we don't have to keep folks waiting too long for their models. Hopefully, I can start shipping the first kits within 10 days from now. Cheers,

Hi WM. Actually no, because of the way that the booster litterally "wraps around" the fighter, it can't simply slide in & out. Since there was no official reference material for the booster ejection, I made it so that the very tips of the lower fuselage are designed to blow away with exploding bolts, and pressurized C02 nozzles would then "push" the Valk down slightly, and then the Valk's own thrusters would allow it to slide free of the booster structure. I didn't make those tips separate on the kit, simply because my parts tally is already up to 15, and I wanted to keep the kit as simple as possible.

Hi guys. Actually, the scribing process on this thing was what I call a textbook example in an exercise in frustration: lots of compond curves and hard to reach areas where my scribing templates would constantly deviate as I was scribing. Surprisingly, when the final primer coat went on, it didn't look quite as bad as I thought it would, but Hasegawa could definitely have done better. ...Problem is, I don't think the subject got enough coverage in the series/isn't popular enough for them to warrant producing one... So you're stuck with my crappy resin kit

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It's finished. As you've most probably assessed from my previous updates, my pictures are simply poo, and I appologize for that ahead of time; there's a great deal of very fine detail and scribing that isn't really clear in the pictures, but I assure you that it is indeed there. The large gap running horizontally fore-aft along the outer hull is simply the junction between the upper and lower hulls. I didn't glue the parts for the photos, as this would damage the masters needlessly. Now that the masters are done, I'm tasking myself with making the first set of master molds, and the test-shots that will lead to the actual finished castings. These should be done by Sunday of next week... Depending on how quickly my mold material is delivered. Hopefully I'll have a new (proper) camera to take better detailed pics by them.

Alas, I think this thread's taken a step in the flame direction, and there's really no ned for that. The mystery of the golden VF has been solved; no sense antagonizing each other over a bad joke, this is MW, and we're better than that. Mods, can we please get this closed before it gets ugly? Cheers,

Hi Guys. Quick, pictureless update. I'm actually almost finished with the masters at this point; I had a minor hiccup with some parts that I still need, which is putting me a bit behind schedule, but all that said, the masters for the booster will be finished on Monday, and I'll have a full picture show then.

If you really want to pressure-cast, you can get a brand spanking new 2.5 gallon pressure tank by Campbell Hausfeld from your local Home Depot, or equivalent home renovation chain. Great big $80 US/$120 cdn, and it can safely take pressure to 50psi without batting an eyelash. If you need more than 50 psi of pressure to get decent castings, you simply aren't doing it right. Vacuum pumps & chambers: you can get these for a song on E-Bay compared to what I paid for mine 7 years ago. A lexan belljar & base are what the simplest vacuum chambers are made of, and they work flawlessly if not mangled or abused. As for CNC machining & 3D modelling. Pure overkill. Unless you need aerospace tolerances, and display models don't, you can get absolutely superb masters sculpted by hand for a fraction of the price.

Hi Eric. There's currently a raffle going on as we speak. Basically, you have the possibility of winning the VF-1 Booster with a Valkyrie, all built & painted by me as the grand prize. I believe that all the details were made available by MonkeyN at the very beginning of the post. And yes, if the booster sells well, I can't immagine why we couldn't organize the same type of raffle for a built-up launch vehicle later

Almost attempting to take credit for someone else's work?...Not the best way to introduce one's self to the MW forums

Hi guys. Mechamaniac: in so much as a 1/48 booster would be both enormous and hugely expensive, absolutely not. Major: yes, you read correctly. Though the production of the launch vehicle will be predicated on sales of the booster, it looks very promising so far. My only real concern will be price control, as the launch vehicle is a surprisingly-massive little bugger at well over a foot long.

Hi King Nor. How much the job will cost depends entirely on what you mean by "touched-up." There are quite a few talented modelers/customizers here who can help you out with that. Additionally, I think that there's an aftermarket decal set designed purposefully for the Yamato VF-1. Either way, you're good to go.

Hi Rob! Congrats on the new baby girl!!! I'm sure you'll have your hands full with your new bundle of joy, so don't worry about this little trinket; I'll get it done in timely fashion. Besides, you're probably running on lack of sleep from caring for the baby... Cranky as you may be now, you'll look back on the sleepless nights & diaper-changing fondly in 20 years