captain america

With regards to being too skinny, I would have to say no, as my own plots were made directly off of the scaled lineart of the frontal view, and I even added an extra mm in thickness just to be safe. The canopies on the other hand are a tad bubblier (as seen in profile) than what the lineart depicts; I told myself that it would be safer to start off with something that has more volume, and depending on how they start to look when I flesh them out, I still have the option of flattening them a bit; always easier to remove than to add. At any rate, once I start posting progress pics, you'll be able to see things more clearly. As with almost everything else in the Macross lineart, the 3/4 front and 3/4 rear views of the Commanchero contradict themselves on certain shapes/proportions, so creative interpretation is a necessity.

Sadly, not even that: I picked-up an Italeri Hind kit yesterday, just to see if there might be some parts I could borrow, but it's essentially useless junk. Oh well, more scratchbuilding for me

Yes, that's totally feasible and logical. As Grayson72 mentioned also, they would still need a means by which to get the missiles into the helicopter, hence the need for the lower weapons bay. At the very least, there could be a type of automatic breach-loading system allowing missles to be transfered/fired out the port-side pod for air-to-air missiles, but alternately, that weapons bay could also be configured to carry air-to-ground ordinance, depending on the specific mission. Either way, I feel that the Commanchero gains from that weapons bay. MechTech: yup, I agree, the design doesn't really make sense, but oh well, I didn't design it, I just have to make it believeable

I interpreted that to mean that the port-side (helicopter's left) fairing contains a missile firing mechanism, as evidenced in the below image by the black, circular muzzle-looking thing. Nothing new there. What I added to the design was a centrally-mounted ventral weapons bay, similar to what you'd have on an F-111: it would be just deep enough to hold two drop-launch missiles or iron bombs. comanchero.bmp

THe "stock" color scheme on Ozma's "skull one" is absolutely terrible; I'd have harsh words for whomever came up with that part-time art student wannabe mess.

Definitely a Hind! Here are the comparative diagrams between the Commanchero and the Hind, just to show you what a whale this bird is!

http://www.new-un-spacy.com/sdfmacross/comanchero.htm

September 13th update. I've spent most of the day drafting the blueprints from the Commanchero, so far so good. One of the things that troubled me about this gunship is its size: it seems to have an arsenal similar to that of an AH-64,but is literally almost as large as an Mi-24, and is actually wider at the fuselage than a Hind, due to the lateral placement of the engines. This was causing me some concern, as I couldn't for the life of me understand why the bird needed to be so large. By scrutinizing the line art, there didn't seem to be any sort of troop carrying capability; no room for a lateral door, sliding or otherwise, once again due to the engine placement. As a result, I came up with an interesting idea: why not give the Commanchero an internal weapons bay? So I did! I figured that this little option, while not necessarily canon, would justify the use of such a large helicopter,giving it substantially greater either air-to-air or air-to-ground attack capbilities. I will likely finish the dagrams by tomorrow, and will be committing to Ren-Shape by Wednesday. Stay tuned

Agreed. While my opinion may not count for much, the last few pictures at the bottom of the original post showing the unpainted plastic toy make me prefer it over the overly lankily- proportioned model kit.

I wholeheartedly agree, 1/32 is just way too big and would push the price-point over the practical edge of affordability. On the other hand, a 1/48 VF-25 would be feasible as a Perfect Grade; round about the size of the Zeta Gundam... Assuming they ever decided to go that route.

I honestly wouldn't know, since I have no data or means of comparatively gauging each series' popularity. That having been said, Evangelion was a non-Gundam series, it was different, risky, and yet Bandai promoted and supported the hell out of it, so it just goes to show that if Bandai sense the possibility of gain from pushing something, Gundam-related or not, they will do it. That having been said, in my 20+ years of buying Gundam product, or just about anything from Bandai, I've noticed that they like to test the waters with lower price-point skus, and if those are successful, they go up a notch with the skus. If anything, I would tend to think that the current crappy outlook on the global economy would be the greater reason for their not going PG... But that's just me.

Actually, I think it was literally THE first Perfect Grade. The very first run came with a gimmicky credit card type thing too.

I could accomodate almost double that, but another dozen couldn't hurt. I will start drafting plans for the Commanchero on Monday. I also plan to pick up a 1/72 Mi-24 to see if there could be some interesting parts to scavenge for the sake of realism and parts commonality.

I guess it would be unrealistic to expect Bandai to give the VF-25 the Perfect Grade treatment?

It's not made yet. Demand seems to be pretty disappointing up to now.

As I had tried to say back on the SM forum before Rob so rudely spoke on my behalf and promptly locked the thread, I'm certainly not opposed to the idea if I can find enough people willing to buy one... And provided that Hasegawa doesn't beat me to the punch

The same way I managed to get matchstick-thick landing struts to hold up a beached whale like the Gnerl: inserts Honestly, I think that once you can get anime-accurate landing gear on something like that project and not have it collapse under its own weight, most everything else is child's play.

That be the one!

Hi everyone. I started this thread in order to gauge interest for a potential 1/72 Commanchero model, since I had mentioned the topic previously and was met by some enthusiasm by board members. That having been said, my goal would be to have a model that would have clear vac-formed canopies and detailed cockpits, optional rocket pods and the option to have deployed or retracted landing gear. I was looking at 120-ish bucks as a goal also. All those who are interested, feel free to chime-in

Yeah, the Commanchero is absolutely massive! Bigger than a VF-1 if my memory serves me correctly. Stick it in a hotdog bun and call it a manly meal!

Monday

Speaking of fondling... Here are the instructions Probably not necessary for most of you, but I prefer to dot my Is and cross my Ts... Just to be on the safe side.

If you have a deformed resin part, which does happen, simply pour some boiling hot water into a bowl or cup large enough to comfortably submerge the part. Put the part in that hot water and keep in in for 15-20 seconds. Remove part from boiling water, reshape as desired, then immediately place in cold water and voila! The part is set.

It means you get to spend more money for the same kits... I think

Uhh, Gnerl Fighter Pod?