Mechmaster

Wow! Hadn't seen that, I amend my previous statement. Modern technology WAS struggling... Mind you, that "grandad shuffle" is still quite a way from the dynamic movements of a Valkyrie but I guess we're getting there.

True, anyone who has ever walked across a cow field knows what a really bad idea macronized cows would be. Its definitely not Cowzilla's breath you have to worry about.

Different show dude, thats R*******, not Macross.

When it comes right down to it any control system for any humanoid mecha that doesn't feature some sort of neural link is just "wierd science." Modern technology is struggling just to create a computer controlled robot that can walk and balance without falling over. Walking upright with only two legs is such a complex action that it takes a human being nearly year to learn how to do it. In the real world (visited it once, didn't like it) there is no way a pilot could control something like a battroid just by waggling joysticks or pressing pedals, even if the controllers simply initiated a preprogrammed movement sequence. When it comes to something as complicated as putting a coat on a battroid in a toilet cubicle, I think we just have to suspend our disbelief and accept that its possible without worrying about how its actually done.

Good idea Rob, but you could eat a leather strap if you boiled it long enough, after all leather is really only the preserved interface between beef and the rest of the world and its probably more hardwearing than fruit Roll-up. My guess would be some kind of synthetic to reduce the risk of valk pilots eating their gunstraps if they get a bit peckish on extended missions.

Currency converter - http://www.xe.net/ucc/full.shtml

Er... thats four halves Az, five if you count half-asleep I agree though that those textures do look like bare, polished metal rather than paint. Is that the effect you were after Dok? If so you've hit the nail on the head. Looks good whatever.

These two places have Macross gashapon, though not the Third Mission series :- http://www.goblinjp.com/goblin/figure/gash.../hgmacross.html http://www.abctoy4me.com/abctoy4me/macross2.html Try a feeding a search engine, "bandai","gashapon" and "macross" you may learn more and possibly even find someone who has them.

Its a pretty basic kit, like most of Arii's stuff. There is some articulation in the legs but not enough to transform it into fighter mode and the wings swing out as well. The brown cover on the underside pivots down and a manipulator arm can be plugged in there.

The Bronco II is hero Kei's fighter in Orguss, the alien Emaan create the Orguss itself from the Bronco's wreckage after it crashes. I have the 1/48 version from Arii, although it is in need of a repaint, I built it more than 15 years ago and my skillz have improved a bit since then.

Get hold of a copy of Tolkien's The Silmarillion, it can be a little tough going in places but its well worth the read. You not only get everything there is to know about Ungoliant but the creation of Middle Earth too, along with the stories of Middle Earth's greatest heroes and villains. Most of the characters in The Lord Of The Rings, good and bad, are but pale shadows of their mighty ancestors.

Its certainly wierd, but then isn't the whole world wierd these days? Official surveys have shown that out of a world population of some six billion there are only 7,381 normal people left on this planet. I wonder if any of them have ever visited the MW forums.

Az... no worries there mate, I wasn't taking your comment the wrong way, I'm always open to feedback on my work be it criticism (good or bad) or just observations. You have raised a pretty interesting point regarding the valk colouring , fueled by Cobywan's input. Cobywan... you're right about the box art, the 1J does come across as being grey or possibly even polished metal, but I'm not sure how much of that is down to the artist as many of the box arts show misleading colours, the SDF1 itself for instance appears black and grey in the box art rather than blue and white and the white parts of the Glaug appear pale blue or grey (I ended up painting my Glaug kit blue because of that). My best references for the anime are the Shogakukan "This is animation" series of Macross books and while the studio drawing of the 1J appears grey compared to the 1S, many of the shots from the show have it looking very much whiter. I'm not sure there is a definitive answer to this one, but if anyone knows something we don't please post and fill us in.

I still have most of my old Imai and Arii Macross kits from back in the '80s though many are in rather poor shape today, most of the white has long since gone yellow, more delicate parts have been broken and some of them have a serious coat of dust. I wish I could replace them or find time to strip, rebuild and repaint them. They were the kits that first introduced me to the twin delights of anime and Japanese model kits and set me on the path to complete otakunisation.

I don't know of any glue which sticks polycaps in the sense of being a solvent for polythene. Trying to stick a polycap directly to styrene or ABS by applying glue to the mating surfaces simmply doesn't work because the glue doesn't affect the polycap at all and any flexing of the part causes it to break away. The only way I know how to do it is to use either CA or epoxy adhesive and encase the polycap, not so much sticking it in position as caging it. If the glue bonds to the styrene and surrounds the polycap it remains in place because there is no direction in which it can get free, but even then the join won't stand much pressure before something gives and the polycap escapes once more. The only surefire way is to build a styrene enclosure around the polycap to trap it in place but if you don't have room for this there is not much else you can do. Spelling edit.

Here is the same shot but this time with "full daylight" (14:00 hours, mid June), my grey may not be grey enough yet, the highlights are still pretty fierce. Cobywan... is there a definite reference for it being grey? I've studied lots of pictures from the anime and in many it certainly does look to be offwhite and yet in others it seems pure. It would be most helpful if it was written somewhere what the colour is really supposed to be.

You're quite right Az, the Hikaru 1J is indeed white but I allowed myself to be influenced by Hasegawa, I quite liked the look of the light grey they used on their 1J fighter kit and so did my model a very pale grey. I found that it looked less washed out when I hit it with full intensity lighting, the picture posted here uses C4D's default "camera flash" lighting, the model looks much whiter with the lights turned up. I just couldn't get the sort of gritty, grimyness I like with a purer white. Likewise the white on my 1A isn't pure white either, I mixed a yellow/brown marble image into the white, the pictures I posted of it however used the brighter lighting rig I put together for the poster and so the white areas appear much brighter.

Been drawing up new textures for my 1J, after looking at the photos of those F14s I may go back and add more dirt, thanks for those Gorgon.

Brian... textures look great. I'm afraid I have to disagree with Nerv on the streaking though, I think its about right, but picking up on what he says about the spots on the airbrake etc. I would say add streaks back from there too. Looking at Tenjin's artwork for the Hasegawa model box he has added streaks on the airbrake at least.

Another C4D user eh? Thats what I use, ver. XL6.3 with textures drawn up in PaintsShop Pro 5

If I find anything it will most likely be here in the forums but I will let you know. Are there any pics of yours posted anywhere? I should like to see it.

Damned fine. It looks so sleek and shiny I just want to hug it!

Has anyone got a colour reference for one of these...?

Most of the armour parts for the valkgirl model are adapted from my regular valk models so GBP armour is a definite possibility. At present I haven't finished building the super upgrade parts for my battroid but once I do there is a good chance that they too will be modified for the valkgirl. I still need to do more work on the valkgirl face as well and a lot more work on the hair, as this is the first non-mecha CG I've built I'm still learning as I go along. I'm kinda working on this inbetween other projects so I can't even estimate when the next valkgirl pics will be done.

Close-up.