Question from a motivated novice.....

[RT junkie]

First, I tried searching through the many threads on this site, and after about an hour, decided the best way to get my answers might be to just ask..... so here goes.

I've had a desire to build up a small 1/100 scale diorama of the scene in the beginning of the Macross saga where Rick is on ground in his VF-1D, with minmei in the cockpit, and he's in gerwalk mode, when confronted by a zentraedi battlepod, and he unloads the whole 9 yards into it. I've got the battlepod which I need to customize with bullet holes, and I've got an Arii VF-1D in gerwalk mode on order and due in today. I guess I'm looking for advise on 3 things.

1. What is the best way to create the "exit wound" from a bullet, which would show shredded metal protruding outward. I was going to use my soldering iron, or dremel to make the entrance wound.

2. Where is a good place to buy 1/100 scale figures, as I don't think the ARII kits come with them.

3. Is there a good place to buy hands for the 1/100 VF? The ones on the ARII's look like two marshmallows to me. I've no experience, supplies and most importantly room in my tiny house with 2 kids running around to try scratch building, so I'm hoping someone sells hands that are somewhat to scale.

Thanks.... Desperate newbie.

[Chas]

Well I know that HobbyLink Japan has 1/100 scale hands for sale in their Gundam line You might try them to see if there is anything that will suite. I think these are the closest in appearence to the T.V. Valkyrie hands.

http://www.hlj.com/product/BCL2059. As for figures just try a search on ebay or google for 1/100 scale figures and you should be able to find something. In the Models section here at MW ther is also this set, however I don't know what the availabilityof it is like, but maybe you could look for something simillar.

[jardann]

Hey there RT-J,

Welcome to the boards!

For the simulated bullet exits, I would suggest using heavy aluminum foil. Cut out the area you are going to represent as damaged and replace with the aluminum foil. Cut, tear and bend it to the desired shape.

The hands on that model are the worst. Your easiest option may be to get a cheap 1/144 scale Gundam kit and use the hands from that. There are some aftermarket hands available, but I don't know the cost or where to get them from, Hobby Link Japan maybe, but the price won't be cheap.

As for figures, I know Imai used to put out a 1/100 scale figure set and it was included in the Macross or Robotech Factory model kits (very hard to find). You may look into N scale railroad figures. I believe they are 1/96 scale. Do a search for Preiser model figures. They have some of the best.

Good luck, and please be sure to share your results!

edit: I thought Arii put out the figures, but Chas is right-it's Imai

Edited June 14, 2005 by jardann

[Chas]

I thought 'N' Scale was 1/160th.

[jardann]

Maybe, I know one of the railroad scales is close. Isn't HO like 1/76 scale?

[jardann]

A quick search brought this up:http://www.scalelink.co.uk/acatalog/Preiser_Figures_1_100_1_160.html

Not sure if this site ships to the U.S. I have some 1/72 Preiser figures and they are great!

[Chas]

No. I'm pretty sure that HO =1:87 And O =1:48

[RT junkie]

You're right about n-scale being 1/160. I think HO is 1/87 or somewhere around there, and might have some figures that would work. I do have 2 of those 1/100 Robotech factory kits, but am waiting until I develop some skills before tearing into one of those.

Thanks for that aluminum foil tip Jardann. I will start toying around with that tonight.

I've also got an order pending with HLJ rightnow, so maybe I'll look into those hands and see if they can add them to my order, and save a few yen on shipping.... I thought about buying another kit that had hands I could use on this, but my personality type won't let me ruin a perfectly good model..... I'm a bit of a hoarder, and if something has a potential, I usually end up putting it in a tote in storage when I should just throw it out.

[jardann]

Ah, Maybe I was thinking of HO, but that would end up being too big probably to fit in the 1/100 cockpit.

WOW! Checked that website some more, and those 1/100 figures are pretty pricey.

Anyway, they are out there,

Good luck.

[RT junkie]

Well, my Arii 1/100 gerwalk showed up..... I can't bring myself to even start it. After looking at the work around this website, and then looking at the sprues I've got in front of me..... this thing looks like a piece 'o crap. I should have pulled some of my old kits out of storage to look at them before buying these. I took hands from one of my banpresto perfect transformation valks, as they looked about the right size. The gundam ones from HLJ are little pricey for me at my level of modeling skill. The thing I can't get over is how poorly proportioned the parts of this kit are. The legs are too thick and stubby, the poor excuse for the 1D's head is a disgrace to sculptors everywhere. No wonder these kits are only $6.95. Stupid me, I bought 3 of them at once. I haven't found many 1D gerwalk options in this scale out there though. Oh, well, I guess I'll either shelve it for now, or maybe have the zen pod getting shredded by a destroid...

The exec at Arii who accepted this sculpt should be taken out and shot with cat sh#@!!!

[kanata67]

ugly valk... make it a fokker... after getting shot

thats what I always do.

gets really twisted when I resurrect them

hey... every body needs a undead valk or two...

oh yeah... making bullet holes...

soldering iron lightly applied while valk is inverted so plastic flows down/out. IE aim the soldering iron up so plastic flows down looking like exit wound.

don't forget what todays ammo like hollow points do... might be better with a small hole in front and a huge hole in back. Just seperate the halves and shoot the exit with a bb gun.

Dremmel's rock... use them. Even the buffing wheel will chew through a psx2 controller with ease

a lit match allowed to burn down will give a dripping molten scortch effect

a lit sparkler [mettalic base preferably magnessium] held in close proximity will give a hole and shrapnel effect.

microwave for melted look. I recommend this for only non-essential pieces as they never fit right again.

I can describe a few thousand more ways to disfigure a valk but this should get you started. Here is a recent aquisition which I may leave as is or may mount even uglier stuff to... http://www.macrossworld.com/mwf/index.php?showtopic=14935

the sad thing is I've done worse

Edited June 19, 2005 by kanata67

[RT junkie]

Thanks for all those tips Kanata. Have you ever done the BB gun thing personally? I would think it would shatter the plastic. I'll give the inverted soldering iron trick a spin. I guess these Arii gerwalks will serve well as practice pieces. I'll have to wait until the wife is gone to work on some weekend, or I'll catch an earfull of crap about the smell. Or, maybe I'll link together a bunch of extension cords and practice outside for awhile.

[Grayson72]

Thanks for all those tips Kanata. Have you ever done the BB gun thing personally? I would think it would shatter the plastic. I'll give the inverted soldering iron trick a spin. I guess these Arii gerwalks will serve well as practice pieces. I'll have to wait until the wife is gone to work on some weekend, or I'll catch an earfull of crap about the smell. Or, maybe I'll link together a bunch of extension cords and practice outside for awhile.

You're modelling life will be made a whole lot simpler if you switch to 1/72 scale, many more items available including accessories.

[RT junkie]

I've managed to pick up a bunch of 1/72 stuff over the years. I try to get at least 2 of everything I've discovered for both the Macross and Mospeada series. I'm just real hesitant to begin work on any of them until I get more experience. They are my "Holy Grails" (well, until that resin kit of the monster is ready). Maybe I'll try a Hase 1A. There are quite a fews of those around, and pretty cheap. I've been using the 1/100 and 1/200's as my practice units. I really like the destroids, but can't bring myself to rip into one of the 1/72 ones. If only they would do rerelease of those. Better yet, if Hase would dig into them.

[honneamise]

If you want to stick to 1/100 scale you should get one of those transformable Bandai (ex-ARII) kits, they are still cheap (800yen if I´m not mistaken) and have much better proportions (at least in Gerwalk mode)and details than their fixed-posed counterparts. If you abandon the transformation ability and build a fixed-pose Gerwalk this model will look better than the other one. They come with smaller Hands, too. I don´t like their looks in Battroid Mode, but they make reasonable Gerwalks.

The only drawback is that these kits (except for the -nearly impossible to find - first Arii issue). all come with FAST-Packs and have no parts for "backdating" them into plain VF-1s. Or sometimes you can find an old Revell Robotech Changers Max-Type VF-1J (blue) - this is the first issue with NO FAST Packs.

For Battroid mode, avoid the old Ariis at all cost but have a look at the Bandai 1/100 VF-1 S Focker w/FAST Packs (frequently reissued, always available on eBay). The Patterns are from Imai and they are completely different from the Ariis - very good proportions, same drawback - they are FAST pack Versions.

Overall I like 1/100 too but I found the IMAI kits are quite good while most of the ARII ones suck.

[MechTech]

I've been out of the threads for a while, but if you're still checking back, here's a good link for 1/100th figures:

http://reynaulds.com/preiser/p_1-100_figur...=lngNumericSort

If you gotta have macross figures, check out one of these:

http://www.internationalhobby.com/ihs/kpit...emCode=AII76531

The little "factories" actually have 1/100th Macross figures in them and AGE equipment included. International Hobby is a great store too. Hope this helps.