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Upgrading a classic: yet another custom Bandai/Matchbox 1/3000 SDF-1


tekering

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22 minutes ago, Rogueload said:

Thanks to @sqidd for hooking me up with his other matchbox SDF-1.  Just starting the mods.  A stance, painted the hips blue and added some decals.  Bought some glow in the dark paint to emulate the Arcadia PF SDF-1.  

BA3CD627-4456-494E-BB00-92517535F2BD.jpeg

Woah! That looks great!

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1 hour ago, Gabe Q said:

Everybody's doing SDF-1 mods now! Therefore, it only stands to reason, some company will announce a proper modern version of the ship in this scale!

That's precisely why I stopped doing custom Star Wars figures... eventually, a proper figure would supersede my earlier work, and I never knew what to do with my customs.  :unsure:

So, since I was so impressed with Hasegawa's Prometheus, I've taken the time to do a rough assembly on the rest of the "cruiser mode" model...

1559656768_Hasegawaabove.jpg.6148eb9bf4e7b0e27e01177ff6eb4c4e.jpg

...and it's, like, this bizarre hybrid design, more DYRL than SDFM.  <_<

Since the cannon booms on their "Storm Attacker" model were more accurate to the TV design, I tried switching them out...

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...which I suppose is an improvement...?

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I was hoping it would be useful reference for mods to the Matchbox toy, but it turns out to need just as much modification itself!   :vava:

Miyatake's TV design just can't catch a break.  :(

Edited by tekering
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1 hour ago, tekering said:

 

Miyatake's TV design just can't catch a break.  :(

I was thinking last night that it would be fun to CAD it all up and machine it. But by the time I was done it would be an easy $5000. I could run a bunch, sell them and amortize it. But can I really sell them? No, I don't have time for that. Or the potential HG issues. And it would still need to be painted. Just a dream.;)

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Aside from the cool factor, I always wondered why the Prometheus became the left arm, the Daedalus the right.  Functionally, it makes more sense to me if the Prometheus was docked as the right arm.  Then all the catapults would be functional in all modes.  There's nothing wrong with being a lefty.  :lol:

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3 hours ago, DewPoint said:

I always wondered why the Prometheus became the left arm, the Daedalus the right.  Functionally, it makes more sense to me if the Prometheus was docked as the right arm.  Then all the catapults would be functional in all modes.

Fascinating!  I've never even considered that.  :huh:

However, I always wondered why the SDF-1 didn't make planetfall in cruiser mode...  What would that have looked like?

91528662_everwondered.jpg.4fce20c69828ea995451a449e9702c54.jpg

Something like this, I suppose.  ^_^

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5 hours ago, sqidd said:

I was thinking last night that it would be fun to CAD it all up and machine it. But by the time I was done it would be an easy $5000. I could run a bunch, sell them and amortize it. But can I really sell them? No, I don't have time for that. Or the potential HG issues. And it would still need to be painted. Just a dream.;)

Just cad it then save as STL files and let the purchaser print and paint their own. Should be easy to dodge the Humungie Gauwd potentials also since you could give it an obviously similar name and differences that the user could remove.

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3 hours ago, tekering said:

Fascinating!  I've never even considered that.  :huh:

However, I always wondered why the SDF-1 didn't make planetfall in cruiser mode...  What would that have looked like?

91528662_everwondered.jpg.4fce20c69828ea995451a449e9702c54.jpg

Something like this, I suppose.  ^_^

Does Mars count?

large.SDF1onMars.JPG.8fd187352eda0d3f567

 

Edited by jvmacross
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9 hours ago, tekering said:

I was hoping it would be useful reference for mods to the Matchbox toy, but it turns out to need just as much modification itself!   :vava:

Miyatake's TV design just can't catch a break.  :(

I would suggest the Megahouse, but it suffers from "stubby" legs when not in cruiser mode.....cruiser mode looks the best though...since it is a "parts-former" they missed the opportunity to get all the modes just right....hopefully, Bandai or Arcadia will come through someday...:lazy:

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Edited by jvmacross
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29 minutes ago, jvmacross said:

Does Mars count?

Right!  So why didn't they land the ship like that when they returned to Earth?

16 minutes ago, jvmacross said:

I would suggest the Megahouse, but it suffers from "stubby" legs when not in cruiser mode.....cruiser mode looks the best though...

Oh, I disagree.  The main body's too thin... the cannon booms are much too thin... the Daedalus is way too thin... and the Prometheus is just stupidly thin.  <_<

Sadly, it's the most accurate toy we have.  :unsure:

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10 minutes ago, tekering said:

 

Oh, I disagree.  The main body's too thin... the cannon booms are much too thin... the Daedalus is way too thin... and the Prometheus is just stupidly thin.  <_<

Sadly, it's the most accurate toy we have.  :unsure:

And IMO isn't close to big enough for a SDF-1. I bought one. It's novelty wore of really fast.

I think what you're doing is best case scenario.

 

Edited by sqidd
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38 minutes ago, sqidd said:

IMO isn't close to big enough for a SDF-1.

Well, scale is relative to how you display it...

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I'm sure it works great with some of the recent 3D-printed Zentraedi warship models I've seen.

But of course, with unlimited resources, I'd build an SDF-1 in the backyard which towered over my house if I could...  Say, 1:150 scale?  :D

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1 hour ago, tekering said:

Well, scale is relative to how you display it...

368635401_relativescales.jpg.aa5df443768cedd445c38558a4a38800.jpg

I'm sure it works great with some of the recent 3D-printed Zentraedi warship models I've seen.

But of course, with unlimited resources, I'd build an SDF-1 in the backyard which towered over my house if I could...  Say, 1:150 scale?  :D

Very true.

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26 minutes ago, Mog said:

This is CLEARLY the Macross’ chicken-walker/Gerwalk cruiser mode. 

It still isn't...you can achieve this pose with practically all SDF-1 toys...

large.SDF1onMars.JPG.8fd187352eda0d3f567

 

....the "gerwalk" mode is still an impossible feat....at least from a production toy...they are all missing the "LK" bits :rolleyes:

GERWALK - Ground Effective Reinforcement of Winged Armament with Locomotive Knee-joint....

large.gallery_12176_600_141049.jpg.ac68c

 

 

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29 minutes ago, nightmareB4macross said:

I think that’s where Takatoku might have gotten the idea to install the hefty sized landing gear.

4x4 SDF-1 gunning for Bigfoot and Grave Digger! :bump:

OK...between this and the image of a kid falling on his face...now all I see in my head is a kid-sized SDF-1 ride-on! :D

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On 4/9/2020 at 4:05 PM, tekering said:

I was hoping it would be useful reference for mods to the Matchbox toy, but it turns out to need just as much modification itself!   :vava:

Miyatake's TV design just can't catch a break.  :(

That's why I won't be looking at any references when I build mine. That way I can't be disappointed. I wonder how they managed to stuff it up so badly?

 

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8 hours ago, Return To Kit Form said:

I wonder how they managed to stuff it up so badly?

Hasegawa designed and produced kits for the DYRL Macross in both modes -- at great expense, no doubt -- and then simply retooled them for the TV series SDF-1 kits, remolding as few parts as possible.  The resulting inaccuracies were likely a cost-saving measure (rather than due to ignorance or laziness).

Having mixed and matched parts from both TV kits to get a more satisfying cruiser mode, I'm now going to use it to test out a new painting technique.  Rather than separating the parts into sub-assemblies and airbrushing each color, as I normally would, I've decided to paint the entire surface by hand.  I'm thinking a dry-brush technique might result in a lot more subtle variations in color and surface texture, and all those tiny imperfections might give the impression of a much larger surface than a smooth, consistent finish might.  I'm not used to working at such a tiny scale, after all...

I've started with a flat black base coat, applied in stages using a small paintbrush.  This should greatly reduce the amount of panel-lining required after the primary colors are added (using the same approach).

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If I'm satisfied with the results, I'll use the same technique to paint the Matchbox toy.

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That's a handsome bow there, @tekering!

That's a mix of a Hase TV Cruiser-mode and Attack-mode? I'll need to take notes, that looks great!

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So far, the results have been extremely discouraging.  :(

disaster.jpg.c8a3e9efe82dc7dfe1a4b3396dbebc52.jpg

This is NOT a viable method for painting a capitol ship.  It just looks impossibly dirty.  <_<

I'm calling this experiment a colossal failure.  :vava:

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For some reason I like it tekering.  You didn't fail imo, it just looks that way to you in person. 

It appears to photograph well though.  Kind of reminds me of Takani's original paintings of the SDF-1; all sketchy & rough looking.

Something that big just seems more realistic grungy to me.  Maybe some pattern like a Star Trek Enterprise hull would work?

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3 hours ago, tekering said:

So far, the results have been extremely discouraging.  :(

disaster.jpg.c8a3e9efe82dc7dfe1a4b3396dbebc52.jpg

This is NOT a viable method for painting a capitol ship.  It just looks impossibly dirty.  <_<

I'm calling this experiment a colossal failure.  :vava:

Actually, you're doing fine. You just need to keep going and build the color; I would recomment two more layers where you focus on the venters of the panels themselves and deliberately leave the edges, then do a covering layer all over of thinned-out base color to bring it all together.

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