Graham

Looking closely at the groin armor it looks like the nosecone cover is a separate piece and not molded as one-piece with the groin armor. You can clearly see the line between the groin armor proper and the additional nosecone cover. I think Yamato have chosen to go both ways with the GBP, you either have the Valk with no nosecone and no nosecone cover, or you keep the nosecone on the Valk and use the nosecone cover. (gawd... is this what life has come to, starring at robots groins ). Graham

I'm betting that the nose cone cover will be a removeable part. Graham

It seems so. It's already shown that it features his Mac Plus DVD cover art. Graham

Don't forget the long lead time in print magazine publishing. Graham

*whistles* Gawd...for that kinda money, one would at least expect him to follow the reference pictures and paint it to actual color. It looks great...but the blue really bothers me.... I've since found another painter who should be able to do similar quality work (and get the colors right) for half the price. The next custom toy might be a conversion of a Yamato Mac Plus VF-11B FP to Mac 7 VF-11C colors. Graham

Ya mean is he like Keanu.........'Dude'! Graham

Looks like it cmes with a DVD as well. Graham

And another....you get the idea. Graham

Here's another. Graham

I provided several pics from magazines and and also screen shots from the anime. I'll post some. Graham

She was flying the red VF-22S in Encore. Graham

Not sure, but hopefully it will have all his work for Hasegawa, up to and including the Macross Zero kits box art. Graham

It cost about US$200. And nope, no progress pics were provided. Graham

(Cross Posted in the Movie & TV Series Forum) MWer Major Tom brought this to my attention. As he hasn't posted the news in the forums, I thought I would post it. There is going to be a Tenjin Hidetaka Art Work Valkyries book released this month. For those who don't know, Tenjin is the talented artist who does the Macross box art for the Hasegawa Macross model kits. He has also done many other Macross illustrations, such as the Japanese R2 Macross Plus 2 box DVD set and some of the illustrations on the Macross 2000 calendar. I've been wanting someone to publish his work in book form for ages. You can preorder it here: - http://www.hlj.com/product/KOB90124 Graham

(Cross Posted in the Models Section) MWer Major Tom brought this to my attention. As he hasn't posted the news in the forums, I thought I would post it. There is going to be a Tenjin Hidetaka Art Work Valkyries book released this month. For those who don't know, Tenjin is the talented artist who does the Macross box art for the Hasegawa Macross model kits. He has also done many other Macross illustrations, such as the Japanese R2 Macross Plus 2 box DVD set and some of the illustrations on the Macross 2000 calendar. You can preorder it here: - http://www.hlj.com/product/KOB90124 Graham

I originally wanted the screw holes puttied over and the knees and hips modified, but it would have cost me too much, so in the end I just went with the paint job. Graham

Now for the Konami Cylon Basestar. I haven't taken any pics of the Cylon figure or the box yet. Graham

Now the Konami Battlestar Galactica. Note, the Battlestars Pegasus & Atlantia (which I didn't buy) are identical, except for the name printed on the side of the hanger. Graham

Next, the Konami Cylon Raider. Graham

OK, here's some pics. Firstly the Konami Colonial Viper. Graham

Millia's red VF-17S only appears in one episode of M7. I forget the episode number, it's in the late-20s I think. Too tired to check now. Graham

Now some more Battroid mode pics, this time after the transformation from Fighter & Gerwalk. If you look closely, you can see that the transformation has scratched the shoulder connectors. Also, as the head lasers are made of a fairly soft bendy plastic, the paint on the lasers has started to crack and flake off due to the lasers being flexed slightly during transformation. I won't be transforming this custom any more and will keep it in Battroid mode to prevent further damage to the paint scheme. Graham

And here's Gerwalk mode. Graham

Now for the fighter mode pics. Only a couple this time. Graham

Here's my Millia VF-17S custom of the Bandai 1/65 scale VF-17S reissue toy. I didn't paint this myself, but commissioned a well know professional model builder in Hong Kong to paint it for me. I'm fairly happy with how it came out, despite the fact that it took him 6 months to finish it . The only things that I'm a little bit miffed about are that he didn't paint the light blue parts (they should be a sort of greyish tan). Also, he didn't paint the auxiliary engine intakes (loccated on the back of the hips in Battroid mode). So first of all here's the Battroid mode pics. Note, I asked the painter to detail the panel lines and add minor weathering. Graham