nautilus

Like I said to Wasabi, I had meant it to be a Winter project, but when it arrived, it was so well cast, and so inspirational that I could not stop. Even Her Indoors did not object to the time being taken. I've never had such a feeling of contentment with a model before - even with the errors I made in building it. Truly, an inspirational model... Now, if only you'd put your Regult back into production next Summer.... Or, even better a QR! Or a Or a Scout Pod. Or a Nousjadeul-Ger. Or, best of all a 1/48 Quelle-Quallie ROFL

Well, as long as: A: it turns up in good time. and B: We get a FB2012 Skull 1 version as well.

Thanks, MT. I've always got things on the go, and this time of year work is a little slack. My mind ranges all over the place.

It is a little disconcerting that we've not seen more than the single finished item as yet. Makes me wonder if the release date will be pushed back - though, if that were the case, I am sure the industry press would be griping about it by now. Though, I'd be prepared to give any odds that the box will be along these lines - as this has been the art used on every piece of promotional art I have seen in the last couple of months, in one form or another.

Baddum-tisch! Maybe it is just the flush of the anniversary, but the retail figures on tankoban are up and there is a good deal on industry interest in putting that on the screen. I'm not sure how I really feel about it, but there it is.... Though, with all that stands in the way, I'll show my **** at the Vatican again if it does actually happen.

That is looking ever more likely as sales of Macross First go up, and the smart money gets behind Mikimoto's push to animate. In this age, easy money is what business wants, and a Macross First animation is pressing all the right buttons. Me? I'd buy that for a dollar.

The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Models presents Forgeworld Thunderhawk Rescue. I inherited this a long while back, from a friend leaving Japan. Seemed a shame to see it get scrapped. Since I have finished with the Glaug earlier than expected, and I have a new Dark Angels force in the works, seemed like time to go from black to green.

Amen, Brother. This was supposed to have been my Winter project, but unboxing led to a photo. which led to an inspection, which led to a parts count, which led to a 'little' de-flashing, which led to general clean, which led to a single test fit, which led to a whole heap of stuff.

The base is 60cm wide and 40cm deep. As you can see it is almost too small. In hindsight, 80x60 would have been better, and I might unscrew and remount in the winter. And 80x80 could be modded into a Zentran symbol with enough room for pod and pilot, easily. As for the arms, in the end it was a brazing rod down from the shoulder to gun for strength, and some wicked tough epoxy. Though I did screw the shoulders for that extra beefy goodness.

Praise from a variety of Caesars here... Thank you very much. Anyway, apart from adding Mars-like terrain, the job is done. Tadda! I'll just add one more thank you to Mike - Mr. Dream-maker hisself.

That's the scuttlebutt on the retail circuit here, Omega. The muttering is that Yamato would not lavish so much money, on such an iconic fighter and then give it a colour scheme like that. Perhaps it is just the whittering of aggrieved retailers who are not able to offer the VF-4, but the belief, as presented in the last issue of retail Mokei News is that we will get a general version in 2013, with the Hikaru's DYL Skull 1 colour scheme - and I'll be all over that like a bad suit. Still, I've always been partial to VFX as well, so I'm happy I was able to secure a pre-order on this.

Actually, I'm experimenting with a bit of both. Base colour, then lining and then tomorrow I'll go over with a weaker mix of the base coat, just to tone it down. I'll then finish off with weathering powders/pens. As for the coolant, that leg's never been the same since Roy gave the poor pod a whack in the shins.

The gob... She is smacked. Fabulous job. I'm in awe.

Oh God..... I can't stop. This will be finished by the weekend, I promise. The magnets did not work out too well in the shoulder, so I am going for a more drastic solution. I'll have to grind down the heads and get to work with the filler though... Edit: Mike, you really turned this kit up! THANK YOU!

I'm using a 2-part epoxy for all the jointing, whether pinned/framed or unframed. However, the arms will be fixed to the torso via some beefy rare-earth magnets, and the waist has a combination of magnets and pins. The epoxy is a type which I have never seen before. It is not a two part gel/thick liquid but a powder, which is activated by a foul smelling blue liquid. It turns into a thick paste which does not run as much as conventional 2parts (Araldite, etc.), and is sculptable after 10 mins (cured in 24 hours). The paint is a mixture of Tamiya, Mr. Hobby and Games Workshop - and I am doubly glad I have been skilling up on a airbrush... No way I could tackle this without one... And that is one of the Boy's Festival dolls I have in the office. The missus' Dad makes a variety of such dolls. I've left a space for the pilot, as soon as Mike puts them up for grabs...

Count me in for that. Micro blob UN Spacy army, here we come.

A dry fitting of the leg pins today. With his 1/72 baby brother. I borked up the knees something chronic, but I can fix that... Update: Pinned and base-coated.

Don't give my kiddies ideas....

It begins....

There *is* a small, close-knit and well coined group of specialist collectors in Japan who specialize in acquiring prototypes/demonstrators/display items/etc. (such as the display SDF-1 I acquired) and it is *just* possible that one might have sold something out of country; even something with such manky typos... Seriously. I've seen blatantly mangled text and pics on some of my legitimate Takatoku releases from their early 80s runs, so the screwy text is not a nail in the coffin of this toy. However, I'd still say it is very, very improbable.... I've seen some of Takatoku's Dorvak, Orguss and Mach Go-Go-Go protos coming onto the Grey market over the years, but never any of the real desirables - and if something like this had been mocked up, the community would have been in a uproar. When Takatoku went under, the entire Macross liscence fell to Bandai and they were very careful about sweeping up all of the proto/demo material. Could something have slipped through the nets? Certainly... However, in the state that it is in, the odds are so against it that, if that turns out to be a real demo version of an unreleased Takatoku toy, I'll show my **** again at the Vatican - I'd be that impressed. Still, even as it is, it might find a buyer. There is also a healthy market for clever repros in Japan, but..... go figure. :]

I don't see Yamato letting those moulds rest on a VFX limited... How long before we get the FB 2012 Hikaru version?

Aye, you are not the only one. This sort of modelling makes me go weak at the knees!

Papercraft? @_@ Wow!

When can we order? /froth!

No photos of Kuniko, as she is far too shy... However, what started out an unboxing/detailed check turned into a session... Though, I have comment that the Zenty won't get far if they are putting truck wheel hubs into the barrels of their officer's guns.