David Hingtgen

What most people call Gundam markers for panel lining are just very fine-tipped markers. In fact, most actual brand-name Gundam markers have large tips---only a few are small and made for panel lines. I've used both, and the difference is almost nil. Wash---different usage of the word. Refers to "flooding" an area as opposed to "washing up". Instead of individually inking each panel line, you use a thinned ink/paint and just kind of haphazardly apply it all over, and it'll go into the lines by itself. You will then have to remove the excess by, ironically, washing it off. Why use this method? More subtle panel lines. My planned method for when I get mine. I assume we're getting a lot of first-time builders here. Anyone know of a good "how to build models" FAQ? ARC doesn't seem to help much, nor does the rec.models.scale FAQ---a zillion Q's, but short A's.

Watch Galaxy's shoulders right before it fires at Frontier/Quarter---very different position than the screen cap before. Presumably they can move/track quite independently of the arms etc. BTW---why is "shoulder gun use" almost never seen, despite being the most prominent guns on every Macross ship after the main gun?

Hands and shield.

UK seems *very* close to pulling out of the JSF program completely. Budget reasons, mostly. Of course, having ALEADY GOTTEN RID OF the Sea Harriers, there is going to be a slight problem with their naval aviation force in the future...

I always thought the Star Trek kits (like most Trek models IMHO) have the contrast WAY overdone. Happens on diecast model military planes too. The different shades of grey should be SUBTLY different on most of them. I mean, you can literally be standing next to a 1:1 Super Hornet and not be able to see the demarcation line clearly. But on most models---you could see it in dim lighting from 10 paces away.

Could you describe your last paragraph more?

My point was the first half the article seems to be kind of a "guide for a simple build" for NOT painting the kit---just assembling it and adding on stickers, and gundam markering the lines. Not many HJ articles talk about basic parts removal, etc (unlike FSM). Using paint on an "unpainted" assembly in an unpainted build is kinda self-contradictory. The whole point was to show how to make it look as good as possible without painting. It's kind of like saying "if you don't want to paint the model with flat white paint to make it look like a real warmachine--you could just use flat clear paint over the white plastic". That's not really avoiding the whole "don't want to paint it" thing.

Thanks much for the translation----though I think painting the sprue scars is kinda cheating. IMHO, the best method of dealing with them is to rub them down hard with your thumbnail. Try it, you'll be surprised how much of a difference it can make. Works on toys, too, including 1/60 Yamato plastic... If it's an injection-molded toy or model kit, you can probably rub down the sprue scars with your nail. Won't eliminate them, but can make a BIG difference--all depends on the color and composition of the plastic, how smoothly it was removed, etc. And you don't need to rub for a minute or anything, just a few secs will do it.

Frankly, everyone posting in this thread about how it looks, needs to go see the new scans of the 1/72: http://macrossworld.com/mwf/index.php?s=&a...st&p=665228

Ok, I have a few translation requests: 1. http://macrossworld.com/mwf/index.php?act=...st&id=58627 2nd row, the 2 right-most blocks. Seems to be something about dealing with foil stickers on the pelvis---that would be VERY helpful, as those will be required regardless of whether you choose water or clear stickers for the rest of the valk. 2. http://macrossworld.com/mwf/index.php?act=...st&id=58625 The entire botom row. Something about reducing the appearance of sprue scars. But I have no idea what the 2nd pic is showing.

You can make out the "Antares" marking on the VF-27's leg really well there, even better than any shot I ever found in the anime. (tilt your head left and it'll make sense) I just found an old Gundam Wing kit in the closet I never built, will practice some new techniques on it while waiting for my SAL-shipped VF-25 to arrive.

The wheels are on the outside of the strut when lowered, and on the upper side when raised. Turn 90 degrees.

Having watched the final ep, I guess I'll have to hope/wait on fan-art to get more "Grace in flight-suit" stuff.

I'll third that. Also, the gunpods take a lot of force at the front the first time to get them on the belly plates, and it WILL make stress marks on the guns themselves.

I've been wondering if they're purposely trying to make it as un-Yamato as possible.

I was just thinking, Luca's looks 100x better in the more "teal" color, than the pale minty green his is in the series...

Nearly every valk has had the legs bend/position the same way for FAST pack attachment. There's no need to "leave a big space above them" for the armor. The legs are "straight" in fighter mode and flush with where they should be, and to lower the legs to make room for armor you move the leg joint "1 click" at the thigh and "1 click" at the knee. If there's a huge gap with straight legs, something's wrong.

Yup! And they don't need to be complex, either. Now, I'm wondering *why* the nose gear is so short---look how long the nose gear DOORS are. The bay has the be fairly long. My main concern at this point is the legs in fighter mode---why are they way below the level of the wings and shield as seen from above? There's not merely a "gap", they seem to be half as high up as they should be. They should be well ABOVE the shield in fighter mode, just like a VF-19's legs/shoulders are. That ruins the look of fighter mode than any proportion issue IMHO. At this point I can't believe that the toy's been mis-transformed that much EVERY time. They're not even close to being in the right position. But I mean--why even have the large cut-outs around the shield and wings, if the legs don't go into them? So you can look down through the holes and see the legs? PS---is it just me, or are these new pics of an older sample?

Basic seam-filling with glue: You need a model cement that really liquifies the plastic. Generally, these are the thin watery ones that evaporate very quickly. Apply to the parts, and give the parts a good squeeze as you put them together. The plastic should liquify and ooze out of the joint a bit. Let it dry hard. (overnight if not longer IMHO). Then slice/sand/scrape the excess plastic away. Smooth out the seam as best you know how (probably sanding/polishing). The better you are at this, the better it'll look--to the point that the seam can be invisible, as there is nothing but their own plastic between the parts, welded to each other.

The "circle slot" area in the grey bar does seem to have a "two-stage" locking position, that the 2nd stage can only be "with certainty" achieved while the whole backpack's up and away. I'll see if fiddling with that area helps. I did just now take apart the entire backpack, adjust some screws (one was a bit off kilter and had a part near the tip of the nacelle a few degrees off, one was physically deformed--swapped it with a non-important foot screw) and transformed it again. I got it mostly flush by just squeezing hard in some areas, and did get the plates flush---but I think it'll all pop apart if I look at it funny. Will see if it'll hold overnight. Still, there REALLY should be some sort of lock there---like the old one had. Maybe I can build one...

Ok, at first I thought "that's just how it is" but looking at Graham's and Swoosh's pics, theirs is flush in fighter mode. I'm talking about the seam between the "fixed" and "sliding" parts, that runs between the engines. On mine, the sliding section is always raised up a bit. Is there supposed to be some sort of tab there to hold it down? And it's not related to the legs---I can completely remove the legs, and it will not stay down. (pushing it down when in fighter mode is guaranteed to pop the belly plates open though) I really think it's an arm/hand thing, as if the arms aren't in fighter mode, it'll stay in position, and even sorta click down. Anyone else have/had this problem? Regardless, I would like pics of exactly how the hands should be positioned, as I think that may be part of it. Mine was like this out of the box, but I can't imagine it's an actual defect, unless there's a tab or something missing. This bugs me way more than the plates, as you don't see the plates unless you're looking at the belly (and I can usually get the plates to mesh if I fiddle with them long enough---but the raised section never stays down without totally screwing up the entire bottom half of the plane) but I always see this gap.

Ok, how hard is MM9 compared to say MM3's "remixed" robot stages and the wily levels? That's the hardest one *that I remember well*.

Ouch, *you* can't beat the Wily levels? You're the biggest MM fan I know. (I have to wait for 360 version). Of course, if I get a PS3 soon enough, I may just wait until I have one and get that version. I'm fairly used to 2D MM on a PS-style D-pad. I've done the d-pad mod on the 360 pad, but it's still only "acceptable".

Ok, I'm thinking I may be mis-remembering how I converted. I think I *did* have the separate .ass files for the MKV's, and the MKV's alone won't work. It's kind of redundant to have the MKV (which has the .ass embedded inside) and the original .ass the MKV was made from, but it does seem to be required.

I'd highly recommend buying an HG kit before attempting this, if you've never dealt with an MG level or higher modern Bandai kit. Surely there's at least one Gundam mecha everyone likes enough to buy to try out before building their VF-25. Here's a good chunk of the modern kits that are small/cheap enough to practice/waste/sacrifice before you risk a $40+ VF-25. http://www.hlj.com/hljlist2/?word2=&se...0&SeriTxt1= "HGUC" are generally the most complex/newest and there's several good ones for under 1000Y.