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@M'Kyuun OMG, I never knew that plate existed! That would solve so many problems - is it available in white (what's it called?)!!! I just got this MOC of the Oblivion Bubbleship (sorry guys from fake Lego Vonado - but they were the only design I've seen of the tail rotor that was round like I liked) but ended up spending double the price to get the replacement parts from real lego in the right colours to complete it. However if I had a plate that would have studs on both sides, the tail roof hip pieces would fit snuggly instead of a section being lifted off because of pegs holding two plates back to back.

Oh great! I was pretty satisfied (not overjoyed) till you pointed out where the rudder/stabilizers were - argh! Yes, its a bit fat through the middle, but that's anime magic that can't exist in the real world, but that rear rudder placement is pretty bad I have to agree. @Chunky001 I'm definitely in the minority here, but I do prefer the Bandai over the Arcadia. The Arcadia definitely has captured that old 80's anime more bulbous rounder style and has better landing gears I'd give it that. Its really naked and needs a lot of decals to bring it up to an acceptable level. I find its not as fun to transform, I feel its more plasticky and it makes me more careful of the joints and swivels. The joints are also bigger, clunkier and not as hidden as the Bandai. I'm not a fan of how the forward canopy opens and has to lift up quite a bit to tilt forward, sometimes bending the nose down which exaggerates the overall swan neck curves even more. I find the Bandai has slimmed down the design a bit and made it more sleek and thinner which I like. The articulation is much better and more fun to transform and therefore more poseable. I've played/picked up both my Bandai VF-19/YF-19s more often and I leave my Arcadia not touched all the time. Not having held or seen the original Arcadia YF-21 - its hard for me to make the comparison, but I do tend to generally like my more modern Bandai toys over the older Yamato/Arcadia toys. I do prefer the optimization of fighter mode over battroid as I tend to leave my toys in fighter/plane mode most of the time in the display cases. I really hope Kawamori can convince Bandai to improve on their YF-21 and get it into reality soon!

Thanks @electric indigo - I'll have to try that sometime when I get around to a dirty Tomcat. I'm so gun shy when mixing my own paints after several fiascos when I thought I had the right grey and the decal low-viz grey just blended into the paint scheme - then I find out that the decal greys weren't right when I go with the FS colours and then I find out that certain batches of FS standard colour paints were different from each other and my FS colour deck is newer which apparently has a different gull grey than pre-1990s FS colour decks - argh! I hate matching colour and then making it lighter for scale - it seems like such a "black art"! I miss the old Macross models where the Valkyrie was just white or shades of off-white 😛 Well, I got a little more time and I'm into the missiles, since I was making Sparrows for my Phantom, I thought I'd get around to redoing my Sparrows for my F-14 that's been bugging me and an eye sore for the last year! Can you spot what's wrong with my old ones and the corrected new ones? In my defence, I was blindly following instructions (BTW G.W.H. has tones of mistakes in the instructions, but great kit). Nope its not that each Sparrow has the same serial number which does bug me also, but not enough to re-make them. It the stupid placement of the yellow warhead stripe. I blindly followed their instructions and its wrong! I did find the perfect way to replicate the very light grey nose cone though, in reality its white also, but its a flat ceramic material that collected dust and dirt so it became a little greyish over time. I brushed flat matte clearcoat over the nosecone and used my gubby fingers a few times over it and it collected all the dirt! I realized the FineMolds weapons set for the sidewinders didn't have the little rollerons molded into the tailfins - argh! I already had to re-scribe all the section lines and drill out the tail rocket motors - what I thought was a quick job turned out all night (GWH weapons are nicer). However the FineMolds weapons set have individual serial numbers for each missile which is a nice touch! But I did decide to try this new chrome silver foil decal sheet - knowing I'd never be able to create the sharp lines that demark the tailfin rollerons. Very laborious and tiny, but the end result is decent at least for 1/72, just letting the MicroSOL dry before touching the exposed edges with silver. I also used a Hasegawa Chromed sheet for the landing gear shocks and to my surprise it was self adhesive and did an amazing job even better the Molotov Chrome marker paints. Hopefully I get to mount them on both F-14 and F-4s tomorrow.

LOL!!! 🤣 I can't hear you sonny?! I gotta turn up my hearing aide - that "old timers" thread would be just fine with me. Gorgeous @electric indigo, such fine airbrushing work. What 1/72 kit is that? Nice details... How do you gauge/get to accurate FS standard colours when you build up from so many weathering colours?

@MechTech That looks so amazingly precise and clean in all that perfect white!!! Can't believe you just made it up! @arbit Those figures are amazing! Can't wait to see you paint them up - great job!

Yes, shipping has really gotten out of hand, I can easily drop $40-50cdn FedEx/DHL shipping on a new Valk and another $40-$50cdn on Brokerage, Customs & Duties - it can be 50% the cost of the toy nowadays! Just crazy, I think this Pandemic/Supplychain issues have just let the corporations the perfect excuse to pump up their profits horrendously in all facets of life. Toys are going to be my number one area to cut back on when a bag of 10kg rice was $16.99cdn last year and now its 7kg (in the same 10kg bag!) for $29.99cdn!!! Sorry I digress, but yes, the shipping is REALLY painful nowadays.

Yes I noticed the EMS being the same or slightly more expensive than FedEx or DHL - however I usually get EMS directly delivered to my door without customs, duties and brokerage charges and I ALWAYS get dinged with FedEx or DHL which can add another $40-60cdn on top of shipping alone!

Yes, I'd totally get the original Super Packs with the radar dish on top looks great!

I'm a sucker for orange - the new Super Ghosts might look good with it

Sorry, I meant Macross Delta that I just watched, just weird gratuitous nudity and needless emphasis on bouncing bosoms. Then I watched that video and see very young girls singing and dancing (without the nudity) and made the connection - I didn't realize it was something else. Sorry I will probably take my old man complaints elsewhere, just disappointing is all and the YouTube video brought it all back. Thanks for the Macross7 synopsis though, I never got into that series, but your analysis is quite helpful for me to understand in broad strokes - I don't think I would care to get into the minutae.

Argh! Just ordered it from NinNinGames for a tiny bit less - still available. EMS shipping is more than FedEX/DHL at 3,900Y to Canada - 600Y more than FedEX/DHL but there's the good chance its gets through without Customs/duties/brokerage which easily adds another $30-40cdn Now to get some sleep, Good Night all.

Sorry, old timer chiming in (I've been pretty much locked up with classic Macross for the last few decades and poking my head out to test the waters, but loving the mech designs without knowing the stories) What's with that guy in the black bandage outfit in the center of the YouTube video? What's with all these sexualized pre-pubescent girls singing and dancing all over? Who are their audience, old creeps that remember Macross and are pedophiles or young pre-teen boys who are too young to know the OG Macross? I just don't get it - I just watched the Macross Delta Passionate Walkure movie for the first time tonight and I'm at a loss at how this is Macross? It's 90% idol singing and music video with 5% text to tie it together and 5% really really fast cut action to the point where you have no spatial awareness of how the fight is happening. Perhaps this conversation is better in another thread - is there an old timers OG thread somewhere that I can get caught up on how Macross has evolved over the years? Ouch my back!!! I feel so old and out of touch!

Thanks @no3Ljm - I thought it was strange that they said 10am instead of the usual 4pm. Oh well, no sleep for us in EST I guess.

I like it and I love it in the Gerwalk mode, so I think I'm going to try for it

So I take it that P-Bandai/Tamashii US might get the listing but usually later on, but its usually higher price than the straight Yen to US translation? Which would negate any shipping costs savings to NA? For Canadians, we get dinged customs & duties & brokerage fees regardless if its from US or Japan. So is the general consensus is to still order it directly from Japan whenever possible (especially if you're not US and don't have to deal with currency conversion to US then to Canadian/or your country)? The shipping costs would still be cheaper than waiting for the Tamashii US listing and only use that as a last resort if you can't secure a pre-order from Japan? Hmm, its 8:11p (10:11a JST) and only Big in Japan still has it up for pre-order? I guess this isn't the madness I was afraid of with the actual Valkyries and its safe to wait a little bit?

@no3Ljm sorry for old timers like me, what is P-Bandai channel? Web exclusive means they will make as many as ordered?

So these drones are Pre-Order tonight?!?! (nothing in the pre-order thread!) Its Nov 18th @10am Tokyo time which is Nov 17th @8pm EST for those of us in Canada/US in eastern standard time? I thought they were usually at 4pm which is 2-3am our time depending on DST. Are these going to be easier to order (made to order) or a bitch? Usual suspects like HLJ, AmiAmi or someone more exotic? I'm pretty excited about these, they look pretty cool for drones, I guess it doesn't matter they are both "09" and the markings don't change whether they are paired with any of the planes? Hey will any of this be available on Amazon.com / US?

Is the show over? I wish there was some concrete info about availability on this. I'm personally loving all the Bandai DXs over my old Yamato/Arcadia stuff (I still haven't forgotten how expensive the Yamato/Arcadia YF-19 was and how bare it is compared to the Bandai and how many hours it took me with custom graphics/decals to get it up to a respectable condition to display with the rest of my collection - its still left a raw taste that's tainted a lot of older releases in my memory, I guess I hold a grudge).

YES!!! I want orange highlit supers!

@electric indigo Wow nice shading on her stomach and chins - amazing airbrush control!

Thanks @electric indigo does he say what his ratios are?

That's good to know, I like the Alclad stuff because its pre-thinned to the perfect consistency and goes on so smooth! Hmm maybe its time to look for something different - at least on the clear parts. There are so many new paints out there, anyone can recommend an alternative pre-thinned for airbrush lacquer primer? Hopefully that can be thinned with either Tamiya lacquer thinner or Mr. Color thinners/cleaners?

@Urashiman I noticed you’re using Alclad grey primer too, same as me and I had some slight flaking or chipping when I pulled the mask off the freshly primed and painted canopy. Use a very sharp new exacto blade to cut around the mask before you pull it up, it minimizes the chipping but sometimes even the sharp exacto blade caused the flaking. I don’t know why, but it’s happened to my last 3 models (GWH F-14, F-15 & FineMolds F-4) at the edges only. Maybe it has something to do with using Mr. Color grey lacquers over it? This never happened when I was just shooting straight Tamiya acrylics before. I’ve had to hand brush touch ups on all the frames. Thanks @Thom and @MechTech I see too many of my mistakes to ever put it in a show! I always say to myself maybe I might bring this in until I make the first mistake or something happens and I have to attempt the repairs. I have yet to complete a single modeling experience where everything when smoothly.

@Urashiman I love the GWH 1/72 F-14 its one of the best kits out there I believe (I have a stash of Hasegawas that I don't think I'll ever build and 2 FineMolds that I will have to see if it measures up to the GWH). Great fine detail and shape, great landing gears, just too bad the RIO coaming seems really narrow if you plan on opening the canopy (reason I left mine shut) just don't use their decals, some of the stenciling and hooks data are out of scale and the instructions have mistakes especially on the Sparrow lines, just be careful and look at real photo references (I went by their instructions and made the mistakes - at least on their VF-1 Wolfpack kit and decals). Love your clips, where did you get them? @Rock Nice big 1/48 scale, the Tamiya was such a nice kit that I broke my only 1/72 rule and got one as well. If you've clear coated gloss or semi-gloss the figures, then do a pin wash / Flory wash (what I use) and the black will flow into the crevices and neaten up your painting on the figures as well as add shading/shadow/dirt to the outfits, do a little dry brushing over top with a lighter colour to pick out the highlights and it will make the pilots pop. Great work so far BTW! @MechTech Your machining never ceases to amaze me, making stuff from scratch is unfathomable to me. I usually get every aftermarket set for a kit just to avoid having to make stuff myself. Your stuff looks so pristine and perfect, it really calms me and gives me a happy warm feeling just seeing it because I can never get so perfect, there are so many mistakes in mine that I am always correcting it and fixing flaws. OK I've finally gotten my F-4 to a stage where I can sit back and take a little breather/rest. Unfortunately, when I took off the mask for the canopy, a bunch of paint flaked off, as though the primer and paint didn't bite into the clear parts (only the canopy, this happened to my F-15 as well, I think my Alclad grey primer doesn't bite into clear parts as well and I had to hand brush fix a lot of chipped edges on the canopy unfortunately. So much detail into the cockpit that is hidden in the photos, at least you can see a lot more with the naked eye. I've always wanted a VF-84 Phantom (now I've got to do a VF-84 FineMolds F-14 to go with it). Gotta say FineMolds did an excellent job with the gears and gear wells, although they are nicely augmented with Eduard PE parts. I do love the Quinta 3D cockpit panels, much better than PE parts - just wished they did more in 1/72 scale. I'm going to take a break down to do chores while I figure a way to weather the fuel tanks properly and build and paint the missiles which are a separate thing. Thanks for looking.

I think I managed to save it by re-piecing the VF-84, but the font is subtly different and because I always know what I did, my eye is always drawn to the paint repair instantly, I hope it doesn't look repaired to the fresh person seeing it. Its getting there very slowly, very hard to find time to work on it when I'm working.