MechTech

Cheap - NO! (even for us model builders versus toy guys). Fine bits are great, the larger sizes you can get cheap at a hardware store. Look there too! You still might find a cheap rotary tool or other great stuff. I even go to the beauty supply store with my wife for cheap sponge sanding blocks! - MT

That build might be a pain for you WM, but it's easy on the eyes for us! It looks awesome and that sucks about the decals! Have you tried coating them with the Microsol clear coat (as if you were making them from scratch?). I've rescued bad and old decals by coating them and they act as good as new. Keep the eye candy coming! - MT

Awesome TF custom EXO! The black DOES look like molded in color. The detail is better as you masked it. It's a good thing (but a pain) the decal failed. Nice clean paint job WM! I HATE masking like that and you made it look great and easy (deceptively easy ) The tank looks great Phyrox! People never understand scratchbuilds until that last coat of paint when it clicks in for them. I spent so much time working on my old 1/100 Monster, my wife didn't understand (but it was in the room and while she was just watching TV so no harm no foul ) Then she liked it so much it decorated our livingroom (and warded off Zentraedi). - MT

Is the dog included? They came out great! Perfect pose too - "yeah, I came out GREAT!" Too bad in 1/350 it would look like the walkie talkie antenna! - MT

Let's look at this from the 50,000ft point of view. More people get "pulled" into the story and our fanbase grows. That probably means more merchandise and cool stuff to look forward to. Try and keep an open mind. On that note, hopefully this will be Maross based versus the Shadow Chronicles take off. I know HG left a bad tatse in everybody's mouth so to speak, but this might just turn out great. Time will tell! - MT

Sounds like you're getting just what you need! - MT

The good news is that the drill (possibly your router too) will hold 3mm shafted bits. Most of Dremmel's and like brand bits are 3mm (1/8inch). That will help you with easily finding bits. And yes, I use those bits all the time in my pin vise too. I use many drill bits smaller than actual pins in my pin vise. There is no substitution for the delicate senses your hand has and belive it or not, you only break bits when forcing them or twisting them sideways when they're partially borrowed into the work. When sharp, they'll cut right into styrene so not much force is needed. If you have carpal tunnel issues, get a pinvise with a swivel head. You can use both hands (one supports while the other turns the drill) to take the strain off. Or you can just use one hand with your palm apply pressure while your fingers spin the drill. The other points the guys said above are great to consider as well. More tools give you more capability and options. I suppose you need to consider what you do the most and start there. Hope that helps. - MT A rotary tool will help you cut shapes into a model or remove unwanted parts. It can also be used to make other tools by getting grinding bits to grind metal. I buy cheap dentists picks or other types of tools and grind an edge into them. You can also resharpen exhsiting tool blades. It all depends upon what you do the most.

Hey Focker, I'm seriously thinking about doing them in 1/350 one of these days - they'll still be big even in that scale. That won't be for some time if I do. I'm pretty much redoing all my stuff in 1/350. You'll see more on that later on. These are definitely doable via shapeways, but I built these old school from plastic, so there's no virtual files for them. We've had most every other Macross vehicle put into resin, these should be done by somebody on MW. - MT

As long as you can swap out bits - YES, keep it! In fact, if the collet (the thing the bits go into) is replaceable, you can also go back to using it as a drill or with other tools by swapping the collet. The Dremmel ones might even fit. If you're doing a lot of model work, I HIGHLY advise you get a pinvise: http://www.micromark.com/swivel-head-pin-vise,6730.html Even with a drill press and mill, I STILL use my pinvise all the time; I'm even on my third one! You have the most control with one, especially for tiny parts. Basically, it holds the drill bits (most the size of a pin where it gets its name from) and goes from 3-4mm down to .5mm (or REALLY tiny bits). You'll find styrene drills and machines easy, so you can do a lot of work with one of these instead of needing to go with a power tool. Sometimes even the variable speed dremmels go too fast for some work and melt the plastic. Gun barrels for example are best hand drilled because of how delicate they are (trust me - I've done a lot of these, even in aluminum). Do you have a website or store website you can get stuff at there locally? I might be able to help you better if I knew what was available. I know you can get international orders, but do you have to pay VAT or other high import taxes? If not, I can help you with many other stores and tools. - MT

Well, my babies have found a good home and have been shipped off! The good news is that they're funding new tooling for the next generation of builds. Just a couple of farewell photos in the event this thread gets ressurected (again). - MT

Those look great EXO! And with all that dancing, your dudes are gonna need some Petit Colas! - MT

Looking great! I never thought of EXO as being a Macross choreographer!? - MT

Thaks for posting the photos and videos guys! MAN - there were some AWESOME kits for sale there! My wallet is breathign a sigh of relief because I can't get to them The Macross ships were awesome. Are those like 1/12000 scale or something? - MT

Looking good so far Urashiman! Is that like a trolly/electric car design? - MT

I took measurements for you from mine. The wall is 21cm high by 31 cm long. The floor is 18.5cm deep by 31 cm wide. The doorway is 16cm high by 11cm wide. The turntable on the floor (what the mecha are transported on) is 9cm by 5cm. I think if you used it, your valk would look like a human living in a Hobbit village Like everyone else said, the vehicles would look WAY too small as well as everything else. Tundrayeti makes some great stuff and it will fit your scale, I'd contact him. - MT

My eyes hurt already thinking about applying all those decals Thanks for sharing! - MT

AWESOME job Grayson!!! I especially appreciate it since I'm mainly doing 1/350th stuff now I take it you hand cut the masks for the deck markings? That's crazy in of itself getting them all to look the same - never mind all the photo etch and scratch building work! It looks like a laser cut mask. All the details look great and your dad is blessed to have a son care for him that much! You gotta share the final shots! - MT

Those valks look 1/144th? Thanks everyone else for sharing with us "land locked" in other parts of the world! Some cool stuff as always coming out of the festival! - MT

Let's see, my son and daughter are big Lego fans, and we ALL LOVE MACROSS! How cool would that be to have one of these! Lego would make serious sales on that product - they can't lose! Even those that haven't heard of Macross would say, "cool transforming robot with missiles!" Why you think I bought the Robotech models before I saw the series? - MT

The images are already showing up as unavailable. - MT

I somehow missed this earlier. AWESOME work man! I can almost hear the annoying Glaug pilot's voice now as he steps on the Tomahawk, "step off you lousy micronian!" Thanks for sharing the photos! You've been crankin' the models out! - MT

Thanks for sharing the links everyone. There's some GREAT stuff! My wallet smoking and my drool hitting it are counteracting each other and any sales Scraped by this thread without buying anything - so far... - MT

Welcome Harrier! That build is nice and clean. The panel lining does look great as well as the other details. - MT

They look great Nel! I'd go with Corel too. That's what I use to set up projects for engraving. Plus you can easily take to have personal customizations done like shirts or engraved items. - MT

I scratchbuilt the 1/100 a long time ago and the 1/350th is a WIP; more on that later (I don't want to hijack this thread). So I'm hoping rotocasting will mean less resin and a lower price - MT