MechTech

Word to the wise, TEST on a COUPLE of decals you can live without. Then let it dry for at least a whole day before applying any sealer. Mr. Mark softer will help it settle into grooves better, but go easy on it. Practice, practice practice! - MT

Thanks guys for the suggestions. I am thinking about adding aircraft sounds too. After all, I will have a flight deck. I'm pulling down English version of bridge chatter and commands. I just have to figure out what order and track to place them on. I've also gotten samples of real sounds for background. Thanks Vespaeda, I appreciate the offer and "there's no school like the old school!" My wife and I would love to go to Japan. It would be expensive though. I'd be blowing money on my hobbies and she'd be blowing it on Mikasa crystal! - MT

Thanks for the info SVF! I can see these going up on evil-bay soon! - MT

Awesome work! If my maintainers ever let our equipment go that bad, I'd make them walk the plank I'm guessing you used decals on the missiles? The whole thing looks great! - MT

At last, little more love for the old school stuff. I always loved the chunky GBP. - MT

Does anyone have some sound clips from the Japanese version? I've only got DYRL in the original. I also found the newer dubbed version of Macross online that I've been playing with. - MT

The armor looks great HWR. 505 - That's cool. The majority of what I have are medium caliber, aircraft rounds. The plan someday is to use them in stands with the aircraft. Anybody got a 55mm GU-11 round? Cowie - That's funny man. Was he saving them to uproot a tree trunk or something? Your pop could've probably just unscrewed the top, poured out the charge and set off the top primer to clear them. It would have been funny to see how everyone reacted. There was this one guy who did some digging and found an old mortar round. He brought it into the facility workshop and was buffing it clean. Somebody asked him where he got it and he said, "I just dug it up." Everybody freaked out and called in the local EOD. We all know that buffing metal makes it hot; right!? Not cool. - MT

Thanks AGAIN guys for the compliments!!! Yes, one can be yours for merely $75,000 (shipping included of course). Oh yeah, I need 4 years lead time too! School is slowing progress but I'm trodding along! UPDATE 2 MARCH 2009 I received my voice recorders. I ordered them here for $2.00 each!!! http://www.allelectronics.com/make-a-store...RECORDER/1.html If you're interested, read the reviews. One of them leads to a site that shows how to hack the board. I opened the box, removed the board and then the figure. By the way, my kids DID NOT like the figure at all! "Dad, are you going to throw the bad guy away?" I removed the mic element and soldered in a 1/16" headphone jack. I take the output of my computer's sound card and pump it right onto the board. I just push the record button on the board and play on the computer simultaniously. I can also control the output levels. This makes less noise and a louder/crisper sound. The board's RAM keeps the sound even after batteries are removed! Each board holds 30 seconds of sound. Big bonus. Another note, they are three volts like EVERYTHING else! What a deal! The amp on the board drives the tiny stock speaker fine, but I hooked up an old TV speaker (2.5" x 5") and it drives it great!. Nice bass and it's loud! The problem, weight again. I'm starting to sound like an anorexic supermodel probably, but weight is critical in something this "small." The big speaker weighs 225 grams, an improved tiny speaker ported with plastic tubing to enhance the sound only weighed 23 grams. Guess who won? (sorry, blurred photo) This is much louder, lighter, and uses less power. I can hear it all the way across the house with the TV on. I can also only use one speaker to each sound board. I might end up using the big speaker after all, for bass in explosions. The sounds I'll be using are: 1) Old school Macross alarm (30 second blast) 2) "Launch Daedalus Attack" from Lisa in your favorite and mine, Roblowtech. Unless someone can send me a newer dubbed version not HG related. 3) Heavy gun/missile fire to follow the launch command. I've got some REAL sounds that are awesome. 4) I don't know what other sounds would be good, but I'm open to suggestions. I bought three boards, so three types of sounds or 30 seconds of recording. That's it for now. I'm always open to suggestions. You guys have helped shape this project over the years! - MT

OK, so everyone's like "look at the cool model of a WWII German Tiger (pick your variant) or look at this cool model of this..." I think the models ARE COOL, however (yes there's a however), what a about collecting pieces of the real thing? This is what I cleaned up last week for my collection (which is getting bigger). Once again, I'm not dogging anyone's models! This is a vintage German 8.8cm (88mm) cannon round made COMPLETELY (don't freek out) INERT. It's complete with the primer and fuse. The round is about 3 feet long when assembled and weighs in at 13 Kilo (about 26 pounds) WITHOUT any explosives. This is a WWI era 37mm AA flak round. It's basically one of the earlier auto-cannon rounds. It's also complete and COMPLETELY INERT. The WWI round REALLY needed some cleaning up. The cannon this went to was a direct descendant of the Maxim machine gun. They just made it bigger (37mm). You can tell it didn't have much power (not even to shoot down Zeplins) so it didn't last very long. This is my OTHER hobby when I'm not doing models or the Daedalus (not so sure it's JUST a model anymore ). Why have a model tank when you can have a tank round I always say! Oh yeah, one of the best selections I have found is at http://www.jcmilitaria.com/ Shipping to the States may be costly, especially if you order a 8.8cm round! - MT

Thanks Amirn! I just have to wait now! Ultimateone, I don't know if we're still doing a group buy. If you contact him directly (see his website), he should get back to you. - MT

Looking great guys! A lot of hard work is paying off. I'll have to post my latest find when I get time. - MT

Not the kinda chick I'd wanna meet down a dark alley way - MT

Or do you mean the U.S. Marines "dirty" look. If I saw two planes with multi-services side by side, I can always pick out the Marines plane. Their maintainers are not into soap and water as much as everyone else - MT

I'm hoping you're making one wheel and casting it!? I saw all those treadless blanks and thought hmm... You wanted suggestions so here's my two cents (from someone who WILL be building one). 1) Plastruct makes stairs. Buy theirs and cut it to your needs. 2) Build the cabin out of clear styrene sheets (it's basically square) and paint or cover it with THIN styrene. 3) I'd still recommend toy tires to save time. Just copy one. I was able to buy mine with wheels/tires for HO train monster trucks (manufactured by Busch). 4) I bet the transaxels from a HEMMT (sample - http://www.anticsonline.co.uk/1807_1_1507185.html) will be the right size. DON'T GIVE UP!!! - MT

I ordered two kits as well and sent him the money. Some pictures would be cool! - MT

3/4 of the decals in the top sheet ARE from the same Macross book that the lower decals are from. Mostly almost all are Macross related! - MT

This is coming along nicely! Don't give up! - MT

I need to keep on top of this thread. Lot's of awesome work guys! - MT

Looking good so far. Don't let this die like all the other vehicle threads - MT

While I'm not a "toy guy," my collection of models has slowed a bit. Partly due to caution. I think the same thing is affecting the world economy ironically. Everyone is concerned they may not have a job tomorrow so they cut back on their spending. You just have to be creative. For example, a lot of restaruants are losing customers. But here in the UK, KFC is building several new restaraunts due to the demand for cheap fast food! I'm just collecting cheaper now too - MT

If you guys don't have one yet, I HIGHLY reccomend a pin-vise: http://www.micromark.com/PIN-VISE-and-DRIL...T-SET,7804.html It will make all your modding much easier! Projects are coming along great. - MT

The ONLY way to get rid of the white stress marks from sprue cutaway is heat. Which when applied will probably screw up your part. But heat will allow the plastic to contract to it's molded shape and return to normal color. If you have to sand the area and you are REAL CAREFUL, you can get a heat gun or blue section of a candle/lighter and move it close ever so slowly and carefully. Otherwise paint is a winner (and safer) every time. - MT

The most readily available source I know of are the Palladium books (the Japanese are hard to come by). I'm not a fan, but it beats a sharp stick in the eye. They appear to be out of print. I searched and found this: http://thepiratebay.org/torrent/3906180/Pa..._Books_Megapack It WAAAaay near the bottom. Just delete what you don't want. I have the RPG books 1 and 2. I don't play, but thought it would be a good reference for some scratch building I WAS going to do. - MT

Napalm Sorry, my local hardware store was all out I think Pine Sol is safe on ABS and reacts to styrene over time. Styrene reacts to just about everything. Citrus oils will melt it! - MT

I used it on enamel too! I thought it would take forever but it was pretty quick! I always thought commercial paint was die-hard, but Pine Sol kicked it's butt! I don't know how it does on acrylic, maybe I could stick an old paint-laden Tamiya paint bottle in someday. The plastic (ABS for you Valk modders out there) was un-scasthed! An added bonus, it was pine fresh - MT