MechTech

It's like "Toy Story." but with Macross mecha and "plot." - MT

Looks great! - MT

Defender, that's a good idea (though mentioned WAY earlier). I think they won't need magnets. In fact when underway, the ship will be empty of all mecha, except maybe a few near the ramp. I'd hate to lose my whole "army" if something went very wrong. Berttt, thank you. That's actaully up to you! As you can see, there's a lot of sapce! I'm good for monsters. UPDATE 30 MAY 07 The pieces are coming together. You can see the supports for all decks. I'm still having trouble getting over how light and strong this stuff is. Carbon graphite rocks! Though I've gone through two razor saws and nearly a disc sanding sheet. [attachmentid=42761] Sitting on top of the lower hull. [attachmentid=42762] You can see the two parts, short up front, and the longer towards the back. [attachmentid=42763] Closeup of the decks and the seam between the tow parts. These will come apart for trasnposrt like the lower hull. [attachmentid=42765] And spelled out for you what's where Tomahawk to show scale. The white plastic is the first of the outer covering for the hanger decks. The lower part and sides will mate with these. That's it for now. I gotta go get more carbon this weekend! - MT

You got some skills man, brass tube and some putty to build it up at the base. Just sand it to smooth it out with a taper. The brass tube can be super glued into the head socket after it's driled out. See how simple that sounds . Seriously though, the brass tube will be stronger than any plastic. - MT

All I can say about FSM doing Macross kits (other than back in the 80's) is IT'S ABOUT TIME! - MT

Don't worry man, your english is better than my espanol! Honneamise scratchbuilt and cast these as kits earlier on (excellent work AND box art work too). Neptunesurvey built it up (and did a great job too). Congrats on the Merit award man! Did you see any other MWers there? - MT

Thanks guys. The bow door AND ramp will open up and be motorized. The side elevators will work as well as three through-deck elevators (see a few posts back for the conceptual drawings). That's part of what's taking so long, engineering how stuff's gonna work along the way. As opposed to just a scale model. I'm not looking forward to building all those destroids either Berttt! Ranger565 is actually helping build a couple. There was a pack of Tomahawks on evilbay and my account wasn't working right. I asked him to buy them and I'd just pay him back. He then offered to build and paint them up. If anyone wants to do the same, I'm game. There's been so many people that have helped me out with this project, why not the destroids too! - MT

When I didn't have my own space, I just painted with water colors in good ventilation. At one location I took some computer fans and put them into a box with a dryer hose on it blowing outside. I just disconnected the dryer first since the windows were no where near I could get to. Now my bench is near a window and I'm building a canopy out of a thin frame and clear plastic. The plastic will let the outside light through and a blower will ventilate it out. If you have absolutely no area to work, put your stuff on a TV tray. I did that too for a while. I did my small building on it while we both watched TV and my wife felt less like a "Hobby Widow ." - MT

GASP! Hey, that TREAD is new from the last time! The one I saw was white. It looked like a kit taped together then . If someone knows what that TREAD is (kit/mod), don't hold out! - MT

That's cool! Both the new shop and FSM spread. So HWR, did they photograph just your stuff, or did they get anyone else's? - MT

I'm usually barried in the modeling section and just asaw this. This is a cool thread. Great work on the CGI modeling. It'd almost be fun to modify a kit and make it look like these! It's late, but I think the reactors look like just like the anti-grav units on the SDF-1. - MT

Yeah, what car? - MT

Dudes, don't you get it? The robot is the "alarm" system . It would suck if your remote batteries failed though... - "you have three seconds to comply..." . - MT

I thought I'd check in for updates. I'm glad to see the new pictures. The REALLY good news is that the Legios shoulder missile doors are marked "L" and "R." That way you know which shoulder to put them back on when they fall off . - MT

UPDATE 27 MAY 07 The bulkhead frames are ready to glue up now. You can see where each deck will attach too. Note the holes in some beams and rounded, notched corners at the bottom of the bulkheads. They also have a 1cm angle on the tops. [attachmentid=42699] The glued up bulkhead spars. [attachmentid=42700] Lower corners rounded and clamped to check lengths between bulkheads. [attachmentid=42701] [attachmentid=42703] In the front bulkhead suppport you can see the stall area and catwalk supports. [attachmentid=42704] Here's the finished supports with flat corners and rounded/slotted lower corners. The white thing is a 1/4 diameter section with carbon fiber tube. This is what connects the lower support sections. [attachmentid=42705] So like how big is this thing? Tomahawk height to scale in the decks heights. I'm hoping to actually finish the center sections and glue the thing together this week. - MT

Looks great! - MT

Those look great! The head says, "I'm about to kick your butt!" - MT

Those look awesome! I especially like the VF-2. I always thought it looked really cool. Any idea who made them? There's a TREAD in there that looks awesome too. Kit or scratchbuild? - MT

That's cool. I haven't seen that one before. - MT

That's cool! Now I want to go hiking just to try one out The alcohol should not harm the chrome plating, but will definitely take off tinting like gold colors right away. Usually they plate with chrome and then coat with a tint to colorize it. The tiniting will come of with detergent too. My wife cleaned pine sap off some gold glass, chromed Christmas ornaments. Now they're silver and not gold colored. - MT

If it's the one with the hollow birdlike body, they fly great. Just be prepared to wind like crazy. The Falcon cam is cool too. Looks blurred like it was raining, or the falcons wanted privacy . - MT

Talk about a "big" girl . Sorry man. I know it's tough finding referances. I'm working on Millia in 1:200 scale and I had to scour the web for anything decent to use. Perfect Memory has few clothed referances too. What's up with that? Looks like you're doing good though! - MT

Thanks Kylwell. I'll have to try some of that. The little Zentraedi figure needs a good primer and the Krylon stuff I like is not around here. - MT

Hiriyu, actually it was funny, but it scared the snot out of me when it happened. Falcons are quiet! UPDATE 20 May 07 Alright, nothing very spectacular looking, but a lot of precision tooling and gluing to make what you see. The first photo is of the parts partially glued up and all the parts machined together. Note the holes in the sides of the frames. These are where carbon dowels will go through and support frame additions. [attachmentid=42591] Sorry the photo is overexposed. This camera hates indoor lighting. Note the 1/8" thick fiberglass squares glued already into the ends. The dowel bits go into the edges of the shorter bits and reinforce them. [attachmentid=42592] Glued up bulkhead frames. These will have parts attached to them later to make decks and walls. Doesn't look like much, but it will with time. - MT

Hiriyu, thanks. I've been looking to get one for a while. I saw the original Norweigan designer fly his a year ago and said, "yeah, I'm getting one of those"! It would be indoors anyhow. Mine would get shot down by a bird. I had just got an ornithopter for Christmas one year and a Falconcame down out of nowhere and snapped the wing in half! Lesson learned! MilSpex, don't think I haven't thought about it. In the back of my mind I'm throwing around sculpting one to make copies for the ship. Any amphib ship worth it's weight has helos on board! A flying one on mine wouldbe that much better. Maybe just a profile one, not built up like that sea king. Too much weight. OH YEAH, I forgot, pictures of four bulkheads coming Sunday or Monday. The epoxy is curing now. I spent the day measuring and machining the rest of the parts for them. It's disappointing when you see them how plain they look after all the work, but they're precise and all parts fit well; not to mention how strong and light they are. - MT