MechTech

Arbit, I would go with a geardrive and just time it if you can keep the voltage relatively constant. A clutch will add some safety to it. - MT

Thrust vectoring joint?

I was backwards (like lots of things) I kept seeing the Robotech kits in stores and finally bought one. After building two of almost every aircraft kit, a Valkyrie was new and awesome!!! And it transformed, it just didn't sit there on my shelf! One day we didn't have Track so I got home early after school and turned on TV to see the first episode of Robotech. OK, so the series got messed up in the U.S, it was still so COOL! I learned how to program my VCR (remember those) and set it with brand new high quality tapes to record. Wish I still had them just for the commercials! - MT

Thanks Arbit. Sadly, there are no real aircraft carriers like the Prometheus. I researched it. Closest is the old Enterprise for the upper bow portion of the deck and today (that didn't exist then) is the Reagan onward for the bulbous bow. But still SO different than reality. Time to scratch-build some stuff! - MT

That's looking great Electric Indigo! Looking nice n clean so far Nyankodevice. Thanks Arbit! Here's an idea, it's what I used on the Daedalaus elevator. The motor sits on a swivel and the spring keeps it engaged into the drive gear. If too much power is applied, it just "skips" without grinding down the teeth. Its a type of clutch. The motor drives a gear on a shaft with two other gears. Those gears engage into a rack of gears. The rack faces away from you so you don't see it. No slippage and you can see how small it was (1/200 valks). Hopefully the video works. The camera was overly sensitive to sound, but you get the idea. Also the original video just in case at 19:28. I think You-Tube still has the sound blocked - sorry! I hope that gives you some ideas. - MT Elevator Up.MPG

Lt. Zombie, that's a great change to the engines! Electric Indigo, Thank you! The belt will actually bend into a loop inside the turret. The strip caps can link together so it will be a big loop inside the turret and into the base. - MT

Thank you Mickyg! You are so right! Time is more valuable than our old Macross stuff! Thank you Martin! I guess we're all in the same boat with time and life leaving less time for hobbies. - MT

Brett and Pengbuzz, I love the creativity you both took with your projects. Brett, that was cool going with a Vietnamish-era looking paint scheme. Pengbuzz, that was great taking an F-15 and bashing it with a Transformer! Electric Indigo, I love how you treated the decals to make them look more realistic. That is the next best thing to decal setting solution. Both together look very realistic! Valkyriepm - You're still alive! Good to see Kakizake getting some love! Great paint effects. Long work hours and the commute has cut my "fun" time down. So sorry I don't chat with you guys more. I'm glad to see the great work being posted here though! What have I been doing? For the past several months, bits and pieces as time (and family) allows. I'm calling the Dougram Ironfoot done. The right knee joint broke and I can't fix it due to the wires running through it. So any more handling like further painting could permanently damage it. Sorry, my camera needs to be replaced! Lathed down the old rocket ends and fitted them into styrene tube to extend them and make them more white painting wise. Too much paint will get scraped off if they are removed. What has taken up my hobby time the most is an upcoming ship build. I want to build a large and fast R/C ship. A modern corvette or light frigate which of course there are no large kits of in 1/72nd scale or similar. I think a cool idea would be to have the cannon fire caps! There are no electric cap guns that I have found, so I had to engineer one (actually two). The first design is small and lightweight. It uses a rotating cylinder to pick-up a brass tube piece with a cap on the end from the spring-fed magazine below it. One end of the cylinder is a helix that simultaneously cocks the hammer back and releases it at the right point. PROS: Lightweight, fast and small. CONS: Jams easily, caps don’t always sit right on the tube despite a tight fit and caps have to be cut-out and refitted each use. Only holds 8 rounds. First cylinder auto-cap-cannon photo, at rest. Second, cocked. The second design uses a bolt that is hollow. It has gear teeth on the bottom that are engaged by a pinion gear that cocks it back. The bolt has an insert that strikes the cap as it is released backward when the pinion gear’s teeth run out (similar to some airsoft gun mechanisms). The same shaft also turns a cam that drives a feed arm to advance the cap strip. PROS: Highly reliable, louder (caps and striking force). Can fire several strips inter-locked as a belt. CONS: bigger, heavier, slower, needs more power to run (also making it heavier). First auto-cap-cannon photo, at rest. Second, cocked. Third, loaded with a cap strip. The second design will be used because I can trust it to not jam and it is louder. Next step is to create the turret. It will be the Leonardo (ex-Oto Melara) 127/64 light weight (5 inch/127mm) gun. The barrel is already turned to match its appearance. The barrel only weighs 1 gram by the way. Its hollow to allow smoke and effects to pass through it as a real cannon. That’s it for now. Chat with you guys later! - MT

Whooo Hooo! 200th page in this thread now! Awesome stuff guys! I wish I had more time to follow everyone's work! - MT

Some people here have tried dying in the past. ABS does not absorb dye readily nor do most plastics. Light pastel colors are the best I have seen. I'm with you on the idea though. I hate paint rubbing off too. - MT

In the future, use Pine Sol to strip paint off your models. TEST it first on something expendable just in case. I've safely used it before. - MT

What a masterpiece Arbit! That came out great! That is something show quality AND cool. Its one thing to build a model and another to make it come alive! Congrats on another great build! @ Jaustin89 - If you paint your parts, just make sure to wash the parts first thoroughly and rinse/dry thoroughly too. The models have mold release waxes or grease on them and the paint or glues won't adhere properly. I think you will find the Frame Arms kits go together easily. Assemble pieces first and decide if you want to paint. Some of the kits won't need much paint if you just want to have fun. See if you like the hobby first. I think you will enjoy though! My son and I love building robot kits together. - MT

That came out AWESOME Arbit!!! Somebody's video game privileges should be revoked! The only thing that struck me funny was "Darth Vader's Theme" from the first video. One couple had that played at their wedding as the bride came down the isle The Viggen and VF-1J are looking great too guys! - MT

Looking good guys! I've been so busy building, I haven't been posting pictures or getting on my PC much at home. On the computer all day drawing at work, don't wanna come home and get back on the PC. - MT

Some cool stuff everyone! Derex, have you tried poring some resin into the old canopies and made some new ones out of the plugs? Vacuum forming some new ones really is not too tough. Plus you can use the skills on some other projects later on. - MT

LOTS of AWESOME stuff guys! I wish I had more time to get online and keep up with everything. Arbit, that Falcon is going to be an engineering masterpiece when you're done! - MT

That came out great! I would have given up and got a wig to put on her. That is some crazy folding! - MT

That came out great Electric Indigo! I like the color scheme. Very different from a lot of conventional schemes. That looks great Urashiman! Nice n clean, but well colored in the panel lines. - MT

Looking cool Arbit! There are several types of solvents that melt styrene, but Lacquer thinner, Methyle-Ethyl Ketone and Acetone are most common. MEK is what a lot of glues like Testors are made with. I just got Tamiya for the first time (love their tiny applicator brush) and it smells like lacquer thinner to me. PLEASE test on scrap styrene pieces. Sometimes pieces will craze, so test first to also check bonds. Pure solvents also dry faster too. - MT

That looks cool! Nice photography too! - MT

Hey Arbit, that will look cool! Two things. Don't worry about lightly sanding and then buffing it out to get rid of the outer seams. Its a pain, but not too difficult. Second, make sure you use a solid solvent type glue. Those with acrylic fillers in them will eventually yellow a bit. I've got old models I never painted and that's what happened to them. You may be able to place one or two lights around it and get it lit up. Clear parts are cool in that they conduct light like fiber optics. I think this will look cool! - MT

Your modelling and samples look REALLY good! I'd love to see how this turns out! - MT

This thread brings new meaning to the term "Coming to life off the paper!" This is looking great! - MT

The print looks pretty good. It doesn't look too badly biased either (the layered lines). - MT

That's a GREAT idea and came out great too! - MT