Chas

Well I know that you can puchase Debonders for CA but in my experience they make the CA soft and gummy, this isn't neccessarily a problem, but in your case I don't know what it would do to the VF that the Ghost is attached to. I think it may damage the paint job, and possibly desolve some of the detail, but I've never used CA debonder on Polystyrene, just polyurethane ( doesn't damage urethane at all) Try Googleing Cyano Acrylate Debonder and see what you can find out about how it reacts with Styrerne. Good Luck! Charles.

Wow! I've only ever looked in Canada (where I used to live) and could not find anything higher than 70% in retail. Anyway if the acetone worked as a thinner then I think it was probably the Gunwash that I've seen used as Acetone is an ingredient in most Gunwash solutions. Yeah great work so far MT. Do you have any 1/200 scale mechs you could place on it for the next set of Photos? That'd be cool to see.

Did the acetone thin the body filler? Why would you not use it now, if it worked? (Sorry MT I know this is OT but I'm curious)

The stuff you buy at the Drug Store that most N.Americans call Rubbing Alchohol is indeed Isopropyl Alchohol (Isopropanol) but it is rarely sold in concentrations higher than 40%. I don't think that is strong enough to do the job of thinning the body filler, that is why I specified Industrial Iso-Alchohol, it is much stronger (and thus more dangerous - if using try not to get it on your skin, as it will be absorbed through your pours - there is a reason hospitals have cut back on it's use!- and this is not a good thing) and it can be found in concentrations as high as 99%. Now after saying all that I'm no longer sure it was Iso-Alchohol that was used to thin the stuff, but give it a go anywho. It was either Iso-Alchohol, laquer thinner, or Gun Wash not sure. Sorry

I used to work in rapid protoyping and we did a lot of work for the automotive industry. We used to use this stuff all the time and, used properly, there wasn't anything that it wouldn't hold. I don't know if it's available through retail, but you could always check it out. It is a urethane structral adhesive, for binding plastic, SMC panels, meatals, fiberglass, and wood. As always it is best to sand, or otherwise scuff-up both of the mating surfaces to give the stuff something to bite into. Good Luck! If you can't find this stuff you could try contacting Ashland Chemical, the manufacturer and see if they have any suggestions.

Well I've heard of some guys using industrial Isopropyl Alchohol (like 90+%) to thin it, but I haven't ever tried that myself. That was my one concern whith suggesting it HWR, but I thought that as MechTech was already using, or had decided to use Mori-Mori, he had already considered that. I mean if the thing is sealed really well there shouldn't be a problem should there? Any way, I don't know how expensive it is but there is always the two part epoxy that is used with fiberglass sheets. Might be hard to sand and work with epoxy though.

Go down to your local Automotive supply store and get yourself a big tub of Lightweight Automotive body filler - it's pretty much the same thing as Mori - Mori (although a little more stinky - use a mask or do it in well ventilated conditions) except I find that it is easier to work with: if you want it to dry faster use more of the cream hardner that comes with it. In some shops you can even buy the cream hardner seperately as the different brands all use pretty much the same stuff. Sands like a dream, easy to shape, and pound for pound waaaayyy cheaper! That's my two scents anyway. P.S. I haven't said anything about this yet 'cus it's pretty much all been said, but for what it's worth Beautiful job so far man. Kudos for takeing on such a massive job and sticking with it!!

Anybody have better pics of this?

I use good old Tamiya Basic. If your planning to paint the kit the colour won't matter.

Only Mac Plus has an English Audio track, DYRL? is: Language: Japanese Subtitle : Korean, Japanese and SDF is:Language: Korean, Japanese Subtitle: Korean. At least according to the descriptions anyway.

This thread needs some images at this point. Here are all of the SDF Macross vehicles I have images of that I think could work in 1/72 ( I've also thrown in some other rarely seen stuff) Now we can discuss them with a little more clarity. Perhaps we should start a thread where folks can post images they have of the more rarely seen items? Anyway I digress :Voila! Sorry tried to use imageshack for a higher res but kept getting this error mess: Sorry, dynamic pages in the tags are not allowed. What's up off-site hosting is now a no-no??

Nice score! I would check with Anasszi and see if he could wip up a set of Hasse. decals in 1/35 for you. The ones provided just don't cut it for my tastes. Congrats.

Penguin. . . you're my new God, where do I go to worship you? That is exactly what I meant but couldn't figure out how to say!

I like to use artists acrylics That I thin with Isopropyl (rubbing) alchohol, the higher the percentage the better! Have you painted any models before? If not, you might want to practice the brush technique out on some other kits as it takes time to develop the skill. Otherwise go with the spray cans and masking tape. A little tip, when painting it is always better to use more thin coats, rathere than a few thick coats. With spray paint try and avoid spraying toward the edge of the tape. It is best, I've found to have the can BEHIND the edge that you want. (if that makes any sense. . . can someone describe this better please? )

Do you mean to use the markers for the pannel lines or to paint the entire kit? I would think they are o.k. for the pannel lines (although to stark for my tastes), but if you're thinking of using them on the entire kit I would think that you may run into problems getting an even layer. Why not use spray cans and masking tape for the base coats and large areas? Or there is my personal pref. Brush painting If you go this route though you may want to practice on a few kits that are not so special to you. And remember, for brush painting with no streaks thin your paint so that it is very thin (almost like water) and apply in thin alternating coats (first coat top to bottom, second coat side to side) In my experience model building is an excercise in patience. Whenever I've tried to take a short cut I've always ended up with a lot more work because of something that went wrong! Good luck, and welcome!

Wow! pretty impressive for rattle cans. Cudos!

How long have you been building kits? What kind of airbrush/paints do you use?

Nice! very clean job. You deffinately have some skills!

Sorry, maybe it's a language thing. It just seems to me that you've gotten responses and answers to your questions. A good paint to use is Krylon Fusion. Now on the same day that Die Alien Scum! told you about it your asking for someone to direct you to somewhere online where you can get the stuff. Then, when no one responds after a day or so, you ask again. But you haven't said what you've tried or how you've searched, So it's kind of difficult to help. Like I said earlier have you tried to contact Krylon directly? I think that would be your best bet for finding the stuff.

Hey Cap. Great Sculpture! That's sure going to look nice on your shelf! I gotta start sculpting myself so I can make awesome stuff like that too!

Have you tried contacting Krylon directly and asking them if they have a any dealers in Europe where you could purchase the product? You have to try to help yourself first and then,if that fails, let people know what you've tried and ask for help. You can't expect others to do all the leg work for you.

Windex is made with amonia. Future is pure acrylic. Amonia desolves acrylic. The Testors must be an acrylic blend. Read the label and see if it labels the contents.

I'm not so sure if they would sell. Sure there are people who would buy them, but you are forgetting that the majority of Hasegawa's customer base are not anime fans. They are aircraft/model enthusiasts. Hase. has already risked alienating their customer base by even producing the Macross line. To start producing tranforming anime kits a-la Bandai could actually drive away customers who were interested in the company for its traditional model lines and want nothing to do with transforming 'toys' (as thsoe kinds of kits are seen by these people). There are alot of model companies that Hase. is in competiton with in the traditional model market, and the last thing they want to do is give there customers any reason to buy from the competition. Now, I know what your thinking. "Not many people, who like Hase. kits, would be stopped from buying a kit that they really want simply because they didn't like another type model that the company produced". But this is an issue of reputation. Hasegawa has a particular reputation that has been hard won. To do anything that could damage that reputation is not something that they will take lightly. And as you have seen Modlers have strong feelings when it comes to the line that seperates models from toys. I for one don't think that Hasegawa is willing to cross that line anytime soon, Some people, I'm sure think they already have and are probably not happy about it. Thatl being said the only way I can see for Hasegawa to do this (if indeed they have any desire to) is to create a subsidiary company with a different name for their transforming Anime kits. -Much like the way car companies have different makes for their different vehicle lines. Anyway that's my two cents worth. Oh, and for the record I wouldn't buy a 'transformation add on kit' or a transforming Hase. kit, I prefer the dedicated modes as they will ALWAYS LOOK BETTER THAN ANY TRANSFORMING KIT, and my kits are built and displayed (usually I pose them how I want them and then fix that pose with a little CA.

Well I think your best bet for sculpting classes would be your local Community College, as has already been said. But if you are serious about learning how to make moulds and cast models try this Smooth On I've never taken it. I don't know how much it costs. But it sounds like the best introduction to mould makinng/casting you could ever want. If you decide against the course you might find other useful info on that site, so spend some tim and look around. Good luck. Charles.

If wishes were horses beggars would ride.