Salamander

The 1/100 kit has some weird proportions. I think the old 1/144 kits are actually more show-accurate. It's a bit tempting to get this to compare with the original, but I've already got way too many kits...

@UrashimanThe first thought I had was "What happened to those poor pilots to turn them into meat moss like that?". The whole cockpit section looks like something from a horror movie...

@wm chengNice 1/48 model. 😄 Seriously now, can't believe that's 1/72. Looks great! @derex3592That looks doable, the photo-etched parts are larger than 1x1 mm...

Well, theoretically you could also make the argument that "white on-screen" = "silver or aluminium in reality", as that is the case in some other anime series... OTOH, since it is capable of space flight, there you would actually prefer bright colors (or even better, gold) for thermal reasons in reality.

Generally, kits of this vintage are molded in one or two colors (no multiple colors on the same sprue!), seam lines run right down the middle of parts, arms and legs must be assembled and painted in multiple stages because the limb sections do not use polycaps, and quite a bit of work is necessary to get a decent result. Depending on the kit, the last part might require rebuilding whole sections from scratch and/or adding detail/making holes

Those with a two-digit number and a 5 digit item code on the box are regular release items, and those with only a 5 digit item code on the box are limited editions, AFAIK. (Note that this being Hasegawa, almost all of their releases are limited editions, for a given definition of "limited" that usually means "less than usual, but still a lot")

@arbit I think you'll still see the lines after handpainting. I speak from experience, I'm nearing completion on a 1/72 airplane resin kit that used 3D printed masters, and although the lines are very hard to see by naked eye and almost impossible to feel, they are more obvious with paint on top...

@MechTechThat box looks like the baby brother of a wooden microscope slide box😄

N-scale, which is 1/150 in Japan, and 1/160 in the rest of the world.

1/43 is a very common scale for diecast scale model cars. Probably so the Ingram and Griffon can duke it out on the starting grid of Suzuka or something...😅 "Izumi, avoid stepping on the SuperGT cars like Ota just did, and stop the Griffon from burning down the paddock. Ota will join you once the marshalls have dug him out of the gravel trap."

Regarding the Humbrol paints, they changed the formulation a few times over the last couple of years, and some colors (especially metallics) did not fare very well. So be sure to test them on some scrap plastic, in case they don't dry well.

I'm not so sure the barrels are broken. Considering the size of those guns they might just have been made in multiple pieces to fit in the box. A gun up to twice the size of the mech is pretty much on course for anything designed by Mamoru Nagano, after all... 😅

The Macross would probably dance in tune with Lynn Minmay's (obviously the names need Americanisation) R&B song, behaving like some stereotypical African American rap dude showing off his big guns while thrusting his crotch. The Valkyries would look like horrifically mutated chimps in Battroid mode, set off HUGE EXPLOSIONS every five seconds, and talk back to their pilots. The Zentradi would all be rewritten as one-dimensional cartoon villains who get a send off in the most violent fashion possible because they would turn out to be androids that can be ripped apart with no consequences. The episode "Pineapple Salad" would also be incorporated into the movie, with the salad in question replaced by a Big Mac and Roy recharacterised as some standard B-movie action hero who chases skirt in the most misogynistic way possible. The resulting movie would be praised for its awesome looking CGI scenery porn, be hugely popular with the common people, score really badly in reviews by movie critics, and induce suicidal thoughts in both Macross and Robotech fans alike.

Another fun one is the Type 74 Type G tank. In real life, this was a hideously expensive upgrade to the standard Type 74 tank that meant only four tanks were ever upgraded. In the Patlabor universe it was more widely used by the JGSDF alongside the Type 90. Fortunately, Asuka Models makes a Type G in 1/35, so once I build mine it will go on the Patlabor shelf. 😄 And while we're on the subject of 1/35 models, Aoshima makes 1/32 models of Japanese trucks, mostly decorated ones, but they also sell regular versions, which look great next to the Patlabor mechs. And with Micro Ace and Aoshima also making 1/32 Japanese cars, putting together a 1/35 Patlabor diorama should be easy (too bad that it takes so much room...).

Those look nice, although the lack of sleeves for the joints puts me off.