vsim

....I don't understand the phrase "I don't need to be a completist" ...What does that even mean!

Nice. Now you should build it and post pictures!

Slowly but surely. And now I've got an automated set of routines that can patch together box photos since they are too big for my scanner. It works surprisingly well even automated. (The program is called hugin). Still haven't completely automated that process but I am fairly close. @Anasazi37, I've noticed my my current workflows that I'm making that when I use hugin to patch together pictures, it converts it from a 24-bit TIFF to a 32-bit TIFF. I think what's happening is it's going from "TrueColor" to "TrueColorAlpha" or at least that's what Image Magick says, and I have no idea how to tell it to keep it at 24 bpp. I presume it is adding more data to an alpha channel. Do you think I should just go ahead and convert my whole process over to use 32-bit or stick with 24-bit knowing that the box scans are going to get converted to 32-bit anyway. I'm not sure how much bigger then 2400 dpi decal scans would get filesize-wise, maybe 25% bigger? I'm just not sure if the extra bits are worth it or if it's beyond what anyone would ever notice anyway. The 2400 dpi Sv-262Hs Hasegawa decals are already 418MB with LZW compression, lol. If anyone has a specific kit they'd like to see data for let me know. I have no particular order for scanning these and it will take me a while!

Yeah, I hear ya. I still like them all though. And yeah, where are the VF-171! lol

Thanks for sharing the details! Definitely keeping a copy of this for when I get better at building!

Finally got my IT8 target and got everything calibrated after fighting scanner software for a while. I've now learned more about color calibration than I ever really wanted to know, lol. But I've got 3 different scanning programs producing the same results now. I had to make a custom calibration for each software program because apparently they all have different definitions for what RAW output is, lol. That took me a while to figure out. The fun part is, only 1 of the programs works reliably at 2400 dpi, but it doesn't even do lossless compression on the output tif file so I may have to post process with Gimp or something just to keep file sizes down a bit. So now I need to find time to scan a bunch of kits, lol...oy...

I've got a few of the Hi Metal R toys, but not many of the DX Chogokin (too hard for me to get at a reasonable price and the scalpers nip them all up ). I agree with Vladykins, the monster is pretty awesome in the Hi-Metal R! I was in the same boat for that on since the Monster is not made that often as a toy and did not regret getting it at all. Other than that I've gotten a few or the Arcadia releases but they are a bit pricey now compared to the old Yamatos, but I still have a few. BTW, welcome back to Macross Special Sauce!

Added this to my podcast app a little while back. I rarely listen to podcasts but this one is on something I'm interested in at least! Makes my commute a little different than usual when I've got to drive down to work. Thanks to the guys that put this together!

Nice, how tough is the build? I've never touched my SHE kits to this day.

Awesome! Can't wait to see more pictures!

Gotcha...yeah I should be able to do 2400, it'll suck up some space but shouldn't be too big a deal. It will just take me a while to scan them all, lol. What can I say, I'm a data hoarder :D.

Yeah, if you spot it let me know! I've got my wife convinced to watch the original series again. I started her on it years ago when we were dating and Minmei drove her nuts so we watched DYRL instead, lol. She's been fine with Frontier, Delta, and even part of 7 that we started through, just not the original. But lately she's said she'd be willing to give it a go and just ignore Minmei...I told her she doesn't really get any better, lol. But I can probably spot it on a rewatch.

Yeah, mostly I need the time. I can do Duolingo just because it is on my phone and I can spend short periods of time with it, although it's not the greatest for teaching rules. You end up having to read the comments under certain things to get insight into that. My Japanese is coming along slowly. But I've only been putting forth a daily effort for just over 3 months now so still a ways to go. I'm at least to the point now where I occasionally see a Kanji I know, or sometimes part of a Kanji and get a little excited that I recognize it, lol. Yeah, it helps me sort out some issues, but I noticed it is terrible at translating if you just type everything in in Hiragana. It's a lot better if you convert it to the correct Kanji first.

Nice, thanks for the pointers. I'm still waiting on my calibration target to ship, wondering if COVID is causing issues...I hope not, otherwise I'd have to switch to a more expensive source. I haven't had time to mess with it lately anyway due to work, lol. Anasazi37, you said you'd use 1200 dpi at a minimum. What would you recommend scanning at if I'm going to go through the trouble? I just looked on micromarks page, and they sell white laser toner now...nice. It's only compatible with 1 specific HP printer but still that's pretty cool. Honestly I'd be fine with just using a sheet of their white decal paper if I needed a white background or paint white under the clear decal.

Thanks for the thread link. I saw they had a link to the models section which I had forgotten had low res pictures of decals (maybe some high resolution ones too). Yeah, you are right about the data storage needs for high resolution scans. I don't want to add undue burden onto a hosting site! :). For now I'll just store them locally and see how it works out. Good point about the raster vs. vector scans, I hadn't thought about that. I think my printer maybe only does 600 dpi (color laser). What were you using for printing at 2400 dpi? I'm assuming an inkjet of some form? Or do people still use dye sublimation printers? Right now I'm mostly trying to get the data preserved and am not as worried about needing to replace any decals yet. I just checked my oldest kit which I believe is from the 80s and I was surprised to see the decals were not yellowed or at least it was minimal. Regardless of hosting, I'd be happy to share any data I gather from my scans. I've got a lot of local storage space. BTW, does anyone know who is maintaining the models section now a days and how to add to it? Chris, you listening? I've got an IT8 target ordered so I can calibrate my new scanner, and software to do so as well as calibrating a printer. I'll try it out on my color laser just to see how well it works. I have not even remotely looked into specialized decal printers..lol. I was just looking at the micromark decal sheets (clear/white) if I ever needed to print any locally. Any recommendations for doing a good job on the cheap? lol.

AH! Gotcha! I do have that one as well! Sorry you are missing parts though! I just checked mine and I have 8, so unfortunately no extras that I could send ya (it was worth a check). Nice to see any 7 kits built though so keep the pictures coming!

Alright, I finally took a few minutes to take pictures of my cels. I appologize for the reflections, they are a little hard to get rid of. All are framed and mounted archival grade. No tape is touching the cels to hold them in place. I had the frames made online and shipped to me and then I mounted everything. This is my oldest one. I got this at Otakon in 1998 when I barely knew much about Macross after only having recently realized how it differed from the "other" show I watched when I was a kid. So I got Shoji Kawamori to sign it at the time. He suggested he could draw a mustache on it and I didn't quite get the joke until later when I realize he did the mechanical aspects of the show, lol. Well, you live you learn! DYRL of course! Glad I managed to find this one, I forget where I got it. Misa TV series. If anyone knows which episode this is from I'd appreciate it! And of course Macross 7!

I finally got around to getting a scanner again after not having one for many years. I am planning to scan in the decals for all of the kits I have, mostly because of the realization that by the time I get to some of them the decals may be yellowed or starting to break up. And it would be nice to have backups in case I have issues with putting them on. So I am curious if there is any general interest in preserving these somewhere (maybe on this site somewhere)? My plan is to calibrate my scanner so that the colors are true/correct in the saved images so that if I go to print them I have the best shot of having the colors correct. I may also look into calibrating my printer as well but that is not as important at this time. Anyone have any interest in this? Does anyone have a color calibrated printer I could send test images to to see if the colors come out right? Also, does anyone have any recommendations on how high a resolution to scan? Is 600 ppi sufficient or would it help to scan them in higher than that? Lastly, I know you can print your own decals at home, but are there any services online that can do single job prints for individuals that are cheap? Thanks for any suggestions!

With some effort I managed to get through the first page of Macross The First book 1, lol. It took some effort with working some words I knew, and many I didn't through google translate to make sense of it and figure it out. I'll slowly get better, I figure it will be years before I am comfortable :).

Nice! Is that the Wave VF-17S/D kit? Mine is in a closet somewhere, How is the build going so far, is it working out well?

Why does it have two fold pods?

Anyone think there's a chance Hasegawa (or others) will make some Macross 7 kits? I liked the series, but there were never that many kits/toys for it. Come on Hasegawa!

Nice!!! I rarely see cels of the valks. Most of the ones I have are of characters except for 1 DYRL cel I have. Which reminds me I need to take pictures and post them. Thanks for sharing!

Huh...never seen those either. I do have the movie adaptation though (2 volume color one). What's the difference between the "screenshot comics" and the "novelizations"? From a perspective of which would be easier for a beginner to read or are they similar as far as written content, just that one uses pictures from the series and the other has more traditional black and white drawings?

Ah, gotcha, sounds...messy. BTW, thanks for the translations on your website sketchley. I try to look through your translations occasionally when I have time :).