pengbuzz

So he went from trying to smooch Minmay to managing a ripoff band? Sigh... what's next? Bootleg Hikaru ichijo action figures?

As I said folks: it met a tragic end. As in it ended up shattered in a billion pieces shortly after it was photographed in a freak mishap (thanks to a certain malicious/ psychotic sibling who later ended up serving time in prison and was disowned). Anyways, at least I had it for a little while...

Exactly; it's called "red lead" or "antifouling red" for the hull below the waterline, and "haze grey" above. I suspect UN Spacy wanted to "break up" the hull lines on the Macross so that the enemy didn't have one solid-colored target to strike at (in space, dakrer colors would not sho up so well). Also, I suspect without Earth's atmosphere, the year-long trip, exposed to the solar wind, charged particles, UV and other forms of radiation (solar and extra-solar) would take a farily hefty toll on the ship. So, like with any mode, what point in time you're depicting would also determine it as well. if you take a look at modern flight decks after some use, they have wheel marks and streaks all over the place. And yeah: neither carrier really were intended to be attached to the Macross. But most anti-slip/skid coatings on flight decks actually tends to be black/ dark charcoal grey.

Acually, I would use water and ground-up graphite to deepen the effect all over on that one, then a couple of modulated white wash passes, then some dry-brushing. On a side note: about a decade ago, I had done a conversion on the Matchbox SDF-1 I had at the time (back before they cost a mint) into the DYRL Macross. While it didn't transform ( joints snapped at the shoulder and I wasn't skilled/ resourceful enough to repair it at the time), I did manage to get a 1/3000 scale DYRL Macross several years ahead of everyone else: Sadly, this met a tragic end when I moved. Anyways, I remembered having done some "thruster burn" on the ends of the engines and remembered this project. If I ever get my hands on another Matchbox SDF-1, I think I'll try my own mods for a TV version.

I usually just paint some masking tape, cut it into strips and attach with Aileen's tacky glue.

Oh, MAN!!! I wish I had known; a couple of months ago, I had parts from a Bandai Dougram (found it mostly built in a thrift shop)! I wish I had saved them for ya!

Same here, only I'd like to be able to get my testing done so I can get paying work.

I'm in the Northeast; so far, everything is pretty well locked down tight. At this rate, September's not looking very good either to be frank.

I wonder what they're planning for the next wave of these? Destro would be an interesting one to see... Addition: saw him in the wave (oops!) Seems pretty good to me.

Probably because it hasn't featured as the one of the main mechs in an anime yet.

Hmmm... one thing I would have to say is: if humans had an inherent bent towards violence, would it be fair to say that the bent was from the Engineers' own bent (seeing as it was their DNA that was propigated on the primitive Earth)? And if that is true, then could it be one reason they sought to wipe humanity off the planet is to erase a reminder of their own inherent flaws? It's conjecture based on your assessment here, admittedly. But how often do we see in stories that those who have lofty expectations often deride their "inferiors" (or children as the case may be in a sense here) and exact harshness on them when they turn out to be a dark, distant mirror of themselves?

Yeah...there's that too!

Some good idead going on here so far. Also... Whatever happeneded to Kaifun (Minmei's "cousin"/ antagonist/ jerk)? *runs*

Well, there was that time in The UN Spacy Academy when all of us went to the bar and picked a fight with a bunch of Zolans who thought they were hot stuff. The next day, you couldn't remember the name of the bar, and the Commandant was demanding an answer, threatening to send us all to the Micross colony.

OUCH!! That's gotta stink like nothing else! One thing I used to do on stuff like that is drill a hole from one side to the other (through where the knee post would go), push in some rod, then cut flush, glue and touch up pint. but seeing as I've never done a Hase Battroid (and yours is even more complicated with the wires), I'm probably not imagining it correctly at all.

How about you just weather it there so it's "afterburner dark burnt" whatever metallic paint you want?

Same, and I can see why Bandai did it on the old ones: when I converted the VF-1 I had over to a single-nose design, reworking it to plug in the legs was a royal pain in the caboose. No wonder they used a hunky metal swing bar on the chunky 1/55!!!

Honestly, I would trade out those plastic hip joints for some metal rod or something. That looks hella weak (not your fault!).

That looks like Flat Light Aircraft Grey; this chart may help: https://hobbylandbg.com/colourtable

Man, Derex! That one is just cursed it seems! I had that happen with one of my models in the past: I ended up simply scuff-sanding it smooth, using steel wool to remove any residual paint crack marks and then repainting it. I hope you can do liekwise with this, but I'm honestly sorry that you're going through hell here!

So any of us doing kitbashes and mods on our 1/55 "chunky's" are actually following the manufacturer's recommendations? COOL.

That was my point: they want more of the original story rather than what Macek tried with the Sentinels (even though it ended). Most of the fans are just plain nuts though, and from what I've seen, living in a fantasy world of a fantasy world that never existed. Very true: HG could never come up with anything close to the original animation from SDFM. But I consider cheapness not just being unwilling to spend money, but in lacking integrity and resorting to taking shortcuts as well (as you mentioned previously: quality is expensive). Macek was extremely cheap in taking credit for what was not his to begin with, and I thinkt that had someone other than HG gotten Macross (the other two I could care less about), they might have handled it a bit better. But we'll never know. In hindsight: the only thing HG is good at is the BS department. On a side note: when I found out sometime later that not only was Macross orignally a separate entity, but actually had more material, sequels, stories and a brighter future timeline than RT, that's when I made the jump to Macross and never looked back.

I just obtained a 1/55 "Jetfire" (late surprise birthday gift thanks to the stimulus paymet!) and will be looking into printing this at some point! Thank you so much for this; it really helps, and I hope you can develop the super / strike armor!

Sounds like a good part of the issue is the fans wanting the original story over...and over...and over... and over... ad nauseum... (The rest is HG being both cheap and incompetent)

I had this happen on the SDF-1 I had several years back (before my brother destroyed it on me) How to repair: 1) Take apart each chest piece (one at a time), and set the metal pieces aside in a container, with screws in another. You may want to photograph each step so you can document how parts go together. 2) unscrew the shoulder peg from black plate in the white shoulder piece. 3) obtain either a solid piece of ABS sprue the same size, or PVC from your local hardware store (Home Depot or the like). 4) if the piece is solid, drill a hole slightly smaller than the shoulder screw into the plastic; otherwise, drill out where the center post was, being careful NOT TO DAMAGE either the gearteeth on the front, or the screw post for the shoulders to come together on the other side. 5) Using Devcon Plastic Welder (epoxy is too brittle and super glue has ZERO shear strength), glue the new post into place from the REVERSE side. This way, you don't have to dig dried adhesive out of the gear teeth. Set up straight with tape to hold the post straight and let cure for 24 hours. 6) Once cured, measure to the old post length, cut and lightly sand the end to smooth it. insert and tighten screw GENTLY to prep the post to accept it when assembled. 7) Once you're certain it will work, reassemble the blue chest piece, then reassemble the black shpoler piece to the shoulder post and screw together. THen reasemble the white shoulder piece around it.