pengbuzz

The chest piece isn't the primary issue so much as all the missiles got melted behind it. Anyways, when I get back to it, no opening hatches is probably going to be the best way to go.

Hence Cable TV; GoT got away with some serious carnage.

Yamato 2202: "We're off to outer space/ the script we've misplaced!" *sung to tune of "Starblazers"*

I think a "Colonial Marines" series would do well on cable TV; doesn't have to be about the Xenomorphs specifically, as I'm sure they had other issues to deal with.

Thanks, but tonight I suffered a MAJOR triple setback.. 1) Hip joints broke; the plastic was not holding up well to the stress. Okay, glue those into place, as the model didn't really pose that well anyways. 2) Knee joints broke as well. Brittle plastic, too much weight on them. Not happy, but not exactly a "deal-breaker". Glued those into place and continued on. Number 3 was waiting 'round the corner though: 3) I finally got those fixed, only for the freshly -installed missile doors to reveal that they had been glued shut and had melted all the missile detail I had installed underneath!! So, after much "venting" (and contemplating turning the Armored Valk model into a "kamikaze"), I resigned myself to leaving the doors glued shut and am now simply building the entire thing with non-opening doors. VERY not happy, but Ce La Vie, right? (so much for that idea). Then, the one where my temper ran out: 4)I found out that the entire chest was misshappen and out of specs with the blueprints- Mine: Blueprints: So, that one made me just place the model down on the shelf where I had been storing it. I'm done with this for tonight.

Agreed. I liken what the movie makers need to do for the Predator series to what was done for Darth Vader in Rogue One: remind the audience just why he creates dread in all that encounter him. I think while Vader didn't exactly suffer "villain decay" per se, seeing Anakin in the prequels lessened the threat Vader had become in many folks minds, and watching Vader demolish a Rebel squad on his own reestablished the "oh crap" quotient. One thought I had was: if humanity has advanced in their ability to defend themselves, then wouldn't the Yautja also adapt to hunt them? A possible example would be that mud no longer works to mask humans' heat signature, as the Yautja have refined their sensors to use a different wavelength in addition to IR. Another would maybe be a further refinement on the stealth camo that would minimize the distortion effect that was visible. Just some ideas. "Buy time" is definitely the keyword here; and one more thing I would throw in is the possibility of the Predator succeeding in killing the entire human cast. Make it out as if the last one or two characters would survive... ...but time runs out.

Reminds me of this:

@MechTech Really liking the work you put into that little guy! Seeing that whip around the lighthouse is going to be a blast! @derex3592 Sorry that the Cat's Eye is being such a pain! I know all too well the "joys" of stripping paint back down to plastic (which is why I had offered to help!); that recently ate one of my projects and gave me grey hairs! But the Runabout looks like she's getting power now and that will be a diorama within a model indeed! Going to be very interested in seeing the final on that one! UPDATE: began installing missiles in the shoulders (after hollowing them out for that purpose), as well as fitting missiles and their covers to the chest: I plan on using a single pin in the middle to joint both halves of the chest doors. It's going to be a bit of a pain to fit, but I was expecting that. Then the shoulder covers will be the next issue. After that, a bit undecided on trying to hinge the lower leg missile covers, as those simply fold out and are going to be flimsy as all get out. I'll see how things go from here and feel my way though this. I also cleaned up around the neck area a bit and did a little repainting around the armor; nothing worth taking specific pics for this time around. Also need to work the angle on the chest chamfer surrounding the missiles and blend that in a bit better; adding the strip didn't go as planned and was a bit wonky, so just another issue to consider. Not bad for starting from half a Battroid, right? Stay tuned...

Humane for us, not them!

Thanks for the clarification; now, would that be possible in micro-fashion for a vernier thruster then (drawing off the main reactant supply, in this instance)? And... that answers my question. Much thanks (and tacos).

So if the reactants for the main engines are going into the thermonuclear reactor and are converted to nuclear energy, then what's coming out the other end? I know in atmosphere it's most likely heating air much like a regular jet engine, but unlike a rocket in space (unless I'm missing something here), isn't it just throwing the reaction of the reactor?

I'm sorry folks, but that's not gonna cut it with this one. Instead, let me suggest something much more effective and by far a great deal more humane:

Idiots tend to be some of the least observant people (they also tend to have the least common sense and sense of self-preservation too). Interesting. That would mean "hot dogging" would be more frowned upon in space, where each move would come at a premium. It does make me wonder though, if it were possible to use an energy version that only required power from the main reactor powering an emitter that would take the place of a vernier? TOASTEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!! Smoking in Macross is usually what one side does, and usually in a crater.

THAT must have given new meaning to the term "up up and away!" lol Hmm...I wonder how long it has before the propellant runs out? That would utterly suck being in a dogfight and you lost maneuvering over that? They probably keep it topped up between battles though. As for the hot version: I almost want to draw a cartoon of two techs using a live vernier thruster to roast hot dogs :P Cool. Hmm...you'd think they would want to warn you before exposure happened! lol

Yeah... to say the least: https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/Hydrazine

I imagine they would have "assembly jigs" and specialized worktables/areas for that to hold components for work and rotate them as needed. Since I have a factory diorama with some mechs being serviced, I'll have to work that in! Yeah, I got that down after reading what they were for elsewhere; just thought it would have been a handy secondary function. On a side note: I wonder if any crew techs accidentally blew themselves across the shop floor hitting the controls for the verniers by mistake during maintenance? A manual diagnostic transformation tool to expose components and parts? interesting...even more ideas for the diorama. I remember in M+ seeing them working on the YF-19's head, with all the covers off.

UPDATE: "First colors": This first painting is just to give myself an idea of how the final colors will "play out" on it, and allow me to adjust as needed. it also gives me a "milestone" by which to judge how much work is left. Speaking of which: had to re-work the shoulder armor/missile bays: They were the wrong shape, somewhat too large, and I needed to empty them out a bit inside to put in some actual missiles as well as the mechanisms to hinge the doors on them. Stay tuned...

That's also a good point; not to mention that the Valkyries look like they are largely modular and that parts are made to be taken apart a bit more easily, due to the need for maintenance. I had noticed the vernier thrusters almost looked like "turn handles" that could rotate and unlock sections of the mech.

It makes me wonder if those parts themselves would have to "transform" on the VF-1 (i.e. the thinner legs reconfiguring into a thicker mode, small arms somehow gaining mass, etc). That's where Yamato/Arcadia gets a lot of credit for their stuff looking decent in all modes. Regarding Oiltech's renderings so far: I'll post my opinion on it just as soon as I pick my jaw up off the ground!!!

Thinking about all this (and everything all the folks here have said): I designed and built two transformable fighter models. It makes me wonder just how much hell they would be for a "real-life crew" to maintain and repair. Just the arm transform alone on the first one would probably give most crews ample reason to take early retirement!! As mentioned, making something so complex that you need to disassemble half the craft to replace a part is enough to "take years off" the life of said crew chiefs.

UPDATE: After a day and a half to let the finger heal (thought when it first happened I'd need stitches, but thankfully not; just some neosporin and a bandaid), I got some work and a bit of priming done today: Arm armor, shoulder armor and waist armor were worked on and built up. All still need more work and detailing, but they're starting to get there finally. The rear boosters on the back needed to be removed, sanded down and redone (they were angled oddly and not very convincing looking): Once I can make the square thrust vectors, they should be all set; meantime I'm working out how to make all the missiles and opening doors on the chest, shoulders and legs to house/reveal them. That's gonna take some time, so we'll leave that for a bit later on. Lastly, the head lasers kept snapping off and acting as a major pain (weren't scaling right and whatnot), so I cut a spare VF-1s laser set in half and used those for the barrels: It may need just a bit more work to resemble the set the 1J has, but at least these won't keep popping off continually. Overall, I'm making progress that while slow, is at least resulting in some satisfactory results. The real test will be the final detailing and missile load-outs; if I can pull those off (and their respective covers and hinges) successfully, then I'll have something here worthy to replace the regular VF-1J in the Armored Factory Diorama. Ultimately, the goal is to entirely replicate the Macross Armored Factory, right down to the mecha in the set (including the MBR-04-Mk VI Tomahawk), and a second Factory setup (instead of smoothing both into essentially one half of the entire setup). It will require a second build of the diorama, but with some mat board and a few other supplies, it should be feasible. (Hopefully, the detailing. scratchbuilding lessons learned here can apply to redoing a Matchbox large scale SDF-1 or Hasegawa TV transforming version, should i ever get my hands on one or the other). Stay tuned...

At the rate they're going, it may as well be the "Can you hear me now? Good." guy from Verizon...

Fully expecting Kung Fu Fighting by Carl Douglas to show up in this one

Wake me up when they decide to do a live-action Voltron movie, finally...

UPDATE: Okay, some progress and some bad news: The bad: I broke my xacto knife blade.....and put it right into my (insert scream of pain) index finger on my writing hand: The smaller piece of blade is what I pulled out of my finger. Some attention and a band-aid later, I'll live but I'll need to visit the dollar store to buy the six-blade and handle knife set to get a replacement (end of the month blues, grumble grumble, etc....). So,m writing on a keyboard is going to take me a little longer... The progress: Here's where we stand now- Got some work done on the shoulders (sorry the pics are fuzzy, camera batteries are dying and need recharging). REdid the waist, got the shoulders bulked out and the forearm armor started: So now, I need to wait a couple of days for 1) blades and 2) my finger to stop hurting. Can we just all agree that 2020 never happened? Like, burn all copies of the calendar and claim we simply firgot to have that year? Stay tuned...