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I'm not sure. I think the VB-6 may be the rarest of these. I was told 8 were sold at the Wonder Fest were they were offered and to my knowledge that was the only time they were available. I'm still curious where our anonymous friend got his/hers if he/she's willing to tell us. Atleast two have been resold on Yahoo Japan but I still think I remember seeing a third. As to the D'Stance YF-21 it too was also just sold at one Wonder Fest to my knowledge. So I'm guessing there may be about 10 to 20 kits out there. However I've never seen this kit on Yahoo Japan. It HAS however made it to eBay thanks to a kit that was sold by Noel and I didn't keep bidding on it at the time as I thought I would be able to get one direct from D'Stance. Also the kits that I'm aware of that were sold did NOT have the fast packs that are now seen on D'Stance's webpage: D'Stance's YF-21 Those were added to the kit and his website after the event where I know some of these were sold. To my knowledge the kit with fast packs has NEVER been available. I'd love to be proven wrong and I'm hopeful the kits will be offered with the fast packs at some point. By the way... here is something you guys can help me with. I just seached the forums for my old D'Stance threads. The oldest I found was this one: D'Stance Thread However there was one before this that I started when the fast pack pics first popped up. I think it was titled something like "D'Stance now with fast packs". My search didn't find it however. I assume its in the old forums. Can Shawn or the moderators still get to those old threads? The reason I want to find that thread is the person that bought the one Noel sold posted in that thread. He was interested in trying to get the fast pack for his. I believe he also emailed me but I now don't have any of my old TI emails. I had told him I'd be sure to contact him if I was ever able to track down the fast packs. Anyways... there is a member here (or atleast was) that has publicly stated he has one. I'd love to bring him into this thread if he's still around. We could hope he'd be willing to let his be recasted. If he's afraid of the risk or is willing to sell I'll offer to buy his kit, let it be recasted, AND give him the first recast free. Can anyone here help me contact him? Carl

I'm a little curious how you knew I had one? Its a 1:100 scale kit and not the quality of a Studio HalfEye kit but if there were interest I'd be willing. However it may not be necessary. The recaster I'm thinking of may already have this in the works. When he was asked if he'd be interested in the VB-6 project part of his reply that I've been asked not to share stated this: With IHP kits, I have a plan to recast them by [snip]. They are YF-19, YF-21,VF-11 Full Armored, VF-1 Armored, VF-17, VF-4 I also have a plan to make VF-22 Parts for YF-21. I hope I can say that much without stepping on any toes. He hasn't replied to my last email asking for some clarification though. Melissa please let me know when/if you hear from him. He's got your email address. Anyways it sounds like he's already got the VF-17 and a VF-4... not sure which VF-4. If its the 1/72 VF-4 then our anonymous friend may not need to be parted with his VF-4 for that project to go forward. By the way... there are 3 variable Macross Kits that I consider the pinnacle of design. I'm not talking about quality of casting just the shear complexity of the design and the beauty of the final product from the pictures I've seen. I sort of reserve that level for kits that I've seen that are better then the kits Studio HalfEye has put out. 2 of the 3 are already being talking about in this thread. That being the I.H.P VB-6 and the D'Stance YF-21. The two I don't have and that are at the top of my wish list. A very close 4th on the list of best kits I've seen is also mentioned here. The 1:72 I.H.P VF-4. So it seems only natural that I throw the one that hasn't been mentioned yet into the mix. How many here have ever seen the L-Trans-R 1:72 YF-19? I've got one. There are some picture of it here on an early version of my wanted page: Old Wanted List This whole page is in serious need of an update. Anyways if after the VB-6 project and the VF-4 project there is interest I'm willing to let this kit be recasted. Carl

Thanks. And you are correct. The shiny chrome is artistic licence on my part as well as the ground reflections and a few other minor tweeks. Its easy enough to make the underside a flat gray and it even renders faster that way. I just like the look of the chrome. In other of my TRON works I've also made the body transparent and I like that look more then the flat red but it renders much slower so I'm not using that effect for these test animations. Carl

What do you suggest? They just flash on and off from one frame to the next in the movie and are fixed in place. I'm thinking about making them rotate like they were real spokes. If might give a better sense of motion but it wouldn't copy the effect seen in the movie but I might be ok with that. If they were to flash and rotate I think that'd look a little jarring. Or do you think I should just change the shape or the texture of the current spokes? Carl

Melissa, I've contacted the other recaster I was thinking of just to see if he was interested in this project. He is. He's the only recaster that I personally know that has experience taking very rough/crude, very complex variable resin kits and cleaning them up and making excellent quality recasts. I'm sure Valkyrie can too. I've got complete faith in both these guys but I'm just wanting to provide options. Anyways... this person (yes he too wishes to remain completely anonymous). He knows many of these kit makers himself and doesn't want it known he's recasting their works and he's only willing to now as the originals are no longer available. He has a fairly large operation so he might have resources Valkyrie doesn't. And he's already got other avenues available to him in terms of selling this recast. That should help keep costs down. That said I wasn't directly involved with his last recast project I talked about above. The kit he recasted I believe was his own so I think he cleaned up the original before making the casts. If that's so Valkyrie has more experience with the process of making the casts twice. I will do my best to see if I can get him to PM you. His biggest concern is seeing the quality of the original kit. Would it be possible to get pictures of the parts posted here so all potential recasters have a chance to see the magnitute of the job they may have before them? Thanks, Carl

I couldn't agree more with both of these points guys. Very well stated. Carl

WOW!!! Very nice link. Thank you Shawn. It reminds me of a thread I started in the old forums that was titled "Nice Legs". It was a group shot of most of I.H.P's kits together unpainted with the monster standing in the middle. You could see all of the other kits in the shot (about a half dozen of them... maybe more) and the monster was cut off at the waist... thus the name of the thread. Did anyone here save that pic? I don't have it any more and I'd love to post it here. Its another great shot that shows the scale of this monster. Shawn... do you think you could dig into the old forums and find it? Thanks again, Carl

This is a test of the flashing spokes and the fixed white lines. Still haven't played with the camera positioning. What do you think?

I can help with that when mine gets here. Carl

Noel... Did you pick up any of these? What scale is it? It looks very nice. Carl

WOW!!! That was fast. Boy... you sure make it hard. I've run into this sort of type before. Most Japanese collectors like to be as secretive as possible. However there is one big difference here. Most Japanese collectors I've come across that wish to remain secretive can't even be persuaded to let photos of their items out. Let alone willing to loan the kit out for re-casting. Hmmm... I guess I don't have a clue who this might be. Believe me I wish I did. Can you relay these questions for me... and the rest of us? (1) Is this one of the kits sold at the Wonder Fest where Noel's photo came from? (2) Did he (or she) get it at that Wonder Fest or in a second market? (3) If a second market are they willing to tell us where exactly? (4) Do they think they might be able to get a second original they'd be willing to sell? (5) Can you give them my email address hoff@wt.net? (6) Can we see a photo of this kit? If they are willing to contact me I promise to behave and not beg they sell. But I'd be happy to exchange information. They might have some rare kits I'm not yet aware of and vice versa. I do like to know what's out there so I know what to look for. The two names that seem best suited for this kind of work are Valkyrie and someone both Noel and I know. The other person I'm thinking of has recasted a very rough variable kit before... the Megazone Prototype by KIP and he did a very good job. I don't know if he'd want to do this though but if he did he might be able to lower the cost even more as he's got places he could sell the recasts outside of just us here at Macross World. Valkyrie sure gets my enthusiasm vote. I could go either way on the screws. Are the types and number of screws needed detailed well in the instructions? Cool. Did I.H.P originaly give out the instruction on CD-Rom or did someone along the line scan the original directions and put then on CD-Rom? None of my other I.H.P kits have directions on CD-Rom. I want one. I'm in provided the cost comes in under $1000 and the recaster is allowed to do this kit correctly. Based on the condition of this kit I agree with Valkryie. If the ower lets the kit be cleaned up that's a way to go. I don't think he will... I wouldn't. That then means the original parts will need to be molded and new parts cast and it will be those parts that get cleaned up. (Valkrie has done this for me in the past.) And the cleaned up parts will need to be molded again. As Valkyrie has ponted out the original kit will get back into the owners hands just as fast this way. If this project is going to go farward I'd really want to see it done right. Since I've really wanted to help with the project I'll step up and offer to cover the cost of making the second set of molds in exchange for the right to buy the first recast. Thank you. The lime light really isn't as bad as you might think though. Personally its helped me find rare kits by getting my name out there. This way rare kits can find me and I don't always have to go looking for them. That said I respect your wishes... even more so as you ARE willing to share. So thank you. Melissa any chance you can get someone to contact you that owns a D'Stance YF-21? You must know something I don't. You did good... so thank you too... Carl

I do. It would take some digging to find it but I have one. Just a word of warning... I.H.P had done both a 1/100 VF-4 and a 1/72 VF-4. The 1/72 kit is much nicer as the pics above show but the 1/100 kit is much more common relatively speaking. It too is still quite rare. I've got both. I'd just ask you to make SURE which kit he (or she) has. If you look at I.H.P's web page all you see is the 1/72 kit and if you have an I.H.P VF-4 one MIGHT just assume he has that one. I don't know who this is or what he (or she) does or doesn't have. I'm just pointing out I.H.P has two different variable VF-4 kits out there. Carl

I'm not sure who Liquid Stone is but the variable monder was built by I.H.P. I.H.P is a one man show as far as I know and that man is Mr. Sakuragawa. His homepage is listed in the links section here at Macross World. Here you go: I.H.P's home page And come to think of it... THERE is his email addess as well. Someone want to email him in Japanese and see what he's willing to say. If he still has the painted one and he's willing to sell it could it be recasted? Or is it better to start with a non painted kit. Here is the VB-6's home page: VB-6's page But as you can see it hasn't been updated since before he finished the kit. Does anyone know who Liquid Stone is? Mr. Sakuragawa hasn't renamed I.H.P has he? Carl

I'm sure he does. This one (I assume) is still in the hands of Mr. Sakuragawa. I've got a contact that has his email address. I had it at one time but I'm sure I lost it along with most of my old emails. I've bought kits directly from him in the past. However when the Macross World deal feel apart I tried at that time to contact him directly again and he wasn't returning his emails. Come to think of it Shawn should still have his email address. I'll email him and check. I'm sure the one you see it that pic was just picked up and sat down by someone that wasn't too careful. I don't think he sold the painted one at Wonder Fest or I'd have expected it to be gone by the time Noel got to it and took the above picture. Noel has meet Mr. Sakuragawa face to face. I believe there is even a picture of them together in one of Noel's reports. Carl

Can you post a pic please? I'm curious if its something I've seen before or not. Thanks, Carl

Thanks... and to answer you question... No. Or atleast I don't think so. However the way I have it set up at the moment the grid lines are only drawn every 5 grid units. So I can still stick to whole numbers and get off the white lines. In fact the code is general enough I don't even have to limit myself to whole numbers but its simplier for me to keep things strait if I limit myself some. Carl

One piece of POV-Ray code generated that whole animation. I didn't touch anything at the indivual frame level. And thanks... I agree. This was just a test of the effect used at the head of the light trail. The camera is fixed in space and just pointed at the rear tire of the bike. When I get serious the camera will move along a smooth spine and look at a point on another smooth spine. That will fix all those problems. I can also put the camera on the bike so you see a raider's POV but the 90 degree turns will make that jarring again. Actually the 90 degree turning bike is harder. The camera stuff is easy to fix. I just need two splines. Carl

Its still a work in progress as I need to add the fixed white lines to the trail and the flasking spokes to the wheels. After I have that in place I'll have all I need to add several different colored cycles and sit back and watch them run around on the game grid. If anyone wants to work on some interesting non-intersecting paths for me to animate feel free. This one is: <0,10> <20,10> <20,40> <10,40> Lets fix the game grid to <0,0> to <1000,1000>. I still have no effect for bikes blowing up, thus the need these be non-interesting paths. At the moment if you give me more then one path the speed of each bike is just determined by the total length of the path that it must cover during the course of the animation. One other 'feature' that I'm working around at the moment is the effect at the head of the trail is determined solely by distance from the center of the rear tire. This means that if a bike comes close enough to its own trail it will effect the color of parts of its own trail that it shouldn't. The effect extends out 7 game grid units in all directions. 1 game grid unit on each side of a bike gives it enough clearance to navigate a maze however as the windows extend out .77 game grid units on each side so two bikes must be atleast 2 game grid units apart to pass each other or travel side-by-side. Also the bike itself extends 4.4 game grid units ahead of the center of the rear tire. Since the bike pivots on the center of the rear tire at turns there must be 5 game grid units clear ahead of the bike's planed turning points (atleast at the time the turn takes place). A bike could travel though that space later for example after the first bike has already made its turn. Enjoy... Carl

I was thinking about asking you how many total you picked up. I know its *ATLEAST* 3. Considering I think he probably only had 10 to sell at the event you did GOOD!!! How many did you see on the table for sale while you were there? Have they relaxed the licencing a little to allow more then 10 kits per event or 20 per year yet? I don't know how the kit makers make any money with those restrictions. Noel, I bet you are this guys biggest customer. LOL!!! Do you know if this maker has a web page? He's the only one out there making new Mospeada kits at the moment that I'm aware of and it'd be nice to see if there are any hints as to what he'll be offering next. Did he have any works-in-progress on display at the event. I know he has at past events. Carl

Min... if Noel is correct and you saw the one he photographed you were at the one and only event I'm aware of where these WERE sold. If you saw one someplace else you MUST tell us where you saw it. Them the rules... Carl

I couldn't agree more. Simply Gorgious. And I also believe its worth every penny. Noel works hard to get his hands on these rare event only kits. And I can assure you they just go up in value. My Tread Battloid kit that came out at an event years ago and sold for less then $100 (I think much less but I'd have to do some digging to get the exact number for you) now sells for over $500 when ever it makes a rare appearance on Yahoo Japan. Don't forget these kit makers put alot of time and effort into making these kits themselves and they are only allowed to sell something like 10 kits at any one event and no more then 20 per year as I recall. I also believe the price of their licence comes to a fair percentage of the kit cost. So please keep all that in mind... Noel's prices are more then fair. Carl

I didn't like the light trail work I had done before so I'm redoing it. This time I'm coding it so it will be much easier to animate. With luck I might me able to have a light cycle driving around on the game grid soon.

Very cool. Noel this is the same kit I bought from you about a year ago isn't it? Its nice to finally have pictures of a completed kit this time. Were you able to get any of his missle kits this time? What else did this maker have to offer? Come to think of it what's his name? Thanks, Carl

Excellent idea. See my post dated August 26, 2003 in this thread: http://www.macrossworld.com/mwf/index.php?showtopic=381 for all the info I have on the first auction. If someone can trace this back to the winners Yahoo ID we should be able to contact them. The info on the last one I saw is also posted in the thread by Valkyrie and Shawn I have contacted Rinkya asking them to pass my email address onto the winner. They told me they have however I never heard back from the winner. If anyone has some inside information with Rinkya I'd love to have the winners email address or phone number but I don't think they'd just give it to me. I *thought* I saw one between these two but I've now lost all the email I had on this subject at TI and I see in the other thread where I say "So that means two have made their way to Yahoo Japan." I may be misremembering the third auction. If there was a third I don't think I still have any information on it. You can also look here to see something else I tried at the time: http://www.rinkya.com/cgi-bin/forum/ikonbo...act=ST;f=2;t=84 Good luck, Carl

That doesn't have to be as big a problem as it sounds. There is more then one original out there... its just that only one person will get the *FIRST* one that shows up. If all 3 of us want originals I'm willing to keep at it till everyone is happy. Just be aware this project could last a while... I haven't seen one anywhere in 7 or 8 months I believe. Carl