mslz22

Just for the sake of entertaining an idea, stability would not really be that much of an issue, unless you really wanted it to fire m-80's In 1/48 i would be forced to cast the main body in fiberglass, more work but less material for sure, the feet would likely also be cast in fiberglass. If the main arm guns wound up being big enough for me to get my hand inbetween the open mold they would also likely be fiberglass.... the fiberglass would be lightweight and strong, the labor time would be a lot longer..... I have such a big wishlist of macross kits right now i really need to take some time and figure out where to go.......

I wish there was enough interest but i doubt it Maybe years from now when we are all rich from winning the lotto....... I have lots of projects in my mind right now, after doing mostly Studio Scale stuff for the last couple of years i have a renewed interest in doing some Macross stuff, i just really need to pinpoint what is the best to tackle first........and what people want

If i thought i could sell enough of them i would make a 1/60 or a 1/48...the monster really is my all time favorite mecha ever.....

couple of quick pics to save searching, i should also add that i will finish up the instructions once i get some parts cast up from the new batch... mike with 1/72 hcm

I did a little work on the slanted roof and will put up a pic tonight or tomorrow, this week will be a little slow i am moving back into the big casting shop, which needs a bit of work, so things will be a little slow this week, but once i am all moved back in i will start making the molds for this stuff.....

Another couple of weeks and i will complete the remolding of the parts that need it and i will start taking orders, i am moving back into my big casting shop and that will take most of the week. It may snow again this week in CT if you can believe it

Looks fantastic....

It sold pretty well, and hopefully i will get one more small run this spring, i only have 11 decal sheets left so if there is not much more interest i may not due more than the 11 that i can provide decal sheets for....we will see. I will still be able to get you a 2nds kit at the end of this run, believe it or not i did not end up with all that many bad parts...... mike

Not a loss for sure but not a windfall either

All parts will be available seperatly as well as as a "kit", that way people can do whatever they want.... On a side not i have not gotten much done the last few days because i was doing all the paper work for the biz taxes, get ready for this.....last year, due in large part to the monster project, I spent on resin and silicone...............$12,000

Yep, i think i referred to it earlier in the thread as the "short wall", it will seperate each compartment but not hinder the view from the front or the sides. I have tried to plan this out so that you will have maximum viewablity (is that a word ), from the front or the side. There is some line art in Perfect Memory that has something like this, it almost looks like the destroids are in pens, that is where i am taking the idea from..... mike

Well it wouldn't, the gantry will need to be fixed in position. The extension makes it look a bit wacky that the gantry is right in the middle of the turntable, it's not as bad without the extension. Also you can turn the floor 180 degrees so that the turntable would be on the other side, by the door.

I understand what you mean but I'm not sure I would want the walls any higher for a couple of reasons. One is that even with a half of an inch to an inch rise would throw off all the detailing that i already did, and i would need to raise up the gantry that much more to match, and the gantry is already pretty tall . I also plan on having the "b" type back wall that will have no door, if you want no door, or to put 2 together. With that second option either used as your pimary back panel or added with the panel you see here there will be plenty of room for the lateral travel apperance. I also plan on having a small angled celing section that will be available to people who want it, that is going to add a bit more height to the whole thing, and again this is already a bit tall. Also keep in mind that that you can have the gantry in along the other side wall as well. One of the toughest things about building this so far is the comprimise that i had to make about what detail type stuff i wanted to include and still allow people to pick and choose how to display their stuff, and keep this thing at a reasonable size. The gantry track was a good example, if i did not have to be concerned about the above stuff i would have a track that would run on the floor and across the wall, but that would extend the display more and limit where you could put stuff. This way you can put the gantry on either wall, flip the floor either way, flip the outside wall either way, combine as many units as you want in a few different ways, put the platforms in different positions, and it will look good with 1/72nds, 1/60's, maybe even 1/55's, and other types of mecha as well. Sorry to rant a bit, again i just wanted people to know how i came up with the current configuration... thanks mike

No need to be sorry, i want input from you guys, anyway i think i came up with a cool little extension, it looks like a couple of hydrolic type thingies. It is about 1 3/4 iches long and if that's too long for the builder it's easy to razor saw off a bit, that way the builder can use it, not use it, or mod it to get wha they want, or it can be used as some other bit of detail somewhere else. It's a bit crooked because it's just all taped together but you can see here that this is what it would look like full extended....you can also see the repair platform here, again that's just taped on... mike

Another thing i thought of with making the gantry longer was that I wanted to have it be taller than it is longer, i think that looks better. But i am limited in the height that i can make it because of the height of the back walls. I made the back wall the height it is to keep this a reasonable size, even this basic set is pretty big and will just fit on most standard 12 inch shelves. Like i said i don't mind making and extension for people who want it, just want everyone to know how i developed the gantry and what i had in mind.... mike

My concern about making it stick out any further is that it already sticks out halfway point of the floor, take a look at the sideview here, a 1/72 valk even with the gunpod fits in sideways. I wanted to leave space on the floor for stuff infront of the gantry so that people could get the most out of the display. Maybe what i can do is build an extension part and cast it seperate for anyone who wants to use it....

Ok, so i am closing in pretty quick on what i think will be the "basic set", I really want to be able to offer this for around $100.00 for anyone who wants a set up but not spend a lot of $$, i still need to see how much resin and mold material it will be. My idea was that the basic set will come with 1 back wall, 1 side wall, floor, gantry + receiver, and the additional platform for the sidewall, and the platform that goes on the back wall tracks, also decals. See the pics below and please chime in, you can see the receiver for the gantry pushes it out more than 3/4 of an inch, i've added more detail to both the side and back walls, and added a repair platform for the sidewall that can be positioned where you would like. BTW that destroid was painted when i was 13 so please excuse the sloppyness of it thanks mike Oh, also the floor and side wall can be "flipped" so you can use them on either side.

The small crew door will show up somewhere, i just have not deceided where yet. those are not meant to be door hindges, they are more tied into the platform next to it, i will add some detail to tie the 2 together better... As for the giant doorbell and the giant firealarm, never even occured to me that they would look that way , the middlepart of the door was intended to look like some locking mechanisim and the firealarm....well it don't know what i intended for that, i just saw some of those elipse type things in some of the art some where, if it's too silly i will mask it or remove it. mike

Great work, and that is a great site, goes to show you how good some of those old kits can look....

Some, and some is "inspired by" and given a bit more of a realistic approach with the kitbashing. The gantry is very close but with a lot more detail than the one on the box art, the platform is kind of like that too. The turntable shows up in a handful of the line art stuff. I can still add more detail to the walls I do just want to get a beat on what people are thinking at this point in regard to how far i should go. Keep in mind that i am trying to make this a bit "universal" both in regard to mecha types as well as fitting a few different scales.... mike

So here is where i am today, the large outside wall has some work done to it, i need to evaluate and get your feedback on if there should be more detail so please chime in. The tanish sideways thing is intended to be a large monitor type thingy, and i plan on making a decal that will fit in with multiple diagnostic looking screens. Hope everyone is cool with where this is going, i will get some work done on the small wall tomorrow.... thanks mike

uhhhhh yep

Awesome, it would be good to meet some of the MW people in person, i was thinking about bringing my moster as well.......

Boy I can't get anything by you, i even chopped up most of it......I've said it before, if kitbashing was good enough for ILM

A bit OT but those old kits, despite their shortcomings, give me such a blast of nostalgia, i really love them...in some ways they are more fun than the hasegawa kits....