mslz22

The monster is a bit lonely right now, i've been very very busy wrapping up everything for the new house. i really can't wait to finish, i just need the time, and it will get done... mike

Ouch thats pretty hot......great job, never thought of doing figures before now

no real update, but i should be back to this soon.........way too much time looking at new houses...

Yep, still open to anyone who wants one, and if the weight is where i think it will be shipping will not be as bad as you may think..... I am finishing up a big order and will be back to work by the weekend (keeps fingers crossed ) mike

Awesome work, and what an advertisement for mirrored bases all that work people do on the bottoms of models only to be out of view....but not with a mirrored base, way to go...

I have no stake in this as i am not part of the purchase, but i just wanted stress how important it is to be sure that whatever option that you go with it is a necessity (IMO) that the recast be molded from an original Club M kit, i have had an opportunity to examine a Blackaces recast, a hobbyfan recast, a e2046 recast and an original CluB M kit, and all the recasts (the Blackaces was the best IMO) have enough shrinkage that if you have a recast of a recast it will be difficult to build the kit. Some of the parts are thin enough on the original that any 3rd gen casting will have the potenital to be paper thin. Sorry to butt my nose it I just want you guys to get the best for your $.....if i am out of line i will edit my post. mike

Thanks, i will likely not get too much done on this in the next week or so, in a stunning turn of events i may be selling my home very shortly (like next week) and need to get it cleaned up before inspection etc..... mike

I know, love my daughter, but when she gets around other kids it just turns into a germ factory So not much as i am just getting back to working, here is a pic of the as of now empty engine compartment....started to add some of the detailing...

I've had this problem when i used clearcoat on a very humid day, or used clearcoat that had been corupted by humidity. Is it acrylic? if it is you may want to strip it if you think you can strip it without harming the decals, otherwise you may want to think about sanding the whole model with some 2000 grit sandpaper and try a different clear, perhaps some future followed by a dullcoat. I'm sure others will have some good ideas, but if you try any of the 2 above please do so with caution. mike

The arm cannons are not at full length yet, beyond the need for the back half, the front is going to have a "cap" that will be at least 1/4 (a little more actually) of an inch long, the "cap" will bring the 2 halfs of the cannon together as well as fill in the detail of the cannons. this allows me to keep the cannons hollow, once it is added i think the length should be just about right. I've been sick with a cold again (started at the daycare, wife got it, kid got it, it was only a matter of time before i got it) so i've made only a little progress the last few days but should be up and running some more this weekend, in fact the wife and kid are going away with friends and i get free rein over my time this weekend , i think i can actually see the finish line from here. mike

Yes, unlike the other 1/72 kit the legs will have a ball and socket set up so that the legs can pitch out in a V shape like much of the line art etc. the arms will be cast in 3 seperate parts so that you can position them the way that you would like. that being said, the kit will be kind of a "pick a pose" type of a deal, meaning that unless you want to customize it to have screws etc it will need to be glued in one pose for the most part. began work on the engine cover today... thanks for all the encouraging remarks. mike

Not much of an update, but i thought this looked cool, the forward hollow part of the cannon will be this PVC or ABS tubing (i can't remember which this is) so it will not droop over time. they will be included of course. the 3 detail rings will be cast seperate, and will just slip over the tubing.... mike

these cannon mounts will be part of the main body, i just need to get them glued and molded in. the cannon mount have a socket, and the cannon will connect with a balljoint so you can pose them. these back missle hatches will be cast seperate and there will be a detail part for the missle bay if you want to display it with the missle bay open. I've started on the drive unit and have started some of the panel lines on the more complete parts. thanks mike

Not too much to show today, here is one part of the arm, the one that mounts to the inner cannon and the start of the big upper cannon. I threw the cannon mount and a few other parts into a small mold (stuff i need mutiples of), including the rear missle hatch, i will get pics of that up in the next few days mike

one quick thing for size reference, (because i got a PM about it ) look more at the HCM than the yamato 1/60, also keep in mind this will be about 2 inches taller than it appears here with the bottom and the drive unit in place thanks mike

Got lots of little stuff done, the leg struts you see here are not final (everything may look a bit wonky because it is all held together with blue tape). got the cannon mount sculpted, now i can mold that and cast 4...got lots some of the arm parts done but they are in various states of ugliness . These pics should give you a bit of an idea of just how big this thing will be.... mike

Thanks everyone, i really want a few things for this kit..one i want it to be accessible, I am going to do everything i can to keep the price in everyones reach, i really want people to have the kit. the other is i am doing everything i can to make it easy to assemble and paint. I know that i personally get "hung up" on kits that have a tricky or "hard" part. I want people to build this, so i am approaching it from a point of could someone finish this in a week or so if they were able to work on it everynight (not counting lighting ) and i do want people to have the ability to light it, having the body hollow will not only help the price but also makes running wire nice and easy. I will likely build and light my test shot, and that will become a tutorial on the kit. thanks again everyone mike

Today i worked on the upper leg and the cockpit hatch/windows. The hatch/windows will be cast seperatly and will likely be translucent, so you can mask off the windows, paint the rest green and stick an LED in it , the hatch you see now is really just the buck, i need to vac form some styrene over it, cut out the windows and laminate them together. the upper leg and outer detail part, the detail parts on the outside and inside will be cast seperate, that way i only need to build one upper leg (it is also true for the rest of the leg and foot), the detail part is not done yet and it kind of crooked because i am trying to hold it and take a pic at the same time. A cool thing about the leg (IMO) is that unlike the other 1/72 the upper leg is not one solid chunk of resin (as you can see in the last pic), it is much closer to the line art in that you can see inside, i think this really helps keep the sense of scale and detail needed for the model. mike

Todays progress, the engine compartment. I've been looking forward to this , it like the other parts is hollow and will have the door exposing the engine. The engine will be cast seperately for easy painting. I've pretty much deceided to finish up all the main structures and then get to the final smoothing and the detailing. the detailing is the most time consuming but also the most fun IMO. today a yamato is overseeing constuction. mike

basic shape of the back of the body, in case you can't tell this is hollow, and the main body will be cast in 3 seperate parts, what you see here and 2 bottom parts. Looks a bit weird now but the shape seems right, it will look more correct once i get the 4 cannon mounts in... mike

quick update, i noticed after posting the above pics that the side of the body did not look right. I was using some line art as a guide and enlarging the image to use as "blueprints", anyway i made a mistake and distorted an image...so long story short, made some changes to the side of the body and i think it looks much better now, and the best part is once i got one side right i made a paper template and copied i to the other side. Instead of the coke can i dropped in a HCM 1/72 valk for size comparision. keep in mind that is only the front half of the body, hope to get the basic shape for the back this week as it will be way to hot and humid to do much casting on other stuff... mike

just for fun

just a peak at the forward part of body, still needs lots of details and some putty but wanted to give you an idea of the size, again coke can for ref....the white insert part is the part that will need to be painted red, that will be cast seperatly. i may even cast that translucent for lights, need to check to see if that is a light up part... mike

This is obviously not the final, still needs some smoothing out and some details..but this is pretty close to how it will look, coke can for size..this is already more detailed that the other 1/72.... mike

i actually did some work on the foot yesterday, first chance i've had to work on it for a while...i got a couple of big casting contracts that will keep me busy for a month or so but this is still on my radar, i just purchased some modeling board for some of the parts that need it. sorry for taking longer than expected, i've barely been to mw lately but i still have an investment in this project....i will get some pics of the foot progress in the next week or so... mike