Valkyrie

I was looking over the 'destructions' a couple days ago, and saw the clear lenses that it calls for to be cut out. And I got to thinking, that'd be a good application for my snazzy new laser engraving machine! And 30 minutes later, I had a lens cut for the hip that fit like a glove. Then I got to thinking, it be too much trouble to just make them for everyone, and make that my little contribution to the project! Since then, I think I might have gotten a little carried away with it... but I just finished the first prototype, and I'm pretty proud of the results Above, there's my test 'print' on a piece of cardstock, and below is it cut out of .015" PETG plastic. The edges look slightly scorched in the pic, probably because I had the power set too high. But I still have some time to refine it

I got one of the first run on ebay a few years back. Great kit! But I thought it was based on the Musasiya kit, not the Retppu

Very cool, thanks! Looks like I'll need to wait for part 3, though. I'm stuck at step 31. I can't figure out how the little springs are supposed to be aligned. This thing is kind of a beast to build. It's way more complicated than I thought it'd be!

Got mine today! It's pretty sweet! Makes me wish I could have afforded the 1/2000 kit!

HLJ has FedEx shipping at 20% off right now, so it came out a little cheaper than EMS, at Y4431.

Sweet! Ordered! Kinda excited about the ARMD parts. One more reference for the 1/1000 scratchbuild

Holy crap, that's awesome! But yea, way too expensive...

I'd be in for a set of missiles

Alright, we seem to have a clear winner, so I'm going to call this thing. 1/1000 it is! And I have to say, I'm pretty happy with that result After some research and experimenting, it's looking like most of the laser cut pieces will be acrylic. I've gotten some very good results etching lines in the stuff. They're a tiny bit wider than I can scribe by hand, but a hell of a lot cleaner! I'm going to be working on the CAD drawings for the next few days, but I can't wait to start cutting out parts and building up the basic shape of the ship! The goal is to have this thing ready for sale in 6 months. Wish me luck!

Looks like it's just the two ships announced so far. And the big shocker is that they're by Finemolds!

Alright, first build update! Sort of, anyway. So, on the way home from Wonderfest, I met up with some family in Indiana, and to make a long story short, my cousin ended up giving me his laser engraving machine! It's kind of a beast, and the work area isn't quite as big as I'd like, but it's looking like this thing is going to be extremely useful! It'll let me do a lot more of the project in-house, instead of spending money and calling in favors to get some parts of it done. After spending the night jumping through a lot of hoops getting everything set up, and the CAD files imported into the machine's software, I finally have a test piece to show off. So I give you, the deck plate (at an arbitrary scale of 4.5"), laser etched at low power onto a piece of scrap MDF board. I've also tried etching onto lexan (with decent results) and styrene (with horrible results). So I'm going to have to figure out what the ideal material for the job will be.

The Oberth is in the TV 'universe', though. I'm building the movie-type ARMD. So that's less of an issue to me. Oh, and it's a poll now! Sweet! Thanks to whichever mod made it happen

It only just now occurred to me that I really should have made this a poll for the 3 scales that I'm considering... Would a mod be able to edit the thread to make it a poll?

Whichever scale I end up going with, I want to try to include some 3D printed Valkyries and launch arms to include with it, that can be placed on the launch bays

Yea, that is a factor. I have a 5 gallon pressure pot, so I can cast some fairly large stuff, but I'm not sure if I could do a 1/1000 version with the equipment I have now. I'm sure the other two would be no problem tho.

Being at Wonderfest this weekend has gotten a lot of gears turning in my head. For the past few years, pretty much all of my modeling time has been taken up casting, and I haven't gotten anything creative finished in ages. But now, I'm determined to change all that. So I've decided to resurrect an old project that I never really got off the ground. A large scale movie-type ARMD-01. I know how I'm going to do most of it (including getting a little help on etching the deck), and now I'm going to get off my ass and make it happen. The only thing I'm not sure of is the scale. I know I want it to me at least 12" long, but I'm not sure how big will be too big (and too expensive). I was thinking either 1/1000 or 1/1400 (both 'real' scales), which would put it at 17.7" and 12.6" respectively. But I was also thing of splitting the difference at 1/1200, which would be 14.7". But I'm not sure that's a generally accepted scale. So I pose the question to you, fellow modelers. Which scale/size would you prefer, both in terms of size and price? I can only guess what the end cost would be, but I'd estimate a 12" kit would end up costing around $100. And obviously, a bigger kit would be more expensive.

Just got mine! It's pretty sweet!

Anyone else going to Wonderfest in Loisville, KY this weekend?

Very cool! Can't wait to get my hands on one!

The HLJ page has been updated with a few pics. Not sure if the profile views are new, but it's the first I've seen of them. And the Japanese text says it comes with a pilot figure!

That is ridiculously awesome! And this from a guy who owns four (rather expensive) VF-11 resin kits in 1/72!

Yep, it had me drooling too, back in the day. That's why I wasn't about to pass it up, now that it's finally happening! It's expensive, but I'd be kicking myself in the ass for years if I let it pass me by! It's looking good, John! Can't wait to see more!

Can't wait to see this at WF! Hope I'll be able to afford one!

Yep! I'll probably do the basic clean-up on the parts as I get them, but hold off on assembly until I have them all. Looking forward to getting the instructions. I'm still not sure how some of the parts are supposed to go together!

Wish I did... My one attempt at metal casting was a horrible failure. I still have no idea what I was doing wrong :/