Lolicon

Thanks honkhet! I still have the big wing boosters to finish, but that's more time-consuming than it will be difficult. For yellow I just used Tamiya chrome yellow. It's kind of a glossy finish, but I then covered it in semi-gloss clear, so it dulled the finish down to what you see in the pics.

Damn that's a nice haul! I wish I had more stuff I actually wanted to take advantage of the free HLJ shipping. I ended up just buying some more clearcoat. And it's a good thing I did, hearing about the aerosol ban. WTF? I have a small supply stockpiled, but where the hell am I going to get more GSI clear? That stuff gives a smooth finish and is the best clearcoat I've ever used; no orange peel at all! They were 700 yen at HLJ... gonna be hard pressed to find that kind of price elsewhere... Mr Mark Setter is awesome stuff. Be sure to shake the bottle of Mr Mark Setter periodically, as the white adhesive will eventually settle to the bottom of the bottle.

Finally peeled myself away from Aion long enough to actually make some progress. Well, really, aside from the hands, I can't do anything until additional supplies arrive. Painted the hands and whew! That was both challenging and kinda fun. I was dreading it since I'm really bad at hand painting (no pun intended). Still need to clean them up and do a wash, but they turned out far and away better than I expected, given my previous hand paintings. I wonder why the models in the manuals never have painted hands?

What wm cheng (William?) said is accurate as far as I know. The paint pecking order is lacquer > enamel > acrylic. By some freak accident caused by the alignment of the planets and an ancient leprechaun curse, in defiance of all logic the GSI clearcoat does not react with Tamiya acrylic, at least not from what I've observed. Most of my painting is lacquer, but some of it is painted with Tamiya acrylic, and so far I've had no problems whatsoever when applying GSI lacquer clearcoat over it. GSI does eat micron pen ink though, as I found out when the clearcoat dissolved my panel lines. Luckily I was just able to draw them back in, and I now only apply micron ink lines prior to the final acrylic topcoat. Most of my panel lines are done with mechanical pencil or acrylic wash, and so far there have been no problems with the GSI clearcoat eating it. It also does not eat Gundam marker, though I think Gundam marker is lacquer-based too (not 100% sure on that). I used Model Master lacquer clearcoat back in the day and was never happy with the results.

That doesn't change the earlier statements that Shadow Chronicles was pooped out with a miniscule budget. And it shows.

Oh right, you have the sniper rifle. What the hell am I thinking? I don't have any Alclad, but I did try the purple Future mix I had for the canopy... it didn't work out so well for me. Ah well back to the drawing board with that...

They are? Dammit I shouldn't have reenacted Roy's DYRL death scene with my Matchbox Roy "Fokker".

I like the masking and painting you did for the missile covers. That's both insane and awesome. Hey, have you decided what color you're going to paint the gunpod? I'm at an impasse at how what color to paint because the default color is so seemingly... festive. The armor pack fins are the same color, which is why I haven't finished those either.

Does anyone know what the proper mixture for the gunpod color is supposed to be? The manual says: 85% purple 10% bubble 5% dark blue What the hell is bubble??

Just used a fine tip brush to dab a bit of silver and then clear red and clear green paint over it. Nothing special. Repaints coming up! I had intended the feet to be a dark midnight blue, but man they look way too bright blue in the photos; they're not even that blue in person. Gonna repaint those to something darker. I don't like the upper arms. Tamiya gunmetal is fine for mecha internals and other parts that can appear "scraped up" or otherwise worn, like joints, but damn I should have used a flat grey or other color for the upper arm section. I don't like all the little silver flakes on such a broad area. I'll be repainting those as well. The joint in the center of the chest that holds the plate with the skull insignia is more of a purplish color in the anime. Another repaint! Glad I have that spare VF-25S kit lying around for replacement parts.

The state of Robotech in one convenient trope: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/RunningTheAsylum

I can't possibly fathom how anyone can say anything bad about Robotech or take any joy in it.

That's some insane masking! Your masking fortitude and precision amazes me! I went nuts just at the amount of masking to paint the tailfins. I want to see how the airbrushing turns out. Bandai decals are pretty thick and require a lot of coats to hide the edges...

Not to worry about coats filling in panel recesses. The Gunze Sangyo coats go on real thin (assuming you spray properly in passes and not like an overzealous graffiti artist heh) and it dries very quickly. It's dry to the touch within minutes so it doesn't take long to apply multiple coats. And they always some out smooth and even. Just be careful since the clearcoats are lacquer based. Although they didn't eat into the Tamiya acrylics, they can possibly eat into other non-lacquer substances. I only use Tamiya so I don't know how it will react to say Testors or other brands.

Thanks! I tried to get the light to catch it at different angles. I rarely trim the clear excess from around decals; only if I absolutely have to to get a decal to fit properly. For the back piece, the edges of the carrier film are almost completely in with the background. You can only just tell if the light is really bright and my camera is up super close. I wish I had done as well with the earlier decals; those you can see where the edges are if the light catches it just right. Tried to get some close ups with the light glaring off.

I've been asked what I use for finishing coats so I'll put it all down here. I dislike Future because it's kinda clunky to deal with, takes a long time to dry, and is prone to dust during its long drying time. And I had problems with it lifting up decals when I brushed it on. Awhile back I also used Model Master semi-gloss lacquer clearcoat, which worked fine most of the time, but occasionally it would inexplicably bubble up in a few spots; when it dried it left a pock mark. If I attempted to apply a second layer over the first layer after it dried, it would wrinkle up and ruin the smooth finish. WTF? So now I use all Gunze Sangyo clears. I have never had any of the above problems with them. The clearcoats are lacquer based but I've safely used them on Tamiya acrylics. I prefer a semi-gloss finish for mecha models. For gloss clearcoat: http://www.hlj.com/product/GNZB-513 Semi-gloss clearcoat: http://www.hlj.com/product/GNZB-516 Semi-gloss topcoat: http://www.hlj.com/product/GNZB-502 Sadly I only started this specific layering late in my model, but it basically goes like this: plastic part > paint > gloss clearcoat* > panel lines/wash > decals > gloss clearcoat* > semi-gloss clearcoat* > semi-gloss topcoat (as the final layer to ensure a uniform finish) *Add as many layers of clearcoat you feel is needed to protect your decals, paint, etc. The second gloss clearcoat step I only added recently, when I accidentally picked up the wrong spray. But it turned out even better and made the finish smoother and more even, so I'm keeping that step. Some pics of the backpack unit done using the above steps.

You're using a knife to apply decals? If you want to know, here's my clunky over-the-top amateur's guide to applying Bandai's Macross Frontier decals. First, you want to make sure you're applying onto a fairly smooth surface; applying a coat of Future or other gloss coat is good for this. I apply Mr Mark Setter to the area where I'm laying down the decal and then I use either a Q-tip or the tip of my tweezers to nudge them into position. Now if it starts to dry before I manage to get it perfectly positioned, I'll use my fingertip, dab it in some water, and touch one of the decal edges so the drop of water gets absorbed *under* the decal to moisten it and keep the decal from sticking to the part before I want it to. Once the decal is perfectly lined up, I'll use a Q-tip or a cloth to touch one of the edges of the decal where there's liquid showing (being careful not to touch the decal itself) to soak up excess liquid. Then I'll touch the edge of the decal again with a little Mark Setter and then repeat soaking up the excess. Afterwards I'll let it start to dry into place for a few minutes; with Mr Mark Setter, if you've soaked up most of the excess, it should start drying and holding the decal in place. At this point i will take a Q-tip and gently dab the decal *straight downward* to squeeze out any remaining liquid, which is soaked up by the Q-tip, until the decal is flat against the part and all the liquid is squeezed out from under it. If you happen to nudge the decal out of place doing this, as long as there's a little liquid left, you can gently nudge it back into place with the Q-tip. You may need to re-moisten it if it gets too dry and you've moved it out of place. The ankle spheres are especially annoying and prone to wrinkling. Be sure you notch the three black sections with a knife before attempting to apply them. I've attached a crude MS Paint diagram. After applying them, since they're in a recessed section, I applied a generous helping of Mr Mark Softer and let it pool, so it gets all soaked up and will flatten out most or all the wrinkles. Like all things, you'll get better with practice and develop your own techniques that will work for you.

Say what? The Japanese government forbade the use of the image of the central character in SDF Macross because Hase Arihiro died? In what universe does that make sense?

That is the most interesting thing that's been said in this thread for awhile. So Big West could potentially have HG's trademark overturned if they were inclined to spend the time and money in court? Since that's all HG is really doing: exploiting someone else's work. Not that it would worth the cost involved to fight it out in court, since Macross already has de facto worldwide distribution, but a man can dream...

I only like the original 85 episodes of Deep Space Nine.

What's legal and what's moral/ethical are two different things. Since HG nabbed the Macross trademark, they can legally claim a cut of the profits off, say, a US release of Macross Frontier. But is it right for them to claim monetary compensation for a series and intellectual property they had nothing to do with just because of a legal technicality? (Inadequate or outdated laws might be a better way of putting it.) Isn't merchandising where most of the money is anyway? Refuse to buy products with the HG label (an easy thing to do since their crap is so shoddy anyway). The only thing I own with an HG label are my Animeigo Macross DVDs, bought when they first came out and before I knew how sleazy HG is. To me, what HG is doing is akin to internet domain squatting. I'm no lawyer, but aren't there laws preventing that now?

Off-topic a little, but I just wanted to say that I wouldn't lump a talented creator like Kawamori in with a hack like Roddenbery. Eugene Wesley Roddenberry had the seed of a good idea, but couldn't write a good show if his life depended on it. This is the man who hated having Worf as a primary cast member, had Picard solve complex socio-political problems every week with a stern lecture (because he's an enlightened Federation citizen bringing, uh, enlightenment to the backwards aliens of the galaxy), and who wanted Wesley to be the "breakout" character on TNG and tried to cram him down our throats. His mantra on TNG was "Humans are perfect and should not be depicted with any flaws whatsoever." Star Trek became good when creative control was taken away from him and he died, as macabre as that may sound. (The franchise was later driven into the ground, but that's another story.) He also screwed Alexander Courage out of his music royalties. http://www.snopes.com/radiotv/tv/trek.asp An interview with Ron Moore shortly before his new BSG series started. Long interview, but gives lots of great info on what happened behind the scenes of Star Trek. http://tv.ign.com/articles/444/444306p1.html Anyway, back to Macross. I support an official worldwide international release of Macross shows and merchandise in principle. In reality, I'm just fine with the way things are. Things are great thanks to the Interweb. I can get any Macross shows and products I want, and I can rest easy knowing that not a penny of my money is going to HG. HG is a sleazy company that does little more than try to profit off the hard work of more talented people, and I simply cannot support that in any way. Why should HG get a dime for contributing absolutely nothing to the creation of any Macross series? Why should HG get one centavo for the sale of Bandai's Macross Frontier products? If Big West decided they wanted to market Macross officially in America, why do they have to do business with sleaze like HG?

Why does Big West need to "find a way in?" They seem to be doing just fine without giving HG a cent.

I was pissed that the VF-1 was replaced by the VF-25 in Frontier.

Started assembling more completed pieces together. Nothing much new to add, as most of the parts I've done as of late are the plain VF-25S parts. That'll change soon enough; next up are the armored wing boosters and antenna pack. Some minor paint chipping occurred while assembling. Strange that a model, something not known for durability, has parts that require brute force to assemble. Also noticed that the grey looks rather blue in all my pics. I used a slightly darker shade of grey than the grey plastic and it definitely does not look blue in person. Odd.