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captain america

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  1. captain america
    Captain's log: Friday, April 10th. Despite the depressing, rainy weather, I'm happy to say that Norbert-Gerard (N-Ger) is progressing nicely! DSCF5317: a little bit of putty work on the lower legs is the opening attraction for this update. The piece on the left having been sanded-down while the leg on the right is still hardening. One useful trait with polyester putty is that it goes through a rubbery pre-hardening stage whereby you can carve excess putty with a sharp knife to minimize sanding and grinding once it's fully hardened. DSCF5318: one of the thruster balls which is now almost completely shaped and awaiting details. DSCF5319: the hip/thigh/crotch-guard. I took care to try to keep the attachment system for the hip pockets as close to the line-art as possible. DSCF5320: the back-pack with the thruster units temporarily affixed. More detailing and slight changes yet to come. DSCF5321: the forearm unit showing the "bands" that run across the outer portion. I decided to make these vents and spent an inordinate amount of time carefully crafting these to the shape of the arm. I probably could have just scribed them but I felt that the extra touch was worth the effort. DSCF5322-DSCF5323: the hands are another area where I spent significant time and attention. The line-art shows some sort of big knuckle-guard but doesn't elaborate on whether the unit is gloved or not, only that the shapes are rounded. I used the little metal balls that make-up a lamp switch for the knuckles, as I felt that this was a practical knuckle design and they just look cool! Like the 1/32 Legioss, the fingers will be separate. DSCF5324: the main cannon along with the mounting arm. I may shorten the lower arm just a tad to make sure that the cannon sits well centered on the back, but you will have the option to build it with the gun facing forward in attack mode as well. DSCF5325-DSCF5328: this is what it looks like with most pieces hastily-assembled. Most of the big shapes are done and I'm starting to work more on details and the cockpit. I did take a few liverties with the overall dimensions of the body parts. Nothing major, just a little tweek here and there to make it more elegant and less clown-like. I've always felt that this particular mecha was under-appreciated and had loads of potential. I also wanted to achieve a balance of faithfulness to the line-art and the super-elegant, curvy version that I made 22 years ago. So far I think that I've surpassed my own expectations and I hope that you will approve as well. That's it for this week, so until next time… Play safe!!
  2. captain america
    It really isn't all that serious guys, I've mangled myself waaay worse in the past and lived to tell the tale. I was already back to work yesterday and will have an update for you all on Friday. Phil: never hurt myself with a pin-vise, but this one time I did have a little incident with a box-cutter...
  3. captain america
    Not until late next week, the next few days will be keeping me otherwise occupied. I have taken most of the past week to further refine and wet-sand the existing parts which were rough. A little too much hand-sanding on my part, my thumb started to bleed from the constant pressure and abrasion from the sandpaper so it will be much-needed recuperation time.
  4. captain america
    Sorry, no Battroid. That being said, at 24cm in height and with those massive clown feet, I certainly would
  5. captain america
    Just wanted to let you guys see where I was at with the build. There's still a lot to do but at least you'll have a good idea of the proportions.
  6. captain america
    I come back to this thread every so often just to marvel at all the care, engineering and modeling skill that went into this project. Hat's off to you Phil for gracing us with that marvelous beast!!
  7. captain america
    You're most welcome! I should have another half-update on Monday which will give a better idea of the overall proportions. Don't change the channel
  8. captain america
    Captain's log: Friday, March 27th. I've got a hankering for pancakes. I've also been working up a storm to advance the Grr! DSCF5295: these are the lateral parts of the main hull, affixed to a 2mm thick piece of modeling board, waiting to be trimmed. DSCF5296: back to the lathe, working on the main cannon. I could have made the part from resin, but as it will need more detailed operations with putty later, I decided to make it out of Renshape. DSCF5297: the main barrel is now machined, and will have the barrel vents added later. The piece next to it is what will become the lower abdomen. I will start by machining the opening at the waist on the lathe before proceeding to mill work. DSCF5298: at left we have the abdominal piece from the previous pic, now turned, milled and sanded to the desired cross-section. At right is the block from which the feet will be sculpted. DSCF5301: This is the part that will become the back-pack, being drilled to ensure a symmetrical mounting of the thrusters later. DSCF5302: the same part is run against the bench-sander to refine the curved shape to more precise tolerances. DSCF5303: the four main components that make-up the main hull/bathtub. The circular part at upper-left is the mounting point for the shoulders, which will be added later. DSCF5304: perhaps the most complex components are the lower legs. In this pic I am passing them carefully under the grinding stone freehand in order to remove a strategic layer of material and trace the location for the vents. DSCF5305: the forearm armor undergoing pre-Dremel mill work. DSCF5306: the main hull/bathtub has now been assembled. This will be the anchor part for many other pieces, so it has to be precise as well as sturdy! DSCF5307: the forearm part which was previously on the mill is now being Dremeled to its more characteristically round shape. After most of the big stuff is done with the motor tool, it will be further refined with hand-sanding. DSCF5308: having also been dremeled, the lower legs, now undergo hand-sanding as well. Both legs have been temporarily glued together to ensure a uniform curvature. DSCF5309: the arm parts, in various stage of finishing. There is still the cuff to make as well as the hands, so I'm not out of the woods yet! More progress pics to come in the next few days, so stay tuned for the next episode of the Captain's dust-filled adventures!! More pix.
  9. captain america
    Captain's log: Friday morning. And so it begins, I plunge head-first into what will surely be a long and complex sculpting project. Having taken a day or two to produce some elemental diagrams and sized them to my liking, I can now devote myself to the manual work that is the 'meat and potatoes' of this project. As this is a larger build, I will need to refurnish myself with modeling board above all else. DSCF5281: this plank of modeling board, formerly 5 feet in length when I bought it 3 years ago, is now about half as long. While you can cut the material with a circular saw, the dust produced is a veritable nightmare to clean and so I opt for the ever-faithful hand-saw. DSCF5282: these are the diagrams I've printed out at (proper) 1/72 scale. I really wonder about the designers and lack of consistency with regards to basic elements sometimes. DSCF5283: a more familiar starting point for the viewing audience, with the basic tools of the craft. I will actually need about three times this amount of modeling board for this project: the large size of the kit is already one factor, the other is that unlike other offerings where parts are interchangeable left and right, most of the parts on the N-Ger must be mirror reflections of each other, so there are more parts to sculpt. The complex curves of the many shapes means that I will have to spend that much more time to ensure precision and symmetry. DSCF5284: I then proceed to cut out the paper templates I made… DSCF5285: …And affix them to blocks of modeling board, which are then trimmed on the band saw. DSCF5286: meanwile, I will also have a significant amount of parts to turn on the lathe, so I start by taking a pre-turned (circular) piece of modeling board and CA gluing another chunk of material to it so that it may be turned into a cylindrical shape. I would NE-VER attempt this with any metal, but that's what makes modeling board so very awesome! DSCF5287: but before I start turning, I have to square-up some of the chunks of board that were cut by hand. In order to retain any semblance of precision, all the chunks which are hand-cut must inevitably be squared and made true. DSCF5288: and so on to turning modeling board on the lathe. Lots of fun, but also lots of mess as you can clearly see. DSCF5289: same part as above. This is what will become the spherical thruster on the back-pack. I start by turning the part with a knife, then proceed with coarse sandpaper to smooth the shape to my liking while it's still turning. DSCF5290: Once a component (in this case the lower leg) has been trimmed on the band saw, I proceed to refine the shape further with a bench sander. This way I can get really close for the best possible contouring. DSCF5291: back to the lathe. This part will become the shoulder armor. DSCF5292: I have temporarily glued the two lower leg pieces together for the fine sanding and shaping to ensure that they are perfectly identical. DSCF5293: the very same parts now head to the mill where the openings for the knee and thrusters will be cut. DSCF5294: For some operations which requre a more refined finish and parallel cut, I use my drill press which I have equipped with a grinding stone. I like this operation when I need extremely thin parts that can't be held securely in the milling vise. It may mot look like much, but there's almost a week of work in all this mess! From this point on, things should start to get more interesting because I'm starting to hit my stride. Stay tuned for next week's exciting episode of: The Captain Makes A Dusty Mess! Big model, big update!
  10. captain america
    Yes, I've started carving and will have an update ready on Friday! I'm technically still in the rough stuff and I will explain why in the update, but I'm definitely got my momentum! The Lone Wolf: I don't recall if I ever paid attention to the numerical dimensions of the Gnerl, I was just so focused on making the pilot fit. Perhaps someone who built the kit *ahem* can chime in?
  11. captain america
    I think I'll just make my own
  12. captain america
    I haven't followed the adventures of Yamato/Arcadia in for ever: is that 1/2000 kit still available or am I just wishing into a black hole?
  13. captain america
    Funny story about the N-Ger: for other mecha like the Regult and Glaug, I really had to oversize them to cram a proper pilot in the cockpit but if I look at the stats for the Ger as posted on the Macross Mecha Manual and Palladium RPG book, they list 16.4 and 16.8m respectively... That comes out to 22.2-23.3 cm in 1/72. I only had to make it about 1cm bigger than the stats to fit the pilot in. I've already started sculpting slowly, I just couldn't help myself! As of right now, 14 slots still open.
  14. captain america
    PM me and I'll see what I can do.
  15. captain america
    LoL!! For those times when neither cruiser mode nor Storm Attack mode is quite right!
  16. captain america
    13 so far, keep 'em coming guys! I've started the technical drawing
  17. captain america
    I'll start when most of the deposits are in, so keep 'em coming guys! We're about 1/3 in so far.
  18. captain america
    Very nice builds, and kudos for taking what I consider horrible kits and making them look great! I wonder if the Zentradi are trying to tell us that they're vegetarians....
  19. captain america
    Just shoot me a PM, I'll give you the details.
  20. captain america
    Hi guys! Deposit-Day is here, so get your wallets ready for a dose of pain--Captain style!!... That just came out all wrong, didn't it? Anyway yes, today I start taking deposits [$200.00 CAD] so feel free to Paypal me. Once again I'd like to remind you all to leave me your telephone numbers for the updated customs forms, which you can do via PM, or in the Paypal message also. I've already begun drafting and will begin the manual work either Friday or Monday the 9th. I'll certainly have my work cut-out for me!
  21. captain america
    The detail on this kit looks excellent! I was a little bit sad that they took some liberties with the shape and proportions but for a static model, I suspect that it will be hard to beat.
  22. captain america
    Always nice to see familiar screen names pop-out of the woodwork! Past it rather, so I'm calling the project officially full until further notice.
  23. captain america
    Hi Mike. Shameless plugs are perfectly welcome! In fact once the Ger is made, if there's demand for a pilot upper body perhaps you can offer a kit for it. You'll likely have to mod the arms on the Zentradi soldier, but otherwise very feasible. Pilot will have to be shoehorned in with ample grease as usual
  24. captain america
    28 is fine, assuming everyone confirms. I would ask everyone on the list to confirm with me via PM to double-check/add your mailing address and to also leave me your phone numbers which I need for the new customs forms. I will start taking a deposit of $200 CAD next Monday. I remain at your service, as usual, for questions.
  25. captain america
    Based on my count, that's 28. For the sake of clarity, this is the list: [berttt] Kicker773 RKSC wmkjr Sbantonelli jefuemon Cool8or Gabe Q Major Tom Cobywan Ahiachris Petrov27 Steve71 Dark Achron3000 Neptunesurvey reflex joscasle Grayson72 jipe Heavy Melder Spitfire_BR baxojayz Ghadrack (2) wwwmwww THOR Jardann Lord Uglor For what it's worth, I would split the payment in two, if only because I won't know the full shipping weight until the kit is done. The fact that it helps to soften the financial blow helps too. For any revisions needed to the list, just LMK.
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