captain america

Oh, there are a LOT of differences. A buddy of mine still has his "1/72" ARII Glaug (unbuilt and still bagged, by the way), which I was looking over a couple weeks ago. I'll see if I can get him to lend it to me at some future point so that I can offer a comparison with my sculpt. I remember when I had that kit many years ago, and it seemed so huge at the time. The "cockpit" barely deserves that designation, it's just a one-piece tub/molded seat. THe Matchbox cockpit is actually more detailed, and yes, there is no way in H.E.L.L. that a 1/72 Zentran soldier could ever fit in there.... Unless he were miclonized Alas, the ARII kit fits with the "official" numerical measurements, and regardless, you did an excellent job bringing it to life. Love the colors you selected too!

Wow Ben, that looks kickass!! There's no way in heck that your build will ever be compared to a Matchbox anything, it's waaaaaay too well done.

If you're asking about the sanding/polishing of the masters in genaral, it's very straightforeward. -I bring the modelling board up to a basic finish with 320 grade (3M) sandpaper--wet, then 600 grit, also wet. -Apply primer (good ol' CANADIAN TIRE rattle can primer is my tool of choice.) -Depending on the part, I may leave the primer finish as-is, or give it a go with some 1000 grit. One again, wet-sanding. That's about all there is to it. The only parts that may get more attention are the masters for clear parts, which I coat with lacquer (Tamiya spray cans work great) and then proceed to some slight buffing with some 6000 grit and then some polishing compound on an old cotton t-shirt. I'm actually sort of at this step for some parts as i type this; I always get carried away with over-designing my kits, and now I have to prep all of those 800 bazillion pieces. Yay.

Yup, and kitbashing 2 Hasegawa kits would still be cheaper than me doing a conversion kit to accomodate either the fighter or the battloid.

No articulation will be possible, I'm afraid, only the carefully-crafted appearance of articulation. It will be a hard-fought job just to combat the effects of gravity on a mecha design that, in and of itself, does not seem to take gravity into consideration.

And that's precisely why Michael Bay has GOT to go... And if he doesn't remove himself willingly, I know some guys who can make him an offer he can't refuse. Capeesh? Serioulsly, the c0ck & b@lls crap is crude, immature, and is probably too low-brow even for folks who eat fried chicken out of a cardboard bucket... Or at least it should be. The writers aren't the problem, it really is Bay. That little stunt with him locking them (Orci Kurtzman) in their hotel room until they finished the script is precisely the kind of two-dimensional, last-century "motivation" that does NOT bring out the best in people, nor encourage them to do great things... And that's why ROTF is the unfulfilled piece of crap film that it is. The man seems to ruin everything he touches, and frankly, if he has anything to do with the third film, I'll not only NOT pay any of my hard-earned money to see it, I will do everything in my power to discourage as many people as I can from contributing financially to his next cruel-prank-on-celluloid.

Pics 4 and 5: here is the main arm cannon assembly, being made from mostly 2.5mm styrene sheet, and is, just like certain other parts, designed to be hollow. This part will need it more than others, due to the bulbous nature of the gun pod and the flimsy design of the upper arm. Putty and Renshape are also used in strategic areas of the masters, depending on the specific shape requirements. Strangely enough, the particle beam (cannon) emitters kinda look like speakers! Pics 6 and 7: the overall beast, looking better and better with each passing day. I'm taking my sweet time with the design of the joints, as many of these will be load bearing and the design of which is critical to keeping the kit upright and sturdy when assembled. As always, I soldier onward. Things are going a bit slowly due to the recent festivities ("Quebec" day) and soon Canada day, as well as my trying to enjoy the summer while we have it. I will also likely be starting some preliminary mold-prep by the end of next week, so as to eventually get the necessary duplicates of the many parts I need for one whole model. Hope you enjoyed my little "show-and-tell" moment, and stay tuned for the next update!

Time for the latest Do-It-Yourself-Glaug build update. Things have been progressing slowly but surely, and I should be done with all the main exterior parts in a few days. Once I've got those out of the way, I'll be able to concentrate on the details and the cockpit, which should take another 1.5 weeks. Not my fastest build, but certainly my biggest and most elaborate. Pic 1: here are the foot masters, freshly re-puttied. As the putty hardens, it goes into a flexible state in which it can be easily carved, which I did. This will save me some sanding later when it's sufficiently hardened. Bear in mind that this is merely half of one foot; a whole one (when complete) will probably take as much resin as an entire Commanchero kit, and could smash a Destroid into oblivion if used as a blunt weapon. I guarantee that no one will be scoffing at these ginormous clown feet of doom! Pics 2 and 3: with the rough stuff cleared away, the foot parts are almost ready to be primed. There will be, of course, under-foot detail, which is still in the planning stages. Just like the ball part, the "toes" will be strategically hollowed.

Fat chance, suckah!

Actually, you may notice in some cockpit pics that there are two round "portals" hidden by the pod engines/thrusters that lead right into the cockpit. This was done intentionally so that if one wishes to light the engines, the same lighting source can be routed through those portals into the cockpit. Fuzzy dice are optional

It's a bit difficult to compare Bondo and Renshape: the latter is more brittle and stable to carve, whereas the former, even when fully cured, remains a tad rubbery, but still sands very well and bonds splendidly. To be honest, I only use the Bondo because it's relatively inexpensive, easy to find and cures fast. The downside, like with any polyester putty, is that the odor is about as subtle as a punch in the face. This microballoon-filled, water-based acrylic putty intrigues me. Can you tell me more about it?

I go from the 100-grit sandpaper that I use for shaping, to 320-grit wet-sanding to get a smooth finish. I then follow-up with a coat or two of primer to seal the modelling board. Depending on the texture I want, I sometimes give a light brushing of 600-grit over the primer.

Correct. You also have to time the removal of the bondo very carefully. If you pull it up too quickly, it won't have hardened enough and will break-up. If you wait too long, mold release or not, it will bite into the surface and get stuck. Oh, as for the deal with the Quamzin cockpit pics, here's the bitty: I had to resort to some "anime magic" to get him to fit in the tub... By grinding-off most of his back, butt and thighs! No one noticed the foreshortening, even with the top off, leading me to conclude that my little forced-perspective project was successful

Interesting answer, but that's not quite it. In fact, the way his boots are designed, the knee-guard rides very high up the thigh. The knees are actually where they should be.

Look at the pics carefully. Tell me if anything looks odd. If no one gets it, I'll divulge the answer later.

Pic 9: Remember the ball-part of the foo from previous updates? It has since undergone much refining. The cantilever-style design will allow it to be partially hollowed-out and still maintain its strength. Pic 10: The basic foot parts. This is one area where the style-sheet diagrams didn't line up, so I'll need to do a lot of puttying to reshape the toes. Pic 11: Speaking of putty, here it is at work! An aerosol mold release was applied to the hull parts, and then Bondo was slapped-on rather generously and then I smushed the shoulder armor into place and let it harden. It may look like a mess now, but with a bit of carving and sanding... It looks like what you see in pic 12. I haven't bothered with beauty shots for this update, since many of the key parts are in various states of completion. There are actually far more finished parts than I'm showing; they merely have yet to be fitted together. The good news is that aside from the arm cannons, most of the big structural parts are done, and you'll all have a substantially better view of things for the next update. Until then, please feel free to ask questions/post comments/hatemail

Pics 5 and 6: A clearer view of Quamzin, being fitted for his "office." Missing hands and feet aside, notice anything unusual in these pics? Pic 7: More test-fitting. The cockpit hatch will need some custom-fitting to acheive a proper seal. Pic 8: Aft view of the Royquommi reactor's basic nozzle; it will receive considerably more detail later.

Hi folks! In spite of the rumors that may be circulating, I'm not dead, or even anywhere near finished! I had wanted to offer a mini-update last week, but I felt that it would be more productive to merely soldier-along until I had a bit more stuff to show. It might not appear as though I've made a lot of progress just from looking at the photos, but I can assure you that I've had my nose to the grindstone the whole time: one of the very laborious, time-consuming and at times frustrating tasks involves repairing Bondo-ed sections, which tends to form tiny air bubbles as you mix and spread it, and those bubbles then appear as voids once you start sanding, and are devilish to repair and fill. Alas, on with the show! Pic 1: the main pod has undergone some substantial refinement since the last update. It now has a semi-finished inner hull lining, and I have strategically hollowed-out key sections to save weight. Pics 2 and 3: once thew basics of the inner hull were set, I was able to start test-fitting the Quamzin figure and make the appropriate alterations. Pic 4: The pod seen from the back. Notice the crotch part: you'll see the acrylic rods that I've opted to use as structural inserts: being plastic in nature, these will bond more effectively with the resin and allow for an exceptionally-sturdy model.

Oh, it's finally done! Please send money now I kid, I kid!

For the time being, I've capped the number to 20 until I can verify with a fair degree of certainty that my molds will allow me to make more. To be honest, I hope they do, as the falling US Dollar (or is it the rising Canuck?)might cause the project to fall ever-so-slightly into the red. Oh, while I'm at it, the next update will likely be rather spartan, as I'm gutting the pod and working on the cockpit, which is meticulous and VERY slow going.

It'll never happen in a million years; waaaay too big. The last "bad guy" plastic Macross kits were released back in '83 and there are no signs of that trend being broken anytime soon, as even the Vajra prototypes seem to have fizzled-out. Enemy mechs just aren't a safe bet in their minds

The thought of being filmed constantly would drive me bonkers, and besides, there's nothing that I do in my workshop that other people out there haven't already done 10 times better than me; just do a search on Youtube. MechTech: I don't know how you put up with trying to sculpt styrene. Back when I was getting my feet wet with scratchbuilding, I used to CA glue a whole bunch of styrene sheets together to form a crude block and try to dremel it; most of the time all I got was a big phat mess and high on the styrene fumes. It's an awesome material, but not when it comes to sculpting

I hope to be able to do pro stuff like that one day... In the meantime, what are you planning to clear-coat? A car or an aircraft? While both may be glossy in finish, I would advise a different technique for each: automotive clear works for the car model because even though the clear-coat is thicker and syrupier than most modelling paints, it still won't affect detail significantly at 1/24 scale or larger, all while providing the glossiest, flexible and durable finish you can buy. I've done car models using a barrier coat (between the final clear and decals) and some without; excellent results either way. On an aircraft, 1/48 or smaller, the viscous nature of an automotive clear will simply drown panel lining and fine detail, which is why I'd opt for gloss lacquer paint job (Gunze or Tamiya spray can) then decal application, followed by a coat of Future floor wax... But that's just me.

A lacquer clear will ravage your decals due to the agressive nature of the solvent contained within. Been there, done that, got the T-shirt.

There are a multitude of different grades of modelling board made my several different firms, last I checked. Some are far easier to carve, some are far denser. My "weapon of choice" is FREEMAN's (formerly Ciba Geigy) Ren Shape 460 and yes, I know EXACTLY what Kremmen is talking about: the dust produced by machining/grinding modelling board gets into absolutely everything. It also clogs-up shop-vac filters like nothing I've ever seen; likely due to the fact that the dust is super-fine. I now wear a particle mask religiously when I work on it.