Deadzone

I'm still trying to find out how I can watch the original Macross series without shelling out $225.00. I want to give it a chance, but I ain't paying that kind of dough just for the original version. I put up a topic about this in MOVIES AND TV SERIES forums, but it got moved someplace I can't find. Either that or it got deleted which I wouldn't know what for. Anybody have any ideas? Anybody have the series and is willing to rent it to me?

I don't think it looks that ugly. It definitely isn't worth the $375 or $100 he's asking for. The fast packs look like painted cardboard. <_

I agree with the Rustoleum except for a different reason. The Rustoleum I got was smooth enough for doing model work. However, it says that the thing is sandable. Yeah, the stuff sands right off. When I think of sandable, I think of something that can withstand a little sanding but still sticks. The Rustoleum just falls off. Oh well, only spent $3.50 on the can.

Ah yes, always nice to see people unafraid of giving their opinion. So here is one right back at you. I can't really comment on the Macross TV series. However, I imagine I would not like it as much as Robotech considering I don't like reading my television shows and I don't plan on learning Japanese. I also like the voice acting in the Robotech series. BTW you smell like a Macross snob.

I want to know exactly who is this Jack Archer guy. I thought he was some character made up for the PS2 video game Battle cry. However, I grew up only watching Robotech. They don't broadcast subtitled Macross shows over here. Was he a character in Macross? Since toynami is releasing a Jack Archer exclusive, I would imagine he was somebody bigger than just a made up video game character. What's the deal.

hehe, come on now, who wouldn't want a girl who collects macross toys with you? That is a dream for me. My girlfriend doesn't understand why I buy these things so my best answer is, "I don't understand why you buy so many purses. That's just the same as me buying these toys!" And she stays quite. Anyway, back to valk. When are we going to see this badboy in battloid mode? And if I wanted to get one customized like that, how much would you charge? Unfortunately, making these things for money is just out of the question for now. I thought I could do it until I found out it takes around two weeks of consistently working on it for me to finish one. Let's see... I saw one sell for around $100.00 on ebay. Supplies cost around $50.00. I spent around 20 hours working on it. That's $2.50 an hour! I could make more money working at the grocery store as long as it wasn't one of the ones on strike. <_< Oh well, for anybody looking for a custom paint job Unicron, I will be finishing one and selling it on ebay soon.

Pine Sol to remove the paint, and yes... the black markings on the chest piece are stickers. However, the stripe underneath the will be head piece is painted.

Actually, what I did was mix desert yellow with white to get the tan color. You only need a couple of drops of desert yellow added to a lot of white. For the orange color, I mixed orange with a red. The orange by itself is too bright. To get the deeper orange, a red was needed. Yes, the Valkyrie can transform. So far, I haven't had any chipping problems, but this came at a price. I find that clear coats, primers, and all that other stuff doesn't work in preventing chipping. What works is sanding down the pieces until the points of friction no longer touch. It makes for a looser valk in certain areas, but what would you rather have... a valk that is really tight but has a lot of chips and dings or a valk that is a little loose but looks great. The thing can stand in robot mode with no problem and sits in fighter mode fine. Hope this helps for anyone else planning to make one.

Seems like more people are interested in my sister than the VF-1D To answer your questions though, she is cute. The problem is that she has a boy friend already and seems pretty attached to him. Tough luck guys To answer your question about the paint job, I simply used a Khrylon primer with the flat Tamiya white and desert yellow. However, the Tamiya white was spraying on a little rough so I mixed in a bit of Future floor wax. Actually, I did that by mistake at first. I keep my future in an old Tamiya thinner bottle and poured it in by mistake. But, the results speak for themselves. The finish was much smoother and it does almost look like a factory paint job. Flat sprays on too rough and gloss looks a little too flashy. A mix between the two makes a great combination. BTW the future provides the glossing element. I also sprayed using an Iwata airbrush eclipse. That has made all the difference in the world.

Man, that thing makes my VF-1D custom look like amateur night. Great work. I really like how the paint darkens towards the edges of some parts. It gives it a cool effect. I'm not good enough with the airbrush to do stuff like that yet. <_

Not exactly show accurate, but I tend to paint things pretty close to the Television show then do my own thing here and there.

Darn, I can't get these pictures to post any smaller. Anyone have any advice.

Okay, at the end of this thread is the finished product for those of you who asked for pics.

I think what he's saying is that anyone can go out and buy a toy, but it takes time and effort to actually customize one. Believe me, I've done two, and they both took about a month each. However, I think it is perfectly fine to collect stock valks especially if they are rare like the original Miriya VF-1J. I have a couple of stock reissues and have no intention of repainting them. They look great as is. I guess the only problem I have with some collector's is when they show off their collections as if they are superior because they went out and spent five thousand dollars on rare toys. They have three MIB strike valks which makes them better than a guy who only has one. Stock valks are great to look at and display, however I try not to take personal pride in a toy I just buy since it is kind of silly. Big whoopy, I filled out an order form and sent it in. About a million other people can do the same thing. I can see taking pride in having an extremely rare toy that you had to seek out and find, but other than that.... In the end, I respect guys like Kid K more for customizing valks as opposed to someone who buys ten 1/48. But like I said before, "not that there's anything wrong with that".

I thought the thinner smelled just like rubbing alcohol. Damn, and I just paid $8.50 for a 250ml bottle of Tamiya thinner. That's why I come here, to learn about the cheap alternatives. Funny thing about Tamiya paints is that every paint color within the line seems to be different. I think I have used different thinning ratios every time. I find the gloss white really hard to use. It either comess out too watery or too thick and does not cover well at all. The flat white is great except it paints kind of rough in terms of the finished surface. However, I accidentally mixed future with my flat white once. The result was a SMOOTH flat white finish ready to be glossed with a coat of future for a great shine. Hope this helps.

Yeah, Airbrushing future is like trying to get water to stick on your model. I tried airbrushing it and was diappointed with the results. Your best bet now is probably to mask off the thing and hand paint future onto the canopy. Good luck.

Don't worry. I actually like the the 1/55 Bandai's the best still. The yamato's have a lot of bells and whistles, but I can't get past the fact that the 1/60 can't be transformed unless the legs are taken off. If they could, I would probably start collecting them. The 1/48 are very nice, but I can't get past the bony girl arms and the large torso that seems disproportionate in robot mode. Well, to each his own. As a Bandai collector, I actually don't mind too much that 1/55's are almost being discarded. The price of a MISB Bandai has dropped to around $30.00 in many places. That sure beats $125.00 for the 1/48. This makes it a lot cheaper to customize. BTW, the Chunky Monkeys seem to be built like tanks. Strong construction is definitely important to me.

Spray paint is the only way to go from where I'm coming from. I tried brush paint. It always comes out lumpy for large areas. The best thing to do is use Tamiya paint through an iwata airbrush. That's the ideal set up. For lower budget paint jobs, buy some spray paint and practice, practice, practice. You won't have the control of the airbrush, but at least it will spray evenly for the most part, and it's cheap.

Hey Valkyrie 279, That's a pretty sweet VF-1A Max custom. I like how you painted the tail fins blue and white. Wish I had thought of that. Where did you get the black wrap around sticker for the nose cone? I want to add that to my custom but can't find one.

Hey Jin Kun do, Is that a 1/48 you transformed into a TV Max? Looks great either way. I thought I had guts customizing a $50.00 Unicron. Repainting a $125.00 toy is a bold undertaking. However, looks like you succeeded. I hope to see more Max TV customs posted soon. Keep them coming.

Actually, I thought the intake stickers looked better going the other way so I just stuck it the way I liked it. About the shoulder stickers, I didn't realize they were suppose to be closer to the middle and towards the body until it was too late. They cover up some small scratch marks too which are now undetectable. Good observations though.

These lo res pictures don't really do it justice, but I don't want to overload the system with large jpg files. Does anybody know how to post pictures and make it not show up so large?

One more!

And another.

Well, I spent a good two weeks on this thing. It didn't come out as well as I expected it to in some respects. However, I am happy with it overall. I used primer as paint which worked pretty well except it was hard to get a good gloss coat over it. I had to lather the future on, and some of it started to yellow slightly. I also didn't have all the decals I needed to make the thing really rock. However, nothing is perfect. I am learning to deal with life's small imperfections. The blue is not an exact match, but I kind of like the darker bolder blue for this one. Every custom is unique in one way or another. I know several members (like Kidkorrupt) have made some pretty nice customs of TV Max. I encourage them to post pictures in this thread. I want to see everyone's own personal take on the subject. Thanks. Here's some pics: