Gundamhead

Would these help you out? http://www.starshipmodeler.com/cfstore/ind...&category_id=31

Looks great Neptune!

It's OK Jesse. I mastered it a while back. I did it as a donation to Starship Modeler. I had no idea when it would be ready for people to buy, so I had asked Jesse to just let be a little quiet for now. But since it is available now, it's out OK to go bug them if you want one. They're very reliable as far as doing business with. A A+ operation over there.

It's closer and I'm sure based off the P-61. http://www.maam.org/p61art/p61art1.html

That's when Super Sayan alien monsters collect themselves in a digital world to chase teeny bopper girls in sailor school outfits. Or something very close to that.

Same here. Saw the kits in the local hobby shop and saved my allowance/lunch money and hit it every week. Of course there were also Dougram, Crusher Joe, Votoms, and Gundam calling to me. It always killed me when one I hoped to get was sold. Gee since then I haven't had any money either. I wonder if there's a connection? BTw Your kit is looking awesome. You've got to do a ARMD in scale with it next.

I like them a lot. It's personal. Stop looking at me like that...

Try gluing your tongue to your lip sometime. It's not pleasant.

Jesse takes much better pictures that I can.

Well their first mistake is the most common. It's a cartoon so it's for kids. I am not surprised. It's sad, but I haven't seen any of the MSIA stuff that was good for a looooong time in the stores. The guys in charge just never 'got it'. First there were sets of the Wing stuff all over, and that did OK, then a bunch of the UC stuff, and it went fast and furious, but was never restocked, then all the battlescarred, SD, and G stuff which nobody liked and still sits on the shelves, and it got restocked! Why not look at the stuff that sold out then restock that? Simple business, give the customer what they want. As for models, well they charged a bit on the expensive side, and never restocked even after the kits sold out. There was no commercial support. There was spotty animation support. Shame that Bandai let it go like they did here in the states. Is Gundam in trouble in Japan? Ha! Absolutely not. It's like the Japanese national anthem isn't it? I remeber seeing a picture of the HG Marasai model on a giant billboard. How many billboards have you ever seen with a model kit on it? I had a feeling this was going to be short lived, but it did better than Robotech stuff in the stores here during the 80's. In the 80's toy stores were cool. Robotech models, (models in general), Tranformers, GI Joe, Star Wars...all that stuff was constantly being restocked, sold out, and new characters added. There hasn't been a toy line like those since.

The only part left from the original that isn't changed are the 4 flat fingers. I consider it my own kit. I'd much rather be able to go to wonderfestival/Jaf-Con someday. The kit is supported through the little 1/4" square umbilical with a pin through the VF. The claws fingers act more as detail than an actual support.

Great! Fast! Sent you a payment!

This is my pay off. Thanks Berttt! I wanna build my own now! I like your color scheme. The 'official scheme' is pretty bland. Looks like it's on it's way to build some ARMD carrier in dry dock. Did you just drill out the raised circle bar verniers and add a strip of styrene? It's looking great, i can't wait to see your booster.

Sent you a e-mail.

To everybody else, thank you for your interest in this kit! Since there's a little time still I plan on building my VF now. I've got a slight advantage over you though, cause I know what to expect. If you guys also start building a VF, just to try and save you a little work, I'll offer these tips. You can all but finish the Super/Strike VF. 1. Don't glue the backpack to the VF yet, 2. Don't attach the fastpacks yet, 3. Don't attach the arms yet. When you get your Launch Arm, it might make it a little easier for you. But if you go build happy, it will still work, but you'll need to be a little careful.

Crazy with parts... Me? I like options. Parts=options. I did try to warn you. I kept going over the mantra playing in my head, "Man, Jesse's gonna kill me...Man, Jesse's gonna kill me...But I think he'll like it!...Man, is he gonna flip about all the parts...all the tiny parts...He's just gonna say '#@$$' I'm just building this one." By the way, I don't have any pics of the arm at the moment. I stuffed them in the box with the master, so i can't show them. Plus I don't have a scanner.

It will be a little while before any money is requested. I still have the instructions to write up, and I need a kit to build up for that. That's probably a month or so out yet. This was to give Jesse an idea of how many to expect people might want. He's also busy right now. That whole family and job thing, plus his beautiful Viper project. For people who are unfamiliar with how making a kit goes, there's a lot of trial and error. This is the basics. The sculptor makes the masters. The trick here is trying to keep the parts castable, and how the kit will be assembled. The mold maker then takes the masters and figures out how they will work best to make casts from. Where will the seam line be easiest to remove. How and what parts will lay best in the molds. The cost of the materials. The trials, and the fixes. Clean up. Instructions packaging. All this has yet to be done. Jesse works magic casting, and enjoys it. But once it becomes strssfull like work, it ain't fun and he's not gonna wanna do it. So please be patient people. This is our hobby, and it is fun. There is a lot of work involved though.

Yeah... I have that same problem. But from most anime, modern aircraft, tanks, things WWII... I've got a true addiction and keeping up with all the cool stuff is nearly impossible let alone getting time to actually build any of them. I'm not complaining or saying I want a cure though.

It never went away, I just got slapped around some in the game of life. These magnets sound interesting, but I don't know. There will be a metal tube in the arm to prevent any warping. There's none to build yet. I've been itching to just say "Screw it! HAHAHA!!!" and glue the master all together just to see it in one finished peice. I think I have demonstrated great self restraint. But being completely, honest it got tough a few times. I can't wait to see what yours will look like.

Well if you really start to look at all the reference of the anime and line art, you're gonna find that they all differ in some ways from each other. The anime and the line art especially. I had to interpret and try to make sense of the things that differed. So, yes and no. I tried to pick all the parts I thought were cool.

I've heard the talk about these magnets, but I haven't actually ever tried them. The claw assembly has a center umbilical piece that connects directly to the VF backpack. It is a small 1/4" square. If the magnet is small enough, and strong enough to support the VF in that area, then maybe. I just don't know. You'd have risk it to find out, but I doubt it would work. The weak point of the whole connection is the backpack to the fighter. It's very frail on the Hasagawa. The safest and strongest method I've found is to pin the backpack, fighter, and umbilical/claw together with a small peice of wire. It's pretty easy, and the wire is not seen. The 4 fingers clamping the Fast packs don't really support the VF, the umbilical does. The 4 fingers act more as a way to stabilize and detail rather than support.

Chapel painter? Hardly. Ask WMCheng that one. Me? I'm a factory rat on 3rd shift who loves models and Macross. Like I said I don't see a problem with being able to mount it on the wall. BUT I still haven't actually tried it. When I get a copy I will, and I'll tell you how well it works. I don't have a kit to work with yet.

That's a lofty compliment Cobywan, thanks! Your work is incredible.

Hello, First a bit of tiny history. Models are my passion. For some it's books, cars, bikes, or boats. Me, it's models. Myersjessee, a friend and fellow modeler of mine said to me one day a few months back, "Hey, I've got a 1/72 launch arm I picked up from Japan but it's very plain, especially for the amount I paid for it. Would you be interested in seeing what you could do with a copy of it?" When I stopped giggling like a school girl about getting the opportunity of just seeing the kit, I replied in my best manly, non chalant voice, "Sure Jesse. I'd love to see what I could do to detail it better." Then I quickly went into a giggling fit again causing my wife to worry. When I finally got it it, I wasn't really giggling anymore. It's really plain. The claw assembly was nice, the size was nice, but I couldn't stop thinking it was just a 'stick' for a Valkyrie. I was actually pretty bummed that it was so 'blah'. It was about 20 parts, vague instructions, and not much for detail. It didn't really resemble anything from the animation or the line art. There are quite a few differences in the line art and animation, but still, it was just a 'stick'. I started with the parts of it I liked, but then got into ideas for it. It needs a base. It needs detail. It needs a signal arm. I got into it, then life happened and it got shelved for quite a bit. But, I recently finished it and showed what I had done with it to Jesse. He seemed to really like it. This project went from making a nice stand for a Hasagawa VF-1 to becoming a model itself. That means it becomes a nice project to accompany your Hasagawa instead of just a add on to your Hasagawa. As long as the molding and casting allow it, this kit is around 50 peices at present. Anway, here's my vesion of the ARMD carrier Launch Arm from 'Macross DYRL'. I'm sorry for the bad pics, I'm a modeler not a photographer, so try to bear with me. Jesse said he will try to get some better pics soon. http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery/view?p...12296&members=1 The first picture is the original Japanese resin kit of the launch arm, and the rest is what I did with it. The ruler in the pics is 18". The base is 15" x 6", and the launch arm is about 15" tall. The kit just went to Jesse, who is very busy, so this is still at least a month away from getting started. We just wanted to see what the general interest in it will be. We estimate the cost for the kit will be about $65.00, but it could change a little. When I get a kit back from Jesse, I will finalize the instructions, and build one completely for pictures. I'm hoping that it will be wall mountable also. I'd like to try it myself before claiming it can be first though, but I see no reason yet to think it won't be able to be hung on the wall like a picture. (Keep in mind that it's gonna stick out about 20" from the wall) So either as a wall mount or as a mini diorama base, it's pretty cool all assembled supporting a VF-1 ready for launch. Please feel free to post any and all questions or comments and your interest in owning one.

Well to help get back on track. I've been Gundamhead on every tarnation incarnation of Macross World.