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I don't really know why i have suddenly decided to launch into this, but it seems the time has come to build my copy of Mike's 1/72 HWR-00-MKII Monster Kit. At this point I should mention that I am a fairly ambitious builder. By that I mean I have all sorts of plans in my head that often outstrip my capacity as a mediocre model builder. Here are my plans for the Monster: 1) Detailed feet 2) Rescribed panel detail throughout 3) Rifled Barrels 4) Missile Hatch covers for the arms (thanks Sean aka HWR-MKII) 5) Smoke Dispensers I'll add in any more ideas as they come to me. Also for the first time ever I will be recording how many hours this bloody thing is going to suck out of my life and it'll be interesting to see how long it'll take. So with no further ado here is the first installment: Above are all the parts laid out on my work bench. Monster by name and Monster by nature - this thing is huge. I think I will have to add a figure or some ground vehicles into the mix to give it some sense of scale. Here are some close ups of the parts. Mike did an awesome job on this kit and to be honest I reckon it was a steal at something like USD$250.00 when it was first released (pretty sure it was about that). But as good as Mike's interpretation is there are just a few bits here and there I'll change. It seem that as a victim of AMS I can't leave anything well enough alone these days. You may have noticed some other kits in the background, well please indulge me as I post a close up of some of them. These critters will be competing for time with the Monster so I may be posting images of their progress from time to time - after all it is a monster thread: 1/35 Dragon Pz.IV Ausf D 1/35 Italeri 234/3 1/48 Tamya Panther Ausf G 1/72 Moscato Scout Pod 1/72 Club M VF-11 1/24 Lancia (Batou'side from GiTS) But on to the Monster. Remember that bit I mentioned about being ambitious? Well here is your first taste - detailed feet. Really there is nothing wrong with Mike's version, but I wanted mine to look like the different part of the foot were separate rather than one integrated unit. Above is Mike's foot OOB with some notes as to what I plan to do with it. And here is some line art to give you some idea of what I am chasing (all graciously stolen from the Macross Mecha Manual- thank Mr. March). But the big question is can I pull it off. It'll either be a nice feather in my cap - or one of the greatest Macross Modelling travesties your likely to witness So at the first oppurtunity I took a hacksaw and dremel to the feet and found myself with this: As you can see there is still quite a bit of cleaning up and making everything symmetrical, but I think I may be in with a chance. I have an idea in my head for some detail around the toe with some nice hydraulic rams and structural bits. As a reference for this I have been Googling for images of heavy earth moving equipment - there is some nice inspiration there. Most of the work I do here will have to take into account the weight of the kit. So I will be building in a fair amount of sturdiness to whatever I come up with to make sure this thing lasts. That's it for this update and with a bit of luck I'll find some more time soon to press on. AT this point I would like to say that nay feedback is most welcome - by that I mean I am not some pansy who's going to poo his pants if he get some constructive criticism. After all I'll need all the help I can get. Total time so far: 2 hours of planning and cutting. Cheers, Berttt