Mechmaster Posted May 6, 2005 Posted May 6, 2005 Its now a good 20 years since I built these kits, they were among the very first Japanese kits I ever bought and were my introduction not only to Macross but to anime in general. While many of my earlier works have deteriorated almost as much as me over the last 2 decades, these battlepods are still in pretty good shape so I decided to take some pictures before anything happened to change that. Quote
Mechmaster Posted May 6, 2005 Author Posted May 6, 2005 A slight accident 5 or 6 years ago led to the replacement of the shoulder joints but otherwise it has made it through the years without incurring much wear and tear. Quote
Mechmaster Posted May 6, 2005 Author Posted May 6, 2005 When I built these I knew nothing about them other than what I could glean from the few English words on the boxes, it would be another 10 years before I actually got to see any of the Macross anime. Quote
Mechmaster Posted May 6, 2005 Author Posted May 6, 2005 One day I will have to read the user manual for this camera and find out what all those buttons and switches are for. Quote
Mechmaster Posted May 6, 2005 Author Posted May 6, 2005 One of these Regults is from the first batch of Macross kits I bought, the second I got some years later. Quote
Mechmaster Posted May 6, 2005 Author Posted May 6, 2005 When my local model shop first started stocking Macross kits I was instantly addicted, I saw some in the window as I passed during my lunch break and went in and bought 7 or 8, as many as I could affords with the money I had with me. Quote
Hurin Posted May 6, 2005 Posted May 6, 2005 (edited) Very nice! Are those hand-brushed? Because they have a very cool texture to them that looks like hand-brushing (rather than air-brushing). . . except it looks good! (woops, sorry, didn't mean to jump in here in the middle!) H Edited May 6, 2005 by Hurin Quote
Mechmaster Posted May 6, 2005 Author Posted May 6, 2005 I went back again the next day and bought another 30 or so. Quote
Mechmaster Posted May 6, 2005 Author Posted May 6, 2005 The second Regult I built I went to town on the interior. Kit nerds may even recognize some of the part I used. Quote
Mechmaster Posted May 6, 2005 Author Posted May 6, 2005 There are part in there form Valk kits, Mospeadas, Orguss and Dougram, the forward bulkhead is from Darth Vader's TIE fighter though its barely visible. There bits from a Cylon Basestar too as well as various bits of 1/35 scale machineguns. Quote
Mechmaster Posted May 6, 2005 Author Posted May 6, 2005 (edited) Last one, damn hard to get the camera in there, especially with the light in the way. Edited May 6, 2005 by Mechmaster Quote
Mechmaster Posted May 6, 2005 Author Posted May 6, 2005 Are those hand-brushed? Because they have a very cool texture to them that looks like hand-brushing (rather than air-brushing). . . except it looks good! Yes, they are handbrushed, they were done a couple of years before I got my first airbrush. A friend of mine dubbed my technique "designer mottling" as I usually had half a dozen different colours open and dabbed and blended them as I worked. Just to paint something white I would have white, black, brown and a couple of other colours of paint open, it could be hard work sometimes but it gave an interesting effect. Well I thought so anyway though I'm sure its not to everyones' taste. Quote
azrhino Posted May 6, 2005 Posted May 6, 2005 Very nice! I especially like how, in some cases, the paint discoloring with age has added to the grungy, weathered look. These are outstanding. And what did you do with 30+ kits? Were they all 1/72, or did you get various scales? Quote
Mechmaster Posted May 6, 2005 Author Posted May 6, 2005 (edited) I especially like how, in some cases, the paint discoloring with age hasadded to the grungy, weathered look. These are outstanding. And what did you do with 30+ kits? Were they all 1/72, or did you get various scales? In some cases that discolouring was part of the original paint job, apart from a bit of yellowing on the white these kits haven't suffered too badly colour-wise despite their age. The 30+ kits I built and then searched for more, I now have over 500 built and more than that again unbuilt. I bought many different scales, those first ones were nearly all Macross kits from Imai and Arii with half a dozen of Imai's Megaro Zamac range too. I just became a total kit junky, I hardly have time to build them anymore but I just can't stop buying them. Edited May 6, 2005 by Mechmaster Quote
cobywan Posted May 6, 2005 Posted May 6, 2005 You have a very nice technique going there. Is there anyway we could convince you to do that in a "how to" article? Maybe on a newer kit for giggles? No exaggeration here...that is some of the best painting I've ever seen on those kits. I like it better than arbrush finnish. The texture you got there harkens back to the Takani box art paintings. (Which I love.) Quote
ewilen Posted May 6, 2005 Posted May 6, 2005 That's exactly what I was thinking--an excellent rendition in the style of the box covers. Great work. Quote
Eternal_D Posted May 6, 2005 Posted May 6, 2005 very awesome kits you've built there. I too would like to see a write up of how the painting technique was done. very unique, almost like you're canvas painting or something. Quote
Gabe Q Posted May 6, 2005 Posted May 6, 2005 Those look really great. I agree with ewilen, although I can't state it as eloquently, it reminds me of the old box art. I wish I could paint like that. Imagine what you could do with the The Cap's new Regult! Quote
Grayson72 Posted May 6, 2005 Posted May 6, 2005 Great picture taking technique as well, I was sure when I first saw them that they were CG rendered. Can you take a pic of the pod farther back with the interior showing. Quote
EXO Posted May 7, 2005 Posted May 7, 2005 Hey thanks for putting these up... Great work. How about posting all 30! Quote
peter Posted May 7, 2005 Posted May 7, 2005 20 years ago? Holy crap, you must be really *ucking good at making models now. Those are incredible. Quote
BoBe-Patt Posted May 7, 2005 Posted May 7, 2005 wow, superb detailing!! I likes!! Wonder if you can modify those now to be JM style.... Quote
Mechmaster Posted May 7, 2005 Author Posted May 7, 2005 Thanks for the positive response guys. The painting style was very much influenced by the box art which still ranks as some of my all time favourite box art, it was that which dragged me into the model shop by the eyeballs all those years ago and forced me to buy all those kits. Back then the box art was pretty much the only reference material I had and I'm pleased that you can see its influence. I certainly wouldn't mind doing a "how to" article, I just need to find (or make) more time for modeling, I have projects sitting on my bench right now which I haven't touched since February, in fact fetching these kits down to photograph was the first time in 3 weeks that I've even been into my workroom. I will try and put something together but it probably will not be soon. >EXO< Sadly many of my original Macross kits are in pretty shabby condition, some are broken, some have suffered because the varnish I used back then proved to be very prone to yellowing and my poor VF-1J battroid has even been attacked by black mould. I am however planning a major revamp of both my websites, if and when I get around to updating my model website (www.animenia.co.uk) I will certainly be putting up pics of such of my Macross collection as are still good enough for public display. At present there are a few of my Macross models on show but the current pictures are rather poor as my old digicam was nowhere near as good as my new one. Grayson72 Is this what you want to see..? Quote
promethuem5 Posted May 7, 2005 Posted May 7, 2005 Those are simply gorgeous. Fantastic stuff....I LOVE the mottled appearance. I only hand brush so far, so I am also really interested on both a how-to, and some more pics of the Marine in your avatar That's one clean and siny SM. Amazing interior bash work as well... that's so cool. Quote
Mechmaster Posted May 7, 2005 Author Posted May 7, 2005 Those are simply gorgeous. Fantastic stuff....I LOVE the mottled appearance. I only hand brush so far, so I am also really interested on both a how-to, and some more pics of the Marine in your avatar That's one clean and siny SM. Amazing interior bash work as well... that's so cool. Thanks, I mainly hand brush myself, I do have an airbrush but it is cheap and nasty and I'm not sufficiently skilled with it to use it for much more than basic coverage so all special effects are done with good old-fashioned bristles. Due to popular demand I will post a "how to" in this forum as soon as I get a chance to do some painting and take a few "in progress" pics. The Space Marine is one of my CG works, my actual GW figures rarely paint up so good in the real world. Quote
promethuem5 Posted May 7, 2005 Posted May 7, 2005 Those BA CG guys make me happy.... and weep at the same time because they are so clean. Great work again. Quote
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