Hello fellow friends. Newb here.

[Spatula]

Hello fellow modelers,

I'm a new member here and I've just begun to get serious about modeling plastic kits.

I don't have a whole lot of experience, but have started on a few other non-Macross kits.

As for the Macross series itself, I've finally found time to watch the original 36 episode series, DYRL, Macross II, and Macross Plus and Zero this year, so most of the material is pretty fresh in my mind.

I recently picked up a Paasche VL double action internal mix air brush as well as an air compressor, since I've decided to do some "hard core" plastic modeling.

I just have a few questions here:

1) How much time have you invested in a single kit (for example sake, say the VF-1)? I know there is no straight answer as most replies will be, "as much time as necessary" or "as much as I want to make it look good".

I changed the question initially from, "how much time should be invested into a kit" into the question posted at the top, since I think that would help bring more objective answers rather than "philosophical-modeling" questions. You can break it down into how much time is spent looking at instructions, sanding, filing, fitting, gluing, painting etc.

2) Which OVA/Series/Movie was the VF-11B featured in? I see screen caps of it in MP however I don't recall seeing one, only the VF-19 and 21. Perhaps I should take another look. Also, I know of a YAMATO toy for this valkyrie, however are there any resin or plastic kits for this?

3) Has the VF-4 Lightning, featured in 2012 Flashback, been shown in any other mangas or OVAs? I only know of a few resin kits shown on Macrossworld, however have not come across an actual plastic model kit.

4) I just recently finished doing an Imperial Star Destroyer using my Paasche brush, however for some reason the quick change cup kept bubbling. Now the instructions say that I should try to tighten the two cover parts just right where the needle exhaust is for the airbrush.

I've tried doing that, however it still seems to bubble. I took off part # 6, which exposes the needle. It seemed to work ok, however it doesn't do very sharp lines, even putting it like a quarter inch away. My question is does this damage the air brush in the long run?

In other news, I've recently bought two Macross Hasegawa kits: namely the VF-1A Ichigo Hikaru black and red stripe version, and the VF-1D trainer which kinda looks like the normal ostrich.

Other series of models that interest me so far are:

1) Gundam (probably a whole whack of you saw that one a mile away)

2) Patlabor (I finished a 1/35 ingram just this past summer)

3) Super Robot War (I have yet to pick up any kit(s) from Kotobukiya

4) Star Wars and other sci fi stuff (currently looking for the Aliens Drop-ship)

I look forward to your replies and hope to make new modeling buddies soon.

Thanks.

Edited October 13, 2005 by Spatula

[Penguin]

Welcome to the wonderful world of Macross modelling!

1. I couldn't tell you how long a single kit takes, since it's usually spread out over several evenings in my case. If I were to guess, a single Hasegawa VF-1 probably takes me around 12 hours in total, spread out over the course of a month.

2. The VF-11B appears, so far, only in Macross Plus (Macross 7 features the VF-11C, which is close but not identical). In the OAV, Isamu pilots it exclusively throughout the first episode. In the movie version, it shows up about halfway through. In both cases, it's what Isamu is flying when Guld's YF-21 causes him to crash. There are a couple of resin kits of the VF-11B, but no plastic ones thus far.

3. The VF-4 only appears in Flashback 2012, animation-wise. It has had some video game appearances as well. So far, no plastic kits either, just vinyl and resin.

4. Can't help you there. I don't use an airbrush.

[promethuem5]

You should check out the Models section of the MW main site for kits and such, most all are there. And welcome to the board! I'd tell you how long a kit takes me, but as you can see from the links in my profile, my 'kits' are a bit smaller and different

[Spatula]

Thank you very much for your replies.

Well I sort of can answer that question of the duration of time it takes.

I started just to work on the cockpit of the Hasegawa valkyrie VF-1A and it has taken me about 2 hours now with about 6 small parts. This also includes painting and sanding time. I'm just about to add the nose cone on. I've just finished putting on 2 decals. They're 108 and 109 with the red light and the cockpit console respectively. (This might bring back some memories for you guys).

Seeing that this is about 1 and a 1/2 steps, I guess I'm doing okay, but then again model building isn't a race.

I'm finding that my Tamiya paint has grown somewhat chunky and not sticking well. Sometimes it sticks to the paint brush and then starts to scrape it off. Now that's not good. I'm saving the air brush for the larger parts, such as the wings, main fuselage and elevators.

[big F]

Thank you very much for your replies.

Well I sort of can answer that question of the duration of time it takes.

I started just to work on the cockpit of the Hasegawa valkyrie VF-1A and it has taken me about 2 hours now with about 6 small parts.  This also includes painting and sanding time.  I'm just about to add the nose cone on.  I've just finished putting on 2 decals.  They're 108 and 109 with the red light and the cockpit console respectively.  (This might bring back some memories for you guys). 

Seeing that this is about 1 and a 1/2 steps, I guess I'm doing okay, but then again model building isn't a race. 

I'm finding that my Tamiya paint has grown somewhat chunky and not sticking well.  Sometimes it sticks to the paint brush and then starts to scrape it off.  Now that's not good.  I'm saving the air brush for the larger parts, such as the wings, main fuselage and elevators.

336232[/snapback]

I also like most of the modelers here spread the work out over days, so acurate hours are hard to count but I usually have a good read of the instuctions and a really good look at the sprewed parts first looking for potential problems and miss cast parts etc. Basically take as long as you need, nobody will punish you for taking two weeks to paint the cockpit. If you are happy with the results then thats all that counts.

If your one of the Hack and Slash brigade then about an hour to do the model and 2 hours to paint it and 20 mins to decal it provided by that point youve not go bored and started doing something new or completely hashed it.

On the subject of Tamiya paint you could try adding a bit of Tamiya thinners to the tinlet as these paints sometimes thicken over time. Be sure you use Tamiyas thiners as others will do strange things to the paint, also use the right type. Im not trying to teach you to suck eggs, but these methods have worked for me.

Cant help you with the air brush as mine is different to yours.

[Spatula]

No no, this is my first Hasegawa kit and I'm investing the time that it deserves. So time and rushing isn't a big issue.

I think the only kit that I've finished in a weekend from cutting sprues to putting the finishing touches was the star destroyer. But then again it really didn't have anything complicated and had only like 50 parts. As well the entire thing was one grey colour so painting wasn't too difficult. I added some shading and the likes and touch ups, but this Valkyrie is an entrie different story.

One thing though is that I don't have a pilot since I didn't get the weapons set. How hard is it to fit the pilot in, assuming I don't glue the canopy on top, at a later time? It will take some time to get the weapons set from hobby link japan, so this should give me time to work on other parts, but I was just wondering if putting in the pilot afterwards was easy to do.

Also, the decals that come with this are water slide decals right? I seemed to have some trouble transfering them. I hope they aren't dry transfers. Can someone confirm this?

Edited October 13, 2005 by Spatula

[Penguin]

I've found the pilot easy to insert after the cockpit has been built, assuming that you trim off the little posts that the cockpit has in place of the throttle and stick. The pilot's hands include the throttle and stick, so the posts aren't necessary.

Yes, the decals are water slide, and very good quality at that. I've never torn one yet in the 20 or so VF-1s I've built.

Out of curiousity, and completely off topic at that, from where in Canada do you hail (if you don't mind me asking)?

Edited October 13, 2005 by Penguin

[Spatula]

Penguin, I hope you got my PM.

Um well I'm finding that I'm working rather long stretches (in my mind) for about 3-4 hours per day on a kit, and while sure I'm making progress, I seem to keep rushing it and I start to get sloppy and compromise. I'm especially very hasty with sanding and the like. This will probably, or most definately hurt at the end.

I try not to work at it anymore if I'm just starting to slap things together and not bothering with fit, cause it will be a total waste at the end.

I'm sure others might have encountered this where they really can't wait to see how it turns out in the end, but haste makes waste.

I was quite hasty with my USS Enterprise back then, and the quality (or lack of) shows now especially when I'm looking at other ships on the net. But then again it was my first kit for like the longest time.

[big F]

Penguin, I hope you got my PM.

Um well I'm finding that I'm working rather long stretches (in my mind) for about 3-4 hours per day on a kit, and while sure I'm making progress, I seem to keep rushing it and I start to get sloppy and compromise.  I'm especially very hasty with sanding and the like.  This will probably, or most definately hurt at the end.

I try not to work at it anymore if I'm just starting to slap things together and not bothering with fit, cause it will be a total waste at the end.

I'm sure others might have encountered this where they really can't wait to see how it turns out in the end, but haste makes waste.   

I was quite hasty with my USS Enterprise back then, and the quality (or lack of) shows now especially when I'm looking at other ships on the net.  But then again it was my first kit for like the longest time.

336842[/snapback]

Yup the key is the moment your mind starts to wander or you get distracted or are tired then put away the glue and paint and save it for anotherday. Ultimately the longer you take the better the job. Hasegawa kits are one of the better kits and their transfers are to quaility.

on a side note ( not wanting to steal your post ) does anyone use decal seal. I have had mixed results with it over the years and was wondering which brands if any are worth the bother.

[Spatula]

Actually, yeah good thing to point out the decals. From what I read from cody's coop (http://codyscoop.com/gk.shtml), he seems to use a thinned variant of the base coat to seal over the decals on his Strike Valkyrie , and a coat of future floor wax. I haven't come across any such floor wax before but it''s supposedly the secret key to make a good coat for a matte finish and not show the edges of the decals.

[Spatula]

Well here's something interesting. A 1983 Macross SDF thing on ebay:

Might wanna check it out. You got 21 hours left as of this post.

[Penguin]

Actually, yeah good thing to point out the decals.  From what I read from cody's coop (http://codyscoop.com/gk.shtml), he seems to use a thinned variant of the base coat to seal over the decals on his Strike Valkyrie , and a coat of future floor wax.  I haven't come across any such floor wax before but it''s supposedly the secret key to make a good coat for a matte finish and not show the edges of the decals.

336852[/snapback]

I've heard rumours that Future might be found at Wal-Mart or Canadian Tire in Canada, or might also be under the name "Johnson's Clear". I haven't verified that, though. Thus far, my models have no Future. There's a neat site all about Future and modelling HERE.

[Grayson72]

Actually, yeah good thing to point out the decals.  From what I read from cody's coop (http://codyscoop.com/gk.shtml), he seems to use a thinned variant of the base coat to seal over the decals on his Strike Valkyrie , and a coat of future floor wax.   I haven't come across any such floor wax before but it''s supposedly the secret key to make a good coat for a matte finish and not show the edges of the decals.

336852[/snapback]

I've heard rumours that Future might be found at Wal-Mart or Canadian Tire in Canada, or might also be under the name "Johnson's Clear". I haven't verified that, though. Thus far, my models have no Future. There's a neat site all about Future and modelling HERE.

337721[/snapback]

Love your sig Penguin, that's my favorite episode of the Tic.

[Spatula]

I've heard rumours that Future might be found at Wal-Mart or Canadian Tire in Canada

It's no longer a rumor. Go to pretty much any Wal-Mart in the city to get it. I got mine at Northlands in the NW area for about $7.03 with tax.

Edited October 19, 2005 by Spatula

[Penguin]

Love your sig Penguin, that's my favorite episode of the Tic.

337741[/snapback]

Mine too. I thought it was a more fun sig than the Alan Parsons Project lyric it replaced.