6 Foot Long Daedalus Scratch Build Up

[MechTech]

OK, lack of oxygen is possible Cyano is VERY possible too (ESPECIALLY since building this thing!)

Thanks Peter. I'm going out on a limb, but I think you got a 1/10 scale fettish - just sayin'

Yeah, at 3 to 4 meters long its time to donn a pilot's suit and take off. Oh yeah, and file a flight plan too! Thanks guys! - MT

[EXO]

I have a 1/10 (fetish?) fascination also! I plan to make 1:10 figures so if you have a couple of ships to put them in it'll be pretty awesome!

[MechTech]

Heh heh! I suppose I could build them and then just move the family in there since it won't fit in my house. Then I could park the mini van inside the Daedalus HMMmmmmm, there's an idea... Would that make me the biggest Macross fan ever?

The 1/10th figures sould cool. Are you doing them in resin only, or are you going the whole clothing route too? - MT

[EXO]

It'll be resin with joints. I'm still designing and testing materials but there's no cloth at all.

[peter]

Heh heh! I suppose I could build them and then just move the family in there since it won't fit in my house. Then I could park the mini van inside the Daedalus HMMmmmmm, there's an idea... Would that make me the biggest Macross fan ever?

The 1/10th figures sould cool. Are you doing them in resin only, or are you going the whole clothing route too? - MT

Awwww.c'mon guys, stop teasing...At least build a 1/10 scale Valk after ur done here.....1/24's been done, we need bigger. And if EXO's gonna do the pilot, you're half-way there! I could talk to some ppl I know that are into the whole cosplay thing....maybe they can make the uniforms! Call it a collboration project of united Macross Fans. Delegate someone to the legs, another person to the arms, another to the fast packs etc, and put the monster together at the next international Macross Convention....then mass produce.

[MechTech]

UPDATE 23 JULY 2011

I don't know about 1/10th scale, all though I might be interested in one of EXO's figures. I bet my daughter would like a Min Mei too

I didn't get as much done this weekend as I hoped to, but at least I got something done! More interior parts that were waiting to be glued in place; at least they're not sitting in a box laying around.

An update, but first, one of the delays building the Daedlaus. I bought an Airfix 1/350 Illustrious to go with my growing ship collection. I once got to visit the real thing and she is a great ship so I thought the model would be cool, plus I like the aircraft in there.

I was VERY disappointed with the fit and detail on the model. I thought after all these years Airfix would have changed, but I was wrong. My son happened to see the kit and thought it was REALLY cool. So I built it up for him and let him sand the seems (roughly because he didn't care and didn't want it painted). Plus, who molds a ship in light blue!? Anyhow, it has an interior and we thought it would be sad to glue the top deck on (which also doesn't fit well). So I got creative and borrowed an idea from my tackle box. The "Lusty" now has an opening deck that stays level so my son can play on the interior decks and the outer decks at the same time. Plus all of the small aircraft I've given him will fit inside for storage. It's his new "base" He didn't want a lot of the detail parts on it either which is good because they would have become vacuumed fodder after breaking off anyhow

So now the one pilot's access ladder is built and in place. If you look on the interior ceiling, all of the hatches are there and this is the only open one. Since destroid pilots can't do the "Dukes of Hazard" thing and just jump in through the window, this is how they access them on the ship.

I also completed gluing in the catwalks along the wall. They are made with N gauge fencing covered with stainless steel micro mesh. Then I cut thin metal piano wire to length and made guard rails with it. The rails then had copper wire wrapped around them for cables. Since they were gray, I paintem the rails white already so they don't look odd when I paint everything white inside.

That's it for today. I'm hoping to now get the external stuff done! Thanks for checking in guys! - MT

[peter]

Hey MechTech, have you gotten this build into the likes of Hobby Japan or Dengeki Hobby or anything like that? I'm 100% positive they'd be interested in your work.

[neptunesurvey]

It is looking great. Can't wait to see the finished product with all of the mechas.

[Ignacio Ocamica]

Hey MechTech, have you gotten this build into the likes of Hobby Japan or Dengeki Hobby or anything like that? I'm 100% positive they'd be interested in your work.

I completely agree, his work when finished, should receive proper recognition!!!

Maybe Kawamory or Kazutaka Miyatake should pay him a visit to admire this work of art in person

[Vespaeda]

Honestly, MechTech your interiors bring back fond memories of being in the hanger deck and inner ramps of the USS Essex out of Okinawa!

Take your time and detail the interior with appropriate paint, 'greeblies' and additional support crew. That is unless you've already decided to sell it or donate it to a museum as is. Wonderful!

[MechTech]

UPDATE 31 JULY 2011 - TWO PARTS

***PART ONE***

GOOD NEWS! In this first part I have to say a GIANT "THANK YOU" for all of your guys support, compliments and encouragement. Especially those of you still checking in after all these years! Some of you have said "contact Hobby Japan or somebody." So I did! I e-mailed only two photos to Hobby Japan with a little text and got the following back the next day:

"Dear Mr. XXXXXXXX,

Following please find a message from Monthly Hobby JAPAN.

**********************

Thank you very much for sending us photos of your Daedlus model. We have seen many miniatures featuring Macross, but never found such a big scale model in Japan. Your Daedlus impressed us greatly as powerful and very American. We look forward to completion and would love to see more photos. Please let us know when you complete it then we will put your model in our magazine.

Sincerely,

Editors of Monthly Hobby JAPAN"

So thanks to you guys encouraging me, you might see my "baby" in a Hobby Japan article!

***PART TWO***

Back to the build. This weekend I thickened the rear half ceiling thickness to equal the front (especially since you will see it looking through the main hatch). After doing that I could begin making the fillings for the "holes" in the sides. In the photos you can see the cubby holes and the carbon fiber with 1/8" styrene square stock above and below it. Some of it I had to rip from 1/8 x 1/4" stock. Evidently the pilots get around in the ceiling out to the hatched ladders from the last post I did. This also gives me room for lights. The ceiling is now also glued down making any further changes impossible; so I'm committed to this plan now.

The top flight deck is now holed with simulated tie downs and the simulated opening gear is glued down. Not as far as I wanted to get, but its progress!

***COMMENTS***

Peter and Ignacio, thanks! Looks like Macross World and us crazy builders in the West are going to get some good mention in Hobby Japan!

Neptunesurvey - The mecha come next (after I finish the Garphishuu and a couple of other kits )

Vespaeda - thank you! If you haven't seen or have gotten the Gallery Models/MRC/Trumpeter 1/350th scale model of the LHD-1, you have to! It has EVERYTHING! It is THE BEST model kit (outside of Macross ) I have EVER seen (many reviews say the same thing)! The aircraft, weapons, landing dock and internal bays are accurate and faithfully reproduced. It has:

USMC Assault Vehicles:

•2 x M60A3 Patton Tanks

•2 x M1A1 Abrams Tanks

•2 x AAV-7A1 Amphibious Assault Vehicles

•2 x MTVR Medium Tactical Vehicle Replacement (Trucks)

•2 x M1114 HMMWV or "Humvee" Up-Armored Armament Carriers

•2 x M1097 HMMWV Heavys

•2 x LAV-25s

•2 x M198 Towed 155mm Howitzers

Aircraft:

•4 x MV-22 Osprey Tilt-Rotors

•4 x CH-46E Sea Knight Helicopters

•4 x CH-53E Sea Stallion Helicopters

•2 x AH-1W Cobra Helicopter Gunships

•2 x SH-60K Seahawk Helicopters

Ship's Complement:

•2 x LCU Landing Craft

•2 x LCAC Landing Hovercraft

•10 x Flight Deck Tractors

•2 x Flight Deck "Tilly" Cranes

Just chaage the decals to LHD-2

Thanks again guys for checking in and now I REALLY better hurry up and finish this thing! Take care guys - MT

[claude grant]

Now that's what I'm talking bout! That's just the sort of legacy that this legendary build deserves!

This is killer news MT, and I wish you all the continued success and accolades that this project brings to your door! You have really & truly earned this sir.

Might as well drop a line to all the other Japanese sci-fi oriented publications now. "GOOD NEWS EVERYONE!", indeed.

[EXO]

AWESOME!!!

[UN Spacy]

Congratulations on the response from Hobby Japan.

You deserve it.

[MechTech]

UPDATE 26 AUGUST 2011

A HUGE THANK YOU guys for the compliments! I'm plugging away like crazy at my model now to get it done! Plus I just want to be done with ti after all these years!!!

I figure I better post these before Irene hits us and we have no power or internet for a while First off I finished gluing the stringers to the side of the port side (the side that opens up).

Next I had a blast (not really) cutting out all the openings in the side of the Daedlus. If I ever build this in 1/350th scale, I'm having the WHOLE side laser cut for a smoother finish and so I can just glue it together. Some of the smaller openings are suspected to let water in for diving, and a couple I'm sure are for equipment such as small boats and running gear. That comes later on...

Next comes the three lower, rear hatches. these were made by using external pieces instead of scribing them in or cutting them out. Got the corner cutter from Michaels. When your wife/spouse wants to go to some craft store, go and shop for model stuff Plus it was easier to put these on the outside

I already posted pictures of imprinted decking with simulated tie downs. These pieces were scraped down with a chisel to be made flat. What is the best and lightest way to support five feet of decking while looking cool when opened up? Egg and crate plastic grating! I went to Lowes, looked at the plastic flourescent light covers, and they were perfect! They're even white to match my other styrene. Yes, these are styrene and at around $11.00 for a 3' by 2' sheet, what a deal!!!

They are light, but to keep the top weight down, I put them in a pattern to reduce weight. The forward sections had to be machined thinner in order for destroids to still walk on the top deck. And yes, it reduced the weight too.

As you guys probably know, this is designed to be a fully functional R/C model AND a sort of display case. The best way to do it is to have the sides open and close. I got some nice small doll house hinges, slid them into the siding, and attached them with threaded in screws, or with melted down styrene tabs. Then the hinges were attached with melted styrene tabs with the outsides having counter sunk holes so the styrene melts right into it. Then the stubs were sanded smooth.

Then I went to good ole Radio Shack and got 3/16" neodymium magnets and glued them into machined bits of laminated styrene. The sides then got pieces of steel carefully glued only where they would touch the magnets. It works great! The fron is done, the rear is next!

I always try to pass on good information on building when I find it. The first today was the light grated panels mentioned earlier. The next is a glue. For thin glue I tried the non-toxic Micro Weld. I read some good reviews so I thought I'd try it too. I tried testors "blue label" stuff back in the early 80's and was VERY dissapoointed. It took days to dry and had a weak hold. I was really hoping this would not be the case with the Micro Weld.

The Micro Weld works AWESOME!!! It works as good as some of the solvent based glues I've used, but it dries faster, holds better, and it doesn't have the side effects of solvents or long term health problems. Plus I hear it doens't fog window pieces (I have yet to try gluing clear pieces). Micro Weld makes AWESOME decal stuff, and this glue is NO exeption! And no, I don't own stock in Micro Weld

That's it for now. Thanks again guys for your support, checking in and enjoy the photos! - MT

Edited August 27, 2011 by MechTech

[miriya]

Holy SHIP!!! This is amazing work you have been doing!

[505thAirborne]

Holy SHIP!!! This is amazing work you have been doing!

+1

[EXO]

What's this? I see you've been cutting corners!

[MechTech]

UPDATE 11 NOVEMBER 2011 - Pt 1

Hey Everyone,

My apologies for taking soooo long to post. I've been so busy building in my spare time (versus being on the computer) that I haven't made any posts for a while. For those of you that have been following this thread, hopefully today will make it up to you. Speaking of today, A GIANT Happy Veteran's Day to those who have served. Many don't understand the sacrifices our forefathers made for us to have the freedom to do simple things like building and posting on a web site.

This thread is in two parts. The first is to show the building completed on the interior, the second is to show the COMPLETED construction of the ship! That's right, main cosntruction is FINALLY completed! On to the build...

I numbered and am posting the photos to go with the text in order. Hopefully this works...

0. This shows the magnets and steel squares used to hold the sides closed when in "ship mode." Note the hinges and carbon fiber flat rod to reinforce the sides and keep them relatively stiffened and strenghtened.

1,2 &3. Here's the parts and assembly for the bracket thingies that go underneath the big boxlike thingy in the back (sorry if I'm using complex terminology). They look like they attach to the bottom, but I built them onto the top half for simplicity.

4. These are the scribed pieces that fit into the smaller elevator looking recesses on the upper portion of the hanger bays.

5. This is an internal wall and also shows the scribed part mentioned in photo 4 on the outside.

6. The funny looking wall thing going across this photo sits on the edge of the upper floor. The rear Monster backs against this when parked in the hanger bay. The yellow crane is pulled to the side and back forthe photo. The dangling wires are for the ceiling crane in the very top of the hanger bays.

7 - 8. Here I'm machining the stock to make the walls on the FAR right hand side in photo number 12. This makes it more durable and spacing is easier this way.

9. Here's the wall section shown in the FAR left of photo 12. All of these are according to the interior line drawings in 15a.

10. This photo shows me machining the stock to go into the interior of the "giant" doorway. After I bent this and glued it into place, it was obvious that glued segments would have broken off and not taken the bends you see here.

11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 15a. Buildup and photos of the doorway. If you look at the line art in 15a, you'll see what this is all about. Note the "anime magic" drawn here. It's IMPOSSIBLE for this section to be that narrow and fit the meca in. So I had to "stretch" things out a bit and make them look more realistic.

16. Look at the back ceiling of 15a and you'll recognize this. This ceiling has the most lights in it of any assembly yet!

17. This is it!!! The last major internal or external assembly I should build on this ship! You' see this in place in Pt 2 of this post. This sits in the very back and partially blocks your view inward of the portside when in "display mode" (sides opened up).

That's it for Pt 1. Part two shows the COMPLETED construction BEFORE being painted. I still might make some small details to the outside like defensive weapons or small boats and other small details, but construction is over! - MT

Edited November 12, 2011 by MechTech

[MechTech]

UPDATE 11 NOVEMBER 2011 - Pt 2

[X] - Construction

[ ] - Wiring

[ ] - Paint

Thank God construction is over!!! Now it's on to a little bit of wiring to some connectors and then on to paint!!! :D Yes, I'm a little happy about it!

Here's a bunch of photos randomly posted photos of the completed outside and inside minus paint. I'm sure you can figure out what's what. DISCLAIMER - DISCLAIMER - DISCLAIMER: This thing is SOOOoooo long, my camera lense is making it appear to bow in the photos showing the lengths. Maybe if I had a fancy SLR I could work around it. You'll just have to imagine everything is straight and right angled

Note: the ceiling parts in the rear forward section are already masked. Can't wait to paint!

That's it for this installment. I kept the photos small for space and since there was a lot of them. If anyone would like something posted in higher resolution, just let me know. Thanks for stopping by! - MT

[Reïvaj]

Oh, my goodness!!! This is so amazing!

[Load Master]

No one is worthy to even look at this greatness!! I avert my eyes!! incredible!!!!!!

[505thAirborne]

Speechless!!! You are the Master Mechtech!!!

[kyekye]

WOW!! O_o;;

Is that a sofa covered with white cloth behind the thing!!?? This is just incredible!! I want to see the painted/finished masterpiece!

No need to rush it thou. I can wait.

[EXO]

Congratulations on this milestone!!! It looks incredible.

[pfunk]

whow, The control area really gives it some scale,, LOVE the bridge crane awesomeness.................

Now all you need is a 1/200 scale Zentran ship for that thing to punch through

[Gian]

Awesome work!

I hope you make the Prometheus when you finish this one

[Iceblue106]

Absolutely amazing there MechTech!!!

[MechTech]

Thank you guys for your MASSIVE compliments, I REALLY appreciate it and you're very humbling . It's great to "see the light at the end of the tunnel" for this project now. I've got some wiring done already and a couple of items I've had to repair from years of wear while working on their assemblies (a few years already).

On the photography: I actually photographed this across four bar stools AND a couple of boxes. This thing won't fit on my couch (full sized three seater) because of the couche's arm rests. I also did it near windows, but the clouds were holding out on me. When shooting, the camera didn't show the BAD warpage showing up in these photos. Oh well. I hope to post some more progress SOON! Thanks again guys! - MT

Edited November 16, 2011 by MechTech

[big F]

A thing of much greatness

[Zinjo]

It's builds like this, wmchens and others that make me truly wish we had a Macross museum to properly display these works of art...

[Flakpanzer]

You are the master!!!

Regards,

Flak

[MechTech]

UPDATE 22 NOVEMBER 2011

[X] - Construction

[X] - Wiring

[ ] - Paint

Thanks again guys for all of your compliments and inputs! As you see above, the wiring is done! I just need to fix the hatch opening drive. The clutch on it either needs tightening or replacing? It's on there so if someone (like my very young children at the time I built it) accidentally shoves it or pulls on it, it just slips. The problem is there is A LOT of pressure on it so it takes adjusting to get it just right.

I didn't bother taking photos because there wasn't t really anything new or worth shooting. The cool part, everything now works from my controller to include the radar and bridge lights! I'm just SLIGHTLY stoked about that

Hopefully over the Thanksgiving holiday I can get some more work done AND completed! Thanks again guys. Take care and HAPPY THANKSGIVING everyone! - MT

[Iceblue106]

Thanks for the update there MT..and hope you have a Happy Thanksgiving as well!!

Blue

[Mechamaniac]

I can't believe that this is almost done!! A true labor of love that I've watched take shape for years now. I salute you for having the wherewithal to stick this one out. I don't think I could ever be that dedicated.