1/32 scratch build YF-19

[wjrmonkey]

Hi, all. I was thinking about this for a while now... Kawamori's sketches of YF-19 seems pretty practical to be translated into real model. His line art always has a kind of chubby, plump feel. I was never comfortable with the hasegawa version of YF-19, be it 1/72 or 1/48, because they appear too straight, or flat, and the curves are all wrong... The model feels sort of boring and ugly. Only the 1/72 Club-M kit truly captures the beauty of YF-19.

Images courtesy to Mr. March, Macross Mecha Manual.

I was studying the sketches. It's very doable. I like the high-speed configuration particularly. I know there are many ways to scratch-build, and I am leaning towards using clay to directly sculpt the plane! and later cut apart the pieces and make articulations at the joints. In 1/32 scale it's gonna be a big bird, but that will be the best way to bring out the beautiful curves of the design. The model will not be fully transformable like YAMATO's 1/60 YF-19. But you can detach and re-attach the limbs and parts to complete the transformation process. The goal is to be as anime-accurate as possible, with possible custom sculpted inter-changable parts in order to overcome the "anime mecha magic" if you know what I mean.

My question for you guys are, however, once I sculpted the master model, I really have no good idea or experience in breaking it apart for resin kit production. How is it done? I don't want to get involved with the chores of molding and casting, or printing decals. .. ... and if I plan on offering this as a kit, do I need to pay a loyalty fee to whoever (Harmony Gold)? And lastly, would you be interested in buying another YF-19, possibly more expensive than the YAMATO 1/60?

I was hoping to sort these things out before I go ahead.

Edited August 10, 2010 by wjrmonkey

[wjrmonkey]

So I started playing with the clay. This is just to understand shape and volume. Out of a pile of **** came out the nose cone first... looks close to the line art, no?

[jardann]

Looks like you have some real skills and are off to a good start. That is going to be a huge model in 1/32 scale.

Are you sure the clay will hold up at that size? You may need a strong armature/frame to help support the weight.

It's a big project. Good luck and keep us posted. I'll be interested to see how this turns out!

[Kicker773]

it be awesome to have a 1/32 yf 19 next to the 1/35 VF1S lol

[David Hingtgen]

I've always thought the YF-19 was inspired by the YF-23 in fuselage cross section, so when in doubt---make it hexagonal. (or, curved/rounded hexagonal). It's most obvious in the nose, but it's present to some degree in nearly the whole plane.

[Graham]

I was never comfortable with the hasegawa version of YF-19, be it 1/72 or 1/48, because they appear too straight, or flat, and the curves are all wrong...

...do I need to pay a loyalty fee to whoever (Harmony Gold)?

Agree with you about the Hasegawa 1/72, it's far too skinny IMO.

And that would be a "royalty fee" or "license fee", not a loyalty fee. LOL.....I can't imagine any Macross fan paying Harmony Gold to stay loyal to them.

Graham

[MechTech]

My advice is to cut out cross sections in styrene (thin sheet) and then fill them in with clay. The plastic will keep your parts even and when the clay is dry you can easily seperate the pieces. You can then either mold the pieces out of resin or use the clay pieces (if smooth) to directly vacuform your parts from styrene sheet which you can easily do at home. Just my two cents, - MT

[PetarB]

To be honest, I think clay is not a suitable medium for this sort of work. But you may have experience in this that I don't!

Personally, I would be building an armature or framework out of basswood, styrene or Renshape so my symmetry and joins would be exact. The joins are of a particular issue if you plan on casting this up in resin. Your planes and angles have to be exact to the nth degree. With pieces this large, and expansion of measure due to resin, etc will magnify initial faults. I am also interested in how you plan to scribe lines or reproduce the fine panels lines in clay.

Anyway it's an ambitious project and I will be looking at this thread with interest to see what happens! I think your critique of Hasegawa's interpretation of the YF-19 is a valid one. Unfortunately, like all anime to real world interpretation, so much needs to be guess work.

Best of luck!

[captain america]

To be honest, I think clay is not a suitable medium for this sort of work. But you may have experience in this that I don't!

Personally, I would be building an armature or framework out of basswood, styrene or Renshape so my symmetry and joins would be exact. The joins are of a particular issue if you plan on casting this up in resin. Your planes and angles have to be exact to the nth degree. With pieces this large, and expansion of measure due to resin, etc will magnify initial faults. I am also interested in how you plan to scribe lines or reproduce the fine panels lines in clay.

Anyway it's an ambitious project and I will be looking at this thread with interest to see what happens! I think your critique of Hasegawa's interpretation of the YF-19 is a valid one. Unfortunately, like all anime to real world interpretation, so much needs to be guess work.

Best of luck!

+1 what Petar said.

Though precision is sought for a more engineering-based model, the artist in me kinda likes the mottled and organic look of the clay. Honestly, neither one is bad, they just appeal to different senses. I say follow your heart!

[wjrmonkey]

Thank you all for the suggestions. Ahem... I mean royalty fee.... but let's think about that later not until the kit is in the final phase (and worry about their laywer's letter), shall we?

To clarify, I am using the clay to just study and understand the shapes. The nosecone/cockpit does feel kinda heavy and ~soft~ (held in my hand it feels kinda like a dildo, LOL!). Anyway, for the final master sculpt I am ordering jars of MagicSculpt, which is self-hardening and no worry about getting sloppy. I just need to make some initial framework, could be just cardboard hot-glued together. Does not matter, only the final shape matters a lot.

For scribing the lines let's worry about that much later. I am in dental school so I have a lot of scribing and drilling tools you see.

Still, the difficulty is to nail the shape, proportion, angles of planes and curves etc. The line art appears simple but there is actually a lot of information to extract with even more open to interpretation. That no amount of CAD can help with (as I believe that's what Hasegawa and Yamato did with), and I believe only with a pair of sculptor's hands and an artistic instinct will it be done right.

[Temjin]

Very nice start, and inspiring project for the reason you're doing it. Just wondering, for nail down the proportion, are you using any particular blueprint for that? or you plan to eyeballing it as you go?

I never done any modeling so can't give you any advice, but good luck with the project.

[baxojayz]

Nice progress! Keep it up!

[PetarB]

I am in dental school so I have a lot of scribing and drilling tools you see.

All is explained! I have a friend who is a dentist - I love getting his 'old tools' and he also put me onto a good vac former!! Perhaps many dentists are frustrated modelers!

[Kremmen]

Very cool project. MagicSculpt is excellent to work with and you should have no problems provided your patience holds up!

I would argue against using card for cross-sections. You will find it is too soft and the edges will 'fuzz up' when you are wet-sanding the putty. The putty will not bind to it well either, or the card will tear - either way your piece will not have the required strength.

You would be much better off with thin styrene sheet. You can get 8x4 foot sheets for a few dollars at most advertising supply stores or general industrial plastics suppliers. One of those should last you for this project and many others.

With a more traditional shape you might cut a side view profile of the plane (laminate a couple of sheets together for more strength) and space 'lofts' (half-crosssections) along it at intervals. You can also build up the basic cockpit bathtub and landing gear recesses with the thin sheet. With the YF-19 I dunno, it might be better to use a plan view outline as your base instead and make your lofts top/bottom instead of left/right.

Anyway, when you fill in this kind of structure with MS you should have a strong structure that is symmetrical and can be sanded down to a smooth surface. Be prepared for many many hours of priming, sanding, rubbing down high spots and filling low spots though. Then repeat, then repeat again.

I agree with you about the interpretations of the line art. It will be very cool to see a new take taking shape.

[badboy00z]

Have you thought about using automotive clay? It has a really long working time and hardens when cold and softens when warm and you can repeatedly warm it up or cool it down.