Resin Mospeada Tread with Alpha

[Sam]

there was the 1/72 scale Alpha+Tread, has anyone seen it about at all that actually available to order?

cant seem to find anyone with it instock, and not really sure what price they are going for, seen some round the $50 odd, ....

I thought I saw someone doing it here but did a search and couldn't find anything

Oh, also, has anyone BUILT one to tell me how good it is ?

Any help is appreciated ! Thanks in advance

Sam

[Myersjessee]

Its a cool little model. Solid canopy and no landing gear...but very cool. Check out Carls corner from the front page (Carl loves Tread) there are some good pictures there

[captain america]

I built the Newtype-issued kit about 11 years ago for a magazine review... Funny, most of the pics I see on the net of the kit built are of my model.

It's an ok kit. As Jesse mentionned, the Legioss' cockpot canopy is opaque resin, but as the Legioss itself is just a resin casting of the 1/72 Imai plastic kit, you may want to swap the resin chunker for its plastic counterpart. The tread portion is cute; nothing spectacular, but detailed enough for what it is. Though not actually transformable, it can be re-worked to transform to Tread Soldier with some minor scratchbuilding and refinement. Decals are plenty, and are of the same type issued in the Imai kits. They go on with no problems.

The only drawback of the kit was the Tread's wings, which are molded in a soft resin which seemingly has a tendancy to sag with time... More so if placed in a warm area. You may want to scratchbuild a set of these out of styrene.

Doubtful that you'll find that kit for $50. They usually fetch over a undred on E-Bay, and that's for the re-recasts.

[Sam]

ah bugger....

but thanks for the info anyway

Guess i will have to keep an eye out on ebay then hey I have a love/hate relationship with that place. I love the stuff available, I hate the grissly bid wars

If you had a pic of your one u made capt and wanted to share, I would be interested? * I checked out carls corner from before, thats actually what got me started on wanting the kit LOL*

Thanks

Sam

[Myersjessee]

still got those pictures anywhere to share Capn'?

[Mechwarrior]

Is it like this kind?

[captain america]

http://www.macrossworld.com/macross/mwat/j...giosstreadd.jpg

The picture isn't mine, but it IS of my model. The warped port-side wing and angled wing stripes give it away. I also have the magazine article somewhere. I'll try to scan it in the next couple days.

[Myersjessee]

man...I need to build mine sometime soon! Love that bird.

[Neova]

Quick question: Can you attach Tread to an Imai 1/72 Alpha plastic model kit? And how does this resin alpha compare to those old Imai kits qualityand detail wise?

[Grayson72]

Yes you can, the resin one was taken from the Imai original.

[Sam]

awwwwwwwwwww i want one even more now.......

DOH

[Mechwarrior]

If I recall correctly, I spent about $130.00 on mine about 4 years ago. I am pretty sure it was a recast though, since it came with no decals and the flash was just rediculous. As you can see there is not a whole of detail, but I was pleased to finally have one. I know I seen some being sold awhile back for about 50 bucks, i'll check my favorites and see if I can dig up the link for you.

As far as the model itself is concerned, it has about twenty pieces to it, and pretty straight forward to assemble, but a lot of trimming will be required if you want it perfect. The one i did had no decals/stickers so i just ended up making my own. If you spend time you could make the model look awesome, I know I could have done a better job.

Captain america, great job on yours, it was actually the reason why i wanted one my self. As you can see i kinda copied your paint scheme as well so thanx dood.

Edited April 12, 2004 by Mechwarrior

[Mervin]

Anyone planning on recasting this ? At least just the Tread, since the Imai Alpha is still somewhat available.

Edit - Sorry Mods, please delete if you find this unacceptable. thanks.

Edited April 12, 2004 by Mervin

[wwwmwww]

Anyone here have the number for New Type Hobby and Toys? Last time I talked to them they had a few originals but that may have been several years ago now. I know at one point they were saying they were sold out but they later found another box with several more kits in it. I'd give you their number myself but I'm sure it's in a box in TX at the moment.

By they way Capn. you know I now have the one you painted up for the magazine review don't you? Look in Carl's corner... its the same one. New Type had it on display at their store for a long time and they sold it to someone (I can't think of his name at the moment) and I bought it from them.

Mechwarrior, I really like yours? You didn't use the included Legioss did you? I see the tain fins and I know those didn't come with the kit. Technically I don't believe those should be visable when joined with the Tread but they look nice the way you've treated them.

Oh... and this model HAS been recasted here before. You may want to talk to Ken, aka Valkyrie, he has recasted my personal kits and I believe he may still have the molds. He's very busy with the VB-6 project at the moment though so he may not have time at the moment... it might be better to ask him down the road a ways.

Good luck... I'm always happy to fellow Tread fan when I can,

Carl

[Myersjessee]

I have the number for NewType at home Carl...but I talked to them about a year ago and all they had stock of was the decals.

Valkyrie (Ken) did a nice recast, and MonkeyNugget did a nice recast of the unjoined kit You might try PM'ing either of them. Hobbyfan had them in stock for a while as well...

[Grayson72]

Someone told me that Newtype had closed it's doors. If we're talking about the one in SF anyway.

[Valkyrie]

Alas, my Legioss/Tread recast is long out of production. Sorry guys.

Hobbyfan used to stock recasts of the Newtype kit, and Monkey-N was selling recasts of the Monocraft Legioss and Tread kits (but they don't link up in that kit).

For what it's worth, I don't think the resin Legioss is a recast of the Imai kit. Or if it was, it was modified and detailed down a lot. The Imai is a much better kit, but it can't easily replace the resin one, for linking with the Tread. If nothing else, the Imai kit's arms are spaced further apart than they are on the resin kits, so they don't fit into the slots for them in the front of the Tread.

[Neova]

New Type Hobbies has closed it's doors when I swung by on my trip back to the USA. A family friend is close friends with the owner.

I remember waiting to see his collection when he had the "shop" in his personal garage. One of the few original hard core Macross model guys in our area. Sad to see the shop go.

[wwwmwww]

New Type Hobbies has closed it's doors when I swung by on my trip back to the USA. A family friend is close friends with the owner.

That is very sad news. The owner was a very nice guy. I talked to him many times on the phone and he was always helpful and very friendly.

Carl

[Sarensaas]

Jeffrey Tom, the owner of NewType, still sells some of the kits the store carried on eBay. His ID is rx93. I got a lot of really nice B-club Gundam stuff from NewType over the years. From talking to the guys there, it sounded like recasts hurt them a lot.

[captain america]

...Not just re-casts, his absurdly-high prices didn't help. I still have a few of his catalogs from 12-13 years ago; seems like he just bought the kits for retail in Japan, and tried to make a mark-up on that.

If anything put him out of business, it was HLJ. When his clientele realised what the original kits actually cost, they defected in droves to greener pastures.

[Sarensaas]

...Not just re-casts, his absurdly-high prices didn't help. I still have a few of his catalogs from 12-13 years ago; seems like he just bought the kits for retail in Japan, and tried to make a mark-up on that.

True; the prices were high. But not much you can do if you do buy them retail; I suppose he really sliced his market down to people who REALLY wanted a specific resin kit, who couldn't fly to Japan or had a friend buy it there and ship it.

If anything put him out of business, it was HLJ. When his clientele realised what the original kits actually cost, they defected in droves to greener pastures.

True again. One of the big things NewType should have put up in the early days before HLJ was a website. They did a pretty good job of advertising in magazines like Protoculture Addicts and Mecha Press, but I would always hear people ask if NewType had a website when their resin kits were brought up, and I don't think they ever did. Nice catalogs, though, I still have them. They needed more visuals for the kits they were selling though. If you are buying a 1/72 resin kit for $200.00, you sure do wanna see a pic of it before you open your wallet.

Edited April 14, 2004 by Sarensaas