Macross Group Build 2010 - 2011

It's just after midnight, the first hours of September 20, 2010.  A large moon hangs in the sky, the appointed time has arrived...

and a Monster emerges from where it has been contained for far too many years...

OK, sorry.  Had to have some fun with this.  I've been up late working on a few other kits I've been chipping away at while waiting for the official GB start date and realized that I could finally get to work on these things, and took advantage of the switchover to the 20th to finally start work on the Monster and the Glaug.  Not much to report, just getting some of the parts in the Monster kit that were cut from the sprue by the previous owner put together and gluing some BBs into  the foot parts of the Glaug with CA to avoid any issues with the likely high center of gravity I expect in that kit. 

Gunpla Master

Well, I guess I will continue down the path of making these what I took them to be, gun blisters.  Thats what happens when you are not versed in the cannon of the subject.  But considering I am already planing to be outside the box between TV/Movie, will this be OK Phil.  Maybe on the next one, I will build OOB w/no improvements!

They were shown as guns on one or two occasions, the ones near the intakes are labeled as retrothrusters on the cutaway reference I have, but the ones in the nose are also supposedly covers for the hip pins that the legs attach to in battloid mode.  As has been mentioned, though, this is sci-fi and you can also toss in the additional fluff logic that this is a transformable mecha and it wouldn't be that far of a stretch at that point to have different internal mechanisms moved to the same external fairing in different modes.

And, yes, that looks awesome so far.  If you want to get some reference while you're working on this, I just recently read that the original eps of Macross that were recently dubbed ( not the "R-word" version by Harmony Gold ) are available online, just in case you're like me and run videos while working on kits.

Quick question for anyone familiar with Tamiya products: I'm trying to avoid waiting for the LHS to get some Milliput in to secure the BBs in the Glaug's feet,  I have some Tamiya Polyester 2-part putty that I've had for years and hardly used ( I was annoyed with the added step of mixing and started using other types almost immediately ), and wouldn't mind using in the quantity needed to fill in the foot parts.  What I'm worried about is a repeat of the problem I had when I tried to use Squadron Green to make the arm of a Klingon Cruiser kit more solid and the stuff warped the plastic.  My impression is that the Tamiya probably doesn't have anything that would act as a solvent and warp the styrene parts here, but figured I'd ask if anyone here had used the stuff before and could confirm if it's safe for this application.

The polyester putty should be fine. Squadron's putty contains toluene which definitely does soften styrene. I don't think Tamiya's polyester stuff does, but I think it may emit some heat as it cures, so don't lay it on too thick. I'd be thinking abut putting it on in lthin layers.

Congrat for the start of Macross  Group Build. Give a pat on back for all participants.

Hey Harshman,

Thanks for joining in and being part of the Group and thanks for providing us with the first finished build, even before the "official" start date.

We're going to be at it for a while, so if you feel inspired to build another somewhere down the line, feel free to drop  in again.

Time to get serious on the builds once I get back home. Ran out of Putty. :(

Ordered a few more tubes and also 3 packs each of the Wave Mobile staff. Love those little guys.

Will need to have a look at some chain-bases, etc too but that can wait a bit.

So far all the majors assemblies are done on the kits. The SD Valkyries will only receive minimal paint and putty though. Still trying to figure out how to do the in-flight display with 3 Planes.

Starting to add Decals to the SD Valkyrie today or tomorrow.

Most of the builds will be strictly OOTB for me.

Have fun guys.

WOW, the GB is offical and not a single post for the last 2 days????????????

Footnote:  removed the muzzle of the Vulcan and will putty up the hole.  Even if it is make believe, I still want to build it accurately.  I did however watch a video and the VF-what ever variant was firing tracers from both sides of the nose, but could not tell what was firing, so as informed, sensors they shall be.

Thanks to all who were helpful in this detail, Lord knows, I need all the help I can get!!!!!!!

Yeah, noticed the GB has become a graveyard since it officially started. Lets hope they are busy building and flood us with Images.

Myself still winging it back home should be there in a few hours. Know some kits have arrived and more should be incoming next week.

Will post some pics as this current lot has some stuff for the Macross GB in it.

Also decided that I will be doing the Wave VF-1S Fighter and Battroid build(as a Gerwoink) but will get those kits around the 10th next month.

Been informed that I might be needed on another trip in 2~3 weeks(europe this time).

Talk more when my feet are on the ground and I am holding a cool amber. 

Yeh, things are a bit slow at this end, but we have plenty of time.

I've been trying to finish off a little 1/170 VF-1S Armoured Battroid (much like TD's one earlier in this thread) that I started to keep me occupied while waiting for the start date to roll around. Again' it's a "snap kit" which would take all of 5 minutes to put together, but the seams are really nasty and it must have been a "Monday kit" where they didn't put enough plsticiser in the mix. As a result, the plastic is VERY brittle and difficult to work.

I hate the long curing time of Tamiya gloss acrylics.

I'm embarrassed to say that I have done no work on my project for this GB. I did work on the base for my Tomahawk, but the colors came out wrong, and then the paint chipped. very disheartening.

I do however have the YF-19 kit in hand, including some odd decals that HLJ sent along w/ the model. I think it will be an "in flight" display. In the box images this fighter looks very graceful in flight, but heavy and ungainly on the ground... plus I won't have to do the landing gear if it's flying.

Hey Guys.

Back on Home-soil and a box of stuff awaited me. Various kits and stuff for the Macross GB.

Here are a few pics:

Koto Chainbases(2 out of about 16 I ordered):

Those bases are nice and work for 1/100 and 1/144 scale. Need a bit of work to hide the connectors and they are not that tall so for tall robots combining 2 bases would work well.

Figures for Dorama Display:

Wave Mobile Staff 1/100 Scale:

Wave Mobile Staff 1/144:

Both vary nice sets and contain Pilots and Ground-crew/mechanics.

Other things included were 2 Bikes: Tamiya 1/12 Honda CX500 Turbo and Moto Guzzi V10 Centauro.

Next week I should get a SF3D Melusine, Koto PestX with Oboro , Horizon Wolverine and the 2 Wave VF-1S kits, 

SF3D Kauz is delayed need to check into that.

Time to sort some stuff out at home before I can get full steam back into building.

Home Mad-Modeler.  Looks like Christmas came early.  Look forward to your next post/photos.

Cosmic J I have been biting my finger nails to see your YF-19, how about some before build/kit photos of this bad boy.  I fully agree, flying it is.

Phil H, photos dude, we need photos of that 1/170 VF-1S, and if it were easy to build, where would be the fun in that!

Kugai, you tease, photos man, photos.

Group Builds are WIP=Works In Progress???????????

Do I need to call R Lee!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sorry for my contribution to the lull.  I figured I should wait until I'm in a better mood since I got stalled on the Glaug with something that would get me inclined to overuse the "" and "" smileys.

Remember the Tamiya putty I asked about?  Seems the stuff has a limited shelf life that's been exceeded.  After stinking up the place with the fumes ( I was on the 1st floor and my finace' could smell the stuff in the attic 10 minutes after i mixed in the activator ) and covering the steel pellets I CA-glued to the feet for added stability, it's now been almost exactly 72 hours and the sill hasn't set!  It's about as firm as just-mixed Milliput and doesn't seem to be curing beyond that.  The options I'm considering are getting matching parts from the spare kit and salvaging these later, making resin copies of the "toe" parts, or just sealing the mess I have with Milliput or something similar and hope this stuff doesn't have some kind of wierd effect later on.

I guess that's what I get for not trying to find more immediately finding a use for an initially disappointing product.

Bummer Kugai, I never, repeat never use the stuff.  I think as long as you use soon after purchasing you are OK, but  years?  I know of no way to correct this, the solvents will over time weep into the plastic and probably start to cause the plastic to crack/split.

I think the idea you had to use the same parts from another kit would probably be your best option.  But bad news for the donor, unless you have a plain to replace those parts some other way short of purchasing another kit.  The good thing is, you keep going with the subject you choose for the GB.

As for placing weight in a model to help it stay put and stand up as designed to do, fishing sinkers and 5 min epoxy.  This is a tried and true way to do this, period.  And the neat thing about epoxy, does smell, but I can assure you, the stuff will harden rock hard.

I just am not a fan of BB's, takes too many to amount too anything, but shot fishing weights, they are plenty heavy enough to do the jod.

Hope this has helped and I still want photos,

Aaaarggghhh, .... ok feeling better now.

Hit a small snag this end. Started on the Egg-plane Valkyrie and at first things went smooth.

Noticed decals are kinda thick and have little glue on them. Not a problem can handle that.

So applied them and for some they have underlying details, no problem pulls out the decal solution.

"Hah", say the decals "No way will we go down snugly".  Ok, fine pull them up, plain colour can be painted.

Tried a few other decals and they start disintegrating along the edges.Ok, now the blood pressure is rising a bit. Check the kit it has sort-of engraved detail where the integrated decal is supposed to have a fine line. 

So decided to trash the kit and use it as a stress-reliever. Rabbit watched it with interest doing the final attack run on the waste disposal opening.

Went and ordered another copy as it seems that it needs quiet a bit more TLC than initially assumed.

The Egg-Plane Valkyries now been upgraded from a quick-build to a standard build and I will do some improvements via part replacements and re-scribing to make painting(wash) easier where the supplied decals won't be used.

Still a nice kit  just need to adjust my game-plan a bit.

Apart from that tinkering on a few kits.

Shame about the decals. If you haven;t got some already get yourself some Gunze Mr Mark Setter (blue bottle). It has a mild adhesive which helps suck the decals down if they're light on glue. It also does away with silvering when applying decals toa  flat finished surface. If your decals were disintegrating, a little Microscale Liquid Decal Film will help hold them together.

Phil H.

Was just surprised as the decals are not standard Hase quality.

The Decals that were disintegrating are also for an area with recessed detail, so another place where paint will work better. Just needs a bit of scribing to make the wash flow easier.

Thx, I always keep Mr Mark Softer and Mr Mark Setter handy. Use them a lot as getting Future can be a bit of a pain.

Actually had them out as my Son asked me to do the body decals for his Tamiya Honda CX500(not confident yet on the big ones).  

Should have the new kit by Tuesday. The VF-1S kits (for the Gerwalk) will be arriving in a few hours, not sure if that build will be part of the GB.

Don't recall off-hand anyone doing a Gerwalk?

No Gerwalks are specifically listed, but I plan on including pics of my RVF-25 in all 3 modes.  One of the 1:200 kits I'm considering building to display with the Monster is a gerwalk VF-1A, but it's not an "official", committed part of my contribution to the build.

Sorry to hear about the decal issues.  I was ready to trash a PL 1:1000 Enterprise over brittle decals a few months back until some of you guys gave me some tips for salvaging that ended up working out well, so it must have been bad for you to actually follow through with the trash-and-restart.

Your mention of Gunze products reminded me of something I keep forgetting to ask about.  The Wave VF-0A kit calls for a Gunze color called "Hemp Brown" but when I've checked the color seems to be discontinued.  Does anyone know of equivalents from Testors or Tamiya ( the main brands the LHS seems to be able to get ) that I might be able to use?

I believe GM is doing his VF-1D variable kit in Gerwalk mode.

Yeh, the couple of times I've used the Mr Mark Setter, it's been pretty awesome. You just have to work quickly before the decal sticks down tight.

Kugai,

If you're looking for a match for Gunze 336 (the only "Hemp" I can think of) it's a modern RAF colour. Strangely, some of the colour charts I've seen online show it as a light olive-green like colour. The closest "in the bottle"  Tamiya match is XF-57 Buff, which is a little too pink - you can tone it down a touch with a dash of grey.

Hi All.

As expected Kit-Drop No.2 has arrived.

It includes the VF-1S Fighter and Battroid, SF3D Melusine, Pest-X and Oboro(her ride) kits.

Pest-X is a commission for a lady-friend who wants all the kits from the series.

Question on Macross Gerwalks.

1.) I guess the engine intakes would still be open for Gerwalk mode?

2.) Would Gerwalk still carry the wing-mounted missiles or would they have been ejected already?

Rushing to finish a "Hiace" to "Zelda Custom Van" conversion to clear the Bench(another commission). 

Fighting me with poor fit on the custom parts and horrible Instructions.

Mad-Modeler

Question on Macross Gerwalks.

1.) I guess the engine intakes would still be open for Gerwalk mode?

2.) Would Gerwalk still carry the wing-mounted missiles or would they have been ejected already?

 

I think the engine intakes could go either way depending on whether it's operating in an atmospheric environment or in space.

The wing missiles are something of an enigma as they simply appear when required   They're clean one moment and firing off broadsides of missiles the next. There's at least one scene where a battroid extends its wings to fire missiles, and there's no logical place for them to go when in battroid mode.

Whether you choose to include them in the GB or not, I'd be keen to see how they go together.

Thx, for the reply.

Yeah the missiles always puzzled me, as well as the VERY flexibe Turbine engine in the Legs, etc.

 I am thinking of going with the intakes(Fighter kit gives that option) and the wings mounted.

As usually I will keep a visual build-log over on Photobucket.

If I will add it into the GB or not will be a decision for later. Was surprised the kits are not all that partsy.

Well, I've finally opened up the bag of sprues in my SDF-1 kit (letting out 25 year old air in the process) and it's about what I expected, not terribly impressive.

Detail is way soft - the parts look like they were sculpted from wax and then left out in the sun. But then when you look cloely, you see things like this.

A lot of the parts are covered in fine scratches, almost as if the moulds weren't properly polished before they began pressing kits.

There's not a lot I can do about the kit, it's going to need a killer paintjob to make it presentable..

There's a listing on Ebay asking about $250.00 for this kit. If anyone pays that much for it they've got rocks in their head.  

Forgot, heard something on the grape-vine to the effect that Bandai will reissue some 1/72 Destroid Kits.

Like the old 1/72 Defender, Archer(Spartan), Regult, etc.

Personally unless the new repops are very cheap I would rather wait and see what Wave has to offer. Not holding my breath that the re-popped Defender will be much cheaper than the announced Wave Kit.

Mad-Modeler

Personally unless the new repops are very cheap I would rather wait and see what Wave has to offer. Not holding my breath that the re-popped Defender will be much cheaper than the announced Wave Kit.

At this time, it's believed (according to the guys at the MW forums) that these releases will be:

1/72 Defender
1/72 Spartan
1/72 Standard Regult
1/200 Monster

Expected price is 2100 Yen

Discussion here: http://www.macrossworld.com/mwf/index.php?showtopic=33020

Hi!

These is what I  will build during these GB:

The Super Valkyrie Battroid mode its a new addition, jejeje.

My plan is:

1) 1/72 Battroid (J Type Max TV Version)

2) 1/48 VF-1J , Hikaru Ichijo

3) 1/48 YF-19

4) 1/72 VF-0B

Hey Cabecar,

Nice selection of kits there. Looks like fun.

Sorry to hear of your loss Mad-Modeler, we all have been there, lets just hope it was painless.  I hate to get to the decaling and have the decals go South.  I have about every type solution you can legally purchase and there is 2 brands I use the most.  Micro system and Mr. Hobby (Gunze) system.  For thick or decals that do not stick well, Mr. Hobby.  For thin dante decals, Micro.  A slick finish is a must, Future and or vallego varnish of which I use alot of.  Just as Phil brought out, decals that come apart Micro Liqd Decal Film.  Heck on 20 year old decals, this is a must.

Kugai, Phil H is spot on again, Tamiya XF-57, and the toning down is a great idea to get a closer tint.

Phil H great to see you crack open that box, giving the current rate for purchase as priced by that great model resource price list called eBay, I know my hands would have been shaky and a giddy feeling as if a child getting away with something.  Com'on, you remember that!   Love the kit and as we all know, a 25 year old kit is going to be a challenge.  As for the scratch marks, old Revel kits were notorious for this, especially if from overseas.  I think the mind set was, these models were directed @ kids and not a lot of refinements was put into the process of molding.  But again, if it were easy!  Looking forward to this build Phil.

Cablecar, you got some cool stuff there buddy, that's about a years worth of building for me.  I really like the VF-1J/A.  Thats a future purchase for me for sure.

Great, alot of communication and builds going, now that is what a GB is about.  Sadly, no work today for me.  PSL tickets to go watch Carolina play Cininnati.  I live 30 mins from the Stadium and about 45 mins from CMS, will be there next month.  Nothing can be finer, than to be in Carolina in the morning!

And a Fine Farwell to Ya  all, or as my ole Gran Mammy use to say, catch ya on the flip side.

LOL - the box has been open for many years, but the parts had remained bagged until today. That $250 listing was the extreme end (the guy must be dreaming) - I'm sure I've seen it listed around the $20 range.

Somewhere in the stash there's about 7 or 8 Revell boxed transformable VF-1's, some still in original shrinkwrap, which have been there since the mid-80's. One of these may sneak out and find its way into this GB too.   I've seen these listed at crazy prices too - must be the "R" name, cos the Bandai pressings are still available pretty cheaply.