Robotech RPG Tactics Modeling Fun!

[40kGamer]

Hi everyone! Late 2014 provided some love for us 80s kids in the form of a long, long overdue kickstarter for Robotech! I missed the KS, probably to my own good fortune considering the drama surrounding it, but I did get the first wave models for Christmas. A lot of people have posted lamentations regarding these models online so I won't go into too much detail but I will list the following issues you will encounter if you delve into this game universe.

1. The models are very detailed. This is a 6mm game like Adeptus Titanicus (Epic 40k) and the designers managed to cram a lot of fine detail onto the models... although there is a price to pay.

2. The Sprues are too tight. Often there is not enough room to get clippers in between the model and Sprue so be prepared to use a super sharp Exacto knife and a tremendous amount of care removing parts.

3. The parts are NOT identified. Even veteran modelers have been exasperated by the failure to ID parts on the sprue especially since there are alternative parts and certain parts that were designed to go together. A little extra care with removing parts and dry fitting is required for best results.

4. Some parts are stupid small. No kidding... some of these parts are fractions of mm in size so you need to be careful removing them, handling them and in not accidently pitching the sprue while these tiny detail pieces are still hanging out on it! Some kits are far worse than others.

5. There are lots of long seams. I do NOT recommend super glue for this product. I used both GW and Testors Model Masters Plastic Glue (both with the long metal needle like applicators) to coat the seams and partially melt the plastic before pressing the pieces tightly together to create a slight ridge along the seams that can be sanded down.

So all of that being said do I still recommend the models? Absolutely. Once you get past the assembly they are true to the original anime. I'm very excited to paint them up over the next few weeks and actually play some games! Hopefully I can get all of these done before wave 2 lands!

Anyhow, on to the fun stuff... After assembling a host of basic models I got into the Destroid box that was not in the main set. Both the Phalanx and the Spartan are just begging for magnetized arms and after doing some basic assembly for Zentradi Battlepods and the 2 main box Destroids I decided to put a little extra effort into this kit.

First up we have the Phalanx. Not my favorite Destroid but still a fun little model. To magnetize the Missle Pods I used 1/8" Diameter x 1/16" thick magnets on both the body and arms.

http://i.imgur.com/iFE34EH.jpg?2


http://i.imgur.com/HDjlszC.jpg?2


http://i.imgur.com/hxGpzLF.jpg?2


I managed to rush the leg assembly and did not let the glue melt the seams enough before pressing them together so now I get to backfill them with some zap a gap or plastic putty before priming. Although in all honesty they are far smoother than they appear in the photos.

- - - Updated - - -

The second Destroid in the add on kit is the Spartan. This is my second personal favorite after the Tomahawk! Here is the same Spartan with all three magnetized arm options.

http://i.imgur.com/NhtPpL5.jpg?2

http://i.imgur.com/zUCQgon.jpg?2

http://i.imgur.com/WM3LKvz.jpg?2

And here is the magnet line up. The arms are way smaller in diameter so I glued two 1/16 x 1/32 magnets into the arms creating a 1/16 x 1/16 magnet for them. I still used a 1/8 x 1/16 for the body. these hold really well and you can actually pick the model up by the arm without it coming off.

http://i.imgur.com/RALPtp9.jpg?2

http://i.imgur.com/P809BUM.jpg?2

- - - Updated - - -

Next I decided to convert one of the Spartans to better match the artwork on the box... I wanted it to be showing off it's hidden chest guns... This was a little tedious but still took less than an hour to throw together. First I shaved off the chest 'door', next I hollowed out the cavity by drilling a couple of 1/16" holes... one from the front going back and one from the top going down. I then very carefully used a sharp Exacto knife to trim and scrape out the extra plastic to create the rectangular cavity. A little green stuff was pressed into the bottom of the cavity to create a smooth surface and give me something to press the plastic rod for the guns into. I used 1.2mm plastic rod for the central gun and 0.64mm rid for the 4 surrounding guns. Overall I'm pretty happy with how he turned out.

http://i.imgur.com/ijuaLRS.jpg?2

http://i.imgur.com/mk8YUNC.jpg?2

[40kGamer]

Starting to play around with the Valkyrie Battloid model. Here's a first pass at modifying a Battloid to have 'open wings'. Basically I carefully cut away the closed wings, then used a 0.7mm drill bit to drill a couple guide holes for where the fighter wings need to attach and finally used an Exacto to square up the hole so that the wing tab fits easy enough. Here are some side by side shots with an original Battloid Torso assembly.

http://i.imgur.com/C4kecpz.jpg?2

http://i.imgur.com/BEb8Axy.jpg?2

http://i.imgur.com/Mu1abeC.jpg?2

and here is how she looks with the wings inserted.

http://i.imgur.com/jYApp3p.jpg?2

http://i.imgur.com/gRpLeaN.jpg?2

I also started work on modifying a couple of sets of legs. I made all of the cuts prior to gluing the two halves together... actually the first time I've been really happy the legs are two piece! Using a sharp Exacto I removed each foot... this is pretty difficult and I managed to cut into one of my fingers while doing the first foot! Doh! I'm too old to make stupid mistakes like that! After that I was able to remove all of the others and then glue all of the halves together with no more incidents! I have kept an original leg with each of the disassembled ones to help me keep like parts together. We'll see how these go back together soon enough!

http://i.imgur.com/gbwFiU5.jpg?2

[40kGamer]

Zentradi Command Pod repairs complete! While the main Regulats are pretty easy peasy to slap together the Command pod sprue is an entirely different animal. I managed to break or lose several fiddly bits for the scout pod and after finishing the Command pod I broke off a chin gun when I picked it up for inspection! DOH! Well, there's very little that green stuff + plasticard & plastic rod can't fix. Lucky for me! :D

http://i.imgur.com/esB34IF.jpg?2

http://i.imgur.com/c8KpUgo.jpg?2

http://i.imgur.com/CKI7V3e.jpg?2

[40kGamer]

Early Veritech Battloid posing done... I decided to assemble a VF-1S straight from the box with no conversions other than a hand swap, what can I say I like open hands.
http://i.imgur.com/DOk2lYF.jpg?1

Side by side with a pod.

http://i.imgur.com/qtI4IuW.jpg?1

Next I worked up the legs for a second Battloid. Being able to rotate ever joint as if it were on a ball along with the ability to reposition the feet allows a lot of posing options. Although working with greenstuff can be a pain and takes forever! Not forever working just forever waiting for things to cure. Always good to have several models going so you don't grab one too early and deform your hard work before it sets. If you're like me you'll blow it every now and again anyhow cause curiosity as to how it looks gets the best of common sense.

Here's a side by side of the same legs. One set straight from the sprue the other modified.

http://i.imgur.com/DHzNuCO.jpg?1

And here is the full Battloid with the modified legs vs a standard pose with the same legs I started with.

http://i.imgur.com/hUJWenK.jpg?1

http://i.imgur.com/L4jXGDu.jpg?1

http://i.imgur.com/wZRiP5u.jpg?1

Even though it's a fair amount of work on models that are somewhat tedious to assemble I far prefer the more natural feel of the revised legs. Still a little GS work to go on these and a lot of smoothing before they are ready to paint up.

http://i.imgur.com/5KqjuuR.jpg?1

And here are the legs I posed and put together and set aside to work on today.

http://i.imgur.com/RW3Ops1.jpg?2

http://i.imgur.com/UryHcUY.jpg?1

http://i.imgur.com/HR6c9T1.jpg?1

[wayne williams]

excellent work i look forward to seeing them painted up .

[40kGamer]

excellent work i look forward to seeing them painted up .

Thanks mate! I'm going to finish up a full Veritech group of 1 VF-1S, 1 VF-1J and 5 VF-1A's and I'm going to take a modeling break and actually put some paint to plastic! :D

[40kGamer]

Repositioned VF-1J ready for action!

http://i.imgur.com/Bh0NjuL.jpg?2

http://i.imgur.com/Fcrxw1H.jpg?2

http://i.imgur.com/yE6kh3K.jpg?2

I also finished cutting the feet off of another 12 battloid legs. It is really dangerous so do not do it unless you have some experience and are very careful! I made a finger protector out of a thick napkin and some scotch tape!

http://i.imgur.com/9ZhtWRB.jpg?1

[40kGamer]

I have to admit, now that I've gotten into the grove with these Robotech minis I am completely hooked. I just love what you can do with them. I'm getting my Anime, Transformers and Adeptus Titanicus fix all in one place! Here's a kneeling pose I mocked up. A good bit harder than I have originally expected.

http://i.imgur.com/hxRel8e.jpg?2

http://i.imgur.com/s3p9N2b.jpg?2

http://i.imgur.com/BP6JEnO.jpg?2

http://i.imgur.com/bttZh2Y.jpg?2

http://i.imgur.com/NynsiBx.jpg?2

and here is a leaping into the air with open wings pose. The open wing conversion is seriously easy to do but making the arms work with it is another matter entirely! Holy cow! It was extra tough as I wanted to be able to add the wing missiles after I finished painting so I had to leave enough space to work them in without it looking too crowded. Hence the double gun grip pose was born to pull the arms across the front of the body and leave the wings as open as possible.

http://i.imgur.com/11oydrB.jpg?2

http://i.imgur.com/Bv6FcPv.jpg?2

http://i.imgur.com/AOiyLdI.jpg?2

http://i.imgur.com/aF0mQ6a.jpg?2

And here's a closer look at the hand over hand grip for the gun.

http://i.imgur.com/qnFieH9.jpg?2


Now if I can find some cool concept art to get more ideas for poses I'll be a happy cat! Any thoughts or ideas are very welcome. Cheers! /J

[40kGamer]

Did a little work on the 'jump to the side' pose and thought I'd share some very ugly early step pics so anyone nutty enough to do this won't be worried when things don't look so hot! :D

here's the basic pose tacked together with paperclips and a little green stuff.

http://i.imgur.com/EzaaY5A.jpg?2

http://i.imgur.com/UBuZghz.jpg?2

And here is a close up of how much damage you are likely going to do by removing the feet with an xacto knife (even if you're careful!)

http://i.imgur.com/UlCxIKc.jpg?2

I snapped this from a high angle so you can clearly see the paperclip pin in the leg joint. These pins run from the ankle up to the hip area since the legs are hollow. I stuff some green stuff up into the hollowed out ankle, drill a hole in the 'knee' joint and push the paperclip down from the knee into the green stuff at the ankle. (This+ a little superglue helps lock the pin in place) I leave enough paperclip sticking out of the top so that when I drill a hole in the upper leg I can thread it in.


http://i.imgur.com/lv3VR7k.jpg?2

I almost forgot to mention that I also got tired of the head laser facing backwards so I chopped it off, drilled a 0.8mm pilot hole and popped a plastic rod in. After this set up I used a needle file to shape the rod to mimic the laser. ;)

[40kGamer]

Various things moving along at the moment. Here is the mostly cleaned up leaping to the side pose.

http://i.imgur.com/qGpNO4Q.jpg?2

And here is a second pose inspired by the Max & Mirya holo arcade fight.

http://i.imgur.com/GLEaL8C.jpg?2

http://i.imgur.com/6sktiTe.jpg?2

http://i.imgur.com/8PxjHm5.jpg?2

http://i.imgur.com/SDkvtK6.jpg?2

and the two holo inspired poses facing off.

http://i.imgur.com/32oeUq2.jpg?2

[40kGamer]

Bouncing around a little but here's a quick how to for changing your VF-1S lasers on the Battloid. Actually it's pretty easy but since the pieces are so small it gets fiddly!

To start with grab the VF-1S head from the Battloid kit and a pair of the VF-1S side lasers from either the guardian or fighter kits.

http://i.imgur.com/H7achwq.jpg?4


Now comes the fiddly part! Carefully cut the lasers off of the Battloid head. I did this very very carefully with a sharp Xacto knife and then used the edge of the blade to scrape the surface flat. Then drill a tiny pilot hole with your hobby drill... this puppy is a fraction of a mm in diameter so it's pretty small! :D

http://i.imgur.com/lKbaFZU.jpg?4


That's it... You're ready to slap the parts together. Make sure and face the flat side of the head lasers down and away to minimize their visual impact. After it sets up you can alos use a little ApoxiSculpt or Green stuff to round out the flat spot.

http://i.imgur.com/bEcxSum.jpg?3

http://i.imgur.com/YqSyxx9.jpg?3

[40kGamer]

The next Battloid for this week is another stab at the kneeling pose. The other one was nice but still felt like it could go a little farther. So let's take a look at the most extreme Battloid pose I've put together yet! This one required that every single joint be reworked or pinned at an odd angle.

> The neck joint was cut away and a pin inserted at a sharp angle to get the head to 'look up' or ahead in this pose.

> The arm joints were sanded down, pinned and repositioned. It's really hard to get the one arm to reach the ground while the Battloid is kneeling and I decided to have the other army holding the gun by the barrel to the rear.

> The waist joints were really annoying and in the end I got frustrated by them falling apart due to such little surface connection that I drilled a hole through the entire hip connector with matching holes in the leg/hips and inserted a long paperclip 'pin' that let me get the waist/legs where I needed it.

> The legs took a few passes to get them bent and turned at extreme enough angles for the knee to actually be on the ground and the torso to be able to fit with a slight forward tilt.

> New hands had to be sculpted out of greenstuff. The ones in the pic are 'roughed in' and after they cure I will be shaping them and adding some details.

Whew. This one was a lot more work then the normal ones. So let's get to the actual rough WIP photos. Still a lot of green stuff work to do before this bad Battloid is ready for the brush!

http://i.imgur.com/BIHiMwX.jpg?2

http://i.imgur.com/PoKc3WB.jpg?2

http://i.imgur.com/Ruw9IX0.jpg?2

And here's one last shot with this one next to the standard out of the box pose showing the parts that I started with.

http://i.imgur.com/cJMrx5b.jpg?2

[40kGamer]

Hi everyone! I managed to tack together another pose... still need to finish up the green stuff work on it and smooth/fix a few joints. This one I modeled directly from a screenshot so I thought I would post up the source material for comparison. I think I got pretty close to it but any C&Cs are always welcome!

http://i.imgur.com/FkoA1jJ.jpg?1

http://i.imgur.com/RKxwitk.jpg?2

http://i.imgur.com/JXAqyZF.jpg?2

http://i.imgur.com/mVJyyrF.jpg?2

http://i.imgur.com/c279lQc.jpg?2

[40kGamer]

I'm taking a little Battloid break and starting to monkey around with the Gerwalk and Fighter kits. It's going to take a lot more effort to be very creative with these two as they are missing the 'human like mecha' element. For a start I blended a Fighter with some Gerwalk parts to capture a mid-change vibe. The worst part of this assembly was getting the folded tail fins to lay across each other and still look ok. I actually had to use a needle file and sand a portion of the fin down to an almost paper thinness. (Honestly I would probably leave them up if I did this again as the model comes across as a bit 'flat' with them folded down.)


http://i.imgur.com/DyIAaFk.jpg?2


http://i.imgur.com/Au2QVsS.jpg?2


http://i.imgur.com/1fWp8ag.jpg?2

[40kGamer]

Finally found the animation sequence where the not fighter/not gerwalk pose made an appearance. It was a Max sequence... big surprise as a lot of the dogfight animation revolved around Max. This was from the movie "Macross: Do You Remember Love".

http://i.imgur.com/TqrL8ZA.jpg

and here's a mock up.

http://i.imgur.com/R4cBL0n.jpg?3

http://i.imgur.com/AZYtFaG.jpg?2

This isn't that hard of a conversion to throw together as you can use most of the pieces directly from the Fighter and Gerwalk kits. The only tedious part is that you need to add a small leg extension before you pin the Gerwalk legs to the fighter body.

http://i.imgur.com/HRzDQO8.jpg?2

The one on the bottom is for a leg close to the body while the top one is to extend the legs length down and away a little. The indenture on the bottom leg is where the Gerwalk leg will 'slot' into it. After things cured I also added a metal pin through the green stuff into the fighter cavity being careful to not drill all the way through the fighter.

This shot ended up being out of focus but I wanted to give everyone an idea of how long the foot pins are that I am using. Since the legs are hollow I prefer a long pin that spans the leg cavity and touches the top wall of the plastic. I also prefer to fill the leg that will be pinned with greenstuff to add some structural integrity to it as well.

http://i.imgur.com/A8uHGSd.jpg?2

And while it looks like the weekend progress was light I spent a little time fixing a second Scout Pod. (I really don't know how you guys are getting the double antenna and the paper thin sensor off the sprue intact! Here's a WIP of my replacement antenna for Scout pod #2.

http://i.imgur.com/8rErGVk.jpg?2

And here's a sneak peek at a piece of another weekend project I started to play around with!

http://i.imgur.com/Zw9p7FR.jpg?2

At the moment there are a lot of things at various stages of completion that I hope to finish up for pics soon. Cheers!

[Gotthammer]

The arms in gerwalk appears a few times in the series. I know Rick uses it when he rescues Lisa from the Grand Cannon (http://youtu.be/9MjtDJ-2IKE?t=2m56s) though in that sequence the tail fin unit is flipped over like a standard gerwalk mode. Think it appears a few other times as well but none as notable as that one.

Man wish my stuff was here it looks so good ;_;

[40kGamer]

The arms in gerwalk appears a few times in the series. I know Rick uses it when he rescues Lisa from the Grand Cannon (http://youtu.be/9MjtDJ-2IKE?t=2m56s) though in that sequence the tail fin unit is flipped over like a standard gerwalk mode. Think it appears a few other times as well but none as notable as that one.

Man wish my stuff was here it looks so good ;_;

Sorry you're still waiting on these! I read that Australian orders are finally on the way/showing up. Can't believe how long it's taken to get the worldwide distribution on this done... Palladium dropped the ball pretty bad with this release!

- - - Updated - - -

I'd missed those clips! Thanks for the link! I knew the in between mode had been in there somewhere but I could not find it! Might use it as an excuse to rewatch the Macross saga. :D

[40kGamer]

Hello everyone!

Usually I picture things near or at completion... well I thought I'd go a different way with this project. While I was waiting rather impatiently for green stuff (GS) to cure it hit me that I needed a distraction. For no good reason whatsoever, I decided it would be cool to do a vignette. (You really have to give it to the French for providing cool words to describe things.)

First up is the rough base layout. Nothing is attached and it's possible that a bigger or smaller base may be used for the final piece.

http://i.imgur.com/nQuH0Rb.jpg?3

Second thing today is what will ultimately be a mecha hand. It's going to take 4 separate sessions to finish it cause I'm really into layering GS!

http://i.imgur.com/7BgEALD.jpg?3


Session 1 was the biggest. I mixed up some GS, made a sausage and wrapped it completely around the barrel. Next I used a flat tool to shape it into a continuous 'ring' of GS and cut away any extra from the ring to leave it roughly the right size for the hand. It was set aside for ~15-20 minutes to let the GS really stick to the plastic and start to firm up. The rest of step 1 was shaping the fingers with the business end of an Xacto knife. It's easiest for me to get the fingers roughly the same size by very gently making a line that splits the entire hand in half and then splitting these halves in half again to get 4 fingers ~ the same size. This is slow and tedious work. The GS in the thumb area was cut away as I wanted to add the thumb later.

Session 2 was short and sweet. After everything cured for a few hours, a tiny bit of GS was added to the back of the hand area and shaped to make the armour. Sorry I missed that angle in the pics, I'll add it next time.

Session 3 added the thumb. A more experienced sculptor could have done the hand/thumb in one go but I've found that if I work on all sides of a piece, more often than not I manage to ruin some of the detail with my chubby fingers. In the long run it's just easier for me to let things cure and do some extra steps.

Session 4 (tonight) will add some fine details to the back of the hand. There again this could have most likely been done earlier but layering works best for me and as a rule of thumb, unless you're trying something new... go with what you know!

A few notes on GS...

> When you're working with it you have to get a feel for the sweet spot. If the GS is too soft it's easy to deform so you have to set it aside and let it firm up more... however, if it firms up too much then you can't get it to stick or hold the shape you want! It's one of those things that comes with practice and time.

> GS is only really sticky for a short time after it's mixed so if you need it added on to something then you need to get it pressed against it pretty quick.

> GS does not stick to plastic well... at all. After it fully cures it can pop off pretty easy. I usually head this off at the pass by doing the GS work I need to do, letting it cure and then carefully popping it off myself so that I can reattach it with a tiny amount of Superglue.

If you're a hobby nut like me, the best thing you can do is surf the net for articles and then dig in. You can learn a lot through trail and error. :p


Next up we have the second hand. I just started this last night so it is still pretty raw.

http://i.imgur.com/IUXtbGO.jpg?3

At the moment this is just the fingers part of the hand. Next I will add the armoured back and thumb. With the way this hand is shaped I'll be doing these in one step... I hope!

When finished I want this hand to be open with the fingers curled just a little. For me it's always easier to sculpt against a firm surface so I grabbed some Sprue out of the trash and used it for a work area. Since GS doesn't stick well to plastic it will be easy enough to pop this baby off when I'm ready! I thought about doing the hand over a wire armature by roughing out the shape and then layering the detail onto it but thought going the sprue route might be easier... we'll see how it turns out!

Last up is a WIP pair of legs. Earlier I posted a pic of these in various pieces. After figuring out the final shape/position of these I pinned them and filled any gaps with GS.

http://i.imgur.com/d0X276M.jpg?3

Sigh... these things take so long and I get so excited to see the final piece that it's almost torture waiting on parts to dry and for work days to pass. Tonight I hope to make some progress with the hands and maybe get the legs attached to the waist. I can promise that there will be a lot more to come as this project rolls toward completion! Cheers! :)

[40kGamer]

Project update!

Finished adding the small vent to the back of hand #1

http://i.imgur.com/SkA0iBC.jpg?2

and cut the spure down to an angle and added the thumb/back hand armour for hand #2

http://i.imgur.com/sVlmdhv.jpg?2


Also got the legs pinned in place for a dry run but had to break one of the feet off and redo the GS work to get a different angle on the final piece.

http://i.imgur.com/GphRFUz.jpg?2

Finally... carefully cut the head laser mount away from the back of the head and glued it back in place to get the final laser position.

http://i.imgur.com/OLe7zlI.jpg?2

[40kGamer]

Finally getting to the point where things are taking shape. Although there is still a long way to go!


http://i.imgur.com/BeD61E2.jpg?2


http://i.imgur.com/P8L9rcC.jpg?2

As for the missing arm... It's waiting on the hand to cure after the last detail was added.


http://i.imgur.com/Xla5v06.jpg?2

[40kGamer]

Taking a cue from the Ancient Greek aphorism "know thyself" I redirected the scope and scale of the Spartan Vignette. The whole project was inspired by the amazing artwork of Dan Dussault that was used in the rulebook. The complete picture here is from his Deviant Art page where you can find some inspirational work!

http://i.imgur.com/XXMLGFS.jpg?1

And here is the latest WIP.

http://i.imgur.com/NKyVnA5.jpg?2

I should have kept the source material closer as I managed to blow the angles on the hands and head lasers! Yikes! I may have another go at the hands before it's all done but we'll see.

The left hand looks really fuzzy from where I have to alter it heavily after it came off the sprue. I managed to get the fingers too long and the shape was way off from what I wanted.

And some additional angles.

http://i.imgur.com/JPScTB3.jpg?2


http://i.imgur.com/DkZRMuZ.jpg?2


http://i.imgur.com/EwhU7LB.jpg?2


Spartan #2 is less dramatic as it's cobbled together from test pieces. I decided to upgrade the hands by modeling one to be pointing while the other is balled into a fist. (There is a little detail work to do on the fist so it has an unnatural look in the photos.)

http://i.imgur.com/Rb0RB6j.jpg?2

http://i.imgur.com/GFouDpc.jpg?2

After a little detail work these one should be ready to walk off the assembly line and head over to paint!

And here are both of them next to one out of the box for comparison.

http://i.imgur.com/4DsgpWx.jpg?2

Happy Monday everyone!