Macross MAC II Monster Build-Along

[kjev]

We got some more added to the torso, finishing out the cockpit, rear sections, and a few add-ons.







A few points on lining things up that I learned:

1. When putting the top pieces of the torso together, line up the TOP edges, not the bottom. We ended up with about a 1/8" drop between the center torso piece (O-1 and G-3) and the nose section.
2. For the rear pieces, line the sloping edges up flush. Hopefully this picture helps:
   
   

We also started putting the arms together. For the sake of keeping things simple, we decided not finish the arms until we had the legs and torso complete, just so they wouldn't be knocking around while we finished the rest.

If I understood the diagrams right, and interpreted my reference pictures right (thank you again, Dolza1971, for the great closeups of the shoulders!), they go together thusly:



AND, the notches on each side are NOT the same size. I think the wider ones go on the bottom. I didn't like the white paper showing on the inside, and I wanted these to be stronger, so I cut out the same pieces from the misprints and glued them inside. Not the best fix, but it'll work.

Sorry this last pic is a little blurry, but you get the idea.



Usually, I'll stay up after the kids go to bed and cut out and reinforce parts. My son came up to me yesterday, and proudly announced he he had attached the shoulders on his own.

He did a darn good job too! He's also pretty stoked that one of his school assignments is to build a model.

[kjev]

Now that I'm back to the day job, it takes a lot longer to get anything done! But we were able to get the main guns built and glued into place.

All the parts:



The main challenge was getting the barrels to roll smoothly, since their orientation on the paper is across the grain (but they wouldn't fit any other way that I could see)

I ended up rolling them around the handle of my X-acto knife. I glued down about half an inch at a time, and it seemed to work pretty well. I assembled the base of the barrels first, and use them as a guide. I'd roll the barrel into a cylinder, then slide it in. The base squished it to the right size, and the X-acto handle gave me something to press against to push the edges together.



Afterwards, we glued a cylinder of black construction paper inside to make them stronger, and to make the inside of the barrels look black.



We also stuffed the bases with glue-soaked toilet paper to make them sturdier. It takes awhile to dry, when it's done, it really makes things sturdy. This was my method for hanging them up out of the way to dry. The clamps are cheapos from Harbor Freight, held to the lamp's arm with magnets.







The boy decided he wanted them aiming slightly different directions, like the beast was tracking multiple targets.



Since they're pretty big, we decided to compare them and see what caliber they were.

.30-06, apparently.





The guns of...somewhere.



AND THEN...

Once they were in place, we felt it was time to attach the torso to the legs. We're going for strength, here, so we used 6 pins made from an 1/8" dowel. They're long enough to go from the bottom of the hips through the main torso.

Of course, we almost got carried away.



The Pins:



And all planted and ready for the torso:



And a pictures of the wee beastie altogether:







I accidentally deleted the picture, but the barrels are over a foot long, and about half an inch in diameter. And that's in spite of the fact that this was shrunk slightly going from A4 to 8.5x11 paper. (I have thoughts of building my own, and printing it on 11x17, just for kicks).

And suddenly, all we have left are a few greeblies and the arms. Hopefully I can get part of them assembled this weekend.

And now, a few words from "The Boy":

I really like my mech. I would of change a few thing on it. So far so good.We just have the arm's to do.The arm's have 4 gauss rifles ,2 lasers cannon.We are going to have a huge battle; but I get to learn how to play real battletech.

I am really greatfull for every on that look at the pictures.


to people

from Irontail


bye


Proud Dad

[Editor's note: Irontail is his nickname on our paintball team, The Doombunnies. He's a founding member, and at age 9, is a well-known veteran of two tournaments (I'm just known as his dad). I thought this was a great time for him to get some practice in using a computer, since it's something he'll need to know in life.]

[legal01]

Looking impressive, almost done and ready to be presented in all its glory!

[Vermin_King]

Very nicely done. I never could get my son involved in this hobby.

[kjev]

THIS THREAD IS NOT DEAD!!!

We've just had a round of some sort of springtime guck go through our house. As soon as we're not oozing like swamp zombies, we'll get the arms done.