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Does anyone carry the 1:72 Aliens Drop Ship kit?


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Yup. Halcyon went tango-uniform a while back, but someone bought the molds and you can get the kit here in the states, but it costs a few bucks. I looked at HLJ this morning but no joy there. B)

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http://www.artoftoy.com/dropshipaliens.html for the original. Not cheap.

Tsukada bought the molds and did the re-pop.

Try these guys

http://fschobbies.com/scifi/aliens/aliensmodels.html

There's also an Aioshima version, but thats die-cast, which makes Googling a pain, because you get a lot of hits for those

Hope this helps,

Matt

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http://www.artoftoy.com/dropshipaliens.html for the original. Not cheap.

Tsukada bought the molds and did the re-pop.

Try these guys

http://fschobbies.com/scifi/aliens/aliensmodels.html

There's also an Aioshima version, but thats die-cast, which makes Googling a pain, because you get a lot of hits for those

Hope this helps,

Matt

Thanks Matt, it does help. I've seen the Aioshima versions and while they look nice, the price is too much, expecially when I'm considering finishing my UD-4L in an variant paint scheme. Do you have any experience buying from First State?

Update - they don't appear to have a secure checkout - you fill out a form and it sends the information to them in the form of an e-mail, out in the open. No way am I going to do that. Back to square one I guess...

Edited by Trigger74
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Truthfully, even though the Aoshima diecast is expensive, it is better then the kit. I struggled through a couple years ago and they are a pain. There is no internal bay for the APC if you put the ramp down (not even an opening) and there are gaps you can see daylight through if you open the weapons bays. Cockpit detail is also non-existant and reminds me of some Matchbox kits for the slab appearance of the seats. You can overcome some of the problems by closing the ramp and the weapons bays, but it is still rather basic. Otherwise, invest in some sheet styrene to plug the gaps and expect to scratchbuild the APC bay if you put the ramp down. So, if you do find one, don't pay too much for one as this isn't exactly a Japanese quality kit. It builds more like some early injection molded limited production offerings (such as Pegasus). The decals offered are nice though.

As another alternative, Leading Edge Games also offered an expensive 1/72 Dropship kit entirely cast in white metal during the early 1990s in connection with their Aliens roleplaying game and miniature line. It was heavy and had no open cockpit, but in some ways it was superior to the Halcyon/Tsukuda offering. It is probably even more expensive today though if you can find it.

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Yeah, I built a Drop Ship kit way back when I was in college and I'm already familiar with its numerous shortcomings. But my skills have improved since then and I feel confident I can build it with better results. Unfortunately the original didn't survive moving, so now I'm back to square one.

The die cast looks great and all if one has that kind of disposable income, but I want my Drop Ship in an alternate paint scheme from that seen in the movie (but still in USCM markings) and there's no way I can bring myself to repaint a $200 die cast.

Edited by Trigger74
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It varies, but most I have seen over the past year on eBay go for between $45 and $60. There's on on eBay right now that's up to $71 with days still to go, but the seller has no history and neither does the top bidder. In fact, both the seller and the top bidder became eBay members on the exact same day.

I've heard of people in Japan picking these up for around $20. The seller here is in Japan so I've got a feeling that a friend of the seller is helping to inflate the price of the kit. I'm watching it, but have no intention of participating in that auction.

Edited by Trigger74
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It's really time for someone to do another kit. It sounds crazy, I realize, but considering Hasegawa decided to pick up the Macross franchise after two decades, it's not unbelievable. The movie was a hit among sci-fi fans.

I'd pay a considerable price for a 1/48th scale ship.

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I'm keeping an eye open on eBay for this kit, and I remember from the Nats last year that some one still carries it - does anyone have any idea who?

Thanks in advance

Are you UK or US based?

I saw one (the Halcyon kit,that is) a couple of weeks ago at the East Midlands Model Show,UK on sale from a chap called "Mr Models", he had a lot of the Halcyon Aliens kits available.

Karl

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I'm in the U.S. Do you have contact info for this "Mr. Models?"

Fish-

Amen that. I'm a fan of the VF- kits, but no one quotes Macross. A new tool 1:72 or 1:48 UD-4L would be awesome!

Edited by Trigger74
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I'm in the U.S. Do you have contact info for this "Mr. Models?"

I'll have a look, last time I picked up one of his business cards - I'll have a look for it tomorow.

Karl

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okay okay okay

not sure if this is any help, i actually have the kit... problem is its halfbuilt. i gave up more than ten years ago... i actually started to fill in the canal/panel lines with putty and been sanded smooth... i bought some trimaster hinges to make the weapon outriggers workable.... i also 'acquired' a apir of fujimi 1/72 ejection seats for use... if you still want it i can sell it to you cheap. to be safe i can arrange a ebay auction just for you so the 'trust' factor is there.

if you are not interested, dont bother replying ... :rofl: :blink: :thumbsup:

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  • 1 month later...

Trigger74,

Sorry it's been a long time comming, but I've found Mr Models address:

Mr Models

35 Abbey Rd

Bearwood

Birmingham

B67 5RA

Tel:0121 420 2046

Email: mrmodels@aol.com

Hope this helps.

Karl

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As another alternative, Leading Edge Games also offered an expensive 1/72 Dropship kit entirely cast in white metal during the early 1990s in connection with their Aliens roleplaying game and miniature line. It was heavy and had no open cockpit, but in some ways it was superior to the Halcyon/Tsukuda offering. It is probably even more expensive today though if you can find it.

Funny you should mention it: I've been cleaning house and discovered I still have a box of parts for the soft-metal dropship kit. Haven't inventoried it yet and I'm sure it's incomplete, but if someone desperately needs a part or two to fix theirs, let me know.

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Wasn't/Didn't SMT put out a resin 1/48 Dropship a while ago? I thought I remembered reading about it on Starshipmodeler.

Edit: Found a pic of it :

veh3_001Sa1.JPG

Yes, and quite frankly for the cash they wanted it was a piece of crap. Or rather several large pieces. Which is too bad because it's a somewhat awe inspiring vehicle.

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Wasn't/Didn't SMT put out a resin 1/48 Dropship a while ago? I thought I remembered reading about it on Starshipmodeler.

Edit: Found a pic of it :

veh3_001Sa1.JPG

Found this when I was putzing around on Ebay today.....

1/48 Drop Ship

Only a couple of days left, and some considerable jack to get it... but if you like it enough....

(I also have some print photos of a 1/35 dropship I saw at the Scottish Nationals a few years back, I'll scan them in if I can)

HTH

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The Tsukuda remould of the Halcyon kit was a lot of years ago and even harder to find than the original Halcyon kit. The re- releases last year were by a different company and were the Sulaco, the Narcissus, the powerloader but NOT the Dropship.

If you do want a decent APC to go with the kit if you open the APC bay then the Aoshima diecast was sold seperately and is very accurate in outline and detail. I have two of the Aoshima dropships, 01 and 02, and if you can stretch to them they are very nice.

There was a 1/35 scale "kit" done years ago by a Brit company, but it is no more than an assemblage of very bad lumps of resin, vacform and sheet styrene.

The 1/48 resin DS was OK, but had some frankly weird contours around the nose. I own some of the original set construction drawings for the fullsize dropship mockup, in particular the cockpit and these illustrate some of the errors to me.

I do also have a 1/36 resin dropship that was molded off the production maquette for the Halcyon kit (1/72 kits traditionally were tooled at 2x size and the pantographed down to size) but that one will have to be pried out of my cold dead hands......

Cheers

Tony

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