On building robots...

There are a good number of mecha kits in 1/72nd, although 1/100 and 1/144 are more popular due to the sheer scale of the robots in the more popular series (Gundam, Five Star Stories, etc.). The most likely series to find in 1/72nd are Macross, Dougram, Mospeada, Aura Battler Dunbine (if you like insect-like robots!), Armored Core, SPT Layzner, and Zoids (if you like animal-like robots!). My information is a survey of HobbyLink Japan's current offerings.

I like the robots from Bandai's SPT Layzner product line as starters for those wanting a robot build that's neither too difficult nor too toylike. The Buldy in that series is rather a favorite, and works pretty well, and is cheap too. It was originally issued about 20 years ago. What works for the Layzner series in particular is that the heads have integral cockpits just like aircraft, and so you can pose the "glass" canopy open to show off the pilot or put it in a maintenance diorama scene. The limbs and head are posable, with joints in the ankles, knees, pelvis, shoulders and elbows.

Most of the Mospeada kits by Aoshima in 1/72nd scale are of the fighter jet robots, 3-in-1 packs in which you get the same machine in jet mode, robot mode, and an intermediate mode used for takeoff and landing. The complexity is a little greater but it also lends itself more to detailing and customization. Like the SPT Layzner kits, these date from the 1980s originally.

The Armored Core robots from Kotobukiya are pricey, recent design, and have a great many sophisticated design features. They have poly-cap joints for a wide range of articulation movement and posability.

The Macross 1/72nd Valkyrie models available now are divided between Bandai's re-issued Eighties-vintage kits and Hasegawa's more recently engineered ones. The Bandai ones are reasonable, but the Hasegawa ones are closer to the state of the art these days.

As for weathering...the best answer I can give you is that it depends on the robot and on the scene you're trying to convey. An army "ground-pounder" robot mixing it up with the tanks and running amuck in a city...sure, you're going to need to weather it. A flying transforming fighter jet that only occaisionally lands in the bush...that you don't need to weather so much.

Hope this helps!

Stephen "FPilot" Bierce/IPMS #35922

You can spend whatever you like from a few dollars to a few hundred. Look inti the Bandai Perfect Grade kits if you want 600+ parts counts. The Zaku is very nice in this range. Also nice are the Takara/Wave Votom kits. They're 1/24 but scales don't mean a lot in this genre. They have a more mechanistic military apperance than some of the others. The Scopedog Red Shoulder is a good choice. Watch out for resin re-pops, they can be a real bugger. (Instuctions? What instructions....)