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Where's a good place to buy cheap mecha robots to convert into Tau suits (specifically broadsides)?

Mauleed: Buyer beware. I would be careful using anime kits for conversion components: Here's a short list of ones that I tried and found out the parts were all the wrong scale:

Gundam Seed 1/144 scale kits - the non-HG variety. These are around 1.5x to 2x too large. I have a Mobile BuCue from this line and its back mounted guns seem to be more along the scale for Hammerhead weaponry. Cost: $8.99 Cdn

Gundam Seed SD kits - These AGAIN are around 1.5x to 2x too large, despite the deceptively small looking box-art. Cost: $10.99 Cdn

Zoids: Various Types - (Various price) - While the guns work at the right scale, getting twin-linked guns out of them is a pain in the ass.

I may try the regular series SD kits - they appear to be smaller, than the Gundam Seed variety (but with less cool bitz, i.e. jump packs and shields) but I suspect that they'll also run around 1.25-1.5x too large.

Others seem to have success with the old Macross series model kits. The old Dougram kits also seem to be of simmilar scale. There's a series of Gundam action figures (boxed imports) which seem to be the right size to kitbash with crisis-suit chasis, but it'd be prohibitively expensive.

www.hlj.com (Hobby Link Japan) has a good selection of kits. (and a good indication of cost as well).

Addenda: Anyone know if the Heavy Gear miniatures are compatible... I seem to recall they came in 2 sizes.

Heavy Gear looks about the right size. Says this guy is 42mm and $10

Slap on $6 worth of railguns and he's a much cooler looking broadside.

I misspoke. It's $8

This one's also 40mm:

43mm: (the base is 1")

So do I blow ~$10 to find out if they'll work or not?

 

If you do, please post your results. I think the white one seems the nicest (1st post).

@Mauleed

Warning about the Heavy Gear stuff, they're too small to pose as broadsides. I have a few, and sizewise they're only about as big as Terminators, and nowhere near as bulky. A better suggestion would be to grab some of the new Infinity models, but those are damnably expensive.

Why not convert a normal Crisis suit into a Broadside? For the price of 2 Broadsides, you can get 3 Crisis Suits, and it really wouldn't be all that difficult to give em railguns and SMS systems.

They're about the size of terminators. Much smaller than crisis suits.

They are definetely not as tall as regular crisis suits, but they look nice. I use a Black Mamba stealth as my Shas'el. I'll post some pictures if you want. I also found a 1/200 Armored Veritech that I was originally going to use for a broadside. he is much taller than the crisis suit, and the rail guns would have fit nicely stowed on his back. however, since now i'm not using broadsides, I made him into my other shas'el.

Got a link to that?

Here's an older 'gear next to a crisis suit on Agis' site: http://agisn.de/html/tau.html

Well that looks big enough