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Now building, VF-25F Tornado Messiah


Jefuemon

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Hey, my first kit-bash! Thought I'd share what I'm doing here to those who might not as yet taken the plunge in combining two different company's kits.

For the main base kit, I'm using Hasegawa's VF-25 Super kit, since that way I don't have to futz around with trying to fit on the leg armor. You will need to separate these parts out, though. The middle portion is not needed.

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These are the Tornado parts you'll need from the Bandai kit. I despise the Bandai Frontier line, that's why I'm putting these parts onto a Hasegawa kit.

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Wings? You won't need them. You can also skip the part where you put in the wing mounts/swing mechanism, since you're going to keep the wings fully swept anyways.

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On the Tornado wings, you'll need to open the opening up a bit more to fit over the Hasegawa kit.

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That's where I'm at right now. When I come to more modifications, I'll update.

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I'm really looking forward to seeing how this works out as well. Best of luck. I've been thinking about getting a Bandai Messiah myself, and posing it in battroid/Gerwalk modes alongside the superior Hasegawa fighter kit. (I suppose I could alternatively try modding the Hasegawa kit into the other modes...)

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I'm really looking forward to seeing how this works out as well. Best of luck. I've been thinking about getting a Bandai Messiah myself, and posing it in battroid/Gerwalk modes alongside the superior Hasegawa fighter kit. (I suppose I could alternatively try modding the Hasegawa kit into the other modes...)

Yes, I'd recommend Bandai for Gerwalk or Battroid, but no matter how much I shoved and squeezed, I could never get my plain VF-25 to look decent in Fighter mode.

I've got a YF-29 Durandal kit that will use up a few of the Bandai fighter parts in its construction, so I've got no trouble in trying my luck at kitbashing out a Tornado.

Of course, knowing my luck, now Hasegawa is going to announce that they'll be releasing one later this year!

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One can only hope! ;)

Nice to see you doing this, Jeff. Looking forward to how it comes out. I'd had similar thoughts about doing one for a Super RVF but that was before Hasegawa released its Super Messiah kits. Since they've also done a VF-25G kit now, I'm guessing an RVF can't be too far behind.

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You will need to separate these parts out, though. The middle portion is not needed.

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I'm thinking the two outer parts are the fuel tanks/verniers that attach to the back of the legs? And does the middle one go over the shield? I wonder if you can still fit that onto the fighter mode. I don't know much about the Tornado pack; does the "tail probe" that runs from the backpack guns to the rear of the fighter sit flush with the shield, or is there space between the two? (Such that the Super shield part could fit.)

These are the Tornado parts you'll need from the Bandai kit. I despise the Bandai Frontier line, that's why I'm putting these parts onto a Hasegawa kit.

attachicon.gif002.JPG

Does that middle part, the long protrusion (what I called the "tail probe") serve a purpose in the movie? It could be as simple as holding extra fuel, or even be a tail gun. Otherwise it just looks to be taking up space.

Wings? You won't need them. You can also skip the part where you put in the wing mounts/swing mechanism, since you're going to keep the wings fully swept anyways.

attachicon.gif003.JPG

On the Bandai manual, it looks like you sweep them back all the way (into the high-speed configuration), then install the Tornado wings. Is that what you meant here? (I initially thought you meant that the wings would be fully swept forward.) Also, what purpose does cutting the wings the way you did serve?

EDIT:

On an unrelated note, does Hasegawa ever re-issue any of its LE kits? I'm not clamoring so much for a VF-25G (because they're releasing a Super 25G soon anyway), but I'd love to get my hands on some of their other LE Macross/Ace Combat kits, like the Armored VF-0 and the Kei Nagase Shinden II.

Edited by kajnrig
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I'm thinking the two outer parts are the fuel tanks/verniers that attach to the back of the legs? And does the middle one go over the shield? I wonder if you can still fit that onto the fighter mode. I don't know much about the Tornado pack; does the "tail probe" that runs from the backpack guns to the rear of the fighter sit flush with the shield, or is there space between the two? (Such that the Super shield part could fit.)

Does that middle part, the long protrusion (what I called the "tail probe") serve a purpose in the movie? It could be as simple as holding extra fuel, or even be a tail gun. Otherwise it just looks to be taking up space.

On the Bandai manual, it looks like you sweep them back all the way (into the high-speed configuration), then install the Tornado wings. Is that what you meant here? (I initially thought you meant that the wings would be fully swept forward.) Also, what purpose does cutting the wings the way you did serve?

1. Yes, the Tornado "back portion" goes from covering the head, to back over the shield. So, you need to separate out the back leg armor from the Super kit.

2. Yes, the wings are swept back in high-speed configuration. The fighters wings go inside the Tornado Pack wings, and the Hasegawa wings don't quite fit, so they get a bit of a trim.

Now, on with some updated mods:

During construction, use Part A3. That's the regular fighter version upper intake covering area. (area right behind cockpit).

Part D14 needs a trim. Also, the underside of the Tornado back part need some serious inner filing. Be sure you don't get overambitious, and sand through, though! I've already got one area that's pretty transparent as it is. When it fits like this, you're good.

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Next round, the legs.

The reason why I picked the Super for the base kit is that the leg armor is just a straight build, no trying to fit Bandai armor on a Hasegawa leg (or Bandai leg on Hasegawa kit). However, the Super kit has an armored cap on the leg intakes, which the Tornado does not have. Luckily though, all the parts to a regular Messiah are included in the Super kit!

On the top is the Super leg, bottom is the standard. You'll need to put the intake together on the standard leg (instructions can be found here if you don't have an extra set laying around), then cut along the panel line.

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The intake part and leg will attach to the fuselage like this. There's a bit of an open area, so to add some fill I used some Wave epoxy putty, and filled in the extended bit on the leg. When it dries, I'll sand to fit. I'm not going to have the two parts attached or anything, I just wanted something there to suggest that the legs are still connected.

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Think I'm almost finished with the mods. Will updates when more come up.

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I think the final round of modifications is finished.

Sanded down the epoxy putty I had put at the front of the leg parts to fill in behind the intake parts. Going to work just as I had hoped.

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Last modification is to the armor on the back of the legs. The Tornado back piece has some tabs you need to cut room for. You don't want to take these tabs off, as they're going to hold the back piece onto the fuselage.

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Also, someone asked me about why I trimmed the wings so dramatically. Here you can see how much of the wing is visible once built, so that's why!

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Just wanted to say that the modifications look to be finished. Started puttying/sanding today; then prime and paint; followed by decalling/detailing.

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