VF-1A Grunt

That looks good - I'll have to get some of those for the old Battroid models I have. Their hands always reminded me of balloon animals!

Wow, that's incredible!

A trick recommended by model railroaders (I haven't tried it yet myself), after burnishing the edge of the tape, is to seal the edge by spraying a thin layer of the base color (under the tape). Then the second color is sprayed on top, with the layer of paint underneath preventing it from bleeding under the tape. On a different note, I've always wondered about the blunt Jetfire nose. Did they blunt the point specifically for the Transformer line, based on some idea that it was too sharp to sell to American kids? I don't recall ever seeing a Japanese model with the rounded nose like that. Great work on this "transformation!"

I'm all about options when it comes to modeling, so I certainly wouldn't object to having SDFM hands available for these models. I like the idea depicted in the Master File books that some of these TV vs. movie differences represent variations over the course of VF-1 production, such as the cockpits and different flight suit styles. I like the idea of the VT-1 being a later replacement for the VF-1D also (how about a VT-1 Gerwalk and Battroid, by the way?). I could buy that the TV hands were an earlier version. I don't think the hands in the older Bandai transformable kits were terrible. I could see using the open one on this model to hold Minmay. Maybe that's an option for making this model more "SDFM-accurate?"

That looks excellent! Can't wait to see it all assembled! This is a great project, taking the design concept from the book and transforming it into model form.

I definitely prefer the DYRL hands, and I choose to think of them as "correct," whereas the SDFM hands make me think of an artist's "soft" interpretation of mecha hands. The SDFM hands also seem to grow in a lot of the artwork, to where they wouldn't fit back inside the forearms. A lot of early Macross models seem to replicate that appearance, such as the Imai GBP armored battroid kit. This is one case where I'm ok with fudging things a little to get the better look of the DYRL hands.

I'm sure not everything will line up properly with the Sonicbirds fighter decals on the Battroid kit, but since a lot of the markings are black, I could paint those on and use the yellow decal parts to trim the black areas. The markings on the sides of the nose section may have to be spliced to fit, as will the tail markings (on the parts that are visible when they're folded up on the back). I think it could work with a little bit of fiddling.

I just received my second Sonic Birds kit from an Amazon dealer in Japan. I paid more than retail, but I figure the free shipping evens things out. I love the decal set and am going to look at eventually using the extras on a Battroid kit, with the premise that it had come off the Prometheus and was involved in the street fighting on South Ataria Island. I may do the same thing with the decals that come in the Low Visibilty kit.I wish I had more time to search for hobby shops during my last visit to Japan. I had about 3 hours to run around Akihabara, and that was about the extent of my "me time" away from the kids!

Duymon, I'm impressed you found all those models in Japan. I only saw Wave Destroids and a few Hasegawa 1/48 VF-1s while I was there in October.

That's for a legitimate reason though. Japanese trains run on a narrower gauge than U.S. prototypes, so in order to operate on the same N scale track, the Japanese model trains have to be slightly larger so they're the correct scale relative to the track gauge.

If anyone's interested, my dad translated the Russian labels in the attached image (he studied Russian in school). The meanings were probably obvious, but it's still kind of interesting. The one question it raises for me is how the plastic sheath around the bulb is made. Probably a few ways to do it - I'm just curious how this particular modeler did it.

Ok, just watched Episode 1 again with subtitles. That's fairly shocking how much content they modified / left out in the dubbed version. Thanks for the tip! Just also received Volume 2 in the mail from an Amazon dealer - $2.41 + $3.99 shipping, brand new and sealed - not bad!

I will eventually! I'm still just getting used to Hikaru and Misa again, which I grew up with during visits to Japan as a kid before I was corrupted by Rick and Lisa! Rekindling my interesting in Macross during my first visit to Japan in 21 years may actually motivate me to start learning Japanese again, something my mother unfortunately wasn't able to get me to stick with.

I completely forgot about the armored VF-0! I honestly haven't paid much attention to Zero models. I think that shoots a hole in my theory. That makes it seems quite possible that they'll do the GBP armor. I think they've taken a little break from SDFM / DYRL so they can produce the models from newer series, but hopefully the -1D Gerwalk is a sign that they're still going to produce more VF-1 models. I agree about the TV VF-1A head too, although I'm ok with using the movie version since it does look good. But it would definitely look more appropriate if modeling the Max, Kakizaki, or other TV schemes.

Gubaba, I'm way behind but just finished reading your SDFM and DYRL posts. I really enjoyed the detailed analysis of each episode. I recently bought a copy of volume 1 of SDFM and have volume 2 on the way. I've only watched episodes 1-3 so far - my first time seeing the real versions (dubbed in English) as opposed to Robotech. Some of the animation (Star Pro) is really bad, plus the crazy mistakes like the Daedelus and Prometheus (multiple copies) in the space fleet in Episode 3, but it's still fun to watch again. I don't know if I'll get around to the other series - I've only watched a couple episodes of Frontier - but I've really enjoyed your blog. Thanks for sharing it with us!

I would love to see a quality 1/72 armored Valkyrie, but I'd be surprised if Hasegawa produced one. That seems like too extreme a departure from their normal line, unless they could make it as an add on accessory for the standard Battroid (which might be challenging). Since the fighter mode models fit into their aircraft theme, the other modes were a bit of a departure but still used some of the fighter design. The armor would seem like kind of a stretch beyond that (almost like if they started making Destroids). Hopefully I'm wrong. Maybe Wave is a candidate for the armored Valkyrie (not sure what the licensing agreements are for 1/72 vs. 1/100 models).In the meantime, I'd like to see them go back and offer more VF-1 schemes, like the Cavaliers, Alaska Base, and even an actual mass-production brown VF-1A, since they didn't really include that scheme in the fighter mode instructions. Not sure how popular the Angel Birds model was when they first produced it, but they could also offer the VF-1D fighter in that scheme (the instructions say that #6 is a reserve VF-1D, which fits with how the Thunderbirds have a two-seater F-16 on the team).

That's some fantastic modeling! Are those custom decals?

Ah, yes - I always forget that the Hasegawa fighters don't just have a complete Battroid head underneath (probably because I haven't built one yet since rediscovering Macross). I'm sure that would have resulted in the head sticking out too far like on transformable models. The D model really only had half a head, in fact, to make room for the two-seater cockpit. Anyway, they should be able to produce a new sprue with the chest and back, torso, and head, similar to what they did with the fighter kit.

I'm sure this has been said before, but I hope Hasegawa follows up with a VF-1D Battroid soon. Looking at the current Battroid kit, I think they just need one new parts sprue for the chest and back plates, plus the torso (nose) section.

Thanks for that info! I didn't realize they also offered acrylic paints. I just came across a whole box of their paints that must be 30 years old from my trips to Japan as a teenager. I'm guessing I may be able to salvage the dried up lacquer paints but not the acrylics.

In lieu of making him posable, it would be interesting to at least offer two arm variations. You could have one normal standing position (arms by his sides or maybe hands on his hips) and one "command position" where he's guesturing with his right hand and making a fist with the other. Or something like that...

Aradiel, those numbers in the black boxes all refer to Mr. Hobby / Mr. Color brand paints (the "H" with white boxes are their old number system, I believe). There are several places online that have the Mr. Hobby color charts. Here's one example: https://januaryjulian.wordpress.com/2008/12/20/mr-hobby-mr-color-charts/ The first link on that page is the bottle colors that you should reference. You could either buy the actual paints to match the model instructions or try to match another brand to the color chart. Hope that helps!

Removing lettering is a common technique in the model railroad hobby. This video shows an example using Microscale's Microsol decal solution: An alternate method is to use Scotch tape instead of the Q-tip to lift off the lettering after the Microsol has softened it.

Thanks for sharing those links - I had been thinking about asking the same question recently. I may go the route of following the animation and leaving the lettering off the gun completely. I'll have to build one that way and see how it looks.

Thanks a lot for the translation. He did some great modeling on that VF-1J, and I think the nose modification does a good job of capturing the look of the animation. However, I think the Hasegawa nose still looks very good when compared to the SDFM line art, such as the top one in this collage: http://www.macross2.net/m3/sdfmacross/vf-1a-valkyrie/vf-1a-fullyarmed-fightermultipleviews.gif ...and the bottom one here: http://www.macross2.net/m3/sdfmacross/vf-1a-valkyrie/vf-1-fighter-machinery.gif Obviously there's a lot of variation in the TV animation quality, but I think the line art is a good reference for the "official" nose design. At least that reasoning will prevent me from trying to make this modification to all my models!