Okay, got these kits snapped together and let me just say, these little guys are AWESOME! Everything fits really well, details are great, but not overdone, and almost all of the small assemblies are really intuitive on how they go together and combine into the whole. Lets start with fighter mode again:
First tho, I was really impressed with the attachment points of the pieces to the sprues
wherever possible the gates are attached to the inside of the part, rather than on the outside, which would help to eliminate damage to the exposed surface of the part.
The instructions start with the nose section, which consists of two halves that go around a fairly detailed cockpit. The cockpit is made up of 3 pieces, the main tub, the ejection seat and a separate instrument panel/glareshield. There is a decal for the instrument panel and there are some small control details on the side consoles of the cockpit tub. Overall, very nice. The figure included is made up of 4 parts: body, head and 2 arms. As mentioned before, it is Focker in his DYRL flightsuit, which looks decent in this scale, but I will be modifiying him slightly to the TV version. As you can see, I have not assembled most of the small cockpit parts at this time, but you get the idea. Another cool feature is the polycap at the back of the nose section that attaches it to the main fuselage. There is also a nose landing gear bay that is installed under the cockpit.
on the exterior, the two antennas on either side of the nose are attached separately. The canopy is a clear piece, with the frame nicely outlined. I have not decided whether i want to tint it blue as suggested or leave it clear yet, any suggestions would be appriciated
Moving on to the fuselage, there is a main support piece on which the "chest" piece is attached to the front, and the "back" piece connects it to the wings. Underneath the "back" piece are a couple of nice mechanical bits that sandwich a polycap into place. This part will come into play for the Gerwalk mode later...
The tail assembly, as well as the Valk's head are attached to the fuselage section. The tail section is unfortunately held on by plastic-on-plastic connection to the fuselage, but feels pretty secure. Once on it takes some (careful) wriggling to get it out again. The thrusters in the front and the vents in the back are seperate pieces.
The head is built around a polycap piece that connects it to the body as well as allowing the head turrets to pivot freely (unlike the Hasegawa version). The visor sensor is provided as a clear part (not shown).
On to the legs...I dont think I mentioned before, but Wave includes the option to model the intake covers opened or closed, which is a nice touch. Not sure yet what I will do in the end, but for now I snapped it together opened.
Again, all of the leg parts are intended to be built seperately and then connected via polycaps on final assembly. Part of this I'm sure is for the Gerwalk conversion, but it makes it easier in the long run...
The "thigh" is just two parts together around a polycap, while the main leg part is a little more involved. The two sides clamp on the exhaust nozzles/feet which is unfortunate unless you mind masking, or making minor modifications, not sure which I will do yet. The top of the leg is a seperate piece, which should eliminate the majoratiy of the seam issues there. The lower stabilizer fin is molded as part of the bottom of the leg which will blend into the main gear doors.
Once completed, all the parts simply slide together on the polycaps...very nice!
The gunpod is molded in 3 pieces, 2 halves with the barrel bieng a seperate piece.
Then finally is the stand, which is supposed to replicate the side of the Macross, or one of the ARMD's from DYRL along with a launch arm or some kind of mechanical extention from the base. The detail is pretty good, with scribed lines to mark not only mechanical details but also the yellow and black warning stripes along the sides. This part looks VERY cool, and in my opinion is not included in enough modern kits. Aircraft or sci-fi, it is REALLy nice to have stand to display the kit.
That being said, the support on the figher mode SUCKS. Basically it is supposed to balance the Valk by the gunpod. It allows for some left/right "yaw" posability, and if you're careful, you can "bank"it slightly, as long as you have it balanced properly. Otherwise, dont display this guy on too high a shelf or prepare to be looking for lost pieces when it falls and explodes. I will definately be modifying the attachment, cuz I think the base is neat looking, but the support will just not do.
The arms are a simple one-piece affair with an attachment point in the middle for the gunpod, as well as pegs on the side to connect to the legs and on the bottom to connect to the tail/backpack.
Once everything is put together, it makes a very nice looking (little) Valkyrie!
A little perspective on the size...a Valk in the palm of your hand!
On the base:
*As a side note, the kit includes 12 missiles and pylons for them to attach to the wings that I have not shown. Overall detail is good and it looks like they will just snap into the wings, allowing them to be poseable with the wing sweep.
As you can see, it builds into quite a nice little model! In my opinion the size is just perfect, not having a lot of extra space for kits. The detail is great for the scale, not too over-done but still looks good. And (in my opinion) the proportions look spot on. There are a few improvements that can be made, but I will do the full pro's and con's list at the end of the review.
Up next will be the snap build of the Battroid, thanks for looking and stay tuned...
PS, wow, just realized how LONG this thing is becoming. If this is becoming too drawn out or taking up too much space, let me know and I will cut it back.