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Can anyone tell me if this reference picture is a painting outside of the actual anime or that the finish on the aircraft is actually indicative of the CGI maps in the actual anime?

Hey all, At it again - but this time it will be much slower. Only weekends and maybe a few hours at night during the week - so bare with me, it will be a slow ride this time. http://www.macrossworld.com/mwf/index.php?showtopic=5881 Thanks all.

I just hand brush painted these parts - the paint is still wet. I used Tamiya olive drab for the initial coat on the pilot and dark grey for the cockpit interior. The detail on the forward control housing is really great - it even comes with a HUD glass and decal for the HUD. I plan of painting the HUD projector silver, then green transparent colour with a layer of Tamiya smoke over it - it provides a convincing lens effect under the HUD. I'm not sure what to do with the side panels yet - I put photo-etched parts on my previous VF-1, until someone pointed out to me (and correctly so) that they were just green armrest - so I would assume the VF-0 to the be same if not simpler. That's all for now folks, spent most of the day admiring the parts and pouring over the instructions - trying to form a plan of attack Good night for now.

Tough shot... trying to hold it in one hand and holding the camera in the other Here's a shot with these rubber thingys used to help hold sand paper (like flexible sanding blocks) I got a while ago from a woodworking shop (for those of you in the Toronto area - its called Lee Valley Tools - great place, they have the tiny rare earth magnets there too) They come a package of 6 or 8 with different profiles to them, some sharp wedge-like to get the sandpaper into tight spaces, and others round like this one allowing me to shape the opening to follow the curve of the rear bulkhead of the cockpit tub.

Pretty roomy cockpit eh?? Look at all that space behind him - I guess I've got to break out my spares parts box and start filling it with "gak". I've got a bunch of landing gear parts and actuators from other VF kits where I retracted the gears that I can throw in there. What have some of you done with this space?

Here is a test fit of the pilot, wierd that the pilot isn't properly contoured to "sit" into the seat, the legs seem a bit high - I don't think you will notice it once he's inside the fuselage and pushed back against the back rest. I tried to glue the arms so that they are assymetrical - it gives a bit of life to the pilot - same later on when I glue the head on at a slight tilt turning sideways slightly. I always try to put a little movement into the pilot. It cut the left controls down while leaving the right ones they way they are. I'll have to look for some small wires to bend into those rectangular emergency pulls above the pilots head.

This closeup shows that the back of the cockpit tub doesn't fit snuggly with the top of the fuselage halves. Its not a bad thing here - I don't think they were meant to attach - having a layered look with a dark reveal in the middle might be nice. However, the thicknesses of the top half the fuselage isn't consistent - so some sanding will have to occur to provide an even opening all around the curve of the bulkhead.

I think its important to not follow the steps to the letter, you should pre-build assemblies in your mind first - trying to identify any problems like hard to reach areas before you actually go ahead following the instructions. Always test fit as much as you can. I decided to glue the cockpit tub down first and do a dry fit of the fuselage halves. This helps me to identify how much of the inside grey one needs to paint which is visible from outside the cockpit.

Sorry for the fuzzy pic - here's another seam to be scraped on the pilot.

Hi all, Well, I just couldn't wait - this new VF-0 kit looks too good to pass up. This will not be my usual 2 week progress - fortunately I am working now, so it will be probably one weekend day and a few hours in the evening if I can sneak it in here and there. This build up is dedicated to Myersjessee. It was through his generosity that I recieved this kit. He kindly donated this kit for me to build here at MacrossWorld to share with you all. I would just like to say thanks again, and that I appreciate all the kind words and feedback I get from this great site. Now on to the kit... Thanks to Valkyrie, I won't have to do a kit analysis - I think he thoroughly described the kit very well. Don't be discouraged though, it doesn't seem to be quite as tough as it may seem (or so I say before I actually start - lets see what the verdict will be when I finish ) The molding is as beautiful as Hasegawa ever is, however, I feel its slightly "soft" and there are a few minor panel lines which either terminate at nothing or run pass some other lines. It feels a bit rushed for Hasegawa's standards - but still miles ahead of any Revel or Monogram type kit. I can't wait to get into the paint and weathering of this baby - I think I can finally go to town on her - Macross Zero seems so much dirtier and the CGI texture maps shows all sorts of worn edges and streaks. By the way, I would love any and all reference for the finish of the aircraft or pilot - I was going to go over the 3 OVAs this weekend to see if I can get some decent captures - but if you guys have anything, it would help. I think this one will be with the gears down, I'll try Valkyrie's magnet idea on the fast packs and hopefully devise some way of either hinging the canopy or allowing it to be displayed in either the open and closed positions when I am done. I would like to open the airbrake on this baby. Here's two questions for David Hingtgen (our resident aircraft guru) - the circular impressions on the airbrake, are they supposed to be "holes" (like the old Dauntless flaps?) that go right through - if I display the airbrakes out, should I drill those out? Secondly, do the VF-0 have those sliding folwer flaps like the VF-1? The flap area seems so large on the VF-0 that it doesn't seem to make sense for them to be fowlers - so are they just regular flaps. I'd love to do something with them, but I don't want them to interfer with the swing of the wings. I'll start with the nose/cockpit area. Here are the seats, not much as to be done here except scrap the delicate mold seam from the sides of the chair, I just use the exacto knife and scrap across it gently a few times to take the excess seam off.

Hey, you've sucessfully hijacked this thread Lodizah! Great work - very fine looking model so far. She's a beaut! How about some weathering? More pictures please... Hey Valkyrie, how the progress on your baby! we're still interested - I might join you very soon - I've just recieved my VF-0 via the very generous Meyersjessee!

Nice build up so far Valkyrie (I am vicariouly living through you until this kit comes to Canada!) I am actually off from work for the time being, so I can start one of these babies - but I lack the kit for the time being. Great work, keep it up! What is ELO? or Mori mori?

Since the resin parts are much heavier, I usually drill one or several tiny holes in the connection points (which are always too small of surface area for the epoxy) and epoxy metal pins (I rough them up wth sandpaper, they are usually paper clips) as re-inforcement to help hold everything together.

I use Tamiya acrylics for almost all my painting, sealed with a ModelMaster Laquer Clear-coat. For the panel washes, I use artist oil paints, thinned down with low-odour Varsol (mineral spirits)

I personally am a fan of paint washes - I find the Gundam Markers just too thick. Becarefull if you are doing it over the painted colours, the solvent to wipe off the gundam markers might take some of the coloured stripes off with it. With painted washes, you can make really light grey lines that are very subtle and can feather the "trapped" grease from around the coloured circular disc at the leg "ankles" which really adds to the look. I don't think you need to seal the oil wash in anything as long as you leave sufficient time for it to fully dry and cure (several days). However, I always put on a protective clear-coat to seal in the stickers on my 1/60 or decals on my 1/48s.

Yes, definitely scrub them down with dish detergent (without lotion) and a toothbrush. I have used a Tamiya spraycan primer (fine) it goes on beautifully smooth. Lets see the progress shots!

Hey Valkyrie... are you holdin out on us? Come on lets see them all - even though I can't build right now... I still need my fix of models - I need to rely on you guys for the time being.

Wow!! Really great work Grayson!! You can really see the improvement in the very few that you have built already. This is your best work thus far. Flawless paint scheme - I like the fact the trainer is not so weathered. You've really inspired me to think about my VT-1, I've been holding back till I come up with a good way to model Mimay in the back with her helmut off yelling at Hikaru Anyways, fantastic work Grayson - keep it up!!

Woohoo!! Thanks Valkyrie, I was really anxiously awaiting a review of this kit - hope it makes it over to Canada soon! Can't wait to see pictures. So what other variants or markings do the VF-0S have other than Fokker's? Do the decals and instructions provide alternate schemes? I actually don't like the wind inserts and prefer the two halves, the inserts have to fit just right for the oil wash to work properly, otherwise the gaps might not be even all around. Thanks, Valkyrie

Excellent work Jung I just love seeing your mods - truly amazing! I would love to see them in person someday. Maybe we can get together at AnimeExtreme and hold a little Toronto Macross Con at Silver's place (when it gets warmer!) Meanwhile keep posting your beautiful Valks - I love them!!

Welcome back, glad to see people picking it up again! Good effort! Hey did those stands come with the kits? Can't wait to see more - keep it up.

Yes, its excellent, I may breakdown and buy one. I just know that if I do, Hasegawa will put a kit out (that happened before with my YF-19 and YF-21). I just find the porportions a bit odd with the Club-M kit (no crit on Valkyrie's excellent job) the nose seems a bit thin and long (needle like) and the engine pods seemed a bit thick. It would be nice it the porportions and engraved details were more aircraft like - Hasegawa had done an amazing job of making the anime realistic!

Any updates Valkyrie? You've wet my appetite!!

Good Thread! 1. 1/72 Valkyrie Booster with launch vechicle (to fit Hasegawa) 2. 1/72 Launch Arm with portion of launch bay (more accurate than available) - although we may get that soon from Valkyrie... 3. 1/72 VF-4 / VF-X (by Hasegawa) 4. 1/72 VF-11 (by Hasegawa)

Wow!! How did I miss this... Great work GunnerX - realy nice subtle weathering. Keep the building comming and posting - I love looking at the works of others (ahh, even if I'm working and can't build right now )