ChristopherB

Hello,

For more than (15) years I've been looking for the IHP 1/72 Hasegawa VF-1 resin conversion kit.  After thoroughly  searching the forums I contacted a MW member/friend that has (2) unbuilt kits that have been sitting in storage perhaps (20) years.  I offered to purchase and or trade for them many times since they haven't been built or shared with other members to appreciate.  Despite following up on a regular basis, there hasn't been any success.  I respect and understand it's their property and their decision.  But of course it makes me sad to see these amazing kits not being appreciated, and the owner doesn't even know where they are.  Personally, I'm doing my best to build as many Macross resin kits as possible and then post the pictures here and on FB for fellow fans to enjoy.  I've also traded or sold all of my duplicate kits to other fans whenever possible.  As such I wanted to try here and see if anyone knows or has one for sale/trade please let me know.

The same goes for the DStance YF-21 and SwitchBlade YF-19, 1/72 VF-1 armor resin sets, IHP and other elusive kits you can think of.

I also would like to buy the SHE 1/100 VF-22 and VF-19F/S Blazer Valkyrie with FAST Packs.  The same goes for any Jung, Rosario, etc 1/55 customs especially the VT-1 Super Ostrich, Blue Roses and Enigma I previously owned.  Please let me know if you have any knowledge as to their current whereabouts.

Thanks in advance,

Christopher

I love the paint scheme, grats on owning such a rare WF resin kit!  Would love to see more of your Macross model kit collection.

Really nice collection! @007-vf1

Is that the Studio Half Eye VF-5000B?  Experten made one in 1/100, and there's the 1/60 3D printed one as well.  I love your super rare Yellow Submarine 1/700 scale Valhalla III VC-551.

Awesome figure, the green is perfect.  @Convectuoso

Nicely done, I love the weathering!  😍  Makes me want to revisit my 3D printed kit and add more details:

I also have the Wonder Festival Kit, here's a sample picture:

Thank you very much to @Gabe Q and @vladykins, I sincerely appreciate your trust and business!

I'm excited to see how your project turns out, and the articulation you added is awesome!

I recently completed some resin 1/55 Strike armor parts I consider to be models, because they required sanding, putty, paint, decals, custom verniers, and clear coat.  I would also like to share some new arrivals mostly from Hobby Link Japan.

@Delta-One-One Very nice collection, I especially like your Hasegawa 1/72 VF-0B.  Yes, you did a good job painting your Minmay figure.

@Convectuoso Perfect weathering, paint and details, awesome additions to your collection!  I would love to have a VF-11MAXL in my collection, I'm jealous.

Thanks to both for your posts, and hope to see more Macross kits from other collectors!  Here is my recently completed Experten 1/100 VF-14 Vampire Milia Perfect Transformation.  Extremely rare, maybe (10) or less made and only released at Wonder Festival.  I also had the Max version of this kit, but a good friend wanted it.  This is the only known built and painted kit.

I hope everyone is doing well, let's see more completed and boxed collections!  Please share any built Macross kits you have, in progress or your pending stash.  My custom display cabinets were recently completed, and I'll be adding the glass shelves soon.  On the other side is a custom built cabinet to show off my collection of Macross plastic/resin kits, which are being built as quickly as possible.  I'm sorry for not posting any updates for a while, but would like to share the following pictures and information:

ARII 1/100 DRYL HEWAT (HEavy WeApons Type) SERIES:  https://macrossworld.com/macross/models/arii/arii_hewat.htm

(These could possibly be the very first transformable plastic kits released.  Did some Google searches and nothing came up as to which kit wins that award.  I know there is the Zeta Gundam which has (3) modes, but not sure of the variable version 1st release date.)

These kits along with the Arii Silver Box Set are the basis for the Bandai 1/100 variable kits.  Set of 10 (M1 - M10) quite rare and took me a long time to complete the set since they're almost 40 years old.  Finding boxes in good condition and with complete unopened packages, with the Max versions being the hardest.

M1 - M4: (3) mode variable
M5 - M8: (2) mode variable (Valkyrie & Gerwalk)
M9 & M10: Battroid mode

Really lovely box art, my favorites being the (3) Max.  Which ones do you like?

Greetings Dax, just an update to let you know Tom received the kit and hopes to start on it soon, but definitely before the end of the year.  Thanks!  

Nice VF-1S design, there are some really interesting figures at the link you provided.

Definitely not hideous, I think both battroids look pretty cool.  Nice job on the custom, and I really like the low visibility paint scheme!

Looks amazing, love all the details, weathering and especially the missiles!

Hello,

I was formerly known as the "Custom King" due to owning around (15) custom 1/55 valkyries.  If you have a Jung, Rosario, Fulcy mod, etc 1/55 custom for sale, please let me know via messenger.  Trades are on the table as well if you prefer that to cash.  Here's some sample pictures, enjoy!

Hello,

I've completed the Macross Complete Model List (MCML) Project with more than 1,600 entries, of which each entry has 10 categories if we've attached pictures.  It includes all obscure plastic, resin, vinyl kits and I first started working on it in 2004.  Unfortunately, I haven't found someone to host it or incorporate the information to their website.  I personally own more than 400 Macross items and might have the largest known Macross resin kit collection.  There's a few other MW members that also have impressive collections.  I only focused on Macross, but have access to my friend's Mospeada resin kit collection list and pictures.  Please free feel to message me if you have any questions.

Sincerely,

Christopher  

Really nice build!   Thanks for sharing.  

Greetings, I hope all are doing well.  I really like these kits, and hope we'll see different valkyries in the future.  Here's my collection so far, plan to have them built soon:

@MechTechThank you very much, and I appreciate the link.    Yes, please post all built and unbuilt Macross kits here, and some in-progress pictures are also welcome.  But definitely feel free to create a dedicated workbench thread if you want to be thorough.

Does anyone else really admire/love Macross box art?  If so, what do you prefer (Hasegawa/Bandai/Arii/Imai/Etc)?  Please include a picture one of your favorite Macross kits in your collection.  When I was young and didn't have much money, I would spend hours in the local hobby shop just checking out the model kits and using my imagination to picture them in real life/built.  I figure it helps educate people about some Macross kits they might not know about and at the very least showcase some cool art.

For this post, I want to feature box art variations for Bandai variable 1/72 and 1/100 original release versus later versions.  If there's any that I missed for Bandai variable kits please let me know.  For the most part the original 1/72 & 1/100 versions list the illustrator in English, while later versions don't.  With the exception of Bandai 1/72 Millia (Masayuki Hasegawa) & Bandai 1/72 VF-1D (Ryukoh Masuo).

@BoltThank you very much, I'm glad you like the VE-1!  

Great looking VF-17T, Wave and Hasegawa kits.  

Imai & Bandai 1/72 Variable Valkyrie Comparison Pictures:

Both use the same valkyrie artwork, but the Bandai boxes are more compact.  Imai shows (4) modes of transformation, the nose cone and wings have a separate presentation along with the metal parts, etc.

Took a long time to track these down in like new condition, especially the Imai which are approaching 40 years old.  Imai numbering system is quite strange, 39 - 59 - 61 - 75 - 77 - 95.  I'll gladly give a free Macross kit (plastic/resin) to anyone that's willing to write the complete the list of Imai releases 1 - 100 or whatever it is.

@Convectuoso:  The Wave kits look great, and I love your VF-17T.  I've seen the completed pictures (perfect green), awesome addition to your collection!  

@Hexi:  I really like your Hasegawa builds, you did a good job as well on the other kits.  Thank you for sharing!  Impressive what you accomplished with spray paint.  The blue you used for the VF-0D is perfect.  

@jvmacross:  Amazing that the SDF-1 kit sold for that much especially considering it's condition, I don't have one yet and didn't know they're that rare.  Thanks for the information.  

Some of my recently completed projects, and (3) of the previously posted Club M kits arrived partially disassembled.  I painstakingly put them back together, there was even some bent white metal parts, etc.  The Covid-19 lockdowns caused a lot of shipping delays so they got stuck in a hot warehouse for a few months, which is really bad for kits especially resin which are very heavy.  Club M 1/72 kits along with a Green Roses camouflage VE-1 inspired by the "VF Riders" modelling group's digital camouflage version from many years ago, plus a Max VF-1A:

Really exciting project, I'll be ordering one.  Thanks Captain and the person who commissioned it.

Hello my friend, this sounds like a great idea, count me in!  I'll ask my friend Tom in Chicago to complete this build if that's okay with you.  He's a MW member with lots of experience with Macross resin kits. I'll ask him to photograph the build as he goes along, and make similar upgrades/improvements like the sample you posted.  Please let me know if this is satisfactory.  Thanks in advance.  

Wow, the weathering really enhanced the appearance, which was already excellent to begin with!  

Welcome to the forums, great job on the build, I also like the Hasegawa 1/48 valkyries, and hope to see more of you projects!    Please share your Macross kit collection (built/unbuilt) to the following thread when you get time:

Elegant, Sophisticated, Rare: The Arii 1/100 VF-1 Silver Box Collection!

How many of you didn't know about the Arii Silver Box series?  I first learned of them (15) years ago, and they really intrigued me.  Just finding out how many there are, and which VF-1 versions included was very difficult.  Until now there hasn't been a definitive source for this information, so I decided to change that with my Macross Complete Model List (MCML) Project.  It has more than 1,400 entries with (9) categories each as well as the addition of links and images (unbuilt & built) being added.

It took me (15) years to complete the set, because they show up very rarely for sale.  Imagine being able to find an almost (40) year old kit, let alone with complete parts and in an original box in good condition.  Compound all of that by the fact you need (12) different ones to complete the set, and then hoping the ones you need are offered for sale. Plus each kit can cost from $50 to more than $200!  This is my first time to see the entire set, and I don't know of anyone else with all of them.

Did you know this is the only way to get a 1/100 VF-1 plastic kit that is variable and has no armor?  Yes, this Arii kit features the VF-1 valkryie with and without the armor!  From my understanding Imai created the first variable VF-1 in 1/72 scale without any armor.  So, Arii took it and sized it down to 1/100, and then Arii created the FAST Pack armor.  I've included in the pictures a comparison of the VF-1D with and without armor.

Next Arii created the DYRL FAST Pack armor with a Strike Cannon and resized (larger) boosters to represent the Skull Squadron.  These were sold as part of the 1/100 HEWAT (Heavy Weapons Type) series of kits, which I will cover in a future post.  Due to bankruptcy the molds for various Macross kits (Imai/Arii) were sold and then released by Bandai.

The Silver Box Series was meant to be a highly collectible and sought after, released in limited numbers and with all the bells & whistles.  Featuring beautiful box art, display stand, decals, modeling glue, full color inserts, each box uses lovely colors (purple, gold, sky blue, pink, green, etc).  After so much mass production, the executives decided to try a different approach and make these something special.

Why 1/100 scale when 1/72 is the most popular for aircraft?  Most likely to differentiate from the Imai 1/72 and also because of the Gundam 1/100 line used for their MG kits.   (Just an example, since MG kits were released at a later date.)  Although I have no idea what was the popular scale for Gundams in the early 1980's.  Macross is truly unique in that so many scales are offered for their model kits.  Please let me know if you have any questions or you're interested in adding these kits to your own collection.

PS:

1.) Does anyone have more background information on which variable VF-1 kit (1/100 Arii vs 1/72 Imai) came first since they were both released at almost exactly the same time.

2.) Whether the two companies either collaborated so as to offer two different scales and share the market.  Or did one of the companies reverse engineer their competitors kit to another scale, without incurring any patent/design infringement issues?

3.) Also who designed these kits for Imai/Arii would be quite interesting.  After all, it's no small feat to design such intricate transformation in the early 80's.

4.) Are these the first known transformable model kits to ever be released?

(Please quote an official source to support your information whenever possible.)