Mintox

First shot is of the two body halves closed and glued with the dash and rear dash in place just for show. The other photos are where building this kit becomes a bit tricky because of the complex nature of the shape of the craft plus all the booster packs etc will make this a hard build to do and then paint. So I decided to split things up into sub assemblies and paint. Not much different than any other Macross kit really but there are some really complex curves on this kit that will be hard to mask off.

Here I glued the two arms glued together as they will be fitted in place and glued and then painted with the underside of the body. Note most of the hands are hidden by the rear cover when I glue them to this piece. 

Here I have glued the two vertical stabilisers and the underside back cover for the hands. Still needs sanding around certain areas along the body edges. 

Some more progress shots. These have been coated in Mr Hobby Clear Gloss TopCoat and then a light black wash added and then cleaned up with some white spirits and various sizes of cotton buds (WAVE brand I think). Next will be to flatten them and then some light dry-brushing to bring out the highlights. 

Hi All
 

I've managed to make a start on my VF25. I'll probably do it as a VF25S SMS001 bird. These are the cockpit details. Just basic painted and decals at this stage. I'll gloss them again and apply washes and highlights. 

Wow nice one. I dont mind this design at all. 

Some, mostly clear pearlescent colours. Trick with Acrylics nee in this case Acrylic Lacquers (all of the Mr Color and Tamiya Enamels are actually lacquer based but lets not get into this argument just yet). If you going to use these brands in both cases brush or airbrush applied you need to us Mr Color 400 Leveler. Nothing else will do. Not Mr Color 400 thinner but LEVELER!!! Cant stress that enough. Even in Tamiya colours. For Humbrol use their thinner although any good (by that I dont mean from Bunnings or Tescos or Macy's) but from a good hardware store that sells quality enamel paints if you want to buy the stuff in bulk otherwise the 50 or 120ml bottles will be plenty. Make sure your base is black. Strangely this is opposite of what you would think but like spraying the Alclad paints you need a really dark base to help reflectivity. 

Great link to these. Cheers. 

4 hours ago, kajnrig said:

Is there not another part SD6 on another runner? Usually they're pretty good about that sort of thing.

I'll be getting mine in by the end of the week (hopefully), so I'll try to look at it for you.

I was hoping this was the case but the part numbers are identical. Easy enough to modify the actual radome support but I would have thought Hasegawa would have been smart and used or added a modified sprue. 

Hi has anyone tried step 5 in the instructions and found that the back pack wont sit neatly when parts X7 and X8 (radome mount) are added to the back?I was hoping they would have modified the part SD6 to have a bigger opening to allow the rear of radome mount to slip inside and sit better. Only option I see is to do that job myself although will that make it not cannon if I modify the part to make it fit?

Touch and shoot? WTF?

Very nicely finished.

Yep as mentioned the 1x2mm are really a great way of securing panels etc on kits.

Looking good there mate. Cant wait to see this finished.

Wow! That just is simply awesome.

Wow! I love it and work too. Looking at my kit which I have basically built but not painted I've decided that adding in the scolloped underneath part on the forward gun arms?? should be easy enough to do.

Already pre-ordered. Saves me modifying one now.

Love the colours on this Valk. Great work love it.

I've gotta say---they're not using the increased size to increase the detail/"realness" at all. It simply looks like a large Yamato V.2 or something. As in, a 1/20 fighter jet should have much more refined leading edges, intake lips, wing-sweep gloves/gaps, etc. But I'm not seeing any of that there. Everything is "blunt" and unrefined. (and I'm not taking panel lines etc that'll be added later, I'm talking shapes/design)

I agree. Unless this is some really first pass low detail proof of concept model i.e. look how big its gonna be in 1/20 then I'm not sold on the details.

By itself? At the touch of a button?

At that scale and with modern RC servos it just might be doable...

Im definitely touching it if it doesn't transform. Transforming equals too many concessions to design with too many gaps, hinges etc they all look ugly to me but I'm having doubts on this now. Is it 100% confirmed its an injection plastic kit?

Ooooh nice. I wish I had picked one of these up.

Beautiful work! One of my favorite Valkyrie models to date! I didn't care much for the D when I first got interested in Macross as a kid because of its trainer role and limited appearance in SDFM. Nowadays, I appreciate the role of this variant in the VF-1 series, and I also really like the Mater File and fan work variations and paint schemes that have shown up over the years. I really like the idea of VF-1Ds being repurposed for combat roles in a "all hands on deck" manner after the war kicked off. I would definitely buy a Hasegawa 1/48 VF-1D - probably several of them!

On a side note, I'm not too familiar with Japanese sci-fi modeling trends, but I would guess that Japanese modelers prefer 1/72 because the models take up less space. That would seem to be reflected in the greater variety of 1/72 models. Is that an accurate perception?

Yeah I agree but that doesn't stack up to scrutiny with the 1/35 and 1/48 kits Hasegawa and Tamiya make so I dont believe thats the reason in itself but rather its simply cheaper for Hasegawa to make in 1/72 - smaller box, smaller decal sheet etc etc. Still they have 95% of the D already kitted, they just have to do new fuselage halves, new canopy and new upper body and interior stuff and it all could be on one sprue and dump it in the same box as the 1J and bam people would buy them. I also believe the D isnt a trainer. Look at the cockpit layout - its pure two seater like the F14 Tomcat where the back seater is sitting at the same height as the pilot and cant see crap in front as opposed to the VT and VE where the back-seater actually is sitting higher up and therefore can see forward and pilot the plane if they had too.

Looks outstanding! Always a treat to watch you build (and finish) your projects. Love the weathering and attention to detail on this one.

Thanks dude.

I love the very balanced weathering and paint choices. Did you happen to snap any picture with closed canopy?

No unfortunately. With the hinge part on the back of the canopy it wouldnt sit flush enough to make it look neat.

One of the best VF-1D's period, a superb build!

Seriously Hasegawa, where's that 1/48 scale VF-1D kit??? Our wallets are ready!!

I know right? Its the best of the Valks apart from any Valk with the booster packs on. Imagine a D with the booster packs and back pack combo? That would rock so much.

I love to watch and do dirty Valkyries, and I love your Valk Mintox.

Thanks Cesar. I'm really happy how this turned out. I'm trying to source another to do in trainer colours but 1/72 it annoys me.

Its all finished now and photos are up on the kits section. Enjoy.

No I mean actual 1/72 scale belted up straps

Over a 1/72 pilot? Not in etched metal or brass. I have seen the actual buckles and connectors etc in etch but you have to make your own belt fabric. Probably easy enough to do but I've never tackled it myself.

Do they make straps that can be buckled up over the pilot?

You mean in Macross itself? I've never seen them but it makes sense they have otherwise those pilots better hang onto the controls tightly!

Damn thats outstanding!

Cheers mate. I just wish there was a 1/48 VF-1D. I'd so buy several of them and really go nuts on detailing it but I like how this turned out.