VF-1A Grunt

They actually already released the 1/48 photo etched parts last month - I got my purchase notice for the VF-1 parts from HLJ on Sept 11. The VF-1 parts have already changed to Backordered status, so that batch seems to have gone quick. I’m waiting for the VF-1S/A model to arrive so I can have them shipped together, hopefully. It was due in October, so I’m not sure if they didn’t get enough to fill my order, or if they haven’t arrived yet.

Thanks for the info - I’m not too familiar with Macross outside of the main movie / shows. The schemes look a little better in the darker, shiny colors in the Mecha Manual. Maybe a bit washed out in the model photos. I’ll give them a chance. Has Wave introduced a 1/72 weapons set for this model, or are those external missiles potentially some new sprues that are included with these releases? I’ve always thought the Hasegawa box launchers were too big, so I’d welcome a Wave set if it improves on those.

Those are some pretty bland paint schemes. Maybe based off of Milia’s red VF-17? Don’t have my VF-4 Master File handy and don’t recall if those schemes were depicted in it. I would have preferred something with more white in it like their VF-1Js. Could always do it myself, I guess...

I broke down and pre-ordered a 1/48 VF-1A/S (I mostly focus on 1/72). Good to see they’re following up with the etched parts to go with it.

Hi Brett, these look great! I’m getting ready to move cross country, so I don’t want to put in an order until I get settled at my new address. Do you expect to keep these around as a regular production item, or will you have to move on to other things eventually? Thanks!

I’ve got two in the warehouse at HLJ. I think one of them will end up in the Sonic Birds scheme. I’ll have to grab an extra Sonic Birds VF-1 for the decals.

Has the separate canopy frame ever been done on model aircraft before (at least in this small a scale)? I’m a little concerned that unless it’s done perfectly with the toughest possible tolerances, you’re going to see gaps between the frame and “glass” that will make it look like a snap-together kit.

Brett, I am definitely interested in the whole 1/72 VF-1 canopy line (including the VE/VT-1), the 1/48 VF-1, and the VF-0A if you can do that one eventually. Thanks for developing this much-needed product!

Yes, that’s the one, Slide, but now that I look at it again, NZEOD’s Italeri deck has much better detail and is larger as well. I’m not totally sure how closely the Starship kit matches the Prometheus deck SDFM either (which I assume is what it’s supposed to be). I’ll have to keep an eye out for the Italeri kit (it appears to be discontinued or at least out of stock everywhere).

That looks fantastic! I know you’ve been working on that variant concept for a long time. Congrats on completing the project! I think you meant to say a HARM above? The carrier deck base looks good. I’ve been watching for the Macross Valkyrie flight deck to get restocked in the Starship Modeler Store (I should probably ask them about it). This looks like a great alternative.

I’ve been meaning to ask, how does this Bandai kit relate to the original variable kit that was first issued in the ‘80s? I have quite a few of them, mostly the ‘97 reissues: Bandai 1997 VF-1A Is the newer version the same basic parts with new joints and “hardware,” or did Bandai completely redo this kit from scratch? I always thought the heads were way too big on these kits, but the overall proportions looked pretty good despite the challenges of making them variable.

That looks like a variation on, or maybe one interpretation of, the VF-1G electronic warfare variant that is mentioned in a few places and shows up briefly in the battle in Episode 27 of SDFM. It’s referred to as the VEFR-1 in the Mecha Manual, and the VF-1 Valkyrie background info from the Master File mentions that 12 VF-1Gs were produced. The artwork in the April 2001 issue of Model Graphix also includes a VF-1G, but it lacks any unique external features aside from some narrow fins on the nose cone and a sort of elongated VF-1A head with some sensors mounted on the sides. This is depicted in model form in the accompanying article. The author appears to have modified a Hasegawa model to represent the variant. I like the added details on the nose and wingtips of the one in this line art. Looks more interesting that the other examples I mentioned above.

I’m a little behind on this subject, but in reference to the Model Graphix Macross Archives book that was released earlier this year, I think some people may have been under the impression that it’s an all-inclusive collection of every article that Model Graphix has published on Macross modeling subjects. It turns out that it’s more of a “best of” collection of articles rather than a complete one. It’s still a beautiful book with tons of great modeling, but I think there have just been too many Model Graphix Macross projects to fit in one book. I just wanted to mention that for expectation management, in case someone is looking for a particular past article and orders the book expecting it to be included. On the flip side, the book also seems to include some new modeling that was not featured in the original issues, which I’ll explain below. I had been looking for the April 2001 issue of Model Graphix for some time and just recently found it on eBay. It has about a dozen VF-1 modeling projects featured in it and includes the artwork for one of the sets of special edition decals that Model Graphix produced with Hasegawa. It features photos of builds for each of the schemes in the artwork. Out of all the excellent articles in this issue, only one of them is in the new Model Graphix book - the SVF-113 VF-1J in kind of a gray low viz camo scheme. In the original issue, this VF-1J was depicted as a modified Hasegawa kit converted to Battroid mode (long before the Battroid kit was produced). The new Model Graphix book has a single photo of the original Battroid followed by a bunch of pictures of a STRIKE VF-1J fighter in the same paint scheme. It looks like the original modeler expanded on the subject by building the STRIKE fighter. Beautiful modeling, but also interesting to see how the new book introduced some new modeling content that was not included in the original issue. I think the Model Graphix book is fantastic and well worth the cost (to me, at least). I just wanted to share what I discovered though, because if you’re looking for a particular old modeling article, you might need to keep searching for those original issues. Happy holidays, everyone!

Shapeways does have a Hikaru figure that I plan to order to pass off as a generic TV pilot to man my VF-1s: https://www.shapeways.com/product/K6CJHPCJ4/1-72-macross-pilot-hikaru?optionId=62980660 I’m going to try one out and the hopefully order more if it looks decent. I like that Hasegawa produced the TV pilot with the Gerwalk model, but I wish they would make it available separately or add it into either new production runs of the older VF-1 models or the weapons set. Not sure if you’re looking for standing pilots to pose with the aircraft on the ground, but hope this helps.

You and Salamander are completely correct - my apologies! I dug out my unbuilt kit (which I should have done in the first place - it was just buried in the stash), and it does include the parts for two sets of launchers. That makes sense because there are two sprues needed, which each have the parts for one complete FAST pack. The Strike parts are a separate sprue. It also makes sense because they would want to give modelers the option of doing the TV version of the Super VF-1S. However, I would recommend still using the correct name from the kit, maybe with a caveat about the Super / Strike parts. I think the important distinction is that the later VF-1 Super / Strike kit contains all both the A and S heads, but it doesn't appear to have the J head parts. I noticed while looking through these kits that the original VF-1A Super kit includes both the A and J heads (despite being labeled as a VF-1A), but it only has the DYRL decals, so you'd have to come up with your own decals or paint the markings if you wanted to do a Max / Millia Super VF-1J from SDFM. EDIT: Whoops, I see you already noted the A/J parts in the original VF-1A Super kit, Christopher. It's interesting how Hasegawa left the "J" out of the kit name. It almost seems like they didn't want to acknowledge the SDFM TV series paint schemes in their model line, with the exception of the VF-1D and the Gerwalk, and the special Max / Millia kits.

I have the original issue Imai Max VF-1J kit, the one that Bandai later reissued under their brand. It has a really basic color list that doesn't seem to refer to any specific brand of paint, unless it's something I'm missing somewhere in the Japanese text. However, the numbers appear to match the Gunze Sangyo Mr. Color chart, but it simply lists the colors in multiple languages like this: 1 White 2 Black 3 Red 4 Yellow 5 Blue 6 Green 7 Brown 8 Silver 9 Gold 10 Copper 33 Mat black 42 Mahogany 46 Clear 47 Clear red 49 Clear orange 52 Mat white The numbers match the Gunze Sangyo chart with the exception of the last one, "52 Mat white," which should be 62 Matt White. I assume all the additional colors like Brown and Mahogany are listed because this is a generic list for all the variants they offered (such as the VF-1A). My Bandai 15th Anniversary Millia VF-1J doesn't seem to have any color reference chart that I can find, just the big folding instruction sheet that has color photos of the finished model. Again, maybe I'm missing something in the Japanese instructions, but even the parts I translated with Google Translate don't seem to make any references to paint colors. It's as if they're just showing you the colors on the finished model and leaving it up to you to match them. Hope that helps a little!

Arbit and Salamander, great Nausicaa models! I really haven't followed much animation outside of Macross, but I loved that movie. Thanks for sharing!

Christopher, thanks for compiling all this information. I know that it's been many years since you originally posted this and that new products may have appeared since then, but it's still amazing to see all the models that I wasn't aware of that had been produced. One recommended correction in the quote above: as far as I know (from the kits I have), the original Hasegawa VF-1 Valkyrie fighter kit listed above only includes the parts to build a VF-1S Strike Valkyrie and is labeled as such. See the kit description on the MW page below and the image of the box cover: http://www.macrossworld.com/macross/models/hasegawa/hase_65705_vf1s_strike.htm In reference to the second item, I've never come across this upgrade kit for the Hasegawa VF-1 Battoid. Can you describe what the kit includes? Does it have the improved Super Battroid joints to replace the ones in the basic Battroid kit? Thanks!

I've never seen Ace Combat myself, but that's a good-looking fighter. I think it would be neat to decorate it with U.N AIR FORCE decals from the Hasegawa VF-1A Low Visibilty kit. The JASDF kit is reasonably priced on Amazon right now (around $32 with free shipping to the U.S.). If I didn't already have so many kits on the shelf...

That's some impressive work! The J head would be interesting - you'd be looking through a pretty narrow view from inside it. I have a feeling the A head wouldn't be wide enough for you to fit your head inside at that scale. Might have to make that one just for the kids!

I may be a bit behind the times - I've mostly been buying 10+ year old Hasegawa Macross model kits over the past few years - but I was really impressed with the Bandai Tie Striker model I just received. This is my first experience with an injection molded kit that has multiple colors injected into the sprues. All their Star Wars kits are beautiful (although serious Star Wars fans seem to have some complaints about the size / scale), but they are the first recent production Bandai kits I've seen. My Bandai Macross kits are all at least thirty years old (and were probably designed longer ago than that). Most of them look pretty dated compared to Hasegawa's models.

I still remember learning about Flashback 2012 as a kid, when all that I knew up to that point was SDFM and DYRL. I was fascinated by the image of the VF-4 and hoped it would mean a whole new movie or TV series. I was disappointed to learn that it was just a short film, but I never lost my interest in the VF-4. I'm also a bit wary of the test shots of the Wave model, and while I would love to see a Hasegawa version (with lots of limited edition squadron schemes!), I'm guessing that won't happen, and we'll have to be patient with Wave.

Ugh, story of my life. I think I've bought at least three dozen Hasegawa kits and four Wave Destroids in the past two years, and they're all still in the boxes. Hopefully after this current job, I'll have a little more free time.

I just got the Star Wars Modeling Archive from HLJ. I hope they list the Macross one soon, as I'd prefer to order it from them. They're really great to deal with - I wish I'd learned about them sooner than just a year or so ago.

Captain, do you think there is any hope for a mass-production Regult in 1/72? I'd like to think that as the most recognizable enemy mecha, that there would be enough demand for one. Ideally it would be a series like the Wave Destroids that could capitalize on the common parts and add the missile variants and maybe even the recon version. I'd be in for at least four regular pods and one of each of the other versions.