Lolicon

So, how many VF-25's can you guys build before you get sick of building the same model over and over? Eventually I'll get around to finishing the SMS team, but I don't foresee myself touching the original Deculture Campaign decals I have anytime soon, much less all these new decal sets. EDIT: Oh, and let's not forgot the upcoming VF-27 and Queadluun-Rea! I'll want one of each of those too.

Wow your Gs are looking great! Hope you guys don't mind me plundering your methods for mine. Yeah, lacquers pretty much eat anything except plastic and other lacquers. Though I'm often tempted fate by using Gunze Sangyo clear coat (lacquer-based) on parts that I've painted using Tamiya acrylics and so far haven't had any problems. Tamiya acrylics do not mix with Future at all. Most of the time you'll just end up with colored egg drop soup... the best tinting method I've seen (and used myself) has been acrylic ink diluted in Future (with food coloring added to adjust the shade). I'll try to get a better pic later, but it's perfectly even and transparent: Also, like you guys, I threw out all the decals for the tailfins (except the SMS logo of course) and painted it.

Oh yeah, definitely get a bottle of it from the States if you can. Big jug of Pledge with Future Shine! costs about $6 and has its uses, even though I no longer use it as my primary clear coat. You know what the real kick in the pants is? All these metallic parts are going to be completely covered by the Armor Packs.

Hey mickyg, Not to steal thunder from your 25G but I figured I'd share some of my experiences. I'm working on my Armored 25S currently, though a 25G with Super Packs is next on my list. After seeing wm cheng and your metal finishes, I decided to try that. I used Tamiya Gunmetal and then did a simply acrylic wash (my first attempt at washing) before covering it in a semi-gloss clear coat. Came out okay, though I definitely need to work on my washing technique. I kind of made a mess of things and ended up spending a good deal of time cleaning it up and the recesses aren't quite as dark as I would've liked. Ignore the electric bill I left lying around. Switching to an oil wash after this; picked up some oil paint and turpenoid to try it out later. Acrylic paint dries far too thin and "powdery" for my taste and I end up having to lay on more wash to compensate. I also revised my canopy tint technique... well, more accurately, I threw mine out the window and adoped wm cheng's instead. I remember you saying the Aussie equivalent of Future sucked and messed up the canopy finish. Have you tried Tamiya clear? From my experience it works just as well as Future, but it does dry quicker, meaning you have to be a bit more on the ball about wicking off the excess (i.e. not slow and clumsy like me) before it starts to dry and become sticky.

Does wm cheng or anyone else here know a good method for painting all the red tips for the micromissiles at the same time on the Armored VF-25? It's going to be quite trying sitting there and painting each missile by hand, one by one.

The price includes the kit too. At least it damn well better.

Quick question: are the white parts on the G the same bright white as the F, or are they a really light grey (nearly white) like they are on the S? Stilling working on my Armored, but I decided to snag a G plus Super Packs from HLJ's sale so I'm thinking about how to paint it.

I used Future on the front fuselage/cockpit and legs, but then afterwards switched to http://www.hlj.com/product/GNZB-516 when I got tired of dealing with Future problems. I sprayed it directly onto decals with no problems whatsoever. I believe the Hobby Japan scans show the same thing. The entire model is topcoated, including the Future'd parts, so the finish is consistent throughout.

Depending on what I'm doing, I use a very fine tip mechanical pencil, Sakura micron pen, or a simple acrylic wash for panel line work, depending on what's being done. None have had any problems with Mr Hobby. I don't think Gundam Marker should have any problems, as I believe the Mr Hobby clearcoats are water-based. Future will cause micron ink to run (another reason I abandoned Future).

I used Future early on during my VF-25F build and was nothing but trouble. Dust got into it so easily and it often lifted up decals long after they dried (though that may be due to the poor quality of Bandai's decals). I switched to Mr Hobby clearcoat and it's been smooth sailing since. Safe on decals and gives a perfectly smooth, even coat every time with minimal effort.

Took me several months of working on it on and off to finish mine. The pilot figure along took like 9 hours to paint. (But that was because it's microscopic and has like 10 different colors; paint one color then wait 1-2 hours to dry, then paint the next color, and so on.) Anyway, if you're planning on painting it properly and decaling it and making it look good ie not snapping it together out of the box and slapping some stickers on, then it's going to take awhile. I mean, wm cheng's been working on is for awhile and he's still not done!

I use Gunze Sangyo's Mr Super Clear. Comes in gloss, semi-gloss, and flat. Always gives a perfectly even finish when I use it. This is what I use on my VF-25. http://www.hlj.com/product/GNZB-516 And then I use this as the topcoat. http://www.hlj.com/product/GNZB-502

Does anyone know what color the discs on the ankle section is supposed to be on Ozma's? I can't tell from any pics if it's supposed to be the same as the grey on the main fuselage, or the lighter grey (almost white) seen on other parts. I'm guessing it's the lighter grey, but wanted to be sure.

The armored is so heavy that the SMS stand can barely hold it up and feels like it could tip over at any time (in fighter mode). I think they're adding weights to the SMS base in those Hobby Japan scans!

Okay, so I'm about done with the test assembly of my Armored VF-25S. I don't know what the Super parts were like, but there's quite a bit of parts scrapage involved, which does not bode well for decals. The worst is sliding the armored plate onto the back. That part fits pretty tight and scrapes pretty hard; it'll probably take the skull emblem decal clean off, I'm afraid. Deciding what colors to paint this baby now.

A translation of the modeling tips would be most appreciated. Those models look incredible and clearly a lot of effort went into them from some skilled modelers... yet they always neglect to paint the underside of the lerx. And Alto's "mouth" is always wrong too. Not a big deal, I just always see these things.

Argh looks like the forums screwed up and deleted my post. Those scans rock! Love the Quarter. I hope Bandai releases a kit of it. Some useful modeling tips too. I like how they cut up the shoulder decals to apply them. What is the guy doing for the canopy frame? Using some kind of white tool to remove the excess paint?

Hmmm wish I could help you aith airbrush specifics, but I don't even own an airbrush as of yet. Still contemplating if I spend enough time on this hobby to justify the cost. However, when I spray or hand paint something, I usually don't worry too much about the finish being glossy or flat, since I end up putting several layers of semi-gloss clearcoat anyway. I don't have the VF-25G kit yet, but maybe Gundam Blue will be a good match? http://www.hlj.com/product/GNZJG02

On the head unit I put red paint directly onto the red plastic, resulting in that deeper shade of red. On the tailfins I used white primer first then applied red paint, which lightened the red and matched the decals. I used Gunze Sangyo Gundam Red 1 spray. As I guessed, Bandai would naturally use their Gundam colors. I put down several layers of Gunze Sangyo semi-gloss clearcoat and then a layer of their semi-gloss topcoat to get that finish. Yours is already looking good. Many of the decals are pretty bad and it's often better to paint some parts. I ended up throwing out a number of Alto's decals.

I'm an amateur modeler myself, but I've learned that the color of the primer used matters a great as it will affect how your paints will appear on the surface. If you use white primer, your paint will appear noticeably brighter. Likewise, if you use grey primer, your paint will appear darker. Check out the attached pictures. Notice that the red stripe on the head doesn't match the decal red? It's because I got lazy and didn't use primer. However when I painted the tailfins, I took the time to use white primer on them, and the red was a perfect match for the decals. I don't know much about airbrushes, so I can't help you there, though with an Armored VF-25S in my mitts, I'm seriously considering investing in one now and giving it the treatment it deserves.

I've never seen a work area that neat before. I'll try to get started on my pre-assembly tonight. My cat chewed the decal off one of my Alto shoulders.

If he lived a little bit closer, I'd consider stealing that model! That is by far the best VF-25F I have ever seen. Even the "pro" built models are fairly lacking and inaccurate by comparison. Good job putting them all to shame! I'm afraid I'm going to have to steal your tinting method too. Maybe you can hand paint the underside of the lerx? It's a fairly easy section to paint. Just one long straight line, really. I've wondered when and who decided that the canopy and sensors are supposed to be tinted purple? The CG model has those sections darkened merely from lack of internal light in exterior shots, and in closeups the canopy is clearly transparent (or has a slight bluish haze).

What the f***! My Armored Ozma arrived today! And it shipped on the 12th via SAL! (I live in the States.) I have never received a SAL package that fast; that was almost EMS speed! Anyway, it's a monster! The box is the size of two regular VF-25s stacked together. Can't wait to get my paws into it!

I like the VF-25 battroid mode for my own reasons. The mass of the VF-1 is a lie. Where's this extra mass coming from? The area directly below the chestplate (in fighter mode) is the air intake/upper leg. There's really nothing between the front and back plates. Yes I know in the TV series these magical side covers appear from the VF-1's hidden Tartus section to fill in the gaps but even that just puts a lid over the space, it doesn't really give the VF-1 more mass. Even Yamato didn't bother giving side cover inserts, much less actually build it into the toy. The VF-1 is just as skinny as the VF-25, it just hides it better. Anyway back to the VF-25. I wish I had read about your silver + clear paint method earlier. I was already almost done with mine and I was only able to apply it to the gunpod sensors. Ah well I'm working on Alto's battroid now, but I'll probably set it aside when my Armored VF-25S arrives. I've already scraped off part of the SMS logo on the sides of the cockpit just from test fitting the battroid. Luckily that part isn't seen in battroid mode. Early on I made the mistake of using the instruction booklet's model for reference. Talk about inaccurate! Since then I've been using the CG model and this one for reference: http://npgpm.web.fc2.com/vf25f.htm (It was posted way back in the original VF-25 model thread.) I thought you were going to paint the underside of the lerx later. That's something that people usually look; I almost overlooked it myself if I hadn't noticed it on the model in the above link. I also threw out the landing gear and just got an SMS stand. This kit was definitely designed more for snapping together and playing with it rather than as an intricate display piece (which makes me wonder why they didn't just mold the visor green instead of including a hideous foil sticker). If it wasn't so expensive I'd get another one just to stick together quickly and transform around with at my desk. I look forward to the finished model!

That looks spectacular! How many clearcoats are you up to now? Looks like you're in the home stretch. After this VF-25 experience, will you be jumping right into an Armored VF-25?