Anasazi37 Posted October 23, 2003 Posted October 23, 2003 Believe it or not, this whole custom was done using only decals. That's right--just decals. I did have to strip down the Max 1A and repaint the whole thing white, but I don't really count that step. The decals were commissioned by trueblueeyes75 almost a year ago for a custom she was working on, but she was kind enough to allow me to use a set for a custom of my own since I fell in love with this valk while working on the designs for her. This was proably the easiest custom I have ever done. That is, once I finished the decals. That was probably the toughest decal project I have ever taken on. Headaches galore, but you can see that the end result was worth the effort. Here's what the decal set looks like: And here's the original Hasegawa kit the custom is based on: The custom took me about a week to complete and I have only been working on it between filling decal orders. I'll post some pics of it in fighter mode once I get a chance to do a little touch-up work.
Vermillion One Posted October 23, 2003 Posted October 23, 2003 Wow, that looks great. That sure is a sweet scheme, tons of detail in the decals like always.
williwoods Posted October 23, 2003 Posted October 23, 2003 tight! lets see fighter mode and gerwalk!!!! Will
ewilen Posted October 23, 2003 Posted October 23, 2003 Very nice. In battroid it does look kinda like the Japanese schoolgirl sailor costume.
Anasazi37 Posted October 23, 2003 Author Posted October 23, 2003 Okay, here are some pics of this custom in fighter mode:
myk Posted October 23, 2003 Posted October 23, 2003 Wow, that's beautiful. Suddenly, the idea of a '48 scale version of that sounds like a great idea.
Effect Posted October 23, 2003 Posted October 23, 2003 (edited) Very cool I'm kinda surprised they haven't come out with an official version of this yet. Guess it isn't that popular. Would be a welcome change from the models beign released now. Edited October 23, 2003 by Effect
Dat Pinche Haro! Posted October 23, 2003 Posted October 23, 2003 it's just WOW...that's just amazing! and it's nothing but decals?! great work as usual Devin!
Valkyrie Nut Posted October 23, 2003 Posted October 23, 2003 i wonder if anyone's tried doing it in 1/48...
bigkid24 Posted October 23, 2003 Posted October 23, 2003 Wow, that sounds like a custom even I could do. Nice work and nice decals!
snip312 Posted October 23, 2003 Posted October 23, 2003 nice bird......hwy when are we goning to see tha "minmay guard" i've been itchin to do a custom. snip312
Anasazi37 Posted October 24, 2003 Author Posted October 24, 2003 nice bird......hwy when are we goning to see tha "minmay guard" i've been itchin to do a custom.snip312 Thanks for the kind words, guys. The Angel Birds valk definitely doesn't get enough attention from toy companies. Some customizers (Jung, for example) have made 1/55 versions of this valk but they're aren't many out there. I was actually surprised when Hasegawa decided to make a 1/72 version, but I'm glad they did. I don't think this custom would look nearly as nice if the Hasegawa decals and designs weren't available. Truth be told, if trueblueeyes hadn't commissioned me to make these decals I wouldn't have done them--especially so that you didn't have to use paint. It was quite the challenge, but a lot of fun, too. It really tested the limits of my abilities. The 1/60 Minmay Guard stickers/decals are pretty much done and will be available for purchase in about a month. I'm still tweaking the 1/55 and 1/48 versions. I'm planning on making two 1/60 Minmay Guard customs: one to keep, one to sell. Those won't be done for at least a month or two. Right now I'm waiting for the two valks-to-be-customized to arrive....
kidkorrupt Posted October 24, 2003 Posted October 24, 2003 nice!! those hip intake decals must have been a bitch to design, yikes!!!! you can see the love in all the decals =D great work
Anasazi37 Posted October 24, 2003 Author Posted October 24, 2003 those hip intake decals must have been a bitch to design, yikes!!!! A bitch and a half, to be precise. Those were a HUGE headache to create. The only solution that seemed to work was to mask the hip intake section in several stages, remove the pieces of tape, slap 'em on a sheet of paper, scan them in, trace their outlines in Illustrator, then render the designs.... BTW, this is the same process I use for the Minmay Guard sets--very time consuming. Of course, they don't fit precisely right (does anything ever?) because there are so many variable surfaces, but the blue of the decals matches Tamiya's Flat Blue perfectly so I was able to dab a little paint here and there to fill in the micro-gaps.
Isamu Atreides 86 Posted October 24, 2003 Posted October 24, 2003 Get work Devin. that Custom kicks ass. mad props for all the work you had to do on design!!
UN Spacy Posted October 24, 2003 Posted October 24, 2003 Wow! Has any other Valkyrie been given the Angel Birds treatment? That looks superb on a 1/60, I'm sure it'll look even better on a 1/48 (or Hasegawa). Once again................
BoBe-Patt Posted October 24, 2003 Posted October 24, 2003 WOW!!! I'm not a fan of this version of the vf-1a, but damn that looks good!
kidkorrupt Posted October 24, 2003 Posted October 24, 2003 those hip intake decals must have been a bitch to design, yikes!!!! A bitch and a half, to be precise. Those were a HUGE headache to create. The only solution that seemed to work was to mask the hip intake section in several stages, remove the pieces of tape, slap 'em on a sheet of paper, scan them in, trace their outlines in Illustrator, then render the designs.... BTW, this is the same process I use for the Minmay Guard sets--very time consuming. Of course, they don't fit precisely right (does anything ever?) because there are so many variable surfaces, but the blue of the decals matches Tamiya's Flat Blue perfectly so I was able to dab a little paint here and there to fill in the micro-gaps. cool, if the color matches tamiya's exactly then people can paitn the hip if they want to =D nice work again dev
Anubis Posted October 24, 2003 Posted October 24, 2003 Awesome job. You're patience making those decals must be very high. I've never seen an Angel Bird Battroid before. That makes me really want an official one from Yamato. 1/48 LE for that one.
Myersjessee Posted October 24, 2003 Posted October 24, 2003 WOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOOWOWOWOWOWOWOOWOWOWOW!!!!!
Anasazi37 Posted October 24, 2003 Author Posted October 24, 2003 Hey Anasazi, you put the feet on backwards!! I was wondering if someone was going to notice that mistake. I fixed it shortly after taking the pics in battroid mode. If you look at the pics in fighter mode the feet are oriented properly.
Golden Arms Posted October 24, 2003 Posted October 24, 2003 Anasazi you never fail to amaze me. Excellent custom.
hellohikaru Posted October 24, 2003 Posted October 24, 2003 Don't mean to kick sand on your work but that purple color isn't right...its suppose to be something of a light blue. This one looks more like something done by the artist K.Takazora but the pattern follows the Hase kit.
hellohikaru Posted October 24, 2003 Posted October 24, 2003 This is the one done by Takazora but the patterns are different. See the purple.
robokochan Posted October 24, 2003 Posted October 24, 2003 Man that looks absolutely fantastic! I love seeing customs like this! I know Jessie would go crazy for it! Rob MN
Gerwalker Posted October 24, 2003 Posted October 24, 2003 Awsome!! Excellent work! (BTW: I dared to examine the 1/60 VF-1A decals sheet you sent me with a magnifier and I can even read some of the warning signs!!) Now you have to give it a small suitcase and reproduce that little pic from Perfect Memory
Anasazi37 Posted October 24, 2003 Author Posted October 24, 2003 (edited) Don't mean to kick sand on your work but that purple color isn't right...its suppose to be something of a light blue. This one looks more like something done by the artist K.Takazora but the pattern follows the Hase kit. The color I used isn't purple, it's blue. The exact same blue Hasegawa used for their kit, actually (I scanned in the decal sheet and replicated it). The lighting in the pictures don't do it justice, nor does the picture of the decal sheet--the blue on the custom is pretty darn close to the "light" blue in the fist picture you posted. I believe that picture is from the box art for the Hasegawa kit. The blue of the decals also matches Tamiya's Flat Blue, which is definitely not purple.... Thanks for posting those pics. Edited October 24, 2003 by Anasazi37
Toonz Posted October 24, 2003 Posted October 24, 2003 are you going to do a few more to make them fly with beautiful formation?
Anasazi37 Posted October 24, 2003 Author Posted October 24, 2003 are you going to do a few more to make them fly with beautiful formation? Tempting. Very tempting. I could make a diorama with the whole squadron in formation (and Hikaru's Fanracer flying up through the middle of them).
Toonz Posted October 24, 2003 Posted October 24, 2003 are you going to do a few more to make them fly with beautiful formation? Tempting. Very tempting. I could make a diorama with the whole squadron in formation (and Hikaru's Fanracer flying up through the middle of them). and you got to hang them down from your celling
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