Yamato 1/3000 SDF-1 Custom/Detailing by Kye

[Reïvaj]

Here we go...

[kyekye]

hopefully they release the upgrade parts separately as well. If not... well, it's kind of a dick move. It smacks of the vf-0a CF shin/not shin frak up all over again

Hopefully...Then again, I don't think I can wait for the release to use it on mine

It will be good for other owners who didn't start the mod.

I knew it was coming!!! All this detailing and modifications is too big of a market not to have a part in. In one of last year's show, one of the signs actually says possible upgrading parts for the 1/2000. I guess they switched focus to the 1/3000 for the bigger market now.

The right move would've been to announce it along with release of the toy.

The price point and 'separate purchase' option will determine if it's a good move or dick move.

If they do, they better include the damaged canon parts in there!!

Uhhh.... So they're going to make a blank one like they did the Valkyrie????

Hmmm... this one says 'kit'

I'm not sure about the creditability of the person who wrote the note on the linked post. Need more info!

Here we go...

Wow! Thanks for the close-up image!!

Actually I'm a little bit relieved after seeing this.

*About 95% of the parts are panel detail - which I added already.

*the Valkyries are nice, but I would have made mine the other way anyways. If it comes 'painted' I would say 'wow', but it doesn't look painted.

*The small fins on bottom right corner...I can't figure out where they would be used, but look kinda fragile and dangerous to put on the surface...

*The one on the back left - looks like the 'glow' spot sticker (it says seal, not decal). I'm pretty sure I'm not gonna use them.

I DO want the decals thou. That will help me a lot on the ARMD parts detailing.

The Info card in front is about 1/60 VF-1 detail up 'Photo-etching' parts they sell at the convention! I do want that!!!!!! It will be available for general sales later

Oh, BTW, sorry about lack of progress update. Just came back from a business trip.. I will continue posting soon

[Reïvaj]

I think the launch arms may be the more interesting stuff from the PE. A bridge antenna array would've been nice...

Edited February 11, 2011 by Reïvaj

[kyekye]

I started painting the actual colors last week.

After doing a layer of base color - blue-ish gray with hint of light purple... I started panel line detail painting. Because I was planning lighter panel overlay painting, I made the base color a little darker.

Tried to copy 'wm cheng's Aztek Digital Camo technique', but miserably failed at the first attempt . Maybe it's the paint material or the cut-out method?

So, I ended up going back to good-old fashion method....labor-intensive method using masking tape..

Here is the chest block. Now you can actually see the added (engraved) panel lines + painted panel details.

After the test, expanded the same method on other major body blocks. You can still see the shade tone I did before the base color paint.

And applied the panel details on Arms and Main Cannon.

My camera couldn't focus wide angle..so, took another shot with small parts.

Legs front/back (or up/down )

did a same thing on ARMD and side panels

3 basic cut-out masking tape with safe-masking paper. Basically I put this on the area - quick airbrush - remove it - and repeated this like 100 times... Advantage of this is that you can put it anywhere you want!

[KiriK]

nice paint job!!! can't wait to see it all put together!

[kyekye]

nice paint job!!! can't wait to see it all put together!

Thanks. I can't wait either! Hopefully sometime soon...

[kyekye]

After struggling a while with LED and Wires and Battery holder, I realized that I need to expose the battery..(for replacement later) Somewhere I can get to without going through whole left leg dis-assembly..Again!

I wasn't able to obtain small battery holder, and the LED Beam saber I got was too big without connector for switch. (It is a very nice thou. I'll give it to other Gundam or FSS machine

Anyways my only option was this one I got from local RadioShack.

Looking here and there for a place to put it while close to LED and switch, I found a good spot!

You can see that its connector leads right inside the area for the LED and Switch. I can fix it permanently and still have easy access to battery for easy replacement!

I still need to paint the other areas and connect wires before fix it to position.

[Ignacio Ocamica]

Wow, you're insane!!!!

In a good sense of course.

[wm cheng]

It's looking great KyeKye!

What didn't work out about the aztecing panels? It's looks great.

So does that leg bottom top cover just pop off without any screws? Is it just two pegs?

[vf_1s]

After struggling a while with LED and Wires and Battery holder, I realized that I need to expose the battery..(for replacement later) Somewhere I can get to without going through whole left leg dis-assembly..Again!

I wasn't able to obtain small battery holder, and the LED Beam saber I got was too big without connector for switch. (It is a very nice thou. I'll give it to other Gundam or FSS machine

Anyways my only option was this one I got from local RadioShack.

Looking here and there for a place to put it while close to LED and switch, I found a good spot!

You can see that its connector leads right inside the area for the LED and Switch. I can fix it permanently and still have easy access to battery for easy replacement!

I still need to paint the other areas and connect wires before fix it to position.

The aztecing panels looks great!

[kyekye]

Wow, you're insane!!!!

In a good sense of course.

If this takes too long to finish, i might actually go blind or insane.. Yet again, there is a guy who does sculpture with sand grain in the needle eye with microscope :ph34r: Maybe I should ask him to make me some Valkyries - but that will cost $300,000 per Valkyrie

It's looking great KyeKye!

What didn't work out about the aztecing panels? It's looks great.

So does that leg bottom top cover just pop off without any screws? Is it just two pegs?

Oh, I tried to make 1 long paper strip and 1 square sheet with 7-8 pre-cut panel patches, but when I tested on one of the surface, the edges became all fudge because of all the small pieces on the surface prevent them from close fit.. so I made a 1 piece cut with masking tape and used it until the sticky becomes dull..then made new one - 1 patch at a time...That took a long time

The battery cover -(leg bottom top cover)- just pops off. It's pretty tight thou. It won't just fall off.

The aztecing panels looks great!

Thanks! It looked actually a little better when the paint dried and saw it again in the morning. When I painted at night under lamp lights, the contrast between darker gray and lighter gray was too big, and it made me worry a bit.

[kyekye]

Before moving to painting other colors, I needed to get the city block done with electrical work.

My initial plan using long fiber-optic cable + 1 LED didn't work because of the nature of the cable (bending radius not enough for tight space under city panel).

So moving to plan-B . A bunch of LEDs and shortened optic cables.

Ohh...soldering fun...no.. not really...What a pain in the #$%!!. But it's the only way to make sure the wires are connected after I close the parts.

It still worked with the same battery power, but probably this will shorten the battery life...but I'm now prepared for easy battery replacement!!

I had to cut the base part here and there to fit cables and LEDs. In the end, they all fit in the tight space nicely

Last step for this test is, of course, the lighting test .

It looks like they are all working fine. Looks pretty nice specially when all the lights off

The actual look is a little different from the photos below. Basically it has less glare, but more colorful than photos.

Now I can move on to the other colors!!!

[UN Spacy]

Amazzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzing work on Macross City my friend.

[gigawatt]

OMG OMG OMG!!

You are amazing!!

Will there be other light source insider the leg?

If u put back the leg cover, those LEDs might not be bright enough to see from those 2 little windows.

Edited February 18, 2011 by gigawatt

[nghia59]

Before moving to painting other colors, I needed to get the city block done with electrical work.

My initial plan using long fiber-optic cable + 1 LED didn't work because of the nature of the cable (bending radius not enough for tight space under city panel).

So moving to plan-B . A bunch of LEDs and shortened optic cables.

Ohh...soldering fun...no.. not really...What a pain in the #$%!!. But it's the only way to make sure the wires are connected after I close the parts.

It still worked with the same battery power, but probably this will shorten the battery life...but I'm now prepared for easy battery replacement!!

I had to cut the base part here and there to fit cables and LEDs. In the end, they all fit in the tight space nicely

Last step for this test is, of course, the lighting test .

It looks like they are all working fine. Looks pretty nice specially when all the lights off

The actual look is a little different from the photos below. Basically it has less glare, but more colorful than photos.

Now I can move on to the other colors!!!

Hey Kye, I think that you might need some outside or overhead LED's to actually light up the city itself? BTW, off-topic. Transformers Prime was pretty cool. I need to congratulate JoJo on his mech designs.

- Nghia

Edited February 18, 2011 by nghia59

[kyekye]

OMG OMG OMG!!

You are amazing!!

Will there be other light source insider the leg?

If u put back the leg cover, those LEDs might not be bright enough to see from those 2 little windows.

That was my afterthoughts as well actually.

Since the switch I'm using is 3-way switch, I'm thinking about adding one more LED on the top. That way, I can toggle between night light and day light

Man...more work on the city as I thought it was over....

Hey Kye, I think that you might need some outside or overhead LED's to actually light up the city itself? BTW, off-topic. Transformers Prime was pretty cool. I need to congratulate JoJo on his mech designs.

- Nghia

Yeah. What I said above... I'll check out the Transformer Prime It's the new TV series. right? Let's grab a lunch with Jojo sometime soon.

[KiriK]

great work with the LED's in the city! I wonder if it would ever be possible to light up other sections of the Macross and make it work... but the city is pretty awesome itself.

keep it up! Looking forward to seeing the completed pics!

[kyekye]

great work with the LED's in the city! I wonder if it would ever be possible to light up other sections of the Macross and make it work... but the city is pretty awesome itself.

keep it up! Looking forward to seeing the completed pics!

Haha I'm pretty sure it's possible to light up the whole SDF-1 with a bunch of batteries and LEDs..etc - like Hot Toys Iron man series. However, this is all I wanted for SDF-1. Electronics is not really my thing.

If I do any more, I'll end up setting my house on fire or burn my fingers with soldering iron -

[kyekye]

So, I did a quick rewiring on 3 way switch and added 2 more LEDs on the ceiling part. Since the ceiling light is mostly for the view when the cover is closed, I picked 1 blue and 1 white LEDs - just because I think it would look cool if the 2 windows are blue from distance

Here is a test pic of switch and LEDs.

And another pics with top and side closed for fitting test. It came out as I wanted

Now - I'm done done with lights!!

really time for painting other colors!!

[miriya]

This is so freaking brilliant!!! Thanks for sharing!

[EXO]

so awesome.

[Reïvaj]

Kyekye, I’m a fan of you! Seriously, I admire your dedication and skills and I thank you for sharing that with us!

[cool8or]

Wow! How do I missed this thread? Amazing work! Inspiring!!

[kyekye]

This is so freaking brilliant!!! Thanks for sharing!

so awesome.

Kyekye, I’m a fan of you! Seriously, I admire your dedication and skills and I thank you for sharing that with us!

Wow! How do I missed this thread? Amazing work! Inspiring!!

Thanks for keep checking my slow-build. I'll try to finish this by the end of Feb. I'll have to.. before work gets busy.

[kyekye]

Since I'm done with lighting fun, I started painting the leg and other non-gray parts.

For the Blue tone parts, I painted the base somewhat dark Navy-blue-ish color and gave the same Aztec panel patch treatment.

Still need to do one more pass with darker tone patches on blue parts.

Next, I did feet ivory-gold-brown color and other mechanical detail parts. It might not show up in the photos, but the mechanical detail parts have 4 subtle different color tone shades

Also painted the metallic red inside the chest nozzles.

Close up view of Mechanical detail parts. These have a quick wash pass to bring out details. (I'm doing Lacquer - enamel method By the way)

Test Fitting the feet parts and chest parts for color check. These parts still need panel lining and wash pass.

Checking from Different angle..

It looks like it's getting there..

I'll also need to decide the amount of weathering soon..

[ba2784]

I did an additional light test with color marble lens to see if I can add some colors to the city lighting. It seems like it will work.

Also changed the main Bridge antenna from Photo-Etched parts to metal rod - closer to original design now.

Next, I designed the City background image from various screen shots from the movie based on the original city concept image and printed out/cut to fit the shape.

Here are the images I used. Please feel free to use it/modify it for your own custom. I made 2 variations with small differences. Please note that these are 300DPI images - so you will need to set the printer accordingly to get correct size.

Love your idea on creating your own city background!!

I will try to create my own city, thx!!

[nightmareB4macross]

It's always amazing to see just how much you progress. Every detail shows up well.

Seeing your progress is both, very inspiring and tempting to do my own in the same manner.

Thanks so much for sharing.

[kyekye]

Sorry for the late update. I've been busy with work and some parts detailing...

Thanks to the weekend, i was able to take some photos using 'sunlight'!!! :ph34r:

And I realized that my work area is very dusty!! (probably stuff from airbrushing) I'll have to clean the area and the parts before doing clear coating!!

Head Bridge and Main Body

* A quick wash pass (dark blue gray) + various metal parts (balls and tubes) + Clear color lenses..etc.

* Also painted the bridge detail and clear bridge monitor with clear blue.

* Antenna with orange gold + Clear red lenses.

* Used 'Future' on new bridge shield.

Shoulder parts

* a quick wash pass (dark blue gray)

* Clear red lenses on front/back panels and Antenna.

Chest Block

* a quick wash pass + Detail painting (Inside chest block frame..etc)

* metal tube lens frames + Clear red lenses + Stainless steel balls for corners

Main Cannons

* a quick wash pass + Detail painting

* No painting on the rotation joints..I'll have to leave them unpainted....

Right Leg

* a quick wash pass + Detail painting

* Clear red/blue/silver lenses on front/back/side panels

Left Leg

* a quick wash pass + Detail painting

* Clear red/blue/silver lenses on front/back/side panels

* Still need to paint the front panel pipes and switch area.

* I might need to put a cover on the ceiling. Exposed LEDs bother me a lot.

I was aiming for the end of Feb to finish this, but it looks like it will bleed into March a little bit. Just too many parts!!

[nightmareB4macross]

Take you're time. Your attention to detail is amazing.

Are the spheres metal, then coated in transparent red (Tamiya) or are they clear beads?

Edited February 27, 2011 by nightmareB4macross

[kyekye]

Take you're time. Your attention to detail is amazing.

Are the spheres metal, then coated in transparent red (Tamiya) or are they clear beads?

I'm using all mixed.
0.5mm and 1mm Stainless Steel balls from online shop (it's closed now T.T)
0.5mm and 1mm Clear Colored beads from shop I found online.

For the clear beads, you need to make a 0.5mm holes with pinvice (also 0.5mm deep) and paint silver inside before fixing the beads for better reflectivity. Otherwise they just look dark.

Word of advice .. Don't get caught by your wife (or girl friend) while playing with these pretty beads..They gonna kick your A&% and you gonna scream like a little girl Edited April 22, 2014 by kyekye

[eugimon]

simply amazing.

[derex3592]

this just gets better and better......

[wm cheng]

Wow! KyeKye, simply amazing... keep up the great work. Don't rush it, its a masterpiece - it would be a shame to rush and have to go back a few steps to corrected it (been there, done that!). Love the red details around the chest nozzles, I was contemplating that since its in so much of the colour references, but I was worried it would be too much for the toy, but your dark red looks great! The city looks fantastic too! Way to go on the lighting!!

[KiriK]

almost done! it looks fantastic now that it's almost put back together. All the details you put into it really stand out. Do we have an SDF-1 customs gallery yet for all these awesome customs people are doing? =]

[kyekye]

simply amazing.

Thanks!

this just gets better and better......

Haha..And my eyesight is getting worse and worse..I need some Blueberries!!

Wow! KyeKye, simply amazing... keep up the great work. Don't rush it, its a masterpiece - it would be a shame to rush and have to go back a few steps to corrected it (been there, done that!). Love the red details around the chest nozzles, I was contemplating that since its in so much of the colour references, but I was worried it would be too much for the toy, but your dark red looks great! The city looks fantastic too! Way to go on the lighting!!

Thanks for your advice! I'm already going back and forth with painting and detailing Really can't help it with this one.

The red was my 2nd try. The first was non-metalic dark red, but it looked a little too toy-ish, so I re-did it with a little metalic touch. I think it came out OK..

almost done! it looks fantastic now that it's almost put back together. All the details you put into it really stand out. Do we have an SDF-1 customs gallery yet for all these awesome customs people are doing? =]

I'm re-assembling some parts blocks for clear coating before decals. Decal pass alone will be another week...

I should post some images of assembled blocks