aceoftherebellion Posted March 3, 2012 Share Posted March 3, 2012 Hello, Macross World! I finally decided to join these forums recently, after lurking for god knows how many years... Anyway, what I've got here today is a build of the Bandai release of Imai's old 1/72 variable VF-1D. I got this kit for christmas from my new girlfriend after showing her the entire original series- I think she's hooked, haha... For the most part the kit is stock, although I added a few extra panel lines hare and there and replaced the funky old-school micky mouse hands with a set of movable doner hands care of an old gundam model I don't remember anymore. I also resculpted one of the pilot figures into a tiny minmei, although I'm not entirely thrilled with how the paint job on the pilots came out. As for the model itself; I'm actually impressed with how well this kit's aged, all things considered. Yeah, it's proportions aren't perfect and the detail and everything aren't quite up to the level Hasagawa offers, but it's got a certain charm that I quite like. The fact that it transforms (albeit with part swapping) also makes it a lot of fun, and I had a good time building it. Sorry for the large images- The rest of the images can be found in my gallery here. I've also got a number of WIP photos up, if anybody cares to see those. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Berttt Posted March 3, 2012 Share Posted March 3, 2012 Well done there dude. You've done that old kit proud. I love the "Anime" style paint too - very cool. Berttt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benson13 Posted March 3, 2012 Share Posted March 3, 2012 That is awesome bro. I'm really impressed with how clean it looks. Not to much but not to little. Great job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aceoftherebellion Posted March 3, 2012 Author Share Posted March 3, 2012 Thanks, guys! I really like the anime style paint too- It's a style I've been using for years, mostly on Gundam and other anime robot models. It's deceptively time consuming, all of the panel lines are hand-painted with a very, very fine brush, as opposed to a wash or using any kind of inking pen. It gives it a very crisp look, but it takes forever to paint and repaint things until it's 'perfect', haha... I'm very happy with how it turned out, though. On the plus side, I had a huge surplus of orange paint before working on this, and I've managed to put most of it to good use now! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cool8or Posted March 4, 2012 Share Posted March 4, 2012 This is classic. Great work!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newca Posted March 4, 2012 Share Posted March 4, 2012 This is a superb kit, for that moment, and even now! This is also my very first VF kit when I was a kid. Nice building~ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grayson72 Posted March 5, 2012 Share Posted March 5, 2012 Oh sweet, nice job man. I love it when someone takes on one of these. I like all the fine lines you did. Not an easy build is it? Especially when you get rid of all the seams like you did. I did a modified version of this a number of years back, check it our here. http://www.macrossworld.com/mwf/index.php?showtopic=15663&hl=%2Bsuper+%2Bvf-1d&fromsearch=1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aceoftherebellion Posted March 5, 2012 Author Share Posted March 5, 2012 Oh man, I really like that. The add on pack looks amazing, despite all of the problems it sounds like you ran into with it. It's a shame some resin kits end up being such garbage like that, but you really pulled it out of the trash and made it something else altogether, so my hat goes off to you. I have to agree with you when it comes to seeing builds from these older kits, though. I spend a disproportionate amount of time on image search looking for builds people have done starting with these vintage kits. The things I've seen people do with them despite their age and quality really blows me away sometimes. They're definitely a nice challenge, I'd say. I was actually more impressed with how well it went together for it's age compared to some older mecha kits from say, gundam for example, but you do really need to be willing to invest the elbow grease to make them shine. Like you said on your build, the engineering really is top-notch on this mold- probably better than some modern variable mech kits I've worked with, honestly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MechTech Posted March 8, 2012 Share Posted March 8, 2012 Nice job Ace! It DOES look nice and clean! Every pilot needs a cute back seater - as long as she doesn't start criticizing his driving - MT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aceoftherebellion Posted March 14, 2012 Author Share Posted March 14, 2012 Small update on this! I was hit by a sudden bout of inspiration and came up with a quick hip-joint mod to improve the kit's flexibility. Here's a real quick shot of the results (warning, large un-resized image) I've got another of these Imai kits on the way now too, so you'll probably hear more from me soon! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grayson72 Posted March 14, 2012 Share Posted March 14, 2012 Hey cool thanks for sharing. Be sure to post ur others when you build them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pfunk Posted March 14, 2012 Share Posted March 14, 2012 REALLY nice job,, never knew those old kits could look so good Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AcroRay Posted March 23, 2012 Share Posted March 23, 2012 Very nice work indeed! It's a real classic. Great work on the paint and excellent work on the seam filling! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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