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Hasegawa 1/72 VF-1A Super Valkyrie - Do You Remember Love?


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Hello Everyone,

 

Originally I was going to build either the 1/72 Revell Hind-D, F-4U Corsair or Hawker Tempest for this build as I remember how badyly I made them when I was a kid (around 12-13).  However then going over the rules, I saw a little bit that a kid is defined as anything before 18 years old and if an older kit was going to be refurbed there was no 25% minimum rule.  As I have been repairing/finishing failed GB kits during all these fun and games, I was going to look at the Valkyrie next and this fits the bill as far as I can tell?  So onto the story.

 

In December 2000 I started work at the local Safeways Supermarket.  As my birthday is late in July, I was one of those unique few that legally left school at 15,  so I was always on the young side.  Anyhow, I remember buying lots of useless and unneeded stuff with my new found wealth - who doesn't at that age?!  I remember finding a new website called "HobbyLink Japan" that would send over model kits from Japan?  Result!  I remember ordering a few Gundams (Ex-S, GP-03, Double X) and a Super Valkyrie from the Macross series of films/tv shows.  I had gotten back into the Anime circles just after school and was enjoying everything I could download on this new technology called "broadband"... kids today will never know the pain of waiting for an MP3 file to download via DC++/IRC (before Napster was even thought of!) on a dial-up modem.  I remember watching the Macross series way back when I was a nipper (not Robotech) it was a fansub on VHS that a guy in the street had managed to get.  I also remember it being the first "cartoon" I had seen where one of the main characters actually die... that was shock to a young kid in the 80's.  Anyhow, back to the model.  The Gundam's I built (rather poorly) and where proudly displayed on my shelf as they could be built in an afternoon, however this Hasegawa model was different.  It needed to be built like the old Revell/Airfix kits I used to build as a kid.  So I dug out all of my old gear and started to build it.  Lets just was the desired result was never acheived and the kit was thrown up in the loft for the next ten or so years.  Then I met my ex-girlfriends father and he was into wargaming - I remember seeing him paint two Baneblades (from Warhammer 40k) and thinking they where cool, said about the Valkyrie and he said he would look at it.  Well things didn't work out between me and that girlfriend and that was that as they say but I did look at the kit again and tried a few bits more with worse results - kit boxed back up and thrown in the loft.  11 years ago I met my current girlfriend and one day we was walking around Lakeside when I saw a shop called "ModelZone".  I had a look in there and saw lots of kits on display (I really do miss that shop) and was interested in the Valkyrie again - I may or maynot have seen a Valkyrie in there, I really am not sure.  I said to my girlfriend that I was a geek and wanted to get some bits and pieces.  I remember buying a Revell 1/72 TA-152 and Revell 1/76 Comet MBT - they came out okay.  But my girlfriend surprised me by saying she was okay with my hobby and has supported me with this every chance she could.  Fast forward a few years and I am making model kits full on as my main hobby.  I take a look at the Valkyrie again and decide to have a crack at it again, I take it apart as best as I can (badly) and then just prime the main parts.  Didn't like the kit so threw it back in the box on the shelf.  I now have a few Valkyrie kit's in my possession (I think about 8) but none of them are completed as of yet.  So I have decided to get this one finished as it has plagued me for near on 20 years now. 

 

I hope it is okay to get this kit added to this GB?  If not just say and I will probably build the Hind-D (which was going to be done after the Valkyrie anyhow.  Picture time!

 

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The box art in all of it's glory.  You have got to admit that the drawing is very cool and nothing like the finished article that I produced!

 

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The parts as you can see where a complete mess.  I have squashed one of the leg fastpacks.  I have also ruined one of the wings.  I have lost a missile pod as well.  I am going to see how much I can build with just the bits I have here.

 

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Other random bits and bobs.  I also have the weapon set for the Valkyries as well so I could bomb up the aircraft.

 

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A Macross stand as well!  This is turning into 3 kits in one thread!

 

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The decals for the main kit and the weapon set.  Both have survived the last 20 years relatively intact.  As you can see I have alread used some of the decals already.  With no idea why, I used the decals for Hayao Kakizaki's aircraft.  I probably liked the green, only answer I can think of why.  But this time I will use the decals of the main protagonist - Hikaru Ichijyo (the red ones).  I have used the cockpit decal, but that is completely destroyed.  I have a back up decal I can use.

 

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I got this a while ago for another kit, but would work well here also.  I will see how things go.  I may steal the decal out of the kit these where intending to go to.

 

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What everything should look like when I have finished but with rockets and reactor bombs on the wings.

 

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The some of the load outs you can have on the kit.  For the people wondering how did that thing ever get off the ground, the simple answer is... it didn't need to.  It was launched from the SDF-1 Macross while in space where take off weight isn't a problem.

 

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This is the kit that the PE was purchased for.  If I really need to, I can steal parts from this kit but I really do not want to.  I will scratch build as and where I can.

 

This should be fun... wish me luck!

 

Kind Regards,

 

Dazz

 

 

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Very different Daz,I sometimes forget not all our members started when kits came in plastic bags and were bought at the local Newsagents.

Great stuff!

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On 5/8/2020 at 9:04 AM, Hewy said:

Hello daz, crack on pal ,👍 i reckon your good to go ,I've  never built one of these but I'm interested

Cheers Hewy, these kits are getting more and more rarer these days.  I do have a few of them, and have a few more on order when HLJ can get hold of stock of them.

On 5/8/2020 at 5:24 PM, modelling minion said:

Now that really is something different Dazz!

As Glynn says you are fine to make a start on her as she  fits the bill very well indeed, good luck with your build.

Cheers mate, I will need all the help I can get with this one.  I seemed to have done a number on it, but I hope I can turn it into something decent.

On 5/9/2020 at 12:17 PM, stevej60 said:

Very different Daz,I sometimes forget not all our members started when kits came in plastic bags and were bought at the local Newsagents.

Great stuff!

To my shame, I am probably one of the younger members of this forum (I know I am not *THE* youngest).  I wasn't around for the plastic bags or even the plastic blisters.  I barely remember the Matchbox kits in my local newsagents and the Airfix boxes with the white bordered artwork/the bulit model at my local bike shop (I kid you not!).  This model however just comes into the "kid" time frame, I think I got this kit in the April of 2001 and I turned 18 in July.  Prepare to have a show of how not to build a Valkyrie! :)  I have added links where I could to bits of information I think would be relevant to people who don't know anything about the series, which will probably be a huge portion of the forums.  All links are worksafe.

 

So I have been looking around for colour suggestions and ideas of how to proceed and I have been inspired but some really really good builds out there.  Mine will not be anything like that, but we will see!  I have started with the wonderful task of cleaning the parts and there is lots of sink marks and bleshimes on the plastic.  I have started with this...

 

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In case some of you where wondering, the VF-1 Valkyrie was based on the F-14 (which also appears in Macross Zero), if you see a non "Super" version, you will see the similarities.  In fact most of the staff who worked on the Macross franchise are massive aviation fans.  You can see this in the quality of animation and the aircraft/mecha designs.  The film/OVA Macross Plus was loosely based on the Advanced Tatical Fighter competition of the early 80's and the YF-21 is based on the YF-23.  Anyhow...  The above is what I started out with.  I needed to sort out the auxiliary intakes, the horrible gouges in the side that cockpit and the nose and that is what you can see!  First job was to get this apart to get at the parts easier.

 

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Better shot of how bad the cockpit is and also the airbrake... What was I thinking?

 

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Alot of snapped plastic later we have this.  I can now work on the individual parts... that lower fuelage is looking horrible.  That is the result of using too much Revell Contacta.

 

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More horrible examples of how not to use glue.  I bet you, if you was to join all of the sink marks, you will figure out the meaning of life!

 

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I have tried to rescribe the auxiliary vents.  This is more or less my first time doing this and please be aware that the picure is zoomed in - each square is 1cm suare.  To the eye, it looks okay, but we will see once the paint is on it.

 

I have tidied up the wins and ripped them apart, but have managed to get them back together.  I have also rescued the swin wing gimmick but, if the wings are going to be loaded up, this is a useless thing.  I will look into that later.  I am not dealing with the cockpit.

 

As I have lost one of the landing gear legs, I will do the model as a wheels up example, however this kits where not designed to have their wheels up.  No idea why.  But I have seen how other people deal with this, so I have a plan.

 

Not much to actually show, but I have cleaned up a hell of alot of plastic and horrible glue marks.  I am alot happier with how she looks now.

 

Hopefully an up date will be coming soon!

 

Kind Regards,

 

Dazz

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  • 4 weeks later...

Hello Everyone,

 

Has it really been 3-ish weeks since my last post?!  Wow time flies when you can't keep track of it!  I have been working on this kit pretty much everynight as well as playing EVE-Online (one of my favourite games).

 

So where I left it last time, the cockpit was nothing more than a hole in some grey plastic (below).

 

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Oh god that is horrible isn't it?  So I spent a few nights cleaning it up and sorting out the horrible example of gluing at the nose.  While looking for ideas on this kit, I remembered that the VF-1A/J/S where based on the F-14 Tomcat.  I had some left over PE from a previous build so why not add it in?

 

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Not my best work, but not the worst either.  It would just so happen that if you folded the PE part down the middle it would fit excatly into the cockpit - result!

 

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Thats not bad eh?   So I painted the seat and computer thing that sits behind the pilot.  The decal for the instrument panel was a disaster as it folded up on itself.  Not bad for a 20-ish year old kit.

 

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In the end I painted over the bottom left part and painted the "ears" silver.  You wont know the difference once it is in.

 

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Not bad I would say.  You can see the PE parts too.  Excellent! I am not very good at seat harnesses yet.  Does anyone have any suggestions?

 

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As you can see, a lot will be seen in the Valkyrie once the canopy has gone on.  Hhmm...  There is also a nast seam line down the middle of the canopy.  Lease the nose looks 100% better!

 

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First job was sorting out the FAST boosters... I am going to be here a long time.  These little darlings took me 2 nights to sort out.  I think I have fluffed the bottom of one of them.  But I am not worried as it is the bottom.

 

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Bottom one looks so much better than the top.  I have also had to rescribe the detail I have lost.  A skill I am not 100% comfortable with just yet.

 

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This is the main body of the Valkyrie.  Where the black bits end, I have placed two plates as you can see right up inside the aircraft and see the lovely mechanism.  THis will hopefully stop that.

 

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The two arms and the added FAST packs for them.  I just needed to tidy these bits up and for the majority will not be seen.

 

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The bottom of the Valkyrie, this is actually the chest when it transforms - this kit will NOT be doing that! The arms in the previous shot go inbetween the two intakes/legs.  They will cover up that horrible hole.

 

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I have also modified the legs to have the MLG doors closed.  Hasegawa in their infinite wisdom only made the kit to have the wheels on disply.  A few snips and excessive sanding will get you a closed MLG bay.

 

I have also found the sister kit to this one that I have been searching for, for the last 19 years.  I was going to get a £60 one from Japan, but I found one closer to home for a much better price.  I will enjoy building this when I get around to it.

 

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This is the VE-1 Elintseeker.  Think AWACs/Hawkeye and you are there.  This kit is a two seater and I can steal some of the bits not used for the Super Valkyrie... maybe.

 

I have since done some more work on the Valkyrie since I have taken these pictures.  I have painted the leg FAST packs and decaled them (the bit with "U.N. SPACY" on the Elintseeker pic).  I will post pictures of them tomorrow.

 

Questions and comments welcome.

 

Kind Regards,

 

Dazz

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8 hours ago, modelling minion said:

You have been busy haven't you!

The cockpit looks really good and you've done a great job cleaning up the nose section, very nice.

 Thank you Modelling Minion... it's taken a while to get to this stage but the hard work is over now... I think.

 

So as I said in my last post I have done more work on the Valkyrie, but with out any pictures yet.  While listening to the voices of Lynn Minmay, Fire Bomber (Particularly Mylene Jenius :heart:), Sharon Apple, Ranka Lee and Sheryl Nome - anyone who knows anything about Macross knows that the two most promient features are the Valkyries and songs, but I digress. First up is the typical Hasegawa canopy with the mold seem down the middle of it (picture below).

 

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So with my newsest No. 11 blade I scraped away the excess and with the Micro Mesh Sanding Pads, I started at 1,500 grit sanding one way (vertically or horizontally) then going down to the next pad and changing direction.  The picture is when I had reached the 4,000 grit pad.

 

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Getting there, after some time, I was down to the 12,000 grit pad and a nearly shiny canopy.

 

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Not bad I don't think.  I used to hate doing this to canopies, but I think I am getting there.  I did have a polishing liquid, but I will be buggered if I can find it!

 

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These are the FAST packs for the legs.  They are not finished yet, but getting there.  Believe it or not there is 12 decals on these each.  The wonderful "U.N. SPACY" logo broke up didn't it?  Well that was fun.

 

Since taking these pictures, I have painted the gun pod, the booster and micro missile packs.  The nose has been attached to the main body.  I think I am getting there.  I am in danger of completing this kid... bloody hell!

 

Kind Regards,

 

Dazz

 

 

 

 

 

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1 hour ago, modelling minion said:

More nice work Dazz, that canopy looks really good, you did a great job of cleaning it up.

 

1 hour ago, Dansk said:

This is looking very promising dazz, really nice work

 

Thank you both, I am really enjoying this refurb.  While I know it will not be perfect, I am happy with the results thus far. 

 

So I couldn't resist a little mock up to see if there was anywhere that needed my attention.  The cockpit to fuselage join needs some sanding.  I will probably lose some of the vents there, however I have PE vents from my Gundam kits that will fit the bill perfectly!  Infact they are almost a direct replacement!  But that will be another post tomorrow... probably.

 

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I am going to try a black basing method on this aircraft.  Not nothing to loose right?  I am happy with how the wings are turning out.  The bottoms are shocking, but I will look at those later.

 

Hope this gives you an idea of what it looks like?

 

Kind Regards,

 

Dazz

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  • 3 weeks later...

Hello Everyone,

 

Well it's been a few weeks since my last update (where is the time going?!).  I have been working on the Valkyrie every night (what else is there to do right now?)... update time!

 

So in my last post I said I was going to try black basing, I am still not sold on it but I am liking the results.  I am going to play around with it on a few other models.  For anyone who doesn't know you prime your model/part in black - in this case Vallejo Black Primer (see below).  Then in ramdom light patterns you spray white to make tonal variations in the model.  I am not sure if I pulled it off but this is what I got.

 

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I think the next time I do this, I might some other colours to make this more interesting.  Anyways, from here you build over the coats in even passes until you get the blow - or what you are happy with.

 

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Hopefully you can see the differences in the shades?  While not perfect, I am really happy with this.  So this was done on both wings and then glossed and decaled.

 

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I think the gloss coat has buggered up the shading... oh well least it looks okay.  Each wing is made up of 15 decals... fun!  Going to gloss over these again and then try an light grey wash on them.  I have also done some work on the top mounted FAST packs and the Gun - not sure if I have mentioned the gun before and I am too lazy to check.

 

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The U.N. SPACY decal of course broke up, which was fun trying to sort out.  The decals on the FAST packs wheren't as bad but the skull decal on one of the boosters ripped and tore.  Luckly there is some decals in the pack I wasn't going to use.  These came to the resuce and you wouldn't tell which one it was (and I can't remember).  I am not keen on the "steel" used for the boosters.  It looks too shiny for my liking.  I will have to see what other colours I have.

 

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This is the VF-1J head, I am supposed to use the VF-1A head for this model, but I prefer the look of this one (there is also an "S" head).  This is still very much a work in progress picture.  However I had added the decals you can see here and I likes them.  The yellow ones are from a 1/144 Revell Eurofighter - I think they work.  I have also drilled out the laser barrels too. I am going to dry brush around the sensor bit for highlights.  I am unsure if I want a small black line to follow the red one as Ichijo's colours are red and black.  For those that are wondering, the masking tape on the cutting mat is for an Airfix P-51D and I am building as well.

 

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These are the inside of the legs, you are not going to see the other side as they will have the leg FAST packs on them.  The decals on these where buggers too.  The red dot on the top leg didn't want to go on and tore.  So I used some of red decals that I wasn't going to use - these where the decals to be used on the winglets on the bottom of the leg.  You can just see these on the bottom.  These where painted instead as they would look better that way and I was right.  I am really happy with how I have painted them thus far. 

 

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I also managed to pick this up on a well known auction site for a decent price.  I have seen a version of the Valkyrie (the VR-1D) which carries a recon pod and a sorta IR sensor on it's windscreen (think Flanker/Fulcrum and you are there).  I have also seen another modeller turn that version into a sorta SEAD like.  I might do a version of that, once I get the okay from the other modeller to sorta steal their idea.

 

My girlfriend and I have an idea for the base.  I think that will be more complicated that the entire build!  More to come.

 

Ideas or comments welcome. :)

 

Kind Regards,

 

Dazz

 

 

 

 

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18 hours ago, Dazzio said:

My girlfriend and I have an idea for the base.  I think that will be more complicated that the entire build!  More to come.

Looking great 👍 

is the idea to build that huge island on the box art? 😳

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  • 1 month later...

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