Hasegawa 1/48 VF-1S Strike Valkyrie with some photoetched parts
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Tom HarrisWAY more than I expected, Jennifer! LOL
It's no joke - if you enjoy trying to interpret instruction drawings, matching up part seams and/or sanding, this is the kit for you.
Jennifer FranklinSounds daunting, Tom; I'm just trying to complete my first model; that is way too ambitious for me, but I bet you will do a fantastic job.
Roland DamasioHi, Nice to see that you didn't give up! I'm big a fan of Macross as well! Keep on going!
Tom HarrisThanks, Roland! 🙂
I just put on some Minmei/Mari Iijima songs (& Haneda's Macross BGM) and soldier on. LOL
Besides, I promised Kawamori-san completion photos, so there's no chance of abandoning it... Just the occasional alternate kit "break." 😉
CaptGPFSlide 18 orange peeling could be due to one of three things - airbrushing too far away in a hot environment (the paint dries in mid-flight); paint not thinned sufficiently, or contaminants like mold release on the surface. You can help leveling the paint by misting the freshly painted area with the thinner to help it level out a bit better. If this is only occurring with the insignia white, your mission models paint can also be bad. I stopped using MMPs a while back due to their inconsistent pigment sizes across the colors, as well as the fragility of the paint (easily scratched) - didn't have that issue with Tamiya or AKRC paints, but it could also be due to my skill level.
I love the Macross jets - the VF-1S is a classic, and having built the 1/72 version, I agree that the engineering of the kit is really old-school with terribly placed seam lines necessitating a ton of sanding, swearing and re-scribing. Given the age of these kits, you're also in for some fun re-scribing of the fainter panel lines. Overall, this kit should build up to be a real beauty - especially with the Weapons sets and PE set you are adding - I can't wait to see how this turns out!
Tom HarrisHi CaptGPF! Thank you for the insight on the funky airbrush results. I'd watched a few videos of Mission Model Paint tips, so was very aware of the distancing issue (I got closer during the same session but it wasn't helping). Given the same paint didn't do this on other parts I'm leaning toward your "contaminated surface" reason. I didn't wash these parts first (I've heard from people who swear by washing, others who say, with modern sprue-making technology, you don't need to do that anymore). But, encountering this headache, methinks I'll go back to washing.
I've also heard very mixed reviews of the Mission paints. I decided to try them because I saw them on Adam Savage's Tested channel on Youtube and I liked that it was a US company. But, I have to say I've mixed feelings after using them on this and the MADOX kit. I used to go with Tamiya (although I used Vallejo for the first time with my Mandalorian and I feel that is one of my best paint jobs ever!).
Ahh, 'tis true, misery doth love company! Have to say, I'm glad I'm not the only one who has suffered through Hasegawa hells of sanding/filling. 😉
I love/loathe that my wife got me another Hasegawa I wanted... the newly released Miria639's Queadluun Rau battle suit from the Macross movie - it's all _curves_ LOL
CaptGPFWe're kinda stuck with Hasegawa for the Macross stuff, but, it could be worse, we could be fighting AMT/Revell/ERTL quality kits…
The good news for you is that their newer releases like the SV-51 come together like a dream - no excessive need for sanding in obvious or awkward places. 😀
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I was excited when I found this kit during a vacation. I was even more excited to get Shoji Kawamori (Valkyrie designer) & HidetakaTenjin (artist who painted the box art) to sign the box lid!!.. Then I was able to get the weapons set and the photo-etch parts for what it would have cost for just one or the other on ebay!
Unfortunately, after that the joy of actually assembling this really fell off.
This kit has been more of a headache than a joy to be sure. I say this, sadly, because I'm really a fan of the VF-1 Valkyrie's and Fokker's in particular. But, wow, Hasegawa. I have to say, after not building for years, then trying several Bandai kits, this kit gives me flashbacks to when I was about 10 years old and just starting to try to build kits (partly because my dad was good at it back in the 1970s and partly because I finally found some planes and the Enterprise from Star Trek that I wanted to put together). The plane kits always drove me crazy with misaligned fuselage halves and unclear instructions... This is what I'm finding here now, too. And why, why is this kit molded to bifurcate parts down the middle when a little more engineering could have hidden the joins in several cases (like the FAST pack booster housings??
If you love/enjoy filling gaps and sanding - this kit is for you.
I don't mind a bit of it, but this has been on a whole new level. I mean I've sanded A LOT. And just when I think I've got an even seam (at times this has mean obliterating some panel lines as well), I hit it with some primer and there the seam shows plain as day. After about 3 rounds of this on quite a few, I've opted to move and and accept this kit is not going to be the ultimate, perfect DYRL VF-1S I'd hoped it would...
