Quagga

Thanks MickyG! For me half the fun is in sharing the experience. I can only encourage you regarding the Hasegawa: it is a lovely bit of kit and great value too.

I've been looking forward to tackling the Hasegawa all day! Bolstered by the smooth ride so far, I expected more of the same. The 1/72 had other plans though: assembling the torso proved rather tricky. To be fair, it cost nothing more than some careful sanding and I am left chuffed with the results, if slightly worried about durability... Can't say I wasn't warned, but this was my first personal encounter with the famously fragile nature of this model. OK, this doesn't look too hard Goodness me, what are those supposed to be? Time to grab the tweezers... Not something that you are likely to come across in a Gundam: Little bits of ill-fitting (though admittedly fantastically detailed) plastic veneer Note to future Hasegawa Battroid builders: Respect the fragile bridge! A bit of judicious sanding and voila! Since this piece isn't structural, I took the easy way and mainly sanded the male connectors Hasegawa trusts ME to remove this nub?!? I'm going to have to be extra careful... This nub is perilously close to some fine surface detail... Care is called for! Just look at that surface detailing, perfectly spanning pieces B9 (white chest bit) and E1 (red) fit precisely and brought some much-needed stiffness to the party The shoulder-tops are some of my favourite bits, of this particular kit and of VF-1 Battroids in general I'm worried about the connection with the nose of the plane / waist of the Battroid. As far as I can tell, that is where the little plasticy bits in the poly-caps come into play (see photos 2, 3 and 4 in this post). I fully expect them to break as soon as I attempt to pose this guy. Please someone, tell me I'm wrong Despite my misgivings, this is a lovely sight Next time I aim to complete enough waist to attach the legs.

Thanks man. Your advice was part of the reason I tried the Wave

From I what found on Google, Kakizaki's scheme looks very similar to how TwoBad finished his Hasegawa VF-1A (see Hobbyfanatics and PhotoBucket). Posted by electric indigo in my original thread, I was impressed enough to ask permission to repost. This level of build is obviously far beyond my abilities, but it is nice know that it can be done (and out of the box too). This thing looks great Just look at those panel lines and the teensy "Don't step" stickers... WOW And here we have electric indigo's fabled "dusting technique" blending in the decal. Check out the transition between the brown and creme: I suspect that this is the work of a highly experienced modeller. While TwoBad's work is inspirational, check out JET7's build to see how good a straight-forward build can look. Anyway, tonight I've assembled some of the Wave's torso, just enough to connect the arms. It was quick and painless and I can report that I am very pleased with the results Assembling the "Body" as described in step 2, leaves you with a loose-fitting collection of bits. I despaired at the thought of a wobbly Valkyrie Not solid at all To make life easier I'd suggest to rather stick the polycaps (PC23 and PC24) into A2 (the chest plate featuring jet intakes) before assembly. With front (A2) and top (A8) plates fitted, the torso is rock solid Of all the possible shoulder joints in the world, Wave chose a wee little plastic rod with balls on the ends This is starting to look like a robot..! The little rods fit firmly into both arm and shoulder sockets and yield good articulation Brotherly love. Wave impressed me with a combination of a good solid feel and decent articulation The Gundam has amazing casting and clever design. It feels as if more effort went into it... Not to knock the models, being Valkyries they push all the right buttons for me, but Bandai did a great job ensuring that I end up with a perfect end-product. Wave and Hasegawa left more responsibility with me. Time will tell whether that was a smart move... Next time it is back to the Hasegawa!