sketchley

Hobby Color Paint Restoration - the water-based paints strike back Next on the workbench are the water-based paints. Not sure how old they are (getting on 15? 20 years?), but unlike the Mr Color paints, the ones I need are still liquid (highly viscous... ). While diluting them with water is feasible, the information I've been able to find indicate that solvents (E.g. Aqueous Color Thinner, X-20A) are preferable to water. Does anyone have any experience with mixing X-20A into Hobby Color? One of the sites I looked at has this guide (double circles = excellent/very good, single circle = good/OK): https://love-p.jp/mokei-color-solvent#i-7 That site indicates that own-brand solvents are best, but there are more or less no problems when used in different brand paint. (it's well worth a look, as scrolling up there are a bunch of other similar diagrams for the other commonly available modelling paints and solvents in Japan). Another site goes into detail about mixing Tamiya and Mr Hobby paints. Long story short, it's basically OK, but some individual colours don't react well (clumping up, etc.): https://peg4009.livedoor.blog/archives/9002979.html This last one goes into a bit of detail about the differences between the old (circa 1996) and new Mr Hobby Aqueous paints. In short, the big difference is the availability of solvents. https://fudepla.com/tips/hobbycolor-mizuwari/ Edit: Just so there's no confusion, the Hobby Color and Aqueous Hobby Color are one and the same, just a rebranding (old / new versions): https://blog.goo.ne.jp/me262a/e/9f60b878c8d4ad2c2b93a394d20f7f82

Mr Color Paint restoration project: Considering that the paint was bone dry in the jars (the 'gun chrome' was particularly crusty!) a couple of weeks ago, AND I didn't melt any of the styrene that I painted it on, it looks I more or less pulled it off. It wasn't quite 100%, but as the company warned that it won't work on metallics, that was kind of anticipated. The two colours used: The Mr Metallic Color GX Metal Black was the more successful of the two. Initially I feared that I hadn't diluted it enough, and the paint was going on too thick. However, aside from a few spots, it came out perfectly (in the sense of just like before it had dried out in the jar). The Mr Color Gun Chrome was less successful. It didn't go down smoothly, and I had to manipulate the paint after some of the liquid had vaporized. The end result was basically matte when it should have been gloss. Initially I thought it was because it was too diluted. However, two days later when I looked inside the jar, it was settling out with a clearish/greyish liquid having formed on top and the metal flakes settling at the bottom. The Mr Metallic Color was exactly the same two days later, so I'm presuming that the two types use different recipes that react differently to Replenishing Agent + Paint Thinner. The results: As most of these parts are hidden behind other parts (clear lenses, etc.) and are destined merely to reflect light, I'm satisfied with the result. The only trouble spots I had with the Metal Black were the areas that (I think) I put it on too thinly. That "reflection" in the nozzle on the upper right is not a reflection, but because it dried matte. If memory serves (from 5 or more years ago! 😅), I think this occasionally happened before. So, it's something to keep in mind when applying Mr Metallic Color GX (my 'story' is that Regults get banged up all the time, so of course they'll have scuff marks.) They don't look half bad when assembled. However, I'm getting strong urges to paint the gun barrels on the front the same colour to make it look more balanced! I also slapped it onto the gun pod and engine thrusters of the VF-25→VF-24 conversion. Was it worth the extra effort to add the Burnt Iron colour on the insides of the engines on the Regult (middle picture, above) and the Valkyrie? Or is the colour difference too subtle? I tried this route. Sadly, the paint (and my brushwork 😅) didn't come out as well as I would have liked... That eraser putty is a good idea! I have some blue tack lying around that should do that trick.

Mr Color Paint restoration project: It looks like I've reached the stage where I don't need to add any more of the Replenishing Agent, need to dilute them with paint thinner, and will be able to start using the recovered paint. It's taken this long mainly due to only adding a bit of Agent at a time. The 1:1 ratio* is a bit of a challenge to achieve, as dried paint has significantly less volume than wet paint, and adding too much Agent will cause a whole slew of new problems. Nevertheless, I've achieved my minimum goal of making the bottles easy to clean. If I don't screw up now, I'll have successfully resuscitated the paint. That said, the two colours I need to use first are both metallic—something that Mr. Color says the Replenishing Agent doesn't work with! I suspect that their warning may be for spray painting, as it doesn't really make sense for brush painting, especially if it's right after mixing the paint. Speaking of painting, the Regults need a surprising amount of minor colour swatches all over the place—such as silver behind the clear parts to get an additional light kick. There is one part though on the Light Missile Pod that I've been hemming and hawing over the best way to approach. It's the sensor eye between the two missile pods—the indented part with greebles that the light sabre is pointed at: The instructions call for a black background, and silver surfaces. The problem is: some of the surfaces are above the background, others are below. (The green bits are raised, the red are lower, and the pink line is supposed to be black.) I've been waffling over painting it black first, and dry brushing silver later, to painting it silver, and then putting a black watercolour wash over the top, and removing as much of that from the red indented parts as possible. The complication is the size (I think I'd need to add paint using a needle to make the smaller red pits silver, nevermind a lack of fine brush control!) On the other hand, as it will end up covered with a clear green part, and as most people tend to focus more on the red missiles when looking at it, I figure that whatever I end up doing, I won't have to be very precise. What do you guys think? * I'm aiming for something closer to 1 (70% agent, 30% thinner) : 1 (paint)

The desired goal is to add a thin layer onto the nubs that get worn down when handling (E.g. posing) your kits. Sometimes it takes multiple layers of nail polish to get it back to a snug enough fit that'll keep its pose. I'm not sure if CA would have the same effect—my impression is that a layer of dried CA glue is very thin. The trick works best when you can pull the parts apart so the nail polish doesn't get everywhere and lock the joint. Joints on such things as the old school Destroids (like the ones in my post above) can't be pulled apart, so the trick doesn't really work on them. Which sucks, as it's generally the styrene on styrene that wears the quickest (like in those Destroids), and hardly happens with styrene on polycap (E.g. Gunpla joints)—which are super simple to take apart! Here's an example of the trick being used to make a custom adapter for a Gunpla stand using a bit of leftover sprue that wasn't quite large enough for the hole in the bottom of the 1/144 VF-11:

I think I've become a Regult Factory Satellite 😁: First up, painting the rocket thrusters on all 3 kits—of course the typhoon has decided to make a u-turn, and is sending humid rainy weather my way again 😫: Oh, update on the Replenishing Agent—I had a mini disaster yesterday: the eye dropper I was using to transfer the agent into the paint jars disolved on me just as I was getting started! In its defence, it was old, used, and sun damaged (or worse!!! It's shaped like the blue ones in the following picture, but was white). Thankfully I had a spare (that is surviving. So. Far.) It was really bizarre when the plunger part just separated into a bunch of plastic rings on me! 🤣 So yeah, VERY, VERY potent stuff. So, while waiting for the weather to clear yesterday, I started fixing my pair of Bandai fully transformable VF-1. First step was the ol' trick of using clear nail polish to rebuild worn surfaces. On these kits, it's the nubs where the 'buttflap' attaches to the back pack—both were falling off at the merest vibration! 😫 Before: After: The VF-1S (Fokker) is basically done and stands on his own two feet (he may have lost a thumb at one point—not that anyone notices or anything). Hikaru's VF-1A on the other hand... I want to keep it in GERWALK (the joint where the backpack connects with the fuselage broke, so it can't transform completely into Fighter, and that support stand connector piece is a permanent part of the kit now). At this point, I'm mulling over whether or not I should only use the nail polish trick to reinforce the leg connection pins, or basically disassemble the torso of the model and glue it permanently in GERWALK when I put it back together. I think I'll try the nail polish trick on the back FAST Pack connector pins, as keeping them removable will make dusting (etc.) a lot easier!

Update: got the Mr Color Replenishing Agent: If you're wondering why it has taken so long: just because one is in Japan, it doesn't mean modelling products are readily available! 😅 Long story short: the replenishing agent is apparently very popular product, as it's sold out on Amazon.jp, and all the local hobby stores I went to didn't have it! Ended up getting it at Yodobashi Camera in Umeda (while I don't like the 'downtown' price bump, it's fully replete in models and modelling paraphernalia. Well worth a visit.) Now, what about that Thinner? In the week before heading to Umeda, I did a little research on the Replenishing Agent: The Mr Hobby website* has this warning on the product: "For use with Mr. Color only. Cannot be used with water-based hobby colors, Mr. Metal Color, or paints from other companies. Cannot be used as a thinner. Colors that have too much solvent liquid in them may dissolve the plastic. Be careful not to add too much." * https://www.mr-hobby.com/ja/product1/category_7/163.html Digging deeper, I found a site where someone actually tried just that—bottom picture after the paint jars, captioned: "The image shows the solvent dripped onto a 0.3mm plastic plate and wiped off after a few seconds. The surface of the plastic plate has slightly melted": http://plamotukuruyo.blog65.fc2.com/blog-entry-93.html That site suggests: "If it's like syrup, add 2 parts color to 1 part solvent. If it's solid, add 1 part color to 1 part solvent." However, it and other sites all depict the revitalized paint being diluted with thinner after the solvent has done it's job. Another site did some experiments, and suggests a solvent 7: thinner 3 ratio: https://nippper.com/2020/10/12656/ Regrettably, there's been a typhoon over Japan these past few days. So that's been another delay on this project. 😫 The Mr Hobby site also mentioned that the Replenishing Agent won't work on Mr. Metal Color. Which sucks, as one of the paints I want to revitalize is "GX Metal Black"! Their image below illustrates the difference between paint thinner and the replenishing agent. (top picture: newly opened—blue is paint thinner, coloured dots are important components in the paint, yellow is acrylic agent, and red are things like metallic particles). Left bottom two pictures are adding "Mr Color Thinner", the right two pictures are adding "Mr Color Replenishing Agent". The red text on the bottom right is a warning that such things as metallic particles won't return to their original state.

I'm not disagreeing with you, but the comment about how Bandai shapes the expectations and mindsets is intriguing to me. As I live in Japan—so my perspective is based on that—Bandai's kits come across as something tailor-made for the domestic market: for the people who don't have the space/time/tools/etc., but still want to do the hobby. I.e. your dining room is your living room is your bedroom is your kitchen: anything with toxic fumes are out of the question—and not only is there no space outside, even if there was, the weather (humidity, etc.) messes with drying paint, etc. For example (and with that loft for the bed, this is a larger one, about 1.5x to 2x the size of many apartments—what they call "one room mansions"—that I've seen. Can you spot the washroom and shower? Hint: they're under the loft.): In addition, Bandai sets on the lower end are as cheap as chips—the same (or less!) than the Big Mac set (🍔 from ￥750~ vs Gunplay from ￥500~). Due to those reasons, the lower end Bandai Gunpla kits could be considered disposable: build, panel line and sticker, and toss in the garbage once you get and finish the next kit. Living in a house, I have a bit more space. But even then, display space is at a premium, and a good 2/3 to 3/4 of my completed kits are "in storage" as I'm loathe to toss any of them 'just in case'. Japanese people are far less reluctant to toss anything that is taking up space and has outlived its immediate usefulness... 🤷‍♂️ Anyhow, I can appreciate how these kits aren't a disposable item overseas due to the markup from importing them. Nevertheless, it is both interesting and baffling that Bandai kits—essentially a niche product developed for very specific domestic conditions and consumer demands—has taken on a life of its own overseas (the 'standard' of model kits for some people, etc.) Regarding the Bandai Macross Plus HG 1/100 kits: These past few days I've visited a couple of model shops (looking for paints and paint thinners), and I came across the YF-19 kit. What caught my attention is that they also had the decals on sale next to them—as a separate item. It's annoying that the decals have to be purchased separately, but I can appreciate Bandai both cutting costs to reduce the price of the kit (for those that don't need the decals) and making it easy (at least domestically) to purchase them if you do need them.

VF-171 Calling this project done. Some of the stickers were easy, some—like the ones on the back of the wings—were a royal pain. As I wasn't satisfied with how the paint on the canopy turned out, I opted for the stickers. Intriguingly, the orange works well with the red and yellow. In person, the white parts of the stickers REALLY stands out on the red one, and all but disappears on the yellow. What do you guys think of them compared to the unpainted tawny*? Was painting them (and losing the finer panel lines) worth it? * unpainted aside from the canopy, gun pod, and engine nozzles

Huh... who'd have thunk? 🤯 I'll see about acquiring it as soon as possible. In your guys's experience, about how long did it take to revitalize the paint? Also, what ratio do you recommend for bone dry paint? Is 1:1 too much, or not enough?

The 'YF-24' conversion For some reason I was thinking the PlaPlate was 1/10 the thickness it actually is! 🤪 Looks like I only need a single sheet (the sheets are 1.2 mm, and the gap is less than 2 mm). Any advice on how to get a curved leading edge (when viewed from the side), but keep it straight and uniform (when viewed from the top)? Re: Rigādo Recon Pod It looks like I won't be able to get away without painting it. There are a couple of places that need "silver" as a reflective surface behind some of the red and green clear parts. So, my best course of action is... to buy the Rigādo Light Missile Pod! 🤣 While I don't mind the painting, cleaning the brushes is a royal pain. So, I think it's best to paint all 3 Rigādo in one go. In addition to silver, the instructions call for 'black' on the engine nozzles behind the knees, and 'burnt iron' inside the main engine nozzles. I'm going to swap the black for GX Metal Black (my go to colour for Valkyrie engine nozzles and gun pods), and I'm curious about the burnt iron. ... and speaking of paints, alas, almost all of them have dried solid in the jar!!! 😫 Buying new paints isn't a problem. Disposal of the old ones, however, is. Advice on Japanese websites is to "remove" the dried paint (break and remove it with 'old spoons or disposable chopsticks'), and dispose as per local municipal instructions (glass and plastic are separate, in other words). However, one site suggested attempting to recover the dried paint first. It recommends using "Mr Color Replenishing Agent for Mr Color" (GSI クレオス Mr.カラー専用 真溶媒液): Does anyone have any experience using this? Should I even bother attempting to salvage the dried paint?

Update on the Lego repair: The top side came out as well as expected. The bottom leaves a bit to be desired. Nevertheless, it passed the build test—a little snug removing the bottom brick from the plate that first time, but normal thereafter. Incidentally, after seeing the horror show search results for 'Lego brittle brown', I'm treating all the brown parts in my Lego collection a lot more gingerly... 😅 The Wagtail was a nifty conversion. As they didn't have the GM Command at the first shop I went to (when I built it), I picked up the Cold Weather GM unit thinking any GM will do. Of course, that didn't work out. Nevertheless, as Gunpla kits at that scale are as cheap as chips, I was pleasantly surprised by how the Cold Weather one came out. I'm not sure if I ever planned to paint the Wagtail. I quite like the subtle effect of the white (Wagtail parts) on creme (Command GM parts). The pictures don't really capture it (it's most visible in the upper vs lower legs). What do you guys think? I think I will. I have yet to go through the spare parts box to see if I have any more PC parts that are usable in the conversion (a mobile waist joint would be nice). Once I get some scrap bits of the Plaplate (from the VF-25 conversion project), I'll make some headway on the Kestrel. I may be able to skip steps 24-26 (even though it's relatively simple). Building the back of the knee (step 28) looks a bit challenging, but doable. Then its merely a matter of finding enough plastic rod to finish all the joints (the writer says he used "3 mm" rod). I wonder if spare sprues 'thickened' by clear nail polish (if the sprues aren't the right size) would be enough? And some proper scans of the instructions:

Project 3: stalled on the final stretch VF-0S Phoenix In the midst of removing the panel lining wash. The problem is a) I put two much on (see the chest plate), and b) for one reason or another, the wash partially burned into (or stained) the white paint. So, the kit is at the tedious stage of meticulously removing the excess wash, while not further damaging the paint underneath, and aiming for a well-weathered look. Macross Factory (and Zentradi!) The MBR-04 Tomahawk is rather close to being finished. Looks like it's just decals (and possibly a final matte clearcoat). The ancillary vehicles that came with the Macross Factory are another work in progress. I think the oil drums were the next thing I was going to start painting. Not sure what's going on with the Zentradi... VF-171 The ancillary vehicles from the Macross Factory are either done (the 2 yellow utility trucks) or in the midst of having the wash removed (the two crane trucks). After that, I think there's only 1, maybe 2 decals apiece. I figure I can get away with leaving the trucks rather grubby. Thoughts? I think both of the VF-171 are finished (the red one might need the panel lines rescribed and a new wash). Then it's just the kit's stickers, and they'll join their wingmate: The red is a spoof of the red VF-17 that appears in Macross VF-X2. Perhaps the yellow one should have been green like the VF-17D Kai (I think I chose yellow to avoid the Christmas colours). Anyone know of any all-yellow Valkyries? Paper SDF-1 Macross The tedious job of rolling up and gluing all those little tiny gun barrels was about when I lost steam on this project. At that scale, square parts are so much easier to get decent results with. If you've noticed that the colours are washed out, it's because they're actually scans of the papercraft book printed on manga paper. The ultimate goal is to make this one in spaceship mode, and the other one in robot mode. Too ambitious? 🤣 Rigādo Perhaps the most ambitious project: making the Bandai re-release Rigādo stand on its own two legs! I started to glue the leg (knee) joints so it wasn't such a floppy mess, after getting fed up trying to jury-rig a stand for it! Got lost in the weeds thinking about making it stable in a good-looking pose. 😫 The Hasegawa Rigādo... it's waiting for its buddy (the Scout, not the floppy monstrosity!) and then I'm planning to do something about the gap in the blue plastic between the guns and engine pods... Any thoughts on which project(s) I should tackle before work starts again at the end of the summer holiday?

Project 2: the next projects are, let's just say, the rather ambitious ones: VF-25 → YF-24 conversion The plan is to replace the wings in the 1/100 VF-25 kit with delta wings made out of multiple layers of plaplate glued together. I got so far as making templates out of cardboard. The point that I stalled at was contemplating how to create the curved edges of the wings. I figure I can cheat the back end (making it just as thick as the front edge), but how to achieve a rounded form? Gluing plates slightly smaller on top of each other (like a staircase) and then sanding it down seems easiest, but the odds that I'll sand off the same amount on both wings is remote... 😅 Is epoxy putty the way to go? VF-11MAXL Kai → VF-11MAXL conversion This project stems from contemplating what the VF-11MAXL looks like. Based on the other 'Kai' Valkyries in M7, I figure there were very few changes to the external fuselage when they made the in-series conversion into the VF-11MAXL Kai. Therefore, the plan is to shave off the parts that become the chest speakers, and use putty to fill in the holes. Then lay down some kind of grey or other 'low vis' paint. Not sure what I was planning to do with the head... maybe just trimming down or removing those pink parts, and possible adding a backwards facing laser machine gun? The roadblock with this one is that I've never used epoxy putty before. Any advice?

In the midst of repairs. Figured it's best to break it into two stages—glue the hairline crack, and after that dries, the broken off piece. The crack is the harder one, simple because it doesn't open very wide. Used a toothpick and gravity/osmosis to feed the glue into the underside while holding the gap open. Regrettably, added a drop too much glue in one area, but achieved the goal of having as little excess glue on the top side as possible. While waiting for it to dry, I was motivated to go through my boxes of work-in-progress. Some projects have been gathering dust for 5~, 10~, or more years... 😅 There are various reasons why they were pushed off the back burner, ranging from being overwhelmed at the scale/complexity, to merely changing interests. Project 1: You might be wondering what's going on here. This Gundam was released bundled with Dengeki Magazine around the time they were serializing "Macross the Ride" in 2011. It's a set based on a Gundam that appears in a Dengeki original story. It's an old school style kit with limited mobility meant to be quickly snapped together. However, the neat thing about it is that it was designed with expert modellers in mind and came with additional instructions on how to convert it into a fully posable model! All one needs are a bit of plaplate, some plastic rods (or leftover sprues), and a set of "PC-123 Plus". Didn't have the PC-123 set, but as I had enough PC parts leftover from other kits, I attempted to do as much as I could. I think I've got as far as step 23 for the legs, and I believe I've converted the neck, both shoulders, and one of the wrists (didn't attempt the elbows or waist at the time). Here's the instructions (first page is the straight build, next four pages are instructions on the conversion): The subsequent issue included a sticker sheet and instructions. As it's for the straight-up build, we get the wonky thing of a sticker wrapped around the open spaces in the gun! (top right of the page on the left)

Update: Lego (Japan) is sending the replacement part. That's pretty good service for a set I bought 8 or 9 years ago! (If I'm not mistaken, the piece is from 2015's 70412 Soldiers Fort.) Looks like I'll be starting that Rigādo Scout sooner than I thought! Acetone appears to be readily available here at what they call "home centers" (akin to hardware stores). E.g.: https://www.cainz.com/g/4935185031067.html Thanks for the advice on acetone—and the reasons to avoid using that nail polish remover. I think I'll try the Tamiya Cement on the Lego part. Long story short: I don't foresee any other projects to use it on, and it'll be like that bottle of nail polish remover—after using only a bit on a certain modelling project over a decade ago, it's been sitting gathering dust ever since... 😅

Thanks for the helpful responses! On the one hand, reading this was a relief (I.e. was it something I did? Left it in direct sunlight too long?) However, it has engendered a whole new headache, as most of my Lego was purchased in the "brittle brown" period. 😭 As this is my first experience with it, it has me wondering if different factories (and thus, different plastic mixtures) were used for the sets released in Japan. In short, as the packaging differs (no set name under the Lego code), are the bricks also different? (See spoiler for an idea of how the packaging differs) It's not too late! After reading Gabe Q's response, I've placed a request on the Lego (Japan) website for a replacement. I've decided to hold off attempting any repairs until I get their response (it's summer vacation right now). With luck, they'll send a replacement (it's a common part, so it should still be available). If they do, I am intending to use the broken piece to test glue. The glues I have on hand are: Tamiya Cement and Mr. Cement Deluxe appear to be exactly the same (acrylic resin 11%, organic solvent 89%, cyclohexane, butyl acetate, acetone). The nail polish remover is much more dubious—what one can expect from a ￥100 store product (acetone, water, propylene glycol, fragrance, drometrozole, tocopheryl acetate, yellow 6). I think it's best to avoid anything that will introduce 'fragrance' and artificial colour... Thoughts?

It only took 4 months since I ordered it, but my reissue Rigado Scout finally arrived! (apparently I ordered it right when the started offering preorders for it on Amazon.jp ... 😭 ) HOWEVER, before I get started on it, something more pressing came up: While it seems relatively straightforward, there's also a diagonal hairline crack (red arrow) that extends from the break (the 'left' side of the leftmost stud), between the studs, and almost all the way to the 'top' edge (next to the second stud). Apparently plastic model cement (E.g. Tamiya Cement) works on Lego. Anyone have any experience fixing broken Lego?

For one reason or another, I was given the custom tag "Smarter Than Brainy Smurf" way back when on these forums. My avatar was the result of mashing together that and Macross. The original idea was to spoof the opening of SDFM: At one point, I was changing it every couple of months, and as Gangnam Style was hot at the time, we got these strange iterations. Incidentally, the background of the 2nd picture is the full-size VF-25 exhibit that was making its way around Japan at the time (note Sheryl Nome cosplayers in the lower right and the people standing on the Valkyrie's hand looking into the cockpit in the upper left): The cropped version (current) was due to a change in forum software that changed the larger square display space to a much smaller circular one. I've (unsuccessfully?) attempted to make it look like the Smurf is peering through a porthole. Aside from all that, there's not anything deep going on with the avatar beyond taking an idea and running with it. Here's the full size: https://www.deviantart.com/studiootaking/art/Brainy-Smurf-SD-VF-1-264897023

All it says on the poster under the English is "開発中!!". → in development (or under development)

That's the million dollar question. From what we know, the Unified Forces were far, far behind on producing what they believed they needed to protect the Earth (such as the Grand Cannons, Destroids, Valkyries, etc.) Even if they knew how to properly conduct an anti-main fleet war, it's doubtful that the Earth would have had all the armaments ready by the time Boldoza's fleet showed up (in the TV series timeline). Now, if the Earth was a lot more proactive, headed out into the galaxy a bunch of years before the Zentradi show up, and were somehow able to hijack a bunch of Factory Satellites... there's a chance they would have made enough.

Fixed! Main link: http://sdfyodogawa.mywebcommunity.org/ Macross Chronicle: http://sdfyodogawa.mywebcommunity.org/MCindex.php Variable Fighter Master File books: http://sdfyodogawa.mywebcommunity.org/OTvfmf/OTvfmf.php

For some reason, Kawamori-san opted for a sword-name theme for all the ~9 Valkyries: Cutlass (VF-9), Excalibur (VF-19), Durandal (YF-29). However, things went really esoteric and dives deep into Arthurian and Norse mythology when Ukyo Kodachi got involved in the franchise from Macross the Ride: Caliburn (VF-19EF), Nothung (VF-19ACTIVE), Perceval (YF-29B—as in "Perceval's sword").

Great Mechanics G 2024 Summer has a substantial article on DYRL (15 pgs). Nothing new in terms of artwork, but the Japanese text is more substantial: The 3 Deculture points in DYRL, Famous Scenes and Famous Lines, an interview with Kawamori-san, and much more.

It may be helpful to consider the out-of-universe reasons for how the YF-19 ended up looking the way it does. There are two main factors: ① Kawamori-san was designing the VF-11, YF-19, and YF-21 at the same time, to appear in the same shows (Macross 7, Macross Plus). ② Kawamori-san's way of doing things is to make his designs visually distinct from each other—at the silhouette stage. He chose the Quadoran-Rō's silhouette for the Battroid form of the "enemy" YF-21. The VF-11's Battroid has a traditional VF-1-style silhouette. Therefore, the YF-19's Battroid had to be something that was different from both of them. Moving the wings to the legs was a great way to do that. Diving deeper into this rabbit hole, one could say that the large blocky things coming off of the hips is the common design element in the AVF fighters, and Kawamori-san could have been using that as a visual cue to help the viewer differentiate between 'normal' VFs (like the VF-11) and the AVF.

Fixed. Here's the text from the 3rd issue of Macross the ride: And there's a bit more on the Sv-52—specifically how many were produced—in the subsequent section on the Sv-51: