My Macross II VF2-SS

[armentage]

My first completed mecha model that uses some of the techniques I've learned here and around the web... This is the 2nd kit I've done since i got back into modeling these last few months, and spent a couple of weeks on it. It's no master piece, but I thought I would share.

Sorry for the poor picture quality - I am digital camera challenged (long story) and was only able to get 5 decent shots. The rest were out of focus, but I didn't have time to re-take them before my camera's battery ran down (and I don't have a charger!)

I painted the fusalage Light Ghost Gray (using VERY OLD!) Polly-S acrylics, and used Tamiya colors for the rest of it.

I added a coat of Future before the lining & the decals. I haven't sprayed it with a dull coat yet, because I haven't been able to find anything that doesn't scare me in the NYC area. I haven't hit Chinatown yet, where I am sure I can get some Gunze Sangyo good-ness.

BTW - there are some spots where my first attempt at weathering/lining with ACRYLIC blacks (thinned with Polly-S airbrush thinner) ended up wearing away some of my paint. I sort of liked the look of the worn edges, so I painted over them very lightly with a brush and left them there!

Edited June 8, 2005 by armentage

[armentage]

Here's some close ups - I used a mix of Gundam Marker, Sharpie Black, and oils to do the lines. I had a lot of trouble with the oil and was never quite satisfied, so I went back to basics with the markers.

I used my eraser trick to lighten up the lines on the gray piece of the Super pack. The groves were VERY light, much thinner and shallower than even the 0.04mm Gundam Marker.

[armentage]

Here's a rear-quarter shot. I tried to add some weathering using the oils on top of the gun-metal engine pieces. There's some gunk I still need to clean out from when I was masking with liquid mask.

UGH, do not let that stuff get into small crevices, its hard to clean out!

[armentage]

Here's battroid form.

[armentage]

And a shot of the Battroid's back

[valkyrie312]

Gorgeous! Nice work!

I was commenting in another thread about how much I wish the Yamato would make a 1/72 (or whichever scale would float their boat) VF-1SS or VF-2JA Valkyire!

Oh well, never hurts to wish, right?

[Grayson72]

Looks pretty good for your second model, thanks for sharing. It looks like you are missing a few decals are you not done with them yet?

Also for some small but worthwhile details you could paint the wingtip lights red and blue respectively. The technique I use when I don't have clear parts to work with is first paint the lights Model Master chrome silver, let that dry a good long time, then paint over that with Tamiya clear read and clear blue. Really works well, just make sure you do this after the dull coat.

I use testors dullcoat it works really well, it's lacquer based but dries really fast. I think your kit will really look good after this step.

take care

[armentage]

Looks pretty good for your second model, thanks for sharing. It looks like you are missing a few decals are you not done with them yet?

Also for some small but worthwhile details you could paint the wingtip lights red and blue respectively. The technique I use when I don't have clear parts to work with is first paint the lights Model Master chrome silver, let that dry a good long time, then paint over that with Tamiya clear read and clear blue. Really works well, just make sure you do this after the dull coat.

I use testors dullcoat it works really well, it's lacquer based but dries really fast. I think your kit will really look good after this step.

take care

Looks pretty good for your second model, thanks for sharing.  It looks like you are missing a few decals are you not done with them yet? 

Thanks! I know it could be a lot better, but I wanted to finish it and move on.

As for the decals, I do have 3-4 pieces of label-text left, but nothing major. Is there anything in particular you see as missing? BTW, the instructions say to only put a text decal on the left shoulder, but not on the right!

Also for some small but worthwhile details you could paint the wingtip lights red and blue respectively. 

That's a great idea. I've always been impressed by little details like that, they really make the model feel real.

I use testors dullcoat it works really well, it's lacquer based but dries really fast.

I have a can of Krylon Matte Finish. I used it on an F-14 I built and the results weren't too spectacular (the F-14 was painted with ModelMaster Gull Gray). I tested it out on a piece of Polly-S/Futured surface, and the results were horrible. I'll try to pick up some Testors Flat...

[armentage]

Something I feel I should do on the rear-quarter is spray over the panel lines on the folded-up wings with a very light coat of gray, just to lighten them up a bit. They seem to be waaaay too dark.

Any tips on doing something like that?