Anasazi37 Posted October 23, 2003 Posted October 23, 2003 Believe it or not, this whole custom was done using only decals. That's right--just decals. I did have to strip down the Max 1A and repaint the whole thing white, but I don't really count that step. The decals were commissioned by trueblueeyes75 almost a year ago for a custom she was working on, but she was kind enough to allow me to use a set for a custom of my own since I fell in love with this valk while working on the designs for her. This was proably the easiest custom I have ever done. That is, once I finished the decals. That was probably the toughest decal project I have ever taken on. Headaches galore, but you can see that the end result was worth the effort. Here's what the decal set looks like: And here's the original Hasegawa kit the custom is based on: The custom took me about a week to complete and I have only been working on it between filling decal orders. I'll post some pics of it in fighter mode once I get a chance to do a little touch-up work. Quote
Vermillion One Posted October 23, 2003 Posted October 23, 2003 Wow, that looks great. That sure is a sweet scheme, tons of detail in the decals like always. Quote
williwoods Posted October 23, 2003 Posted October 23, 2003 tight! lets see fighter mode and gerwalk!!!! Will Quote
ewilen Posted October 23, 2003 Posted October 23, 2003 Very nice. In battroid it does look kinda like the Japanese schoolgirl sailor costume. Quote
Anasazi37 Posted October 23, 2003 Author Posted October 23, 2003 Okay, here are some pics of this custom in fighter mode: Quote
myk Posted October 23, 2003 Posted October 23, 2003 Wow, that's beautiful. Suddenly, the idea of a '48 scale version of that sounds like a great idea. Quote
Effect Posted October 23, 2003 Posted October 23, 2003 (edited) Very cool I'm kinda surprised they haven't come out with an official version of this yet. Guess it isn't that popular. Would be a welcome change from the models beign released now. Edited October 23, 2003 by Effect Quote
Dat Pinche Haro! Posted October 23, 2003 Posted October 23, 2003 it's just WOW...that's just amazing! and it's nothing but decals?! great work as usual Devin! Quote
Valkyrie Nut Posted October 23, 2003 Posted October 23, 2003 i wonder if anyone's tried doing it in 1/48... Quote
bigkid24 Posted October 23, 2003 Posted October 23, 2003 Wow, that sounds like a custom even I could do. Nice work and nice decals! Quote
snip312 Posted October 23, 2003 Posted October 23, 2003 nice bird......hwy when are we goning to see tha "minmay guard" i've been itchin to do a custom. snip312 Quote
Anasazi37 Posted October 24, 2003 Author Posted October 24, 2003 nice bird......hwy when are we goning to see tha "minmay guard" i've been itchin to do a custom.snip312 Thanks for the kind words, guys. The Angel Birds valk definitely doesn't get enough attention from toy companies. Some customizers (Jung, for example) have made 1/55 versions of this valk but they're aren't many out there. I was actually surprised when Hasegawa decided to make a 1/72 version, but I'm glad they did. I don't think this custom would look nearly as nice if the Hasegawa decals and designs weren't available. Truth be told, if trueblueeyes hadn't commissioned me to make these decals I wouldn't have done them--especially so that you didn't have to use paint. It was quite the challenge, but a lot of fun, too. It really tested the limits of my abilities. The 1/60 Minmay Guard stickers/decals are pretty much done and will be available for purchase in about a month. I'm still tweaking the 1/55 and 1/48 versions. I'm planning on making two 1/60 Minmay Guard customs: one to keep, one to sell. Those won't be done for at least a month or two. Right now I'm waiting for the two valks-to-be-customized to arrive.... Quote
kidkorrupt Posted October 24, 2003 Posted October 24, 2003 nice!! those hip intake decals must have been a bitch to design, yikes!!!! you can see the love in all the decals =D great work Quote
Anasazi37 Posted October 24, 2003 Author Posted October 24, 2003 those hip intake decals must have been a bitch to design, yikes!!!! A bitch and a half, to be precise. Those were a HUGE headache to create. The only solution that seemed to work was to mask the hip intake section in several stages, remove the pieces of tape, slap 'em on a sheet of paper, scan them in, trace their outlines in Illustrator, then render the designs.... BTW, this is the same process I use for the Minmay Guard sets--very time consuming. Of course, they don't fit precisely right (does anything ever?) because there are so many variable surfaces, but the blue of the decals matches Tamiya's Flat Blue perfectly so I was able to dab a little paint here and there to fill in the micro-gaps. Quote
Isamu Atreides 86 Posted October 24, 2003 Posted October 24, 2003 Get work Devin. that Custom kicks ass. mad props for all the work you had to do on design!! Quote
UN Spacy Posted October 24, 2003 Posted October 24, 2003 Wow! Has any other Valkyrie been given the Angel Birds treatment? That looks superb on a 1/60, I'm sure it'll look even better on a 1/48 (or Hasegawa). Once again................ Quote
BoBe-Patt Posted October 24, 2003 Posted October 24, 2003 WOW!!! I'm not a fan of this version of the vf-1a, but damn that looks good! Quote
kidkorrupt Posted October 24, 2003 Posted October 24, 2003 those hip intake decals must have been a bitch to design, yikes!!!! A bitch and a half, to be precise. Those were a HUGE headache to create. The only solution that seemed to work was to mask the hip intake section in several stages, remove the pieces of tape, slap 'em on a sheet of paper, scan them in, trace their outlines in Illustrator, then render the designs.... BTW, this is the same process I use for the Minmay Guard sets--very time consuming. Of course, they don't fit precisely right (does anything ever?) because there are so many variable surfaces, but the blue of the decals matches Tamiya's Flat Blue perfectly so I was able to dab a little paint here and there to fill in the micro-gaps. cool, if the color matches tamiya's exactly then people can paitn the hip if they want to =D nice work again dev Quote
Anubis Posted October 24, 2003 Posted October 24, 2003 Awesome job. You're patience making those decals must be very high. I've never seen an Angel Bird Battroid before. That makes me really want an official one from Yamato. 1/48 LE for that one. Quote
Myersjessee Posted October 24, 2003 Posted October 24, 2003 WOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOOWOWOWOWOWOWOOWOWOWOW!!!!! Quote
imode Posted October 24, 2003 Posted October 24, 2003 Hey Anasazi, you put the feet on backwards!! Quote
Anasazi37 Posted October 24, 2003 Author Posted October 24, 2003 Hey Anasazi, you put the feet on backwards!! I was wondering if someone was going to notice that mistake. I fixed it shortly after taking the pics in battroid mode. If you look at the pics in fighter mode the feet are oriented properly. Quote
Golden Arms Posted October 24, 2003 Posted October 24, 2003 Anasazi you never fail to amaze me. Excellent custom. Quote
hellohikaru Posted October 24, 2003 Posted October 24, 2003 Don't mean to kick sand on your work but that purple color isn't right...its suppose to be something of a light blue. This one looks more like something done by the artist K.Takazora but the pattern follows the Hase kit. Quote
hellohikaru Posted October 24, 2003 Posted October 24, 2003 This is the one done by Takazora but the patterns are different. See the purple. Quote
robokochan Posted October 24, 2003 Posted October 24, 2003 Man that looks absolutely fantastic! I love seeing customs like this! I know Jessie would go crazy for it! Rob MN Quote
Gerwalker Posted October 24, 2003 Posted October 24, 2003 Awsome!! Excellent work! (BTW: I dared to examine the 1/60 VF-1A decals sheet you sent me with a magnifier and I can even read some of the warning signs!!) Now you have to give it a small suitcase and reproduce that little pic from Perfect Memory Quote
Anasazi37 Posted October 24, 2003 Author Posted October 24, 2003 (edited) Don't mean to kick sand on your work but that purple color isn't right...its suppose to be something of a light blue. This one looks more like something done by the artist K.Takazora but the pattern follows the Hase kit. The color I used isn't purple, it's blue. The exact same blue Hasegawa used for their kit, actually (I scanned in the decal sheet and replicated it). The lighting in the pictures don't do it justice, nor does the picture of the decal sheet--the blue on the custom is pretty darn close to the "light" blue in the fist picture you posted. I believe that picture is from the box art for the Hasegawa kit. The blue of the decals also matches Tamiya's Flat Blue, which is definitely not purple.... Thanks for posting those pics. Edited October 24, 2003 by Anasazi37 Quote
Toonz Posted October 24, 2003 Posted October 24, 2003 are you going to do a few more to make them fly with beautiful formation? Quote
Smut Peddler Posted October 24, 2003 Posted October 24, 2003 That thing looks awesome, great job. Quote
Anasazi37 Posted October 24, 2003 Author Posted October 24, 2003 are you going to do a few more to make them fly with beautiful formation? Tempting. Very tempting. I could make a diorama with the whole squadron in formation (and Hikaru's Fanracer flying up through the middle of them). Quote
Toonz Posted October 24, 2003 Posted October 24, 2003 are you going to do a few more to make them fly with beautiful formation? Tempting. Very tempting. I could make a diorama with the whole squadron in formation (and Hikaru's Fanracer flying up through the middle of them). and you got to hang them down from your celling Quote
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