Need advice, tips on Hasegawa VF-0A/S Battroid kit

[Mr. Anderson]

Hey all I am new to this forum and new to building these macross model kits. I used to build Aircraft/Fighterjets all the time when I was younger. Now Im back into model building and I plan on doing alot of these sweet Hasegawa Macross kits. Im waiting on my VF-0A/S Battroid to come in the mail. If anyone has any advice on this kit I would appreciate it very much Also if anyone knows of any good step by step guides for this kit, that would be awesome! Thanks! And I look forward to sharing ideas and pictures of my first Macross kit!

[kkx]

Hey all I am new to this forum and new to building these macross model kits. I used to build Aircraft/Fighterjets all the time when I was younger. Now Im back into model building and I plan on doing alot of these sweet Hasegawa Macross kits. Im waiting on my VF-0A/S Battroid to come in the mail. If anyone has any advice on this kit I would appreciate it very much Also if anyone knows of any good step by step guides for this kit, that would be awesome! Thanks! And I look forward to sharing ideas and pictures of my first Macross kit!

Welcome to the forum.

I am building this same kit. I am at the final stage (decal and weathering). I will share some picture soon.

Like some others have pointed out, this kit is great (the high level of details if fantastic), but you have to be careful with the fine panel lines. There are quite a lot of seams, some at very obvious or hard to get to places.

The tight is a bit weak, I regret not strengthen it. Some of the joint movement can cause paint scrapping (arm and leg joints), so be careful during final assembly after painting.

There are lot of black decal patterns, for most of them, it is better to just use mask to paint the parts black.

If you have patient, you can get great result with this kit.

Good luck.

[Mr. Anderson]

Cool! Thanks for the heads up! Look forward to seeing yours completed! Yeah I was wondering if the black markings were decals or not. Did you have to do any scribing for the panel lines?

[kkx]

Cool! Thanks for the heads up! Look forward to seeing yours completed! Yeah I was wondering if the black markings were decals or not. Did you have to do any scribing for the panel lines?

I had problem when I use the decal for some of the black marking. The decal wrinkled up so bad and I don't know how to fix it. Some other marking was painted and it looks better.

The panel lines are fine, but I find that I don't need to rescribe any. Just the one I fill and sanded away while fixing seams.

The panel lines near the canopy (the nose cone part) is quite fine and I think they might look better rescribed. But I found out too late and since most of it will be hidden anyway, so maybe it is not worth do it (unless you care about unseened details).

Here is how mine looks like now. I tried to fix some of the visible lines, but the result is still not great:

I plan to finish this kit over the Easter break.

This is what it looks like now:

I made lots of mistakes and now trying to finish with resonable quality.

Hope you will not report my mistakes.

Edited March 19, 2008 by kkx

[Mr. Anderson]

Mums the word! That looks incredible ! The mistakes must have been small cuz i see nothing! Awesome work!

[Sonic]

That's nice work.

Here is my one which has been through a big battle, hence bullet holes on the chest.

[Mr. Anderson]

Nice!!! I love the battle damage

[MechTech]

Both look great guys! - MT

[kkx]

Looks fantastic Sonic.

I am not brave enough yet to apply such battle damage to my carefully build model.

But I would love to try.

[warpaint22]

First welcome to the boards Mr. Anderson

A handy hint for the hip joints is a small amount of cooking oil on a cotton swab and wipe it into the sockets on each leg where it attaches to the hip. Don't use much but this will stop the joints breaking. I thought I'd throw in a few pic's, each one is a different model.

[Mr. Anderson]

First welcome to the boards Mr. Anderson

A handy hint for the hip joints is a small amount of cooking oil on a cotton swab and wipe it into the sockets on each leg where it attaches to the hip. Don't use much but this will stop the joints breaking. I thought I'd throw in a few pic's, each one is a different model.

WOW! Those pics you have are so awesome. And thanks for the tip! How do you do the weathering? I had to cancel my order for the VF-0s Battroid! So now im getting the Valkryie. I will do the battroid next though!

[cynispin]

First welcome to the boards Mr. Anderson

A handy hint for the hip joints is a small amount of cooking oil on a cotton swab and wipe it into the sockets on each leg where it attaches to the hip. Don't use much but this will stop the joints breaking. I thought I'd throw in a few pic's, each one is a different model.

Wow! I'd never heard of using cooking oil! When I was younger, I used WD-40 on my jet kits for landing gears if there was a bit of friction.

That Valkyrie is gorgeous, by the way! I would love to grime and shoot it up, though...

[warpaint22]

Thank you guys for the kind words, if you need any help feel free to send me a PM anytime.

[kuman]

First welcome to the boards Mr. Anderson

A handy hint for the hip joints is a small amount of cooking oil on a cotton swab and wipe it into the sockets on each leg where it attaches to the hip. Don't use much but this will stop the joints breaking. I thought I'd throw in a few pic's, each one is a different model.

nice model there..

if only some manufacturer produce the Gerwalk mode for the VF-0S then the group photo would be complete..

kuman

[warpaint22]

nice model there..

if only some manufacturer produce the Gerwalk mode for the VF-0S then the group photo would be complete..

kuman

I should consider building a gerwalk wouldn't be hard. The models in that pic where for a client they turned out nice IMO.

[vaped]

Wow..nice pics..im a beginner myself too, just managed to get a VF-1S valk. from bandai, the thing that i noticed with hasegawa kits they cant do the gerwalk pose right? Though the details are very good. Actually i saw the hasegawa VF-1 Super/strike valk on the net while lookin for a birthday present for my bro. Realised later on that all the photos of it doesnt show the gerwalk mode. got the one from bandai instead..tho i've not yet build it. Its the anime i watched while i was a kid.

[warpaint22]

You'll find the bandai kit's are just older and lack cirtain detal but they are fun to build and look good completed. You may want to get some Gundam hands for it but it's not necessary. Have a look round the forum you'll see some very nice models of the Bandai kit's. The Hasegawa will beat it in fighter and battroid modes but they are two seperate kits not one like the bandai.

[vaped]

You'll find the bandai kit's are just older and lack cirtain detal but they are fun to build and look good completed. You may want to get some Gundam hands for it but it's not necessary. Have a look round the forum you'll see some very nice models of the Bandai kit's. The Hasegawa will beat it in fighter and battroid modes but they are two seperate kits not one like the bandai.

thank you for the info warpaint22, guess i might just buy the hasegawa kit as well AFter i completed the bandai kit. the hasegawa does really look good..

[kkx]

Just been putting some finishing touches on my VF-0S kit.

It is 99% complete now.

Light condition is very poor, but I couldn't resist taking some pictures.

I messed up at quite a few places, but I am happy to own a completed VF-0S batt.

I might still try to fix up one or two of the more major mistakes. The picture is very poor, but what do you guys think?

Warpaint22, you have build quite a few of this kit, what do you think of my work?

I will take some better pictures when it is sunny. Hopefully you will be able to see better to give some helpful comments that will help my next project.

Edited April 20, 2008 by kkx

[Mr. Anderson]

Just been putting some finishing touches on my VF-0S kit.

It is 99% complete now.

Light condition is very poor, but I couldn't resist taking some pictures.

I messed up at quite a few places, but I am happy to own a completed VF-0S batt.

I might still try to fix up one or two of the more major mistakes. The picture is very poor, but what do you guys think?

Warpaint22, you have build quite a few of this kit, what do you think of my work?

I will take some better pictures when it is sunny. Hopefully you will be able to see better to give some helpful comments that will help my next project.

Excellent work! Im moving along slowly on mine. Seeing yours finished is motivating. Did you have to rescribe the panel lines on the legs? On mine where i fixed the seams, I lost alot of the panel line detail. Im just afraid to attempt rescribing anything cuz I dont want to screw it up.

[cynispin]

It looks so clean! The Battroid I'm working on right now is not coming out that way so far, but this is my first attempt at washing for panel lines.

[kkx]

It looks so clean! The Battroid I'm working on right now is not coming out that way so far, but this is my first attempt at washing for panel lines.

I used pastel chalk (shaved and mixed with a drop of washing liquid and some water) for wash and weathering. Works really well for me.

Mr. Anderson,

Yes I have a hard time when I did mine with the panel lines. I have to rescribe most of the one near any seam that I have fixed.

It is not that hard once you got the hang of it. Having the correct tools also helps a lot (I find out the hard way). Buy some hasegawa scribing saw or some good scribber. It does helps.

Using a stiff tape as guild help to keep your panel lines straight. The kind of tape they use in the lable creator that punch letter on a hard plastic tape (sorry I don't know what it is called) is a good choice. I also used a very small measuring tape (the thin metal tape is flexible enough, but you need to use some tape or bule tag to keep it in place).

Use very a sharp knife, and go very lightly over in the first few passes. A steady hand does helps.

I am a novice too in panel scribbing, but I find that trying it a few times will quickly teach you the basic.

Good luck with your model.

Like Sonic, I am working on a YF-19. Seems much easier then the VF-0S batt, maybe I am yet to hid any problem yet.

[warpaint22]

Very nice work kkx it turned out really well. The weathering turned out nice and not over done, you should be very pleased with that result. Now for the fighter to go with it..lol. Thanks for sharing and keep up the good work I look forward to seeing more of your work.

[Wicked Ace]

I don't always get to reply, but, as with many work-in-progress threads on Macrossworld, I really like what I've seen in this thread.

[kkx]

Very nice work kkx it turned out really well. The weathering turned out nice and not over done, you should be very pleased with that result. Now for the fighter to go with it..lol. Thanks for sharing and keep up the good work I look forward to seeing more of your work.

Thanks for the kind comments everyone. Thanks Wicked Ace for taking the trouble to reply.

Warpaint22, I did try to be very careful not to over done the weathering, it was too easy to do that.

I am very happy witht the kit standing there in the case. This is only my second completed model. You will have to excuse me for not being ablte ot keep my eyes off it sometimes.

Looking at the working by others here on the VF-0S fighter, I am very keen to own one too. But my build queue is already very long now. I wanted some many models. VF-1S minmay guard strike batt is one of the top one.

But like I said, I am working on a YF-19 now. Hope I can finish that quickly and get on with others.

Any tips for the YF-19? I have barely started. Looks easy enough, but I might face more problem down the road.