1:72 Hasegawa SV-51 w/twin booster WIP

[Rockhound]

Good evening modellers!!

It's time for an all-new episode, this time featuring Hasegawa's SV-51, now with low-calorie twin boosters! Yay!! I know you must be saying to yourself, "Rockhound, what mesmerizing feats will you pull of this time!" And your answer would be, "I"m just hack trying to get by footloose and fancy free." Now it's time for--- "How to build a model with minimal skill but maximum payoff! (and possibly stress out in the process.)"

Looking at the model, it does in fact look intimidating. Alot of parts, insane paint scheme, nightmare decal work if you build the Nora type (which I will be in this WIP.) Since this is the first time I will be building this kit, I'll take it slow and carefully weigh and measure each step and hopefully any readers that have advise or criticism will let me know if something looks like it could be done better.

Let's start with the overall kit.

The box art is lovely. That was my main inspiration for even building this kit. The sheer challenge and uniqueness of the model just screamed build me.

Here are the instructions. They look complicated with some many parts, but I'm sure it will get easier as we build. A few things I noticed off the bat was the amount of internal painting even before the main pieces are built. Not to worry, it's alot of flat space and single color application, very easy to do.

The decals. I wanted to do the Nora scheme because it looks like a viscous fighter with the yellow stripes. I am not, however, a fan of the main color in the anime and the kit. I'll be looking to keep the red and maybe toning down the vividness of it with a possibly darker, richer red.

And for giggles, here's my workbench and model collection so far.

And here's the YF-19 I just finished this afternoon.

Anyways, that's all for today. We'll start the actual build tomorrow!

Till next time,

Enjoy the Show.

Edited May 14, 2008 by Rockhound

[Excillon]

Yes, my FAVORITE macross fighter of all time. ugly battroid mode though...

[big F]

The space pope !!

[Ghostkiller]

nice skills !!! Pls start

[Rockhound]

Evening modellers! Here's some updates, mainly the pilot.

Everyone pretty much starts with the pilot. After all, how can a plane fly without a pilot in it? This instruction panel, albeit confusing to look at at first glance, but it pretty simple to follow. What makes it look confusing is the paint directions. The body itself is only 4 parts.

I first assembled the body and arms, but left the head on the sprue. It's easier to paint the body without the head, and it's easier to paint the head on a more stable point.

[Rockhound]

I then assembled most of the cockpit and then primed it.

After I primed it, I went back to the pilot and started painted her. Unfortunately, my battery on the camera was going dead so I didn't take any shot I felt didn't need to be taken. But, I mixed up some red and a crazy purple/red and got a pretty good color. Then I hit the highlighted curves with the same color mixed with a little white for a good contrast. I then used some dark gray on the raised surfaces of the shoulders, knees, and life preserver thingy round the neck (116 is RLM 66 Schwarzgrau for ModelMaster line). The visor was dabbed with some enamel chrome silver from ModelMaster. I always liked that silver over the others. After that dried for a bit, I hit it with some clear blue.

I then painted the whole cockpit in Gunship Gray (305 according to the Hasegawa paint guide.) For those that didn't know, the paint guide provided by Hasagawa does infact use mostly ModelMaster paints. I found this out by looking at the barcode and found that the numbers for the grays are the exact same as the ModelMaster codes, as well as those weird RLM colors. The brown line down the middle of the cockpit was mixed from olive drab, tan, and red.

The ejection handle above the head is painted while still on the sprue. I painted it black first, then hit the yellow lines (I didn't have yellow so I used tan.)Then the back was painted in the same gunship gray.

The order for assembly is just like what the instructions say: Floor, attach seat to floor. Then I attached the rounded back section, and then the flight stick. Once I painted the flight stick, I attached the pilot. Unfortunately I had to cut off her feet (didn't realize she was diabetic) and shave some of her butt to get her to conform to the seat (shame too since I'm a fan of dabutt). Once the pilot was in place, the last thing I attached was the ejection handle. The pilot is pretty much impossible to get in if the handle is already glued in, if you wait to place the pilot AFTER assembly to the fuselage that is.

Now, before attaching the the cockpit to the top of the fuselage, you have to decal the instrument panel. It's just much, much easier to do the decalling first.

And of course since this was the last picture I took, I suddenly discovered the macro setting for my POS camera that I've had for almost 4 years... All this time, I could of been up close with these damn shots. And then my batteries died. You can see from the sheet the instrument panel is in fact 7 DECALS!!!! OMG!!!!

Don't worry. The two side mirror decals can be painted on, so that leaves you with five. To do the instrument panel well, you need to paint the whole thing black first, as there are still some exposed surface. Then, cut your decals as close to the edge as possible. This is especially true for the 3 middle decals. Once cut, place the middle blue decal (77) first since it's the deepest one. Then do the bottom middle (78), then the top middle (75). Once those three are in place, slide the 2 side decals on (79 & 80). These should be cut as close as possible also since the panel pretty much rests on the pilots legs.

Pictures will be posted once I get new batteries. That's all for now. Happy modelling!

EDIT: Some grammar errors

Edited May 15, 2008 by Rockhound

[Rockhound]

Next update: intakes

The intakes are pretty stright forward. 4 pieces each side. I assembled the angled piece to the bottom (according to the sheet), then the intake fan to the top. Afterwards, I painted the inside with camoflage cray since I didn't have aircraft gay, and the fan with enamel chrome silver. Then I assembled the whole part together.

[Rockhound]

Legs/engines update.

This one might look tricky, but it's straight-forward. 6 pieces each side. I glued the wheelwell part to the bottom first, then the piece (F4) that holds the foot/burner in place. Make sure that F4 goes in front of the raised lip. Also, make sure that the wheelwell piece is flush with the connecting part. If it's raised at all the whole part will not fit properly.

Next, attach the long, flat piece to the bottom. It looks like it might not fit properly, but it does. Then I finished the whole leg.

However, sometimes it won't always be a perfect fit. Here's my problem area in the read of the leg. But enough filler and it should be good.

[Rockhound]

Update: feet/burner things.

Each "toe" or "feather" is two pieces for a total of three toes each side that attach to the engine exhaust similiar to the YF-21 exhaust. Also, you can see when the clippers clipped it from the sprue. These pegs need to be filed or shaved off. When glueing the two pieces together, they may not look like they belong in the right spot, but rest assured they match perfectly. It's just an illusion with angles. Also, the end that attached to the exhaust is very loose. This is beneficial since you can attach the two together after painting.

Here is the whole part assembled.

The toes are very, very loose. But don't worry. This becomes a Nonissue when attaching it to the legs. Also, the white paint on my thumb has been there for the past three days. Friggin' enamel primers.

[Rockhound]

Update: Read Stabilizers.

There are two ways of assembling the rear stabs. One is in the inflight position, the other is in the landed position. Since this bird will be in flight, I assembled it as such.

4 pieces each side. The main large part has a little flat part that needs to be glued to the bottom of it. Then the smaller stab is glued with the piece that allows for the angle, in this case C17 and C18 are the required pieces.

This is the correct angle for the inflight position. Notice it's roughly a 90 degree angle.

[Rockhound]

Update: Wings

The wings are straight-forward. However, I wanted to do something different. I cut the flaps and will reposition them later either up or down. All I did was cut with my x-acto knife along the recessed lines very, very slowly. It's best to use multiple cuts instead of a couple heavy pressure cuts. This helps avoid any stress fractures or breaks on the wing. But as you can tell in one of the pictures, I sneezed during on of the cuts and kind of extended the cut farther than I wanted to. Oh well.

[Rockhound]

Update: Gun

The gun is 6 pieces and are stacked on top of each other. Glue the two halves of the main gun together, then pancake the four layers on top of it. I'll be sanding the glue off of the main section tomorrow after it's had time to dry.

[Rockhound]

Update: Side gun turrents.

3 pieces each side. Very straight-forward. I love the gatling gun sticking out.

[Rockhound]

Update: Cockpit and canopy.

Here are some shots of the pilot and cockpit. Also, a close up of the instruments.

Also, the canopy. The dreaded center seam. What looks like it might complicate the sanding is the stenciled cross on the top. Don't worry, it will be covered with a decal later. Just start with a 400 grit sandpaper, wet it, and sand for a bit. Then switch to a 600 grit paper, wet it, and sand some more. And if you have anything higher than 600 grit, use that. Once that's done, test it in water by submerging only the top of the canopy. You want to see that it disappears. Once you're satisfied with your sanding job, dunk it in Future floor wax, dab the bottom of the canopy on some tissue to remove excess future, then let it dry. DO NOT TOUCH IT!

Here is the finished product.

[Rockhound]

Once you've finished those major subassemblies, it's time for a dryfit! This will give you a sense of accomplishment and let you know if you need to do anything else.

After the dryfit, I looked at what might be better when it came to the forward canards. With or without? The anime obviously has them with, but I can't help but wonder if it looks better without them. You decide.

[Rockhound]

And of course, the always needed size comparision shots. Here is the SV-51 compared to the VF-0D.

The SV-51 is so far, the largest macross model made by Hasegawa. It's huge!!! I love it.

Well, that's it for now. Time for a lengthy sanding session. See ya tomorrow!

[baltek]

Really great step by step

Lot to learn from a master

[Rockhound]

Update: Boosters and armament/tanks.

Again, very very straight-forward. The fuel tanks ( I think that's what they are anyways) already have the pylon attached to it. The missile pod however, might be a little tricky. Each pod has little fins that run the length of it, and according to the decal sheet a straight, black decal runs underneath them. So, it's best to paint them on the sprue and then attach them AFTER the decal is applied. Just clip the attachment point on the top of the fin and you should be able to have complete paint coverage. Also, you can glue the pylon to the pod now, or you can wait after painting. Personally, I'll be waiting.

The boosters are easy to assemble, save for the nose cone sticking out. Since the contact points are not that defined, yoiu have to be a little careful to make sure it doesn't fall out when glueing the two main halves together. Also with the booster, there are parts that need to still be attached to the booster, like the stabs/fins, vector engine fins (or whatever they're called.), and the pylon. These can all be painted on the sprue with no problem.

[Rockhound]

Update: Drilled details.

Here is the box art of some drilled holes in the front of the aircraft.

Because the details are so shallow, and I was afraid I would sand them off, I drilled the three holes underneath the canopy. This adds some depth and detail to the heavily sanded front end (I was never any good at sanding, but I'm getting better.) I also drilled the holes behind the canopy for more depth, much like what I did with the VF-0D, except I didn't drill all the way through. Just enough to get some depth into this area.

[Rockhound]

Again with the size comparison. Here are size shots with the four aircraft I've built thus far.

You can see from the pictures that the SV-51 is WAAAAAAAAAY bigger than the VF-1S, and a good size larger than the YF-19.

[renkenjutsu]

This confirms my belief that the bad guys always have the bigger weapon Keep up the good work! I'm learning as you go

[Rockhound]

Thanks for the gracious replies fellas! I don't think I'm quite the master modeller like some others (You know who I'm talkin' about... ), but I try.

Here's a purely cosmetic update: Drilled vent holes in the gunports and legs! Here's what I did.

First, I drilled pilot holes into the recessed space.

Then, very very carefully using the drillbit as a saw, I started sawing form one pilot hole to the other. You can do this if you're not afraid of breaking a drill bit. You're not scared, are ya?....

Here's what you get when you do all the holes. When you're done drilling, make sure you wetsand the top to flatten out the surface. Also, bend the paper as tight as you can to get inside the cracks.

Here are the drilled gunports, before and after.

Edited May 17, 2008 by Rockhound

[Rockhound]

In retrospect, I should of drilled the holes before assembly so I could sand down the inside of the leg covers. Oh well, live and learn. I got the drilling trick from when I did the VF-0D, which subsequently I got from WM Cheng's VF-0S build-up. The only thing I'm kind of worried about right now are the decals. Since it's the Nora type, the yellow flames cover the holes. I just hope I have enough MicroSet to soften them up and poke holes without damaging the rest of the decal.

But, I did the drilled vent holes for two reasons:

#1. It adds some much needed depth to the surfaces. The kit itself is very impressive, but with shallow panel lines that are easily sanded off I felt the holes would help compensate.

#2. I terrified of the painting stage. I have no clue right now how to paint the funky magenta color or all the masking that will happen after the primary color is applied.

Tonight I'll be drawing up my game plan after a few beers, some rounds of Hot Shots Golf, and figuring out how to use this new Alclad II steel color.

[Excillon]

In retrospect, I should of drilled the holes before assembly so I could sand down the inside of the leg covers. Oh well, live and learn. I got the drilling trick from when I did the VF-0D, which subsequently I got from WM Cheng's VF-0S build-up. The only thing I'm kind of worried about right now are the decals. Since it's the Nora type, the yellow flames cover the holes. I just hope I have enough MicroSet to soften them up and poke holes without damaging the rest of the decal.

But, I did the drilled vent holes for two reasons:

#1. It adds some much needed depth to the surfaces. The kit itself is very impressive, but with shallow panel lines that are easily sanded off I felt the holes would help compensate.

#2. I terrified of the painting stage. I have no clue right now how to paint the funky magenta color or all the masking that will happen after the primary color is applied.

Tonight I'll be drawing up my game plan after a few beers, some rounds of Hot Shots Golf, and figuring out how to use this new Alclad II steel color.

Oh well, if you mess them up you've got more on the way, right?

[Rockhound]

Update: Pre-painting stage.

Well, it's getting time to start painting. The best way to start is to form a game-plan and figure out what part needs what color. This model can be broken down to three main colors: White, Magenta, Steel/Black.

The white pieces include the fuel tanks, armament, boosters, booster fins, and rocket fins.

The magenta (which will in fact not be magenta, but for argument's sake) fuselage, legs, wings, rear stabs, canards, intakes, wheel well doors (which will be glued on after painting is finalized.), side gun ports, and those two little fins that attach to the bottom, behind the front wheel well. I decided to leave those off since masking the two exhausts would be difficult with them in place.

The steel parts include the gun, engines, engine toes/feathers, booster vector fin thingys, and the cover that goes behind the canopy.

The steel pieces will be given a straight black paint first, since I will be airbrushing the Alclad II Steel color over them. Alot of modellers swear by this paint. I ordered some from Squadron.com, an on-line model company that has a ton of stuff. This stuff should last for a long time.

[Rockhound]

Update: Preshading.

I preshaded the white and magenta parts with a heavy black. I figured I did okay with the VF-0D with the blue paint over preshading, so why not with magenta.

I wound up getting specking since I have a one speed air compressor. I thought I could compensate with a dual-action airbrush, but no go. The air is forced out so fast that specking is unavoidable. If you can help it, find one with a variable gauge that adjusts the PSI. This thing I got cranks out at least 25-35 PSI, which is almost double from what I want. This wasn't too much of an issue with my other models, as I only did preshading on the VF-0D but covered it with enough paint to hardly make it noticeable, plus I haven't used Alclad paint before, and that's recommended for 12-15 PSI. But, all in all I'm still happy with the pre-shade. I got really close with the airbrush and gently pressed back with the trigger. The specking might help with gradients, but I won't know till I try.

[kkx]

Update: Drilled details.

Here is the box art of some drilled holes in the front of the aircraft.

Because the details are so shallow, and I was afraid I would sand them off, I drilled the three holes underneath the canopy. This adds some depth and detail to the heavily sanded front end (I was never any good at sanding, but I'm getting better.) I also drilled the holes behind the canopy for more depth, much like what I did with the VF-0D, except I didn't drill all the way through. Just enough to get some depth into this area.

Great idea. I wish I drilled mine when I build it. Well will apply your tirck for the next kit of SV-51 then.....

I have seen somewhere else that it is good to apply a thin plastic card cut to the right shape for the raised details on the side of the nose cone. They are a bit thin. Doing this will make the edge look shaper. You might like to consider this.

This same trick can be applied to the arrow head shaped raised detail on the side too (the one with the hole in the middel, with a seam line that is a big pain to fix). Cut a thin plastic card and drill a hole in it. Sand the original away and glue this card on. Looks much better when this is done in my opinion.

I tried to sand the seam line in the hole, took me a lot of effort and still didn't look good. I wish I know this trick when I am building mine, again hope to use this on the next round.

Great build up, learned some very useful trick from you. Thanks.

[HWR MKII]

Loks great. Cant beat the nora scheme. Same scheme i put on my flyable SV-51 RC aircraft.

[Rockhound]

Update: Priming

I know priming should be done BEFORE the preshading, but I'm silly like that.

I decided to prime the parts that will be painted the megenta color with gray after the preshading stage to kind of "diffuse" the heavy black, to get rid of the specking, and to have a decent surface for which the paint can adhere to. I did a quick pass with the gray primer so as to not totally get rid of the black, but rather to help blend it. The parts to be painted steel are given the normal primer treatment as I will be airburshing a gloss black on them before applying the Alclad. The pieces that are white were simply airbrushed with flat white with no primer. It took like 4 coats, but I think it turned out better this way, adds a bit of depth.

Hey kkx, thanks for the insight. I went looking for some at the local hobby shop, which I absolutely hate, but it's the only game in town unless I want order on-line for stuff. They don't care any sheets like that. I'll see if I can substitute a poker card instead. If I happen to have some around that is.

My next step, beside the raised details, is to paint the gloss black, and apply the acryl clear gloss coat to the white parts.

[Rockhound]

Update: Primary color

I decided to paint the main color first, as there are areas on the main body that have to be masked for Alclad. I'm doing three stages of paint application.

Phase 1:

In these photos, I did a pass of the primary color, which was mixed with Guards Red, Kandy Scarlet, Flat Black, Gunship gray, and a little flat white. All I wanted to do is get a quick layer of paint on the parts to get a good idea of how the color would show. Not bad I think.

Phase 2:

In this stage, I applied a second layer of paint to get a fuller picture. You can see the primary color coming through nicely, and it's blending the preshade very well. One more pass of paint and it should be good to go.

[Rockhound]

Update: Final paint layer

Here is the final pass of color on the aircraft.

I also did the gloss black undercoat on the parts that will be steeled. I figured why not since I had time.

[Rockhound]

Update: Gloss coat.

I applied an acryl gloss coat a few hours after the final paint layer. With the glossiness of the plane and how well it turned out, I might just have to regloss it after applying the decals.

I also applied the gloss coat to the armaments and boosters.

[Rockhound]

Update: Masking

If you thought sanding was bad, wait till you start masking. It took roughly 2 hours to mask this bird, but the big payoff will make it all worth it. Also, if you can, invest in some Tamiya masking tape. I was using the Testors stuff before, but this tape is SOOOOOOO much easier. Extremely low risk of pulling up any paint or coat. Plus it's plyable enough to work around corners. Here are some masking shots.

I also masked the toes/feathers. Since the paint scheme calls for two-tone toes, I first painted the toes a very glossy black (last night). Then I tried to use masking tape on them, but because of the glossy surface it wouldn't stick. So I got out my canopy masking and painted the mask onto the top of the toes. You can see it from the orange color.

I'll be applying the gloss black to the unmasked parts tonight, in very light coats so I don't risk seppage under the tape.

[Rockhound]

Update: Black priming, Alclad paint, masking snafu

Okay, using th ecanopy mask on the toes/feathers was a bad I dea. Although the mask did what itwas supposed to, it wound up pulling the black underneath it up. So I had to go back and repaint by hand with flat black. I should of done that to begin with.

The big parts were primed with gloss black, 2 light coats. Then after waiting all night (I really felt the 10 hours or so was good enough for a cure time) I painted the Alclad steel color.

Then it was time to see if it was all worth it. Slowly, I pulled the masking tape back. I had only two spots were the color was pulled up, but nothing too serious.

I was very, very pleased with how it turned out. And hopefully without an inflated ego, I did an awesome job. The colorscheme can out exactly how I wanted it to. I actually used two colors, the Alclad Steel, and Gunmetal gray. The gunmetal was used on the striping on the intakes and the cover that sits behind the canopy. Everything else was steel. If you can, invest in a bottle of that Alclad stuff. You will not be disappointed. Just make sure you do everything in light coats. The VTOL exhausts on the bottom of the fuselage was unmasked, given a gloss coat, and finally had the little fins that sit on each side of it glued on.

Now, I just wait a little while longer so I can start the panel lining, or maybe I sould wait till after the decals are applied since they cover such a large partion of the plane. Anyways, enough the photos.

[HWR MKII]

I hate to say it this late in the painting but in the photos it looks like your magenta/burgundy color is very spotty. Like some of the primer is showing through in spots.