Bandai 1/72 Scale Macross Frontier Model Kit Thread Ver.3

[mickyg]

Why when HW Japan has it for 550Y cheaper.

The first 3 are: main dark purplish colour is H43 85%, H93 10%, H90 5% & H1 (not sure of the amount, possibly a drop?), the brownish colour is H43 80%, H49 10% & H94 10% with the light purple colour: H49 65%, H43 20%, H1 10% & H90 5%

Mostly because I've used them in the past and they were fast (with regular air shipping, not EMS) and they had a lot of the tools and supplies I needed too. Had it just been the model, I'd have tried amiami or HW Japan.

Good tip for the future!

Thanks heaps for translating Gunny! Much appreciated!

[Chronocidal]

can we see close ups of those custom tabs for the VF-25s? I'd like to make my future builds better and tighter than out-of-the-box. Also would like to compare the new tabs that come by default on the VF-27, there seemed to be a pic before (*pages and pages ago), but I don't find it.

There was another topic a while ago about the tabs I added to my VF-25G, they were a pain to make by hand (sanding tiny pieces to shape), but they've been very effective holding the legs up, and the wings down.

Here's a picture showing the tab and slot, with the exact shape of the slot outlined since it's a bit hard to see (the rough cut I made needs some smoothing out).

[thegunny]

RLM 2 and RLM 75 are fairly different colors, but both are "medium-dark" grey. RLM 75 has a hint of purple in it.

Never said they were the same

They both have the same japanese text on the Hobby Color chart. H69 is RLM_ _ _75 & H70 is RLM_ _ _02 (can't be bothered typing the japanese text). The Bandai paint guide only uses the japanese text and not the RLM numbers. Looking at the Hobby Color chart I'd say H70 is more suited to the greenish shade shown in the 3rd lot of 3 colours in the guide & H69 is more suited to the blackish grey shown in the 4th lot of 3.

[Lolicon]

Finally got mine stuck together in fighter mode. Parts fit is just super tight; I wouldn't attempt it after painting it.

Slightly larger and heavier than the 25 due to the wings and extra engines, but otherwise it's nearly identical to the 25 in design and transformation (but I guess everyone already knew that).

The back is way heavier than the front when mounting on my SMS stand, so much so that it cause my stand to flop backwards at the screw joint. Unlike the 25, the parts used to connect it to the stand are sturdy and secure. Didn't bother with the landing gear; looks kinda funny with the gun split to accommodate the front landing gear.

Also looks kinda ridiculous in profile with that huge gun mounted so far forward.

[David Hingtgen]

Re: the third pic. All the modeling essentials---sprue cutters, q-tips, toothpicks, and a big bottle of tylenol.

[Chronocidal]

Don't forget the nail clippers, I tend to use those just as often as sprue cutters for trimming things. Even better if the clippers have an attached file, so you can get rid of sprue bumps with a single tool.

I keep finding new uses for nail clippers all the time. I remember finding a set in my backpack during a circuits lab, and finding out they're a great makeshift tool for stripping wire insulation.

Edited December 19, 2009 by Chronocidal

[regult]

There was another topic a while ago about the tabs I added to my VF-25G, they were a pain to make by hand (sanding tiny pieces to shape), but they've been very effective holding the legs up, and the wings down.

Thanks man, exactly what I was looking for!

Edited December 20, 2009 by regult

[Chronocidal]

Check back in my older thread, there are more details about what I did there, though it was simpler to do than I expected.. I was really planning on adding more tabs to hold the leg to the body, but just that one did the trick. Once the leg is held up to the wing section, the rest of the plane sticks together beautifully.

Edited December 20, 2009 by Chronocidal

[regult]

Thought this would be interesting for all, it's a 1/72 step by step build using stickers and minimal paint.

Just follow the link to the next page at the bottom of each page. There are 7 or 8 total (it's all in Japanese though! I can't read it)

Edited December 20, 2009 by regult

[David Hingtgen]

A LOT of the pics have a 2nd view if you roll over them with your mouse. I'm curious as to how the ultra-shiny chrome-gold at the base of the wing-mounted nozzles was done.

[regult]

I have the impression it is done with some Gundam marker. Also, I am curious as to how he managed to smoothen the stickers over the contours of the model (ie. cockpit canopy)

[westfall]

I have the impression it is done with some Gundam marker. Also, I am curious as to how he managed to smoothen the stickers over the contours of the model (ie. cockpit canopy)

I don't know how they did it but when i built my VF-25F i used a precision swab to apply them and they adjusted to surfaces just right even those with more complex contours. Then with a standard Q-Tip i rubbed them lightly.

[Lolicon]

Thought this would be interesting for all, it's a 1/72 step by step build using stickers and minimal paint.

Just follow the link to the next page at the bottom of each page. There are 7 or 8 total (it's all in Japanese though! I can't read it)

That's really damn good looking. How the heck did he manage to hide all the stress marks from where the parts were cut? No matter how careful you are, there's always going to be some visible stress marks from cutting when you're working with colored plastic like this. I guess you can kind of sort of see them in the closeups, but that's still a good job hiding them.

[David Hingtgen]

Burnish with your fingernail after sanding them smooth. You can make them nigh-invisible. That's the best way when dealing with unpainted plastic.

[mickyg]

Just looking at how long my 25G is taking, I might go this route on the 27. I'll use decals instead of stickers (can't stand how much they stick out - no pun intended). But might be happy with a clearcoat and no painting. It'll be quicker and from the look of this build, will still look pretty good.

[badboy00z]

Will the shoulder armor of the 27 fit the 25?

[mickyg]

Will the shoulder armor of the 27 fit the 25?

It doesn't look like it. But I haven't compared them side by side yet so anything is possible. It looks like it'd be a battroid only sort of thing though (well maybe gerwalk). I doubt they would fit in fighter mode. But you probably aren't interested in fighter mode since you aren't looking at shoulders in that mode anyway!

You know, after studying all those pictures, I'm amazed he used stickers! They look a lot thinner than what I've got for my model. But then again, I haven't used them so maybe they're thinner than they look. On closer inspection, it also looks like he might have used a clear coat in some of those photos. There's that tell tail slight orange peel look in some shots. That could be the texture of the plastic though. Here's what I'm talking about:

My first gripe based on the pics are the colour matching for the stickers on some parts. I guess you're going to get that though. Example (the maroon-y sort of colour on one of the "puzzle piece" parts should match the rest of the main colour but it's too light):

And finally, Regult, your definition of minimal paint is not the same as mine! There's paint all over the place on this build! And it's all really, really detailed paint! But I love it and I would probably do well to study it and see if I can do something approaching this level on my build. Those Hasegawa kits I bought over the last few months are never going to get built!

[David Hingtgen]

Yeah---it's a ton of paint APPS, even if the actual surface area covered is small. Will be interesting to see how the final 1/60 DX compares in the "painted details" category.

Personally, I think the lavender mis-match between plastic and sticker is far more obvious than the maroon.

[mickyg]

Personally, I think the lavender mis-match between plastic and sticker is far more obvious than the maroon.

[slaps forehead]

I don't know how I missed that! It's plain as day!

[regult]

OK guys, I know the model has abundant ammount of painted little details here and there, but it's not like he painted the hip guns (used the sticker instead, therefore the color mismatch), but if I am guessing right and he used Gundam pens to color those small details, then it still is easier to apply than airbrush, masking, peeling, masking again, airbrushing, ad infinitum!

I am very curious to see what the DX will turn out to be, the latest promo shots reveal a lot details, hopefully tampo printed and not on a sticker sheet (as Yamato usually does).

[mickyg]

You make a very good point Regult. As much as I love to mask, airbrush, apply various coats, clearcoat, etc... And by that, I mean not at all! This build you linked to has a lot going for it! At the very worst, if the colour mismatch really annoyed me, I could try to paint those areas. That would be infinitely less effort than what I'm putting into my current build (well in my opinion, at least ).

Edited December 21, 2009 by mickyg

[regult]

I think the lavender mismatch is due mainly to the thinness of the sticker color, and the darker plastic color just "bleeds" through the sticker (therefore sticker color looking less saturated than decals). Same effect was obvious with the blue G and grey S 25s.The same effect did not seem visible with the Alto F because it is white plastic...not better stickers!

The decals do a better job since they have a white base paint underneath the color, impeding the plastic color showing through.

(EDIT: read myself and could not understand a word, must have been sth I drank)

Edited December 29, 2009 by regult

[mickyg]

I'm running this buildup that was linked to before, via babelfish and there's some interesting info there. I'm only on the first page and already I'm a bit excited about the "spare" parts that are common to the VF-25. I broke a few joints during painting (yeah, I must be really rough when I paint, right? ) and it looks like there will be some spares in the new kit. Excellent!

I'll report back any other snippits I think might be valuable to anyone else interested in building this.

My kit should be here tomorrow (hopefully). Otherwise I'll get it on the 4th of Jan.

[Lolicon]

I like the "paint-less" build but I couldn't live with it; the stress marks on the red-lavender plastic are too noticeable to me, even with the nail burnishing method. Guess I have no choice but to paint it!

Though the light pink parts you could get away with not painting, since they're so light already.

[MechTech]

An old secret I used to get rid of stress marks is to CAREFULLY add heat to the area. If you're good, put a flame/heat source near the stress area and it will "normalize" the plastic coclors. PRACTICE it on some sprue first. You can obviously distort your model. I almost never paint my tranforming models except for trimming them. Just use clear to coat it. IF you have an area that is messed up and you are going with the slightly dirty look, use the same color paint and patch it. The different colored paint resembles dirtied surface AND covers blemmishes. Flat paint really loks like soiled paint. Just my two cents. - MT

[Lolicon]

An old secret I used to get rid of stress marks is to CAREFULLY add heat to the area. If you're good, put a flame/heat source near the stress area and it will "normalize" the plastic coclors. PRACTICE it on some sprue first. You can obviously distort your model. I almost never paint my tranforming models except for trimming them. Just use clear to coat it. IF you have an area that is messed up and you are going with the slightly dirty look, use the same color paint and patch it. The different colored paint resembles dirtied surface AND covers blemmishes. Flat paint really loks like soiled paint. Just my two cents. - MT

That's great to know! Thanks! I might give it a shot then... after I sand down these parts and see if anything needs patching first.

[Fly4victory]

The completed VF-27 looks great but the computer I am using in Kuwait in is about to die and the color settings are all off. What I get to see is a rich "YF-21sh" purple with blue stripes.

Great idea for a custom.

[David Hingtgen]

Oh yes---heat can remove stress marks, or at least lessen them. On "important" toys like a Masterpiece Transformer, I heat them up too to try to relieve some stress marks caused at the factory by assembling them. I generally don't do it to models, as they tend to be made of thinner plastic that's easier to warp.

[ba2784]

my other VF25 completed models~

RVF25:

http://hk.myblog.yahoo.com/ba2784/article?mid=2366

VF25G:

http://hk.myblog.yahoo.com/ba2784/article?mid=2579

[electric indigo]

Very nice work, ba2784.

-

Here's a new pic of the CF VF-27 with a detailed CAD drawing of the head

[David Hingtgen]

I still wonder why the "wings" of the command-type head don't fold back flush in fighter mode. It'd be so much better both aesthetically and aerodynamically IMHO.

[mech9]

sorry for the shameless self promotion, but I posted a translated vf-27 manual a few days ago. Just incase anybody will find it useful during their build.

[regult]

my other VF25 completed models~

the knee area is much more anime accurate than the default articulation (i am referring to the part that looks like this "] ] ] ] ]" inside the knee cap) Can this kit still transform?

[electric indigo]

David gets a little Christmas present from Bandai:

Hopes & Dreams, guys!

[David Hingtgen]

I was just coming to this thread to ask---could someone compare those figs to the one in Brera's? I've never seen a good pic of the ones in the Brera kit.