YF-19 Demonstrator Hasegawa 1/72 Finished

[denversaur]

Hello Everyone!

I completed my Hasegawa YF-19 Demonstrator last night. Here are the pics!

This is the limited version of the Macross Plus YF-19 in demonstration colors.

The build itself was relatively easy...the YF-19 is nicely engineered, Hasegawa's molding is precise as always, with minimal filler putty required. The real work on this kit was the finishing. Decals are not included for the blue deco, so I masked it and shot a custom mix of Tamiya acrylics. I got the color by mixing down sky blue with flat white.

An extensive decal sheet for markings and insignia was included, as with all of Hasegawa's Macross kits. I was quite relieved that I was able to apply the gold leaf decals without damaging them. It's a little hard to see in the pics, but the gold trim looks sharp.

The YF-19 looks great in this color scheme. It's my hope that we'll one day see some of the variants produced, like the VF-19 Emerald Squadron or VF-19P from Macross Seven. Hasegawa's treatment on the Macross fighters has been outstanding...I'd like to see them delve deeper, and do other planes like the VF-4 Lightning and VF-171. However, there's a lot of great stuff already out there, and the YF-19 Demonstrator is a nice addition to the lineup. I had a lot fun making it.

-Greg

Edited December 11, 2009 by denversaur

[shinagami]

wow denversaur, great work there. keep it up

[jardann]

Looks really great, and I love the base! Thanks for showing it off!

[leading edge]

Did you air brush your kit and if so how do you keep dust from building on the surface of the model I have a few fighter kits that I want to keep looking new so any tips? The paint job on the YF-19 demonstration model is just perfect.

Looks really great, and I love the base! Thanks for showing it off!

[cool8or]

Looks perfect, congratulations!!

[Zakuformer]

Awesome, dude! That looks about perfect to me!

~Sean

[denversaur]

I use a combination of spray paints and airbrushing for finishing. Tamiya makes a spray color called Matt White that's perfect for Gundam and Macross kits. It's got a neutral tone that's more of a pure white--you could even say there's a bit of a greyness to it, as opposed to the yellow undertone that you see in many whites, especially as they age. Doesn't happen with the Tamiya spray color. The Tamiya sprays also go on really smoothly.

For other colors, particularly the custom colors often required for anime kits, I use either Testors Acryl or Tamiya acrylic paints, mixed down with either acrylic airbrush thinner or rubbing alcohol (which works just fine and is cheaper, anyway). Gunze Sangyo offers a wide variety of vivid paint colors, but I've found it harder to shoot through the airbrush.

You really can't beat an airbrush for fine paint coats, and when masking is involved, its almost paramount--as sprays tend to be too heavy and wet, and will bleed through masking tape edges. Acrylic paint thinned with alcohol will dry almost immediately after hitting the surface of the plastic, so bleeding is not really an issue if sparing coats are used.

For detailing, I use a .5 mechanical pencil, or a Gundam marker for panel lines, and a combination of acrylic and enamel paints applied by brush. I'll shoot a flat clear coat afterward to seal decals and pencil work. With the Macross kits in particular, with the tiny little running lights, canopy, etc. I'll install these clear parts after the flat coat has been applied.

Unless you're going to put your kits under glass or in a plastic case (as some people will do) dust is going to happen, I suppose. I live in the city of LA where there's an extraordinary amount of urban dust and pollution, and it builds up. All of my stuff is displayed openly on shelves...I like having it where people can really see it. So, every few weeks, I break out a fine, soft paint brush and dust everything. I only use this brush for dusting, so it remains free of debris and won't damage the paint and decals when I dust. Sometimes I use Q-tips as well, to get into the hard-to get places.

Edited December 12, 2009 by denversaur

[big F]

That looks great, much better than I thought the original pictures posted for its launch.

[Wicked Ace]

Very nice work, denversaur!

[Kyp Durron]

What color did you use paint the interior intake detail? I can see that you used dark gray in the first part of the intake detail, but I'm not sure what color you used when painting the intake fan assembly...

Also, can you post a picture of the inner rear feet thrusters? I have Hasegawa Mac + YF-19 coming and though I plan to use minimal paint and a gundam marker (I don't have a air brush and I'm not about to use a rattle can!!) to complete it, but would like to know what colors you used on those areas.

Thanks!

-Kyp

[denversaur]

I have included photos of the rear thrusters for both my YF-19 original version and the Demonstrator. I spray painted the inner thruster port and feet/vector panels flat black, then followed with a light coat of Tamiya gun metal spray to achieve the dark metallic look. The inside of the engine cowling was brush painted with flat black (most of it isn't visible, but this helps to give the thruster housing a more complete look). Finally, I painted the "top" of the foot with flat black.

You could achieve a similar result by using flat black and gun metal Gundam markers.

I would say that rattle cans are more than fine if you choose the right product line and finish. You can almost never go wrong with Tamiya sprays, and flats will usually look better than semigloss or gloss (although Tamiya's semigloss black is fantastic).

-Greg

What color did you use paint the interior intake detail? I can see that you used dark gray in the first part of the intake detail, but I'm not sure what color you used when painting the intake fan assembly...

Also, can you post a picture of the inner rear feet thrusters? I have Hasegawa Mac + YF-19 coming and though I plan to use minimal paint and a gundam marker (I don't have a air brush and I'm not about to use a rattle can!!) to complete it, but would like to know what colors you used on those areas.

Thanks!

-Kyp