BANDAI 1/72 HCM VF-1J

[Shaorin]

out of a current personal lack of MACROSS related topics to come to my mind to discuss,

i thought i'd put together a THEN and NOW thread for the work i've done on my vintage BANDAI HCM VF-1J Hikaru T.V.

to bring it up to a par, detail wise, with my Yammie 1/60v.II of the same VF variant.

here goes;

my HCM, late last year, still in the hands of it's last owner;

my HCM, just received that morning. first thing i did after unpacking was to take these shots;

at the outset, i was planning to apply the original decals and otherwise keep it as it was straight from the box;

but then i started feeling disatisfied with it's "Finished" look, especially in regards to the decals, which lacked detail and clarity.

even worse, the printing on some of the decals' film was actually beginning to rub away without much provocation.

that was the last straw, so i decided to break out my moddeling skills and go whole-hog in an effort to detail the HCM

with a brand-new set of TAMIYA COLORs that i bought just for the purpose, and replace most of the original decals with a mixture

of leftovers from my 1/60v.II, and leftovers from the many HIGH GRADE and MASTER GRADE GUNDAM kits i've built in the past,

as well as one or two from a couple of TOMY ZOIDS.

my ultimate goal here was to bring it's level of painted detail to par with the 1/60v.II, while replacing it's decals

with substitutes as close to equivalent as i could manage, while also going a little off of Canon with some GUNDAM-sourced decals

that were nondescript yet flagrant enough to pass for the "Typically 1980's Style" Service and Maintenance stenciling decals found

on many a realistic 1980's Japanese Mecha toy or model.

at any rate, i feel that i've met my goals here as well as i could ever hope to;

i also fully painted the included tiny DYRL Lynn Minmay, though i'd definitely say that i pretty much roundly failed

in bringing out the "best" in her rather horrendous sculpt;

THANK GOD i have the CM's "GUTTO KURU" version!!

at any rate, it is regretful that i did not plan this detail job BEFORE i placed the original decals,

otherwise i could have preserved the original decal sheets. hindsight 20/20, as usual.

still, i'm happy with what i got here; i even replaced the horrible HCM "Pilot figure"

with the far superior, canonically accurate sculpt found in the old IMAI/BANDAI 1/72 VARIABLE TYPE kits.

all in all, for me, this HCM and the 1/60v.II represent the very best MACROSS had and has to offer,

from 25 years ago, as well as from today...

Edited July 13, 2011 by Shaorin

[Vi-RS]

It was a nice delicate toy back then.

[TheLoneWolf]

Nice job, I always thought the stock HCM VF-1J looked a little bland. It's incredible how just a little bit of TLC can really make it shine.

You've also got more guts than me. I don't know if I would've been able to repaint portions of such an expensive and uncommon toy.

[Shaorin]

It was a nice delicate toy back then.

actually, it's not THAT delicate; you just got to treat it with reverence and respect.

it's no 1/55 CHUNKY, but it IS remarkably sturdy in all the ways it needs to be.

it's definitely no IMAI/BANDAI 1/72 Plastic Model Kit. in fact, i've found to be just as sturdy as the 1/60v.II.

both stand up like the proverbial trooper, transformation after transformation...

Nice job, I always thought the stock HCM VF-1J looked a little bland. It's incredible how just a little bit of TLC can really make it shine.

You've also got more guts than me. I don't know if I would've been able to repaint portions of such an expensive and uncommon toy.

well, i knew with certainty, going in, that it was to be, and is to remain, a permanent fixture of my collection, as it is a unique classic,

with personal sentimental value. an HEIRLOOM, as one might accurately refer to it, so future resale value was and is a non-issue for me.

further, i had faith in my skills to finish it to the level i felt it deserved, and i prepared myself in advance for that,

going into work on it with the best modeling supplies i could buy, and the thought constantly on my mind that the model i was working with is just this side of irreplaceable.

that enabled me to call forth the best of my skills, taking my time, slow and easy, to be sure that i made no serious, irreparable mistakes.

now, if you thought that was frightening, bear into mind that i have also DISMANTLED and RE-ASSEMBLED the ENTIRE model, in order to tighten up all the joints

with tiny swatches of electrician's tape around all the joint shafts, including the wing joints, and touching all the screw holes

with LOCTITE super glue to make sure all the screws stay nice and tight for years/decades to come.

at any rate, my work here has without question MOST effectively tightened the model up like the proverbial drum.

it now feels like a PRECISION MECHANISM. a ROCK, pure and simple...

Edited July 13, 2011 by Shaorin