Max as Skull Leader in DYRL, Hasegawa Battroid

[ce25254]

I recently got my first Hasegawa battroid kit and have been trying to decide how to paint it. This kit doesn't have the super or strike attachments, and upon reflection I realized that the only time an "unpacked" battroid appears in DYRL is when Max dogfights Miria to a stalemate on Earth. I am not a huge fan of the blue markings, but decided to give it a try. In the past I have shied away from white for the Valkyrie but I may go forward with the canon color for the plane.

But I noticed a few interesting things when I reviewed the scene in the film.

1. Max is Skull Leader at this point in the film and his plane is a VF-1S, numbered 001.
   
2. The cockpit shield has a black field, not blue, as it does at the beginning of the film.
   
3. The wingtips and stabilizer tips are red. Actually the coloring is very inconsistent in this scene; blue disappears and reappears on the legs, and and the wingtips alternate between white and red. I guess the cockpit shield could also be a coloring error, but it is consistent throughout the scene.
   
4. The VF's wings are broken off during the final confrontation within the Meltrandi ship. You can see the rocket packs on the floor and bits of wing. I don't know if this is the result of his VF rolling on the floor, or being shot off. Since I have only one of these kits and I'm not willing to sacrifice pane-mode wings to support the rocket packs, I will probably just make the kit with normal wings, but I am considering chopping the wings off and battle-damaging the body of the battroid...
   

I thought I would post these thoughts, with supporting pictures below. I'll post pictures of my battroid as it progresses, or when I finish, if that ever happens.

--ce.

[JET7]

made one before..im no expert in hasegawa kits, i just like em for the scale and perfect proportion.

hope you like it.

[pfunk]

I like it, very cool

[tundrayeti]

I can't wait to see how this turns out! I love seeing different methods of doing battle damage!

[ce25254]

For a variety of personal reasons this project stalled, but I am working on it again now. And somehow this old topic still exists...

I wonder if anyone can give advice about the black striping on the Battroid. Did you really use the decals, or did you mask and paint the black stripes? Has anyone hand-painted the jolly roger on the canopy shield? Do the two decals really settle on that raised piece? Or did you put the jolly roger decals onto the smooth canopy shield?

thanks

[coronadlux]

I normally mask and paint. As far as the Jolly Roger's decal, I use micro-sol and micro-set to put them on. Then a coat of the finish, either gloss, or matte.

[Valkyrie addict]

You can mask and paint instead of using the decal but it's much easier and faster to use them. The hasegawa are good quality decals and end up looking great as long as you use decal softener/setter and add a clear coat over for everything to end up looking even. The white skull decal looks great. If you'd rather paint the skull, please, show us how cause it would be awesome!

Edited September 9, 2013 by Valkyrie addict

[ce25254]

If you'd rather paint the skull, please, show us how cause it would be awesome!

So, I tried it already. I painted the shield white, then masked the skull and crossbones with liquid masking, painted the shield black, and removed the masking, and touched it up with black paint. It was OK. Trying to touch it up a second time with white was a mistake. I screwed it up. I will probably try the decal. You can see the state of the shield in the second WIP picture here.

This is the first model I've worked on in quite a while and I am having some trouble with my airbrush, but barreling ahead anyway. Unfortunately I dropped a splash of glue on the backback and it melted part of the grid pattern... you can see that in the picture. Actually I have made all kinds of mistakes, and that's why i started with this kit. I don't want to destroy my VF-4!

[Mommar]

What color are you going to paint your VF-4?

[coronadlux]

You can always sand the pattern and rescribe the lines. Granted that they wont look the same, but at least they will be even.

[ce25254]

@Mommar: I'm trying to decide about the VF-4. I don't like the Insignia White all that much, actually. I have never made one using that color, but usually used a grey instead. I've posted my my Milia example here before (actually it's the 1985 Bandai 1/72 VF-1J Max Type), a scheme similar to the 1994 Bandai 1/100 VF-1J Strike Milia Type box art. (And I painted the 1/100 in a sort of low-viz scheme.)

For Milia I think I used a gull grey. But I thought I might as well see what the white looked like as I experiment with this kit. I also like the grey scheme used in the Elintseeker.

Before I attempt the VF-4 I'll probably make my VF-0 or Strike VF-1 Valks first and experiment with color there.

@coronadlux: thanks for the encouragement about scribing.

[Wasabi-san]

.

Edited January 31, 2014 by Wasabi-san

[ce25254]

EDIT: What's the red used on the Millia Valk above?

Sorry, I can't be sure. I built the kit in 1990, I think.

I know it was a Testors Model Master Enamel, possibly Insignia Red, more possibly one of the automobile engine colors, but even more possibly I mixed it up myself. Although it looks a little bit orange in this picture, in person it feels somewhat more wine colored.

[ce25254]

At last! I have reached True Blue. (My new/old compressor is working great!)

[Hoptimus]

Looking good so far.

[ce25254]

I'm really pleased with how my masking for the stripes turned out here!

I've decided that I will probably use the decals for some of the other stripes, though.

Although I am aiming for a used/dirty look, it looks like I'm going to need to give it another coat of white in a few places before I move on.

[Valkyrie addict]

So far so good!

[ce25254]

Yikes, it really has been a long time since I started this project… I found out that I started this topic four years ago.

Well, I'm calling it done. Even though ideally there are a few things I'd like to refine, I'm moving on.

Here are pictures of the completed kit, warts and all. Unfortunately cracks developed in the thigh parts during assembly. They were not obvious until I did the panel lines, but I don't feel like fixing this. The close-ups make me want to drill out the head cannons. Maybe someday!

Please let me know what you think and I'd really like to hear what you think I could do better next time.

[MechTech]

Better late than never! It looks great and so do the photos! Nice finish and detailing. - MT

[joscasle]

wow NICE!!!

[coronadlux]

Great work. I have kits sitting for almost a decade, so yea, better late than never.

[Valkyrie addict]

Well done!! great pictures too!

[peter]

Nice photos! There just isn't enough good photography and well built models, build more, photograph more please!

[ce25254]

Thanks. I was so eager to get some pictures up that I rushed these a little bit and I'm not super happy with the depth of field (too shallow I think). I'm really inspired by pictures like those in the VF Modeling Manual or this http://www.macrossworld.com/mwf/index.php?showtopic=39983&p=1076104 that look like the model is part of real life. I think with my photos above the shots from below are the ones that look the most realistic. Maybe if the weather cooperates I'll try to take a few more.

[Mintox]

Great finish. I've always liked the blue scheme.