1/60 Yamato VF-4G Web-Exclusive Toy

[Chronocidal]

Absolutely beautiful. If I could get this as a kit, I'd probably do the same thing paint-wise, but I'm completely inexperienced with weathering of any sort, so I'd probably skip that.

One thing I have to ask though.. why use the SDF-1 label? I guess they could have been based there, but I figured everyone would be using Megaroad-1 labels.

As far as gluing on the missiles goes, it might not be a bad idea to do it. There's really nothing to be lost by it, and it will actually make a couple steps in the transformation easier if you glue those fuselage ones in place. I'm thinking of the steps where you pull the missiles outward to pass on either side of the fuselage as it folds.

I can't read what's pointed out about them, but I was under the impression that pulling out those missiles disengages a locking mechanism inside the fuselage, and lets you fold it. If not, and the only reason those mounts extend is so you don't have to take off the missiles when transforming it, then yeah, I don't see why you wouldn't just want to glue them on.

I might keep them detachable, but either way, I plan on bulking up the tabs somehow so they stay put better.

Also, is it just me, or is the pilot severely undersized for the cockpit? Maybe the instrument panel is just too far forward, but his feet don't even reach under it. For the moment, I used a tiny piece of doubled up scotch tape to hold him in the seat, but I don't plan on leaving it there for long because it might eat the paint.

[vf_1s]

I just used Tamyia masking tape (love that stuff!). If you press hard around the area, you will see the engaved panel line telegraph through, I took a very sharp knife and lightly cut tracing around the panel line - try not to dig into the plastic. No I didn't prime, I thought about it, but then I didn't want to build up the layers which might be worst when rubbing. I used enamel paint (being better than acrylic) but I couldn't find a suitable lacquer (which is more durable). I don't think much rubs against it except for the underside pegs, but they seem to only go into the holes, so I think we're good, most would be some chipping around the holes/slot on the underside which I am prepare to live with considering how few times I intend to transform it.

Thank you. Seeing yours is inspiration for me to do mine. Awesome work as always!!!

[Mommar]

Absolutely beautiful. If I could get this as a kit, I'd probably do the same thing paint-wise, but I'm completely inexperienced with weathering of any sort, so I'd probably skip that.

One thing I have to ask though.. why use the SDF-1 label? I guess they could have been based there, but I figured everyone would be using Megaroad-1 labels.

Maybe he doesn't like the idea of the Megaroad? Or he's a bigger fan of the SDF-1? He can make his Skull Squadron based out of wherever he wants, it's his fantasy toy.

[vf_1s]

Yay! I finally finished it last night and I've allowed overnight for the semi-gloss clear coat to dry.

I LOVE THIS TOY!! It's my favourite from Yamato - tied with the SDF-1. I've always loved the VF-4G since FB 2012 and didn't think this would ever really see the light of day. Now the only other far-fetched toy left for to die happy would be the VF-2SS (which doesn't seem so far-fetched anymore!)

There really isn't a bad angle (I couldn't pick which was my favourite photo, so I hope you don't mind just dumping them all here). Sorry for the soft focus, I just threw up a black background on the workbench with my old Nikon 990 to quickly take snaps (hopefully I'll do some decent stuff later on, but don't see when I'll get the time to) I just want to zoom this baby around, so smooth and aerodynamic, Yamato really captured this one in my books! Maybe just a tad needle like from only the top view, but all the other views look amazing.

The 101 modex and skulls were from the 1/72 Hasegawa leftovers, the modex was the largest of the free numbers on the decal sheet. The rest are just pieced together from whatever I had left lying around. It would have all gone together much faster if I didn't have to "rebuild" that wing hinge that I stupidly broke, but so far it seems to be holding well and still allows for transformation (yipee). As I started taking apart the various wings and nosecone, it's really apparent that the remarkable feat of engineering Yamato has done to the internal structure that allows for the transformation (ie; within the nose cone, there is an insert part made of softer flexible plastic that allows for the clips and fin to slide into the slots of the underside of the nose cone - amazing!). So many wing/fin joints extend to allow access to the pins (I'm sure they allow for assembly - but it makes taking apart a breeze!).

In the end, I'm happier with this 70s gull grey/white scheme than if it came all white - its more interesting and I find it nostalgically completely compatible to the era in which it was designed. Since it wasn't cannon anyways, I decided to forgo the tan on the head piece and tailcone - it just seemed to flow more naturally and more aircraft like this way. I toyed with the idea of making the conformal missles white as a contrast against the body of the plane (like 70s missiles), but masking and repainting the four tail nozzles each got the better of me and came back to my senses (mostly because I was running out of time). Most of the panel lining was done with a light grey wash of artist oils, some of the engaving was too shallow to hold much paint, and I went over those with a sharp mechanical pencil. I then did some of the "post-shading" with a smudge stick and some graphite from the mechanical pencil. I just wanted to give it some weight and wear, but I wanted to keep the weathering light as I don't think this would have seen much action being a new and well kept fighter.

Enjoy!

Details of the weathering and panel lining...

One of my favourite parting shots...

Where can we get the smudge stick ? Do you have any post that teach us how to do "post-shading" with it?

Thanks

[Valkyrie addict]

Simply stunning master Chen! I'm at a lost of words, I would ask you to transform it but given the propensity of paint chipping and ruining that masterpiece, just leave it be, the VF-4 was meant to be a fighter. Any reasons why you didn't paint the red scheme on the legs grey?

There's no particular use of those missile launchers other than annoying us?? why did they do it that way? I honestly don't remember anyone requesting them to be detachable. I'm also seriously considering looking the transformation sequence very closely and if the missile have no need to be off, I'll glue those buggers.

So Graham, any word on Yamato if they are pleased on how the VF-4 sold?

Edited January 16, 2013 by Valkyrie addict

[xrentonx]

Maybe he doesn't like the idea of the Megaroad? Or he's a bigger fan of the SDF-1? He can make his Skull Squadron based out of wherever he wants, it's his fantasy toy.

Megaroad sounds like a dumb name for a ship so I'd use SDF-1 or Macross too if I was inclined to sticker up my Valk. Valhalla also would be a good name.

Capt. xrentonx of the famed Skull Squadron does not dock his airplane at a "Megaroad". :)/>/>

Edited January 16, 2013 by xrentonx

[funkymonkeyjavajunky]

Finally...my order has shipped from NY. Over $50 for shipping and it took five days just to leave Japan. Is this typical, or is this particular company just slow? I would think that shipping that costs this much would effect exceptional speed/service and hence repeated business.

[nexxstrait]

Finally...my order has shipped from NY. Over $50 for shipping and it took five days just to leave Japan. Is this typical, or is this particular company just slow? I would think that shipping that costs this much would effect exceptional speed/service and hence repeated business.

Don't worry, mine took 15 days before leaving Japan : (

[funkymonkeyjavajunky]

Don't worry, mine took 15 days before leaving Japan : (

What shipping did you choose?

[Mommar]

Finally...my order has shipped from NY. Over $50 for shipping and it took five days just to leave Japan. Is this typical, or is this particular company just slow? I would think that shipping that costs this much would effect exceptional speed/service and hence repeated business.

Haven't they been on holiday a few times between New Years and whatever other festivities the Japanese celebrate?

[MichaelS]

Any you going to place the blue strips on or just leave them off?

[Twoducks]

Perfection achieved.

Yamato make one like this and I buy two more.

[gwfalcon]

Finally my batch arrived. Open one for display and the design is indeed awesome, as bros here comment.

Like the size very much too and it perfectly matches leader-class TFs which are my other collection line.

Edited January 16, 2013 by gwfalcon

[Chronocidal]

Maybe he doesn't like the idea of the Megaroad? Or he's a bigger fan of the SDF-1? He can make his Skull Squadron based out of wherever he wants, it's his fantasy toy.

Perfectly valid reason. More I was wondering if it wasn't intentional. I've seen so many sticker sheets with SDF-1 labels, it wouldn't surprise me if someone used one by force of habit.

[Dobber]

William, once again you have shown us why you are the master!! She's beautiful!

Chris

[wm cheng]

Thanks everyone for the kudos! It seems like I've been waiting for this bird for forever, and I'm really glad I just had a little break between jobs to do this one up.

No one should worry about weathering it up, by using a pencil and smudge stick, you can always erase it if you don't like it, or by using an oil wash, if you don't like it, just wipe it off with some varsol and a paper towel. Try it out, its easier than you think, and I usually use methods that allow me to "experiment" in case I don't like it.

I used waterslide decals, I didn't use the stickers (as I find the film too thick). That's why I used "SDF-1" - I don't have any "Megaroad-01" decals which I would have preferred if the font was right - somehow I don't see getting opaque white Megaroad-01 waterslide decals anytime soon. I wished I had the white H. Ichijo for the black canopy rails too, but I didn't have any spares at the moment. I wish I could print my own white decals.

You can get smudge sticks at any art supply store, its just really tightly rolled up paper into a tube. It comes in several diameters and you can shave it down with an exacto knife to any tip shape you want. It's used for pencil sketch shading. While you're there, you should pick up some grey kneadable erasers too, they're little rectangles like plastercine or clay that you can mold into any shape, they are great for picking up excess graphite or erasing the shading. I get some graphite that's usually leftover at the bottom of my rotary mechanical pencil sharpener, dab my smudge stick into it, then draw a bit onto a scrap piece of paper to remove the excess graphite and "sketch" and trace over the existing panel lines, concentrating on the corners and going in the direction of the airflow. I do this directly onto the bare plastic toy (before the decals). Then I decal and of course some rubs off during the handling for the decal process, so I then darken and redo any areas that have come off in my hands during the decal process. Also you can gauge how dark to make it better once the decal are on to balance it out. Finally once you've darkened logical areas such as access panels, engine nacelles and the like, protect it all with a clear-coat - I used ModelMaster Acryl Semi-gloss - its a perfect match for Yamato's plastic (maybe on the slightly duller/matte side which is more realistic). I clear coat protected most of the weathered areas and the decal areas to seal them in and protect them, but left the clear coat off on the undersides or wherever it doesn't need protection as the more you have on, the more chances it could get scraped off.

I left the red on the legs because I thought it would go better than the brown (which I thought a little weird - hardly ever see brown on a navy jet). Since I wasn't doing the back head panel and tailcone in tan nor the whole bird in white, its already off-cannon enough. Plus if I did that leg panel in brown, then I'd have to do the intakes in brown too (which would make the forearms look odd in the Battroid mode) and the foot/nozzles should be brown too.

Thanks for commenting everyone!

[Mechamaniac]

What yellow did you use for the nosecone?

[Chronocidal]

Heh, forgot Hasegawa probably hasn't released any kits with megaroad decals. Oh well, still absolutely beautiful in that scheme.

For the nose, I'm guessing he used the military standard color, it's actually called "radome tan." Most model paint vendors that work in military colors probably make that color.

[wm cheng]

I was going to get Radome Tan, but when I saw it at the hobby shop, it was too light, it would look great against a white background as it was frequently the case with the old 70's Tomcats, but I didn't think Radome Tan would show up too well next to the grey of the VF-4G, so I opted for the ModelMaster Enamel Tan instead. Its a shade darker and I think stands out better from the grey of the plastic.

[Mechamaniac]

Nice, thanks!

I see some of the Yamato 1/48 decals in there, that's what I'm using on mine as well. What did you use for the tailfin?

[Phalanix]

I was going to get Radome Tan, but when I saw it at the hobby shop, it was too light, it would look great against a white background as it was frequently the case with the old 70's Tomcats, but I didn't think Radome Tan would show up too well next to the grey of the VF-4G, so I opted for the ModelMaster Enamel Tan instead. Its a shade darker and I think stands out better from the grey of the plastic.

Great tips and beautifully done VF-4!

[EXO]

Yay! I finally finished it last night and I've allowed overnight for the semi-gloss clear coat to dry.

Amazing!

But you needed to black out the adapter! lol. A black permanent marker would do the job! (just make sure you don't get marker ink all over your hand and get it all over the toy.)

Just awesome!

[nexxstrait]

What shipping did you choose?

EMS

[Archer]

It's back on NY, but it's sooo expensive now

[Twoducks]

Little missiles make me want to punch something and this is the first time a valk has drawn my blood...

So how low can you swing the arms to make them look longer? The diecast hinge on the right shoulder that connects the arm to the body swings down 45º more than my left one. Left one is basically straight with the dicast bar. I'm afraid to force it more.

[skull_leader001]

it's so sexy!!!

[Golden Arms]

Awesome work Mr Cheng and thanks for all of the tips.

[Scream Man]

Thats gorgeous man!

[Lightning]

oh wow! love it!

[Chronocidal]

So how low can you swing the arms to make them look longer? The diecast hinge on the right shoulder that connects the arm to the body swings down 45º more than my left one. Left one is basically straight with the dicast bar. I'm afraid to force it more.

I wouldn't force it. I had the same issue with one of my arms, and recognized that it's the same joint that someone else had break apart entirely, so I'm perfectly content just never dropping that arm.

Not like mine leaves fighter for more than a few minutes at a time to begin with, it's too pretty.

[wm cheng]

Nice, thanks!

I see some of the Yamato 1/48 decals in there, that's what I'm using on mine as well. What did you use for the tailfin?

I used some 1/72 Hasegawa VF-1 spare decals - they are a tad bit too small IMHO, but the 1/72 VF-0 skull & crossbones were just a bit too big. I looked at some of my spares box decals for the VF-103 squadron jolly rogers for F-14 in 1/72 and those skull & crossbones were a tiny bit big.

Thanks to your adapter EXO. The black stand is temporary, I'm in the process of switching over all my Bandai Action Bases to the clear/translucent ones, so I don't know what I'll do with the adapter colour yet - the clear bases look less noticeable in a glass shelved case.

[Loop]

I wouldn't force it. I had the same issue with one of my arms, and recognized that it's the same joint that someone else had break apart entirely, so I'm perfectly content just never dropping that arm.

Not like mine leaves fighter for more than a few minutes at a time to begin with, it's too pretty.

I would not force it at all. I didn't even have to force mine to break. I was pulling the arm down like normal and then all of a sudden I had a arm in my hand It took no pressure at all. Others have commented that my die-cast could have been poured wrong. It literally disintegrated without any pressure. You may want to take the arm apart and examine the balljoint. Mine has something in it that causes it not to move. I tried to play with the ball joint while the arm was un attached, and its way hard to even get it to move a tiny bit. BTW I still have not gotten a reply from NY. I think all I need to fix it is the diecast bar that holds the arm section to the engine nacelles. I was able to get my VF-4 back into fighter mode like it is, but it sucks not being able to choose other modes. My first copy functions like a dream though. I have transformed it a couple of times without issue. I own a ton of toys with die-cast and this is the first time I have experienced this.

Edited January 17, 2013 by Loop

[F360°]

well, I finally placed an order for the toy yesterday, can't wait any longer as the price seem to be going up on every one sold at NY. But at least they shipped it fast, it's already shown shipped.

But with all these stories of it breaking apart while you are transforming, I'll probably just leave it in fighter mode for a couple of days before even trying the transformation. Also for the people that ordered from NY, did you use Fedex or USPS EMS?

[usagiz]

Ahh love, I do love it so!! no exploding parts on the first conversion to gerwalk, but all but one missile fired! Yea, the missiles are evil, but I am thinking a little glue tightening will make it all better. If the missiles didn't stick out on the arms it wouldn't be an issue... And ME as pilot didn't get a seatbelt!

Now if only the vf-19p and vf-17d weren't somewhere over the pacific!

(null)

Edited January 17, 2013 by usagiz

[Chronocidal]

I didn't get mine from NY this time, but it was specifically so I could get FedEx from HLJ.

NY sets their FedEx prices WAYYY over what they should be. I ordered one of the YF-29 30th anniversary versions from them, and the shipping was literally $20 cheaper for EMS instead of FedEx.

I only use NY as my last resort to get stuff I can't buy elsewhere, but their shipping prices are pretty overblown.