Who has the Ultimate Detail?

[Jefuemon]

So, who here owns the 1/48 scale Ultimate Detail Strike Valkyrie from Club M? When did you buy it? How much? And are you ever going to build it?

Or have you already built it? Post pictures please!!

I don't know why, but I was thinking about this kit today. Last time I saw an original for sale was a few weeks ago on Yahoo Auctions, going for 100,000 yen. Gee, for some reason it didn't sell... I see a recast all the time for 25,000 yen.

[mslz22]

I have an original Club M and one of the recasts, I built the recast but it has not fair well over the years and needs a restoration.

I have started the original but I have been doing a super slow build on it, partially because i am pretty busy but also because i have been working it out so that i can have magnets holding on some of the armor so that the "insides" can be accessed or parts even swapped out. The best thing about the original is the metal landing gear, the worst thing is the insane amount of mold release on the parts, they are pretty greasy to be honest, it's a complaint that I have heard before about the originals.

Overall it's really a great kit and IMO more than anything a real part of macross model history. I love the hand made feel to it, in fact it love that about many of the 90's classic resin kits, just knowing that someone sculpted it with their hands is pretty cool.

[danbickell]

I purchased the original back when it came out, circa 1999. A bunch of the pictures on the old MW "legacy" site are of mine:

http://www.macrossworld.com/macross/models/club_m/1_48_ultimate.htm

I believe those photos were taken with my very first digital camera back then, so I apologize for the quality.

Originally, I had built it utilizing all of the PE parts with the flaps and slats extended and the spoilers raised. I was keeping it up on a very high shelf while working on it, to keep it away from my cat, but the cat actually managed to climb up there and knock it off to the floor! The PE wing parts got destroyed beyond repair, so the wings had to be reassembled with everything retracted. Likewise for the PE ladder on the nose.

The kit really was the "ultimate" back then. On the originals, the metal parts weren't limited to just the landing gear. All the wing control surfaces, the canopy frame, head guns, all the FAST pack thruster bells, landing gear bay doors, and many other small parts were all metal. I would imagine that the recast versions were a nightmare, with shrinkage problems and lacking the metal parts.

Another tidbit: My kit came with 2 of the same main wing pieces, so one side (the right, IIRC) is a scratch build. I recall that I built a few before I had one that matched well enough and fit all the separate control surfaces pieces.

[Jefuemon]

Overall it's really a great kit and IMO more than anything a real part of macross model history. I love the hand made feel to it, in fact it love that about many of the 90's classic resin kits, just knowing that someone sculpted it with their hands is pretty cool.

I know. I think, thanks to the Hasegawa kits, I'm finding a lot of the Yellow Sub/Club M 1/72 scale kits at outrageously low prices. Picked up a VT-1, and a VF-1 for around 3,000-4,000 yen each. Looking forward to building those eventually.

[peter]

I purchased the original back when it came out, circa 1999. A bunch of the pictures on the old MW "legacy" site are of mine: http://www.macrossworld.com/macross/models/club_m/1_48_ultimate.htm I believe those photos were taken with my very first digital camera back then, so I apologize for the quality. Originally, I had built it utilizing all of the PE parts with the flaps and slats extended and the spoilers raised. I was keeping it up on a very high shelf while working on it, to keep it away from my cat, but the cat actually managed to climb up there and knock it off to the floor! The PE wing parts got destroyed beyond repair, so the wings had to be reassembled with everything retracted. Likewise for the PE ladder on the nose. The kit really was the "ultimate" back then. On the originals, the metal parts weren't limited to just the landing gear. All the wing control surfaces, the canopy frame, head guns, all the FAST pack thruster bells, landing gear bay doors, and many other small parts were all metal. I would imagine that the recast versions were a nightmare, with shrinkage problems and lacking the metal parts. Another tidbit: My kit came with 2 of the same main wing pieces, so one side (the right, IIRC) is a scratch build. I recall that I built a few before I had one that matched well enough and fit all the separate control surfaces pieces.

Woah, that was yours? Awesome work man! Any chance of posting some updated pictures of it with a new camera?

[Valk009]

I still have an original kit lying around, honestly one of the greatest resin kit ever made, superior detail and thinking that is was released 15 years ago and all hand sculpted!

Nowadays, if you look closely to some of the newer resin kits, there might be plenty of details but it could or most likely is made by 3D rapid prototyping machines and then recasted!

Ahh, yeah, I totally forgot, I started work on a Ultimate Strike recast kit, wanted to convert it to a Elintseeker but as with most projects...work, no time and not to mention quality issue of the kit (I still remember one leg is like 6mm shorter than the other!), I gave up halfway.

[vt102]

Hey Andy... so what??? Cheap deal on your recast that you gave up on???

[Valk009]

I think the recast kit cost me $300! Re-scribing some panel lines, adding some new bits here and there or even making a new wing out of styrene strips is easy but adding 6mm to an irregular piece over 15cms long and couple cms wide is not only a pain but mission impossible, better off making a new one or buy another kit and test luck again!

[Grayson72]

I've got a recast from G-system I think it was. It's a very good copy, all the metal and decals that were in the original came with it. I'll probably never get around to building the thing.

[MechTech]

I love that kit! I always wanted one and I'm attempting to do similar, but in 1/350 scale with less detail of course. I've always been a freak for detail and missiles on my models! - MT