1/48 Hasegawa VF-1 Strike Valkyrie WIP

[Mintox]

The only thing I would say to not do is seal the edge of the top and bottom of the main body. Simply because if my memory serves me these split apart so there should actually be a gap between the two halves. Just MO.

[william02]

now I'll have to call you Sensei

[vincemoto7]

Looking great chaff!!

Thank you for taking the extra effort do this write up. I will be applying what you've posted here to my own projects.

[chaff.g]

The only thing I would say to not do is seal the edge of the top and bottom of the main body. Simply because if my memory serves me these split apart so there should actually be a gap between the two halves. Just MO.

I think you are right about the canonicity of the seam. Unfortunately, the two halves of the main body are hollow and didn't come together on my build to create a line of uniform width. The gap just didn't look very good. I think a result that would both look good and also retain fidelity to the source material would probably be to fill the seam and then rescribe a line.

[EXO]

I have hole punchers for making circle masks but when I don't have the exact size, it's the good ol' X-Acto knife to the rescue.

[chaff.g]

This time I'll apply a wash to the panel lines and fix the circular mask on the backpack.

In preparation for a panel line wash, I airbrushed unthinned Future over all the white surfaces.

A few parts after applying Tamiya Panel Line Accent Color Gray to the panel lines. The smooth surface coated with Future allows the enamel to flow smoothly through the recesses. The enamel collects in pools at the point of contact between the brush and surface. These are removed in the next step.

The same parts after being cleaned with a cotton swab dampened with Zippo lighter fluid. The dark grey enamel remains in the deepest recesses, but the white surface of the parts are bright and clean.

A closeup of the legs after applying the enamel wash, and a shot of the legs after they have been cleaned.

Stripping the paint off the poorly masked backpack dome was easy. I filled a Ziplock bag with a small amount of Mr Color Thinner along with the backpack part. After sealing the bag, I filled this ultrasonic cleaner's reservoir with water and placed the bag inside. Mr Color Thinner easily dissolves cured lacquers, enamels, and acrylics but will not harm model kit parts made from polystyrene plastic. It does such a good job that utilizing an ultrasonic cleaner is probably not even necessary, but I wanted to demonstrate the technique. After a few minutes in the cleaner, the part looks brand new.

To create a custom mask for the circular portion of the backpack, I'll cut one from masking tape. This is Tamiya masking tape stuck to a styrene sheet. I measured the diameter of the dome and used this X-Acto compass to cut a circle in the tape of the appropriate size. I wouldn't actually recommend using this particular compass because I found that the markings on the ruler did not accurately measure the circle that was scribed.

The compass cut a perfect mask. I covered the rest of the part to ensure a clean result.

Much better!

[TMBounty_Hunter]

Whoa, Mr. Color Thinner doesn't actually melt styrene? D:

I've always assumed it was lacquer thinner with a bunch of other stuff mixed in and would be just as melty on bare plastic.

Thanks very much for that information!

[chyll2]

Whoa, Mr. Color Thinner doesn't actually melt styrene? D:

I've always assumed it was lacquer thinner with a bunch of other stuff mixed in and would be just as melty on bare plastic.

Thanks very much for that information!

"but will not harm model kit parts made from polystyrene plastic"

afaik, any plastic except ABS can resist or does well against lacquers but to be safe, PS plastic are proven safe for lacquer baths.

[TMBounty_Hunter]

I'm sure there must be some misunderstand of terms here because in the past I've used non-Mr. Color brand lacquer thinners as very thin cement for standard (poly)styrene kits and in extreme cases melting spare sprues and other scrap styrene in the thinner to make a filler.

EDIT: So I had to double check for myself.

Filled 3 paint jars with scrap styrene from Evergreen, Bandai, Hasegawa, Kotobukiya and Tamiya then poured in the thinners.

30 minutes later:

Mr. Color Thinner - styrene seems untouched.

Mr. Color Replenishing Agent - styrene is mostly melted.

Hardware store lacquer thinner - styrene completely melted into goop, as I assumed all these years all lacquer-based products would do.

So now I learn that the lacquer component of Mr. Color lacquer paint is actually in the paint bottles and Replenishing Agent, not the Thinner itself. Quite the revelation.

Would be nice if they actually had ingredient labels on these bottles.

Edited June 27, 2015 by TMBounty_Hunter

[chaff.g]

I'm sure there must be some misunderstand of terms here because in the past I've used non-Mr. Color brand lacquer thinners as very thin cement for standard (poly)styrene kits and in extreme cases melting spare sprues and other scrap styrene in the thinner to make a filler.

EDIT: So I had to double check for myself.

Filled 3 paint jars with scrap styrene from Evergreen, Bandai, Hasegawa, Kotobukiya and Tamiya then poured in the thinners.

30 minutes later:

Mr. Color Thinner - styrene seems untouched.

Mr. Color Replenishing Agent - styrene is mostly melted.

Hardware store lacquer thinner - styrene completely melted into goop, as I assumed all these years all lacquer-based products would do.

So now I learn that the lacquer component of Mr. Color lacquer paint is actually in the paint bottles and Replenishing Agent, not the Thinner itself. Quite the revelation.

Would be nice if they actually had ingredient labels on these bottles.

Thanks for doing the experiment and reporting the results! I had to discover by trial and error exactly what solvents could safely strip lacquers without interacting with the styrene. Alcohol doesn't work at all; oven cleaner and automotive degreaser work OK, but usually require some work with a toothbrush to remove every last trace of paint from recesses. Of course enamel thinner simply destroys the plastic.

Turns out the simplest solution is what works best -- just use Mr Color Thinner. I believe this solvent is very safe, as I have left styrene parts submerged in Mr Color Thinner for days at a time and they always emerge unscathed. It makes sense, as it would be bad for business if Mr Color Thinner melted Gundam models :-) Once I discovered it was not only possible, but very easy to strip lacquers, I became a lot less timid about applying paints because I knew there was a simple way to get a do-over.

If you have some available, you might also repeat the experiment with Tamiya thinners, as they are more easily available in North America.

In hindsight, I suppose the material the bottle is made of is a big clue. The hardware store stuff tends to come in a metal container while the Mr Color Thinner comes in a plastic bottle.

Edited June 27, 2015 by chaff.g

[TMBounty_Hunter]

The Mr. Color Thinner bottles (as well as the plugs inside the Mr. Color paint bottles) are made of polyethylene and that's one of the most chemical resistant plastics there is. I have an old PE bottle from some isopropyl alcohol that I use to store dirty hardware store lacquer thinner and it works just fine.

Polypropylene is also pretty resistant to chemical. The smallest size of solvents at my local hardware store comes in PP bottles while the larger ones are metal canisters.

Both PP and PE are commonly used for lab equipment and other chemical storage.

I'm still mildly amazed at this Mr. Thinner thing. That will probably lead to me changing my painting habits. Would still like to eventually find out the exact ingredients though.

[Mintox]

I c

I think you are right about the canonicity of the seam. Unfortunately, the two halves of the main body are hollow and didn't come together on my build to create a line of uniform width. The gap just didn't look very good. I think a result that would both look good and also retain fidelity to the source material would probably be to fill the seam and then rescribe a line.

I know I'm being picky but your build is looking fantastic. Ignore my anal retentiveness on details. One thing I love about this kit is the detail you can get from the panel lines. It really makes the kit stand out. Cant wait to see it finished.

[Mintox]

I have also used alcohol to clean my kits where I have stuffed up. So far on the Hasegawa plastic there is no effect.

Obviously try it yourself but the stuff I use seemed to do a good job of stripping off Mr Hobby acrylic paint even after several weeks.

[chaff.g]

Almost done -- this time, final detailing!

I hand brushed the depressions in the nacelles on either side of the intakes with yellow Testors enamel.

The Hasegawa photoetched detail parts include thin antennae to apply below the cockpit which replaces the thicker parts included in the base kit. In addition to the antennae, there are also tiny parts which cover the valkyrie's characteristic thrust vectoring nozzles. I'm applying them at this part of the build because I was afraid they might get bent or lost during assembly. Since they are metal, I'm applying Mr Metal Primer before painting. To paint the parts, I taped them to a piece of styrene sheet to ensure they did not get lost.

An antenna after priming.

At this point, it was time to apply all the decals. There were so many and it took about a week. Here's a shot of my workspace during the process.

This is probably the trickiest decal in the kit. It's long and thin and needs to hug the slot towards the rear of the cockpit where the hull connects. It's important to get this one right because of the prominent UN Spacy emblem. In the process, this decal broke apart several times and I had to repair it using a combination of paint and transplants from similar decals.

I hand brushed black enamel into the centers of the nozzles which dot the craft and cleaned up the edges of the nozzles with Zippo fluid.

Almost finished! Here are a few shots of the valkyrie.

The metal antennae parts fit into these slots underneath the cockpit. They are quite sturdy and not prone to accidental bending. In hindsight, I should have connected the parts to the kit while surfacing so I could fill the holes. I won't attempt it at this point -- I can see the finish line :-)

To seal in the decals and panel line washes, I airbrushed Mr Color GX 100 Super Clear III. I don't really like airbrushing Future for this purpose, because it always seems to collect in droplets across the surface instead of forming a smooth connected layer. The Super Clear III creates a perfectly smooth coat.

For the final finish, I decided on a semi-gloss coat. Here I've airbrushed Mr Color 181 semi-gloss clear.

The final task before final assembly is to paint the various transparent lenses. Here I've hand brushed Citadel mithril silver into the interiors of some clear pieces. This will provide a shiny surface to catch the light and make the lights "pop".

I attached these lenses to the wings using regular old Elmer's white glue.

The sensor on the strike pack cannon has molded detail on the interior surface, so I detailed it with Tamiya Panel Line Accent Color using the same technique I used on the head sensors.

I did the same with the photo etched parts which sit beneath the landing lights on the legs of the plane. They are quite detailed.

After cleaning them up with Zippo fluid, they look very sharp.

Fitting the landing lights onto the legs.

At this point, I cracked open the canopy which has been sealed since the beginning of the build. Quite a few layers of paint had collected over the seal between canopy and fuselage and I was worried there would be paint damage. It was a bit of a struggle getting the canopy off, and as expected, there is a little bit of chipped paint at the joint.

[chaff.g]

The damage is worst where the front of the canopy meets the nose. To repair the paint, I very lightly sanded the damaged area with 3000 grit sandpaper to attempt to smooth out the surface. Next, I masked the area in preparation for paint. To avoid a step where the two different layers of black paint meet, I created a sort of hood with the masking tape. This will allow the two different layers of black paint to blend together. The idea is to only partially occlude the undamaged surface.

The hooded mask worked quite well. It's difficult to tell there was any damage.

Since I will not be applying a clear coat to these final metallic surfaces, I'm painting them last. Here I've airbrushed Alclad's gloss black primer onto the leg joints.

To make these lenses really shiny I airbrushed Alclad chrome onto their interior surfaces.

I painted the leg joints with Alclad steel and magnesium.

The lenses received coats of Mr Color blue and red transparent paints followed by super clear III.

The lights at the tips of the wings in place.

The lights in the nacelles on the nose in place.

The lights on the legs in place.

The tips of the vertical stabilizers aren't actually transparent pieces, but I painted them using the same technique.

The lenses in place on the strike cannon and gunpod.

I realized I forgot a couple of metallic surfaces -- the doors hiding the hands and these thrusters. They received a coat of Alclad gloss black primer, and Alclad steel and chrome, respectively.

The finished hand doors.

Hasegawa includes two different canopies in this kit -- I assume the difference is that one is the tv show design and the other is the movie design. I think the canopy pictured here is the movie design. Anyway, the seam running down the center of the canopy needs to be removed and the plastic needs to be shined up. I began by sanding the seam line with 1200 grit Tamiya finishing abrasive. That leaves behind a foggy surface.

I progressed up to 1500 grit abrasive and followed it with 2000 grit.

[chaff.g]

I used this Tamiya Polishing Compound for the final polish. This stuff is essentially toothpaste -- I believe it consists of microabrasive particles suspended in this white goop. I applied a small bit to some toilet papers and rubbed the entire surface of the canopy.

Here's the result after applying the fine compound and the result after the finish compound.

I repeated the entire process from start to finish a few times to achieve this result.

To achieve a high-gloss shine, I dipped the entire canopy in Future. After wicking away the excess fluid at the extremities of the canopy, I left it to cure overnight in a dust-free environment.

Finally, I'll finish the black canopy frame. I created a mask using a single length of Tamiya masking tape which follows the frame at the base of the canopy. I filled in the middle with more tape.

The canopy frame after airbrushing Mr Color GX 2 black.

To this gloss surface, I applied the decal naming the pilot. A coat of Mr Color GX 100 protects the decal and the Mr Color 181 semi-gloss provides the final finish.

There's still the bit of frame which crosses the middle of the canopy. I tried masking this, but it was too difficult because it does not create right angles where the two parts of the frames meet. Instead, I just used the decal intended for this part.

The canopy is finished, it's time to seal Hikaru in! I attached the canopy using this Testors Clear Parts Cement.

Next time it'll be time for final assembly!

[Gabe Q]

She's looking real good! You're in the home stretch now. It's such a good feeling at this stage when it's all coming together. Thanks for documenting your build. It really helps for when we build our kits.

[batcode]

looks superb, some very nice detail work, the panel washes look great cant wait to see the finished build!!!!!1

[505thAirborne]

Mind blowing!! The way you've painted & detailed this kit is amazing. Especially the Skulls on the stabilizers and Hikaru himself!

[chaff.g]

Time for final assembly!

The leg super parts attach via these two slots. For good measure, I filled the slots with CA glue and fitted in the tabs.

The tab on the pack fits into the depression on the lower leg, and the post on the other side rests in a depression on the side of the leg. Neither connection creates enough friction to hold the pack in place. I used CA glue again to attach the part to the leg. I won't be able to remove the super parts, but the engineering of the legs don't really allow for this display option anyway.

The super parts for the arms attach very snugly without glue. It might be possible to remove them, but it would probably scratch the paint up because the fit is very tight.

The gunpod rests between the arms and is aligned with a tab on the handle which slots into holes in the blue super parts. I glued the arms together along with the gunpod with CA glue. I did not glue the arms to the hull because there is enough friction between the tabs on the arms and slots in the hull to hold them in place.

The upper legs fit into the lower legs via long poles which tab into a slot hidden in the interior of the lower legs. No glue required for this join.

I slotted the legs into the hull -- no glue necessary. The whole assembly creates a very tight fit. The legs hug the arms very snugly and will keep them in place.

The boosters peg into the backpack via a beam which runs through its center. I didn't use glue on these connections to allow for disassembly.

[chaff.g]

There are very small connection points between the backpack and the top of the hull. I could have used glue here to hold the boosters in place, but since the connection points are so tiny I knew a break would be inevitable. Since I didn't want to have to endlessly repair the connection, I just let the boosters balance freely on top.

It's complete! Enjoy the photos.

[chaff.g]

Hope you enjoyed the build! I'm really happy with how it turned out. I really appreciated all the encouragement as the build progressed. If you've been considering building a valkyrie, hopefully this guide will help!

[spanner]

Holy crap!!! that looks friggin amazing! Its things like this where it would be cool if the Matrix did exist and you could just plug in and download the necessary skill to do make models like this!

[mickyg]

Wow, does it ever! This guide will get used a ton, for both this, and many other sci-fi builds, I'm sure.

Thanks so much for taking all the time to meticulously describe all the steps you took to turn out such a masterpiece! Awesome work!

[Mintox]

Fantastic build and my most favourite of all the Valkyrie variants, except maybe the VT and D. Great job mate. Can I ask where you got the stand from?

[derex3592]

Absolutely incredible build. Congrats.

[joscasle]

Wow!!!!! Really nice build!!!!

[chaff.g]

Thanks folks. It's a Flightpose display stand. You can find them here: http://www.flightpose.com

[TMBounty_Hunter]

Beautifully detailed thread with amazing results. Thanks very much for all the posts and pics!

[william02]

oh My God! is so beautiful!

Edited July 7, 2015 by william02

[Darth Mingus]

Great job. Truly inspirational to the point where I dug out my 1/48 to start working on again.

Thanks for the great write up and the detail.

[Xigfrid]

absolutely amazing kit and build!

[Fatalist]

Beautiful build!! I kept checking on this thread constantly awaiting updates, and was never disappointed. Great work and thank you for taking the time to take pictures and document your processes. Very informative. Amazing!

[wasabi_kid]

Magnificent, sensational!! An absolute work of art!!!

[EXO]