My Very Own Premium Finish Valkyries

[chyll2]

Nice job on both Noel.

[technoblue]

Marvelous work, Noel. I wish I had the time and talent. 

[wm cheng]

Beautiful Noel!!! Glad it worked out so well.  All you gotta do is a light panel line on that beauty!

 

[no3Ljm]

11 hours ago, chyll2 said:

Nice job on both Noel.

Thanks chyll2!  

1 hour ago, technoblue said:

Marvelous work, Noel. I wish I had the time and talent. 

Thanks technoblue!  

I don't have the talent yet esp like the guy below this reply.   But I make sure somehow to find time to do it somehow.  

1 hour ago, wm cheng said:

Beautiful Noel!!! Glad it worked out so well.  All you gotta do is a light panel line on that beauty!

Thanks Mr Cheng! Glad you liked it.   Yeah, that's my next goal, sir. Just some light panel lining.

 

[sumyumgoy]

Looks great!  I'm curious how the panel lining goes.  I've tried enamels and also Flory's on my Arcadia V2's and could never get an even line due to the shallow lines.  I read once before that Yamato intended the lines to be shallow...not sure why though. 

[wm cheng]

That's just stupid... they made a mistake and won't own up to it.  I've found that if I used a really sharp mechanical pencil, I can "draw" in the lines of the really shallow panels lightly.  The problem is sometimes there is no consistency in the panel line depth, it can go from ok to really shallow in the same line.

[jenius]

Yamato was proud of their very thin panel lines. I think it was because they were trying to stay true to scale. In real life the lines wouldn't be very deep so on a 1/60 toy they should be barely perceptible. 

[wm cheng]

2 hours ago, jenius said:

Yamato was proud of their very thin panel lines. I think it was because they were trying to stay true to scale. In real life the lines wouldn't be very deep so on a 1/60 toy they should be barely perceptible. 

Then why aren't they consistent?  There's no reason why it should start off deep and go light have way though.  Bad molding or old dies or too much paint - I don't know but I don't buy they were entirely intentional.

 

[Lolicon]

17 hours ago, no3Ljm said:

Finally I finished applying the decals to my Hikaru VF-1S. Funny that I started this project with the VF-1S but ended up finishing the VF-0S first.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Looks great! I'm going to have to follow your lead and flip through the master file book, since I have the same decal sets. Be sure you put a gloss coat over your work if you plan on doing a panel wash!

1 hour ago, wm cheng said:

Then why aren't they consistent?  There's no reason why it should start off deep and go light have way though.  Bad molding or old dies or too much paint - I don't know but I don't buy they were entirely intentional.

The thin panel lines are obviously intentional. Inconsistencies are just that: inconsistencies. They can arise from the molding process, aging dies, sloppiness, etc. Bandai uses thicker & deeper panel lines but they're inconsistent in thickness and depth too, so it's not just an Arcadia issue. While they look alright at the DX scale, they're way too thick for HMR scale.

I actually like the super fine panel lines, but I do have to use a mechanical pencil as it's really hard to get wash to stay properly in some of them, especially the super shallow ones that didn't get molded properly (the underside of the VF-1 front fuselage is especially bad).

[no3Ljm]

6 hours ago, sumyumgoy said:

Looks great!  I'm curious how the panel lining goes.  I've tried enamels and also Flory's on my Arcadia V2's and could never get an even line due to the shallow lines.  I read once before that Yamato intended the lines to be shallow...not sure why though. 

Thanks sumyumgoy! I'm planning on using Flory's too for easy application and correction if ever I messed up. 

1 hour ago, Lolicon said:

Looks great! I'm going to have to follow your lead and flip through the master file book, since I have the same decal sets. Be sure you put a gloss coat over your work if you plan on doing a panel wash!

The thin panel lines are obviously intentional. Inconsistencies are just that: inconsistencies. They can arise from the molding process, aging dies, sloppiness, etc. Bandai uses thicker & deeper panel lines but they're inconsistent in thickness and depth too, so it's not just an Arcadia issue. While they look alright at the DX scale, they're way too thick for HMR scale.

I actually like the super fine panel lines, but I do have to use a mechanical pencil as it's really hard to get wash to stay properly in some of them, especially the super shallow ones that didn't get molded properly (the underside of the VF-1 front fuselage is especially bad).

Yes sir! That's what I'm planning on doing this weekend if time permits. I will topcoat the whole thing so that by next week I can start applying panel wash.

But since you guys said it's hard to do panel wash, now I'm considering mechanical pencil. That way, it has the light 'dirty weathered' look from the lead and smudges. Anyways, we'll see what's the best way.

 

[recon]

Nicely done noel. Judging by how small these markings are on my premium VF-1S, it must be tough to align and place those decals on. Not forgetting very time consuming

[technoblue]

Indeed. It's a talent of precision, which was what I was alluding to in my post above. I'm thinking it would be fun to compare Noel's water slide DIY Hikaru custom next to Arcadia's premium Hikaru 1S and note the variances. Looking at my premium Hikaru, the ones that pop out are the different "no step" markings, the added markings on the backpack sections in fighter mode, and those near the hardpoints.

It certainly does show that there is room to kick the detail up a notch, even on Arcadia's premium valks.

[no3Ljm]

16 hours ago, recon said:

Nicely done noel. Judging by how small these markings are on my premium VF-1S, it must be tough to align and place those decals on. Not forgetting very time consuming

Thanks Recon! Yes, it is indeed very time consuming. But in the end it's a labor of love.  

16 hours ago, technoblue said:

Indeed. It's a talent of precision, which was what I was alluding to in my post above. I'm thinking it would be fun to compare Noel's water slide DIY Hikaru custom next to Arcadia's premium Hikaru 1S and note the variances. Looking at my premium Hikaru, the ones that pop out are the different "no step" markings, the added markings on the backpack sections in fighter mode, and those near the hardpoints.

It certainly does show that there is room to kick the detail up a notch, even on Arcadia's premium valks.

IMHO, Arcadia's markings are just the basics. Even with the current sticker sheet that comes with the Valk, there's more left overs or unused. And I think the Hasegawa 1/72 scaled VF-1's have more markings than this. It would make more sense to pay their Premium Finish offering if it comes with a lot of markings.  

[no3Ljm]

So. I thought I could apply the topcoat on Hikaru's VF-1S over this weekend but I ended up finishing applying decals on the Strike Parts instead.  

I just want to add that I used the Red Skull marking from the sticker sheet because the one that came with the waterslide decal is too 'orange'. The one from the sticker sheet is actually not matching the red paint in the Valkyrie. But it's more red than the one from the waterslide decal. Also, I know that I mentioned those white 'NO STLP' markings from the very beginning of this thread but I still ended up using it on the Packs just to move this project along. I also used the NP-BP-01, NP-FP-01, and NP-AR-01 from the sticker sheet too because the one from the waterslide are all NP-BP-01's. 

Anyways, let me know what you guys think. Maybe I went overboard and put too much decals. Hehehe!  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Lolicon]

Looks fantastic! 

If anything, I'd say you have too few decals on the wings, at least going by the Yamato and Hasegawa manuals. I guess the Master File has a more scant arrangement?

The skulls on the decal sheet are all off center on mine, so I just used the stickers as well. They have no excess around the edges and fill up the entire circle area on the fast packs so you won't even be able to tell they're stickers once you clear coat it.

Shame that the 3rd party decals have so many mistakes and omissions. Time to scrounge more Hasegawa decals sheets I guess. 

Now you just have to transplant a rainbow tinted canopy from an older valk and yours will be perfect! 

[no3Ljm]

1 hour ago, Lolicon said:

Looks fantastic! 

If anything, I'd say you have too few decals on the wings, at least going by the Yamato and Hasegawa manuals. I guess the Master File has a more scant arrangement?

The skulls on the decal sheet are all off center on mine, so I just used the stickers as well. They have no excess around the edges and fill up the entire circle area on the fast packs so you won't even be able to tell they're stickers once you clear coat it.

Shame that the 3rd party decals have so many mistakes and omissions. Time to scrounge more Hasegawa decals sheets I guess. 

Now you just have to transplant a rainbow tinted canopy from an older valk and yours will be perfect! 

Rainbow tinted canopy? Bah! That's so early 2000's, man. It's already 2018. The blue tinted canopy in the Hi-Metal R line is the new rainbow tinted canopy. Let's see how it's going to look on a 1/60 scale.  

Kidding aside, thanks Lolicon. 

 

[no3Ljm]

By the way, is there anyone here has a Hasegawa VF-0S with Ghost kit? I was browsing some manuals online esp at HobbySearch. I couldn't tell if there's some additional markings on the Ghost such as NO STEP and WARNINGS besides the U.N.SPACY and the Kite logo. But I can't seem to make it if there is. Also, is there some extra markings too on the Leg Fast Packs besides the U.N.SPACY?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Offswitch]

You can never have too much decals! 

Great job, no3L! Looking forward to when it's all coated and panel lined. 

 

 

[505thAirborne]

looks amazing Noel, as a massive Hikaru VF-1 fan that I think that Valkyrie looks absolutely amazing! Equal if not better to anything Arcadia can produce! 

[no3Ljm]

6 hours ago, Offswitch said:

You can never have too much decals! 

Great job, no3L! Looking forward to when it's all coated and panel lined. 

Thanks Offswitch! Hope I can schedule something this weekend.  

5 hours ago, 505thAirborne said:

looks amazing Noel, as a massive Hikaru VF-1 fan that I think that Valkyrie looks absolutely amazing! Equal if not better to anything Arcadia can produce! 

Thanks 505th! Really appreciate the comment, sir.  I know it's not in par with clean tampo prints by Arcadia. I'm happy just by doing it.  

 

[Hikaru1234567890]

Does anyone know where i can get the scans for the VF-1 Series in 1/60 and the VF-2SS 1/60 so i can put them on my 1/100 HMR.

[Convectuoso]

On 10-03-2018 at 12:36 AM, Hikaru1234567890 said:

Does anyone know where i can get the scans for the VF-1 Series in 1/60 and the VF-2SS 1/60 so i can put them on my 1/100 HMR.