Yamato 1/48 VF-1J Hikaru -> VF-1 TV Kakizaki conversion

[dafob]

I've been searching high and low for a 1/48 TV Kakizaki (the limited Macross Chronicles version) but they are hard to come by these days -- and when you do find one it cost a kidney. 

There are many other 1/48's that haven't fared well over the last decade so I decided to pick one of these junkers up and make my own TV Kakizaki.  I have minimal to no experience with models (built some in my childhood decades ago) and painting so please don't judge my work too harshly.  

 

I started with a junker VF-1J Hikaru that I picked up from @levzloi.  It has yellowed and has a broken tail/backpack:

My goal was to strip the red stripes, whiten the plastic with peroxide treatment and paint the needed areas tan/brown for the conversion.  Sounds simple enought, right...? 

First step was to take it apart:

 

I used 90% isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol to try and remove the red paint and though stubborn, it eventually came off.  But either the alcohol or rubbing motion (or both) left the finish of the plastic shiny and polished and it no longer matched the rest of the valk.

 

At this point, I made the decision to just paint the entire thing with white paint.  I know coating the entire valk in paint will invite paint scratches with transformations and posing but this thing will only be a display piece.

 

Re-assembled part of the valk to see what it would look like and if the project was worth continuing:

 

So far, so good.  So onward and upward with more white paint.  I chose a darker brown than the light tan color found on the 1/60 TV Kakizaki.

 

The pieces all painted white and re-assembled:

 

Valk put back together:

 

Side-by-side comparison with a 1/48 TV Max:

 

In my world, Kakizaki not only survived but he eventually gets promoted to team leader and given a 1J. 

 

Any thoughts or suggestions?  Any feedback would be very welcomed.

 

Edited June 5, 2019 by dafob

[Bolt]

Good job @dafob I think it needs the 1A head to be completely Kakizaki, otherwise it’s some other custom.

Looking good so far!

[dafob]

On 5/28/2019 at 12:03 AM, Bolt said:

I think it needs the 1A head to be completely Kakizaki, otherwise it’s some other custom.

Thanks for the suggestion!  

I'll probably paint both heads brown and make 'em interchangeable.

Edited June 2, 2019 by dafob

[nightmareB4macross]

Hi Dafob,

Your custom came out great!

Nice job!

 

[505thAirborne]

Looks amazing dafob, another great custom for your collection. 

[levzloi]

Very nice man! glad you were able to make use of that 1J.

[Checkmate]

The dismantling and re-assembly part of the process is the most intimidating for me. Congrats on the custom! I would suggest using flat or matte paint or maybe coat it with dullcote to remove the gloss. Was the paint job done by hand or airbrush?

[dafob]

1 minute ago, Checkmate said:

The dismantling and re-assembly part of the process is the most intimidating for me. Congrats on the custom! I would suggest using flat or matte paint or maybe coat it with dullcote to remove the gloss. Was the paint job done by hand or airbrush?

Paint was done with basic rattle can spray paint.  I used whatever I had in the garage which was satin finish.  In hindsight I should've used flat but I kinda dig the slight shine.  I do agree that too much shine wouldn't look good (like gloss paint would be too shiny).

I'm currently working on making an Alaska Base using another junker I just picked up.  I'm procrastinating though because masking with tape takes a long time and I'm usually not too motivated after coming home from work each day.

Hopefully will have it done soon and will post pics.

[Xigfrid]

It is looking nice, and also newer than new

[kkx]

Nicely done. Thanks for sharing.

[Lolicon]

On 5/28/2019 at 1:38 AM, dafob said:

Any thoughts or suggestions?  Any feedback would be very welcomed.

Looks great! Kakizaki as a 1J commander... what could have been. If only he had stayed and finished that steak instead of going on that mission.