Arii 1/20000 Zentradi ships... building after decades!

[megatron-uk]

I've had a full set of the 1/20000 Zentradi ships in a backlog of unbuilt kits since at least the year 2000, possibly even earlier.

I finally dug them out and opened the shrinkwrap around a month ago. I've realised that these are from the 15th anniversary re-release, and so (most) of them also came with the unpainted character figures:

... but that's another topic in itself.

I have two of the Quiltra-Queleual, two of the Queadol-Magdomilla, one Thuverl-Salan and one Nupetiet-Vergnitzs.

I'd guess that around the time of the original release of these kits in the 80's I'd have been playing with old-style Airfix kits... complete with horrid pack-in Humbrol enamels and paintbrushes you could paint your house with! 

Things have changed over the years, and these days I'm having fun with modern Macross releases from Bandai and Hasegawa, or 3D printed miniature figures and snap-fit, no-glue kits. We really are spoiled these days!

Going back to these kits was like taking a step back into the past - while the molding is mostly decent (and detailed - especially on the Thuverl-Salan and Nupetiet-Vergnitzs), it brought back memories of filling and sanding seam lines, swearing when parts didn't line up quite right, and generally shouting out loud; "Why put the join there?" 

Still, all good fun!

[megatron-uk]

My first completed ship out of the set is the Nupetiet-Vergnitzs.

This needed a minor amount of filling and sanding, though limited to just the front edge of the main hull section (yes, it's a bit flat faced compared to the series, isn't it!). But other than that it goes together fairly easily (there isn't a lot in the way of parts, and fortunately not nearly as many tiny little antenna/radio protrusions as the smaller ships).

Surface detail is nice, and pretty good for such an old kit. Despite the front section being different, I think it stands up reasonably well considering the age.

It was simple to paint, though quite refreshing compared to having to paint and detail loads of sub-sections as on modern kits.

Paints/colours used:

• Badger Ultimate Airbrush Primer (dark grey)
• Vallejo Model Air Panzer Dark Grey (pre-shading)
• Vallejo Mecha Colour Dark Green (main green hull section + used unthinned straight from bottle for random panels)
• Vallejo Mecha Colour Medum Grey + MIG French Blue (grey hull section, about a 70:30 mix)
• Vallejo Model Air Red RLM23 (red highlights)
• AK Interactive Silver Grey (grey external tanks)
• MIG Medium Gunship Gray (panel highlights)
• AK Interactive Winter Streaking Grime
• AK Interactive Rust Streaks
• Tamiya weathering master set 'B' (smoke/rust pastels)

Small amount of surface filler and sanding - though this kit benefits from having that recessed profile around the circumference to hide the two hull sections:

A little bit of pre-shading, mostly of benefit to the lower hull:

Main parts assembled and painted:

Initial panel lines to recessed areas:

Adding on the waterslide decals. I am absolutely amazed that not one of the decals ripped or refused to release from the backing paper. They went on really well after a slightly longer than usual soak:

And the final finish with enamel washes and pastel weathering applied:

Edited Wednesday at 03:53 PM by megatron-uk

[megatron-uk]

Next up is the Queadol-Magdomilla. So far I've only finished one of these - the other still needs to be assembled.

I think out of the four models this is the most awkward. The separation gimmick is neat in concept, but the execution is fairly poor and leads to some compromises in the assembly. It's fiddly and ends up being like a single-piece turtle shell with a small ship poking out the front that isn't really big enough to have much detail.

It would have been a better model had they not bothered incorporating the split design.

Also. The fins/antenna. Urgh. That gave me so much anxiety cutting them out. They're tiny and very, very fragile.

Fortunately, this one, like the Nupetiet-Vergnitzs doesn't have much of a visible seam between the two hull sections - most of the join in the front is hidden when docked, and the rear hull is almost turtle-like in the way it wraps around. So not a lot of repair/filling/sanding work to be done here.

Front section assembled. A number of parts don't really fit very well here. Fortunately unless you plan to display it undocked, most of the ill-fitting sections will be hidden:

Rear section. This is very simple:

Front and rear sections docked and primed:

Main flat colours added:

Panel lining added and waterslide decals applied:

Enamel washes and some weathering pastels:

Edited Wednesday at 07:55 PM by megatron-uk

[megatron-uk]

Next was the single Thuverl-Salan.

I have to admit that aside from the flagship, this is probably my favourite of the kits. Yes, it's simple, but it's molded nicely, the surface detail is there and because of the way it is designed, there is absolutely no fitment or filler/sanding issues (again, like the flagship it has the recess running the majority of the circumference).

Very simple assembly - two hull sections, a couple of thruster/vent parts for the rear, 3 little turrets and the sensor/antenna addons:

Main hull painted in the flat 'Mecha Dark Green' as used for all the other kits. Recess done freehand in black:

A few hull panels picked out in slightly contrasting green, and a few grey highlights. External pods added:

Original waterslide decals applied:

Panel lining added once more, using Tamiya black panel line ink:

Enamel washes and pastel weathering, then a final coat of satin varnish:

Edited Wednesday at 08:03 PM by megatron-uk

[KOG Water Dragon]

I've never thought about this before, but those ship kits have rivet detail along the 'panel lines'.

Those would be some ENORMOUS rivets.

[Bolt]

7 hours ago, megatron-uk said:

I've had a full set of the 1/20000 Zentradi ships in a backlog of unbuilt kits since at least the year 2000, possibly even earlier.

I finally dug them out and opened the shrinkwrap around a month ago. I've realised that these are from the 15th anniversary re-release, and so (most) of them also came with the unpainted character figures:

... but that's another topic in itself.

I have two of the Quiltra-Queleual, two of the Queadol-Magdomilla, one Thuverl-Salan and one Nupetiet-Vergnitzs.

I'd guess that around the time of the original release of these kits in the 80's I'd have been playing with old-style Airfix kits... complete with horrid pack-in Humbrol enamels and paintbrushes you could paint your house with! 

Things have changed over the years, and these days I'm having fun with modern Macross releases from Bandai and Hasegawa, or 3D printed miniature figures and snap-fit, no-glue kits. We really are spoiled these days!

Going back to these kits was like taking a step back into the past - while the molding is mostly decent (and detailed - especially on the Thuverl-Salan and Nupetiet-Vergnitzs), it brought back memories of filling and sanding seam lines, swearing when parts didn't line up quite right, and generally shouting out loud; "Why put the join there?" 

Still, all good fun!

Hey, those are looking great ! Nice job ! I love pulling old models out, it's always inspiring!

 

36 minutes ago, KOG Water Dragon said:

I've never thought about this before, but those ship kits have rivet detail along the 'panel lines'.

Those would be some ENORMOUS rivets.

Those would be craters!

[DeltaE27]

Very nice! The detailing looks so good, especially the sections of slightly different shades of green. I fell in love with these kits when I learned about them. I have one of each assembled with base colors but awaiting details. Funnily enough I also used some Vallejo Mecha color on mine. I might take some inspiration with how you handled the detailing if you don’t mind! 
 

The nupetiet has a really flat nose in this rendition, but it is what it is. Old kits are gonna be old… I’m just glad these kits exist in the first place. 

Edited Thursday at 12:30 AM by DeltaE27

[Thom]

Great looking group of ships @megatron-uk! Have to say the Thuverl-Salan is my fav, though if they had gotten the bow right on the flagship, that would have been!

As for the enormous 'rivets,' I'm just going to call them apertures for recessed turrets.

[megatron-uk]

Haha! Yes, those rivets would be something like several metres/yards wide going by the stated scale of the ships!

[megatron-uk]

The last set I have been working on was the pair of Quiltra-Queleual models.

I admit to being in two minds of these.

I think the design of the assault craft is a good one; it definitely gives it a different feel to the other Zentradi ships, as befitting the mass troop carrier, landing-craft type role which makes it more distinct than the other designs. But, the way Arii produced it makes it arguably the weakest implementation of the four models.

Firstly, the upper/lower hull design on this one is a major pain to get aligned correctly (I'd argue that the two hull sections are not quite produced the same size), and then there's the giant seam line which runs the entire circumference of the ship. Unlike all the other designs there is no way to hide this. It just needs lots of sanding and filling.

Then there's the fact that the Arii molds for this ship have almost no detail on the sides - there are a couple of panel lines, but you could reasonably argue that the majority of the side of the ship is entirely flat and devoid of detail. It's not even that I've sanded it all away whilst trying to remove the giant seam line, because this is what it looks like straight from the sprue:

Using Mr Surfacer 1500 to fill seam line:

Both kits nearly ready for primer. I tried to scribe some extra definition to the (poor) detail which was already there, as straight from the sprue it's very, very faint and would likely be mostly hidden after primer and paint:

Fortunately the big seam is now mostly hidden:

Adding main areas of flat colour:

Waterslide decals and Tamiya ink panel lines applied - the upper and lower sections are nicely detailed - it's just that the sides are mostly flat!

Both kits panel lined and decaled.

I haven't finished this pair yet - I still need to get a coat of satin varnish on and get some weathering and washes applied. I don't expect them to look as good as the other designs as there's not a lot to work with on the sides of the model

Edited Thursday at 07:37 AM by megatron-uk

[derex3592]

Man, ALL those are looking REALLY great!  I LOVE the Zent capital ships!  I can only hope that one day Hasagawa gives us updated larger ones!! Hey- I guy can dream right?!

[007-vf1]

2 hours ago, derex3592 said:

Man, ALL those are looking REALLY great!  I LOVE the Zent capital ships!  I can only hope that one day Hasagawa gives us updated larger ones!! Hey- I guy can dream right?!

There are a couple of sellers on EvilBay selling 3D printed copies at different scales 1/10000, 1/8000  for around $40. I wish big companies would gear up to sell bigger scaled ships but is probably not profitable.

[megatron-uk]

Some of the 3d print models available now are much closer to the designs in the show - much more funky organic shapes than these old kits. I've got a couple of resin printers myself, but I've resisted printing anything as large - mostly sticking to miniatures.

I can't imagine there'd be much profit for someone like Hasegawa to develop entirely new tooling for a line like this... then again, they do seem to cater for very small runs of niche stuff like Ma.K kits. So you never know!

Something the size and intricacy (moving turrets, opening hatches, etc) of a 1/500 Space Battleship Yamato 2199 like Bandai currently produces would be amazing.

 

 

[megatron-uk]

Got a coat of satin varnish on the two Quiltra-Queleual models along with the same weathering as the other kits. It's not great, as there just isn't the surface detail to bring out like the other designs. Still, it is what it is!

 

 

That just leaves the one remaining unbuilt Queadol-Magdomilla. Though I'm probably going to go back to my unbuilt Hasegawa Valkyrie kits for a change of pace.. I've got a part-built VF-11 that I'd like to finish next!

Edited Thursday at 04:16 PM by megatron-uk

[Thom]

@megatron-ukYou made them look quite realistic! I like em!

[SteveTheFish]

Those look great. I am also building these same four ships, but I was not lucky to get the 15th anniversary repops and mine must probably be from the '80s. The decals for the Therval Salal were manageable, but decals for the LST and Breetai's flagship were brittle. I poured Microscale Decal Film into the airbrush and sprayed them a few times. After that, they didn't break apart but were still stubborn.