1/72 Hasegawa VF-0S Step-by-step...

[wm cheng]

Hi all,

Well, I just couldn't wait - this new VF-0 kit looks too good to pass up. This will not be my usual 2 week progress - fortunately I am working now, so it will be probably one weekend day and a few hours in the evening if I can sneak it in here and there.

This build up is dedicated to Myersjessee. It was through his generosity that I recieved this kit. He kindly donated this kit for me to build here at MacrossWorld to share with you all. I would just like to say thanks again, and that I appreciate all the kind words and feedback I get from this great site.

Now on to the kit... Thanks to Valkyrie, I won't have to do a kit analysis - I think he thoroughly described the kit very well. Don't be discouraged though, it doesn't seem to be quite as tough as it may seem (or so I say before I actually start - lets see what the verdict will be when I finish ) The molding is as beautiful as Hasegawa ever is, however, I feel its slightly "soft" and there are a few minor panel lines which either terminate at nothing or run pass some other lines. It feels a bit rushed for Hasegawa's standards - but still miles ahead of any Revel or Monogram type kit.

I can't wait to get into the paint and weathering of this baby - I think I can finally go to town on her - Macross Zero seems so much dirtier and the CGI texture maps shows all sorts of worn edges and streaks. By the way, I would love any and all reference for the finish of the aircraft or pilot - I was going to go over the 3 OVAs this weekend to see if I can get some decent captures - but if you guys have anything, it would help.

I think this one will be with the gears down, I'll try Valkyrie's magnet idea on the fast packs and hopefully devise some way of either hinging the canopy or allowing it to be displayed in either the open and closed positions when I am done. I would like to open the airbrake on this baby. Here's two questions for David Hingtgen (our resident aircraft guru) - the circular impressions on the airbrake, are they supposed to be "holes" (like the old Dauntless flaps?) that go right through - if I display the airbrakes out, should I drill those out? Secondly, do the VF-0 have those sliding folwer flaps like the VF-1? The flap area seems so large on the VF-0 that it doesn't seem to make sense for them to be fowlers - so are they just regular flaps. I'd love to do something with them, but I don't want them to interfer with the swing of the wings.

I'll start with the nose/cockpit area. Here are the seats, not much as to be done here except scrap the delicate mold seam from the sides of the chair, I just use the exacto knife and scrap across it gently a few times to take the excess seam off.

Edited February 28, 2004 by wm cheng

[wm cheng]

Sorry for the fuzzy pic - here's another seam to be scraped on the pilot.

[wm cheng]

I think its important to not follow the steps to the letter, you should pre-build assemblies in your mind first - trying to identify any problems like hard to reach areas before you actually go ahead following the instructions. Always test fit as much as you can. I decided to glue the cockpit tub down first and do a dry fit of the fuselage halves. This helps me to identify how much of the inside grey one needs to paint which is visible from outside the cockpit.

[wm cheng]

This closeup shows that the back of the cockpit tub doesn't fit snuggly with the top of the fuselage halves. Its not a bad thing here - I don't think they were meant to attach - having a layered look with a dark reveal in the middle might be nice. However, the thicknesses of the top half the fuselage isn't consistent - so some sanding will have to occur to provide an even opening all around the curve of the bulkhead.

[wm cheng]

Here is a test fit of the pilot, wierd that the pilot isn't properly contoured to "sit" into the seat, the legs seem a bit high - I don't think you will notice it once he's inside the fuselage and pushed back against the back rest. I tried to glue the arms so that they are assymetrical - it gives a bit of life to the pilot - same later on when I glue the head on at a slight tilt turning sideways slightly. I always try to put a little movement into the pilot. It cut the left controls down while leaving the right ones they way they are.

I'll have to look for some small wires to bend into those rectangular emergency pulls above the pilots head.

Edited February 28, 2004 by wm cheng

[wm cheng]

Pretty roomy cockpit eh??

Look at all that space behind him - I guess I've got to break out my spares parts box and start filling it with "gak". I've got a bunch of landing gear parts and actuators from other VF kits where I retracted the gears that I can throw in there. What have some of you done with this space?

[wm cheng]

Tough shot... trying to hold it in one hand and holding the camera in the other

Here's a shot with these rubber thingys used to help hold sand paper (like flexible sanding blocks) I got a while ago from a woodworking shop (for those of you in the Toronto area - its called Lee Valley Tools - great place, they have the tiny rare earth magnets there too) They come a package of 6 or 8 with different profiles to them, some sharp wedge-like to get the sandpaper into tight spaces, and others round like this one allowing me to shape the opening to follow the curve of the rear bulkhead of the cockpit tub.

[wm cheng]

I just hand brush painted these parts - the paint is still wet. I used Tamiya olive drab for the initial coat on the pilot and dark grey for the cockpit interior. The detail on the forward control housing is really great - it even comes with a HUD glass and decal for the HUD. I plan of painting the HUD projector silver, then green transparent colour with a layer of Tamiya smoke over it - it provides a convincing lens effect under the HUD. I'm not sure what to do with the side panels yet - I put photo-etched parts on my previous VF-1, until someone pointed out to me (and correctly so) that they were just green armrest - so I would assume the VF-0 to the be same if not simpler.

That's all for now folks, spent most of the day admiring the parts and pouring over the instructions - trying to form a plan of attack Good night for now.

[wm cheng]

Can anyone tell me if this reference picture is a painting outside of the actual anime or that the finish on the aircraft is actually indicative of the CGI maps in the actual anime?

[Myersjessee]

WOW! I can't wait for this! Thank you, again, for sharing!

I think that looks like a real picture from the anime...think though....not sure.

[pfunk]

sweet WM man i love that you have the patience for step by steps, cant wait to see the final product

[Neova]

Keep it up Master Cheng!

I wish this PC was equiped with a DVD rom so I could have snapped stills for you.

Graham might be able to help.

[David Hingtgen]

Airbrake holes--I say go for it. Though holes would fairly pointless with the VF-0's design. But as we all know, many aerodynamic features on valks are for looking cool, not being practical. Holes only show up on airbrakes, and many airbrakes have holes. (Just not airbrakes mounted behind the cockpit, like F-15/VF-0/Flanker)

Flaps---no idea. Would need good drawings of the underside of the wings. I lost my scans of the VF-0 long ago. Either way, I *seriously* doubt they'd be F-14-style. F-14's are unique among all aircraft in the entire world, 1903-2004. There's split flaps, zap flaps, kruger flaps, hinged/simple flaps, fowler flaps, and F-14 Tomcat flaps. And from the pic above, they lack the eyebrow doors, a major feature of the F-14's flaps.

As for being regular fowler flaps--possible, VF-0's got tiny wings, and its approach speed would be very high. But valks tend to be amazingly light for their size, reducing their stall speed. But VF-0's aren't QUITE valks, technology-wise.

If someone's got a good pic of the VF-0 with its flaps down, please post!

Edited February 29, 2004 by David Hingtgen

[goldenboy_forever]

wow great progress so far It's amazing how focused you can be. Its stunning when you hear a profesional explain there art. Seriously you should get sponsored. This isn't work its a miracle in progress. I can't wait untill its done

how educating thank you

[newca]

Can anyone tell me if this reference picture is a painting outside of the actual anime or that the finish on the aircraft is actually indicative of the CGI maps in the actual anime?

http://www.macrossworld.com/macross/magazi...nes_newtype.htm

NEWTYPE November 2002

[CoryHolmes]

Well, I just couldn't wait

Oh, believe us when we say we don't mind your impatience one bit

[buddhafabio]

edit

never mind

Edited February 29, 2004 by buddhafabio

[wm cheng]

Hey got a few hours in today...

Here's the pilot with a few more colours hand brushed on after looking through the OVAs again. You can see I chose to go with the arm rest for now. I am leaving the area behind the seat blank for now until I can find a way of hinging the canopy - I don't want to put anything in the way of that for now.

[wm cheng]

Here's a trick I use to get a good chrome silver going. I have yet to find any paint that is a reflective as this. I use a Tamiya paint marker (its a laquer I believe, because it cleans up with Mr. Color solvent) and I shake the marker with the cap on, and I use the brush to dab at the tip to get some silver.

[wm cheng]

I'm using it for the pilots visor, I will put a clear green transparent colour over top of this - the silver undercoat and layering makes it look more reflective.

[wm cheng]

Here's the green transparent colour on...

I was a bit anxious, so I am just using the white of the kit as the white of the helmut.

[wm cheng]

Here's the same trick done to the HUD projection lens, I'll put a drop of white glue or Microscale Krystal Keeler over top when its dry to simulate the glass lens.

[wm cheng]

A little test fit before a dark oil wash to pick out the crevasses.

I need to see where the helmut sits so I can plan for the overhead yellow & black ejection seat handles. I am planning to make them out of wire.

[wm cheng]

I'd thought I get the canopy out for now to see how it will sit over the cockpit to start planning for the "hinge". Note the clear plastic is much more brittle than the opaque stuff, becareful when you are removing it. Try to trim/cut as far away from the piece as possible. I would also suggest that you trim along the flat side of the sprue with the length of the canopy (notice that the cutters are parallel with the canopy frame) this will minimize any "crushing" that might occur with the plastic.

[wm cheng]

Here is my first trial attempt at a sort of "hinge" I thought that with that space between the rear bulkhead and the fuselage, I might be able to epoxy a metal rod (paperclip) to the rear of the canopy, then this extends down into the body being sandwiched by these two plastic sheets which should provide some friction to hold the canopy up. (Wish me luck )

[wm cheng]

Here is the underneath, I kept testing it with various sizes so that these sheets wouldn't interfere with any other parts later on in the construction process.

[wm cheng]

I skipped a few steps to see if these sheets will interfere with the body attachments later on and trim them down accordingly.

I am going to have to let the glue dry tonight before I can proceed any further. I have also put a black artist oil paint wash (thinned down with low odour varsol) in the cockpit and pilot. I will also let it sit overnight before I wipe it down tomorrow. I think I will sand and polish the canopy next to get rid of that seam before I try to epoxy the metal rod.

Thats it for tonight.

[David Hingtgen]

I keep forgetting to mention this, though I thought of it the moment you mentioned it:

The boxy area aft of the cockpit reminds me of the F-15 (single-seater) avionics bay. It's essentially hollow, everything's mounted on the sides of the "box". Lots of circuit breakers, wiring bundles, piping. But it looks quite orderly. Think of like an older car's engine bay. Lots of wires to the distributor etc, but nicely bundled and purposeful-looking, with hoses going here and there. Also, the canopy's main strut is mounted vertically at the aft end. I'll try to find on-line pics later.

[gnollman]

Great start, can't wait to see more....

[Myersjessee]

Great start, can't wait to see more....

DITTO! I can't wait to see how the canopy comes out!

[EXO]

Wow... very generous of you Jess!

Another great thread to watch! It's exciting!

[Angel's Fury]

Another great thread to watch!  It's exciting!

Indeed!!!!

Edited March 1, 2004 by Angel's Fury

[John Busacha]

Fantastic! Fantastic! Fantastic! WM, what are the chances of getting a high res scan of the Hase painting instructions? I would really appreciate it... (please don't let this request distract you from your current project)

Keep it up! We all love your work!

-JB

[wm cheng]

A few updates today - I thought I'd outline the canopy seam removal that so many people seem to be worried about on most of the Hasegawa kits - its not a big deal. As most of you know, there is a longitudinal seam down the canopy as a result of a 3 part mold to achieve the "bubble" effect of the canopy. This bubble effect results in an undercut condition which makes it difficult to remove the piece after molding in a traditional 2 part situation. Most of the previous kits (20 yrs ago) gave us an incorrect canopy profile - so I'm not at all put off by this new process since it gives us a much more accurate to line art canopy and plus, it looks more like real modern day aircraft.

Here are the items I use, a small container of water (essential as a lubricant for the sandpaper), the Tamiya fine sandpaper pack (you can see there are 3 grades in this pack, 1200, 1500 and 2000 grit) and lastly, Tamiya polishing compound (its like a toothpaste whereby a fine abrasive particle is suspended in a paste).

[wm cheng]

Here's a close up of the seam.