Macross VF collection

Over the weekend I received my Yamato 1/60 scale VF-11B. Instead of taking pics and writing about how awesome it is, I decided to post a pic of that and all of my Macross Valkyries. The thing is that it took me quite a bit of time taking them all out of my closet, putting the parts/fast packs on, and posing them to take the actual pics. So I'm posting pics that aren't great but good enough to see the valks. If it was during the day and I had a better lighting set up, the pics would be better. Another thing is that I didn't feel like transforming them all after I took the initial photos. Anyway, enough with my complaints and excuses and check out what I have below.

Macross

The VF-1S Valkyrie was the first Variable Fighter introduced in Macross. The S model that I have is an early version from Yamato that doesn't have a perfect transformation. It does have die cast parts which is cool. In the series this was the squad leader unit piloted by Roy Focker first then Hikaru Ichijo after Roy's death. The unit name Valkyrie also became the slang term for the rest of the units produced in later series.

Macross Plus

The VF-11B Thunderbolt is the newest to my collection. It's a 1/60 scale from Yamato and is very solid like all their valks from their recent 1/60 line. This unit was introduced in Macross Plus piloted by Isamu Dyson. It comes with fast pack parts that attach via magnets to the legs and 2 booster packs that mount on the top. Below is the first VF-11B I purchased many years ago from Yamato. It's a 1/72 scale, but it's not as good as the new one.

And a size comparison of the two.



The YF-19 from Yamato in 1/60 scale. This was the first release which means that I had to buy the fast pack and fold booster add on set later. The fast packs are mounted on the legs via magnets and the 2 shoulder packs are above the thrusters in fighter mode. This unit was piloted by Isamu Dyson as a test pilot for project "Super Nova". It's specs prove to be slightly better than the competition and was more cost effective which made it the winner of the project.

Below is a 1/72 scale VF-19A Excalibur from Yamato. It was a YF-19 repainted into the VF-X2 video game version and it has die cast parts. It's not as sleek as the new version.

A comparison with all my VF-19's together.



The YF-21 from Yamato in 1/60 scale. This was released with fast pack parts included. However, the fast pack that connect under the fighter are a pain in the ass to set up. Despite my many attempts, I couldn't get those parts in so I went without them. Anyway, this was the other fighter competing in project "Super Nova". It has stealth capabilities as well as an experimental control system using the pilots mind. The system ultimately cost it the project, but years later this valk was redone with a normal control system and was built in limited quantities as the VF-22S Sturmvogel II. A blue and red version where piloted by Max and Miria near the end of Macross 7 and a dark gray version was piloted by Gamlin Kizaki in Macross Dynamite 7.

Below is the 1/72 scale from Yamato. It has the fast pack parts and is more stable than the VF-19A in my collection. Unfortunately the antenna broke while it was stored in a box. Probably snapped off when I put my Megazord on top of it.

And the size comparison.

Macross 7

The VF-19 Kai Fire Valkyrie. This is a non-scale toy made by Bandai I think. This was the first valkyrie that I ever bought. I first saw it just over 10 years ago with my family in Chinatown, San Francisco for 80 bucks. I saved up my money, took the BART train over all by myself for the first time, and bought it. Anyway, this unit was the main valk in Macross 7 piloted by Basara Nekki. Basara is the lead guitarist and vocalist of the rock band Fire Bomber. He believes in songs instead of fighting enemies. His band became a squadron called Sound Force and fought the Protodevlin with their music.


The VF-17S Nightmare is also from the same line as the VF-19Kai. This unit was the squad leader version and was piloted by the leader of Diamond Force Gamlin Kizaki. There was also a red VF-17S piloted briefly by Mayor Miria Fallyna Jenius when City7 was separated from the rest of the Macross 7 fleet.

Macross Zero

The VF-0S Phoenix from Yamato in 1/60 scale. This was the first version so no fast pack parts or boosters came with it. It was later sold separately, but I never got around to getting one. This unit was the prototype of the VF-1 Valkyrie. It was bigger than the VF-1 due to it's engine and propulsion systems. The Phoenix was piloted by Roy Focker in the OVAs which took place sometime before the original Macross story line.


The SV-51r from Yamato in 1/60 scale. This is the version piloted by Nora Polyansky of the anti-UN forces. She used this unit to shoot down the F-14 piloted by the main character Shin Kudou in the first episode of the OVA.

Macross Frontier

The VF-25F Messiah from Bandai. It's part of the DX Chogokin brand and seem to be 1/60 scale. It has die cast parts and is pretty accurate to the original designs seen in the show. It's the first version so no fast pack parts. This is the unit piloted by the main character Alto Saotome, or as I call him "that really whiny guy".


The VF-25S Armored Messiah from Bandai just like the VF-25F. This is piloted by Ozma Lee leader of SMS's Skull Squadron. It has around 98 micro missiles and 30 normal missiles as well as the standard payload of missiles hidden in the valk. Like I wrote in my post about this, it is very cool.

So there it is, my Macross valk collection. I hope to get more as the series continues and I get more monies for this collection.

VF-25S Armored Messiah

Yesterday I went over to Toyslogic to pick up my Bandai DX VF-25S Armored Messiah. After chatting with my friend Ivy for a bit, I hurried home to open this sucker up and for good reason. This is the coolest and baddest of the armored valkyrie in the history of Macross. It's also the first time that an armored unit can transform into all 3 modes with the armor on. The VF-1 in Macross had to jettison the armor in order to transform. So did the VF-11C in Macross 7. Even the VF-0S in Macross Zero had a brief scene in full armor and had to jettison the parts off to fly and fight. So the fact that the Messiah can transform is a very cool thing.

Anyway, on to the good stuff. Here's the pic of the box when I first got it home. It's a very big box and surprisingly, the VF-25S was packed in it with the parts in the most efficient manner.

Here are the contents of the box. You can see the VF-25S packed in a foam box, there's one package that has the SMS stand for displaying the unit, and the rest are all armor parts.

Below is what the fighter looks like without the armor parts on. I put it next to my VF-25F for comparison.


I then went about putting the armor bits on. I read online that putting the armor on will take time and can be cumbersome so I knew that it wasn't going to be a quick and speedy process. I took my time with it and found the instructions isn't really helpful. The reason being is that the instruction booklet is quite small and it has small pictures in it with japanese text explaining the process. Anyway, I was very careful as I put the parts on so it took me a good hour and 15 minutes to put the parts on. Now that I'm familiar with the process I can probably put the armor on in 15 to 20 minutes.

So, here's how it looks with the armor on.

Top view with the radar dish in the center.

With the missile hatches open at the top.

With the hatches open at the bottom.

Since I didn't have time to mess with it some more and I like the look of the fighter mode, I stopped there. I'll probably come back to this and post pics of it in both Gerwalk and Battroid mode. Bottom line is that this is an awesome piece and well worth what I paid for it. It's heavy and quite durable. From the enemy's perspective this thing will incite fear and intimidate those into leaving the battle. From the pilots perspective this is the coolest thing in space combat.

ROTF Sunstorm re-paint WIP

While out and about hunting for TF's I happened upon a ROTF Thrust. I have the figure already and I quite liked the mold so I thought that a re-paint into Sunstorm would be pretty cool.

Here's how it looked after I primed it. This is also the first time I'm using grey primer so it'll be a good experience.

Here's how it looks after I started the first couple of coats of the yellow and black. I'm using tamiya acrylics for the paint as usual. It's still not done as more coats are needed and details will be then added. So far, it's turning out well.

Figma Mordred again

More pics of the exclusive Mordred (Saber Extra) from Mikatan's blog. I'm glad I pre-ordered the game+figma and I can't wait to get it.


View from the back.


Her boobs are bigger than Arturia's it seems. :)

Rider Blues

I've hit a snag with my custom of a figma Rider. Mainly the head part. I don't have a trading fig of rider to use, so this project will be shelved until I find one or something. Hmm... maybe an official Rider figma will come out by then.

On a happy note, I was experimenting again for my Figma Clare and I found that my original idea of not using the Archetype:She for the base may be the way to go. Damn, I could've started this project earlier this year instead of waiting for the archetypes to be released if I had stuck to my instincts. Oh well, ce n'est pas grave. Bonne nuit.

Figma Projects

As a Figma fan and wannabe customizer I have some work in progress stuff I'm working on.

Lacus is pretty much done as I said in my previous post. Cheerleader Miku. I painted the hair metallic green and I'm thinking of painting her top silver. Her sleeves I'll paint silver too, but I'm thinking of painting her stockings with blue stripes.

Claymore Clare and Fate/Stay Night Rider. I did some test fitting and experimenting to see how I can do the customs. There's still some issues I have to resolve, but hopefully I can successfully do the custom.

ROTF Prime re-paint

When I first bought the new Leader Class Optimus Prime, I thought it was a very good toy. It was much better than the first leader prime toy and the transformation from truck to robot and back is brilliant. However, after messing around and playing with Prime I noticed that the color isn't movie accurate. So after researching and comparing the movie cg with the toy, I decided to re-paint to make it more movie accurate.

I started off by experimenting by painting just the right side. I used a silver chrome acrylic and it looks shiny.

Here's a close look. So far not bad. It'll look better after the clear coat.

Here's a closer look at the leg. The gold looks real good for the detail part of the joints. I'm going for a metallic blue and red for the other details. So that's it for now and I don't know when I'll be able to continue this project. I've got other customs I'm doing, so this has taken a back seat for now.