HLJ VF-27 - WIP 7 - Wings

This is final step of the construction of the vehicle.  There are still some extras left to do but this is basically the end of the assembly process.

The parts in question.

This is worth noting.  I almost ruined the project here. I'm still not exactly sure how I got myself out of this.  I put the rod in first to test the fit and it got jammed a bit too far in.  I couldn't put in the wing piece because the rod was in the way.  It would not budge and as you can see here the connecting joint is thin and fragile.  It could break easily with a bit of forcing and that's exactly what I was doing.  I managed to push it out somehow... but try to avoid making this same mistake if you can.  Because once that rod is in... it's REALLY tough to get it out again.  You can kind of see my sweat on this piece from the amount of effort I was putting into it.

The details... the details that no will will ever see.  It's almost a shame.

Wing frame attached.  The main wing parts attach to this frame relatively simply.

More vents on the underside of the wing.  I've since painted this in Gunmetal.  The only way you can paint this is before you assemble it, so save yourself the time and just do it before you put it together (If you're inclined to do so.).

Thruster exhaust.  Couldn't let this go either.  I painted it in flat black.

And with that VF-27 assembly is finished but now the fun stuff starts.  Detailing, panel lining, top coat and probably the most time consuming part of this kit... DECALS.

HLJ VF-27 - WIP 6 - Midbody

Back to work and it's time to get you folks caught up. I've nearly finished this but my blog doesn't represent that. Just too much good Gundam stuff to talk about recently! Moving on!

Here are the parts in question.

From VF-27

Little details on the intake vent.  If you use the supplied stickers these will be covered up.

From VF-27

More details on the front side of the intake vent.  I ended up painting this in Gunmetal.

From VF-27

All assembled it looks like this.

From VF-27

And here's how much it can move.  Pretty crazy eh?

From VF-27

Once you add these little pieces to it you can connect the legs.

From VF-27

Bird man!  I know some people have mixed feelings about this but I've always liked the Gerwalk mode for the Macross fighters.  That was one of the coolest options to me.  The tripod legs provides a significant amount of stability.

From VF-27

HLJ VF-27 - WIP 2 - Main fuselage / Head

Brought to you courtesy of HLJ.

Here are the parts that will be added to core fuselage.

The cockpit and pilots have a lot of little details that would look lovely with a bit of paint.

One thing that you should try to take note of is how well the parts line up after snapping them together.  They should be relatively seamless, as shown here.

Some parts don't move.  After snapping the nose cone together you could easily glue/putty/sand this part to remove the seam lines and it wouldn't effect the mech at all.  Of course you would have to paint it and if you paint one part you're going to be painting many just for the sake of consistency.

You're given the option of two types of canopy.  Solid and clear.  The solid one is used in the anime.  Below are the comparisons.  The molding is exactly the same. Material is different.

Which one do you think looks better?

Parts of the head. Relatively simple.

Assembled.

Oops!  Likes like my knife slipped! haha no I did this intentionally of course.  This is the only mod I'm going to be doing to the kit.  I didn't think that the 'horns' were necessary for a super aerodynamic fighter (extra drag) so I cut them off.  I also want the head to resemble my VF-25G a bit more so I cut them off.  I'm going to do a bit of shaping later but I decided to just do a basic 'chop' right away to get a feel for how it'd look.  I kept the horns just in case I change my mind.

VF-25 Messiah (Super and Armored)

Struggling to use the American spelling of 'armor' but I'm going to try for this post.

While I'm not the biggest fan of Macross Frontier I do love the mecha designs. I think the VF-25 is a great plane. I don't particularly like the battroid mode but I love the Gerwalk and Fighter modes.

I was looking at the box for the Armored Messiah the other day and I was quite surprised at how big it is. I think if I ever bought one of these kits I'd just keep it in fighter mode most of the time. I have a Yamato VF-1S and it's in fighter mode almost all the time. I doubt I'll even buy one of these but they certainly are nice to look at.

Here are some pics.












1/72 scale.

I know a lot of you are Gundam fans but do you like Macross as well? If so which series do you like?