#super valkyrie

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Bandai/IMAI Macross 1:72 VF-1J Super Valkyrie plastic model photoset August 11th, 2022

Here is the final photoset of this build. This is the old Imai kit, repopped by Bandai.

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Cdr. Aerianne “Dawnwalker” Connor, Terrapin Corps, by Philip Moyer

(Aerianne Connor and the Terrapin Corps © Philip Moyer)

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The Super Dimension Fortress Macross ARCADIA 1/60 Action Figure : VF-1J Super Valkyrie (Milia F. Jenius Use) [PRE-ORDER]

https://www.hype.tokyo/products/the-super-dimension-fortress-macross-arcadia-1-60-action-figure-vf-1j-super-valkyrie-milia-f-jenius-use

Release Date : Early-Mid September 2017 

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Bandai/IMAI Macross 1:72 VF-1J Super Valkyrie plamo build update 5 December 20th, 2021

I showed in the previous update that I had made a clear copy of Hasegawa’s valkyrie pilot with Oyumaru and UV resin. I first airbrushed it with Gaia Notes 050 Clear White because I wanted the clear parts to be translucent. After that, I masked those parts off, then airbrushed him black for light blocking, then white, and then painted the black details with a Gundam Marker. Yes, the parts on the legs and arms also light up in the DYRL movie, but I doubt I could go that far. I’m happy with just lighting up the shoulder pads and the monitor on the chest computer. I painted those with Tamiya X-24 Clear Yellow and X-27 Clear Red, respectively.

Here I have attached the head and arm. This is Max, so the helmet is painted Mr. Hobby Aqueous H-35, Cobalt blue. Looks neat. Notice I had to cut the legs rather short to get him to fit into the cockpit. The original Imai pilot figure is just too small.

Here I’ve situated him into the pilot seat.  You can see some light leak, which I did some touch up. It’s mostly not really noticeable to the naked eye though. Either that or I have old man’s eyes.

I went ahead and decided to light up the sensors in the nose. It’s probably not accurate, but I don’t care.

Here is a test. See? Looks cool. At least I think so.

After gluing the parts together, I had to fill in the seams with putty, sand them down, and then I had to repaint it. Here is the final result. I had to point Max’s head down more to get the canopy to fit over his helmet. I’ve done a clear coat, so next will be applying decals.

Update 6 link.

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1:72 Bandai/IMAI Macross VF-1J Super Valkyrie plamo build update 2 November 28th, 2017

Progress is slowy being made on this Valkyrie kit. Above you will see that the thruster parts are prepped for lighting. The three small engines on the “backpack” are perfectly-sized for 3mm LEDs, and the two big engines on the fastpack boosters are perfectly-sized for 5mm LEDs!

I decided to clear-cast some parts for lighting this kit. On the right is Oyumaru, which is marketed as a child’s toy here in Japan. I bought it at a toy store. Take out a stick, put it in boiling water, wait for it to get soft, and then use it to create molds. On the left is UV-curing craft resin, which I bought at the 100 yen shop Daiso. It’s unnecessary to mix two equal parts or anything. You just squeeze the liquid resin out of the tube and set your part out in the sun to let it cure from ultraviolet radiation. Neat!

I wish to light up what I believe is the infrared sensor on the top of the gunpod. So I taped the gunpod halves together for a dry fit and squished the top of it into the warm Oyumaru to create a mold. I then poured the clear resin into the mold, cured it, and cut it down to shape.

I used a Tamiya saw bit to cut out the plastic-molded to cut out the sensor. Above you will see the replacement clear resin part I made. The parting line showed up in the mold, so I sanded it down. This also will help diffuse the light, of course.

Here I have temporarily situated a 0402 pre-wired red SMD from HDA Modelworx inside the gunpod.

I carefully placed the clear resin piece I made on the top. I will have to work with this piece to get the fit right. You can see some light leak coming from the gunpod’s barrel. I will have to work on that. This is where a rapid-flashing yellow 3mm LED will be placed. HDA only has slowly-flashing LEDs, so I bought this from Lighthouse LEDs.

I also realized that there is a sensor in each fastpack booster. This detail is shown on the box art, but not molded into the part. So what I did was take some .75mm fiber optic and used a cigarette lighter’s flame to mushroom the tip into a nice lens. I just used my best judgment to determine where to place these and fortunately they are pretty symmetrical. I drilled a hole into each nacelle with a .8mm drill bit with my pinvise, and then used a larger-sized drill bit on top of that to drill onto that hole to make a shallow indentation around these holes.

Here is a test fit with the fiber optic in. You can see where I used a bit of epoxy putty to correct a mistake I made. Notice the fiber optic trailing out of the hole that is where this part fits onto the backpack part.

Here I have tested it with a red LED.

Here I’ve situated three 3mm flickering blue LEDs from HDA Modelworx into the backpack.

Here are the flickering 5mm blue LEDs in the fastpack booster engine cans. Looking nice!

OK, so the blue part you see in the upper left of this picture is supposed to go into the foot thrusters. You can see where I carefully drilled out the holes before I realized that this whole part is crap. It is not at all accurate, so I have decided to ditch this. So I went back to using Oyumaru and UV-curing clear resin to recast the foot thruster piece from the 1:72 Valkyrie Battroid model from Hasegawa (bottom right).  You can see one cast piece that didn’t turn out right. The two that turned out well are the ones you see stuck onto the stick. I have applied Mr. Masking Solution into the thruster modules I wish to remain clear. The rest will be painted steel or something.

Here you can see the holes I’ve drilled where the wires will need to be fed through. There is a hole in the central hub which allows articulation and another hole you can see behind there, which is the top of the foot. The wires will lead up through the top of the legs and into the bottom of the fighter where they will be soldered with the other wires. I am hoping that I could somehow attach the replacement thruster modules into this central hub.

I’ll update you all later on this project.

Update 3 link.

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1:72 Bandai/IMAI Macross VF-1J Super Valkyrie plamo build update 1 August 26th, 2017

This Bandai kit is a re-pop of the old IMAI Max-type VF-1J Super Valkyrie. Actually, it comes with parts to build this as a VF-1A, VF-1J, and a VF-1S, and can be built as a regular Valk or Super Valk. What I love about this kit is that you can build it in a regular Fighter mode or sweep the legs down for that pseudo-Gerwalk mode in which the legs are swept down but the arms remain retracted, which is my all-time favorite Valkyrie pose.

Here I have done a dry fit, held together with masking tape, to get a feel for how it comes together. Since I have been learning about model-lighting, I am making plans to light this. This kit has clear pieces for the navigation lights on the wingtips as well as wing lights, but the wing halves do not create a hollow space inside. Instead, I think I might leave the wings unlit and instead insert rapid flashing LEDs in the gunpod and the nose cannons (via fiber optics) to have this in-battle.

Lighting the fastpack thrusters will be very easy. Getting the foot thrusters lit would be rather difficult though, due to the limited space to work with. However, I think I can accomplish what I need to by creating a light tunnel inside with a translucent-drying resin clay called Sukeru-kun. By drying this clay with an LED inside of it like a light socket, the clay’s translucent properties will help refract the light to where it needs to go to shine outwards.

Eventually I will begin this lighting project and feature it on my YouTube channel.

Update 2 link.

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Bandai/IMAI Macross 1:72 VF-1J Super Valkyrie plamo build update 6 February 16th, 2022

Having molded Hasegawa’s Valkyrie “foot” thrusters in clear UV resin because this kit’s thruster interior is simply not at all accurate, the time came to figure out how I wanted to affix SMDs to these and them attach them into the engine “feet.” The parts I replicated already had dimples in the back of the squares. I drilled them deeper with a pinvise and affixed 0805 flickering blue SMDs I’d bought from HDAModelworx.com.

I placed each SMD into the holes, applied UV resin over them, and then shone my UV flashlight onto them to seal them in. This worked better than epoxy glue as I had originally planned.

I cut rectangular pieces of styrene sheet plastic and painted the inside with silver paint. I then glued these onto the back side of the pieces, sandwiching the SMDs.

I used Vallejo acrylic plastic putty to fill in the gaps and then painted over this.

I’d written R and L on the insides of the pieces to keep track of where each goes.

I snaked the positive and negative leads through the holes I’d drilled into the feet pieces.

I found that using epoxy putty was the best way to affix the engine pieces into the feet. They look nice!

I glued the leg halves together and held them for the glue to set with a vise.

The leg looks pretty cool. So again, this VF-1J Super Valkyrie will have its legs kicked forward in its VTOL mode. Not quite the Gerwalk mode with the arms extended, but just the legs out.

I still haven’t done the decals yet. I will need to do some touch up painting before doing a clear coat.

Update 7 link.

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Super Dimension Fortress Macross Bandai HI-METAL R (Action Figure) : VF-1A Super Valkyrie (Ichijyo's Use)

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