Due to life basically going to shit the last few months, I’ve found myself a bit more time for modeling. So it’s not all bad? Anyway, next up is a slightly modified VF-1 Valkyrie based on the VF-1D. The base kit will be limited edition ‘Virgin Road’ VF-1D that Max piloted during his wedding to Miriya.
This VF-1D variant is the VR-1D I saw in the ‘Variable Fighter Master File SDF-1 Macross VF-1 Valkyrie Squadrons’ book. It’s basically a VF-1D with an IRST sensor on the nose in front of the canopy and a recce pod on its centerline. So long as I can find a recce pod this should be a straightforward build.
This is my 3rd VF-1 kit but as it turns out, I’ve never really documented in detail how I built one from start to finish so I’ll try to be more detailed for this one. First up it’s the cockpit.
The seats are each made up of 3 parts and are suitably detailed though no belt details are provided. On the D, the front and rear seats are of different designs.
You get front console details but the side consoles are blank. I’ll have pilots in so that’s not an issue.
There’s a minor gap between the nose and the fuselage so I added a 0.5mm plastic plate shim to get a better fit.
As usual I’ll be modeling the VR-1D in flight so it’s time to close the landing gear. The gear doors need to be modified to fit closed.
I trimmed off the hinges on the doors and assembled the 3 nose gear doors into 1 large part.
With a bit of trimming and gentle application of brute force I managed to get a good fit into the gear well.
For the IRST on the nose I decided to grab a spare chinpod from the F-14 Kai build. I believe this is a chinpod from an early F-14 variant.
After some cutting, trimming and sanding down I cemented it in place. Looks alright. Needs some work to fair the IRST onto the nose though.
The aft vent has 2 prominent injection pin marks that need to be dealt with. As usual I simply added a 0.2mm plastic plate to ‘hide’ them instead.
I think the upgraded vent looks better.
Next I need to cover up the wide open area behind the wings where they swing in and out. I again added plates for this.
I added plastic plates to the tail section so there will be a bigger surface to attach to the fuselage.
Once painted up the extra plating will be invisible.
Work continues…
Build Log
Part 1 – Construction | Part 2 – Construction | Part 3 – Painting | Part 4 – Finishing
