Variable Fighter Master File - VF-19 EXCALIBUR -

Awesome new mook to add to the Variable Fighter Master File collection this being the the second in the series VF-19 Excalibur. Usually call this VF-19 or YF-19 but Excalibur is a cool name for the fighter which i never really remember. Just like the last in the series the VF-1 Valkyrie this has lots of cool almost photo realistic pics and what must be vast amounts of great information in Japanese with some very nice illustration explain how the VF-19 works.
Was quite pricey for me to get but think it really wanted to get this and all other that will be released, next is the VF-1 again but with Super Part which was a surprise was expecting the VF-25.

Double page spread for the content, not sure if it the YF-19 but damn it looks great!



First few pages are "photos" of the Excalibur. Cool Gerwalk and low viz on the right,



 Guess this is the generic design page using the Macross Plus YF-19 patterns.
 


Top left corner is the "VF-19A SVF-569 Lightnings" which Hasegawa released as very nice looking 1/48 kit.



Awesome space shot, wicked looking Uraga carrier.



VF-11 and YF-19 together ala Macross Plus style.



Monitor Turret which i call the head, got Basara's Fire Valkyrie at the bottom Mohawk style.



Battriod and Gerwalk mode of the VF-19 from Plus and 7.



Pilot suits for Plus and the video game Macross Digital Mission VF-X2 "Get Free!"



Only one pic of the cool looking Excalibur with the triangular radar on top some sort of Airborne Early Warning valk.



Uraga Class Escort Battle Carrier, 2 great shot, one with a VF-19 just taken off and the other in Earth orbit surrounded by Northampton Class Stealth Frigates.



Just like the VF-1 Book which had F-14 before and VF-4 after, the VF-19 file has the VF-11 before and the VF-17 after. Be great to get entire books on the VF-4, 11 and 17.



Five double pages of these designs, lots of modeling opportunities. At the bottom left there is the "Roy Focker Special"


Only page with VF-19s from Macross 7 was expecting an entire section on Emerald Force and Sound Force, wanted a double spread pic of Basara's VF-19 Karaoke Ninja or Fire Valkyrie.



Credit page for the CG artists has some nice pics including a very nice white VF-17.



Great mook, would like to model some of these but there is so much choice!
Next up VF-1 Space Wing
Ian

Trumpeter Rivet Maker

 Something i wanted to try on the TA-7C Corsair II to replicate the marking on F-toys A-7E but the metal wheels which you use to make the rivet with are far too big for 1/144 single fighters might be better on a airliner. Is kinda disappointing as i bought this and it looks like i will probable never use it again, better using a sewing needle or something similar

Mr Surfacer on the resin kit worked great, mainly the under surface of the wing which was pot marked with lots of bubbles in the resin and in appears to have worked. Lets hope they don't suddenly appear when i give the jet a panel wash.

TA-7C, A-7E, F-14A, F-14D and the Hawkers Hunter all ready for paint, which if i'm lucky i can set up the airbrush on Sunday.

Ian

Revell 1/144 - F-104 Starfighter - Italian Ferrari - Complete

Here's a Ferrari that not many people if any are able to own, a red hot Italian F-104 Ferrari Starfighter. This beauty ain't your low-viz tactical jet figther.

Second Revell of Germany 1/144 F-104 G Starfighter built and not the last.

If anyone knows of a 1/144 or N-gauge Ferrari supercar, it would be great to be able to get so i can make a little dio, an Enzo would be awesome to have.

Very nice decals from Airfix, which surprised as so much negative press ive read. Cavallino Rampante is what the black stallion is it means "prancing horse"



This is the best photo that show the correct colour of the Ferrari Starfigther, blood red.



Note, is missing the black line marking that goes around the fuselage in front of the tail, once i find a spare decal that can be used i will add.


All the reference ive seen seam to show 3 different designs for the black marking behind the cockpit.



Big jet with tiny wings, "Man in a Rocket"



Hoping that the undercarriage is a metal finish, not much detail on that.



Really love the sleekness of the jet, no wonder Ferrari gave it a custom paint job.



These 2 F-104s are the first completed builds of 2011, feels like it going to be a good year.
Ian

Revell 1/144 - F-104 Starfighter - Spanish Air Force - Complete

The Revell 1/144  F-104 Starfighter in the Spanish Air Force or in the native tongue Ejército del Aire. Using decals from the Airfix kit which were really nice. 


Have had ago at detailing the cockpit but with my camera i really can't get a close enough to show what it looks like inside. 


Great kit from Revell of Germany, have got a few more which i look forward to building.




Spanish fin flash is that cool black cross on the white background on the tail flap.


Added a bit more detail to the inside of the jet exhaust.



Cut up the canopy with a scalpel, getting a razor saw which should make this easier.


Meant to be horizontal but liked the look.



Like the way the rear landing gear panel open up, open then partially closes.



 Next build will have to add some misssle, reckon would look more deadly then fuel tanks.



Next up the Ferrari Starfighter, taking photos of red is a pain.
Ian

Windaria: Legend of Fabulous Battle

Windaria, not so much a fabulous battle more a Shakespearean Greek Tragedy. Contiuing on from how much i enjoyed Fantastic Adventure Of Yohko: Leda

I did some research and found this from the same Director Kunihiko Yuyama, same beautiful character designer Mutsumi Inomata and same short lived but prolific animation studio Kaname Productions.

Really is a Greek Tragedy, i mean no one has a happy ending and i can't go into much detail otherwise i would spoil this movie but i think its the first anime ive watched were no one really wins. No idea why in the title it was Fabulous Battle when war is hell, quite unusual.

Has a fantastic concept in this where a Ghost Ship flys round this planet collecting the souls of the deceased, which looks good and it used to great effect, something i thought was quite unique.

After a few fantasy genre anime i need to get back to my favorite genre Sci-fi, bring on some Mecha!
Ian

Sweet 1/144 - Macchi Mc.200 - Wip 1 - Starting the undercarriage.

Another work in progress, this time the Sweet's first kit the Macchi Mc.200.  Built this it before as one of my first builds, over 18 months ago! Where does the time go?

I liked the kit but knew it could be improved as it was lacking open undercarriage and a cockpit, otherwise the kit is perfect against reference ive checked.

Ive started the cockpit which is quite easy going but the undercarriage i reckon is going to take some time. Spent quite some time cutting out the existing one with a scalpel (what a task! going to get me a razor saw)  and what i plan on doing is making a new one with plasticard and sanding it down to fit the wing?

The yellow engine cowling is from a previous unfinished build which is going to be reused, really like the look of the engine, almost steampunk.
Ian

Fantastic Adventure Of Yohko: Leda

 Genmu Senki Leda in the original Japanese, great little OVA about a high school student Yohko who travel to another world because of the music she created for a boy shes in love with who doesn't know it. Her music is a gateway between these two worlds where shes has a fantastic adventure and ends up saving both worlds while wearing the anime standard female armor (less is more protective).

Found the anime quite charming myself and really surprised that i would enjoy a sword and sorcery genre anime, defiantly a sci-fi mecha fanboy myself and yeah, cute Yohko was a pleasure to watch with her sideways ponytail. Great chracter design by Inomata Mutsumi, who i was surprised to find out was a lady, was expecting a bloke to created such a character.

Ian

Revell 1/144 - F14A Tomcat and F-14D Super Tomcat - Wip 1

Revell 1/144 F-14s all built and ready to be primed / painted. Great little kit to build, need very little putty and sanding which for me is a big win.

Reckon ive made a mistake by gluing in the wings, notice alot of modellers keeping them separate and assembling the cat at the end of the build, which for some reason i totally forgot to do.

F-14D has pilot in the cockpit and the F-14A without. Tried something different on the nose, used sewing needles to replace the point, first f-14 i built i kept breaking that off which was a pain.

Going to wait for alot of the model are ready to paint and airbrush them in in a one sitting i hope, reckon i will bin this green mat.
Ian

F-toys 1/144 - A-7E Corsair II - Wip 1

The single seater to go along with the Ta-7C is a very nice little gasphon from F-toys, great detail!

Quite easy this compared to the resin kit, taken apart but back together, then glued, seams filled and the usually sanding. No cockpit to speak off, managed to bash one with bits from the spare box and kept the little f-toys pilot.

All the f-toys aircraft come with very nice little stands so i reckon i will make this one in flight, fully armed.
Is all primed and ready for paint but will wait till the 2 seater is ready for painting.

Ian

FeResin 1/144 - TA-7C Corsair II - Wip 1

Been doing slight adjustments to this kit all week, been trying to gets these pieces to go together correctly took some time, then super glued together and once all that glue sets got no chance of adjusting i reckon.

When i started sanding this yesterday, they amount of dust! Had to take it outside.

Then added what i hope is lots of detail to the cockpit, might have the canopy open on this one.


Today i went to glue the final pieces off the kit on when i realised that one of the canards was missing, luckily quite a easy piece to bash with some plasticard.

Bit more sanding to do on the seams then a coat of MrSurfacer to hopefully fill in all the tiny bobbles in the resin, lots on the underside of the wings. If it works should be good to go paint wise.

Ian

Sweet 1/144 - Hawker Hurricane - WIP 1

Been concentrating on the Hawker Hurricane mostly starting these new builds, this Sweet kit is like the other Sweet kits ive built a dream to build, goes together perfectly but im constantly worried that i might destroy some of the details

Added a very simple seat and dashboard which this was the first few sweet kits are lacking. In a week im practically ready to paint these two, which i think might be the fastest ive ever build a kit.




Broke the radio antenna on the brown plastic one almost instantly, will wait until the after decaling then add a new one, metal maybe.
Ian

New build - Sweet 1/144 - Hawker Hurricane -

First 4 build ready for 2011, last is the Battle of Britain workhorse, the Hurricane, bought these fantastic little kits over a year ago and for some reason never got round to building them. Going to model 2, one in the classic brown and green Battle of Britain livery and the other in the very nice desert scheme.

Ian

[Kit Review] - Revell 1/144 - F14A Tomcat and F-14D Super Tomcat -

New build for the new year, another model ive built before and one i think i can do better going to model 2 F-14s, one a F-14A Tomcat and the other a F-14D Super Tomcat, reckon a Sundowner and Grim Reapers will looks great.

Great kit with some quality detail, this is the F-14A, the F-14D has different engines and rader.



My favorite looking jet, reckon i will be building more of these in the future.
Ian

[Kit Review] - Sweet 1/144 - Macchi Mc.200 -

Another one for the bench,  already made one of these over a year ago and was not all that great, this kit has excellent detail but is lacking a cockpit and undercarriage, plan on making 2 one in the located in Italy and the other in Africa with scratched built cockpits and open undercarriage.



All the panel lines and proportions are perfect but lacks a cockpit and open under carriage.
Ian

[Kit Review] - FE Resin 1/144 - TA-7C Corsair II -

Back to modelling after the christmas and new year break and this time i think i will build multiple models at the same time instead of only one the go.

 

Going to be making both the single and double seater of the LTV A-7 Corsair II, 2-seater will my first resin kit using the FeResin TA-7C and the single seater A-7 will be made using the very nice F-toys Gasphon.

Ian

TRON Legacy

Watched this today and WOW!
What a feast for the eyes. Every new year me and my brothers go watch a movie and this was a quality flick to enjoy together.
I enjoyed it from the start with the Disney Castle logo all Troned up and all the way through the action set pieces on the grid, like a world designed by Apple. Defiantly going to a second viewing.

What 3d was made for, Happy New Year!
Ian