VF-1J valkyrie

 

VF-1J valkyrie model kit by ARII

This is another model kit I got off ebay.  This one is a slightly higher level of difficulty than the last one I did, so it seemed like the natual next step to hone my skills.

Scale is 1/100

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Box it comes in is pretty simple and straight forward.

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all in all it's still a relatively simple build. Could have put it together without instructions I'm sure.

I should point out that clear plastic part didn't fit very well and needed a fair amount of carving and trimming to get fit in place.

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After removing all the little peg things I started off by painting the base along with a few other little items.

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Here it is after some assembly and some pannal lining work done with a bit of weathering. I didn't think of it at time time, but looking back I really should have put the decals on first before doing the detailing. it would eather make the decals hard to stick in place or rub the paint off while trying to get there in place.

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Bit more progress here. most decals applied. really makes the difference. for this model I ordered some decal setting solutions which helped a bit I guess.

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here it is near completion. I must say, those missiles were a real pain in the butt from square one. it was annoying getting them to line up straight while waiting for the adhesive to dry.

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I should point out that with this model, the large gun on the bottom and the stand both use the same hole in the jet, so I had to drill a new hole near the back and glued a bunch of pennys inside the base to keep it from tipping over.

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I really think I got carried away with the warn down look, although I think some areas still came out looking nice.

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I think I might actually look a bit better with the stand placed behind. by default it would be right underneath.

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I had a bit of an accidentally when I tried giving the cockpit part a clear coating of gloss. the can was a bit low and the spray ended up giving it a very foggy look. I tried sanding and scraping it off, but it didn't help much.

I really shouldn't call it finish since there's a lot of little things that could use some touching up, but whatever...

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all in all it look me a lot less time to do than my last project, and I felt that I learned a few more tips and tricks while doing it. hopefully the next model I put together comes out better.