Saturday 29 October 2011

1/65 Macross Fire Valkyrie VF-19 Kai


















A re-post of my '1/65 Macross Fire Valkyrie VF-19 Kai' when it first made its debut on "Collect 'em ALL' back in December 2008. This time round, I have again taken the toy out of the box, applied the stickers and retaken the pics. Let's take a relook of this vintage 1/65 scale VF-19 Kai aka Fire Valkyrie manufactured by Bandai in 1995.

Remarkable toy that was made in Japan with high QC level which despite the age, the plastic still remains gloss with no tarnish on the chrome area till today. The joints are tight and the toy still stands sturdily even in gerwalk mode. The transformation process of this toy is much of an ease whereby you don't actually need to refer to the instruction manual. Made with simplicity, the shield on the left arm can't be removed and the only accessory is the rifle. Rifle can be attached to the underside when the valkyrie is in fighter mode.

In my opinion, the valkyrie looks best in fighter mode. Alike the VF-1 valkyries, the arms & legs go to the rear in fighter mode. I think the toy as a whole would be nicer if it's made with more details. Details on the landing gears seems lacking. Not to mention that the toy is built for easy handling and target more towards children.

Background on VF-19 Kai Fire Valkyrie: (From Macross Mecha Designs by Dave Deitrich)

The VF-19-Kai "Fire Valkyrie" is perhaps the most unique mecha in the entire history of the UN Spacy. It was designed and built by the advanced design teams of the Macross 7 colony mission and was intended primarily to serve as a psychological weapon in case of war against unknown alien races.

The designers of the Fire Valkyrie had two purposes in mind; first, the fighter would serve as a rallying point for the civilian populace of the Macross 7, and could help to boost morale in trying times. But second and more importantly, the Fire Valkyrie could be used for "culture" warfare in case the ship encountered an enemy similar to the Zentraedi who had little prior experience with Earth customs and sensations.

The Fire Valkyrie was given to Basara Nekki, a civilian and talented singer aboard the ship who was a devout follower of Lynn Minmei. However, the designers of the craft underestimated Basara's brashness and impulsive tendencies. When the Macross 7 first encountered the Varauta, he began using the Fire Valkyrie to distract combatants on Both sides in an attempt to disrupt the growing war. An extreme pacifist, Basara believed that he could stop the Varauta/Macross 7 conflict by singing and exposing both sides to "culture". Although his original plans did not work, Basara did stumble upon one of the most important discoveries of the war; the Varauta respected music and culture because they generated Spiritia, and spiritia energy was the prime substance that they sought when attacking the Macross 7.

Tuesday 25 October 2011

1/100 HG Serpent Custom MMS-01



















Serpent Custom appeared as the most advanced grunt units in the OVA Gundam W Endless Waltz with almost impermeable defense against the Tallgeese III and the Gundams. Built with toughness like tank, Serpent Custom equipped itself with double-barrel gatling guns in both arms, just like the ones Heavy Arms Gundam Custom is having. With its stout built, Serpent Custom could carry weapons, deemed too heavy from other MS like the bazooka as well as beam cannon attached to the backpack even under the force of gravity. 

For a non MG grade, this 1/100 scale is an ideal size in projecting the hunk of Serpent Custom. The dull khaki colour scheme of the MS give it a raggard look, very close to the anime appearance. Some minus points are that the plastic quality seems inferior with noticeable gaps when the parts are snapfitted and mine came with left thigh & shoulder armours not molded properly (Some plastic putty on the joints would solve the issue). The head rest flat on the body rotating 360 degree but have difficulty tilting up and down. 

The shoulder armour can slide open for missile launching and despite the bulkiness of the shoulders,  the well designed joints between shoulders and arms, gave a lot of articulation. The legs on the other hand, lacked articulation hence kneeling pose is not possible. The legs also hang loosely in mid air when held up. There ain't many parts so the snap-fit so this process should be quite a breeze. The pics above are just straight build of the kit with panel lines drawn and weapons sprayed black. Minimum touch  up because I intend to change its colour scheme to blue/white scheme alike the Sangokuden BB Xu Huang Serpent Custom.

Wednesday 19 October 2011

Gundam Endless Waltz DVD

 




I'm watching this Movie OVA for the second time and still intrigued me. Some might say that Bandai used this Movie OVA to sell more Gunpla, but it's an undeniable fact that these redesigned Gundams  in 'Endless Waltz' were awesome and probably better looking than the originals from 'Gundam Wing' TV series. Unlike other OVA or movies that repeated reused scenes from the TV series and retelling the story, 'Endless Waltz' is continuation based on AC 196, a year after the colony wars. This Movie OVA, once again reminded mankind that peace is hard to achieve, however peace is even tougher to maintain. The movie filled up some missing links to the TV series, tell more about the young pilots' background, further re-enforce the truth of 'Operation Meteor' and the haunting of Treize Foundation. Personally, I like this wrap up to 'Gundam Wing', much delight to see once-lost-faith Zechs Merquise returned as codename: Wind, in Tallgeese III. New cool mass-produced mecha like Serpent Cusom was also introduced. Personally, I feel that there should be more scenes between Heero Yuy & Relena Peacecraft as the reunion seems rather short-lived.

Monday 17 October 2011

Space Runaway Ideon 伝説巨神イデオン









You may have find this robot familiar appearing in games like 'Super Robo Wars' series or it might give you the impression that it's a gigantic GM from Gundam series. Actually this robot is known as the 'Legendary Giant God Ideon' from the anime 'Space Runaway Ideon 伝説巨神イデオン' that traced all the way back to year 1980. This 1/810 scale Ideon by Aoshima was a reissue to commemorate 30th anniversary of the anime. It was given a repackage and included as a special item to August 2010 issue of Dengeki Hobby magazine. The kit came all red (all white for the vintage) so the other colours you see on the finished product were hand painted by me. If you don't mind the rough works. There's only a few parts to snap fit but plastic cement was required. At certain areas, especially the legs, obvious gaps could be seen on the seam. Since the kit is a design from the past, you got to forgive the robot looking unproportionate as well as the articulation of the limbs only restricted to just back and forth.

Friday 14 October 2011

MSIA: GM & Ball







Even though Gundam is the main focus during the One Year War, we must never forget that the war was fought mainly by the GM & Ball which served as the bread & butter of E.F.F's primary strike force in space. E.F.S.F had this excellent strategy of using Ball as long range artillery in bombarding Zeon's MS before GM close in to engage them. The value of GM and Ball clearly must not be underrated. Since the two complimented each other so well, Bandai had this brilliant plan to sell them together as a set in their MSIA line. The GM figure comes with optional hands, standard shield, spray gun and rifle. Ball has hyper-bazooka attached on top and ball joints for the hands. Produced in year 2000, this toy is more  than a decade old. 
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