Bandai Spirits has been doing a stellar job with the HG 1/100 Macross kits they’ve been releasing so far. Having the Shortcut Change feature eliminates the complicated transformation process while still having an enjoyable build and a stable kit once completed. But they haven’t released anything from the original Super Dimensional Fortress Macross series. Not sure if it’s a licensing thing, but if you can’t wait for their HG 1/00 kits, then Wave has you covered with options.
I don’t know how often Wave releases these kits, but they have a pair of new 1/100 scale snap fit kits from the original Macross series. These would be the 1/100 scale VF-1S/A in both Battroid and Fighter modes. To those unfamiliar, these are snap-fit kits that don’t involve any transformation so you can expect good articulation and proportion when completed.
While these don’t have any conversion features, you can still build the Gerwalk mode by combining parts from both kits. The construction isn’t the most modular, but the way you break both kits to combine them for the Gerwalk mode isn’t that annoying. Although if you’re familiar with some of my previous builds, then you’d know I would prefer just getting multiple copies.
In fact, I do have multiples of 1/100 VF-1J kit released back in 2010, and you’ll need four copies if you want to build a kit for each mode. While not the most expensive of kits, I’m not really thrilled to buy and build multiples, which is why I really appreciated what Bandai Spirits is doing.
My little rant aside, the main selling point of these pair, besides the whole combine to build the Gerwalk thing, is the inclusion of multiple decal (and part) sets to build different versions. Besides the default parts and decals for the VF-1S, it also has parts for the VF-1A head unit, along with decals to build both Ichijo and Max-use units.
In any case, I’ve yet to put these on my pre-order cart, though I will keep a close watch just in case pre-order slots dwindle down to which I might pull the trigger on getting multiples.
1/100 VF-1S/A Super Valkyrie (Battroid)
May 2024 / ¥4,500
Order via HobbyLink Japan
1/100 VF-1S/A Super Valkyrie (Fighter)
May 2024 / ¥4,500
Order via HobbyLink Japan
Thanks for the article. However the understanding of these models is incorrect. These are not from the SDF Macross TV show. Both are from the DYRL movie. The main indicators are:
Shaping:
Incorrect head for the 1As. The TV 1A head is not as elongated and has a larger green sensor ‘eye’ without the black lens hood.
Incorrect hands. TV hands were rounder. They were redesigned to be boxy for the movie as they were putting more time and detail into the animation and these were more realistic for robot. The TV ones were round, blobby, quicker to draw.
The missile boxes on the wings were not seen in the TV show.
Markings:
The 1As have colour markings from the movie that were not seen in the TV show. The TV 1As were cannon fodder brown with white for the most part except for Kakizaki (white with brown) and Max (white with blue). Their colours were on the head, side of the lower legs, upper thighs, shoulders, forearms, etc., with no chest stripes. These two have Skull Squadron markings for Hikaru (red) and Max (blue) but in the TV show Max’s 1A was in Vermillion Squadron and Hikaru never flew a 1A in Skull Squadron. Hikaru flew this black/red 1A in DYRL and Max flew the black/blue one. Later in the movie they flew matching black/red and black/blue 1Ss. Only Roy flew the black/yellow 1S in DYRL.
The large RMS-1 missiles have yellow fronts. The TV ones have red.
Wave DYRL VF-1S mistakes:
In the TV show the FAST packs do not have a skull on the side, they all have the UNSPACY kite symbol. Wave have mistakenly put the UNSPACY kite symbol on Roy’s 1S where it should be a skull and crossbones on a black background. They also have two missile launcher FAST packs whereas Roy had 1 missile and 1 strike cannon FAST pack. This makes it look like a TV VF-1S but the box missiles, incorrect hands, and yellow tips on the RMS-1 missiles indicate this is a movie Valkyrie.
Thanks for the Macross news