If you want to know the volume and density of the "Super Dimension Fortress Macross" mecha, assemble the VF-1S GAWK by Arii! 80's B-Grade Anime Plastic Model Natural History Vol.8

Last time, I took the trouble to feature a Gunpla that everyone knows, but apparently the powered armor from "Dorvac" in the previous issue got more access. ...... In an attempt to make the series a major hit again, I chose Valkyrie, the main mecha from the 1982 hit "The Super Dimension Fortress Macross," but what do you think?　However, the title of the series is "B-class plastic models," so I had to choose the kit carefully. The kit I chose was the 1/100 GAWK VF-1S Roy Fokker Special by Arii (priced at 300 yen at the time).
The background of the ARII kit was very galactic or spacey, and this Roy Fokker Special GAWK also had a very suspicious looking box. At first, I mistook it for some kind of crackpot kit. The "Macross" plastic model series, which started as a joint venture between IMAI and Arii, was originally intended to have a cool atmosphere like Tamiya's 1/35 military miniatures, with plain white packaging, but the background color changed from white to orange or light blue, or even to a colorful galaxy like this. It's a bit like ....... It is interesting to see how they strayed from the original goal, as if they were trying to create a cool atmosphere. However, I wish the background color had been unified until the end.

The box says "VF-1S Pilot Roy Fokker," but the way this character's picture is included varies from kit to kit. I don't think there was any picture of the pilot in the beginning, but the package designer must have been confused. After all, a tremendous number of kits were released. ......

▲ There was a flyer in the package announcing a giveaway of the booklet "Macross Information. The present plan is good, but there are two places to send the postcard: "Imai Kagaku" in Shizuoka Prefecture and "Arii Seisakusho" in Saitama Prefecture. Although the postcard was marked "*Please send to either one of them," the chaos of the time was palpable.

So, the "Macross" kits made by IMAI were featured in the book "Hobby Japan Vintage" and are still being re-released by BANDAI SPIRITS, but the Arii kits are still available at ....... 100 Defender and 1/100 Battloid Valkyrie, but I had the impression that the Suzibori was burly and thick, and the shape was rickety despite the care taken to use poly caps for the joints. However, if we consider that "a kit is a material," the psychological hurdle to cutting, pasting, and modifying is lowered if the finish is a little rough.
This is an interesting contrast to Imai's "Macross," which was sharply assembled with neat molds. ...... is a rather aggressive praise (laugh). Let's take a look at the kit.

The intakes, whose lids close when in battroid form, but are open when in ghawk form. The molding inside is very precise!　It's a one-piece molding, and they didn't skimp on the molding cost (lol).

The "MARUICHI mold" is an icon with a single line running through it. In some kits, this has been treated as a flat surface with decals, but in this kit, it is reproduced with molds!　Well, the included decal also has "MARUICHI MOLD" printed on it, so I thought, "You should choose one or the other! I'm glad to see it, though I have a feeling that I should choose one or the other!

The deciding factors are the clear molded canopy and the seat, which is a separate part!　This gives it a more aircraft-like appearance!　Don't miss the "Maruichi mold" that is also molded into the nose of the plane!

...... What's that?　The "MACROSS" kit from Arii is quite nice. Who is that incompetent writer who said that "Arii's kits have rough molds"?　Me.
Also, here are the parts you should check out in runner condition. The head. Just by having multiple head designs, toy makers and model makers can release a large number of variation products with a minimum of additional molds. The head of the Valkyrie is, after all, an indispensable element when talking about "Macross" merchandising.


▲ Since our kit is a VF-1S, it has four horns. The shape of the head itself is for GAWK, so it is flatter than that for Battroid. 4 different heads of VF-1A, 1J, 1S, and 1D were probably punched out from a single mold, separated at the factory, and sealed in each kit. The part numbers of the nose and head are unified with "E". Does this mean that there were four other types from "A" to "D"?

Before the good impression is gone, let's start the assembly. Let's Gawk!

Recommended Articles