Macross VF-4 Lightning III, SVF-31 Tomcatters (Wave 1/72 kit)

[Jay Chladek]

I plan to get some better images shot, likely after I apply some very might pastel chalk weathering. But for now this bird is clearcoated and essentially done. The fighters from Macross were heavily influenced by the F-14 Tomcat, so for the VF-4 that appeared in "Flashback: 2012" I decided to use some of that Tomcat influence to do up the model in different squadron markings. This is built from the 1/72 Wave kit, which is very nicely designed, albeit a bit expensive. I felt VF-31 markings would be the best since it would be nice seeing an "animated" aircraft subject belonging to a squadron that had an animated character for its mascot. The "SVF" designation is there because the aircraft can fly in both atmosphere and space, but it is best suited for space combat.

The squadron markings are a combination of the kit markings and stuff raided from a lot of other kit and aftermarket sheets sitting in my stash. Donors include a 1/48 F-14 Superscale sheet, a 1/72 Hasegawa F-18 Hornet sheet, a Scale Master set of USAF lettering and numbers, an old Microscale Navy/Marines lettering sheet and a Monogram 1/48 Apache sheet. The Felix tail art came from an ancient Esci aftermarket decal sheet. The paint coloring is obviously inspired by F-14 Tomcat TPS colors of dark and light ghost gray. I used a combination of AV, Tamiya and Model Master for the colors.

 

Enjoy!

 

 

[GreyGhost]

Nicely done Jay! 

 

-Gregg

[Spruemeister]

It turned out well, Jay! 

 

Rick L.

[spejic]

This looks great and I'm happy to see one built. I think your choice and arrangement of decals is very lore-friendly while still being unique.

 

[Jay Chladek]

15 hours ago, spejic said:

This looks great and I'm happy to see one built. I think your choice and arrangement of decals is very lore-friendly while still being unique.

 

Thanks. I tried to achieve a nice balance of real markings with the Macross appearance for something that would be attractive to fans of both. I am going to try doing something similar with other Macross models in the future (except for the VF-1s which will mostly stay with their on screen colors) to add a little variety to the mix. For my next project, I am thinking of something VF-143 Pukin' Dogs on either a VF-11 or a VF-19. I also want to do something with a VF-0, but they have a few differences from the "F-14" look (especially with the tail fin shapes) to make marking modifications a bit more problematic.