Photo by Mark Loasby.

 

We created this role to cover some of the scene changes - and it was a chance for me to go crazy with the face paint.

 

Boogie Nights

 

Faringdon Community College Musical, 2010.

 

Directed by Julia Nichols and Giles Watson.

Music Direction by Ella Kolodziej.

Set design by Paul Spurrett and Natalie Thomas.

Costumes by Kathleen Thomas and Ulia Haynes.

 

The following is the basic script which we wrote in order to keep the action constant during scene changes, but there was a lot of improvisation too!

 

Fungus 1. (Pre-show, p. 9)

 

Cue: Paul McCartney/Bogey Music – music plays as Fungus enters, fades as conversation starts.

 

Bouncer: Yeah, what do you want?

 

Fungus: Is this Bogey Nights?

 

Bouncer: Boogie Nights. Yes, this is Boogie Nights. What's it to you?

 

Fungus: (Shakes his hand) Well, if this is Bogey Nights, then I'm Fungus the Bogeyman, so obviously my presence would add significantly to the ambience - if you wouldn't mind letting me inside…

 

Bouncer: Bogeyman? Well you can't come in here. That hairstyle is against the dress code, and your clothes are wet and - er - rather musty -

 

Fungus: (proudly) Smelly you mean. That's because I spread patent bogey odorant liberally on my underarm hair just for the occasion.

 

Bouncer: (noticing Bogey-bike) What's that?

 

Fungus: It's the latest in Bogey design: built for slowness, so one can savour the stink of the sewers. I had it especially sprayed with liberal helpings of cow and pig manure before riding it here -

 

Bouncer: Well if that's your bike, get on it!

 

Fungus: Oh that this too too solid flesh would melt, thaw and resolve itself into a dew. (Exits.)

  

Rockers: Before 1. Scene 2, p. 20

 

Rocker 1: (Imitating badly): "Don't blame it on the sunshine/ Don't blame it on the moonlight/ Don't blame it on the good times/ Blame it on the airheaded geek in spangled flares with a glitterball for a head."

 

Rocker 2: (Imitating badly): "Don't blame it on the sunshine/ Don't blame it on the moonlight/ Don't blame it on the good times/ Blame it on John Revolting and Olivia Neutron Bomb - I wish they both were dead."

 

Rocker 3: (Imitating badly): "Don't blame it on the sunshine/ Don't blame it on the moonlight/ Don't blame it on the good times/ Blame it on some lousy poncy dancer prancing on the stage…

 

Rocker 1: Singing in falsetto…

 

Rocker 2: If we caught him down the ghetto...

 

Rocker 3: We'd have him dancing faster…

 

Rocker 1: Thrashing his head in the moshpit...

 

Rocker 2: We'd blast him with our ghetto blaster…

 

Rocker 3: Ghettoblaster? What's a ghetto blaster?

 

Rocker 1: Yeah, loser, who ever heard of a ghetto blaster? (They look at each other, and the realisation dawns.) Ghetto blaster…

 

Rocker 2: Geez man, imagine the decibels…(They exit, thrashing.)

 

Cue: short burst of heavy rock.

  

Shopper and Hippy

(on the street, before 1. Scene Three, p. 23)

 

Cue: Performance/Track 9/The Hashishin – plays as an undertone throughout the whole scene.

 

Shopper: Hi! That new boutique is just the grooviest –

 

Hippy: Whoa, man! Like, you’re talkin’ too fast. My head is reelin’.

 

Shopper: Look what I bought. (Takes lava lamp from bag.) Hip or what?

 

Hippy: Funky, man! There’s a whole volcano in there. Those swirlin’ colours put me in touch with, like, where it’s at, man!

 

Shopper: Yeah, and it’s not even plugged in yet!

 

(They walk off, completely entranced by the lava lamp.)

   

Shopper and Rocker

(on the street, before 1. Scene Four, p. 27)

 

Cue: Performance Soundtrack/Track 3/Get Away – playing as an undertone throughout the conversation.

 

Shopper: Hi! I just bought the funkiest new item!

 

Rocker: What is it, man?

 

Shopper: It’s a glass bird of some sort.

 

Rocker: Cripes, it’s filled with red stuff. Is it alcoholic?

 

Shopper: You don’t drink it. The bird drinks. Out of a glass.

 

Rocker: (sarcastic) Yeah, right. What’s this feather on its bum. (Pulls the feather off).

 

Shopper: Hey! You can’t do that! That’s my goofy bird, man!

 

Rocker: (raising his guitar) And this is my Fender. (He chases the Shopper off the stage, wielding the guitar like a battle axe.)

   

Fungus 2. (Before 1. Scene 5, p. 32.)

 

Bouncer: Yeah, what do you want?

 

Fungus: Is this Bogey Nights?

 

Bouncer: Boogie Nights. Yes, this is Boogie Nights. What's it to you?

 

Fungus: Aye, well, mi’ lad. Mah name is Bogus the Fungeyman, tha' knows, and ah've come ter demonstrate t' latest in Yorkshire disco dancing styles. Thar’s nowt like em -

 

Bouncer: Well, you aren't gonna demonstrate 'em in here. Those boils on the back of your neck could be infectious.

 

Fungus: Could be infectious? They'd better be. I've been cultivating them for weeks just for the occasion.

 

Bouncer: What's that?

 

Fungus: What? Oh, that! That's a packet of flaked corns I'm taking home for breakfast. Fresh scraped from the smelliest feet, matured and extra mouldy -

 

Bouncer: Well, you can try out your corny accents somewhere else, preferably far away from here. Hop it!

 

Fungus: Dear me. Life is but a walking shadow, a poor player, who struts and frets his hour upon the stage, and then is heard no more. It is a tale told by an idiot… (Exits).

  

Rockers: Outside the Cinema, before 1. Scene Six, p. 34

 

Rocker 1: (Imitating badly): “Aaaah, oooh, aaaah, oooh / Sugar baby love, sugar baby love / You make me puke / It’s so emetic…”

 

Rocker 2: Just pathetic, man.

 

Rocker 1: He needs a dose of Deep Purple as an antidote. Disco has gone to his head and rotted his brain.

 

Rocker 2: He’s insane.

 

Rocker 1: And if I hear that goddamn refrain one more time, I swear I’ll ram the neck of my guitar down his throat.

 

Rocker 2: Smash it over his head.

 

Rocker 1: Smash it, man? You crazy?

 

Rocker 2: I mean it. I’d clobber him with it while it was still plugged in.(They exchange glances. A new and wonderful idea has formed.)

 

Rocker 1: Geez, man, imagine the feedback!

 

Rocker 2: Yeah, man. Let’s grab some disco-heads, get back to my joint and try it out.(They exit, brandishing guitars like weapons.)

 

Cue: short burst of heavy rock (e.g. Deep Purple/Strange Kind of Woman).

  

Fungus 3. (Before 1. Scene Seven, p. 38.)

  

Bouncer: Yeah, what do you want?

 

Fungus: Is this Bogey Nights?

 

Bouncer: Boogie Nights. Yes, this is Boogie Nights. What's it to you?

 

Fungus: Top oth' morning' to you, Paddy. My name's Mangus the Fungeyboge, and I'm here to demonstrate the latest Irish disco-fiddle techniques -

 

Bouncer: Well, you can't come in here. The dirt under those fingernails would be sufficient to fertilise all the cabbages on my allotment.

 

Fungus: (enthusiastically) You can have some if you like. I dangle my fingernails in fermented rancid bat's giblets every evening.

 

Bouncer: What's that?

 

Fungus: What? Oh, that. That's - er - that's one of the giblets.

 

Bouncer: Well get it in the bin - and you'd better follow it!

 

Fungus: Things rank and gross in nature possess it merely… (exits.)

  

Shopper, Rockers and Hippy

(On the street, before 1. Scene Eight, p. 42. The rockers enter, carrying prototype ghetto-blaster. It is playing ‘No More Tears’, much to their disgust.)

 

Cue: Donna Summer and Barbra Streisand/No More Tears. It turns off when Rocker 1 turns the volume knob on the ghetto-blaster.

 

Rocker 1: (Turns off the ghetto blaster. Singing badly) “Enough is enough is enough / I can’t go on / Enough is enough is enough / I can’t stand Donna Summer and Barbra Striesand any more.”

 

Rocker 2: (Getting violent with his guitar.) “Good bye missus/ Good bye missus / Enough is enough.”

 

Rocker 1: Yeah, well. No need to take it out on my guitar. It’s my third this week. And don’t hit the ghetto blaster with it. We’re just tuned into the wrong station, that’s all.

 

Shopper: Wow, guys, what’s that? Where’d you buy it?

 

Rocker 2: We didn’t buy it, dude. We made it.

 

Cue: Deep Purple/Smoke on the Water – undertone throughout rest of scene.

Rocker 1: It’s a ghetto blaster. (He turns it up. It is now playing ‘Smoke on the Water’.)

 

Hippy: Man, it’s just another thing you gotta plug in, once the batteries run out. Get real, guys, an’ get in touch with the universe. All you need is a guitar, and a flower for the power.

 

Shopper: But I like stuff that plugs in. How much d’ya want for it?

 

Rocker 1: It’s not for sale.

 

Rocker 2: It’s a protoplasm.

 

Rocker 1: Prototype, you mean, butter-for-brains.

 

Rocker 2: Yeah, that.

 

Hippy: You wait, man. All these prog-rock bands could learn a thing or two from Vashti Bunyan. One day they’ll all be playing without electricity.

 

Rocker 1: What? Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin unplugged. You gotta be crazy!

 

Shopper: He’s insane.

  

Fungus 4. Entr’ Acte, 2. p. 50

 

Bouncer: Yeah, what do you want?

 

Fungus: Is this Bogey Nights?

 

Bouncer: Boogie Nights. Yes, this is Boogie Nights. What's it to you?

 

Fungus: Och aye, mi laddie. My name's Bogus the Mangeyfung, and I'm here to demonstrate the latest sporran-slapping, bagpipe tootin disco steps -

 

Bouncer: Well, you can't come in here. Your clothes are dripping muddy water all over the threshold. Smells like you’ve just come out of a sewer.

 

Fungus: (enthusiastically) Er, two sewers, actually. The first one wasn’t stinky enough. It’s never quite the same when the local population eats too much processed food. It’s best when they subsist on a diet of haggis, neaps and tatties.

 

Bouncer: What's that?

 

Fungus: What? Oh, that. That's - er - that's one of the tatties. Not properly digested.

 

Bouncer: Well get to the public lavatory, and flush it.

 

Fungus: The earth seems to me a sterile promontory, a foul and pestilent congregation of vapours. Yum. (exits.)

  

Shopper and Hippy

(On the street, before 2. Scene Two, p. 67. The hippy has a back-pack.)

 

Cue: Gather in the Mushrooms/Track 12/Vashti Bunyan/Winter is Blue

 

Shopper: Hi! I just bought the funkiest new item –

 

Hippy: I don’t care, man. I’ve had enough of our modern, materialistic, acquisitive, war-mongering society. I’m on my way to Sark, man.

 

Shopper: Sark? Where’s that?

 

Hippy: It’s an island, brother. In Guernesey.

 

Shopper: Does it have – shops?

 

Hippy: No, man, but it has a really hip lighthouse – and no disco. It’s only two miles long. I’m moving in with the Incredible String Band.

 

Shopper: The Incredible String What?

 

Hippy: You know, man: The 5000 Spirits or The Layers of the Onion, The Hangman’s Beautiful Daughter, Hard Rope and Silken Twine…

 

Shopper: Never heard of them. But why do you want to live on an island? There’ll be no –

 

Hippy: Yeah, that’s the point man. There’ll be no Uncle Sam, no Vietnam, no wise men in wide headachey ties. No plastic, man. And no disco.

 

Shopper (despairing): And no sho –

 

Hippy: Right, man, no shops. And no Tricky Dicky, no Watergate, no Bangla-Desh style starvations, no Bloody Sunday, no KKK, no Evel Knievel, no metric conversion, no Bee Gees, no Two Ronnies – and no disco.

 

Shopper (it just doesn’t compute): No shops.

 

Hippy (shrugs and leaves): You’re weird, man, but hey, peace anyway.

  

Shoppers/Rockers

(On the street, before 2. Scene Five, p. 70. The rockers enter with armfuls of ghetto-blasters. A gaggle of shoppers gather around them.)

 

Cue: Hendrix/Track 1/Purple Haze – fade during conversation

 

Rocker 1: Come an’ get em, dudes. Only thirty pounds a bash.

 

Shopper 1: Oooh – I like that one. It’s got lots of knobs.

 

Shopper 2: This one looks a bit like a blowfly’s head. I’ll buy it.

 

Shopper 3: Do they come in pink?

 

(The shoppers buy all of the ghetto blasters except one, and then disperse. Rocker 1’s hands are full of money.)

 

Rocker 2: Hey, man. You don’t reckon that by makin’ all this money, we’re like, sellin’ out to the establishment?

 

Rocker 1: No way, mate. Just think of all the dough Mick Jagger’s got. He ain’t a sellout.

 

Rocker 2: Right, man. Well, in that case – (He makes a grab for some of the money.)

 

Rocker 1: “Money / Get back / I’m all right Jack / Keep your hands off my stack.” (He turns up the ghetto blaster. It is playing ‘Money’, by Pink Floyd. Rocker 2 looks confused for a moment, then picks up his guitar, brandishes it wildly like a battle-axe, and pursues Rocker 1 off the stage.)

 

Cue: Dark Side of the Moon/Money – opening riff plays, fades on exit.

  

Fungus 5. Before 2. Scene Seven, p. 73.

 

Bouncer: Yeah, what do you want?

 

Fungus: Is this Bogey Nights?

 

Bouncer: Boogie Nights. Yes, this is Boogie Nights. What's it to you?

 

Fungus: Ah, goodness gracious me, spiffing day, eh what? My name's Lord Bungus the Fogeymang, Viscount, Earl, O.B.E, and I'm here to demonstrate some of the more up-market disco-dancing techniques. Disco’s not just for the oi polloy, you know!

 

Bouncer: Well, you can't come in here. I’ve never met an earl with such disgusting corduroy trousers before. They’ve got things living in them.

 

Fungus: (enthusiastically) Well, yes, as a matter of fact, there are. I’ve got three sewer rats, fifteen snails and one newt down there. And that’s just in me underpants.

 

Bouncer: What's that?

 

Fungus: What? Oh, that. That's - er – that’s a leech. It was probably living on one of the sewer rats.

 

Bouncer: Well, on your way, sucker.

 

Fungus: And yet, to me, what is this quintessence of dust? (exits.)

     

Fungus 6. End of show, p. 79

(Enter Fungus, as before, but as the conversation continues, a gang of rockers with ghetto blasters congregates behind him.)

 

Bouncer: Yeah, what do you want?

 

Fungus: Is this Bogey Nights?

 

Bouncer: Boogie Nights. Yes, this is Boogie Nights. What's it to you?

 

(Fungus steps back, takes one look at the bouncer, and brushes him aside. He enters the disco, the rockers in his train. Everyone in the wedding party screams, and freezes.)

 

The four ex East MANs that were acquired in 2013 have so far proved unreliable with long spells off the road. Currently it is 22310/1 turn with 22311 parked up here at Tullos, the former at Inverness.

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

Nothing you see here is real, even though the conversion or the presented background story might be based on authentic facts. BEWARE!

  

Some background:

The VF-1 was developed by Stonewell/Bellcom/Shinnakasu for the U.N. Spacy by using alien Overtechnology obtained from the SDF-1 Macross alien spaceship. Its production was preceded by an aerodynamic proving version of its airframe, the VF-X. Unlike all later VF vehicles, the VF-X was strictly a jet aircraft, built to demonstrate that a jet fighter with the features necessary to convert to Battroid mode was aerodynamically feasible. After the VF-X's testing was finished, an advanced concept atmospheric-only prototype, the VF-0 Phoenix, was flight-tested from 2005 to 2007 and briefly served as an active-duty fighter from 2007 to the VF-1's rollout in late 2008, while the bugs were being worked out of the full-up VF-1 prototype (VF-X-1).

 

The space-capable VF-1's combat debut was on February 7, 2009, during the Battle of South Ataria Island - the first battle of Space War I - and remained the mainstay fighter of the U.N. Spacy for the entire conflict. Introduced in 2008, the VF-1 would be out of frontline service just five years later, though.

 

The VF-1 proved to be an extremely capable craft, successfully combating a variety of Zentraedi mecha even in most sorties which saw UN Spacy forces significantly outnumbered. The versatility of the Valkyrie design enabled the variable fighter to act as both large-scale infantry and as air/space superiority fighter. The signature skills of U.N. Spacy ace pilot Maximilian Jenius exemplified the effectiveness of the variable systems as he near-constantly transformed the Valkyrie in battle to seize advantages of each mode as combat conditions changed from moment to moment.

 

The basic VF-1 was deployed in four minor variants (designated A, D, J, and S) and its success was increased by continued development of various enhancements including the GBP-1S "Armored" Valkyrie, FAST Pack "Super" Valkyrie and the additional RÖ-X2 heavy cannon pack weapon system for the VF-1S for additional firepower.

The FAST Pack system was designed to enhance the VF-1 Valkyrie variable fighter, and the initial V1.0 came in the form of conformal pallets that could be attached to the fighter’s leg flanks for additional fuel – primarily for Long Range Interdiction tasks in atmospheric environment. Later FAST Packs were designed for space operations.

 

The following FAST Pack 2.0 system featured two 120.000 kg class P&W+EF-2001 booster thrusters (mounted on the dorsal section of the VF-1) and two CTB-04 conformal propellant/coolant tanks (mounted on the leg/engines), since the VF-1's internal tanks could not carry enough propellant to achieve a stable orbit from Earth bases and needed the help of a booster pack to reach Low Earth Orbit. Anyway, the FAST Pack 2.0 wasn't adapted for atmospheric use, due to its impact on a Valkyrie's aerodynamics and its weight; as such, it needed to be discarded before atmospheric entry.

Included in the FAST Pack boosters and conformal tanks were six high-maneuverability vernier thrusters and two low-thrust vernier thrusters beneath multipurpose hook/handles in two dorsal-mounted NP-BP-01, as well as ten more high-maneuverability vernier thrusters and two low-thrust vernier thrusters beneath multipurpose hook/handles in the two leg/engine-mounted NP-FB-01 systems.

Granting the VF-1 a significantly increased weapons payload as well as greater fuel and thrust, Shinnakasu Heavy Industry's FAST Pack system 2.0 was in every way a major success in space combat. The first VF-1 equipped with FAST Packs was deployed in January 2010 for an interception mission.

Following first operational deployment and its effectiveness, the FAST Pack system was embraced enthusiastically by the U.N. Spacy and found wide use. By February 2010, there were already over 300+ so-called "Super Valkyries" stationed onboard the SDF-1 Macross alone.

 

The FAST Pack went through constant further development, including upgraded versions for late production and updated VF-1s (V3.0 and V4.0). Another addition to the early V2.0 variant of 2010 was the so-called “S-FAST Pack”. The S-FAST pack was originally developed at the Apollo lunar base, for the locally based VF-1 interceptor squadrons that were tasked with the defense of this important production and habitat site on the Moon, but it also found its way to other orbital stations and carriers.

 

Officially designated FAST Pack V2.1, the S-FAST Pack consisted of the standard pair of dorsal rocket boosters plus the pallets with additional maneuvering jets, sensors and weapons. The S-FAST pack added another pair of P&W+EF-2001 boosters under the inner wings, having the duty to give to fighter the power necessary to exit easily from the gravity of moons or little planets without atmosphere, and improve acceleration during combat situations. Range was also further extended, together with additional life support systems for prolonged deep space operations, or the case of emergency.

 

In order to accept the S-FAST pack and exploit its potential, the VF-1’s wings and inner wing attachment points had to be strengthened due to the additional load and propulsion. The use of the S-FAST pack also precluded the fighter from transforming into Battroid or Gerwalk mode – the underwing packs had to be jettisoned beforehand. The other standard FAST Pack 2.0 elements could still be carried, though.

 

The modfied Valkyries capable of accepting the S-FAST Pack received an additional “S” to their type designation – more than 100 VF-1s were converted or built in this deep space configuration until late 2011. Initial deployment of the S-FAST Pack was conducted through SVF-24 “Moon Shadows” in early 2010, a unit that was quickly disbanded, though, but re-formed as SVF-124 “Moon Shooters”, tasked with the defense of the lunar Apollo Base and several special missions.

 

After the end of Space War I, the VF-1 continued to be manufactured both in the Sol system and throughout the UNG space colonies. Although the VF-1 would eventually be replaced as the primary Variable Fighter of the U.N. Spacy by the more capable, but also much bigger, VF-4 Lightning III in 2020, a long service record and continued production after the war proved the lasting worth of the design.

 

The VF-1 was without doubt the most recognizable variable fighter of Space War I and was seen as a vibrant symbol of the U.N. Spacy even into the first year of the New Era 0001 in 2013. At the end of 2015 the final rollout of the VF-1 was celebrated at a special ceremony, commemorating this most famous of variable fighters. The VF-1 Valkryie was built from 2006 to 2013 with a total production of 5,459 VF-1 variable fighters with several variants (VF-1A = 5,093, VF-1D = 85, VF-1J = 49, VF-1S = 30, VF-1G = 12, VE-1 = 122, VT-1 = 68)

 

However, the fighter remained active in many second line units and continued to show its worthiness years later, e. g. through Milia Jenius who would use her old VF-1 fighter in defense of the colonization fleet - 35 years after the type's service introduction!

 

General characteristics:

All-environment variable fighter and tactical combat Battroid,

used by U.N. Spacy, U.N. Navy, U.N. Space Air Force

 

Accommodation:

Pilot only in Marty & Beck Mk-7 zero/zero ejection seat

Dimensions:

Fighter Mode:

Length 14.23 meters

Wingspan 14.78 meters (at 20° minimum sweep)

Height 3.84 meters

 

Battroid Mode:

Height 12.68 meters

Width 7.3 meters

Length 4.0 meters

Empty weight: 13.25 metric tons;

Standard T-O mass: 18.5 metric tons;

MTOW: 37.0 metric tons

 

Power Plant:

2x Shinnakasu Heavy Industry/P&W/Roice FF-2001 thermonuclear reaction turbine engines, output 650 MW each, rated at 11,500 kg in standard or in overboost (225.63 kN x 2)

4 x Shinnakasu Heavy Industry NBS-1 high-thrust vernier thrusters (1 x counter reverse vernier thruster nozzle mounted on the side of each leg nacelle/air intake, 1 x wing thruster roll control system on each wingtip);

18 x P&W LHP04 low-thrust vernier thrusters beneath multipurpose hook/handles

 

The S-FAST Pack added 4x P&W+EF-2001 booster thrusters with 120.000 kg each, plus a total of 28x P&W LHP04 low-thrust vernier thrusters

 

Performance:

Battroid Mode: maximum walking speed 160 km/h

Fighter Mode: at 10,000 m Mach 2.71; at 30,000+ m Mach 3.87

g limit: in space +7

Thrust-to-weight ratio: empty 3.47; standard T-O 2.49; maximum T-O 1.24

 

Design Features:

3-mode variable transformation; variable geometry wing; vertical take-off and landing; control-configurable vehicle; single-axis thrust vectoring; three "magic hand" manipulators for maintenance use; retractable canopy shield for Battroid mode and atmospheric reentry; option of GBP-1S system, atmospheric-escape booster, or FAST Pack system

 

Transformation:

Standard time from Fighter to Battroid (automated): under 5 sec.

Min. time from Fighter to Battroid (manual): 0.9 sec.

 

Armament:

2x internal Mauler RÖV-20 anti-aircraft laser cannon, firing 6,000 pulses per minute

1x Howard GU-11 55 mm three-barrel Gatling gun pod with 200 RPG, fired at 1,200 rds/min

 

4x underwing hard points for a wide variety of ordnance, including

12x AMM-1 hybrid guided multipurpose missiles (3/point), or

12x MK-82 LDGB conventional bombs (3/point), or

6x RMS-1 large anti-ship reaction missiles (2/outboard point, 1/inboard point), or

4x UUM-7 micro-missile pods (1/point) each carrying 15 x Bifors HMM-01 micro-missiles,

or a combination of above load-outs

 

The optional Shinnakasu Heavy Industry S-FAST Pack 2.1 augmentative space weapon system added:

6x micro-missiles in two NP-AR-01 micro-missile launcher pods (mounted rear-ward under center ventral section in Fighter mode or on lower arm sections in GERWALK/Battroid mode)

4x12 micro missiles in four HMMP-02 micro-missile launchers, one inside each booster pod

 

The kit and its assembly:

This VF-1 is another contribution to the “Old Kit” Group Build at whatifmodelers.com, running in late 2016. I am not certain about the moulds’ inception date, but since it is an ARII incarnation of this type of kit and even moulded in the early pastel green styrene, I’d think that it was produced in 1982 or 83.

 

Anyway, I love the Macross VF-1, IMHO a design masterpiece created by Shoji Kawamori and one of my favorite mecha designs ever, because it was created as a late 70ies style jet fighter that could transform into a robot in a secondary role. As a simple, purposeful military vehicle. And not like a flashy robot toy.

 

Effectively, this Super Valkyrie is a highly modified OOB kit with many donation parts, and this kit is a bit special, for several reasons. There are several 1:100 OOB kits with FAST Packs from ARII/Bandai available (and still around today), but these are normally only Battroids or Gerwalks with additional parts for the FAST kit conversion. The kit I used here is different: it is, after maybe 25 years of searching and building these kits, the #70 from the original production run. It is (so far!) the only Fighter mode kit with the additional FAST Pack parts! Must be rare, and I have never seen it in catalogues?

 

Until today, I converted my Super or Strike Valkyries from Gerwalk kits, a task that needs some improvisation esp. around the folded arms between the legs, and there’s no OOB option for an extended landing gear. The latter made this Fighter mode kit very attractive, even though the actual kit is pretty disappointing, and AFAIK this kit variant is only available as a VF-1S.

 

With the Super Valkyrie fighter kit you receive basically a Gerwalk with a standard fighter cockpit (which includes a front wheel well and an extended front wheel leg), plus extra parts. The leg/engine-mounted NP-FB-01 systems are less bulbous than the parts on the Gerwalk or Battroid kit, and the OOB dorsally mounted NP-BP-01 boosters are TINY, maybe 1:120 or even 1:144! WTF?

 

Further confusion: the kit includes a set of lower arm parts with integrated rocket launchers, but these are not necessary at all for the Fighter build?! As a kind of compensation there’s a new and exclusive element that simulates the folded arms under the ‘fuselage’ and which, as an added value, properly holds the hand gun under the fuselage. As a quirky flaw, though, the hand gun itself comes in the extended form for the Battroid/Gerwalk mode. For the fighter in flight mode, it has to be modified, but that’s easily done.

 

Anyway, with the potential option to build a Super Valkyrie with an extended landing gear, this was my route to go with this vintage kit. The Super Valkyrie already looks bulky with the FAST Pack added, but then I recently found the S-FAST Pack option with two more boosters under the wings – total overkill, but unique. And I had a spare pair of booster bulks in the stash (w/o their nozzles, though), as well as a complete pair of additional bigger standard FAST boosters that could replace the ridiculous OOB parts…

 

Building such a Super/Strike Valkyrie means building separate components, with a marriage of parts as one of the final steps. Consequently, cockpit, central fuselage with the wings and the air intakes, the folded stabilizer pack, the folded arms element with the handgun, the two legs and the four boosters plus other ordnance had to be built and painted separately.

 

Here and there, details were changed or added, e. g. a different head (a ‘J’ head for the flight leader’s aircraft with two instead of the rare, OOB ‘S’ variant with four laser cannon), covers for the main landing gear (the latter does not come with wells at all, but I did not scratch them since they are hardly recognizable when the kit is sitting on the ground), the typical blade aerials under the cockpit and the feet had to be modified internally to become truly ‘open’ jet exhausts.

 

The wing-mounted boosters received new nozzles and their front end was re-sculpted with 2C putty into a square shape, according to reference sketches. Not 100% exact, but the rest of the VF-1 isn’t either.

 

This VF-1 was also supposed to carry external ordnance and my first choice were four wing-mounted RMS-1 Anti-Ship Reaction Warheads, scratched from four 1.000 lb NATO bombs. But, once finished, I was not happy with them. So I looked for another option, and in a source book I found several laser-guided bombs and missiles, also for orbital use, and from this inspiration comes the final ordnance: four rocket-propelled kinetic impact projectiles. These are actually 1:72 JASDF LGB’s from a Hasegawa weapon set, sans aerodynamic steering surfaces and with rocket boosters added to the tail. Also not perfect, but their white color and sleek shape is a good counterpart to the FAST elements.

 

Experience from many former builds of this mecha kit family helped a lot, since the #70 kit is very basic and nothing really fits well. Even though there are not many major seams or large elements, PSR work was considerable. This is not a pleasant build, rather a fight with a lot of compromises and semi-accuracies.

Seriously, if you want a decent 1:100 VF-1, I’d rather recommend the much more modern WAVE kits (including more realistic proportions).

  

Painting and markings:

The paint scheme for this Super Valkyrie was settled upon before I considered the S-FAST Pack addition: U.N. Spacy’s SVF-124 is authentic, as well as its unique camouflage paint scheme.

The latter is a special scheme for the lunar environment where the unit was originally formed and based, with all-black undersides, a high, wavy waterline and a light grey upper surface, plus some medium grey trim and a few colorful US Navy style markings and codes.

 

My core reference is a ‘naked’ bread-and-butter VF-1A of SVF-124 in Fighter mode, depicted as a profile in a VF-1 source book from SoftBank Publishing. The colors for the FAST Pack elements are guesstimates and personal interpretations, though, since I could not find any reference for their look in this unit.

As a side note, another, later SVF-124 aircraft in a similar design is included as an option in a limited edition 1:72 VF-22S kit from Hasegawa, which is backed by CG pics in a VF-22 source book from Softbank, too.

Furthermore, SVF-124 finds mention in a Japanese modeler magazine, where the aforementioned VF-22S kit was presented in 2008. So there must be something behind the ‘Moon Shooters’ squadron.

 

According to the Hasegawa VF-22S’s painting instructions, the underside becomes black and the upper surfaces are to be painted with FS36270 (with some darker fields on the VF-22, though, similar to the USAF F-15 counter-shaded air superiority scheme, just a tad darker).

Due to the 1:100 scale tininess of my VF-1, I alternatively went for Revell 75 (RAL 7039), which is lighter and also has a brownish hue, so that the resulting aircraft would not look too cold and murky, and not resemble an USAF aircraft.

 

All FAST Pack elements were painted in a uniform dark grey (Humbrol 32), while some subtle decorative trim on the upper surfaces, e.g. the canopy frame, an anti-glare panel and a stripe behind the cockpit and decoration trim on the wings’ upper surfaces, was added with Revell 77 (RAL 7012). Overall, colors are rather dull, but IMHO very effective in the “landscape” this machine is supposed to operate, and the few colorful markings stand out even more!

 

The cockpit interior was painted in a bluish grey, with reddish brown seat cushions (late 70ies style!), and the landing gear became all white. For some added detail I painted the wings’ leading edges in a mustard tone (Humbrol 225, Mid Stone).

 

The kit received some weathering (black ink wash, drybrushing on panels) and extra treatment of the panel lines – even though the FAST Pack elements hide a lot of surface or obscure view.

 

More color and individuality came with the markings. The standard decals like stencils or the U.N. Spacy insignia come from the kit’s and some other VF-1s’ OOB sheets.

Based on the SVF-124 VF-1 profile and taking the basic design a bit further, I used dull red USAF 45° digits for the 2nd flight leader’s “200” modex and the Apollo Base’s code “MA” on the dorsal boosters. Some discreet red trim was also applied to the FAST Packs – but only a little.

 

Since all of SVF-124’s aircraft are rumored to carry personal markings, including nose art and similar decorations, I tried to give this VF-1JS a personal note: the pin-up badges on the dorsal boosters come from a Peddinghouse decal sheet for Allied WWII tanks, placed on a silver roundel base. Unfortunately (and not visible before I applied them) the pin-up decal was not printed on a white basis, so that the contrast on the silver is not very strong, but I left it that way. Additionally, the tagline “You’re a$$ next, Jerry” (which IS printed in opaque white…?) was added next to the artwork – but it’s so tiny that you have to get really close to decipher it at all…

 

Finally, after some soot stains around the exhausts and some vernier nozzels with graphite, the kit received a coat of matt acrylic varnish.

 

Building this vintage VF-1 kit took a while and a lot of effort, but I like the result: with the S-FAST Pack, the elegant VF-1 turned into a massive space fighter hulk! The normal Super Valkyries already look very compact and purposeful, but this here is truly menacing. Especially when standing on its own feet/landing gear, with its nose-down stance and the small, original wheels, this thing reminds of a Space Shuttle that had just landed.

 

Good that I recently built a simple VF-1 fighter as a warm-up session. ARII’s kit #70 is not a pleasant build, rather a fight with the elements and coupled with a lot of compromises – if you want a Super Valkyrie Fighter in 1:100, the much more modern WAVE kit is IMHO the better option (and actually not much more pricey than this vintage collector’s item). But for the vintage feeling, this exotic model kit was just the right ticket, and it turned, despite many weaknesses and rather corny details, into an impressive fighter. Esp. the lunar camouflage scheme looks odd, but very unique and purposeful.

 

Anyway, with so many inherent flaws of the ARII kit, my former method of converting a pure (and much more common) Gerwalk kit into a space-capable VF-1 fighter is not less challenging and complicated than trying to fix this OOB option into a decent model. :-/

(1) Turned into Tinkerbell with an enchanted spell from Mistress! This is my stealing the enchanted bag that gives you what you deserve after getting rid of the rats with my traps!

It looks like several people are discussing something, near the police box.

 

Meanwhile, a trolleybus, working Line 1, turns from 铭功路, Mínggōng lù, into 解放路, Jiĕfàng lù.

 

1983 August 18.

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

Nothing you see here is real, even though the conversion or the presented background story might be based historical facts. BEWARE!

 

Some background:

Martin’s FM-1 was originally conceived as a replacement for the ageing Grumman Wildcat, as a fighter for smaller carriers, esp. for the US Navy and Royal Navy escort carriers in the Atlantic. These escort carriers, also called a "jeep carrier" or "baby flattop" in the USN or "Woolworth Carrier" by the Royal Navy, were a small and slow type of aircraft carrier, with limited capacity and primarily used to protect convoys against U-boats. In this role, escort carriers initially accompanied the merchant ships and fended off attacks from aircraft and submarines. Later in the war, escort carriers became part of hunter-killer groups which sought out submarines instead of being attached to a particular convoy.

 

Allied escort carriers were typically around 500 ft (150 m) long, not much more than half the length of the almost 900 ft (270 m) fleet carriers of the same era, but were less than 1/3 of the weight. A typical escort carrier displaced about 8,000 long tons (8,100 t), as compared to almost 30,000 long tons (30,000 t) for a full-size fleet carrier. The aircraft hangar (if there was any!) typically ran only 1/3 of the way under the flight deck and housed a combination of 24-30 fighters and bombers organized into one single "composite squadron". By comparison, a late Essex-class fleet carrier could carry a total of 103 aircraft organized into separate fighter, bomber and torpedo-bomber squadrons.

 

A respective aircraft had to be both compact and versatile. Typical aircraft in use were the Grumman F4F Wildcat fighter and the TBF Avenger torpedo bomber. In the fighter role the new design was also to offer a better performance than the F4F, but still be able to deliver bombs, water bombs and ideally a torpedo. Additionally, the aircraft had to be able to take off without a catapult in order to make it suitable for shorter and sometimes just improvised flight decks on modified merchant vessels.

 

Martin began work in April 1942, following an official US Navy Bureau of Aeronautics request. The resulting FM (actually the only fighter the Glenn L. Martin Company designed) offered all the requested improvements, even though it would not be able to carry a torpedo. The quasi-bubble canopy offered far better all-round and esp. rear view than the F4F cockpit. The wider landing gear (which retracted backwards, rotating through 90° to lie flat in the fixed wing parts) made landing on the short escort carrier decks much safer. The hydraulically actuated undercarriage struts also meant a huge advance in comfort for the pilot, compared to the hand-cranked landing gear of the F4F.

 

The outer wings could be folded away (either actuated, too, or manually), each panel outboard of the undercarriage bay folding backwards, parallel to the fuselage with the leading edges pointing down, in a similar fashion to the F4F or F6F, so that the aircraft took up only little space.

 

Special attention was taken to rigidity and corrosion prevention - on some makeshift escort carriers the aircraft had to be parked on deck and in the open all the time, as there was no hangar or lift available.

 

The FM was powered by a 1.900 hp (1,417 kW) R-2600-20 radial engine, driving a four-bladed propeller. Martin submitted the FM's design on 1st of July1942, with a contract for two prototypes and five service test aircraft awarded on 10th of August. The first flight of a prototype XFM took place on 16th February 1943 at the Columbus, Ohio Martin plant. Flight testing continued through 28th of August, when the last of the five pre-production aircraft took to the air. After thorough tests in late 1943 a production order for 300 FM-1 ‘Mako’ followed in March 1943.

 

The first serial production FM-1 Makos were delivered to the USN on 22th of May 1944 to the USS Solomons (CVE-67), a Casablanca Class escort carrier. From the total production of 305 aircraft, about 80 of these were delivered to the Royal Navy for their escort carriers in the Atlantic (used under the designation Mako Mk. 1) and 42 were delivered to the Royal New Zealand Air Force and used in the Pacific theatre, even though only from land bases.

 

While the Mako was not a first line fighter and rarely engaged in great aerial battles it served well in its intended multi-tasking role. Especially against German submarines in the Northern Atlantic the Mako was a valuable asset, as well in the interceptor role against German long range reconnaissance aircraft where top speed was not as crucial as in a direct dogfight situation.

 

A more successful career of the Mako was prevented through the due introduction of more potent fighter types, e .g. the Grumman F6F and Vought F4U. They offered an overall better performance than the FM, so that the further development and production of Martin’s sole fighter type was quickly stopped. It was also clear that the compact FM simply lacked internal space for future development.

 

After the WWII hostilities ceased, most FM-1s still in service were immediately retired or served as training aircraft or target tugs for only a short period, when they were replaced in these roles by the stronger fighter types.

   

General characteristics

Crew: 1

Length: 31 ft 4½ in (9.58 m)

Wingspan: 38 ft 4 in (11.70 m)

Height: 9 ft 2.5 in (2.8 m)

Wing area: 334 ft² (31 m²)

Empty weight: 9,238 lb (4,190 kg)

Loaded weight: 12,598 lb (5,714 kg)

Max. take-off weight: 15,415 lb (6,990 kg)

 

Powerplant:

1× Pratt & Whitney R-2600-20 Twin Cyclone two-row, 14-cylinder radial engine rated at a 1.900 hp (1.417 kW), driving a four-bladed Martin Electric propeller

 

Performance:

Maximum speed: 380 mph (610 km/h)

Combat radius: 820 nmi (945 mi, 1,520 km)

Service ceiling: 34,000 ft (10,363 m)

Rate of climb: 3,500 ft/min (17.8 m/s)

Wing loading: 37.7 lb/ft² (184 kg/m²)

 

Armament:

6× 0.50 in (12.7 mm) AN/M2 Browning machine guns with 360 RPG in the outer wings

Up to 2.000 lb (907kg) external ordnance on a centerline pylon and/or on two hardpoints under the wing roots, plus six attachments for unguided missiles/HVARs under the outer wings.

  

The kit and its assembly:

Originally I wanted to build a USN aircraft in the Atlantic paint scheme for some time, after having seen a whiffed Curtiss SB2C Helldiver in this neat livery. You rarely see aircraft in this grey/white scheme, and originally I planned to build an early F4U-1 as a respective whif. But: why not take it a step further and create a whole new aircraft for the Northern Atlantic theatre?

The potential specification list was built around the small escort carriers, and it became a true challenge to create something that would be plausible. When I came across Smèr’s 1:72 kit of the Curtiss SC-1 Seahawk seaplane I knew I had found my basis, though, and in the end the Mako is more or less a SC-1 turned into a carrier-borne fighter aircraft with a retractable landing gear!

 

The kit was mostly taken OOB, the central float just left away. The wings were mounted with a slight anhedral, resulting in a gull wing, much like the F6F. In order to make the aircraft look a bit more agile the wing tips were clipped by about 1cm on each side.

 

For the scratched landing gear (wild parts mix, from a Fw 190 and a Spitfire, among others), wells were cut out of the wing undersurfaces – overall benchmark was the F6F.

 

I also changed the engine from the SC-1’s original 9 cylinder radial engine into a 14 cylinder, two-row radial, which received a longer, more pointed cowling – taken from an SB2C and reduced in height by taking about 3mm out of every side. Reminds a bit of a Mitsubishi A6M Zero now? The propeller was carried over from the SC-1, but fitted with a metal axis so that it could spin freely in the new engine block.

  

Painting and markings:

Well, I did eventually not settle on an Atlantic livery (saved for a later project, maybe an SBC), but rather went for an RNZAF paint scheme – typical USN colors in Non-Specular Sea Blue (FS 35042), Intermediate Blue (FS 35164) and White, but with late war RNZAF markings, taken from a Smèr F4U-1.

 

As tones I used Modelmaster's 1718, Humbrol 96 (RAF Blue, which is a tad darker and greenish than FS 35164; Humbrol 144 would habe been the alternative) and acrlyic white from the rattle can below. All interior surface were painted in Zinc Chromate Green, I useed Humbrol 159 this time, which comes close but is darker/more dull than the authentic tone. The whole landing gear and the wells were kept white.

 

Panels were emphasized through dry painting with Humbrol 77 and 145, a light black ink wash added contrast to the engravings.

 

After decal application, some more dry painting with Dark Sea Grey was done, and soot and exhaust stains added with flat black. Finally, a coat of acrylic matt varnish was applied.

This is a very high quality, cosmopolitan M1 Garand, and the bolt is a German Sauer and Son unit from Suhl (Thuringia), Germany, on a Breda receiver, and so on.

 

It is graced with a stainless 1 turn in 12" barreled unit, in .308, a vastly more efficient and accurate round, far more similar to the original .276 Pedersen Center fire than was the .30 Model of 1906 with which this design fought in WW2 and Korea.

 

The laminated stock is a feature some attack, but on my personal "toys" I always want it VERY obvious that nothing rare or authentic gets modified in installation, and also I wanted this one to look a little different.

 

By the way, all "first issue" military Garand stocks (originals) were of walnut material, the beech is exclusively European and therefore postwar, and the birch is exclusively post-WW2 (there were prototypes done in tiny quantities, probably about a half dozen, during WW2, including cherry, but these were NOT issued. Issue was authorized ca.1959. ). Ones hears this contested, but invariably without evidence.

 

Also: ALL the "Tipo 2" rifles were rebuilds, virtually exclusively on U.S. receivers. Many on Italian receivers were likewise extensively re-marked. There were, however, M1 Garands built and delivered in the 7.62x51 mm. NATO chambering, and original that way. The largest known groups were Nigerian and Indonesian rifles, made in Italy.

 

The 7.62 cartridge, had it not been for adoption of the M16, would've probably been the ultimate caliber for all existing rifles in later rebuilds.

 

No, it was never just a "navy thing". That's about competition rifles, and doesn't come close to covering the entire production run.

 

The gas cylinder on this one is South Korean, and brand new, albeit modified to "NM" configuration with the rear hoop bored out and stacking swivel tab radius tapered and minimized.

 

The only World War II part on the rifle is the trigger guard, which is a "tabbed" early stamped type, obviously SA. I am contemplating changing that out. I had one marked "PB" (but obviously part of the initial parts stash of WW2 stuff shipped to Beretta) but it got gobbled up in another of my projects.

 

The magazine block is polished aluminum, never absolutely necessary, but preferable if ANYONE is around who imagines the rifle is Caliber .30 Model of 1906, and tries to stuff that ammo into it. In short, if both calibers are on hand, the block precludes the awkward jams.

 

Ejector spring shortened 3 coils.

 

Sling is probably Indian made. I'm looking for a Dutch operating rod "AI" code or a new civilian unit.

 

Hammer is "BR" code, a few oddments are Beretta, including the Allen Style solid gas cylinder lock (6mm.).

 

It functions nicely, albeit I have not really put it on paper yet.

 

UPDATE: it shot sub-MOA with best reloads in a dozen or so witnessed groups at the range in Vernon County.

  

Fully copyrighted, all rights reserved. No reproduction of any kind without express WRITTEN permission.

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

Nothing you see here is real, even though the conversion or the presented background story might be based on authentic facts. BEWARE!

  

Some background:

The VF-1 was developed by Stonewell/Bellcom/Shinnakasu for the U.N. Spacy by using alien Overtechnology obtained from the SDF-1 Macross alien spaceship. Its production was preceded by an aerodynamic proving version of its airframe, the VF-X. Unlike all later VF vehicles, the VF-X was strictly a jet aircraft, built to demonstrate that a jet fighter with the features necessary to convert to Battroid mode was aerodynamically feasible. After the VF-X's testing was finished, an advanced concept atmospheric-only prototype, the VF-0 Phoenix, was flight-tested from 2005 to 2007 and briefly served as an active-duty fighter from 2007 to the VF-1's rollout in late 2008, while the bugs were being worked out of the full-up VF-1 prototype (VF-X-1).

 

The space-capable VF-1's combat debut was on February 7, 2009, during the Battle of South Ataria Island - the first battle of Space War I - and remained the mainstay fighter of the U.N. Spacy for the entire conflict. Introduced in 2008, the VF-1 would be out of frontline service just five years later, though.

 

The VF-1 proved to be an extremely capable craft, successfully combating a variety of Zentraedi mecha even in most sorties which saw UN Spacy forces significantly outnumbered. The versatility of the Valkyrie design enabled the variable fighter to act as both large-scale infantry and as air/space superiority fighter. The signature skills of U.N. Spacy ace pilot Maximilian Jenius exemplified the effectiveness of the variable systems as he near-constantly transformed the Valkyrie in battle to seize advantages of each mode as combat conditions changed from moment to moment.

 

The basic VF-1 was deployed in four minor variants (designated A, D, J, and S) and its success was increased by continued development of various enhancements including the GBP-1S "Armored" Valkyrie, FAST Pack "Super" Valkyrie and the additional RÖ-X2 heavy cannon pack weapon system for the VF-1S for additional firepower.

The FAST Pack system was designed to enhance the VF-1 Valkyrie variable fighter, and the initial V1.0 came in the form of conformal pallets that could be attached to the fighter’s leg flanks for additional fuel – primarily for Long Range Interdiction tasks in atmospheric environment. Later FAST Packs were designed for space operations.

 

The following FAST Pack 2.0 system featured two 120.000 kg class P&W+EF-2001 booster thrusters (mounted on the dorsal section of the VF-1) and two CTB-04 conformal propellant/coolant tanks (mounted on the leg/engines), since the VF-1's internal tanks could not carry enough propellant to achieve a stable orbit from Earth bases and needed the help of a booster pack to reach Low Earth Orbit. Anyway, the FAST Pack 2.0 wasn't adapted for atmospheric use, due to its impact on a Valkyrie's aerodynamics and its weight; as such, it needed to be discarded before atmospheric entry.

Included in the FAST Pack boosters and conformal tanks were six high-maneuverability vernier thrusters and two low-thrust vernier thrusters beneath multipurpose hook/handles in two dorsal-mounted NP-BP-01, as well as ten more high-maneuverability vernier thrusters and two low-thrust vernier thrusters beneath multipurpose hook/handles in the two leg/engine-mounted NP-FB-01 systems.

Granting the VF-1 a significantly increased weapons payload as well as greater fuel and thrust, Shinnakasu Heavy Industry's FAST Pack system 2.0 was in every way a major success in space combat. The first VF-1 equipped with FAST Packs was deployed in January 2010 for an interception mission.

Following first operational deployment and its effectiveness, the FAST Pack system was embraced enthusiastically by the U.N. Spacy and found wide use. By February 2010, there were already over 300+ so-called "Super Valkyries" stationed onboard the SDF-1 Macross alone.

 

The FAST Pack went through constant further development, including upgraded versions for late production and updated VF-1s (V3.0 and V4.0). Another addition to the early V2.0 variant of 2010 was the so-called “S-FAST Pack”. The S-FAST pack was originally developed at the Apollo lunar base, for the locally based VF-1 interceptor squadrons that were tasked with the defense of this important production and habitat site on the Moon, but it also found its way to other orbital stations and carriers.

 

Officially designated FAST Pack V2.1, the S-FAST Pack consisted of the standard pair of dorsal rocket boosters plus the pallets with additional maneuvering jets, sensors and weapons. The S-FAST pack added another pair of P&W+EF-2001 boosters under the inner wings, having the duty to give to fighter the power necessary to exit easily from the gravity of moons or little planets without atmosphere, and improve acceleration during combat situations. Range was also further extended, together with additional life support systems for prolonged deep space operations, or the case of emergency.

 

In order to accept the S-FAST pack and exploit its potential, the VF-1’s wings and inner wing attachment points had to be strengthened due to the additional load and propulsion. The use of the S-FAST pack also precluded the fighter from transforming into Battroid or Gerwalk mode – the underwing packs had to be jettisoned beforehand. The other standard FAST Pack 2.0 elements could still be carried, though.

 

The modfied Valkyries capable of accepting the S-FAST Pack received an additional “S” to their type designation – more than 100 VF-1s were converted or built in this deep space configuration until late 2011. Initial deployment of the S-FAST Pack was conducted through SVF-24 “Moon Shadows” in early 2010, a unit that was quickly disbanded, though, but re-formed as SVF-124 “Moon Shooters”, tasked with the defense of the lunar Apollo Base and several special missions.

 

After the end of Space War I, the VF-1 continued to be manufactured both in the Sol system and throughout the UNG space colonies. Although the VF-1 would eventually be replaced as the primary Variable Fighter of the U.N. Spacy by the more capable, but also much bigger, VF-4 Lightning III in 2020, a long service record and continued production after the war proved the lasting worth of the design.

 

The VF-1 was without doubt the most recognizable variable fighter of Space War I and was seen as a vibrant symbol of the U.N. Spacy even into the first year of the New Era 0001 in 2013. At the end of 2015 the final rollout of the VF-1 was celebrated at a special ceremony, commemorating this most famous of variable fighters. The VF-1 Valkryie was built from 2006 to 2013 with a total production of 5,459 VF-1 variable fighters with several variants (VF-1A = 5,093, VF-1D = 85, VF-1J = 49, VF-1S = 30, VF-1G = 12, VE-1 = 122, VT-1 = 68)

 

However, the fighter remained active in many second line units and continued to show its worthiness years later, e. g. through Milia Jenius who would use her old VF-1 fighter in defense of the colonization fleet - 35 years after the type's service introduction!

 

General characteristics:

All-environment variable fighter and tactical combat Battroid,

used by U.N. Spacy, U.N. Navy, U.N. Space Air Force

 

Accommodation:

Pilot only in Marty & Beck Mk-7 zero/zero ejection seat

Dimensions:

Fighter Mode:

Length 14.23 meters

Wingspan 14.78 meters (at 20° minimum sweep)

Height 3.84 meters

 

Battroid Mode:

Height 12.68 meters

Width 7.3 meters

Length 4.0 meters

Empty weight: 13.25 metric tons;

Standard T-O mass: 18.5 metric tons;

MTOW: 37.0 metric tons

 

Power Plant:

2x Shinnakasu Heavy Industry/P&W/Roice FF-2001 thermonuclear reaction turbine engines, output 650 MW each, rated at 11,500 kg in standard or in overboost (225.63 kN x 2)

4 x Shinnakasu Heavy Industry NBS-1 high-thrust vernier thrusters (1 x counter reverse vernier thruster nozzle mounted on the side of each leg nacelle/air intake, 1 x wing thruster roll control system on each wingtip);

18 x P&W LHP04 low-thrust vernier thrusters beneath multipurpose hook/handles

 

The S-FAST Pack added 4x P&W+EF-2001 booster thrusters with 120.000 kg each, plus a total of 28x P&W LHP04 low-thrust vernier thrusters

 

Performance:

Battroid Mode: maximum walking speed 160 km/h

Fighter Mode: at 10,000 m Mach 2.71; at 30,000+ m Mach 3.87

g limit: in space +7

Thrust-to-weight ratio: empty 3.47; standard T-O 2.49; maximum T-O 1.24

 

Design Features:

3-mode variable transformation; variable geometry wing; vertical take-off and landing; control-configurable vehicle; single-axis thrust vectoring; three "magic hand" manipulators for maintenance use; retractable canopy shield for Battroid mode and atmospheric reentry; option of GBP-1S system, atmospheric-escape booster, or FAST Pack system

 

Transformation:

Standard time from Fighter to Battroid (automated): under 5 sec.

Min. time from Fighter to Battroid (manual): 0.9 sec.

 

Armament:

2x internal Mauler RÖV-20 anti-aircraft laser cannon, firing 6,000 pulses per minute

1x Howard GU-11 55 mm three-barrel Gatling gun pod with 200 RPG, fired at 1,200 rds/min

 

4x underwing hard points for a wide variety of ordnance, including

12x AMM-1 hybrid guided multipurpose missiles (3/point), or

12x MK-82 LDGB conventional bombs (3/point), or

6x RMS-1 large anti-ship reaction missiles (2/outboard point, 1/inboard point), or

4x UUM-7 micro-missile pods (1/point) each carrying 15 x Bifors HMM-01 micro-missiles,

or a combination of above load-outs

 

The optional Shinnakasu Heavy Industry S-FAST Pack 2.1 augmentative space weapon system added:

6x micro-missiles in two NP-AR-01 micro-missile launcher pods (mounted rear-ward under center ventral section in Fighter mode or on lower arm sections in GERWALK/Battroid mode)

4x12 micro missiles in four HMMP-02 micro-missile launchers, one inside each booster pod

 

The kit and its assembly:

This VF-1 is another contribution to the “Old Kit” Group Build at whatifmodelers.com, running in late 2016. I am not certain about the moulds’ inception date, but since it is an ARII incarnation of this type of kit and even moulded in the early pastel green styrene, I’d think that it was produced in 1982 or 83.

 

Anyway, I love the Macross VF-1, IMHO a design masterpiece created by Shoji Kawamori and one of my favorite mecha designs ever, because it was created as a late 70ies style jet fighter that could transform into a robot in a secondary role. As a simple, purposeful military vehicle. And not like a flashy robot toy.

 

Effectively, this Super Valkyrie is a highly modified OOB kit with many donation parts, and this kit is a bit special, for several reasons. There are several 1:100 OOB kits with FAST Packs from ARII/Bandai available (and still around today), but these are normally only Battroids or Gerwalks with additional parts for the FAST kit conversion. The kit I used here is different: it is, after maybe 25 years of searching and building these kits, the #70 from the original production run. It is (so far!) the only Fighter mode kit with the additional FAST Pack parts! Must be rare, and I have never seen it in catalogues?

 

Until today, I converted my Super or Strike Valkyries from Gerwalk kits, a task that needs some improvisation esp. around the folded arms between the legs, and there’s no OOB option for an extended landing gear. The latter made this Fighter mode kit very attractive, even though the actual kit is pretty disappointing, and AFAIK this kit variant is only available as a VF-1S.

 

With the Super Valkyrie fighter kit you receive basically a Gerwalk with a standard fighter cockpit (which includes a front wheel well and an extended front wheel leg), plus extra parts. The leg/engine-mounted NP-FB-01 systems are less bulbous than the parts on the Gerwalk or Battroid kit, and the OOB dorsally mounted NP-BP-01 boosters are TINY, maybe 1:120 or even 1:144! WTF?

 

Further confusion: the kit includes a set of lower arm parts with integrated rocket launchers, but these are not necessary at all for the Fighter build?! As a kind of compensation there’s a new and exclusive element that simulates the folded arms under the ‘fuselage’ and which, as an added value, properly holds the hand gun under the fuselage. As a quirky flaw, though, the hand gun itself comes in the extended form for the Battroid/Gerwalk mode. For the fighter in flight mode, it has to be modified, but that’s easily done.

 

Anyway, with the potential option to build a Super Valkyrie with an extended landing gear, this was my route to go with this vintage kit. The Super Valkyrie already looks bulky with the FAST Pack added, but then I recently found the S-FAST Pack option with two more boosters under the wings – total overkill, but unique. And I had a spare pair of booster bulks in the stash (w/o their nozzles, though), as well as a complete pair of additional bigger standard FAST boosters that could replace the ridiculous OOB parts…

 

Building such a Super/Strike Valkyrie means building separate components, with a marriage of parts as one of the final steps. Consequently, cockpit, central fuselage with the wings and the air intakes, the folded stabilizer pack, the folded arms element with the handgun, the two legs and the four boosters plus other ordnance had to be built and painted separately.

 

Here and there, details were changed or added, e. g. a different head (a ‘J’ head for the flight leader’s aircraft with two instead of the rare, OOB ‘S’ variant with four laser cannon), covers for the main landing gear (the latter does not come with wells at all, but I did not scratch them since they are hardly recognizable when the kit is sitting on the ground), the typical blade aerials under the cockpit and the feet had to be modified internally to become truly ‘open’ jet exhausts.

 

The wing-mounted boosters received new nozzles and their front end was re-sculpted with 2C putty into a square shape, according to reference sketches. Not 100% exact, but the rest of the VF-1 isn’t either.

 

This VF-1 was also supposed to carry external ordnance and my first choice were four wing-mounted RMS-1 Anti-Ship Reaction Warheads, scratched from four 1.000 lb NATO bombs. But, once finished, I was not happy with them. So I looked for another option, and in a source book I found several laser-guided bombs and missiles, also for orbital use, and from this inspiration comes the final ordnance: four rocket-propelled kinetic impact projectiles. These are actually 1:72 JASDF LGB’s from a Hasegawa weapon set, sans aerodynamic steering surfaces and with rocket boosters added to the tail. Also not perfect, but their white color and sleek shape is a good counterpart to the FAST elements.

 

Experience from many former builds of this mecha kit family helped a lot, since the #70 kit is very basic and nothing really fits well. Even though there are not many major seams or large elements, PSR work was considerable. This is not a pleasant build, rather a fight with a lot of compromises and semi-accuracies.

Seriously, if you want a decent 1:100 VF-1, I’d rather recommend the much more modern WAVE kits (including more realistic proportions).

  

Painting and markings:

The paint scheme for this Super Valkyrie was settled upon before I considered the S-FAST Pack addition: U.N. Spacy’s SVF-124 is authentic, as well as its unique camouflage paint scheme.

The latter is a special scheme for the lunar environment where the unit was originally formed and based, with all-black undersides, a high, wavy waterline and a light grey upper surface, plus some medium grey trim and a few colorful US Navy style markings and codes.

 

My core reference is a ‘naked’ bread-and-butter VF-1A of SVF-124 in Fighter mode, depicted as a profile in a VF-1 source book from SoftBank Publishing. The colors for the FAST Pack elements are guesstimates and personal interpretations, though, since I could not find any reference for their look in this unit.

As a side note, another, later SVF-124 aircraft in a similar design is included as an option in a limited edition 1:72 VF-22S kit from Hasegawa, which is backed by CG pics in a VF-22 source book from Softbank, too.

Furthermore, SVF-124 finds mention in a Japanese modeler magazine, where the aforementioned VF-22S kit was presented in 2008. So there must be something behind the ‘Moon Shooters’ squadron.

 

According to the Hasegawa VF-22S’s painting instructions, the underside becomes black and the upper surfaces are to be painted with FS36270 (with some darker fields on the VF-22, though, similar to the USAF F-15 counter-shaded air superiority scheme, just a tad darker).

Due to the 1:100 scale tininess of my VF-1, I alternatively went for Revell 75 (RAL 7039), which is lighter and also has a brownish hue, so that the resulting aircraft would not look too cold and murky, and not resemble an USAF aircraft.

 

All FAST Pack elements were painted in a uniform dark grey (Humbrol 32), while some subtle decorative trim on the upper surfaces, e.g. the canopy frame, an anti-glare panel and a stripe behind the cockpit and decoration trim on the wings’ upper surfaces, was added with Revell 77 (RAL 7012). Overall, colors are rather dull, but IMHO very effective in the “landscape” this machine is supposed to operate, and the few colorful markings stand out even more!

 

The cockpit interior was painted in a bluish grey, with reddish brown seat cushions (late 70ies style!), and the landing gear became all white. For some added detail I painted the wings’ leading edges in a mustard tone (Humbrol 225, Mid Stone).

 

The kit received some weathering (black ink wash, drybrushing on panels) and extra treatment of the panel lines – even though the FAST Pack elements hide a lot of surface or obscure view.

 

More color and individuality came with the markings. The standard decals like stencils or the U.N. Spacy insignia come from the kit’s and some other VF-1s’ OOB sheets.

Based on the SVF-124 VF-1 profile and taking the basic design a bit further, I used dull red USAF 45° digits for the 2nd flight leader’s “200” modex and the Apollo Base’s code “MA” on the dorsal boosters. Some discreet red trim was also applied to the FAST Packs – but only a little.

 

Since all of SVF-124’s aircraft are rumored to carry personal markings, including nose art and similar decorations, I tried to give this VF-1JS a personal note: the pin-up badges on the dorsal boosters come from a Peddinghouse decal sheet for Allied WWII tanks, placed on a silver roundel base. Unfortunately (and not visible before I applied them) the pin-up decal was not printed on a white basis, so that the contrast on the silver is not very strong, but I left it that way. Additionally, the tagline “You’re a$$ next, Jerry” (which IS printed in opaque white…?) was added next to the artwork – but it’s so tiny that you have to get really close to decipher it at all…

 

Finally, after some soot stains around the exhausts and some vernier nozzels with graphite, the kit received a coat of matt acrylic varnish.

 

Building this vintage VF-1 kit took a while and a lot of effort, but I like the result: with the S-FAST Pack, the elegant VF-1 turned into a massive space fighter hulk! The normal Super Valkyries already look very compact and purposeful, but this here is truly menacing. Especially when standing on its own feet/landing gear, with its nose-down stance and the small, original wheels, this thing reminds of a Space Shuttle that had just landed.

 

Good that I recently built a simple VF-1 fighter as a warm-up session. ARII’s kit #70 is not a pleasant build, rather a fight with the elements and coupled with a lot of compromises – if you want a Super Valkyrie Fighter in 1:100, the much more modern WAVE kit is IMHO the better option (and actually not much more pricey than this vintage collector’s item). But for the vintage feeling, this exotic model kit was just the right ticket, and it turned, despite many weaknesses and rather corny details, into an impressive fighter. Esp. the lunar camouflage scheme looks odd, but very unique and purposeful.

 

Anyway, with so many inherent flaws of the ARII kit, my former method of converting a pure (and much more common) Gerwalk kit into a space-capable VF-1 fighter is not less challenging and complicated than trying to fix this OOB option into a decent model. :-/

Painting and markings:

The paint scheme for this Super Valkyrie was settled upon before I considered the S-FAST Pack addition: U.N. Spacy’s SVF-124 is authentic, as well as its unique camouflage paint scheme.

The latter is a special scheme for the lunar environment where the unit was originally formed and based, with all-black undersides, a high, wavy waterline and a light grey upper surface, plus some medium grey trim and a few colorful US Navy style markings and codes.

 

My core reference is a ‘naked’ bread-and-butter VF-1A of SVF-124 in Fighter mode, depicted as a profile in a VF-1 source book from SoftBank Publishing. The colors for the FAST Pack elements are guesstimates and personal interpretations, though, since I could not find any reference for their look in this unit.

As a side note, another, later SVF-124 aircraft in a similar design is included as an option in a limited edition 1:72 VF-22S kit from Hasegawa, which is backed by CG pics in a VF-22 source book from Softbank, too.

Furthermore, SVF-124 finds mention in a Japanese modeler magazine, where the aforementioned VF-22S kit was presented in 2008. So there must be something behind the ‘Moon Shooters’ squadron.

 

According to the Hasegawa VF-22S’s painting instructions, the underside becomes black and the upper surfaces are to be painted with FS36270 (with some darker fields on the VF-22, though, similar to the USAF F-15 counter-shaded air superiority scheme, just a tad darker).

Due to the 1:100 scale tininess of my VF-1, I alternatively went for Revell 75 (RAL 7039), which is lighter and also has a brownish hue, so that the resulting aircraft would not look too cold and murky, and not resemble an USAF aircraft.

 

All FAST Pack elements were painted in a uniform dark grey (Humbrol 32), while some subtle decorative trim on the upper surfaces, e.g. the canopy frame, an anti-glare panel and a stripe behind the cockpit and decoration trim on the wings’ upper surfaces, was added with Revell 77 (RAL 7012). Overall, colors are rather dull, but IMHO very effective in the “landscape” this machine is supposed to operate, and the few colorful markings stand out even more!

 

The cockpit interior was painted in a bluish grey, with reddish brown seat cushions (late 70ies style!), and the landing gear became all white. For some added detail I painted the wings’ leading edges in a mustard tone (Humbrol 225, Mid Stone).

 

The kit received some weathering (black ink wash, drybrushing on panels) and extra treatment of the panel lines – even though the FAST Pack elements hide a lot of surface or obscure view.

 

More color and individuality came with the markings. The standard decals like stencils or the U.N. Spacy insignia come from the kit’s and some other VF-1s’ OOB sheets.

Based on the SVF-124 VF-1 profile and taking the basic design a bit further, I used dull red USAF 45° digits for the 2nd flight leader’s “200” modex and the Apollo Base’s code “MA” on the dorsal boosters. Some discreet red trim was also applied to the FAST Packs – but only a little.

 

Since all of SVF-124’s aircraft are rumored to carry personal markings, including nose art and similar decorations, I tried to give this VF-1JS a personal note: the pin-up badges on the dorsal boosters come from a Peddinghouse decal sheet for Allied WWII tanks, placed on a silver roundel base. Unfortunately (and not visible before I applied them) the pin-up decal was not printed on a white basis, so that the contrast on the silver is not very strong, but I left it that way. Additionally, the tagline “You’re a$$ next, Jerry” (which IS printed in opaque white…?) was added next to the artwork – but it’s so tiny that you have to get really close to decipher it at all…

 

Finally, after some soot stains around the exhausts and some vernier nozzels with graphite, the kit received a coat of matt acrylic varnish.

 

Building this vintage VF-1 kit took a while and a lot of effort, but I like the result: with the S-FAST Pack, the elegant VF-1 turned into a massive space fighter hulk! The normal Super Valkyries already look very compact and purposeful, but this here is truly menacing. Especially when standing on its own feet/landing gear, with its nose-down stance and the small, original wheels, this thing reminds of a Space Shuttle that had just landed.

 

Good that I recently built a simple VF-1 fighter as a warm-up session. ARII’s kit #70 is not a pleasant build, rather a fight with the elements and coupled with a lot of compromises – if you want a Super Valkyrie Fighter in 1:100, the much more modern WAVE kit is IMHO the better option (and actually not much more pricey than this vintage collector’s item). But for the vintage feeling, this exotic model kit was just the right ticket, and it turned, despite many weaknesses and rather corny details, into an impressive fighter. Esp. the lunar camouflage scheme looks odd, but very unique and purposeful.

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

Nothing you see here is real, even though the conversion or the presented background story might be based on authentic facts. BEWARE!

  

Some background:

The VF-1 was developed by Stonewell/Bellcom/Shinnakasu for the U.N. Spacy by using alien Overtechnology obtained from the SDF-1 Macross alien spaceship. Its production was preceded by an aerodynamic proving version of its airframe, the VF-X. Unlike all later VF vehicles, the VF-X was strictly a jet aircraft, built to demonstrate that a jet fighter with the features necessary to convert to Battroid mode was aerodynamically feasible. After the VF-X's testing was finished, an advanced concept atmospheric-only prototype, the VF-0 Phoenix, was flight-tested from 2005 to 2007 and briefly served as an active-duty fighter from 2007 to the VF-1's rollout in late 2008, while the bugs were being worked out of the full-up VF-1 prototype (VF-X-1).

 

The space-capable VF-1's combat debut was on February 7, 2009, during the Battle of South Ataria Island - the first battle of Space War I - and remained the mainstay fighter of the U.N. Spacy for the entire conflict. Introduced in 2008, the VF-1 would be out of frontline service just five years later, though.

 

The VF-1 proved to be an extremely capable craft, successfully combating a variety of Zentraedi mecha even in most sorties which saw UN Spacy forces significantly outnumbered. The versatility of the Valkyrie design enabled the variable fighter to act as both large-scale infantry and as air/space superiority fighter. The signature skills of U.N. Spacy ace pilot Maximilian Jenius exemplified the effectiveness of the variable systems as he near-constantly transformed the Valkyrie in battle to seize advantages of each mode as combat conditions changed from moment to moment.

 

The basic VF-1 was deployed in four minor variants (designated A, D, J, and S) and its success was increased by continued development of various enhancements including the GBP-1S "Armored" Valkyrie, FAST Pack "Super" Valkyrie and the additional RÖ-X2 heavy cannon pack weapon system for the VF-1S for additional firepower.

The FAST Pack system was designed to enhance the VF-1 Valkyrie variable fighter, and the initial V1.0 came in the form of conformal pallets that could be attached to the fighter’s leg flanks for additional fuel – primarily for Long Range Interdiction tasks in atmospheric environment. Later FAST Packs were designed for space operations.

 

The following FAST Pack 2.0 system featured two 120.000 kg class P&W+EF-2001 booster thrusters (mounted on the dorsal section of the VF-1) and two CTB-04 conformal propellant/coolant tanks (mounted on the leg/engines), since the VF-1's internal tanks could not carry enough propellant to achieve a stable orbit from Earth bases and needed the help of a booster pack to reach Low Earth Orbit. Anyway, the FAST Pack 2.0 wasn't adapted for atmospheric use, due to its impact on a Valkyrie's aerodynamics and its weight; as such, it needed to be discarded before atmospheric entry.

Included in the FAST Pack boosters and conformal tanks were six high-maneuverability vernier thrusters and two low-thrust vernier thrusters beneath multipurpose hook/handles in two dorsal-mounted NP-BP-01, as well as ten more high-maneuverability vernier thrusters and two low-thrust vernier thrusters beneath multipurpose hook/handles in the two leg/engine-mounted NP-FB-01 systems.

Granting the VF-1 a significantly increased weapons payload as well as greater fuel and thrust, Shinnakasu Heavy Industry's FAST Pack system 2.0 was in every way a major success in space combat. The first VF-1 equipped with FAST Packs was deployed in January 2010 for an interception mission.

Following first operational deployment and its effectiveness, the FAST Pack system was embraced enthusiastically by the U.N. Spacy and found wide use. By February 2010, there were already over 300+ so-called "Super Valkyries" stationed onboard the SDF-1 Macross alone.

 

The FAST Pack went through constant further development, including upgraded versions for late production and updated VF-1s (V3.0 and V4.0). Another addition to the early V2.0 variant of 2010 was the so-called “S-FAST Pack”. The S-FAST pack was originally developed at the Apollo lunar base, for the locally based VF-1 interceptor squadrons that were tasked with the defense of this important production and habitat site on the Moon, but it also found its way to other orbital stations and carriers.

 

Officially designated FAST Pack V2.1, the S-FAST Pack consisted of the standard pair of dorsal rocket boosters plus the pallets with additional maneuvering jets, sensors and weapons. The S-FAST pack added another pair of P&W+EF-2001 boosters under the inner wings, having the duty to give to fighter the power necessary to exit easily from the gravity of moons or little planets without atmosphere, and improve acceleration during combat situations. Range was also further extended, together with additional life support systems for prolonged deep space operations, or the case of emergency.

 

In order to accept the S-FAST pack and exploit its potential, the VF-1’s wings and inner wing attachment points had to be strengthened due to the additional load and propulsion. The use of the S-FAST pack also precluded the fighter from transforming into Battroid or Gerwalk mode – the underwing packs had to be jettisoned beforehand. The other standard FAST Pack 2.0 elements could still be carried, though.

 

The modfied Valkyries capable of accepting the S-FAST Pack received an additional “S” to their type designation – more than 100 VF-1s were converted or built in this deep space configuration until late 2011. Initial deployment of the S-FAST Pack was conducted through SVF-24 “Moon Shadows” in early 2010, a unit that was quickly disbanded, though, but re-formed as SVF-124 “Moon Shooters”, tasked with the defense of the lunar Apollo Base and several special missions.

 

After the end of Space War I, the VF-1 continued to be manufactured both in the Sol system and throughout the UNG space colonies. Although the VF-1 would eventually be replaced as the primary Variable Fighter of the U.N. Spacy by the more capable, but also much bigger, VF-4 Lightning III in 2020, a long service record and continued production after the war proved the lasting worth of the design.

 

The VF-1 was without doubt the most recognizable variable fighter of Space War I and was seen as a vibrant symbol of the U.N. Spacy even into the first year of the New Era 0001 in 2013. At the end of 2015 the final rollout of the VF-1 was celebrated at a special ceremony, commemorating this most famous of variable fighters. The VF-1 Valkryie was built from 2006 to 2013 with a total production of 5,459 VF-1 variable fighters with several variants (VF-1A = 5,093, VF-1D = 85, VF-1J = 49, VF-1S = 30, VF-1G = 12, VE-1 = 122, VT-1 = 68)

 

However, the fighter remained active in many second line units and continued to show its worthiness years later, e. g. through Milia Jenius who would use her old VF-1 fighter in defense of the colonization fleet - 35 years after the type's service introduction!

 

General characteristics:

All-environment variable fighter and tactical combat Battroid,

used by U.N. Spacy, U.N. Navy, U.N. Space Air Force

 

Accommodation:

Pilot only in Marty & Beck Mk-7 zero/zero ejection seat

Dimensions:

Fighter Mode:

Length 14.23 meters

Wingspan 14.78 meters (at 20° minimum sweep)

Height 3.84 meters

 

Battroid Mode:

Height 12.68 meters

Width 7.3 meters

Length 4.0 meters

Empty weight: 13.25 metric tons;

Standard T-O mass: 18.5 metric tons;

MTOW: 37.0 metric tons

 

Power Plant:

2x Shinnakasu Heavy Industry/P&W/Roice FF-2001 thermonuclear reaction turbine engines, output 650 MW each, rated at 11,500 kg in standard or in overboost (225.63 kN x 2)

4 x Shinnakasu Heavy Industry NBS-1 high-thrust vernier thrusters (1 x counter reverse vernier thruster nozzle mounted on the side of each leg nacelle/air intake, 1 x wing thruster roll control system on each wingtip);

18 x P&W LHP04 low-thrust vernier thrusters beneath multipurpose hook/handles

 

The S-FAST Pack added 4x P&W+EF-2001 booster thrusters with 120.000 kg each, plus a total of 28x P&W LHP04 low-thrust vernier thrusters

 

Performance:

Battroid Mode: maximum walking speed 160 km/h

Fighter Mode: at 10,000 m Mach 2.71; at 30,000+ m Mach 3.87

g limit: in space +7

Thrust-to-weight ratio: empty 3.47; standard T-O 2.49; maximum T-O 1.24

 

Design Features:

3-mode variable transformation; variable geometry wing; vertical take-off and landing; control-configurable vehicle; single-axis thrust vectoring; three "magic hand" manipulators for maintenance use; retractable canopy shield for Battroid mode and atmospheric reentry; option of GBP-1S system, atmospheric-escape booster, or FAST Pack system

 

Transformation:

Standard time from Fighter to Battroid (automated): under 5 sec.

Min. time from Fighter to Battroid (manual): 0.9 sec.

 

Armament:

2x internal Mauler RÖV-20 anti-aircraft laser cannon, firing 6,000 pulses per minute

1x Howard GU-11 55 mm three-barrel Gatling gun pod with 200 RPG, fired at 1,200 rds/min

 

4x underwing hard points for a wide variety of ordnance, including

12x AMM-1 hybrid guided multipurpose missiles (3/point), or

12x MK-82 LDGB conventional bombs (3/point), or

6x RMS-1 large anti-ship reaction missiles (2/outboard point, 1/inboard point), or

4x UUM-7 micro-missile pods (1/point) each carrying 15 x Bifors HMM-01 micro-missiles,

or a combination of above load-outs

 

The optional Shinnakasu Heavy Industry S-FAST Pack 2.1 augmentative space weapon system added:

6x micro-missiles in two NP-AR-01 micro-missile launcher pods (mounted rear-ward under center ventral section in Fighter mode or on lower arm sections in GERWALK/Battroid mode)

4x12 micro missiles in four HMMP-02 micro-missile launchers, one inside each booster pod

 

The kit and its assembly:

This VF-1 is another contribution to the “Old Kit” Group Build at whatifmodelers.com, running in late 2016. I am not certain about the moulds’ inception date, but since it is an ARII incarnation of this type of kit and even moulded in the early pastel green styrene, I’d think that it was produced in 1982 or 83.

 

Anyway, I love the Macross VF-1, IMHO a design masterpiece created by Shoji Kawamori and one of my favorite mecha designs ever, because it was created as a late 70ies style jet fighter that could transform into a robot in a secondary role. As a simple, purposeful military vehicle. And not like a flashy robot toy.

 

Effectively, this Super Valkyrie is a highly modified OOB kit with many donation parts, and this kit is a bit special, for several reasons. There are several 1:100 OOB kits with FAST Packs from ARII/Bandai available (and still around today), but these are normally only Battroids or Gerwalks with additional parts for the FAST kit conversion. The kit I used here is different: it is, after maybe 25 years of searching and building these kits, the #70 from the original production run. It is (so far!) the only Fighter mode kit with the additional FAST Pack parts! Must be rare, and I have never seen it in catalogues?

 

Until today, I converted my Super or Strike Valkyries from Gerwalk kits, a task that needs some improvisation esp. around the folded arms between the legs, and there’s no OOB option for an extended landing gear. The latter made this Fighter mode kit very attractive, even though the actual kit is pretty disappointing, and AFAIK this kit variant is only available as a VF-1S.

 

With the Super Valkyrie fighter kit you receive basically a Gerwalk with a standard fighter cockpit (which includes a front wheel well and an extended front wheel leg), plus extra parts. The leg/engine-mounted NP-FB-01 systems are less bulbous than the parts on the Gerwalk or Battroid kit, and the OOB dorsally mounted NP-BP-01 boosters are TINY, maybe 1:120 or even 1:144! WTF?

 

Further confusion: the kit includes a set of lower arm parts with integrated rocket launchers, but these are not necessary at all for the Fighter build?! As a kind of compensation there’s a new and exclusive element that simulates the folded arms under the ‘fuselage’ and which, as an added value, properly holds the hand gun under the fuselage. As a quirky flaw, though, the hand gun itself comes in the extended form for the Battroid/Gerwalk mode. For the fighter in flight mode, it has to be modified, but that’s easily done.

 

Anyway, with the potential option to build a Super Valkyrie with an extended landing gear, this was my route to go with this vintage kit. The Super Valkyrie already looks bulky with the FAST Pack added, but then I recently found the S-FAST Pack option with two more boosters under the wings – total overkill, but unique. And I had a spare pair of booster bulks in the stash (w/o their nozzles, though), as well as a complete pair of additional bigger standard FAST boosters that could replace the ridiculous OOB parts…

 

Building such a Super/Strike Valkyrie means building separate components, with a marriage of parts as one of the final steps. Consequently, cockpit, central fuselage with the wings and the air intakes, the folded stabilizer pack, the folded arms element with the handgun, the two legs and the four boosters plus other ordnance had to be built and painted separately.

 

Here and there, details were changed or added, e. g. a different head (a ‘J’ head for the flight leader’s aircraft with two instead of the rare, OOB ‘S’ variant with four laser cannon), covers for the main landing gear (the latter does not come with wells at all, but I did not scratch them since they are hardly recognizable when the kit is sitting on the ground), the typical blade aerials under the cockpit and the feet had to be modified internally to become truly ‘open’ jet exhausts.

 

The wing-mounted boosters received new nozzles and their front end was re-sculpted with 2C putty into a square shape, according to reference sketches. Not 100% exact, but the rest of the VF-1 isn’t either.

 

This VF-1 was also supposed to carry external ordnance and my first choice were four wing-mounted RMS-1 Anti-Ship Reaction Warheads, scratched from four 1.000 lb NATO bombs. But, once finished, I was not happy with them. So I looked for another option, and in a source book I found several laser-guided bombs and missiles, also for orbital use, and from this inspiration comes the final ordnance: four rocket-propelled kinetic impact projectiles. These are actually 1:72 JASDF LGB’s from a Hasegawa weapon set, sans aerodynamic steering surfaces and with rocket boosters added to the tail. Also not perfect, but their white color and sleek shape is a good counterpart to the FAST elements.

 

Experience from many former builds of this mecha kit family helped a lot, since the #70 kit is very basic and nothing really fits well. Even though there are not many major seams or large elements, PSR work was considerable. This is not a pleasant build, rather a fight with a lot of compromises and semi-accuracies.

Seriously, if you want a decent 1:100 VF-1, I’d rather recommend the much more modern WAVE kits (including more realistic proportions).

  

Painting and markings:

The paint scheme for this Super Valkyrie was settled upon before I considered the S-FAST Pack addition: U.N. Spacy’s SVF-124 is authentic, as well as its unique camouflage paint scheme.

The latter is a special scheme for the lunar environment where the unit was originally formed and based, with all-black undersides, a high, wavy waterline and a light grey upper surface, plus some medium grey trim and a few colorful US Navy style markings and codes.

 

My core reference is a ‘naked’ bread-and-butter VF-1A of SVF-124 in Fighter mode, depicted as a profile in a VF-1 source book from SoftBank Publishing. The colors for the FAST Pack elements are guesstimates and personal interpretations, though, since I could not find any reference for their look in this unit.

As a side note, another, later SVF-124 aircraft in a similar design is included as an option in a limited edition 1:72 VF-22S kit from Hasegawa, which is backed by CG pics in a VF-22 source book from Softbank, too.

Furthermore, SVF-124 finds mention in a Japanese modeler magazine, where the aforementioned VF-22S kit was presented in 2008. So there must be something behind the ‘Moon Shooters’ squadron.

 

According to the Hasegawa VF-22S’s painting instructions, the underside becomes black and the upper surfaces are to be painted with FS36270 (with some darker fields on the VF-22, though, similar to the USAF F-15 counter-shaded air superiority scheme, just a tad darker).

Due to the 1:100 scale tininess of my VF-1, I alternatively went for Revell 75 (RAL 7039), which is lighter and also has a brownish hue, so that the resulting aircraft would not look too cold and murky, and not resemble an USAF aircraft.

 

All FAST Pack elements were painted in a uniform dark grey (Humbrol 32), while some subtle decorative trim on the upper surfaces, e.g. the canopy frame, an anti-glare panel and a stripe behind the cockpit and decoration trim on the wings’ upper surfaces, was added with Revell 77 (RAL 7012). Overall, colors are rather dull, but IMHO very effective in the “landscape” this machine is supposed to operate, and the few colorful markings stand out even more!

 

The cockpit interior was painted in a bluish grey, with reddish brown seat cushions (late 70ies style!), and the landing gear became all white. For some added detail I painted the wings’ leading edges in a mustard tone (Humbrol 225, Mid Stone).

 

The kit received some weathering (black ink wash, drybrushing on panels) and extra treatment of the panel lines – even though the FAST Pack elements hide a lot of surface or obscure view.

 

More color and individuality came with the markings. The standard decals like stencils or the U.N. Spacy insignia come from the kit’s and some other VF-1s’ OOB sheets.

Based on the SVF-124 VF-1 profile and taking the basic design a bit further, I used dull red USAF 45° digits for the 2nd flight leader’s “200” modex and the Apollo Base’s code “MA” on the dorsal boosters. Some discreet red trim was also applied to the FAST Packs – but only a little.

 

Since all of SVF-124’s aircraft are rumored to carry personal markings, including nose art and similar decorations, I tried to give this VF-1JS a personal note: the pin-up badges on the dorsal boosters come from a Peddinghouse decal sheet for Allied WWII tanks, placed on a silver roundel base. Unfortunately (and not visible before I applied them) the pin-up decal was not printed on a white basis, so that the contrast on the silver is not very strong, but I left it that way. Additionally, the tagline “You’re a$$ next, Jerry” (which IS printed in opaque white…?) was added next to the artwork – but it’s so tiny that you have to get really close to decipher it at all…

 

Finally, after some soot stains around the exhausts and some vernier nozzels with graphite, the kit received a coat of matt acrylic varnish.

 

Building this vintage VF-1 kit took a while and a lot of effort, but I like the result: with the S-FAST Pack, the elegant VF-1 turned into a massive space fighter hulk! The normal Super Valkyries already look very compact and purposeful, but this here is truly menacing. Especially when standing on its own feet/landing gear, with its nose-down stance and the small, original wheels, this thing reminds of a Space Shuttle that had just landed.

 

Good that I recently built a simple VF-1 fighter as a warm-up session. ARII’s kit #70 is not a pleasant build, rather a fight with the elements and coupled with a lot of compromises – if you want a Super Valkyrie Fighter in 1:100, the much more modern WAVE kit is IMHO the better option (and actually not much more pricey than this vintage collector’s item). But for the vintage feeling, this exotic model kit was just the right ticket, and it turned, despite many weaknesses and rather corny details, into an impressive fighter. Esp. the lunar camouflage scheme looks odd, but very unique and purposeful.

 

Anyway, with so many inherent flaws of the ARII kit, my former method of converting a pure (and much more common) Gerwalk kit into a space-capable VF-1 fighter is not less challenging and complicated than trying to fix this OOB option into a decent model. :-/

Interstate 10 (I-10) is the southernmost transcontinental highway in the American Interstate Highway System. It stretches from the Pacific Ocean at State Route 1 (Pacific Coast Highway) in Santa Monica, California to Interstate 95 in Jacksonville, Florida. This freeway is part of the originally planned Interstate Highway network that was laid out in 1956, and its last section was completed in 1990. I-10 is the fourth longest Interstate Highway in the United States, following I-90, I-80, and I-40, with about 1/3 of its length existing in the state of Texas, where the freeway spans the state at its widest breadth.

 

The Santa Monica Freeway is the westernmost segment of Interstate 10, beginning at the western terminus of I-10 at the Pacific Coast Highway in Santa Monica, California and ending southeast of downtown Los Angeles at the East Los Angeles Interchange.

   

The Santa Monica Freeway interchange with the Harbor Freeway, as seen by traffic going eastbound on the Santa Monica

  

Downtown Los Angeles skyline as seen from the freeway. A slight (smaller than usual rush hour) traffic jam is ahead.

Interstate 10 begins in the city of Santa Monica when State Route 1 turns into a freeway and heads east. SR 1 exits onto Lincoln Boulevard and heads south while I-10 continues east. Soon after it enters the city of Los Angeles, I-10 has a four-level interchange with Interstate 405. Interstate 10 then continues through Jefferson Park into downtown Los Angeles. On the western edge of downtown, I-10 has an interchange with Interstate 110 to the south and State Route 110 to the north. I-10 then travels along the southern edge of downtown to the East Los Angeles Interchange

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Monica_Freeway#Santa_Monica_F...

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Text_of_Creative_Commons_...

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

Nothing you see here is real, even though the conversion or the presented background story might be based historical facts. BEWARE!

 

Some background:

Martin’s FM-1 was originally conceived as a replacement for the ageing Grumman Wildcat, as a fighter for smaller carriers, esp. for the US Navy and Royal Navy escort carriers in the Atlantic. These escort carriers, also called a "jeep carrier" or "baby flattop" in the USN or "Woolworth Carrier" by the Royal Navy, were a small and slow type of aircraft carrier, with limited capacity and primarily used to protect convoys against U-boats. In this role, escort carriers initially accompanied the merchant ships and fended off attacks from aircraft and submarines. Later in the war, escort carriers became part of hunter-killer groups which sought out submarines instead of being attached to a particular convoy.

 

Allied escort carriers were typically around 500 ft (150 m) long, not much more than half the length of the almost 900 ft (270 m) fleet carriers of the same era, but were less than 1/3 of the weight. A typical escort carrier displaced about 8,000 long tons (8,100 t), as compared to almost 30,000 long tons (30,000 t) for a full-size fleet carrier. The aircraft hangar (if there was any!) typically ran only 1/3 of the way under the flight deck and housed a combination of 24-30 fighters and bombers organized into one single "composite squadron". By comparison, a late Essex-class fleet carrier could carry a total of 103 aircraft organized into separate fighter, bomber and torpedo-bomber squadrons.

 

A respective aircraft had to be both compact and versatile. Typical aircraft in use were the Grumman F4F Wildcat fighter and the TBF Avenger torpedo bomber. In the fighter role the new design was also to offer a better performance than the F4F, but still be able to deliver bombs, water bombs and ideally a torpedo. Additionally, the aircraft had to be able to take off without a catapult in order to make it suitable for shorter and sometimes just improvised flight decks on modified merchant vessels.

 

Martin began work in April 1942, following an official US Navy Bureau of Aeronautics request. The resulting FM (actually the only fighter the Glenn L. Martin Company designed) offered all the requested improvements, even though it would not be able to carry a torpedo. The quasi-bubble canopy offered far better all-round and esp. rear view than the F4F cockpit. The wider landing gear (which retracted backwards, rotating through 90° to lie flat in the fixed wing parts) made landing on the short escort carrier decks much safer. The hydraulically actuated undercarriage struts also meant a huge advance in comfort for the pilot, compared to the hand-cranked landing gear of the F4F.

 

The outer wings could be folded away (either actuated, too, or manually), each panel outboard of the undercarriage bay folding backwards, parallel to the fuselage with the leading edges pointing down, in a similar fashion to the F4F or F6F, so that the aircraft took up only little space.

 

Special attention was taken to rigidity and corrosion prevention - on some makeshift escort carriers the aircraft had to be parked on deck and in the open all the time, as there was no hangar or lift available.

 

The FM was powered by a 1.900 hp (1,417 kW) R-2600-20 radial engine, driving a four-bladed propeller. Martin submitted the FM's design on 1st of July1942, with a contract for two prototypes and five service test aircraft awarded on 10th of August. The first flight of a prototype XFM took place on 16th February 1943 at the Columbus, Ohio Martin plant. Flight testing continued through 28th of August, when the last of the five pre-production aircraft took to the air. After thorough tests in late 1943 a production order for 300 FM-1 ‘Mako’ followed in March 1943.

 

The first serial production FM-1 Makos were delivered to the USN on 22th of May 1944 to the USS Solomons (CVE-67), a Casablanca Class escort carrier. From the total production of 305 aircraft, about 80 of these were delivered to the Royal Navy for their escort carriers in the Atlantic (used under the designation Mako Mk. 1) and 42 were delivered to the Royal New Zealand Air Force and used in the Pacific theatre, even though only from land bases.

 

While the Mako was not a first line fighter and rarely engaged in great aerial battles it served well in its intended multi-tasking role. Especially against German submarines in the Northern Atlantic the Mako was a valuable asset, as well in the interceptor role against German long range reconnaissance aircraft where top speed was not as crucial as in a direct dogfight situation.

 

A more successful career of the Mako was prevented through the due introduction of more potent fighter types, e .g. the Grumman F6F and Vought F4U. They offered an overall better performance than the FM, so that the further development and production of Martin’s sole fighter type was quickly stopped. It was also clear that the compact FM simply lacked internal space for future development.

 

After the WWII hostilities ceased, most FM-1s still in service were immediately retired or served as training aircraft or target tugs for only a short period, when they were replaced in these roles by the stronger fighter types.

   

General characteristics

Crew: 1

Length: 31 ft 4½ in (9.58 m)

Wingspan: 38 ft 4 in (11.70 m)

Height: 9 ft 2.5 in (2.8 m)

Wing area: 334 ft² (31 m²)

Empty weight: 9,238 lb (4,190 kg)

Loaded weight: 12,598 lb (5,714 kg)

Max. take-off weight: 15,415 lb (6,990 kg)

 

Powerplant:

1× Pratt & Whitney R-2600-20 Twin Cyclone two-row, 14-cylinder radial engine rated at a 1.900 hp (1.417 kW), driving a four-bladed Martin Electric propeller

 

Performance:

Maximum speed: 380 mph (610 km/h)

Combat radius: 820 nmi (945 mi, 1,520 km)

Service ceiling: 34,000 ft (10,363 m)

Rate of climb: 3,500 ft/min (17.8 m/s)

Wing loading: 37.7 lb/ft² (184 kg/m²)

 

Armament:

6× 0.50 in (12.7 mm) AN/M2 Browning machine guns with 360 RPG in the outer wings

Up to 2.000 lb (907kg) external ordnance on a centerline pylon and/or on two hardpoints under the wing roots, plus six attachments for unguided missiles/HVARs under the outer wings.

  

The kit and its assembly:

Originally I wanted to build a USN aircraft in the Atlantic paint scheme for some time, after having seen a whiffed Curtiss SB2C Helldiver in this neat livery. You rarely see aircraft in this grey/white scheme, and originally I planned to build an early F4U-1 as a respective whif. But: why not take it a step further and create a whole new aircraft for the Northern Atlantic theatre?

The potential specification list was built around the small escort carriers, and it became a true challenge to create something that would be plausible. When I came across Smèr’s 1:72 kit of the Curtiss SC-1 Seahawk seaplane I knew I had found my basis, though, and in the end the Mako is more or less a SC-1 turned into a carrier-borne fighter aircraft with a retractable landing gear!

 

The kit was mostly taken OOB, the central float just left away. The wings were mounted with a slight anhedral, resulting in a gull wing, much like the F6F. In order to make the aircraft look a bit more agile the wing tips were clipped by about 1cm on each side.

 

For the scratched landing gear (wild parts mix, from a Fw 190 and a Spitfire, among others), wells were cut out of the wing undersurfaces – overall benchmark was the F6F.

 

I also changed the engine from the SC-1’s original 9 cylinder radial engine into a 14 cylinder, two-row radial, which received a longer, more pointed cowling – taken from an SB2C and reduced in height by taking about 3mm out of every side. Reminds a bit of a Mitsubishi A6M Zero now? The propeller was carried over from the SC-1, but fitted with a metal axis so that it could spin freely in the new engine block.

  

Painting and markings:

Well, I did eventually not settle on an Atlantic livery (saved for a later project, maybe an SBC), but rather went for an RNZAF paint scheme – typical USN colors in Non-Specular Sea Blue (FS 35042), Intermediate Blue (FS 35164) and White, but with late war RNZAF markings, taken from a Smèr F4U-1.

 

As tones I used Modelmaster's 1718, Humbrol 96 (RAF Blue, which is a tad darker and greenish than FS 35164; Humbrol 144 would habe been the alternative) and acrlyic white from the rattle can below. All interior surface were painted in Zinc Chromate Green, I useed Humbrol 159 this time, which comes close but is darker/more dull than the authentic tone. The whole landing gear and the wells were kept white.

 

Panels were emphasized through dry painting with Humbrol 77 and 145, a light black ink wash added contrast to the engravings.

 

After decal application, some more dry painting with Dark Sea Grey was done, and soot and exhaust stains added with flat black. Finally, a coat of acrylic matt varnish was applied.

Plenário do Senado Federal durante sessão deliberativa ordinária. Ordem do dia.

 

Plenário vota, em 1° turno, a reforma da Previdência (PEC 6/2019).

 

Painel eletrônico exibe votação aberta em andamento.

 

Foto: Roque de Sá/Agência Senado

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

Nothing you see here is real, even though the conversion or the presented background story might be based historical facts. BEWARE!

 

Some background:

Martin’s FM-1 was originally conceived as a replacement for the ageing Grumman Wildcat, as a fighter for smaller carriers, esp. for the US Navy and Royal Navy escort carriers in the Atlantic. These escort carriers, also called a "jeep carrier" or "baby flattop" in the USN or "Woolworth Carrier" by the Royal Navy, were a small and slow type of aircraft carrier, with limited capacity and primarily used to protect convoys against U-boats. In this role, escort carriers initially accompanied the merchant ships and fended off attacks from aircraft and submarines. Later in the war, escort carriers became part of hunter-killer groups which sought out submarines instead of being attached to a particular convoy.

 

Allied escort carriers were typically around 500 ft (150 m) long, not much more than half the length of the almost 900 ft (270 m) fleet carriers of the same era, but were less than 1/3 of the weight. A typical escort carrier displaced about 8,000 long tons (8,100 t), as compared to almost 30,000 long tons (30,000 t) for a full-size fleet carrier. The aircraft hangar (if there was any!) typically ran only 1/3 of the way under the flight deck and housed a combination of 24-30 fighters and bombers organized into one single "composite squadron". By comparison, a late Essex-class fleet carrier could carry a total of 103 aircraft organized into separate fighter, bomber and torpedo-bomber squadrons.

 

A respective aircraft had to be both compact and versatile. Typical aircraft in use were the Grumman F4F Wildcat fighter and the TBF Avenger torpedo bomber. In the fighter role the new design was also to offer a better performance than the F4F, but still be able to deliver bombs, water bombs and ideally a torpedo. Additionally, the aircraft had to be able to take off without a catapult in order to make it suitable for shorter and sometimes just improvised flight decks on modified merchant vessels.

 

Martin began work in April 1942, following an official US Navy Bureau of Aeronautics request. The resulting FM (actually the only fighter the Glenn L. Martin Company designed) offered all the requested improvements, even though it would not be able to carry a torpedo. The quasi-bubble canopy offered far better all-round and esp. rear view than the F4F cockpit. The wider landing gear (which retracted backwards, rotating through 90° to lie flat in the fixed wing parts) made landing on the short escort carrier decks much safer. The hydraulically actuated undercarriage struts also meant a huge advance in comfort for the pilot, compared to the hand-cranked landing gear of the F4F.

 

The outer wings could be folded away (either actuated, too, or manually), each panel outboard of the undercarriage bay folding backwards, parallel to the fuselage with the leading edges pointing down, in a similar fashion to the F4F or F6F, so that the aircraft took up only little space.

 

Special attention was taken to rigidity and corrosion prevention - on some makeshift escort carriers the aircraft had to be parked on deck and in the open all the time, as there was no hangar or lift available.

 

The FM was powered by a 1.900 hp (1,417 kW) R-2600-20 radial engine, driving a four-bladed propeller. Martin submitted the FM's design on 1st of July1942, with a contract for two prototypes and five service test aircraft awarded on 10th of August. The first flight of a prototype XFM took place on 16th February 1943 at the Columbus, Ohio Martin plant. Flight testing continued through 28th of August, when the last of the five pre-production aircraft took to the air. After thorough tests in late 1943 a production order for 300 FM-1 ‘Mako’ followed in March 1943.

 

The first serial production FM-1 Makos were delivered to the USN on 22th of May 1944 to the USS Solomons (CVE-67), a Casablanca Class escort carrier. From the total production of 305 aircraft, about 80 of these were delivered to the Royal Navy for their escort carriers in the Atlantic (used under the designation Mako Mk. 1) and 42 were delivered to the Royal New Zealand Air Force and used in the Pacific theatre, even though only from land bases.

 

While the Mako was not a first line fighter and rarely engaged in great aerial battles it served well in its intended multi-tasking role. Especially against German submarines in the Northern Atlantic the Mako was a valuable asset, as well in the interceptor role against German long range reconnaissance aircraft where top speed was not as crucial as in a direct dogfight situation.

 

A more successful career of the Mako was prevented through the due introduction of more potent fighter types, e .g. the Grumman F6F and Vought F4U. They offered an overall better performance than the FM, so that the further development and production of Martin’s sole fighter type was quickly stopped. It was also clear that the compact FM simply lacked internal space for future development.

 

After the WWII hostilities ceased, most FM-1s still in service were immediately retired or served as training aircraft or target tugs for only a short period, when they were replaced in these roles by the stronger fighter types.

   

General characteristics

Crew: 1

Length: 31 ft 4½ in (9.58 m)

Wingspan: 38 ft 4 in (11.70 m)

Height: 9 ft 2.5 in (2.8 m)

Wing area: 334 ft² (31 m²)

Empty weight: 9,238 lb (4,190 kg)

Loaded weight: 12,598 lb (5,714 kg)

Max. take-off weight: 15,415 lb (6,990 kg)

 

Powerplant:

1× Pratt & Whitney R-2600-20 Twin Cyclone two-row, 14-cylinder radial engine rated at a 1.900 hp (1.417 kW), driving a four-bladed Martin Electric propeller

 

Performance:

Maximum speed: 380 mph (610 km/h)

Combat radius: 820 nmi (945 mi, 1,520 km)

Service ceiling: 34,000 ft (10,363 m)

Rate of climb: 3,500 ft/min (17.8 m/s)

Wing loading: 37.7 lb/ft² (184 kg/m²)

 

Armament:

6× 0.50 in (12.7 mm) AN/M2 Browning machine guns with 360 RPG in the outer wings

Up to 2.000 lb (907kg) external ordnance on a centerline pylon and/or on two hardpoints under the wing roots, plus six attachments for unguided missiles/HVARs under the outer wings.

  

The kit and its assembly:

Originally I wanted to build a USN aircraft in the Atlantic paint scheme for some time, after having seen a whiffed Curtiss SB2C Helldiver in this neat livery. You rarely see aircraft in this grey/white scheme, and originally I planned to build an early F4U-1 as a respective whif. But: why not take it a step further and create a whole new aircraft for the Northern Atlantic theatre?

The potential specification list was built around the small escort carriers, and it became a true challenge to create something that would be plausible. When I came across Smèr’s 1:72 kit of the Curtiss SC-1 Seahawk seaplane I knew I had found my basis, though, and in the end the Mako is more or less a SC-1 turned into a carrier-borne fighter aircraft with a retractable landing gear!

 

The kit was mostly taken OOB, the central float just left away. The wings were mounted with a slight anhedral, resulting in a gull wing, much like the F6F. In order to make the aircraft look a bit more agile the wing tips were clipped by about 1cm on each side.

 

For the scratched landing gear (wild parts mix, from a Fw 190 and a Spitfire, among others), wells were cut out of the wing undersurfaces – overall benchmark was the F6F.

 

I also changed the engine from the SC-1’s original 9 cylinder radial engine into a 14 cylinder, two-row radial, which received a longer, more pointed cowling – taken from an SB2C and reduced in height by taking about 3mm out of every side. Reminds a bit of a Mitsubishi A6M Zero now? The propeller was carried over from the SC-1, but fitted with a metal axis so that it could spin freely in the new engine block.

  

Painting and markings:

Well, I did eventually not settle on an Atlantic livery (saved for a later project, maybe an SBC), but rather went for an RNZAF paint scheme – typical USN colors in Non-Specular Sea Blue (FS 35042), Intermediate Blue (FS 35164) and White, but with late war RNZAF markings, taken from a Smèr F4U-1.

 

As tones I used Modelmaster's 1718, Humbrol 96 (RAF Blue, which is a tad darker and greenish than FS 35164; Humbrol 144 would habe been the alternative) and acrlyic white from the rattle can below. All interior surface were painted in Zinc Chromate Green, I useed Humbrol 159 this time, which comes close but is darker/more dull than the authentic tone. The whole landing gear and the wells were kept white.

 

Panels were emphasized through dry painting with Humbrol 77 and 145, a light black ink wash added contrast to the engravings.

 

After decal application, some more dry painting with Dark Sea Grey was done, and soot and exhaust stains added with flat black. Finally, a coat of acrylic matt varnish was applied.

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

Nothing you see here is real, even though the conversion or the presented background story might be based historical facts. BEWARE!

 

Some background:

Martin’s FM-1 was originally conceived as a replacement for the ageing Grumman Wildcat, as a fighter for smaller carriers, esp. for the US Navy and Royal Navy escort carriers in the Atlantic. These escort carriers, also called a "jeep carrier" or "baby flattop" in the USN or "Woolworth Carrier" by the Royal Navy, were a small and slow type of aircraft carrier, with limited capacity and primarily used to protect convoys against U-boats. In this role, escort carriers initially accompanied the merchant ships and fended off attacks from aircraft and submarines. Later in the war, escort carriers became part of hunter-killer groups which sought out submarines instead of being attached to a particular convoy.

 

Allied escort carriers were typically around 500 ft (150 m) long, not much more than half the length of the almost 900 ft (270 m) fleet carriers of the same era, but were less than 1/3 of the weight. A typical escort carrier displaced about 8,000 long tons (8,100 t), as compared to almost 30,000 long tons (30,000 t) for a full-size fleet carrier. The aircraft hangar (if there was any!) typically ran only 1/3 of the way under the flight deck and housed a combination of 24-30 fighters and bombers organized into one single "composite squadron". By comparison, a late Essex-class fleet carrier could carry a total of 103 aircraft organized into separate fighter, bomber and torpedo-bomber squadrons.

 

A respective aircraft had to be both compact and versatile. Typical aircraft in use were the Grumman F4F Wildcat fighter and the TBF Avenger torpedo bomber. In the fighter role the new design was also to offer a better performance than the F4F, but still be able to deliver bombs, water bombs and ideally a torpedo. Additionally, the aircraft had to be able to take off without a catapult in order to make it suitable for shorter and sometimes just improvised flight decks on modified merchant vessels.

 

Martin began work in April 1942, following an official US Navy Bureau of Aeronautics request. The resulting FM (actually the only fighter the Glenn L. Martin Company designed) offered all the requested improvements, even though it would not be able to carry a torpedo. The quasi-bubble canopy offered far better all-round and esp. rear view than the F4F cockpit. The wider landing gear (which retracted backwards, rotating through 90° to lie flat in the fixed wing parts) made landing on the short escort carrier decks much safer. The hydraulically actuated undercarriage struts also meant a huge advance in comfort for the pilot, compared to the hand-cranked landing gear of the F4F.

 

The outer wings could be folded away (either actuated, too, or manually), each panel outboard of the undercarriage bay folding backwards, parallel to the fuselage with the leading edges pointing down, in a similar fashion to the F4F or F6F, so that the aircraft took up only little space.

 

Special attention was taken to rigidity and corrosion prevention - on some makeshift escort carriers the aircraft had to be parked on deck and in the open all the time, as there was no hangar or lift available.

 

The FM was powered by a 1.900 hp (1,417 kW) R-2600-20 radial engine, driving a four-bladed propeller. Martin submitted the FM's design on 1st of July1942, with a contract for two prototypes and five service test aircraft awarded on 10th of August. The first flight of a prototype XFM took place on 16th February 1943 at the Columbus, Ohio Martin plant. Flight testing continued through 28th of August, when the last of the five pre-production aircraft took to the air. After thorough tests in late 1943 a production order for 300 FM-1 ‘Mako’ followed in March 1943.

 

The first serial production FM-1 Makos were delivered to the USN on 22th of May 1944 to the USS Solomons (CVE-67), a Casablanca Class escort carrier. From the total production of 305 aircraft, about 80 of these were delivered to the Royal Navy for their escort carriers in the Atlantic (used under the designation Mako Mk. 1) and 42 were delivered to the Royal New Zealand Air Force and used in the Pacific theatre, even though only from land bases.

 

While the Mako was not a first line fighter and rarely engaged in great aerial battles it served well in its intended multi-tasking role. Especially against German submarines in the Northern Atlantic the Mako was a valuable asset, as well in the interceptor role against German long range reconnaissance aircraft where top speed was not as crucial as in a direct dogfight situation.

 

A more successful career of the Mako was prevented through the due introduction of more potent fighter types, e .g. the Grumman F6F and Vought F4U. They offered an overall better performance than the FM, so that the further development and production of Martin’s sole fighter type was quickly stopped. It was also clear that the compact FM simply lacked internal space for future development.

 

After the WWII hostilities ceased, most FM-1s still in service were immediately retired or served as training aircraft or target tugs for only a short period, when they were replaced in these roles by the stronger fighter types.

   

General characteristics

Crew: 1

Length: 31 ft 4½ in (9.58 m)

Wingspan: 38 ft 4 in (11.70 m)

Height: 9 ft 2.5 in (2.8 m)

Wing area: 334 ft² (31 m²)

Empty weight: 9,238 lb (4,190 kg)

Loaded weight: 12,598 lb (5,714 kg)

Max. take-off weight: 15,415 lb (6,990 kg)

 

Powerplant:

1× Pratt & Whitney R-2600-20 Twin Cyclone two-row, 14-cylinder radial engine rated at a 1.900 hp (1.417 kW), driving a four-bladed Martin Electric propeller

 

Performance:

Maximum speed: 380 mph (610 km/h)

Combat radius: 820 nmi (945 mi, 1,520 km)

Service ceiling: 34,000 ft (10,363 m)

Rate of climb: 3,500 ft/min (17.8 m/s)

Wing loading: 37.7 lb/ft² (184 kg/m²)

 

Armament:

6× 0.50 in (12.7 mm) AN/M2 Browning machine guns with 360 RPG in the outer wings

Up to 2.000 lb (907kg) external ordnance on a centerline pylon and/or on two hardpoints under the wing roots, plus six attachments for unguided missiles/HVARs under the outer wings.

  

The kit and its assembly:

Originally I wanted to build a USN aircraft in the Atlantic paint scheme for some time, after having seen a whiffed Curtiss SB2C Helldiver in this neat livery. You rarely see aircraft in this grey/white scheme, and originally I planned to build an early F4U-1 as a respective whif. But: why not take it a step further and create a whole new aircraft for the Northern Atlantic theatre?

The potential specification list was built around the small escort carriers, and it became a true challenge to create something that would be plausible. When I came across Smèr’s 1:72 kit of the Curtiss SC-1 Seahawk seaplane I knew I had found my basis, though, and in the end the Mako is more or less a SC-1 turned into a carrier-borne fighter aircraft with a retractable landing gear!

 

The kit was mostly taken OOB, the central float just left away. The wings were mounted with a slight anhedral, resulting in a gull wing, much like the F6F. In order to make the aircraft look a bit more agile the wing tips were clipped by about 1cm on each side.

 

For the scratched landing gear (wild parts mix, from a Fw 190 and a Spitfire, among others), wells were cut out of the wing undersurfaces – overall benchmark was the F6F.

 

I also changed the engine from the SC-1’s original 9 cylinder radial engine into a 14 cylinder, two-row radial, which received a longer, more pointed cowling – taken from an SB2C and reduced in height by taking about 3mm out of every side. Reminds a bit of a Mitsubishi A6M Zero now? The propeller was carried over from the SC-1, but fitted with a metal axis so that it could spin freely in the new engine block.

  

Painting and markings:

Well, I did eventually not settle on an Atlantic livery (saved for a later project, maybe an SBC), but rather went for an RNZAF paint scheme – typical USN colors in Non-Specular Sea Blue (FS 35042), Intermediate Blue (FS 35164) and White, but with late war RNZAF markings, taken from a Smèr F4U-1.

 

As tones I used Modelmaster's 1718, Humbrol 96 (RAF Blue, which is a tad darker and greenish than FS 35164; Humbrol 144 would habe been the alternative) and acrlyic white from the rattle can below. All interior surface were painted in Zinc Chromate Green, I useed Humbrol 159 this time, which comes close but is darker/more dull than the authentic tone. The whole landing gear and the wells were kept white.

 

Panels were emphasized through dry painting with Humbrol 77 and 145, a light black ink wash added contrast to the engravings.

 

After decal application, some more dry painting with Dark Sea Grey was done, and soot and exhaust stains added with flat black. Finally, a coat of acrylic matt varnish was applied.

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

Nothing you see here is real, even though the conversion or the presented background story might be based historical facts. BEWARE!

 

Some background:

Martin’s FM-1 was originally conceived as a replacement for the ageing Grumman Wildcat, as a fighter for smaller carriers, esp. for the US Navy and Royal Navy escort carriers in the Atlantic. These escort carriers, also called a "jeep carrier" or "baby flattop" in the USN or "Woolworth Carrier" by the Royal Navy, were a small and slow type of aircraft carrier, with limited capacity and primarily used to protect convoys against U-boats. In this role, escort carriers initially accompanied the merchant ships and fended off attacks from aircraft and submarines. Later in the war, escort carriers became part of hunter-killer groups which sought out submarines instead of being attached to a particular convoy.

 

Allied escort carriers were typically around 500 ft (150 m) long, not much more than half the length of the almost 900 ft (270 m) fleet carriers of the same era, but were less than 1/3 of the weight. A typical escort carrier displaced about 8,000 long tons (8,100 t), as compared to almost 30,000 long tons (30,000 t) for a full-size fleet carrier. The aircraft hangar (if there was any!) typically ran only 1/3 of the way under the flight deck and housed a combination of 24-30 fighters and bombers organized into one single "composite squadron". By comparison, a late Essex-class fleet carrier could carry a total of 103 aircraft organized into separate fighter, bomber and torpedo-bomber squadrons.

 

A respective aircraft had to be both compact and versatile. Typical aircraft in use were the Grumman F4F Wildcat fighter and the TBF Avenger torpedo bomber. In the fighter role the new design was also to offer a better performance than the F4F, but still be able to deliver bombs, water bombs and ideally a torpedo. Additionally, the aircraft had to be able to take off without a catapult in order to make it suitable for shorter and sometimes just improvised flight decks on modified merchant vessels.

 

Martin began work in April 1942, following an official US Navy Bureau of Aeronautics request. The resulting FM (actually the only fighter the Glenn L. Martin Company designed) offered all the requested improvements, even though it would not be able to carry a torpedo. The quasi-bubble canopy offered far better all-round and esp. rear view than the F4F cockpit. The wider landing gear (which retracted backwards, rotating through 90° to lie flat in the fixed wing parts) made landing on the short escort carrier decks much safer. The hydraulically actuated undercarriage struts also meant a huge advance in comfort for the pilot, compared to the hand-cranked landing gear of the F4F.

 

The outer wings could be folded away (either actuated, too, or manually), each panel outboard of the undercarriage bay folding backwards, parallel to the fuselage with the leading edges pointing down, in a similar fashion to the F4F or F6F, so that the aircraft took up only little space.

 

Special attention was taken to rigidity and corrosion prevention - on some makeshift escort carriers the aircraft had to be parked on deck and in the open all the time, as there was no hangar or lift available.

 

The FM was powered by a 1.900 hp (1,417 kW) R-2600-20 radial engine, driving a four-bladed propeller. Martin submitted the FM's design on 1st of July1942, with a contract for two prototypes and five service test aircraft awarded on 10th of August. The first flight of a prototype XFM took place on 16th February 1943 at the Columbus, Ohio Martin plant. Flight testing continued through 28th of August, when the last of the five pre-production aircraft took to the air. After thorough tests in late 1943 a production order for 300 FM-1 ‘Mako’ followed in March 1943.

 

The first serial production FM-1 Makos were delivered to the USN on 22th of May 1944 to the USS Solomons (CVE-67), a Casablanca Class escort carrier. From the total production of 305 aircraft, about 80 of these were delivered to the Royal Navy for their escort carriers in the Atlantic (used under the designation Mako Mk. 1) and 42 were delivered to the Royal New Zealand Air Force and used in the Pacific theatre, even though only from land bases.

 

While the Mako was not a first line fighter and rarely engaged in great aerial battles it served well in its intended multi-tasking role. Especially against German submarines in the Northern Atlantic the Mako was a valuable asset, as well in the interceptor role against German long range reconnaissance aircraft where top speed was not as crucial as in a direct dogfight situation.

 

A more successful career of the Mako was prevented through the due introduction of more potent fighter types, e .g. the Grumman F6F and Vought F4U. They offered an overall better performance than the FM, so that the further development and production of Martin’s sole fighter type was quickly stopped. It was also clear that the compact FM simply lacked internal space for future development.

 

After the WWII hostilities ceased, most FM-1s still in service were immediately retired or served as training aircraft or target tugs for only a short period, when they were replaced in these roles by the stronger fighter types.

   

General characteristics

Crew: 1

Length: 31 ft 4½ in (9.58 m)

Wingspan: 38 ft 4 in (11.70 m)

Height: 9 ft 2.5 in (2.8 m)

Wing area: 334 ft² (31 m²)

Empty weight: 9,238 lb (4,190 kg)

Loaded weight: 12,598 lb (5,714 kg)

Max. take-off weight: 15,415 lb (6,990 kg)

 

Powerplant:

1× Pratt & Whitney R-2600-20 Twin Cyclone two-row, 14-cylinder radial engine rated at a 1.900 hp (1.417 kW), driving a four-bladed Martin Electric propeller

 

Performance:

Maximum speed: 380 mph (610 km/h)

Combat radius: 820 nmi (945 mi, 1,520 km)

Service ceiling: 34,000 ft (10,363 m)

Rate of climb: 3,500 ft/min (17.8 m/s)

Wing loading: 37.7 lb/ft² (184 kg/m²)

 

Armament:

6× 0.50 in (12.7 mm) AN/M2 Browning machine guns with 360 RPG in the outer wings

Up to 2.000 lb (907kg) external ordnance on a centerline pylon and/or on two hardpoints under the wing roots, plus six attachments for unguided missiles/HVARs under the outer wings.

  

The kit and its assembly:

Originally I wanted to build a USN aircraft in the Atlantic paint scheme for some time, after having seen a whiffed Curtiss SB2C Helldiver in this neat livery. You rarely see aircraft in this grey/white scheme, and originally I planned to build an early F4U-1 as a respective whif. But: why not take it a step further and create a whole new aircraft for the Northern Atlantic theatre?

The potential specification list was built around the small escort carriers, and it became a true challenge to create something that would be plausible. When I came across Smèr’s 1:72 kit of the Curtiss SC-1 Seahawk seaplane I knew I had found my basis, though, and in the end the Mako is more or less a SC-1 turned into a carrier-borne fighter aircraft with a retractable landing gear!

 

The kit was mostly taken OOB, the central float just left away. The wings were mounted with a slight anhedral, resulting in a gull wing, much like the F6F. In order to make the aircraft look a bit more agile the wing tips were clipped by about 1cm on each side.

 

For the scratched landing gear (wild parts mix, from a Fw 190 and a Spitfire, among others), wells were cut out of the wing undersurfaces – overall benchmark was the F6F.

 

I also changed the engine from the SC-1’s original 9 cylinder radial engine into a 14 cylinder, two-row radial, which received a longer, more pointed cowling – taken from an SB2C and reduced in height by taking about 3mm out of every side. Reminds a bit of a Mitsubishi A6M Zero now? The propeller was carried over from the SC-1, but fitted with a metal axis so that it could spin freely in the new engine block.

  

Painting and markings:

Well, I did eventually not settle on an Atlantic livery (saved for a later project, maybe an SBC), but rather went for an RNZAF paint scheme – typical USN colors in Non-Specular Sea Blue (FS 35042), Intermediate Blue (FS 35164) and White, but with late war RNZAF markings, taken from a Smèr F4U-1.

 

As tones I used Modelmaster's 1718, Humbrol 96 (RAF Blue, which is a tad darker and greenish than FS 35164; Humbrol 144 would habe been the alternative) and acrlyic white from the rattle can below. All interior surface were painted in Zinc Chromate Green, I useed Humbrol 159 this time, which comes close but is darker/more dull than the authentic tone. The whole landing gear and the wells were kept white.

 

Panels were emphasized through dry painting with Humbrol 77 and 145, a light black ink wash added contrast to the engravings.

 

After decal application, some more dry painting with Dark Sea Grey was done, and soot and exhaust stains added with flat black. Finally, a coat of acrylic matt varnish was applied.

Instructions:

1. Turn off the sound-it is very distracting

2. Disregard the Camera Shake-My fault

3. Enjoy the Inside Shadow Shake!

-rc

/*********************************

The Silence Of Love (The Shape Of Water Soundtrack)

youtu.be/VKo81HpIZtY

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

Nothing you see here is real, even though the conversion or the presented background story might be based historical facts. BEWARE!

 

Some background:

Martin’s FM-1 was originally conceived as a replacement for the ageing Grumman Wildcat, as a fighter for smaller carriers, esp. for the US Navy and Royal Navy escort carriers in the Atlantic. These escort carriers, also called a "jeep carrier" or "baby flattop" in the USN or "Woolworth Carrier" by the Royal Navy, were a small and slow type of aircraft carrier, with limited capacity and primarily used to protect convoys against U-boats. In this role, escort carriers initially accompanied the merchant ships and fended off attacks from aircraft and submarines. Later in the war, escort carriers became part of hunter-killer groups which sought out submarines instead of being attached to a particular convoy.

 

Allied escort carriers were typically around 500 ft (150 m) long, not much more than half the length of the almost 900 ft (270 m) fleet carriers of the same era, but were less than 1/3 of the weight. A typical escort carrier displaced about 8,000 long tons (8,100 t), as compared to almost 30,000 long tons (30,000 t) for a full-size fleet carrier. The aircraft hangar (if there was any!) typically ran only 1/3 of the way under the flight deck and housed a combination of 24-30 fighters and bombers organized into one single "composite squadron". By comparison, a late Essex-class fleet carrier could carry a total of 103 aircraft organized into separate fighter, bomber and torpedo-bomber squadrons.

 

A respective aircraft had to be both compact and versatile. Typical aircraft in use were the Grumman F4F Wildcat fighter and the TBF Avenger torpedo bomber. In the fighter role the new design was also to offer a better performance than the F4F, but still be able to deliver bombs, water bombs and ideally a torpedo. Additionally, the aircraft had to be able to take off without a catapult in order to make it suitable for shorter and sometimes just improvised flight decks on modified merchant vessels.

 

Martin began work in April 1942, following an official US Navy Bureau of Aeronautics request. The resulting FM (actually the only fighter the Glenn L. Martin Company designed) offered all the requested improvements, even though it would not be able to carry a torpedo. The quasi-bubble canopy offered far better all-round and esp. rear view than the F4F cockpit. The wider landing gear (which retracted backwards, rotating through 90° to lie flat in the fixed wing parts) made landing on the short escort carrier decks much safer. The hydraulically actuated undercarriage struts also meant a huge advance in comfort for the pilot, compared to the hand-cranked landing gear of the F4F.

 

The outer wings could be folded away (either actuated, too, or manually), each panel outboard of the undercarriage bay folding backwards, parallel to the fuselage with the leading edges pointing down, in a similar fashion to the F4F or F6F, so that the aircraft took up only little space.

 

Special attention was taken to rigidity and corrosion prevention - on some makeshift escort carriers the aircraft had to be parked on deck and in the open all the time, as there was no hangar or lift available.

 

The FM was powered by a 1.900 hp (1,417 kW) R-2600-20 radial engine, driving a four-bladed propeller. Martin submitted the FM's design on 1st of July1942, with a contract for two prototypes and five service test aircraft awarded on 10th of August. The first flight of a prototype XFM took place on 16th February 1943 at the Columbus, Ohio Martin plant. Flight testing continued through 28th of August, when the last of the five pre-production aircraft took to the air. After thorough tests in late 1943 a production order for 300 FM-1 ‘Mako’ followed in March 1943.

 

The first serial production FM-1 Makos were delivered to the USN on 22th of May 1944 to the USS Solomons (CVE-67), a Casablanca Class escort carrier. From the total production of 305 aircraft, about 80 of these were delivered to the Royal Navy for their escort carriers in the Atlantic (used under the designation Mako Mk. 1) and 42 were delivered to the Royal New Zealand Air Force and used in the Pacific theatre, even though only from land bases.

 

While the Mako was not a first line fighter and rarely engaged in great aerial battles it served well in its intended multi-tasking role. Especially against German submarines in the Northern Atlantic the Mako was a valuable asset, as well in the interceptor role against German long range reconnaissance aircraft where top speed was not as crucial as in a direct dogfight situation.

 

A more successful career of the Mako was prevented through the due introduction of more potent fighter types, e .g. the Grumman F6F and Vought F4U. They offered an overall better performance than the FM, so that the further development and production of Martin’s sole fighter type was quickly stopped. It was also clear that the compact FM simply lacked internal space for future development.

 

After the WWII hostilities ceased, most FM-1s still in service were immediately retired or served as training aircraft or target tugs for only a short period, when they were replaced in these roles by the stronger fighter types.

   

General characteristics

Crew: 1

Length: 31 ft 4½ in (9.58 m)

Wingspan: 38 ft 4 in (11.70 m)

Height: 9 ft 2.5 in (2.8 m)

Wing area: 334 ft² (31 m²)

Empty weight: 9,238 lb (4,190 kg)

Loaded weight: 12,598 lb (5,714 kg)

Max. take-off weight: 15,415 lb (6,990 kg)

 

Powerplant:

1× Pratt & Whitney R-2600-20 Twin Cyclone two-row, 14-cylinder radial engine rated at a 1.900 hp (1.417 kW), driving a four-bladed Martin Electric propeller

 

Performance:

Maximum speed: 380 mph (610 km/h)

Combat radius: 820 nmi (945 mi, 1,520 km)

Service ceiling: 34,000 ft (10,363 m)

Rate of climb: 3,500 ft/min (17.8 m/s)

Wing loading: 37.7 lb/ft² (184 kg/m²)

 

Armament:

6× 0.50 in (12.7 mm) AN/M2 Browning machine guns with 360 RPG in the outer wings

Up to 2.000 lb (907kg) external ordnance on a centerline pylon and/or on two hardpoints under the wing roots, plus six attachments for unguided missiles/HVARs under the outer wings.

  

The kit and its assembly:

Originally I wanted to build a USN aircraft in the Atlantic paint scheme for some time, after having seen a whiffed Curtiss SB2C Helldiver in this neat livery. You rarely see aircraft in this grey/white scheme, and originally I planned to build an early F4U-1 as a respective whif. But: why not take it a step further and create a whole new aircraft for the Northern Atlantic theatre?

The potential specification list was built around the small escort carriers, and it became a true challenge to create something that would be plausible. When I came across Smèr’s 1:72 kit of the Curtiss SC-1 Seahawk seaplane I knew I had found my basis, though, and in the end the Mako is more or less a SC-1 turned into a carrier-borne fighter aircraft with a retractable landing gear!

 

The kit was mostly taken OOB, the central float just left away. The wings were mounted with a slight anhedral, resulting in a gull wing, much like the F6F. In order to make the aircraft look a bit more agile the wing tips were clipped by about 1cm on each side.

 

For the scratched landing gear (wild parts mix, from a Fw 190 and a Spitfire, among others), wells were cut out of the wing undersurfaces – overall benchmark was the F6F.

 

I also changed the engine from the SC-1’s original 9 cylinder radial engine into a 14 cylinder, two-row radial, which received a longer, more pointed cowling – taken from an SB2C and reduced in height by taking about 3mm out of every side. Reminds a bit of a Mitsubishi A6M Zero now? The propeller was carried over from the SC-1, but fitted with a metal axis so that it could spin freely in the new engine block.

  

Painting and markings:

Well, I did eventually not settle on an Atlantic livery (saved for a later project, maybe an SBC), but rather went for an RNZAF paint scheme – typical USN colors in Non-Specular Sea Blue (FS 35042), Intermediate Blue (FS 35164) and White, but with late war RNZAF markings, taken from a Smèr F4U-1.

 

As tones I used Modelmaster's 1718, Humbrol 96 (RAF Blue, which is a tad darker and greenish than FS 35164; Humbrol 144 would habe been the alternative) and acrlyic white from the rattle can below. All interior surface were painted in Zinc Chromate Green, I useed Humbrol 159 this time, which comes close but is darker/more dull than the authentic tone. The whole landing gear and the wells were kept white.

 

Panels were emphasized through dry painting with Humbrol 77 and 145, a light black ink wash added contrast to the engravings.

 

After decal application, some more dry painting with Dark Sea Grey was done, and soot and exhaust stains added with flat black. Finally, a coat of acrylic matt varnish was applied.

today Our #1 turned 19!!! so we took a trip into the big city to play :)

 

one more day and she goes home to old blighty so we are making the most of our last hours together....

Released 11/23/2012

 

5/30/71 Winterland Arena, San Francisco, CA

 

SIDE 1

1. Sugar Magnolia

2. Cumberland Blues

3. Big Boss Man

 

SIDE 2

1. Me And My Uncle

2. Deal

3. Truckin’

 

SIDE 3

1. Turn on Your Love Light

 

SIDE 4

1. Uncle John’s Band

2. Casey Jones

3. Johnny B. Goode

  

How This Works:

 

1. Click this link: freerotator.com/mr/?u=xratedhaha

 

2. Choose Your Reward

 

3. Complete 1 or more of the Advertisers

 

4. I personally did the Video Professor offer it gives instant full credit.

 

5. Send A Screenshot Of Your "Status" Page To: xratedhaha@yahoo.com

 

6. Share! Share! Share! Post this video on your myspace, facebook or any other place you can think of. Post it on blogs and share it with everyone.

 

7. Watch your referrals sign up

 

8. Any updates will be posted at the bottom of this video description. Please check back to stay informed. I will not be responsible for anyone not being aware of any updates.

 

***IMPORTANT***

 

TopInternetRewards has made it so we can get UNLIMITED REWARDS! That means that after you get your PlayStation you can turn arounds and start getting an Xbox or a new Laptop or even CASH! You never have to stop!

 

That's right - once you get qualified for the rotator (just complete your offers and go "green") you'll never have to stop getting free stuff like free PS3's, X-box's, high def TV's and even cash!

 

Free PS3 - Free Xbox - Free Computer - Free Laptop - Free iPod - Free Games - Free Gear - Free Money and lot's more!

 

Here is the link: freerotator.com/mr/?u=xratedhaha

 

Watch the Famous Free PS3 Video Gone Wild! Video - Sign up - Complete offer - share this video with everyone!

 

That's it, it really is that simple.

 

Don't Forget To make Your Own YouTube Video for TopInternetRewards or YOU CAN ALWAYS USE THIS ONE!

 

Send Your "Status Page" Screenshot to:

xrated@yahoo.com

 

Some of you have had some issues getting credit for completing your offer requirements. Here are the main and most frequent solutions to this problem.

 

1. Turn off all and any pop up blockers, anti-spyware, and anti-virus software you may have running. These often times interfere with the companies being able to track the order to you.

 

2. Make sure you can accept ALL cookies from third parties.

 

3. Always clear your cookies BEFORE completing an offer.

 

Follow these rules, and you are sure to find success in getting credit for completing an offer.

 

Thank you again for everyone who has helped!

Dragonfly Wind-Up Ornithopter. Fast and maneuverable short distance flying machine with 2 pack storage capacity. 1 turn = 3 minutes flight time. 20 turn 60 min max. Emergency 6 min back up spring. Replace main drive spring every 2 years. Ornithopter operating license required.

How This Works:

 

1. Click this link: freerotator.com/mr/?u=xratedhaha

 

2. Choose Your Reward

 

3. Complete 1 or more of the Advertisers

 

4. I personally did the Video Professor offer it gives instant full credit.

 

5. Send A Screenshot Of Your "Status" Page To: xratedhaha@yahoo.com

 

6. Share! Share! Share! Post this video on your myspace, facebook or any other place you can think of. Post it on blogs and share it with everyone.

 

7. Watch your referrals sign up

 

8. Any updates will be posted at the bottom of this video description. Please check back to stay informed. I will not be responsible for anyone not being aware of any updates.

 

***IMPORTANT***

 

TopInternetRewards has made it so we can get UNLIMITED REWARDS! That means that after you get your PlayStation you can turn arounds and start getting an Xbox or a new Laptop or even CASH! You never have to stop!

 

That's right - once you get qualified for the rotator (just complete your offers and go "green") you'll never have to stop getting free stuff like free PS3's, X-box's, high def TV's and even cash!

 

Free PS3 - Free Xbox - Free Computer - Free Laptop - Free iPod - Free Games - Free Gear - Free Money and lot's more!

 

Here is the link: freerotator.com/mr/?u=xratedhaha

 

Watch the Famous Free PS3 Video Gone Wild! Video - Sign up - Complete offer - share this video with everyone!

 

That's it, it really is that simple.

 

Don't Forget To make Your Own YouTube Video for TopInternetRewards or YOU CAN ALWAYS USE THIS ONE!

 

Send Your "Status Page" Screenshot to:

xrated@yahoo.com

 

Some of you have had some issues getting credit for completing your offer requirements. Here are the main and most frequent solutions to this problem.

 

1. Turn off all and any pop up blockers, anti-spyware, and anti-virus software you may have running. These often times interfere with the companies being able to track the order to you.

 

2. Make sure you can accept ALL cookies from third parties.

 

3. Always clear your cookies BEFORE completing an offer.

 

Follow these rules, and you are sure to find success in getting credit for completing an offer.

 

Thank you again for everyone who has helped!

Jorge Lorenzo's crash on Lap 1, turn 5

Welcome!

 

1. Turn on ”Albums”, to see the items ordered in directories.

 

2. Being in the album, You can find a full description of the item, by clicking "SHOW MORE".

 

3. Contact me: drogamiecza@gmail.com (send a link, photo or the number, of interested item).

 

4. Check my profile on ebay. I am a Top Rated Seller: feedback.ebay.com/fdbk/feedback_profile/artur_drogamiecza

 

FB: www.facebook.com/artur.drogamiecza.5/

 

INSTA: www.instagram.com/artur.drogamiecza/

 

EBAY: www.ebay.com/sch/artur_drogamiecza/m.html?_nkw=&_armr...

 

Bletchley Park and Mrs PB's business weren't the only thing Mr Fox and Mrs Polar Bear got up to this Sunday!

 

Nope, outside in the quite-cold autumn air they thought they'd build a bonfire.

 

Mr Fox is a master of most things bushcraft, and Mrs PB has an uncanny aptitude for getting foxes to fetch her sticks.

 

It didn't take long for them to build an epic pier.

 

A slightly too epic pier!

 

Oh well, no harm done!

  

So what's next?

 

Well this isn't the last you'll here of Mr Fox and Mrs PB that's for sure! ;o)

 

We've been racking our varying sized brains and here are a few of our ideas;

 

1) Turn their 366 Days into a book. We're not sure whether to do them all, a best of, include the stories, not include the stories etc.

 

2) Make some more stuff! Mr Tom still needs to re-design some goodies for our Fox-I quiz entries!

 

3) While we don't think we can manage another 365 days, and would quite like to try something new. We're still going to try and upload something everyday! We're not 100% sure Flickr's the right medium for this, so might start a blog too!

 

4) Mr Fox has been thinking about starting a children's engineering / science series where he'd explain how some of his all time favourite contraptions work!

 

5) Mrs Emily and Mrs PB have held several 'mother's meetings' to discuss starting their own food blog!

 

6) Write some comics or short stories chronicling some of Mr Fox and Mrs PB's best adventures!

 

7) Anything you can suggest!

Released 10/4/2005

 

3/17/68 Carousel Ballroom, San Francisco, CA

 

DISC 1

1. Turn On Your Love Light

2. That's It for the Other One >

3. New Potato Caboose

4. China Cat Sunflower >

5. The Eleven >

6. Caution (Do Not Stop on Tracks) >

7. Feedback

 

1.Turn your head to the left. 2. Without pausing turn head to the right immediately afterwards. 3. Repeat exercise when offered something to eat outside of your diet plan.

don't let your kids do mechanical engineering because this is what will usually happen to them at night.. ! they end up like me.. listening to weird songs with stupid nicknames on the "live" messenger cursing their instructors because they give them loads of work, and start complaining about everything and never stop doing that.. hah!

 

to be honest, i skipped my work and played with the camera trying different angles and stuff.. till i reached my creative point:

 

1.turn on the desk light (helps with the exposure)

2. put the camera on Timer and shoot...

3 while the timer is running switch off our light and keep your laptop opened...

4. this is the result that you get..

 

Conclusion:

i'm a creative guy who works at night most of the time!

 

Kinetic Energy + Potential Energy = Work Done!

  

p.s: no processing at all, unless if you keep slight sharpening processing..

  

Steve Angello at his best!

the aluminum hex bar used here is 7/8" across flats.

 

(count the chips)

All eyes turn to watch the path of the ball sent down the line by Isabelle Forrer (SUI, #1). Lauren Fendrick (USA, #1) turns to see whether partner Brooke Sweat has a play or whether ball lands out. Anouk Verge-Depre (SUI, #2) looks on. WSOBV Long Beach 2015 Main Draw, Pool D.

A rare clean start for a Canadian GP. We're usually expecting to see the Safety car head out after the starting chaos has settled.

WNYP ME-1 turns the corner at Celeron with C424 #435 leading the way. While having been on the property almost as long as the rest of her four axle sisters, 435 is the most recent to be painted in WNYP's classy black and yellow scheme. Almost a year later and the unit is still a little clean.

Painting and markings:

The paint scheme for this Super Valkyrie was settled upon before I considered the S-FAST Pack addition: U.N. Spacy’s SVF-124 is authentic, as well as its unique camouflage paint scheme.

The latter is a special scheme for the lunar environment where the unit was originally formed and based, with all-black undersides, a high, wavy waterline and a light grey upper surface, plus some medium grey trim and a few colorful US Navy style markings and codes.

 

My core reference is a ‘naked’ bread-and-butter VF-1A of SVF-124 in Fighter mode, depicted as a profile in a VF-1 source book from SoftBank Publishing. The colors for the FAST Pack elements are guesstimates and personal interpretations, though, since I could not find any reference for their look in this unit.

As a side note, another, later SVF-124 aircraft in a similar design is included as an option in a limited edition 1:72 VF-22S kit from Hasegawa, which is backed by CG pics in a VF-22 source book from Softbank, too.

Furthermore, SVF-124 finds mention in a Japanese modeler magazine, where the aforementioned VF-22S kit was presented in 2008. So there must be something behind the ‘Moon Shooters’ squadron.

 

According to the Hasegawa VF-22S’s painting instructions, the underside becomes black and the upper surfaces are to be painted with FS36270 (with some darker fields on the VF-22, though, similar to the USAF F-15 counter-shaded air superiority scheme, just a tad darker).

Due to the 1:100 scale tininess of my VF-1, I alternatively went for Revell 75 (RAL 7039), which is lighter and also has a brownish hue, so that the resulting aircraft would not look too cold and murky, and not resemble an USAF aircraft.

 

All FAST Pack elements were painted in a uniform dark grey (Humbrol 32), while some subtle decorative trim on the upper surfaces, e.g. the canopy frame, an anti-glare panel and a stripe behind the cockpit and decoration trim on the wings’ upper surfaces, was added with Revell 77 (RAL 7012). Overall, colors are rather dull, but IMHO very effective in the “landscape” this machine is supposed to operate, and the few colorful markings stand out even more!

 

The cockpit interior was painted in a bluish grey, with reddish brown seat cushions (late 70ies style!), and the landing gear became all white. For some added detail I painted the wings’ leading edges in a mustard tone (Humbrol 225, Mid Stone).

 

The kit received some weathering (black ink wash, drybrushing on panels) and extra treatment of the panel lines – even though the FAST Pack elements hide a lot of surface or obscure view.

 

More color and individuality came with the markings. The standard decals like stencils or the U.N. Spacy insignia come from the kit’s and some other VF-1s’ OOB sheets.

Based on the SVF-124 VF-1 profile and taking the basic design a bit further, I used dull red USAF 45° digits for the 2nd flight leader’s “200” modex and the Apollo Base’s code “MA” on the dorsal boosters. Some discreet red trim was also applied to the FAST Packs – but only a little.

 

Since all of SVF-124’s aircraft are rumored to carry personal markings, including nose art and similar decorations, I tried to give this VF-1JS a personal note: the pin-up badges on the dorsal boosters come from a Peddinghouse decal sheet for Allied WWII tanks, placed on a silver roundel base. Unfortunately (and not visible before I applied them) the pin-up decal was not printed on a white basis, so that the contrast on the silver is not very strong, but I left it that way. Additionally, the tagline “You’re a$$ next, Jerry” (which IS printed in opaque white…?) was added next to the artwork – but it’s so tiny that you have to get really close to decipher it at all…

 

Finally, after some soot stains around the exhausts and some vernier nozzels with graphite, the kit received a coat of matt acrylic varnish.

 

Building this vintage VF-1 kit took a while and a lot of effort, but I like the result: with the S-FAST Pack, the elegant VF-1 turned into a massive space fighter hulk! The normal Super Valkyries already look very compact and purposeful, but this here is truly menacing. Especially when standing on its own feet/landing gear, with its nose-down stance and the small, original wheels, this thing reminds of a Space Shuttle that had just landed.

 

Good that I recently built a simple VF-1 fighter as a warm-up session. ARII’s kit #70 is not a pleasant build, rather a fight with the elements and coupled with a lot of compromises – if you want a Super Valkyrie Fighter in 1:100, the much more modern WAVE kit is IMHO the better option (and actually not much more pricey than this vintage collector’s item). But for the vintage feeling, this exotic model kit was just the right ticket, and it turned, despite many weaknesses and rather corny details, into an impressive fighter. Esp. the lunar camouflage scheme looks odd, but very unique and purposeful.

This is the McLaren M26, which raced during the 1977 Formula 1 season.

 

James Hunt had become world champion in the McLaren M23 in 1976, and the M26 was put on hold due to reliability issues in the first few races (the M23 was used instead).

 

However, with the M26, Hunt won three races that year, the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, the United States race at Watkins Glen and the Japanese race at Fuji.

 

The M26 raced until 1979 but proved to be less of a competitive car and it wasn't till 1981 that the MP4/1 turned around McLaren's fortunes.

Step 1) Turn the box of ordnance on its side.

Step 2) With the blunt end of a large ax, give the lid a swift and firm whack.

Step 3) Pick up all the hand grenades that flew out and buried your feet.

saipanhistory.blogspot.com/

¿Acaso hubo búhos acá? / Cristian Carracedo, Jose de Diego & Todd Shalom

 

foto: Dudu Quintanilha

 

elastic-city.com/walks/acaso-hubo-b%C3%BAhos-ac%C3%A1

 

Un corto recorrido uniendo dos polos no tan opuestos: la naturaleza y lo urbano. Con una constante: la propia percepción. Buscando agudizar la audición para permitir que un lugar incluya al otro. Predispuesto a que un sonido sea un silencio. Que algo que parece lejos en realidad esté cerca. Que un día más de la semana se transforme instantáneamente en un feriado, vacación.

 

Hay 2 recorridos:

 

21/11/2010 Domingo

 

15.30hs

1° Turno: Lugar de Encuentro: Av. Ing Huergo y Av. San Juan (Puerto Madero)

 

18.00hs

2° Turno: Lugar de Encuentro: Entrada de la Reserva Ecológica por Rosario Vera Peñaloza. En frente de la fuente: es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuente_Monumental_Las_Nereidas

 

Duracion: 70 minutos

WALL-E PATTERN:

 

Body (in 6 pieces):

 

Top/bottom plates (yellow yarn, make 2):

Row 1: ch 11, turn

Rows 2-9: sc in each stitch across, ch 1, turn

Row 10: sc in each stitch across. Finish off.

 

Back plate (yellow yarn, make 1):

Row 1: ch 11, turn

Rows 2-7: sc in each stitch across, ch 1, turn

Row 8: sc in each stitch across. Finish off.

 

Side/front plates (start with yellow yarn, make 3):

Row 1: ch 11, turn

Rows 2-6: sc in each stitch across, ch 1, turn, switch colors to grey yarn

Row 7: sc in each stitch across, ch 1, turn

Row 8: sc in each stitch across. Finish off.

Choose one of these pieces to be the front plate. Embroider the WALL-E logo with black, red, and white embroidery floss. You may want to look up a picture of the real WALL-E for this, because my embroidered version is quite rough.

 

Assemble body one seam at a time. Align 2 contiguous plates (I started with the bottom and back plates) and single crochet through both layers to attach. I learned this method from an amazing recycled shopping bag pattern, found here, which has many pictures if you need more detailed directions on this. Connect each plate one at a time, saving the top plate for last. You may wish to change colors midway through some of the side seams to preserve the grey stripe (but note that the grey stripe only runs across the side and front plates, not the back). Connect two sides of the top plate and stuff. I used lentils in the bottom and polyfil on top. Finish the final two seams and secure the vast multitude of ends Smiley

 

Feet (in 3 parts for each foot):

 

Wheels (grey yarn, make 2 for each foot):

Row 1: Magic ring- 6 sc, place marker.

Rows 2-5: sc in each sc around, move marker

Row 6: *sc dec in 1st stitch, sc in 2nd stitch* repeat around, move marker

Row 7: *sc dec in 1st stitch, sc in 2nd stitch* repeat around. Finish off.

 

Treads (black yarn, make 1 for each foot):

Row 1: ch 5, turn

Rows 2-20: sc in each stitch, ch 1, turn (repeat until long enough to wrap around 2 wheels)

Row 21-ish: sc in each stitch. Finish off.

 

Assemble feet by sewing 2 wheels onto each tread, wrapping the tread around to meet itself, and sewing once more to secure. Attach to bottom of body (remember that the grey body stripe should come out on top!) using ends from treads.

 

Neck (yellow yarn):

 

Row 1: Magic ring using 6 slip stitches

Row 2-end: Slip stitch around until piece reaches desired length (about 1 inch long). Finish off.

Attach to center of top plate on body and secure ends.

 

Eyes (in 3 parts for each eye):

 

Eye tubes (grey yarn, make 1 for each eye):

Row 1: ch 7, turn

Rows 2-11: sc in each stitch, ch 1, turn

Row 12: sc in each stitch. Finish off.

Put short ends of piece together to form a tube. Connect edges together using single crochet method described for body seams.

 

Ends of eye tubes (grey yarn, make 2 for each eye):

Row 1: Magic ring- 6 sc. Finish off.

Push safety eyes through two of these pieces to make the front of each eye tube. Sew each circular piece onto the eye tubes, stuffing lightly to preserve the shape. Attach each eye to neck, about halfway down length of the eye tube.

 

Arms (yellow yarn, make 2):

 

Row 1: ch 9, turn

Rows 2-6: sc in each stitch, ch 1, turn

Row 7: sc in each stitch. Finish off.

Fold over lengthwise and sew up edge with ends. If desired, tuck magnet into tip of arm and sew into place. The magnetic face should point out toward where the hands will be attached (otherwise, he’ll hold wrists with Eve instead of holding hands!). Sew diagonal stripes along outside edge of each arm using black and white yarn or embroidery floss.

 

Hands (in 2 parts for each hand):

 

Finger piece (grey yarn, make 1 for each hand):

Row 1: ch 5, turn

Rows 2-3: sc in each stitch, ch 1, turn

Row 4: sc in each stitch. Finish off.

 

Thumb piece (grey yarn, make 1 for each hand):

Row 1: ch 4, turn

Row 2: sc in each stitch, ch 1, turn

Row 3: sc in each stitch. Finish off.

 

Attach the finger piece to the outer side of each arm, and the thumb piece to the inner side. Use ends from arms to attach to body.

 

¿Acaso hubo búhos acá? / Cristian Carracedo, Jose de Diego & Todd Shalom

 

foto: Dudu Quintanilha

 

elastic-city.com/walks/acaso-hubo-b%C3%BAhos-ac%C3%A1

 

Un corto recorrido uniendo dos polos no tan opuestos: la naturaleza y lo urbano. Con una constante: la propia percepción. Buscando agudizar la audición para permitir que un lugar incluya al otro. Predispuesto a que un sonido sea un silencio. Que algo que parece lejos en realidad esté cerca. Que un día más de la semana se transforme instantáneamente en un feriado, vacación.

 

Hay 2 recorridos:

 

21/11/2010 Domingo

 

15.30hs

1° Turno: Lugar de Encuentro: Av. Ing Huergo y Av. San Juan (Puerto Madero)

 

18.00hs

2° Turno: Lugar de Encuentro: Entrada de la Reserva Ecológica por Rosario Vera Peñaloza. En frente de la fuente: es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuente_Monumental_Las_Nereidas

 

Duracion: 70 minutos

Painting and markings:

The paint scheme for this Super Valkyrie was settled upon before I considered the S-FAST Pack addition: U.N. Spacy’s SVF-124 is authentic, as well as its unique camouflage paint scheme.

The latter is a special scheme for the lunar environment where the unit was originally formed and based, with all-black undersides, a high, wavy waterline and a light grey upper surface, plus some medium grey trim and a few colorful US Navy style markings and codes.

 

My core reference is a ‘naked’ bread-and-butter VF-1A of SVF-124 in Fighter mode, depicted as a profile in a VF-1 source book from SoftBank Publishing. The colors for the FAST Pack elements are guesstimates and personal interpretations, though, since I could not find any reference for their look in this unit.

As a side note, another, later SVF-124 aircraft in a similar design is included as an option in a limited edition 1:72 VF-22S kit from Hasegawa, which is backed by CG pics in a VF-22 source book from Softbank, too.

Furthermore, SVF-124 finds mention in a Japanese modeler magazine, where the aforementioned VF-22S kit was presented in 2008. So there must be something behind the ‘Moon Shooters’ squadron.

 

According to the Hasegawa VF-22S’s painting instructions, the underside becomes black and the upper surfaces are to be painted with FS36270 (with some darker fields on the VF-22, though, similar to the USAF F-15 counter-shaded air superiority scheme, just a tad darker).

Due to the 1:100 scale tininess of my VF-1, I alternatively went for Revell 75 (RAL 7039), which is lighter and also has a brownish hue, so that the resulting aircraft would not look too cold and murky, and not resemble an USAF aircraft.

 

All FAST Pack elements were painted in a uniform dark grey (Humbrol 32), while some subtle decorative trim on the upper surfaces, e.g. the canopy frame, an anti-glare panel and a stripe behind the cockpit and decoration trim on the wings’ upper surfaces, was added with Revell 77 (RAL 7012). Overall, colors are rather dull, but IMHO very effective in the “landscape” this machine is supposed to operate, and the few colorful markings stand out even more!

 

The cockpit interior was painted in a bluish grey, with reddish brown seat cushions (late 70ies style!), and the landing gear became all white. For some added detail I painted the wings’ leading edges in a mustard tone (Humbrol 225, Mid Stone).

 

The kit received some weathering (black ink wash, drybrushing on panels) and extra treatment of the panel lines – even though the FAST Pack elements hide a lot of surface or obscure view.

 

More color and individuality came with the markings. The standard decals like stencils or the U.N. Spacy insignia come from the kit’s and some other VF-1s’ OOB sheets.

Based on the SVF-124 VF-1 profile and taking the basic design a bit further, I used dull red USAF 45° digits for the 2nd flight leader’s “200” modex and the Apollo Base’s code “MA” on the dorsal boosters. Some discreet red trim was also applied to the FAST Packs – but only a little.

 

Since all of SVF-124’s aircraft are rumored to carry personal markings, including nose art and similar decorations, I tried to give this VF-1JS a personal note: the pin-up badges on the dorsal boosters come from a Peddinghouse decal sheet for Allied WWII tanks, placed on a silver roundel base. Unfortunately (and not visible before I applied them) the pin-up decal was not printed on a white basis, so that the contrast on the silver is not very strong, but I left it that way. Additionally, the tagline “You’re a$$ next, Jerry” (which IS printed in opaque white…?) was added next to the artwork – but it’s so tiny that you have to get really close to decipher it at all…

 

Finally, after some soot stains around the exhausts and some vernier nozzels with graphite, the kit received a coat of matt acrylic varnish.

 

Building this vintage VF-1 kit took a while and a lot of effort, but I like the result: with the S-FAST Pack, the elegant VF-1 turned into a massive space fighter hulk! The normal Super Valkyries already look very compact and purposeful, but this here is truly menacing. Especially when standing on its own feet/landing gear, with its nose-down stance and the small, original wheels, this thing reminds of a Space Shuttle that had just landed.

 

Good that I recently built a simple VF-1 fighter as a warm-up session. ARII’s kit #70 is not a pleasant build, rather a fight with the elements and coupled with a lot of compromises – if you want a Super Valkyrie Fighter in 1:100, the much more modern WAVE kit is IMHO the better option (and actually not much more pricey than this vintage collector’s item). But for the vintage feeling, this exotic model kit was just the right ticket, and it turned, despite many weaknesses and rather corny details, into an impressive fighter. Esp. the lunar camouflage scheme looks odd, but very unique and purposeful.

¿Acaso hubo búhos acá? / Cristian Carracedo, Jose de Diego & Todd Shalom

 

foto: Dudu Quintanilha

 

elastic-city.com/walks/acaso-hubo-b%C3%BAhos-ac%C3%A1

 

Un corto recorrido uniendo dos polos no tan opuestos: la naturaleza y lo urbano. Con una constante: la propia percepción. Buscando agudizar la audición para permitir que un lugar incluya al otro. Predispuesto a que un sonido sea un silencio. Que algo que parece lejos en realidad esté cerca. Que un día más de la semana se transforme instantáneamente en un feriado, vacación.

 

Hay 2 recorridos:

 

21/11/2010 Domingo

 

15.30hs

1° Turno: Lugar de Encuentro: Av. Ing Huergo y Av. San Juan (Puerto Madero)

 

18.00hs

2° Turno: Lugar de Encuentro: Entrada de la Reserva Ecológica por Rosario Vera Peñaloza. En frente de la fuente: es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuente_Monumental_Las_Nereidas

 

Duracion: 70 minutos

Welcome!

1. Turn on ”Albums”, to see the items ordered in directories.

2. Being in the album, You can find a full description of the item, by clicking "SHOW MORE".

3. Contact me: drogamiecza@gmail.com (send a link, photo or the number, of interested item).

4. Check my profile on ebay. I am a Top Rated Seller: feedback.ebay.com/fdbk/feedback_profile/artur_drogamiecza

FB: www.facebook.com/artur.drogamiecza.5/

INSTA: www.instagram.com/artur.drogamiecza/

EBAY: www.ebay.com/sch/artur_drogamiecza/m.html?_nkw=&_armr...

Painting and markings:

The paint scheme for this Super Valkyrie was settled upon before I considered the S-FAST Pack addition: U.N. Spacy’s SVF-124 is authentic, as well as its unique camouflage paint scheme.

The latter is a special scheme for the lunar environment where the unit was originally formed and based, with all-black undersides, a high, wavy waterline and a light grey upper surface, plus some medium grey trim and a few colorful US Navy style markings and codes.

 

My core reference is a ‘naked’ bread-and-butter VF-1A of SVF-124 in Fighter mode, depicted as a profile in a VF-1 source book from SoftBank Publishing. The colors for the FAST Pack elements are guesstimates and personal interpretations, though, since I could not find any reference for their look in this unit.

As a side note, another, later SVF-124 aircraft in a similar design is included as an option in a limited edition 1:72 VF-22S kit from Hasegawa, which is backed by CG pics in a VF-22 source book from Softbank, too.

Furthermore, SVF-124 finds mention in a Japanese modeler magazine, where the aforementioned VF-22S kit was presented in 2008. So there must be something behind the ‘Moon Shooters’ squadron.

 

According to the Hasegawa VF-22S’s painting instructions, the underside becomes black and the upper surfaces are to be painted with FS36270 (with some darker fields on the VF-22, though, similar to the USAF F-15 counter-shaded air superiority scheme, just a tad darker).

Due to the 1:100 scale tininess of my VF-1, I alternatively went for Revell 75 (RAL 7039), which is lighter and also has a brownish hue, so that the resulting aircraft would not look too cold and murky, and not resemble an USAF aircraft.

 

All FAST Pack elements were painted in a uniform dark grey (Humbrol 32), while some subtle decorative trim on the upper surfaces, e.g. the canopy frame, an anti-glare panel and a stripe behind the cockpit and decoration trim on the wings’ upper surfaces, was added with Revell 77 (RAL 7012). Overall, colors are rather dull, but IMHO very effective in the “landscape” this machine is supposed to operate, and the few colorful markings stand out even more!

 

The cockpit interior was painted in a bluish grey, with reddish brown seat cushions (late 70ies style!), and the landing gear became all white. For some added detail I painted the wings’ leading edges in a mustard tone (Humbrol 225, Mid Stone).

 

The kit received some weathering (black ink wash, drybrushing on panels) and extra treatment of the panel lines – even though the FAST Pack elements hide a lot of surface or obscure view.

 

More color and individuality came with the markings. The standard decals like stencils or the U.N. Spacy insignia come from the kit’s and some other VF-1s’ OOB sheets.

Based on the SVF-124 VF-1 profile and taking the basic design a bit further, I used dull red USAF 45° digits for the 2nd flight leader’s “200” modex and the Apollo Base’s code “MA” on the dorsal boosters. Some discreet red trim was also applied to the FAST Packs – but only a little.

 

Since all of SVF-124’s aircraft are rumored to carry personal markings, including nose art and similar decorations, I tried to give this VF-1JS a personal note: the pin-up badges on the dorsal boosters come from a Peddinghouse decal sheet for Allied WWII tanks, placed on a silver roundel base. Unfortunately (and not visible before I applied them) the pin-up decal was not printed on a white basis, so that the contrast on the silver is not very strong, but I left it that way. Additionally, the tagline “You’re a$$ next, Jerry” (which IS printed in opaque white…?) was added next to the artwork – but it’s so tiny that you have to get really close to decipher it at all…

 

Finally, after some soot stains around the exhausts and some vernier nozzels with graphite, the kit received a coat of matt acrylic varnish.

 

Building this vintage VF-1 kit took a while and a lot of effort, but I like the result: with the S-FAST Pack, the elegant VF-1 turned into a massive space fighter hulk! The normal Super Valkyries already look very compact and purposeful, but this here is truly menacing. Especially when standing on its own feet/landing gear, with its nose-down stance and the small, original wheels, this thing reminds of a Space Shuttle that had just landed.

 

Good that I recently built a simple VF-1 fighter as a warm-up session. ARII’s kit #70 is not a pleasant build, rather a fight with the elements and coupled with a lot of compromises – if you want a Super Valkyrie Fighter in 1:100, the much more modern WAVE kit is IMHO the better option (and actually not much more pricey than this vintage collector’s item). But for the vintage feeling, this exotic model kit was just the right ticket, and it turned, despite many weaknesses and rather corny details, into an impressive fighter. Esp. the lunar camouflage scheme looks odd, but very unique and purposeful.

¿Acaso hubo búhos acá? / Cristian Carracedo, Jose de Diego & Todd Shalom

 

foto: Dudu Quintanilha

 

elastic-city.com/walks/acaso-hubo-b%C3%BAhos-ac%C3%A1

 

Un corto recorrido uniendo dos polos no tan opuestos: la naturaleza y lo urbano. Con una constante: la propia percepción. Buscando agudizar la audición para permitir que un lugar incluya al otro. Predispuesto a que un sonido sea un silencio. Que algo que parece lejos en realidad esté cerca. Que un día más de la semana se transforme instantáneamente en un feriado, vacación.

 

Hay 2 recorridos:

 

21/11/2010 Domingo

 

15.30hs

1° Turno: Lugar de Encuentro: Av. Ing Huergo y Av. San Juan (Puerto Madero)

 

18.00hs

2° Turno: Lugar de Encuentro: Entrada de la Reserva Ecológica por Rosario Vera Peñaloza. En frente de la fuente: es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuente_Monumental_Las_Nereidas

 

Duracion: 70 minutos

Welcome!

1. Turn on ”Albums”, to see the items ordered in directories.

2. Being in the album, You can find a full description of the item, by clicking "SHOW MORE".

3. Contact me: drogamiecza@gmail.com (send a link, photo or the number, of interested item).

4. Check my profile on ebay. I am a Top Rated Seller: feedback.ebay.com/fdbk/feedback_profile/artur_drogamiecza

FB: www.facebook.com/artur.drogamiecza.5/

INSTA: www.instagram.com/artur.drogamiecza/

EBAY: www.ebay.com/sch/artur_drogamiecza/m.html?_nkw=&_armr...