by Marc Remy

When the StarhshipModeler Store came out with the 1/72 VF-1D conversion kit for the Hasegawa Battroid kit (HSG-10) I was thinking diorama. In particular one scene from episode 2 - Countdown where Rick Hunter, in the VF-1D, is laying in a building and Roy Fokker, in the VF-1S, is doing minor repair work to the VF-1D. When this contest was announced as a hero contest I thought, “Brilliant.” You have two heroes in mechas and I could toss in a heroine as well: Minmay.

This is my first ever diorama. I decide to construct the building out of poster board because the material was cheaper then styrenne and I would be using a lot of material. I learned later on that a fine tooth saw blade is better on cutting poster board then a scalpel. The building is glued together with Elmer's White Glue and sprayed with a gray basecoat, then with Floquil Concrete, and finally with PollyS Aged Concrete. The roof is a sheet of styrene that is painted with Floquil Aged Black. The debris pile is 1/35 ceramic grey brick. Finally I used black, brown, and some white pastels from the Tamiya Weathering Master kit for weathering.

The base that is used for this diorama is a 12-inch x 12-inch vinyl tile that you can pick up from Lowes or Home Depot. I painted the base with Floquil Aged Black and the white and yellow lines I used Model Masters Enamel (MME). The figures used are HO scale. Finding 1/72 figures in different varieties, other then military, is extremely difficult. I repainted two of the figures to represent Minmay and her little cousin.

The Battroid kits used are both 1/72 Hasegawa kits that I picked up in Japan last year. The VF-1S kit I had to modify the right forearm to hold the manipulators/repair arms. I used the line art from several books, as well as episode 2, to help me in the design placement. Openings where cut out using a scalpel and the small hatches where made out of 0.5mm styrene sheet and 0.5mm styrene rod. The repair arms are constructed out of thin steel wire and bent to shape. The hands are made from the ends on a plastic parts tree and the fingers are made from 0.5mm stryene rod. The hydralic lines are invisible threads that are tied inplace and painted black.

The primary paints used on the Battroids are MME Mango, Ivory, Steel, and Grauviolet for the VF-1D. On the VF-1S MME Insignia White, Steel, Grauviolet, and Gunmetal. Also, numerous other PollyS and Tamiya paints where used.

Image: Left and above

Image: Repair work, from right

Image: Better look at the arms

Image: Left side

Image: Minmay and cousin

Image: Looking down