Almost a year ago I bought this kit by Yamato a 1/3000 Macross SDF-1 Assembly Kit, and once it arrived I was very gung-ho to get down to building it. Once I opened the box and saw the size of the kit and all the tiny screws I was kinda intimidated by it and ended up boxing it all back up and set it on a shelf for when I had more time to sit down and take a closer look. Well that time arrived a few weeks ago when I reopened the box and unpacked it all. Once I took a closer look at this kit I noticed that it really is not as complicated as I thought. Each tree of parts is numbered with a part number(ex. P10 5...means tree number 10 part 5). The biggest concern for me was there are alot of tiny screws, and for some reason Yamato has several bags tossed in the kit. There are 13 different sizes, lengths and diameters. Fortunately if you take your time you can sort them out. I found it to be like sorting fly shit from pepper! lol Once they were sorted, I was missing some odd sized ones and could not find a local supplier so went to the internet and used these 2 online stores..https://mcjing.com.au/(X(1)S(5fleh55...ookieSupport=1 and FAQ as referred to me by Bruticus82, thanks again! Once the screws arrived I began to assemble. So here are a few pics of what I have done so far!
Dang,bro! A lot of pieces to that guy. Love me some OG Macross stuff though. Look forward to the finish.
In this kit there are 20 trees, plus metal frame and other metal parts, some metal rods and probably 200+micro screws. once I had everything laid out into a workable pattern and got the screws sorted it is pretty smooth sailing! Hope to work on it some more this weekend and post more pics! HLJ, I think is where I picked this kit up. It was somewhere in the $150 US range. I thought then that I must be crazy to spend this much on a toy that I have to build myself, but looking on ebay recently at the same kit or the ready made toy, I am quite happy with my purchase! lol
Here are a few pics of the instruction manual. First two pics are pages showing the metal parts and the count on the different screws and the trees (I had to keep referring back to these pics as none of the individual pieces are numbered), the last pic is an example of build instructions. Keep in mind all instructions that could be read are all in Japanese.
HI guys! I've been busier then usual for the last two weeks and I have finally got around to posting some pics of my progress with my SDF-1! I was making some pretty good progress until sometime early this morning my cat decided to take an interest in my project. I had the bridge all assembled, but not glued together sitting on my work table. This morning I got up and was taking the dog outside and noticed something on the mat in front of the door. once I picked it up and looked at it I recognized it as the center part of my bridge. The top antena, the radar dish, and the sensor pod were all missing! These 3 parts are all less then a cm in size. I have dark "hardwood" flooring in the basement and started crawling around on the floor. I found the sensor pod, and the antena. Still have not found the radar dish and will probably have to scratch build something. Damn cat! The bridge aside, construction is moving along nicely!
Try looking under the refrigerator or anything else a small part can get batted under. Cats are notorious for playing "kitty soccer" with small, lightweight items. As for the cat: I would have a long, detailed discussion with your kitty. Such as drop-kicking him/her to mars...
Sucks about the parts missing but DAMN is that going to be sweet when it's done. Maybe keep your project in a cupboard or some place concealable like a closet.
You do realize that I am jealous of you. :| Seriously though, looking forward to the completed pics; that version of the Macross was one of my favorites.
