Kit Review

Straight build + Panel lining + Decals

Size comparison with a cigarette pack

1/72 VF-25S Messiah Valkyrie Ozuma Custom (1/8)

1/72 VF-25S Messiah Valkyrie Ozuma Custom (2/8)

1/72 VF-25S Messiah Valkyrie Ozuma Custom (3/8)

1/72 VF-25S Messiah Valkyrie Ozuma Custom (4/8)

1/72 VF-25S Messiah Valkyrie Ozuma Custom (5/8)

1/72 VF-25S Messiah Valkyrie Ozuma Custom (6/8)

1/72 VF-25S Messiah Valkyrie Ozuma Custom (7/8)

1/72 VF-25S Messiah Valkyrie Ozuma Custom (8/8)

1/72 VF-25S Messiah Valkyrie Ozuma Custom - Upper body front shot (1/3)

Upper body front shot

The head unique to Ozma's unit.

1/72 VF-25S Messiah Valkyrie Ozuma Custom - I was a bit worried about the color separation on Ozma's head, but they pull

I was a bit worried about the color separation on Ozma's head, but they pulled it off nicely.

1/72 VF-25S Messiah Valkyrie Ozuma Custom - The eye area uses green clear parts — unlike Alto's unit with its goggle-sty

The eye area uses green clear parts — unlike Alto's unit with its goggle-style eyes, this one has eyes on both sides like a Gundam.

The lower part of the head moves like this during transformation.

Back section.

1/72 VF-25S Messiah Valkyrie Ozuma Custom - Close-up shots of the arms and legs. Only the molded color is different — th

Close-up shots of the arms and legs. Only the molded color is different — the structure is 100% identical.

1/72 VF-25S Messiah Valkyrie Ozuma Custom - Action poses on the ground.. Honestly, the hip joints are so restricted that

Action poses on the ground.. Honestly, the hip joints are so restricted that
you really can't pull off much of anything interesting while it's just standing on a flat surface.

1/72 VF-25S Messiah Valkyrie Ozuma Custom - Action poses using Action Base 1. Both the box art and the manual only show

Action poses using Action Base 1.
Both the box art and the manual only show that one single pose..
When you actually try it yourself, there really isn't much else you can do besides that pose.
Well, it's a transforming unit, so I guess we have to cut it some slack ^^;

1/72 VF-25S Messiah Valkyrie Ozuma Custom - GERWALK mode (1/6)

1/72 VF-25S Messiah Valkyrie Ozuma Custom - GERWALK mode (2/6)

1/72 VF-25S Messiah Valkyrie Ozuma Custom - GERWALK mode (3/6)

1/72 VF-25S Messiah Valkyrie Ozuma Custom - GERWALK mode (4/6)

GERWALK mode

Gerwalk mode up on the stand..
One thing I was reminded of again is that one of the drawbacks of the new VF-25 Valkyrie kit is,
that the mounting pin connection for securing it to Action Base 1 in Gerwalk mode is extremely flimsy.
If you're planning to display it on a stand in Gerwalk mode, just give up now.. the slightest breeze and it'll topple right off;;

Fighter mode. A Valkyrie just looks its best when it transforms into a jet...

1/72 VF-25S Messiah Valkyrie Ozuma Custom (1/2)

1/72 VF-25S Messiah Valkyrie Ozuma Custom (2/2)

Nice and sleek as always~

Wings fully spread vs. folded.

The nose section.

1/72 VF-25S Messiah Valkyrie Ozuma Custom - The head is neatly tucked away. On Alto's unit the head rotates 180 degrees

The head is neatly tucked away.
On Alto's unit the head rotates 180 degrees to stow, but on Ozma's unit it just goes straight in without rotating.

The wing section.

1/72 VF-25S Messiah Valkyrie Ozuma Custom - The skull mark — the symbol of Ozma's unit. The sticker quality is excellent

The skull mark — the symbol of Ozma's unit.
The sticker quality is excellent, but.. the sticker is large so you need to be careful when applying it.
Take it slow and easy so it doesn't tear or fold over..

1/72 VF-25S Messiah Valkyrie Ozuma Custom - On Ozma's unit.. there are quite a few notable spots where the color separat

On Ozma's unit.. there are quite a few notable spots where the color separation falls short.
The raised bump on the back of the head and the raised bump on the back of the legs should be white according to the source material,
but the color separation just isn't there.
If they had planned for variations from the initial design stage, they should have split the parts accordingly,
but I guess that was just too much to ask for.

The verniers section.

The underside. The underside is a lot more colorful compared to Alto's unit.

The landing gear section.

The underside of the wings. So many panel lines~~~

The ducts and verniers section.

The legs sit flush and clean against the body.

With the landing gear removed and covers closed for flight mode.

Stand on!

Looks great as always~

Together with Alto's unit.

1/72 VF-25S Messiah Valkyrie Ozuma Custom - It's essentially the same kit with only different molded colors and a differ

It's essentially the same kit with only different molded colors and a different head, but in terms of color and presence, Ozma's unit feels a cut above — fitting for a squadron leader's machine.

Together with Alto's unit in Gerwalk mode.

Together with Alto's unit in Fighter mode.

1/72 VF-25S Messiah Valkyrie Ozuma Custom - Having a bunch of them together would be quite a sight.. ^^ I really want th

Having a bunch of them together would be quite a sight.. ^^
I really want the rest of the Valkyries to come out soon so I can put together a full set of four.

Battroid mode straight build photos.

Gerwalk mode straight build photos.

Fighter mode straight build photos.

As expected, following the VF-25F Alto custom, the Ozma custom has been released. The designation is VF-25F for Alto's unit and VF-25S for Ozma's, and as befitting the Skull Squadron leader's machine, the skull mark looks absolutely fantastic on this thing.

Since every part except the head is structurally 100% identical to Alto's unit, for articulation, the frame, the transformation process, and other key features, please refer to the VF-25F Alto Custom review. Unlike Alto's unit which looked a bit plain with its pure white molded color, Ozma's unit is made up of a combination of gray and slightly darker white, so just in terms of color alone it feels more varied and gives off a much stronger presence.

What's changed is the head and the front and rear body covers that connect to it — the head looks completely different from Alto's and is pretty darn cool. The intricate color separation is well executed, and there are some fun gimmicks added in, like a jaw joint articulation feature.

There's one thing I have to point out here..
Alto's unit had plain milky-white clear parts for the eyes that required partial painting, but Ozma's unit comes molded in green clear parts right out of the box. When Alto's unit was released, despite being overwhelmingly well-received, one of the most commonly criticized points was exactly that — the washed-out transparent eyes. It felt like a missed opportunity since green clear was clearly doable. Maybe that's why they quickly switched to green clear for Ozma's unit. It's a bit bittersweet — makes you wish they'd done it from the start — and at the same time I can't help but wonder if, like the MG Mk-II 2.0 AEUG waist revision, Alto's unit might get a reprint with the eye runner corrected. (Will the clear-eyed Valkyrie go down as a first-run limited rarity?!)

The defining feature of Ozma's unit is of course the skull mark on its back, and the sticker quality on this new Valkyrie plastic model series is the best of any kit to date, so you can get a clean result. That said, since the sticker is so large, if you try to peel the whole thing off at once and slap it on, I'd say there's about a 50% chance you'll mess it up. I made that mistake a few times when building Alto's unit, so in my case I cut the Ozma skull sticker out individually and peeled the backing little by little from the top, applying it carefully bit by bit. I'd recommend you do the same when you get to it..

One more thing — compared to Alto's unit, the accuracy of the source color representation feels a little lacking, and that bothers me a bit. The upper back section and the rear of the legs should be white, but since they're molded together in gray all at once, it doesn't perfectly capture the original color scheme. Sure, it still looks great without any painting, but I do wish they had paid just a little more attention to the part breakdown during the initial base design stage.

All in all, Ozma's unit has more striking colors than Alto's, a cooler sticker, and just feels more put-together overall — so I'd say Ozma's unit comes out looking sharper. ^^ I always knew from the start that it would be a color variant of the same base, but I didn't expect the difference in color alone to make this much of an impact. Just like how Roy Focker's skull-marked Valkyrie always looked cooler than Hikaru's in the original Macross, I guess this is something of a Macross tradition in its own right :-)

1/72 VF-25S Messiah Valkyrie Ozuma Custom | 2008.11 | ¥4,500

AIThis page was translated by Claude Sonnet.