Kit Review

Straight build + Panel lining + Seals

Size comparison with a cigarette pack

1/72 VF-25F Supermessiah Valkyrie Alto Custom (1/8)

1/72 VF-25F Supermessiah Valkyrie Alto Custom (2/8)

1/72 VF-25F Supermessiah Valkyrie Alto Custom (3/8)

1/72 VF-25F Supermessiah Valkyrie Alto Custom (4/8)

1/72 VF-25F Supermessiah Valkyrie Alto Custom (5/8)

1/72 VF-25F Supermessiah Valkyrie Alto Custom (6/8)

1/72 VF-25F Supermessiah Valkyrie Alto Custom (7/8)

1/72 VF-25F Supermessiah Valkyrie Alto Custom (8/8)

Upper body front and back.

1/72 VF-25F Supermessiah Valkyrie Alto Custom - The armor section with the Super Pack applied. The missile units hang of

The armor section with the Super Pack applied.
The missile units hang off the back of the shoulders, sticking out quite far.

The Super Pack on the crotch and hip joint area.

This angle gives you the best view of the Super Pack.

The Super Pack shield — looks seriously mean.

Leg section

The leg Super Packs.

1/72 VF-25F Supermessiah Valkyrie Alto Custom - Articulation. The Valkyrie was never really a kit that strikes great act

Articulation.
The Valkyrie was never really a kit that strikes great action poses to begin with,
and the added armaments seem to narrow the range of motion even further.

1/72 VF-25F Supermessiah Valkyrie Alto Custom - Displayed on the separately sold Macross-exclusive Action Base released

Displayed on the separately sold Macross-exclusive Action Base released alongside this kit.
It matches the Valkyrie really well.

1/72 VF-25F Supermessiah Valkyrie Alto Custom - Firing pose (1/4)

1/72 VF-25F Supermessiah Valkyrie Alto Custom - Firing pose (2/4)

Firing pose

Sword-wielding action..

1/72 VF-25F Supermessiah Valkyrie Alto Custom - Leftover parts after attaching the Super Pack. Taking a close look at th

Leftover parts after attaching the Super Pack.
Taking a close look at these leftover parts makes it easy to figure out exactly what was changed.

GERWALK mode.

The Super Pack GERWALK mode looks nice and hefty, but...

1/72 VF-25F Supermessiah Valkyrie Alto Custom - The truth about GERWALK mode? The Super Pack on the wing section makes t

The truth about GERWALK mode?
The Super Pack on the wing section makes the rear end pretty heavy.
So in a normal unsupported state, the wing side inevitably droops down like shown above...

1/72 VF-25F Supermessiah Valkyrie Alto Custom - The GERWALK mode photos above were actually taken like this — I cleverly

The GERWALK mode photos above were actually taken like this...
I cleverly propped up the rear of the fuselage using leftover parts.
Without doing that... it's really hard to keep the fuselage level. T_T

1/72 VF-25F Supermessiah Valkyrie Alto Custom - The base attachment parts for GERWALK mode on the previous VF-25s were p

The base attachment parts for GERWALK mode on the previous VF-25s were pretty flimsy.
They barely held anything in place, which was quite a pain...
Perhaps because of that, the Super Pack parts include newly revised GERWALK mode attachment parts.

1/72 VF-25F Supermessiah Valkyrie Alto Custom - Thanks to that, GERWALK mode now locks onto the Action Base nice and sec

Thanks to that, GERWALK mode now locks onto the Action Base nice and securely.

1/72 VF-25F Supermessiah Valkyrie Alto Custom - However... the rear of the fuselage drooping downward is still a problem

However... the rear of the fuselage drooping downward is still a problem even when mounted on the Action Base.
The rear leg armor from the leftover parts is coming in very handy as a support stand...;;

1/72 VF-25F Supermessiah Valkyrie Alto Custom - To tuck the feet in for Fighter mode, you have to completely remove the

To tuck the feet in for Fighter mode,
you have to completely remove the Super Packs mounted on the outside of the legs before making adjustments.
A bit of a hassle...

Alto's unit in Fighter mode laid out alongside the Super Pack.

1/72 VF-25F Supermessiah Valkyrie Alto Custom - Fighter mode. Of the three modes with the Super Pack applied, this one s

Fighter mode.
Of the three modes with the Super Pack applied, this one shows the most stable pose.

The Super Pack gives it a much more aggressive look..

1/72 VF-25F Supermessiah Valkyrie Alto Custom - Front / rear / side views. (1/3)

Front / rear / side views.

1/72 VF-25F Supermessiah Valkyrie Alto Custom - Enjoy it from various angles.. (1/6)

1/72 VF-25F Supermessiah Valkyrie Alto Custom - Enjoy it from various angles.. (2/6)

1/72 VF-25F Supermessiah Valkyrie Alto Custom - Enjoy it from various angles.. (3/6)

1/72 VF-25F Supermessiah Valkyrie Alto Custom - Enjoy it from various angles.. (4/6)

Enjoy it from various angles..

Underside

The Super Packs on the armor sections.

Opening the missile units.

1/72 VF-25F Supermessiah Valkyrie Alto Custom - The missile units attach to the small armor piece on top of the shoulder

The missile units attach to the small armor piece on top of the shoulder as shown...
but the connection is weak and they tend to pop off easily.

The Super Pack at the rear of the fuselage.

The Super Pack around the duct area.

The Super Pack mounted on the wings.

From various angles..

1/72 VF-25F Supermessiah Valkyrie Alto Custom - A note on transforming to Super Pack Fighter mode.. According to the man

A note on transforming to Super Pack Fighter mode..
According to the manual, it's recommended to position the legs so that the small notch on the rear leg section meets the edge of the top panel, as shown.
I didn't quite get it at first, but after transforming it several times, I found that you need to position the legs to reach that spot
to really get the best result.

1/72 VF-25F Supermessiah Valkyrie Alto Custom - In normal Valkyrie Fighter mode the legs sit flush against the fuselage,

In normal Valkyrie Fighter mode the legs sit flush against the fuselage,
but with the Super Pack on, the legs bulk up and can't sit flush anymore — they end up sitting slightly apart.
The result is that the rear of the fuselage gets a bit chunkier... seems unavoidable though.

The rifle attaches the same way as on the standard Valkyrie.

The landing gear gimmick should open out to both sides when deployed.

The Super Pack on the wings stays fixed regardless of wing movement.

1/72 VF-25F Supermessiah Valkyrie Alto Custom - Displayed on the Macross-exclusive Action Base. (1/6)

1/72 VF-25F Supermessiah Valkyrie Alto Custom - Displayed on the Macross-exclusive Action Base. (2/6)

1/72 VF-25F Supermessiah Valkyrie Alto Custom - Displayed on the Macross-exclusive Action Base. (3/6)

1/72 VF-25F Supermessiah Valkyrie Alto Custom - Displayed on the Macross-exclusive Action Base. (4/6)

Displayed on the Macross-exclusive Action Base.

Together with the normal Alto unit.

1/72 VF-25F Supermessiah Valkyrie Alto Custom - The overall feel of the kit changes quite a bit — and in some ways the n

The overall feel of the kit changes quite a bit...
and in some ways the normal type actually looks more balanced and composed.

Together with the normal type in GERWALK mode.

1/72 VF-25F Supermessiah Valkyrie Alto Custom - With the Super Pack on, you really need to watch the center of gravity i

With the Super Pack on, you really need to watch the center of gravity in GERWALK mode..

1/72 VF-25F Supermessiah Valkyrie Alto Custom - Together with the normal type in Fighter mode. (1/3)

Together with the normal type in Fighter mode.

1/72 VF-25F Supermessiah Valkyrie Alto Custom

1/72 VF-25F Supermessiah Valkyrie Alto Custom - The part that feels most dramatically changed with the Super Pack on is

The part that feels most dramatically changed with the Super Pack on is probably
all those extra nozzles piled onto the rear.

1/72 VF-25F Supermessiah Valkyrie Alto Custom - Battroid mode straight build — without any panel lining or seals, it loo

Battroid mode straight build.
Without any panel lining or seals, it looks pretty bare.

GERWALK mode straight build.

Fighter mode straight build.

Alongside the release of the Super Parts, a combined kit bundling the Alto unit with the Super Pack was also released. It's basically the existing Alto unit with the Super Parts kit runners thrown in together, but one difference is that the white cover sections of the Super Parts have been changed to red — matching the Alto unit's molded color. For a detailed review of the Alto unit itself, please refer to the 1/72 VF-25F Alto Unit Review, and for detailed photos of the Super Parts themselves and the attachment process, please refer to the1/72 Super Parts Review.

Once the Super Parts are on, it naturally gives a much bulkier feel than the normal type, but being a transforming kit, the joints aren't really optimized for the Battroid mode robot form, so the proportions aren't exactly great. It looks powerful overall, but the legs are hard to spread wide, and it tends to end up standing in a slightly pigeon-toed stance, which makes it tricky to get a good pose.

The biggest issue after attaching the Super Pack is that the large, heavy Super Packs create serious joint strength problems. In Battroid mode, the massive load on the back causes it to topple backward easily. The hip joints themselves are solid enough — the problem is that the knee joints can't hold up, and the whole thing just folds backward from the knees. T_T

According to the design specs, in Battroid mode the Super Pack sections on the wings are supposed to be folded tightly toward the rear — but this shifts the center of gravity so far back that it causes the problem. I spent quite a while fiddling with the positions of various joints just to get a Battroid that could stand upright for the review. Unless you spread the wings out to the sides for support, trying to leave it standing on the ground in Battroid mode seems like a pretty risky idea. T_T It's probably best to just put it on an Action Base or similar stand in Battroid mode.

GERWALK mode has an even more serious problem — the fuselage, which forms the top of the aircraft, should be level and straight, but the Super Pack on the wings is so heavy that it immediately droops downward, ending up looking like a mosquito hunching over. OTL It can hold for a moment here and there, but keeping it on display in GERWALK mode continuously seems nearly impossible without gluing anything. For the review I used leftover parts to cleverly rig up a support stand at the rear to hold the angle... but it's not exactly a pretty solution.;

Also, the action base connector part for GERWALK mode that came with the original Alto/Ozma kits was pretty flimsy — it barely held anything in place, and you'd wonder why they even bothered including it. The Super Parts add an improved GERWALK-specific action base connector, and it does actually hold onto the base better. That said, the rear end still droops even when mounted on the base, so the new connector part doesn't really get to shine...

It's only when transformed into Fighter mode that you can finally shake off all that joint anxiety — it holds its angles pretty well and can be displayed in a stable, satisfying way. The one disappointment though is that in normal configuration, the arms, legs, and body all tuck in nicely for a clean, unified aircraft shape (the gap in the chest armor is unavoidable, but...), whereas with the bulky Super Pack attached, you can't bring the legs flush against the body — they have to be spread out slightly, hovering away from the fuselage.

As explained in the photos above, the manual instructs you to position the rear corner of the fuselage so that it touches a specific point on the rear leg Super Pack — and having actually tried it, that really is the sweet spot where everything locks into the right angle, so keep that in mind. Anyway, thanks to the Super Pack you'll have to say goodbye to the sleek, slender Valkyrie Fighter mode silhouette, but the massive nozzles and chunky weaponry definitely give it a seriously powerful look. Just note that the missile units attached to the top surface in Fighter mode have weak retention and fall off easily, so be careful not to lose them.

As covered in the Super Parts review, the Super Pack isn't just a simple add-on weapons set — it requires removing and swapping out a fair number of existing parts, so it's not exactly a quick and easy option to switch between. (You might lose your mind trying to swap out the Valkyrie... ;;;;)

If you build it with that powerful in-universe image in mind, it definitely delivers that strong feel — but the joint strength and stability issues in Battroid and GERWALK modes can be genuinely frustrating, so go in knowing that's part of the deal. Fighter mode, on the other hand, holds its angles well and looks great (even if it has gotten a bit chunkier...), so if you're building the Super Pack Valkyrie, displaying it in Fighter mode is probably your best bet.

If you're not expecting too much in terms of proportions or joint strength, and you just want to enjoy building a Valkyrie loaded up with all that intricate Super Pack gear, it's a fun kit — though I'd strongly recommend picking up the Macross-dedicated action base alongside it and displaying it on a stand. :-)

1/72 VF-25F Supermessiah Valkyrie Alto Custom | 2009.2 | ¥6,500

AIThis page was translated by Claude Sonnet.