The YF-29 from the Macross Frontier theatrical film has been released not in 1/72, but in 1/100 scale. This somewhat out-of-nowhere Macross Frontier 1/100 kit is fixed in fighter mode (aircraft form) and does not transform.
The overall parts layout is very simple — it only offers the most basic color separation and goes together with just around 30 parts. Thanks to that, it's an easy enough kit that you can finish in 10–20 minutes, but as you can see in the photos above, the straight build alone looks a bit bare.
Instead, it comes with premium seals similar to the 1/72 Macross Frontier kits, though applying them takes more time than you'd expect. On top of that, it still looks bare without panel lining, so I'd strongly recommend doing it — that said, there are a lot of panel lines, so it's a kit that takes quite a bit of time for that too. In my case, assembly took about 20 minutes at a leisurely pace, panel lining around an hour and a half, and seals another hour and a half or so.
In absolute terms, it's easier than building a single MG kit... The assembly, panel lining, and seal work can all be done in about 3–4 hours total, but the kit is small and fiddly in a lot of places, so fatigue does add up ^^; In short, this is a kit where you really shouldn't underestimate the panel lining and seal work.
Once the panel lining and seals are on, you really start to see what this kit is all about — it transforms into something far more striking compared to the straight build. Painting it would make it even better, of course, but it feels like a kit designed to be finished with just a straight build, panel lining, and seals. Unlike the 1/72, this kit only includes sticker seals with no waterslide decals, so even if you do paint it, getting a clean finish is tricky.
I believe the official series name for this kit is the 1/100 Display Model Series, which pretty much says it all — build it, panel line it, apply the seals, and put it on display. There are no articulated parts either, so it just sits there as-is. Either way, it's worth giving credit for being a kit that's friendly to us regular folks, though leaving out waterslide decals for post-paint work is probably going to rub some hardcore modelers the wrong way.
Since the YF-29 hasn't been released in any other scale, it's a unique kit that any Macross fan will probably want to get their hands on. It's a Bandai-style futuristic fighter kit worth recommending to anyone who wants to bring out great detail through straight building, panel lining, and seal work. :-)
1/100 YF-29 Durandal Valkyrie - Alto Custom | 2011.2 | ¥1,200
AIThis page was translated by Claude Sonnet.
