[Kit Insight] Bandai Macross Delta 1/72 Sv-262Hs Draken III (Painted Build)

The Draken III is arguably a masterpiece of variable fighter (VF) design, shifting from a sleek delta-shaped fighter mode to a walking tank Gerwalk and finally to the slender, Anubis-esque Battroid form. As compared to the protagonist Siegfried, the dark and brooding Draken III captured my attention (and money).

[Kit Insight] Bandai Macross Delta Figure-rise Bust Makina Nakajima (Straight Build)

Figure-rise Busts are an acquired taste: they are somewhere in between a full fledged figurine and a head bust, so they won't have the mass market appeal of either. Nevertheless, Figure-rise Busts can be refreshing to build, especially if the end product is pleasing to the eyes (not referring to you, shirtless Mikazuki Augus).

The Macross Delta series has no shortage of beautiful heroines since the entire premise of the show rests on the beautiful heroines sent to combat the Vajra disease by the power of love and song and all that mumbo-jumbo. We will definitely see Figure-rise Busts of all members of Walkure, but the only one that caught my eye is Makina, apart from Mirage, for obvious reasons.

Construction-wise, Figure-rise Busts are simple, but attention to the orientation of the parts must be paid since most of the parts only fit a certain way. Large stickers are used for colour separation on a good number of parts, probably to keep costs of an already pricey kit down for mass appeal. Although these stickers can be tricky to line up, position and secure, they don't look too bad once transferred to their corresponding plastic surfaces.

The eye parts warrant a mention, simple because they are marvels of colour injection. Reminiscent of the multi-colour gating seen in the early Bandai Star Wars 1/72 TIE Fighter model kits, the eye parts are composed of three separate colours, gated together into beautiful optics. Once transplanted to the face unit, the eyes look absolutely remarkable.

The final product is interesting to look at: visually pleasing and easy on the eyes. It would be a sight to behold if you have all members of Walkure, lined up in front of 1/72 Siegfrieds!

[Kit Insight] Bandai Macross Delta MechaColle-01 VF-31J Siegfried Fighter Mode [Hayate Immelman Custom] (Light Build)

The eponymous VF-31 Siegfried is the protagonist machine of the Macross Delta Series, being featured prominently across most of Delta's promotional visuals and collaterals. Featuring a very slick, delta-wing design reminiscent of the SU-27 Flanker, the MechaColle version of the latest Variable Fighter does it justice by having stickers that are easy to affix to the plane body.

This is a good warm up for the 1/72 version of the Siegfried.

[Kit Insight] Bandai Macross Delta MechaColle-04 Sv-262Hs Draken III Fighter Mode [Keith Aero Windermere Use] (Light Build)

The latest in Bandai's MechaColle line of tiny but highly-detailed model kits of the Variable Fighters from the Macross Delta series, the Draken III has the simplest build out of all the other VFs released so far, featuring even lesser parts than the grunt Nightmare Plus (Outer Rim Colonies Use).

However, the colours and details on the Draken III are fantastic out of the box, although some gold will serve to better accentuate the details on the engine area. The stickers for the Draken III are trickier to position and line up, but once done, the shiny gold stickers magically beautifies the Draken III even more, even if it will mess you up for a bit.

Now, let's look forward to the 1/72 scale model kit of the Draken III - it's sure to be epic.

[GUNPLA] Premium Bandai 1/72 VF-31J Siegfried (Hayate Immelman Use) - Blu-Ray Exclusive Clear Ver.

Beautiful clear rendition of the upcoming 1/72 Siegfried from Macross Delta!

Release date: TBC

Price: TBC

[Kit Insight] Bandai MechaColle 02: VF-171 Nightmare Plus Fighter Mode (Outer Rim Colonies Model) (Painted Build)

Macross Delta is the latest series in another one of Bandai's long-running space opera mecha space fantasies. Full of intense dogfights and aerial acrobatics, the Macross series always boasted exceptional mechanical designs, especially in their planes and capital ships that mirror real-world designs.

As opposed to the high-performance prototype, one-of-the-kind protagonist machine that our hero(es) always use - in Delta's case, it's the VF-31 Siegfried - I always prefer the mass produced, grunt-level machines that are deployed en masse. Although there are many models of cannon fodder used throughout the Macross universe, the VF-171 Nightmare Plus doesn't really fall into cannon fodder territory, although its portrayal in Delta seems to indicate otherwise.

Back in Macross Frontier, the VF-171 Nightmare Plus was a top-of-the-line mass produced unit of the NUNS Forces, the main combatant and line of defense against the looming Varja threat. Bristling with anti-Varja weaponry, the standard Nightmare Plus was able to hold its own against the far superior Varja forces, albeit with specialised EX part modifications. Nevertheless, it wasn't your usual GM that explodes when pierced with a pin; it is a sophisticated, well-built machine that can be downright lethal in the right hands.

As if to prove that point, Macross Frontier protagonist Alto Saotome piloted a custom Nightmare Plus in the final battle as his Messiah was on the Macross Quarter that was off to do some investigation on the Macross Galaxy (long story). Alto would pilot the Nightmare Plus to deadly effect, nailing wave after wave of Varja forces while being powered by Sheryl Nome's song, only getting shot down in the name of plot after a huge Ranka Lee hologram appeared and messed with his head (another long story).

So far, we haven't gotten a proper model kit of the Nightmare Plus, only two iterations in the pricey Chogokin format. Only with the debut of Macross Delta did we get a new MechaColle rendition of the Nightmare Plus, albeit only in its Fighter Mode. But hey, maybe Bandai will make a full 1/72 model kit of this unit sometime in the future.

We can only hope.

But right now, enjoy these little Nightmares, one in the Outer Rim Colonies Model colours and the other in NUNS standard colours!