#lightning iii

Wave 1:72 VF-4 Lightning III from Macross Flashback plamo unboxing March 30th, 2018

This is the legendary VF-4 Lightning III, which saw only a brief moment of animation at the tail end of the Macross Flashback music video. Despite being seen only briefly,  it has been a highly sought-after subject. There have been several resin garage kits exclusively at the Wonder Festival events in Chiba, Japan. Those resin kits have shown up in auctions and have fetched a high price, but now we finally have this kit in affordable styrene!

For years I had been bugging the Hasegawa reps to release a VF-4 kit. It was really no use talking with anyone not involved with the Macross license however, since this is a more obscure fighter and on at least one occasion a Hasegawa rep didn’t know what I was talking about. I just wasn’t talking to the right person. For those directly involved with the Macross license, however, the response was always positive. I was told that the topic of the VF-4 had been brought up in their meetings, but apparently nothing came of those discussions.

Now Wave is also one of the model companies that have been releasing Macross kits, and they have released 1:72 scale Destroids and 1:100 scale Valkyries. Wave really surprised us with this VF-4 kit! I would have been happy with a 1:100 scale one, but they have released it in 1:72 scale!

As I mentioned, the VF-4 Lightning III only makes a brief appearance at the end of Macross Flashback, an OVA with mostly footage from the TV show and Do You Remember Love movie. New animation is of Minmay packing her belongings and preparing to say goodbye. At the end of Flashback, the successor to the Macross, the Megaroad, is launched, captained by Misa Hayase, and Hikaru Ichijo is seen piloting the VF-4. According to Macross lore, the Megaroad becomes lost in space, never to be seen or heard from again.

Somewhat reminiscent of the P-38 Lightning, this fighter's design features twin boom nacelles. This fighter is extremely cool-looking, however in battroid form it doesn't look so cool. The VF-4 has appeared in various video games, such as Macross: Eternal Love Song on the PC Engine and Macross on the Playstation 2. This is a non-transforming snap model kit. It seems that it might require glue in some places. Let’s take a look at the sprues.

Here is the A runner, featuring the underside of the fighter, the sides of the front fuselage, and the pilot figure.

Here is a close-up of the pilot figure. It’s actually a slightly bit bigger than the Hasegawa pilot figure that comes with the supplemental weapons set.

The B runner has the bottom of the front fuselage, the top of the fighter, and landing gears.

Here is a closer look so that you may see the panel line details more clearly.

The C runner has the nacelle halves. You can see where the wings snap into place and where the nacelles fit onto the main fuselage.

The D runner has the air intakes, upper diagonal stabilizers, and the main wings. When I first saw the sprue photos on Wave’s Livedoor blog, I mistakenly thought that the wings were a solid piece. But actually the wing sections in the upper right hand corner of this photo are the undersides of the main wings that fit into sections of the main wings. The wings are not in entire halves like Hasegawa’s Valkyrie kits.

Here is the main wing. Unfortunately, there are no clear parts for the red and blue nav lights.

Here is the empty part on the underneath of the wing, in which the smaller sections will fit into. I’d think using glue here would be necessary.

This is the E runner. Not much to say about this, other than to point out that these are the protrusions that fit onto the fuselage.

Here are the F and G runners. The nose cone is a totally separate part, molded in a cream yellow color. Mr. Color 318 Radome is the proper color for this. The G runner has only two clear parts, the back and forward sections of the canopy. This kit has a separate part for the canopy frame, so you won’t need to do any masking. At least for the forward part. The back part might need some masking. I’m not sure about that yet.

The H runner contains that canopy frame I mentioned, as well as the seat segments, the front console, and the part behind the seat.

If you’re like me, you’re curious about what the console looks like. So, here it is. There is a decal for the main display screen.

There are two I runners. These contain the wheels, cannons, engine cans, vernier thrusters, and your choice of open or closed intake flaps. In case you are interested in lighting this kit, the big engine can you see there has a 3mm diameter section in the middle, which I think will be perfect for drilling out a hole for an LED. The the small engine bell above that is rather smooth and featureless on the inside, but I am sure you can drill those out easily enough. The kit gives you a choice of side verniers, a more dilated one and a narrower one.