DYRL Queadluun Rau coming from Hasegawa

[Real G]

I am sure Macross fans have heard already, but this is exciting news:

www.1999.co.jp/eng/image/11016885

This is Miria's personal battlesuit, seen in the movie "Macross: Do You Remember Love?"  This was the first modern anime I watched, and I was gob-smacked watching the scenes where her blood-red suit appeared.  If you haven't seen this movie, you need to, as it is the ultimate Macross experience in my opinion.

In Hasegawa's sea of endless reboxes, this is a brand-spanking new kit, due in December.  And it's gonna be a big one; if my memory serves me right the "real" thing was something like 16 meters tall, making a 1/72 kit 222 millimeters (8-3/4").  By comparison, a RX-78  Gundam in 1/100 scale is about 7-1/4".  The Queadluun Rau kit will not only be taller, but will be much more bulkier than the Gundam.

Big female battelsuit vs small male mobile suit.  Hmmm...

Death by snu-snu.  

[Real G]

I built Imai's old 1/144 Queadluun Rau and the smaller Nousjadeul Ger back in the early 1990s:



Those were wild and wooly days for anime kits, where a lot of them looked wonky and lacked polycaps, those flexible grommets most commonly seen in tank road wheels.  Both kits lacked said polycaps, so I added them to the Queadluun Rau.  It was more difficult than I expected, because not only did aftermarket polycaps not yet exist, Imai tooled most of the joint pins in diameters that were not in inches OR millimeters!  So the pins had to be replaced as well.    I did have a bit of fun by taking the shoulder missile bay inserts and combined them into a rotatable turret, so the missile doors could be displayed open or closed.  See the bottom photo to see the open bay.

The Queadluun Rau was built for my friend who introduced me to Macross.  He requested that the model be painted in Miria's blood red scheme from the movie rather than the standard green scheme seen on TV.  I didn't modify any of the exterior parts to update it to the movie version as it was way above my skillset.  The upcoming Hasegawa kit will be the movie version, at twice the size, AND have polycaps!  My friend passed away in the early 2000s, so it is unfortunate he isn't around to see the kit come out.

The Nousjadeul Ger was just built OOTB, as I did not want to go through the ordeal of rejointing it.  Why are the two kits glossy?  I can't recall.  I think I flat coated both of them after the photos were taken.

I apologize for the poor quality photos, but they were taken before digital photography was a widespread thing.  And my photo editing skills suck.

[stikpusher]

Very colorful builds! They may have been wonky to build, but they sure turned out looking good!

[Leon]

They look really good from where I'm sitting!

[Real G]

Awww you guys flatter me.  

Take another look - there's no preshading, no cool pose modifications. and what about that gooey photography?  OK the red cloth backdrop was not my idea.  My mobile phone takes better pictures.  In fact, all the photos I post these days are from it.  My digital camera has sat unused in a drawer since I got a camera phone.

[stikpusher]

Sept 14, 2023 18:18:40 GMT -5 Real G said:

Awww you guys flatter me.  

Take another look - there's no preshading, no cool pose modifications. and what about that gooey photography?  OK the red cloth backdrop was not my idea.  My mobile phone takes better pictures.  In fact, all the photos I post these days are from it.  My digital camera has sat unused in a drawer since I got a camera phone.

[buddho]

These are sooooo coool! Awesome finish on both.

[Real G]

Check this out guys:

m.youtube.com/watch?v=d1MlXmNSL7s&pp=ygUUbWFjcm9zcyBtYXggdnMgbWlyaWE%3D

[Return_To_Kit_Form]

I am keen to see how this kit stacks up to the Moscato Hobbt Models TV version Q Rau. Mine should be on its way from HLJ but I will have tonwait a couple of weeks until I can pick unfortunately.

The DYRL Max vs Milia is good but I prefer the TV version


youtu.be/ZazVwBlz9fc?si=RfPED1uSZnBvSS3u

[Real G]

I finally pulled the trigger and shipped this monster of a kit.







Shipping from Japan is killer now - I had to eat almost 40% of the total merchandise cost.  

Anyway, I hope Hasegawa engineered the kit so that it doesn't fall over when done!

[Real G]

And if you have Miria's battlesuit, you have to have Max's VF-1.





To be screen-accurate for the Max vs Miria duel scene, you'd have to source wing missile pods from Hasegawa's Macross weapon set, along with some pylons from one of the jet fighter boxes.

[Return_To_Kit_Form]

I'm off for training for the next few weeks and will be taking the Q Rau kit with me to assemble on the road.

Hasegawa has tweaked their battroid kit by including the new and more sturdy upper leg /hip and including waist swivel so that should be a great build.

[Real G]

Feb 9, 2024 15:48:49 GMT -5 Return_To_Kit_Form said:

I'm off for training for the next few weeks and will be taking the Q Rau kit with me to assemble on the road.

Hasegawa has tweaked their battroid kit by including the new and more sturdy upper leg /hip and including waist swivel so that should be a great build.

Yeah but I would have preferred a plug-in pin with a polycap versus a locked in place, don’t get cement on the moving part solution Hasegawa chose. The VF-1’s head is also supposed to have been moved slightly forward for that all-important “looking down to look cool” pose.

I have actually started the VF-1 last night, so I’ll post progress pics.

The Queadluun Rau is slightly smaller than the resin kit.

[406 Silverado]

Dude.....these are indeed cool to look at Neal. I'll be watching for a build thread on both of these.

[Real G]

Feb 9, 2024 16:28:30 GMT -5 406 Silverado said:

Dude.....these are indeed cool to look at Neal. I'll be watching for a build thread on both of these.

I started the VF-1 to help some of my friends get into staring their model projects for the Best of the West in May.  I won't be going, but I thought building something along with them would be fun.

[Return_To_Kit_Form]

Which reson kit did you compare the Hasegawa QRau to?

[Real G]

Feb 14, 2024 5:40:19 GMT -5 Return_To_Kit_Form said:

Which resin kit did you compare the Hasegawa QRau to?

I read about the Captain Cardboard resin kit over on the Macrossworld forum.  The Cap says the plastic kits of the bad guys are all underscale.  They might be the "canon" heights, but they would all be too small to accommodate a Zentradei or Meltrandei pilot.  Of course, their actual height is also debatable, as the movie version of Macross has the "Z" gang at considerably differing sizes.  Bretai is enormous compared to Gamjin.  But true scale in an anime is a pointless quest.  In the scene where Gamjin punches Roy's VF-1, he is not much taller than the VF-1 when it is sitting on it's butt.  In one TV episode, a soldier encounters VF-1s disguised(!) as Zentradeis, and their height differences are not as great.

In any case, the Hasegawa Q-R is about 9" tall, which is more than enough for me.  My only complaint is that the missile launchers should be spherical, not a flat plate as it is represented in the kit.  I only wonder if the launches in the knee joints can be made to look spherical and still allow the joint to work.  Oh, and the round verniers all over the body have weird insert parts that don't really look functional.  Well, as functional as an anime alien mecha can look.  But I am most pleased Hasegawa decided to kit this subject.

[Real G]

VF-1 vs Queadluun Rau.  Death by snu-snu.  

[Medicman71]

Man that's awesome! Robotech was my gateway drug into anime. I have "Robotech: The Macross Saga" on DVD box set. I have the YF-19 kit in 1/48 that I'll be doing soon. I'd like to get a VF-1 jet in 1/48 someday, if I can find them at a decent price.

[Real G]

Mar 4, 2024 13:41:06 GMT -5 Medicman71 said:

Man that's awesome! Robotech was my gateway drug into anime. I have "Robotech: The Macross Saga" on DVD box set. I have the YF-19 kit in 1/48 that I'll be doing soon. I'd like to get a VF-1 jet in 1/48 someday, if I can find them at a decent price.

I think for most of us in the US, it was the introduction of anime into our collective little brains.  Like Tamiya Extra Thin being poured into a Styrofoam skull!     I was a little ahead of the curve, discovering Macross and Gundam kits in 1983.  But despite the hate I cast on Harmony Gold, they were in fact the ones responsible for the anime explosion in the US.