Macross +++ 1:8 Taqisha T’saqeel, 3rd Flight Leader of U.N. Spacy's SVF-789

Dizzyfugu · April 06, 2017, 06:42:36 AM

Something... different. Every now and then when I have to clear my mind up I dig out an anime character/figure resin kit. and now, after a while, it had been time again - also as a pending continuation of a former mecha project, posted here, too: http://www.whatifmodellers.com/index.php/topic,43355.0.html

Anyway, the fictional character Taqisha T'saqeel had already been mentioned there and had been "part of the plan", and here she is now:

Macross +++ 1:8 Taqisha T'saqeel; Leader of the U.N. Spacy Zentraedi Fleet's SVF-789 'Dar es Carrack'; Meltraedi pilot of the Stonewell/Bellcom VF-1J Plus Valkyrie '300'; Tefé Amazonia Base, Brazil; early 2013 (modified Over Dard garage kit) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

Some background:
After the end of Space War I, the VF-1A continued to be manufactured both in the Sol system (notably on the Lunar facility Apollo Base) and throughout the UNG space colonies and had a long service record. One notable operator of the VF-1 was the U.N. Spacy's Zentraedi Fleet, namely SVF-789, which was founded in 2012 as a cultural integration and training squadron with two flights of VF-1 at Tefé in Brazil. This mixed all-Zentraedi/Meltraedi unit was the first in the U.N. Spacy's Zentraedi Fleet to be completely equipped with the 1st generation Valkyrie, while other units, like SVF-122, even though made up exclusively from Zentraedi loyalists, kept a mixed lot of vehicles.

SVF-789's flight leaders and some of its instructors were all former Quadrono Battalion aces under the command of the famous Milia Fallyna, later married with Maximilian Jenius, a U.N. Spacy ace. Meltraedi (female of the giant race of warriors known as the Zentradi) pilot Taqisha T'saqeel was a founding member of the squadron and commanded SVF-789's 3rd Flight.

Macross +++ 1:8 Taqisha T'saqeel; Leader of the U.N. Spacy Zentraedi Fleet's SVF-789 'Dar es Carrack'; Meltraedi pilot of the Stonewell/Bellcom VF-1J Plus Valkyrie '300'; Tefé Amazonia Base, Brazil; early 2013 (modified Over Dard garage kit) - on black by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

Macross +++ 1:8 Taqisha T'saqeel; Leader of the U.N. Spacy Zentraedi Fleet's SVF-789 'Dar es Carrack'; Meltraedi pilot of the Stonewell/Bellcom VF-1J Plus Valkyrie '300'; Tefé Amazonia Base, Brazil; early 2013 (modified Over Dard garage kit) - on black by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

Almost all future Zentraedi and Meltradi pilots for the U.N. Spacy received their training at Tefé, and the squadron was soon expanded to a total of five flights. During this early phase of the squadron's long career, SVF-789's VF-1s carried a characteristic, dark-green wrap-around scheme, frequently decorated with colorful trim, reflecting the unit's Zentraedi/Meltraedi heritage (the squadron's motto and title "Dar es Carrack" meant "Victory is everywhere", reminiscent of the alien race's martial heritage with a strong warrior and honor codex) and boldly representing the individual flights.

Taqisha T'saqeel was an ace Quimeliquola Queadluun-Rau power armor pilot, originally serving on board an all-female ship in the Lap Lamiz fleet. Taqisha was a self-confident and intelligent officer, and she stood out among other Meltradi through her relatively short size (5' 3.5"/162 cm micronized) and petite figure - even though she compensated for her lack of physical presence through cunningness and a very good tactical understanding.
What made her stand out even more among her brethren was her bright green skin (not unusual among Zentraedi and Meltraedi, but rare in this intensity) and her deep sea green hair.

Macross +++ 1:8 Taqisha T'saqeel; Leader of the U.N. Spacy Zentraedi Fleet's SVF-789 'Dar es Carrack'; Meltraedi pilot of the Stonewell/Bellcom VF-1J Plus Valkyrie '300'; Tefé Amazonia Base, Brazil; early 2013 (modified Over Dard garage kit) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

Macross +++ 1:8 Taqisha T'saqeel; Leader of the U.N. Spacy Zentraedi Fleet's SVF-789 'Dar es Carrack'; Meltraedi pilot of the Stonewell/Bellcom VF-1J Plus Valkyrie '300'; Tefé Amazonia Base, Brazil; early 2013 (modified Over Dard garage kit) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

During the confrontations with the "Miclones" of Earth, and their spacecraft, the SDF-1 Macross, she more than once was involved in direct confrontation with U. N. Spacy forces.
After the end of hostilities in 2012 she met her former commander (and now married), Milia Fallyna Jenius again, who had become micronized and had been allowed to become a member of the U.N. Spacy in her own right, now piloting a red-painted VF-1J Valkyrie Fighter into battle as her husband's wingmate, became fascinated by both the human race and the outlook to carry on here military career, for the sake of her own race (as well as her male Zentraedi brethren) who found themselves stripped off of their warrior "raison d'être".

Macross +++ 1:8 Taqisha T'saqeel; Leader of the U.N. Spacy Zentraedi Fleet's SVF-789 'Dar es Carrack'; Meltraedi pilot of the Stonewell/Bellcom VF-1J Plus Valkyrie '300'; Tefé Amazonia Base, Brazil; early 2013 (modified Over Dard garage kit) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

Macross +++ 1:8 Taqisha T'saqeel; Leader of the U.N. Spacy Zentraedi Fleet's SVF-789 'Dar es Carrack'; Meltraedi pilot of the Stonewell/Bellcom VF-1J Plus Valkyrie '300'; Tefé Amazonia Base, Brazil; early 2013 (modified Over Dard garage kit) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

When the U.N. Spacy offered both former Zentradi and Meltraedi soldiers to join Earth's forces and create integral squadron, she was quickly willing to take responsibility and became one of SVF-789's flight leaders in late 2012.

In late 2013, SVF-789 embarked upon Breetai Kridanik's Nupetiet-Vergnitzs-Class Fleet Command Battleship, and the unit's VF-1s received a standard all-grey livery, even though some typical decoration (e. g. the squadron code in Zentraedi symbols, as well as some garish trim in green, blue and violet) remained.

When the UN Spacy eventually mothballed the majority of its legacy Zentraedi ships, the unit was re-assigned to the Tokugawa-class Super Dimensional Carrier UES Xerxes. In 2022, SVF-789 left the Sol System as part of the Pioneer Mission. By this time it had been made part of the Expeditionary Marine Corps and re-equipped with VAF-6 Alphas.

Macross +++ 1:8 Taqisha T'saqeel; Leader of the U.N. Spacy Zentraedi Fleet's SVF-789 'Dar es Carrack'; Meltraedi pilot of the Stonewell/Bellcom VF-1J Plus Valkyrie '300'; Tefé Amazonia Base, Brazil; early 2013 (modified Over Dard garage kit) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

Macross +++ 1:8 Taqisha T'saqeel; Leader of the U.N. Spacy Zentraedi Fleet's SVF-789 'Dar es Carrack'; Meltraedi pilot of the Stonewell/Bellcom VF-1J Plus Valkyrie '300'; Tefé Amazonia Base, Brazil; early 2013 (modified Over Dard garage kit) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

The kit and ist assembly:
A fictional Macross character, inspired by the recent build of two 1:100 VF-1s from the canonical SVF-789 squadron: a dedicated Zentraedi squadron within the human (and foemer enemy) U.N. Spacy, outfitted exclusively with mecha of human origin and established after the end of the Human-Zentraedi War in 2012.
When I built the two Valkyries, I had originally a simple, basic VF-1A in mind, but also a more outstanding, flashy flight leader's machine. The latter became the fictional SVF-789'S "300". From that, I spun the idea and story further - into the depiction of "300"'s pilot character with a figure.

I initally tried to find a suitable Macross character/figure - Miria was my first choice, because I wanted a female character. But there was nothing to be found, and since I am no sculptor I had to revert to a stock figure kit and convert it to my ideas.
After a long search I eventually found a suitable basis in the character Christina MacKenzie from Gundam (War in the Pocket), of which several garage kits and recasts are around. I settled upon an 1:8 resin kit of that character in her pilot suit and with the helmet held in her hand - mostly because it was the only option at hand, found on ebay for a reasonable price.

Here's some reference - from another garage kit manufacturer who did the character as a figure, B Club:

Over Dard's rendition is slightly different, but a good point for me to start:

Macross +++ 1:8 Taqisha T'saqeel; Leader of the U.N. Spacy Zentraedi Fleet's SVF-789 'Dar es Carrack'; Meltraedi pilot of the Stonewell/Bellcom VF-1J Plus Valkyrie '300'; Tefé Amazonia Base, Brazil; early 2013 (modified Over Dard garage kit) - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

Macross +++ 1:8 Taqisha T'saqeel; Leader of the U.N. Spacy Zentraedi Fleet's SVF-789 'Dar es Carrack'; Meltraedi pilot of the Stonewell/Bellcom VF-1J Plus Valkyrie '300'; Tefé Amazonia Base, Brazil; early 2013 (modified Over Dard garage kit) - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

As always, there's the issue of originals and recasts - blunt and sometimes crappy copies of finely sculpted and expensive originals. Since I'd convert the figure, anyway, I did not pay much attention to this, but it seems as if I actually got hold of an original kit made by Over Dard. If ot's a copy, then it is of very high quality, because many fine details like clothing seams or even a profile under the figure's feet are there and crisply moulded.

Thankfully, Gundam pilot outfits do not differ much from those from the Macross universe pilot suits. Since the Christina MacKenzie figure comes with a rather simple and clean jumpsuit with a rocket-satchel on her back and a helmet held in her hand over the shoulder, I just added some small details that would take the figure closer to the Macross universe.

Macross +++ 1:8 Taqisha T'saqeel; Leader of the U.N. Spacy Zentraedi Fleet's SVF-789 'Dar es Carrack'; Meltraedi pilot of the Stonewell/Bellcom VF-1J Plus Valkyrie '300'; Tefé Amazonia Base, Brazil; early 2013 (modified Over Dard garage kit) - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

Macross +++ 1:8 Taqisha T'saqeel; Leader of the U.N. Spacy Zentraedi Fleet's SVF-789 'Dar es Carrack'; Meltraedi pilot of the Stonewell/Bellcom VF-1J Plus Valkyrie '300'; Tefé Amazonia Base, Brazil; early 2013 (modified Over Dard garage kit) - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

Head and face were taken OOB, as well as the arms. On the helmet I added a characteristic visor fairing with a piece of styrene sheet, and on the body I added a belt with some small pouches and a typical harness over bust and shoulders - both created from styrene strips and other small bits. As a side effect, these "horizontal" lines somewhat redude the tall and sleek silhouette of the figure, and the harness helps distract a little from the rather sturdy bust - IMHO a bit too oversized for my taste, but since cosmetic surgery in this figure area is rather hazardous I was happy about the visual reduction of the figure's bust size.

Macross +++ 1:8 Taqisha T'saqeel; Leader of the U.N. Spacy Zentraedi Fleet's SVF-789 'Dar es Carrack'; Meltraedi pilot of the Stonewell/Bellcom VF-1J Plus Valkyrie '300'; Tefé Amazonia Base, Brazil; early 2013 (modified Over Dard garage kit) - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

Size is generally an issue with this kit: it's labelled as 1:8 scale, but the model appears to be considerably smaller - even if the character was Japanese. Based on the kit, Christina MacKenzie would be only 148cm(!) tall! While overall proportions are fine, the whole thing rather looks and feels like 1:9 or even 1:10!

Painting and markings:
Authentic early Macross pilot suits were the benchmark, but since the Zentraedi/Meltraedi "world" has a very distinct color code I tried to incorporate some of that into the pilot suit.

Here's a reference to an early Macross pilot suit as benchmark:

Basically, some general suit design elements were taken over, but I changed the colors a little - for instance, the typical white/red jumpsuit became light grey/violet - the grey was chosen because it would look more like a fabric suit, and it would add some contrast to the pure white which was used on the suit's hard parts like the helmet, backpack as well as the shoulder and shank protectors.

Other highlights and contrasts were set with blue trim on the arms and the collar and a very dark brown stripe under the armpit, reaching down under the hips.
In order to set the figures bright green skin and hair evebn more apart I added a red lining to the jumpsuit - a color that pops up on the shoulders (decals from a 1:100 VF-1, together with Macross roundels) and the shank protectors.
The dark brown was repeated on the boots, so that - despite many different colors - the overall look is pretty balanced.

Macross +++ 1:8 Taqisha T'saqeel; Leader of the U.N. Spacy Zentraedi Fleet's SVF-789 'Dar es Carrack'; Meltraedi pilot of the Stonewell/Bellcom VF-1J Plus Valkyrie '300'; Tefé Amazonia Base, Brazil; early 2013 (modified Over Dard garage kit) - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

Macross +++ 1:8 Taqisha T'saqeel; Leader of the U.N. Spacy Zentraedi Fleet's SVF-789 'Dar es Carrack'; Meltraedi pilot of the Stonewell/Bellcom VF-1J Plus Valkyrie '300'; Tefé Amazonia Base, Brazil; early 2013 (modified Over Dard garage kit) - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

As per usual, the figure was painted with brushes and enamels, on top of a coat of grey acrylic primer. Some post-shading was done in order to add light effects (which make IMHO sense at 1:8 scale and less). The hair was painted with enamels, too, but in this case the highlights and effects were directly created with a wet-in-wet method, in order to avoid a rather weathered look. A light black ink wash was applied to the non-facial areas in order to emphasize edges and contrast lines. The blue visor or the helmet was created with clear paint on top of an acrylic silver basis.

Macross +++ 1:8 Taqisha T'saqeel; Leader of the U.N. Spacy Zentraedi Fleet's SVF-789 'Dar es Carrack'; Meltraedi pilot of the Stonewell/Bellcom VF-1J Plus Valkyrie '300'; Tefé Amazonia Base, Brazil; early 2013 (modified Over Dard garage kit) - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

Macross +++ 1:8 Taqisha T'saqeel; Leader of the U.N. Spacy Zentraedi Fleet's SVF-789 'Dar es Carrack'; Meltraedi pilot of the Stonewell/Bellcom VF-1J Plus Valkyrie '300'; Tefé Amazonia Base, Brazil; early 2013 (modified Over Dard garage kit) - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

The face was painted with enamels, too. Concerning the eyes, there's an almost religious debate whether you should paint them "from inside out" or "from the outside in". I prefer the latter variant.

Macross +++ 1:8 Taqisha T'saqeel; Leader of the U.N. Spacy Zentraedi Fleet's SVF-789 'Dar es Carrack'; Meltraedi pilot of the Stonewell/Bellcom VF-1J Plus Valkyrie '300'; Tefé Amazonia Base, Brazil; early 2013 (modified Over Dard garage kit) - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

Macross +++ 1:8 Taqisha T'saqeel; Leader of the U.N. Spacy Zentraedi Fleet's SVF-789 'Dar es Carrack'; Meltraedi pilot of the Stonewell/Bellcom VF-1J Plus Valkyrie '300'; Tefé Amazonia Base, Brazil; early 2013 (modified Over Dard garage kit) - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

Finally, the kit was sealed with matt acrylic varnish.

As another final step, the figure received one of my standardized black bases:

Macross +++ 1:8 Taqisha T'saqeel; Leader of the U.N. Spacy Zentraedi Fleet's SVF-789 'Dar es Carrack'; Meltraedi pilot of the Stonewell/Bellcom VF-1J Plus Valkyrie '300'; Tefé Amazonia Base, Brazil; early 2013 (modified Over Dard garage kit) - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

Well, "something different" from the usual model kit building business - and a real distraction from standard routines. While the finish on this one is not as good as I hoped it to be (the relatively small size and the conversion work took some toll), I am nevertheless quite happy with the result - with the bright green skin and hair the figure/character looks positively exotic and unusual, while I think that I could conserve and convey the Macross heritage through the mods and the painting?

scooter · April 06, 2017, 07:24:57 AM

You know, there's just something about green-skinned alien babes...

PR19_Kit · April 06, 2017, 11:39:19 AM

Blimey, she has some SERIOUS legs there, even if they are green!

Dizzyfugu · April 07, 2017, 12:11:51 AM

Thank you. I hope the topic ain't too bizarre - but whifs come in many guises, even green ones.

Purplebeard · April 14, 2017, 05:41:25 PM

So.....does she pilot a scaled up VF1? Or does she shrink to human scale?

Macross +++ 1:8 Taqisha T’saqeel, 3rd Flight Leader of U.N. Spacy's SVF-789

Dizzyfugu

scooter

PR19_Kit

Dizzyfugu

Purplebeard