Yamato 1/60 Fan Jet Model

Observations & Critique: Hikaru’s original chick magnet

Let’s get this crackin’ by stating the obvious: anymoon.com is not a website for models. There are a lot of good model websites out there with tons of great information so if you’re interested in Macross model information, Google is your friend! The original release came in a white box that looks like it’d belong to a quality resin kit. There really isn’t much to it, some bubblewrap, the model on its sprues in a plastic baggy, and instructions.

 The regular release version of the kit was called “Pearl Gray” and came packaged in a thin plastic ‘box’. After criticism of having neither landing gear nor a pilot figure, Yamato now included a pilot mold of Hikaru as he appeared in his first appearance in the show.

The next release was packaged with Yamato’s 1/60 Angelbirds toys through a Macross Chronicle mail-in campaign. The version was rendered in clear plastic, also includes the pilot figure, and comes in the same clear plastic box as the pearl gray version.

I purchased this product to show Yamato that there was fan (no pun intended) interest in seeing this thing developed but I am not a model maker. The pictures above are promotional Yamato pictures. Pictures not from Yamato are from a model completed by my friend Earl.

The model debuted at the May 2009 Shizuoka Hobby Show where 1000 units were available with all remaining inventory being listed on Yamato’s Japanese website for 3,000¥. The pearl gray version was a regular retail release in December 2009 for the same price. The clear version of the model was available with a Yamato 1/60 V2 toy for 16,500¥.

As you can see in the instructions above, the kit was fairly straight forward. I was told that the fit of the parts was excellent… in fact the parts fit so well that it some times created difficulty. When test fitting certain parts they could latch together so tightly that it was difficult to then tease them back apart. With tolerances that tight, there can be issues with glue or paint having sufficient room.

The creators never published official dimensions but, according to the Macross Mecha Manual, the Macross Chronicle published a size comparison to the VF-1 that implied the Fan Jet was 5.3 meters long. Reverse engineering the size from the pilot, Macross Mecha Manual felt a size closer to 5.9 meters would be more accurate. The Yamato Fan Jet is 11.9 cm long putting it between 1/45 and 1/50 scale given the two length estimates. That means that this figure scales much better with Yamato’s 1/48 line of toys despite the fact the pilot figure is 1/60 scale.

From a line art perspective, the mold is a very good approximation. It’s not quite as sleek as the line art but it’s still aggressive enough to look like a racer. You’ll need some modeling talent to eliminate the seam underneath and more talent to create the front landing gear bay detail.

Though the white version of the kit lacks a pilot figure, you could put a standard 1/60 V2 pilot in the cockpit. The pilot that came packaged with the trainer VF-1D would be the most accurate fit but Hikaru only wore the VF-1D helmet in the VF-1D, he handed it to Minmay before getting back in his fan racer. The pilot that came with the pearl gray and clear releases is accurate to Hikaru’s look while flying the fan racer.

There are lots of fun ways this model can be built. I’ve seen versions where it was damaged and hanging upside down in the SDF-1. There are versions with clever use of LEDs. There are factory fresh and worn versions. Check out the video above for a recap on the assembly process for the model built by Earl for this review and to see a comparison to the Bandai DX toy.

There are two features to this model. First, the fans can be left free spinning in their housing. Second, the cockpit can open and close. There appears to be some fit issues with the canopy as I’ve read numerous modelers complain that they could not close the canopy upon completion of the model. To resolve this, you should test fit the canopy before painting and you will likely need to trim some plastic to make sure of proper fitment. The model I borrowed for this photoshoot had the canopy glued down to overcome this issue.

At the time of release, there was quite a bit of grumbling that the kit could not be built in a landing gear deployed configuration. The model doesn’t have the molded detail for the front landing gear bay. If you’re going to miss it, it can be etched into the plastic.

A slot at the bottom of the plane is meant to pair with Yamato’s #01 Mighty Block Display Stand. If you can track one down, the display stand is fantastically adaptable.

Today we have the Bandai DX toy version of the Fan Jet (packaged with their VF-1D toy) and it’s smaller than the Yamato model and looks like it works perfectly with Yamato’s 1/60 V2 toys. This is further reinforced by the fact Bandai’s pilot figures look a little smaller than 1/48 scale. The size of the DX product is 1/49 at the smallest interpretation of the size and 1/55 at the larger size so it works very well with all toy lines. For people with no modeling talent (like myself), the DX toy is a very appealing alternative that looks great and has very similar features. For completists and modelers who know they can take this up a notch, the Yamato model remains a very charming addition to the 1/60 scale line.