Very cool, Jim! Macross is an anime series that was heavily edited and released in the U.S. as Robotech. The YF-19 appeared in "Macross Plus." It was an experimental variable fighter (VF) that eventually became the VF-19 Excalibur. Can't wait to see it finished.

By the way, Merit is distributing Hasegawa in the U.S., and the company is re-releasing a many of it's Macross kits. So if you're interested in more of them, you'll have plenty of opportunity to pick them up.

Thanks! Some more progress. I'm going to try and see how fast I can do this one while still keeping things under control. Usually I just spend bits and pieces of time on the model but I'm curious to see if I can work for longer periods.

More detailing

More work done, not really following the instructions order, just trying to get components done, allowing for being able to prime things.

Side question, does everyone bother with priming plastic, when using acrylic paints? Does it actually matter that much? I've been doing this, but I see some people post videos where they just completely skip it. 

What I have heard is that acrylics benefit from a primer to improve adhesion.  Plus you get a preview of your seam work.  What some people do is use a lacquer or enamel primer, because they "bite" the plastic surface better.

I always prime my kits, to check for flaws and to make sure everything is completely opaque.

I had some crazy chipping and even some "welding" between robot parts that were painted with acrylics.  The paint on the shoulder armor of a Gunpla kit kept sticking to the body, resulting in scabs of paint stuck on both parts.  I repainted 3X, and the same thing happened.  This, plus the chipping at moveable parts, put me off using acrylics for poseable models.

But for something that doesn't move like your YF-19, acrylics are fine.  I do find they seem to spray to a smoother finish than enamels.

Yeah I'm in an apartment so for ease of cleanup and fumes, etc, I'd prefer to only use acrylics. So I stay away from enamels or laquers.

Canopy glass masking

Misc parts

base color

Oh wow that looks really cool Jim, coming along great! 

Thanks. more updates...

Test fit

Parts painted

Starting decals

Love the mottling and shading! 

She's gonna look awesome when finished!!! 

Thanks! Here's after decals, clear coat, and panel line wash

Oh WOW, that's just beautiful!!! 

Thanks, almost done...

Finished!

Oh WOW!!!! 

That looks beautiful!!! 

NICE!!!!!!!! 

This looks great. Yeah, Macross made its mainstream US debut as Revell Robotech model kits in the early 1980s. It was new to me, a cartoon on afternoons when I was in college.

The cartoons were heavily disjointed because they mixed various Japanese cartoons together, dubbed them in English with new stories and kind of showed them as if they were one series.

Think of it as if they took the old Star Trek animated cartoon, and intermixed episodes of the GI Joe cartoon and Super Friends and passed it off as one series.

I loved these kits, although in Revell boxes, they were from a few different manufacturers and ages. Some were better than others. I built most of the series.