Yamato Macross 1/48 VF1S-GBP Armor
Box
From what I’ve heard, the “GBP” stands for “Grenade Box Protection”. The armor only appeared once in the TV series and the pilot (Hikaru Ichijo) was piloting the VF1J type Valkyrie, not the VF1S. I’m still deciding on whether or not to jump in and get the 1/48 VF1J since the VF1S does the trick. So for the time being I’ll use the VF1S to model the GBP Armor. 🙂
That’s a whole lotta parts!!!
The nosecone can be removed or left on, depending on your tastes. The flat, uhm, crotch is the cartoon accurate version.
The GBP VF1S
Armament:
Guns:
-Two Fixed Mauler RÖV-20 anti-aircraft laser cannons, firing 6,000 pulses per minute each.
-Howard GU-11 55 mm three-barrel Gatling gun pod with 200 rds fired at 1,200 rounds/min
Bombs & Missiles:
-56 x 28-cm-diameter Erlikon GH-32 Grenade Crusher high maneuverability micro-missiles placed throughout
—22 mounted in two shoulder launchers
—10 mounted in two chest launchers
—16 mounted in four side leg launchers
—8 mounted in four rear leg launchers
-18 x Erlikon GA-100 Crusher high-speed armor-penetrating projectiles (mounted in two lower arm launchers)
-6 x Ramington H-22T large hand grenades (mounted on upper legs)
Arm mounted launchers
Hand grenandes (removable)
Rear and side leg launchers
Shoulder mounted micro missiles
Chest and shoulder mounted micro missiles
Talk about your killing machines.
When fully armored the entire toy weighs 900 Grams. Impressive considering not much diecast was used for the GBP armor. The good news is the armor pieces hold together very well, the bad news is the hand grenades come off their pegs easily and according to some reviews be extra careful when inserting the missiles into the chest area. Some report of stress marks on the plastic after inserting the missiles. I didn’t encounter that problem though.
Gold
