There’s only a few parts left to paint, so assembly can really begin. I’m taking it very carefully though and not rushing.This section went together quite well, but the clip on arm that hold the neck and head just keeps popping off. I don’t think that will effect things too much, and my lame attempt to stick it in place with some tape failed miserably.  I love these red missile covers. I added a couple of HQO metal parts to add some extra details. I think they look great. They’re meant to be thruster details, but who cares? These small wings have a fair few decals. The main white one wraps around, and the red ones wrap around the pointy section at the end. I used a few drops of Tamiya X20 to soften them into place. After each set of decals was done, I added another top coat of Future Finish to lock them in place so I wouldn’t disturb them while doing the other side.  The kit is really starting to come together. The head is very tight for how it fits in place though. I had to try a couple of times to get it to lie flat. Here I didn’t have the head quite right and the rear grey section wouldn’t fold up flat. After another go, the head went down and the grey section came up flat. Hurray! The wings are now all joined together nicely. The metal rods that works as hinges went in reasonably smoothly and hold tight. The wings take a little force to attach… … and as soon as the white top section gets added they hold very firm. The arms were tricky to add in and get them latched into place. Everything has to be just right. However the joints feel very much more robust than on the VF-1 I did. I like how you get the joined double hands at the back to help hold everything in place. I know it’s a cheat, but it works! More top coating with Future Finish. I know I’ve got to be careful not to over-do it, but I don’t want any of the work damaged as I assemble. I reassembled the wing pods, and added in the reaction missiles. Here’s the purple gun. The insides were done with Tamiya gunmetal. More missile pods and more decals! There’s still more decals to do on these to put the number “7” in place and on the fold-out panels. Both guns completed. The sniper rifle is quite intricate, and rather than use foil stickers, I carefully painted in the required areas with the Tamiya purple. The gloss purple paint went on very smoothly and the details really add to the weapon design. And the reaction missiles need their decals too! I think there’s enough to go on the other side of the missiles, but no worries for now. They look great as they are.I was going to put the legs on, but the grey joints were not too strong, so I took them apart and glued the two halves together. I can then have another go and hopefully it will go more smoothly.

I’m hoping to be able to do all the transforms with this kit, but if not, I’ll get everything to Gerwalk mode and display like that.