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Reviewed by Adam Rehorn
1/144 Scale
Macross Kit #31
Injection-Moulded
Price approximately $17.95 CDN
Above: The front of the QR is
quite a good replica, with the 3-barrelled autocannons in the arms and hip cannons all being separate pieces. The cockpit
can open, but there's not much in there, and it isn't worth ruining the lines of the mech to do so.
When somebody mentions Macross, the first mech that most people
think of is, understandably, Shoji Kawamori's classic VF-1 Valkyrie. The second is probably a Zentraedi battlepod, the Ostrich-like
Regault. One mech most people probably don't even know the name of, let alone be able to spell it correctly, is the Queadluun
Rau, the Female Power Armour flown by Millia (Myria in Robotech).
This is a review of what I believe is the only kit
of this mech ever made in the mainstream, the 1/144 Queadluun Rau. There were plans for a 1/200 scale version, however I don't
believe these were ever produced. In any case, this kit is the version reissued by Bandai as part of the Macross 15th Anniversary
line. The Queadluun Rau (QR) is Macross series #31, B-1231-300 645075-0037108 (re-release), the original having been brought
out by Imai in 1983.
The (QR) is an older kit, so there are no modern luxuries at all. That means no polycaps
and no provision for snap fitting. The QR makes you earn your results by forcing you to glue it together. The fit of the kit
is good and I only needed a normal amount of body filler to do the job. However, due to its age, there is a lot of build-around,
meaning many subassemblies have to be completed and then others built around them. This makes the QR a slow build, and lots
of masking tape gets used up. This is particularly true of the arms. The upper arms are comprised of two pieces that need
to swivel, and require extreme care and to build correctly.
Despite the lack of polycaps, the QR is actually quite
flexible. The arms have a good range of motion, and the feet rock and swivel. The pilot's compartment even opens, the 'hood'
and two shoulder panels being hinged to allow access. The cockpit itself is fairly undetailed, although it is possible to
have a pilot in there. The QR comes with a 1/144 scale figure of Millia herself, which can be assembled in standing position
or only half assembled and glued into the cockpit. The full figure is better, although it is made out of the same green plastic
as the rest of the kit, and needs a lot of work.
The QR comes molded in only one colour, a rather garish bright green.
This is completely useless, and needs to be painted. The box art shows the QR more or less like it is in the Macross TV show.
This is a green, grey and black paint job, with extensive markings. These markings are given as waterslide decals, which follow
the Macross kit tradition of being many and very, very good. The decals include markings in 'Zentraedi' as well as other decorations
and stripes. There's no photoetch on this kit, it's just injection from start to finish.
I decided to go crazy and
do the QR as it appears in the movie "Macross: Do You Remember Love?". In this case, the mech is mostly red, with some pinkish
highlights. I have to admit the end result is rather impressive, but it was not an easy task. The whole kit needed to be primered
first, which made it a lot more
work. As I'm sure every one out there knows,
red doesn't cover green worth a toot.
One thing that deserves mention is the option in the shoulder.
There are two domes behind the 'head', and these house rockets. One can be built open, revealing a set of warheads. However,
in the show, (well, the movie at least), these aren't the rockets themselves. They're just tubes to launch the rockets. Thus, I had to paint 'holes' on the end of each one using a Gundammarker. I wish they had molded in a recess for this, but they didn't.
Considering the age of the original
molds, the kit I assembled was quite precise, at least in the sense that there was no warpage or flash. Fit was a bit off,
but that's just the way it used to be, right? Overall, the QR is a nice kit for an experienced modeler, but would be very
tough for a beginner. Its round surfaces and smooth lines make painting and gloss coating quite easy, which is a major bonus.
It builds up quite large, the end result being around 7.5" tall, and makes a great desk guardian. It will probably have people
guessing as to where it's from, and if you do it in red you'll really confuse them. It doesn't really look like much else
going, which is all part of its charm. It's also nice, because it gives you a sense of just how much a Valkyrie has to go
up against. Compare the QR to something from Macross 7, and you'll see what I mean.
Despite having been reissued
recently, (last 5 years or so) these kits aren't as easy to find as one might think. If you can find one, it makes a nice
addition to any collection. I would advise getting one, although I wouldn't shell out more than the 17 bucks I paid for mine.
Above: There is a lot of nice thruster detail on the back of the kit,
and when painted orange to contrast with Jet Exhaust outer panels, it really shows up. There is also an option to build one
of the shoulder rocked bays open, which, of course, I took.
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