1/72 Rayleonard 04-Alicia Unsung by Kotobukiya (Gallery Updated)

Since April 22 I have not completed a kit, I was a little burnt, the VF-1 was one of those kits that take a toll on, I didn't enjoyed that one at all, after that, the fiasco with the VF-0D. It took me 3 months to complete this kit, but at the end of the road thanks to it, I regained a little of my lost love for the hobby and some of the trust on my skills.

I wanted to do the Alicia Unsung since I started on this hobby, I remember my first order from japan I bought the VF-27 and the Armored VF-25S I was all about macros and stayed that way for a while, but this design was always on the back of head, and that changed almost a year ago when I finally purchased this plamo, and I must say, I'm not disappointed.

On terms of looks, this kit is amazing, the best looking kit on my shelves so far, it is an eye catcher, with aggressive almost menacing design it looks like nothing else, it feels massive and strong, but  fast and agile at the same time, it's like the baby from a marriage between a Tank and an F1 race car.

But the looks are not for free,I spent allot of time gluing, sanding, removing excess plastic and seam lines, test fitting, filling gaps, painting, re-painting, doing some mods, it was truly a work of love, one that I would gladly do again.

It looks impressive even without a pose, it feels massive even if he's not the tallest or bulkiest kid on the classroom.

I spent weeks adding waterslides and decals, some of them were leftovers from other kits, I also did chipping, dry brushing and washes for the weathering.

I said it before and I'll say it again, the lack of waterslides is a minus on the Kotobukiya brand and I used most of my extra waterslides on this model.

The weapons as always were a pain, to complete, those things are no fun, tree or four parts sandwiched together and that's it, no color separation, almost no gimmicks on them, on the plus side Kotobukia includes an extra weapon not mentioned on the box or on the manual, but that's not a problem thanks to the boring engineering on the weapons, you can figure them out without the need o a book.

Talking about weapons I took the picture with the Project Magnus to show the other weapon.

It looks tough, but it isn't, a complex design such as this one requires lots of tiny fragile pieces, posing it it's a nightmare, nowhere to put your fingers without the risk of breaking something, which I did.

I did a few modifications, I added the back fin from extra parts that come on the box, also did a few extra details on the thighs, and extended the neck.

If you don't modify the neck the head will be sunk on the gap, hidden under there with just a millimeter or so to move from side to side, that's why I extended the neck, now it has better movement and higher profile, now you can actually see the head.

Overall, this kit have his chips on the winning number, the looks, impressive, paint and glue are a must, just a few gimmicks, no waterslides, poor movement, very fragile, but even with all those cons on its side, the complexity of the build very fine details and outstanding looks are the trademark of this model, so this is a winner on my book, one kit that I would not recommend if you're new to the hobby, but, if you have some experience, you're looking to improve, you want to try something new and impressive, the Alicia Unsung it's a must for you.

7/10