DX Chogokin VF-171 Cannon Fodder

[xrentonx]

Someone might make a killing on Shapeways if there was a fix available...

[Duymon]

Well after sitting in the display case for over a year now I decided to take a peek....

Man that sucks. The first thing I did when I opened all my 171's was I loosened those screws to avoid the cracks. The black plastic they used really sucked hardcore.

[jenius]

I just started handling my 171 CF for the first time in a long time and I can see the hairline cracks on the black triangles and I also noticed that one of the legs spins pretty freely at the knee while the other knee has resistance. I'm guessing something has broken inside the knee but since the toy functions perfectly fine in all modes I'm not going to worry about it... yet.

[Chronocidal]

Yeah, if anything, just never put any stress on the knee joint. That same looseness was what led me to take apart mine, and the knee crumbled into a dozen pieces.

[mickyg]

Someone might make a killing on Shapeways if there was a fix available...

This, right here. Couldn't agree more.

[xrentonx]

I'd buy like 7 pairs of triangles and shoulder pieces if they were available. One for each 171 I own (or will own eventually). My count is 5...that's 2 Altos and 3 CFs. I got two Luca's on the way.

Edited August 29, 2014 by xrentonx

[Duymon]

Only the CF's have issues. I have 5 altos and none of them have issues at all. They are perfect, except for the fact that they're piloted by a wimpy wannabe girly boy and not somebody cool like diamond force.

[xrentonx]

Yeah, I've heard that. Doesn't mean I don't want spares just in case though.

[CoreyD]

Someone might make a killing on Shapeways if there was a fix available...

Maybe see if Kurisama is interested?

[Kurisama]

Sorry muchachos, I'm out of this one. Sold off my VF-171s already. I had doubts about the tolerances and material strength.

[Valkyrie Magnus]

Sorry muchachos, I'm out of this one. Sold off my VF-171s already. I had doubts about the tolerances and material strength.

And all our hopes and dreams are gone...... Just kidding but I do hope

Someone makes it

[Chronocidal]

Sorry I keep getting distracted by real life, but I do have a design in mind to replace those parts (both upper and lower), I just haven't been able to actually take the measurements to start working yet.

I'm also going to need to get my own printer working at max performance before I can make anything so intricate to test with.

[jenius]

Yeah, if anything, just never put any stress on the knee joint. That same looseness was what led me to take apart mine, and the knee crumbled into a dozen pieces.

I should have listened closer, I just tried to reposition the toy in battroid mode and the leg split in two at the knee. I'm guessing I strained something during one of the transformations since there's that unnecessary twist/lock rotation mechanism.

[mickyg]

Clearly you have no experience with transforming toys and were too hamfisted with it.

In all seriousness though, these things induce stress like you wouldn't believe and that translates to "not fun" in my book. I got mine out the other day to take some more photos and transforming it enough to just photograph the damaged triangle was enough to put me in a cold sweat. The good news is my super glue fix seems to be holding up.

[Chronocidal]

Ouch, that really bites. But yeah.. I directly blame that idiotic twist lock for that kind of breakage, because there is no reason for it, and all it does is directly stress the thigh swivel.

Well, I guess that's one more person who would benefit from a redesigned knee/thigh joint.. I just wish Bandai hadn't gone so stupidly over-zealous with the glue, because getting the lower leg apart to put any kind of fix in place has a pretty good chance of entirely destroying the lower leg in the process. It wasn't enough that they screwed the thing together.. they screwed it, glued it, and then glued panels over the main seams to even get it apart.

I can't even begin to imagine how to fix the knee joint.. it's just an overcomplicated mess of parts to fix, and you're more likely to break it worse in the process than achieve anything.

[jenius]

Well I guess the good news is that I can have him still stand on the knee leg in battroid and you can't tell it's broken and in fighter I think it pegs in so tight it also wouldn't be visible. Gerwalk mode is probably a lost cause though... we'll see. I could also try gluing things back together but it looks like that would be awfully hard to do without ruining the knee rotation.

[Valkyrie Magnus]

Same thing happened to mine also. I tried super glue but it still breaks. My Alto knees are fine just the CF' s from what I have seen.

[aceoftherebellion]

The thing is, the previous VF-171 had the exact same pants on head engineering as the CF does, so it can't just be that. Otherwise all of the Alto 171s would eventually fail too a the same spot, and that's not what's happening. I'm sure the bad design can't help, but mine broke in a place that wasn't under tension at all, before I even tried transforming it. The plastic always breaks in the same way- it doesn't show any signs of stress, the 'white stress marks' we always see when plastic is actually under stress and tension. This plastic crumbles into tiny bits.

That's pretty much the exclusive domain of plastic degredation. I suspect the real culprit is Bandai's shiny silver-plastic- very very reminiscant of the old Hasbro gold plastic, right down to the swirl marks from poorly mixed plastic in various spots. That especially explains the ones that seem to crack and deteriorate while standing on the shelf. Not exactly a hopeful outlook, but the symptoms match.

[Scyla]

Damn it now you forced me to look at my Schroedingers Valkyrie and I see cracks in the lower triangle piece. Does anyone remember if the plastic of the black pieces can be welded with plastic cement?

[aceoftherebellion]

Any plastic cement designed to work on ABS should theoretically work here. It might even help overall to even out the bad plastic mix, since most plastic cement is solvent based, it might help to sort of 'melt it back together'. I'd be willing to give it a shot if I hadn't already superglued my parts into submission.

[funkymonkeyjavajunky]

Knee joint shattered on one of my CFs. I guess it'll remain in fighter mode.

[Mommar]

Worst. Release. Ever.

[valhary]

also I had to glue one of the small laser canon of their feets

[Sandman]

Saw this on shapeways:

http://www.shapeways.com/model/2939051/vf-171-nuns-triangles-wbk-sf-version.html?li=more-from-shop&materialId=25

Has anyone tried these?

[aaajin]

It's xigfrid's project from this thread :

http://www.macrossworld.com/mwf/index.php?showtopic=42000

[Brand-X]

I've done my best to peruse through this thread and check out reviews but I'd like to hear a second opinion. I'm considering grabbing one of these, my Frontier collection doesn't seem complete without a cannon fodder valk (I dunno, I just like having CFs from each series) and I've got enough 25s to definitely not want the 25A, honestly how terrible is this release? I know about the triangles breaking, is it like a full on falling off the figure kind of break or just a little crack? Does it hinder transformation or articulation? And how noticeable is it? Also I saw one review on youtube where the leg just snapped right off, has anyone else had this problem? Last but not least, do you think there's any chance of Bandai doing a reissue with these problems fixed?

[Chronocidal]

I'd say if you don't intend to transform it frequently, or do a lot of posing in battroid, you have a pretty good chance of things being fine. The triangles now have a Shapeways replacement available, so those aren't as big an issue. If you just keep it in fighter mode forever, you should be golden.

In terms of how the breakages work though, the lower triangles aren't really necessary at all for anything, they just cover a gap, and aren't that noticeable if removed entirely. The upper NUNS triangles are the bigger issue, because they surround the shoulder joint, and breaking them can mean the arms don't work correctly.

The legs are a separate issue though, and one there really is no fix for aside from replacing the entire valk. Bandai just designed the transformation mechanism terribly, and combined with a metallic plastic that likes to break, can result in the leg being entirely destroyed. I had that happen to me, and that particular 171 was relegated to the spare parts bin, because the knee joint shattered into a dozen pieces. No amount of glue is ever going to hold it, outside of permanently gluing it into a solid piece and never transforming it again.

As far as Bandai ever reissuing something that fixes something they did wrong, I wouldn't count on it. It would take a complete redesign of the 171 to fix some of the issues, and I seriously doubt Bandai would ever do it unless the 171 became the hero valk of a new series.

[Valk-1S]

The black plastic has issues so it can break in numerous areas. NUNS triangle, smaller triangle at the bottom, knee joint, and also I believe a piece at the body, not sure how to describe it. So any parts that uses the same plastic as the NUNs, has potential to break.

Like Chronocidal said, if you don't plan to transform it, then it should be okay, but bear in mind, my NUNs and little triangle cracked just sitting in the box for 2 or 3 of my VF-171. I sold them at a low price due to the cracks.

[SaitouSad]

I've done my best to peruse through this thread and check out reviews but I'd like to hear a second opinion. I'm considering grabbing one of these, my Frontier collection doesn't seem complete without a cannon fodder valk (I dunno, I just like having CFs from each series) and I've got enough 25s to definitely not want the 25A, honestly how terrible is this release? I know about the triangles breaking, is it like a full on falling off the figure kind of break or just a little crack? Does it hinder transformation or articulation? And how noticeable is it? Also I saw one review on youtube where the leg just snapped right off, has anyone else had this problem? Last but not least, do you think there's any chance of Bandai doing a reissue with these problems fixed?

this P.O.S. lives up to its name. Not only is it a NIGHTMARE to transform, the NUNS triangle on mine crumbled (YES! Crumbled!) to pieces when I tried transforming it back.

It was sitting fine in Battroid mode for over a year, but the moment I wanna pack it up into Fighter mode, it happened.

[ArchieNov]

I'm probably one of the few (if not only one) that still has their triangles intact with no cracks. Good thing too since I only have one copy. I've transformed it back and forth probably half a dozen times before during the first couple of weeks after getting it. Haven't transformed it in a while though since most of my valks are in fighter mode display.

But as most people keep saying, purchase at your own risk. If you don't plan on fiddling around with it too much or are able to be extremely careful when handling, I'd say go for it as it is a nice looking display piece IMO.

[David Hingtgen]

this P.O.S. lives up to its name. Not only is it a NIGHTMARE to transform, the NUNS triangle on mine crumbled (YES! Crumbled!) to pieces when I tried transforming it back.

It was sitting fine in Battroid mode for over a year, but the moment I wanna pack it up into Fighter mode, it happened.

Yup. I transformed it once, very carefully. Decided to sell it. Transformed it back to fighter mode to put back in box, being ultra-super careful, took over an hour. Still crumbled to pieces. So it lost a lot of value inbetween "deciding to sell it" and "listing it for sale".

[ophio]

Brand new in box ,before i transform this happens ....Guys ,is there anyway to take the upper portion ( red arrow indicating ) apart so that it can be fix ,i unscrew the mini screw already but it seems impossible to bring the two halves apart . SOS SOS : (

[Valk-1S]

Brand new in box ,before i transform this happens ....Guys ,is there anyway to take the upper portion ( red arrow indicating ) apart so that it can be fix ,i unscrew the mini screw already but it seems impossible to bring the two halves apart . SOS SOS : (

That happened to me and I managed to remove it. It's glued together, so depending on how much glue was applied, it could be easy or hard to get it off. The way I remove it is not ideal as I used a screwdriver which will damage some part of the plastic. Someone else might have a better way of getting it apart.

[Chronocidal]

To get that section apart, you have to halfway destroy the upper leg. I spent a while prying at that plate with a screwdriver to get it off. It does just pop off, but Bandai's assembly minions love slopping glue all over that piece.

Yeah... though, painful as that is, your best bet may be to glue the leg into a single piece, and try to enjoy a permanent fighter mode. That leg is probably never going to work again.

You might also want to look into the used market, and see if you can grab a cheap broken one with that leg intact. There are so many broken CFs floating around, they usually aren't very expensive.

Edited March 13, 2015 by Chronocidal

[ophio]

That happened to me and I managed to remove it. It's glued together, so depending on how much glue was applied, it could be easy or hard to get it off. The way I remove it is not ideal as I used a screwdriver which will damage some part of the plastic. Someone else might have a better way of getting it apart.

Thanks Valk ,so you have to put a screw driver to force out the center piece first before the two halves can be taken apart ?