TakaToys 1/48 Stickers Review

[Hurin]

Howdy,

WHY BUY AFTER-MARKET STICKERS?

I picked up a bunch of TakaToys 1/48 sticker sheets. I did this for two reasons:

1. The stickers Yamato supplies with their valks are of poor quality. They are way too thick (you see the edges on any lettering, etc.). . . and I've been told they peel too much.

2. It's nice to be able to apply better stickers than those supplied with the valk. . . while keeping the original stickers mint in the box.

GENERAL IMPRESSIONS

These stickers are amazing. They really did exceed my expectations and my valk looks much better than it would have with the Yamato-supplied stickers (judging by how crappy my 1/60 looks with the Yamato stickers applied).

TOOLS NEEDED

You will need a sharp/new hobby knife, a set of sharp scissors, some toothpicks, and a lot of patience to apply the stickers. It took me an entire afternoon to apply the stickers to my satisfaction. But, I'm a bit of a perfectionist. I should also point out that I used two sheets to apply these stickers. I recommend buying 2-3 sheets for each valk you will be "sticker-ing" if you are a perfectionist. It's only $10 for each set, and it's nice to have piece of mind. . . knowing that if you mangle a sticker, you've got some backups.

Actually, there are quite a few duplicates on the sheet, thoughtfully provided by TakaToys. If you screw one up, you can usually find a duplicate in the bottom "bonus" section. But, I screwed up enough (or was perfectionist enough) to burn through the bonus ones and work my way into a second sheet of these stickers.

You will also want to have your valk manual, and the original Yamato sticker sheet handy. Sometimes, you'll need to look up the number of the decal in the manual, eyeball the decal on the original Yamato sheet, and then find the equivalent decal on the Takatoys sheet.

STICKER ACCURACY/CLARITY

The stickers are, in almost every respect, as good or better than those supplied by Yamato. The only area where Yamato surpasses the after-market stickers is in the clarity of very small lettering. But, the difference in quality here is negligable. In both you can still make out the words: "No Step". . . which is probably the smallest lettering that remains legible on either sheet. After that, smaller lettering is just "hinted" at by both Yamato and these TakaToys aftermarket stickers. The tiny lettering is slightly more crisp on the original sheet. But, I can't see anyone even noticing. I didn't notice as I applied them, and only did so just now when I started writing this paragraph and went back to check! In my opinion, the superior quality of the transparent material more than makes up for this negligable decrease in clarity. Who is going to look that closely and be that judgemental of the clarity of "No Step?"

Every sticker supplied on the original sheet is supplied on the TakaToys sheet. . . and then some. I applied every sticker that is listed in the manual and I wasn't left wanting for any stickers. TakaToys' sheet covers them all.

There are also (apparently) all the stickers you will need for the FAST Packs recently released by Yamato as well. Looking at the TakaToys website, however, it looks like he now offers some additional FAST Pack stickers that boast an "Exact fit of skull symbols." I don't know what this will mean for my FAST Packs when I try to apply the stickers I already have. . . but I'll give it a try soon and let you all know. . .

APPLIED APPEARANCE

The pictures below speak for themselves. I was especially impressed with how these stickers are so thin that you can use a toothpick or your fingernail to gently press these stickers into panel lines so that they follow the contours of the valk.

I also loved how the small lettering stickers melted into the valk (especially the white lettering (SDF-1, 011) on the black of the tail fins) It looks incredible until you get very close and start looking for the sticker edges. . . or the light hits them from a very unfortunate angle and causes the sticker to shine.

I was even impressed with how that most-problematic area of a valk looked with these stickers: The large "U.N. SPACY" on the legs. Once you really press the sticker down, the U.N. SPACY looks almost painted on from nearly all angles. Yes, if you get really close and focus on the panel lines, you'll notice the "sticker-iness" of it, but I think it's about as good as you can get for a sticker.

Unfortunately, when the light hits the U.N. SPACY sticker(s) just right, it will have a sheen at certain angles. However, I don't think the stickers themselves can be faulted for this. This is just the nature of using anything but paint to put the "U.N. SPACY" lettering on the toy. Perhaps someone skilled in model-building techniques could apply a gloss clear-coat, apply the sticker or a water-slide decal, and then put a flat clear-coat over the stickers to eliminate shine. But, for we non-model-building guys who just want to apply some stickers without all that hub-bub, this is the best (IMHO) you are going to get.

The U.N. SPACY on the gunpod is the same story by the way. It generally looks great. Not perfect from every angle, but about as good as you could ask for from a sticker.

The rest of the stickers look amazing from nearly every angle. I suggest starting with the U.N. SPACY kite symbol on the nose. When you first apply the kite, you immediately get a sense of how great these stickers can look.

Anyways, enough of my rambling. . . on with the pictures! Please excuse the fact that I had to use a flash. The lightning in my home is very "warm" and everything would have looked dingy without it. I could have waited for daylight, but I wanted to attach my newly aquired FAST Packs tonight and wanted to get these pictures taken before I mounted them.

We start out on top and in front (not very good images) and then make our way around the valk. . .

FINAL REVIEW

I don't think any Yamato valk is complete without some TakaToys stickers. I realize I may be gushing a bit and it may sound like I've got a stake in TakaToy's success. But really, I just think these stickers are extremely well-done and that we're all very lucky that they are availble. . . lest we have to use the Yamato stickers-o-crappiness.

[Hurin]

These stickers are also available at:

The Valkyrie Exchange

Twin Moons Anime

[Hurin]

UPDATE ON FAST PACK STICKERS

I attempted to apply the FAST Pack stickers that are included on the TakaToys 1/48 sticker sheet as a sort of "bonus."

These FAST Pack stickers were designed, however, before the FAST Pack themselves were released, and it does indeed look like TakaToys got the dimensions of the stickers (understandably) wrong. The skull emblems do not fit on the boosters. Obviously, TakaToys is aware of this. . . thus he is offering a new seperate sticker sheet for the FAST Packs.

Here is what my Valk looks like with the FAST Packs mounted and the "old" FAST Pack stickers used. Obviously, I'll be ordering TakaToy's new FAST Pack stickers. These just don't fit right. Plus, the new sheet has the emblems for the missiles included!

This one is just for fun cuz I think it looks so cool. . .

[yellowlightman]

Are the stickers peel-and-stick or water based?

[Hurin]

They are not water-based. They are cut (with a sharp hobby/xacto knife or scissors in the case of larger ones) and stick.

They are not die-cut. You have to cut them from the sheet.

[kensei]

Question with the air intake sticker, would you cut around the red line from beginning to end or just cut the shortest route from the last two points?

[Hurin]

I cut along the red line. It looks much better that way!

H

[kensei]

I cut along the red line. It looks much better that way!

H

But it's sooo hard! Anyone got a pic of one xacto knife? The buggers here don't know what I'm talking about when I ask for one.

[Isamu Atreides 86]

it looks kinda like a scalpel.

[wasabi-elephant]

I agree, these stickers are generally better than Yamato provided ones. They are thin & do stick well. However, they can be even better. Here are some suggestions:

For 1/48 VF-1 valk sticker (Regular)

- the sticker for the air intake (turbine section) should be made a little bit smaller, don't seem to be perfectly fit inside the intake ceiling area.

- it'd be much better if they are pre-cut, time saving & reducing the risk of damaging while cutting it.

For 1/48 FP sticker

- those "Danger" stickers would look better on the FP if they were in white rather than red (but that's just my opinion). They should be made a little bit bigger too.

- those colored "arrows" place on the leg armor shouldn't have those white border lines around them

- those "Armament - HMMP-02" stickers should be revised so that they can be properly placed on the back armor.

Edited November 4, 2003 by wasabi-elephant

[Draykov]

I cut along the red line.  It looks much better that way!

H

But it's sooo hard! Anyone got a pic of one xacto knife? The buggers here don't know what I'm talking about when I ask for one.

You can get one here among many other places.

Here's an image of another hobby knife.

Edited November 5, 2003 by Draykov

[kensei]

I cut along the red line.  It looks much better that way!

H

But it's sooo hard! Anyone got a pic of one xacto knife? The buggers here don't know what I'm talking about when I ask for one.

You can get one here among many other places.

Here's an image of another hobby knife.

Thanks Dray. Hmph, that looks exactly like a scalpel.

[Hurin]

In my humble opinion, pre-cutting the stickers is not possible. My understanding is that these stickers are made in someone's free time using an expensive printer and some 3M paper. Exactly how could someone come by a die-cutting machine that would perfectly match the print-out from this printer every time. I just don't think it's feasible as long as we're talking about stickers being made on a personal level by a fan.

All that being said, I've still never seen pre-cut stickers that were cut close enough for my tastes.

H

[Hurin]

It has been a long time since I wrote this review. TakaToys has improved his stickers quite a bit over the last several months. The text on the stickers are now even more clear, and stickers for the VF-1J (Max, Milia, and Hikaru) are also now included.

Also, my photography skills have somewhat improved.

I planned on using these pics for Max 1J review. But I'm too lazy right now to write it. So here are some that show off the stickers.

Edited May 31, 2004 by Hurin

[wasabi-elephant]

Nice pics.......are these a combination of takatoys stickers and Yamato stickers.

Did u buy 1/48 Millia? If so, do you have Millia pics with takatoys srickers on?

[Hurin]

Hi,

Those are all TakaToys. No Yamato ones were applied.

I don't yet have a Milia. Holding off a bit on that one. Need to pay down the credit cards this month.

H

[Godzilla]

Are the yamato stickers bad as most ppl say they are? I mean I just used them. I had to cust some of stickers because the clear parts are way too big. I sprayed clear coat on it and viola.

[Hurin]

I've never used mine since my first Yamato 1/60. They looked like ass. Ever since, I have kept my Yamato ones minty and just bought a set of Takatoys.

The difference in quality is, in my oft-repeated opinion, quite appreciable.

Especially if you're not the type to spray clear-coat on your toys!

H

[areaseven]

I used the stock Yamato stickers on my VF-1A. The intake stickers started peeling off after four months. My VF-1S uses nothing but Takatoys stickers, and they've been on for over a year.

[fearyaks]

I'm in the middle of putting my TakaToys sitckers on and noticed that the radar-dish sticker is way too big for the radar same with the cockpit stickers. Anyone else notice this? I guess I might have to raid the wife's medicine cabinet for some nice small scissors for those guys.

[Hurin]

Can't confirm or deny. Don't think I've ever used that sticker.

H

[eugimon]

I'm in the middle of putting my TakaToys sitckers on and noticed that the radar-dish sticker is way too big for the radar same with the cockpit stickers. Anyone else notice this? I guess I might have to raid the wife's medicine cabinet for some nice small scissors for those guys.

x-acto sells a small knife that has a rotating head for cutting curves, very handy, as long as you have a template to use.... works really well for cutting the kite and skull shields.

[ChristopherB]

A good quality dullcote sprayed over the valkyrie and stickers after they are applied of course, will eliminate any shine, and help them to blend in even more, the surface of the valkyrie will be more realistic, and the valkyrie and decals will be protected from scratches, fingerprints and quite possibly the effects of UV light will be mitigated.

Just make sure you cover the cockpit canopy with tape or something similar, otherwise the opacity will be reduced by the dull coat.

Another thing I do is take a #2 pencil and very lightly follow the panel lines, prior to applying a dull coat. This is of course presuming you want a valkyrie that appears slightly weathered as opposed to brand new.

[areaseven]

I just received my set of FP stickers from VALKYRIE-EXCHANGE.COM. As usual, I'm impressed by the quality of Takatoys' stickers compared to the stock versions.

Unfortunately, that doesn't mean I didn't touch the Yamato sticker sheet. Certain stickers such as the colored panels on the forearm units and the little yellow squares on the missile holder are not available on this new sticker sheet. You'll need to go back to Takatoys' first sheet to add the "No Step" and "Beware of Blast" labels. And for some reason, the Budweiser can label isn't as clear as the Yamato version.

Despite the imperfections, I'm glad I ordered Takatoys' sticker sheets for my Valks.