Anasazi37

The Roy stand will *very* rarely come up for sale on its own on Mandarake and Jungle: https://order.mandarake.co.jp/order/detailPage/item?itemCode=1067750332 So, going the regular Stage Act.5 route is a good idea. I have my Roy, Max, and Milia on their special stands, but I'm not a huge fan of the colors and markings on them. I've thought about swapping them out for clear ones because those stands look better (but also don't want to sell the special ones).

Nice! Well, you *can* remove the canopy from the 2000 Hikaru 1J reissue using a screwdriver, but there isn't a screw-in heatshield for it and you can't use an older one as a substitute. Bandai modified the nosecone section a little bit for the reissue, resulting in a slightly larger canopy compared to the earlier releases. Found that out the hard way when I went to attach one of the resin clear canopies I acquired in the early 2000's to my Hikaru 1J custom. It was designed to fit on a Jetfire. So, I had to fall back to the amber-colored one that came with the reissue. Not terrible, but not what I really wanted for my customs (clear canopies on all of them!). Would have been nice for Bandai to include a slide-on heatshield, but no such luck. Those parts have traveled with me across the country and back over the past 19 years. I acquired all of them before I met my wife, but she's been very understanding about them. I told her that one day I would actually use them to make customs and that day has finally come.

I have those items in my resin stash, too! The VF-1D head and heatshield was a conversion kit made by Chris Barretta. I'm not sure who made the DYRA VF-1A head, but it is definitely distinct from the TV-style one that Chris also made. Also not sure who made the arm armor, but the peg-in design is way better than clipping it on. Here's some of my stash:

The lack of a swappable canopy and heatshield on the re-release of the Hikaru 1J (not the Origin of Valkyrie re-re-release) has made my 1/55 custom project a bit more challenging. It's one of the reasons why I have a resin clip-on heatshield for each one. That and it looks nicer to have the heatshield sitting flush with the chestplate, like the later offerings from Yamato, Bandai, and Arcadia.

I've been printing decals for this community for 18 years, so yes, there is demand. I printed the sets for John Moscato's two most recent kits (Quincy Rowe and Gabriel), so you've personally seen my work. It's always a trade-off between cost and benefit when it comes to creating aftermarket decals. If you're trying to reproduce an existing set, usually one that's old and rare, it can be expensive to just do one or two of them since you have to take a scan of it and try to either clean that up or redraft it in order to get something printable. The larger and more complex the set, the longer the process takes. If you're creating a set from scratch, that can also take a lot of time, depending on the complexity of the designs and the size of the set. Sometimes it's worth it, though. I've done it for this community in the past because making a rare set available helped out fellow members, but this isn't a business for me.

Agreed! Nice to see some love for the CM!

There's always room for more CFs! I have two set aside for my 1/55 custom project, along with five Hikaru 1As, four Hikaru 1Js (one already customized), and two beat-up Jetfires. At least one of each reissue is opened, so I'm happy to post pictures as well. I also have a Hikaru Super 1S reissue (yellow stripe) on display. I think the only real difference among the reissues is the Hikaru 1J vs. all of the others. It doesn't come with an easily swappable canopy and heatshield, which seems like the only real innovation of the reissue line. There are some small tweaks in certain places, but nothing really noticeable.

I agree with you 100%. Working on the Hikaru 1J custom, and lining up everything I'll need for the other 12, has rekindled my deep appreciation for the line and reminded me of how many others other there feel the same way. I collect all of the other lines, of course, but 1/55 is still my first love.

My Hikaru DX is posed that way--as much as the toy allows. Same with my Hikaru HMR. There's only so much you can do with the shoulders. I have both legs slightly bent, as if the valk was just pushed backwards from the force of blasting Boddole Zer. I left the head lasers upright because to me they look really weird pointed forward. And the wings with four UUM-7 boxes on them have to be extended further than in the anime so the arms with armor on them can move freely.

Screencap of my Nin-Nin invoice: I'm reading the -10% as both the discount and the chance of actually receiving my Roy from them. I've been screwed again and again on PO nights, never managing to get one. If it was finally going to happen, I was hoping it would be for Roy because he's my favorite, and it did! After securing the order, though, I started hearing about what Nin-Nin has done on previous POs and it makes me...skeptical.

Your odds are likely much better than mine. I was in the very first round of POs for Nin-Nin, which had a 10% discount on MSRP. I'd very much like to get my Roy, but I'm not holding my breath. I think there are a few others here in the same boat.

As @sqidd mentioned, the HMR missiles look like that. The marking and painting instructions for all of the old school Bandai variable 1/72 model kits for the TV valks show the same thing, as do the instructions for the original Imai kits they are based on.

It would be really great to see a new release of the 1/55 with more detailed and anime-accurate parts, painting, and markings. Additional poseability would be nice, too. I have to give tons of credit and thanks to members of this community for finding ways to upgrade the 1/55 on their own and then helping others, like me, do the same. I'll freely admit that there is a nostalgia factor at work here, where there's something about the original design that is very comforting and powerful, and I simply must build all of these customs. I wouldn't mind a straight reissue of the entire line if Bandai would actually do it and not turn it into the dumpster fire we're dealing with on the DX line, where there is limited supply and huge demand. While it's not too difficult to find the existing reissues in the secondary market, prices are all over the place and they didn't reissue everything. Either way, these customs are getting built. It was really hard to get started and there were several times where I almost threw in the towel because I had to learn (or relearn) techniques and it felt like progress was way too slow, but the end result was worth it and the remaining ones should (fingers crossed) go a lot faster. I've often wondered about that myself. If one were so inclined, one could design a really nice SSP set digitally and make it available for 3D printing. Same goes for all kinds of parts. If one were so inclined. The only one I can recall seeing is a 3D-printed gunpod being sold on eBay as a replacement for Jetfire. I don't remember the quality being that great. Then my plan is working! More love for the Chunky Monkey!

The newest version of the Flightpose stand doesn't have the black rubber heads that caused so many problems. The manufacturer switched to clear ones. Haven't had any issues with those over the past two years.

Looking good! Thanks for making these available to the community!

Thanks, @sqidd!

I wholeheartedly agree! Finishing this one and getting this feedback from the community is inspiring me to start work on the next one sooner than I planned. Me, too! I might have provided a few 1/55 Minmay Guard sets to members back in the day, but I don't recall anyone ever posting pictures of a finished custom. I've had the decals set aside for mine for a very long time. My goal is have the MG in 1/72 (Hasegawa), 1/60 (Yamato v1), 1/55 (Bandai reissue), and 1/48 (Yamato). Thank you! Thanks to you as well! That's high praise! The fixed pose hands are from a 1/48 Yamato GBP. Turns out that they're just the right size to fit with the overall "chunkiness" of the valk. I had to cut out some material on the inside of the right hand so I could get the gunpod in there, but otherwise it was an easy adaptation. I do have a closed right GBP hand, too, along with both original hands, all painted and detailed to match. To make the interchangeable hands work and allow for them to move a bit, I cut the originals off, drilled holes into the base of the pieces that slide inside the arm, attached a Kotobukiya Poly Unit Ball Joint L to each one (from behind), and then drilled holes into the back of each hand. Easy peasy.

I wanted to go the proxy route, but all of the trustworthy options were maxed out pretty fast. I could have tried one of the lesser-known options, but I didn't feel like gambling. Figured it would be cheaper and safer to just pick one up after release at a markup than potentially lose $200 and then still have to pick one up after release at a markup. The window isn't 30 seconds, but it's now usually no more than a few hours. It's almost worse than a regular PO because you submit a request and then have to wait for the proxy to respond, after which you send payment (if they don't have questions for you) and they attempt to place the order. While that's happening, your other options are vanishing. Some proxies ask for payment info up front, which saves time, but it's still not ideal. Sure, you could submit multiple requests to multiple proxies simultaneously, but then you might end up with multiple orders. And that's if you manage to submit requests right after the PO window opens up...in the middle of the night. Personally, I can't stay up all night waiting for a proxy to get back to me. Until about a year ago, ordering TWE items was relatively stress-free. Sadly, not anymore.

Hopefully we'll find out what's next at the Tamashii Nations event in early November

I bet you have a nice collection of those--can't wait to see it! Thank you! It feels really nice to be spending time at the workbench again, especially with how crazy the world is right now. The 1/55 part of my collection has been a big gap because I kept wanting to fill it with customs. Now there's one on the shelf and more on the way!

^^^ Fixed your post for you. And thank you.

Before the Bandai 1/48 DX and 1/100 HM/HMR lines, the Arcadia 1/60 line, and the Yamato 1/48 and 1/60 lines, there was only the 1/55: the Chunky Monkey. Not long after I joined MW in 2001, I started seeing all of the awe-inspiring 1/55 customization work happening and wanted to try it myself. I bought some beat-up Jetfires on eBay and started acquiring resin parts so I could recreate the entire original lineup of Takatoku and Bandai valks, because the alternative was to spend A LOT of money trying to track down rare ones like the Super Ostrich, Elintseeker, and VF-1S Strike. Plus, I thought it would be fun to do something this challenging and creative. I continued acquiring parts and eventually got my hands on a dozen Bandai reissue valks so I'd have enough to recreate the lineup, plus a few more variants that were never made. That's actually the origin story for all of the decal work I've done for this community: I needed decals for my own 1/55 customs. Printing decals for MW members quickly ate up my available hobby time, as did working on Yamato 1/60 and 1/48 customs for members. I put my own customs on hold, promising myself that I'd get back to them soon. Life interfered, as did work, and suddenly it's the fall of 2019 and I have no customs of my own. So, I kicked off a project to complete the entire lineup and the first one is finally done (see pictures below). As I complete the others, I will post pictures of them here. I have thirteen planned: VF-1J Hikaru VF-1J Max VF-1J Milia VF-1A Cannon Fodder VF-1A Max TV VF-1A Hayao TV VF-1D VF-1S Roy Strike (I prefer it to the Hikaru and having a TV Roy as well seemed redundant) VT-1 Super Ostrich VE-1 Elintseeker VF-1S Blue Roses 002 Strike VF-1S Minmay Guard Paris Act VF-1J Hikaru with GBP Part of my reason for making all of them is to work on, and finish, a project that has a lot of meaning for me. Another part is to show the 1/55 some love, making it look its absolute best. I have some crazy-fun, super-rare resin parts that I'll be using to help with that, like a highly-detailed custom nosecone with a canopy that opens and a DYRL pilot in the cockpit. This first custom took almost a year to complete because I had to rebuild my entire workshop, relearn a huge amount of customizing skills (and pick up some new ones), and repair a lot of damage to the custom I decided to start with. I began that one a very long time ago, before I had any idea what I was doing, and it showed. So I stripped it down and started over. I'm hoping to complete one every month or two, so this project could take a few years. I hope you enjoy these customs. The first custom is an iconic one: the Hikaru VF-1J. I spent months fixing all sorts of mistakes I made all those years ago, which included rescribing a bunch of panel lines, filling holes, and doing a complete repaint. The head is from Rob Beers, the heatshield is from Chris Barretta, hands are recast 1/48 Yamato GBP. The hands are swappable with the originals and attached using a Kotobukiya ball joint system. Gunpod was modified (I removed the gunsight). Decals, which look painted on, are of course my own designs. The chest stripe is also my own design, which is an attempt to honor the original line art within the confines of what can be done with the part. I used a Hasegawa chestplate as a reference and ended up creating a paint mask in Adobe Illustrator that I could run through my vinyl cutter. Beats using masking tape and trying to eyeball the stripes. Could I transform this? Yes. Would I? No. Turns out the tolerances on the swing bar were too tight and there's some nasty paint scrape on the midsection of the nosecone, so this bad boy is staying in battroid mode. He's eventually going to end up in customized GBP armor, so that's okay. I need to find a solution for the swing bar problem before I start on my next one. Last picture is a before/after. This custom started out life as a Hikaru 1J reissue. I thought that was fitting.

I finally had the opportunity to use the bottle of KiKi that I ordered. Worked great on my Yamato SV-51 Ivanov. The wings were a floppy mess in Gerwalk mode and this stuff tightened them up so well that I can now attach all of the armaments and the boosters and display them with the outer portion of each wing horizontal, which looks way nicer. The weight of the attachments and the loose hinges made that impossible to do before. Now to fix my 1/48 VF-1J Hikaru. When you put him in GBP armor, he has a hard time staying upright unless you balance everything perfectly.

I wonder where those decals came from If you go back a few pages in this thread and start reading from there, you'll quickly see how big of a dumpster fire NY has become with respect to orders for Strike/Super Parts sets. In short, their recent responses to shipping requests have been to offer store credit because they don't have any sets on hand and don't anticipate receiving more. They're claiming that one of their suppliers fell through. Rather than saying that to everyone with open orders, you only find out if you contact them, which means they'd likely hang onto your money indefinitely if you weren't proactive. Another member defined that as theft. It sounds like you've tried contacting them several times and they still aren't responding, which is taking their already-terrible customer service to a new low. You should be able to get your money back from your card issuer, but NY will likely ban you after that and PayPal might not be too happy, either. I'm not discouraging you from going that route because I'd do exactly the same thing. It's why I always use a card through PayPal for long-lead-time preorders where I have to pay in advance. The additional protection helps when you end up outside PayPal's six-month window. Members are also reporting issues with NY store credit. You have to use the entire thing in one shot, so if you apply it to another purchase and there is money left over, you lose it. That could also be defined as theft.

I'm having exactly the same problem. It's been at least a week since I've received any notifications (messages, mentions, posts in subscribed threads, the works). First time it's happened to me since I joined MW in 2000/2001.