mickyg

Just realized I have pics of the replacement parts fitted into the shoulders, that I completely forgot about! I'll get them loaded up as soon as I can. They show much better, how well these fit.

Exactly my reason for this review, Desty_Nova - someone does and there is definitely a market for these parts. Go get them at Shapeways and get those disabled Nightmare Plusses back into action!

Negatory. Aren't we expecting the 20th?

Wait, these red things are thrusters? I always wondered what they were for.

I've been meaning to do a quick and dirty review of these guys for a while now and finally had time to take a few photos to go along with it. So without further delay, here's my introduction to the answer to the problem of the (otherwise) wonderful Bandai VF-171 toys. After seeing Macross Frontier, I was smitten by the new VF-171 and actually liked it even more than the VF-25 that was central to the story. Something about the lines, the colors, the shimmery way it often exploded... Sadly, a toy or even a model of this thing seemed to be nothing more than a pipe dream. There were model companies hinting at it (Experten, I believe) but we never saw anything real materialize. And then, out of the blue, Bandai announced the VF-171EX and there seemed to be hope! The "normal" version arrived a bit later but finally, we had a toy! I waited until after the armor parts were released before I jumped on the 171 bandwagon and really had no idea what I was getting myself into. Like most of you who own this toy, I was shocked to find out how terribly made some of the black parts were; like many here, my shoulder pieces had some serious issues. Look no further than this topic: http://www.macrossworld.com/mwf/index.php?showtopic=37652&page=1 for similar stories. Broken shoulders, broken legs, broken internal pieces. This thing has grown into almost legendary status for how unreliable it is. But for most, the shoulders remain the real issue. Until now... Resident Macross World member Xigfrid provided the answer, in the form of a Shapeways produced part. He offers a few variations, which I'll describe in more detail shortly. But suffice to say, for those of you with broken shoulder triangles, there is now a solution! I purchased a few sets from him as a "just in case" measure. But also in the hopes of spreading the word about this little fix and hopefully providing other 171 owners with a means of enjoying their little green (and sometimes white) engineering marvels again. The parts I'll be showing you are the basic versions, printed in one solid color. Two types are offered, a "no triangle" version and a "with lower triangle" type. Click the links for a look at the Shapeways site for more details and to place your order. Xigfrid also offers a pre-printed logo version, where the NUNS logo and stripe are represented by two colors of printed plastic. I didn't opt for these because they were more expensive, the colors weren't "exactly" right, and I wanted to experiment with painting myself. I asked Xigfrid a lot of questions before ordering and this guy is a top bloke. Very helpful, very patient, and very easy to deal with. So, here's a look at what you get: The parts come printed as one "tree" with only the end bits anchored. Both left and right triangles are on the one tree. It's quite an impressive thing to see the inner parts just sort of hanging on the spindle down the middle and understand they were printed like this. The parts I chose were finished in "White, Strong & Flexible, Polished" material (WSFP). They're very strong, but there is some printing edges that are obvious when looking closely at the parts. The surface reminds me of velvet. You'll notice in the image above, there's a slight difference between the left and right parts, with the left side being the "without triangle" and the right one being "with lower triangle" type. The only difference is a notch cut into the bottom of one of the parts, for each side. I'll show why this is important a bit later. Here are some close ups: The parts assembly is very easy, and the only advice is to cut down on the post that attaches the two outer sides together. If you use it as is, the fit is a little too tight. Trimming a few mm off the end is advisable so the post doesn't bottom out in the hole. So, what exactly are we replacing? Here's an old picture I took of the part in question: And a typical shot of the damage one is likely to see when it breaks (if you can remove all the pieces without losing anything): Now, for some irony... I fixed this part with super glue a few years ago. I then promptly put it back in the box in disgust and didn't even look at it until I saw these new Shapeways parts were available. And when I did look, it was purely to figure out if I needed "with or without triangle" type parts. Imagine my surprise when I got the replacement part in, dismantled the part to do a test fit, and discovered the fix was still in place! And to make things even more surprising, the other seemed to be fine, with no signs of stress or breakage. Seems I got very lucky with my sample. Moving on, here's the lower triangle, so you can determine which type of part you should order: The thin, black, hinged in the middle thing in the bottom of the wing root. It's easy to forget about when going from any mode back to fighter and WILL be the thing that prevents you from popping the legs into fighter position, because you forgot to fold it back into position beforehand. Ask me how I know... See those little white lines coming from the pin? That's not hair, those are cracks. Both of mine have this but for now they're still intact. If yours are broken, you may do well to remove them entirely. They're held on by that screw through the teal colored piece, just next to the triangle in the above image. They don't really do much, and honestly, they're annoying. They never sit right, they're always in the way, and even if you do get them perfectly aligned, they look like they weren't designed to be the right shape to fill the gap they're there for. Here's what's behind the part when you swing it out of the way: That notch (notice the repair marks on my example) allows the pivot pin hinge in the triangle to sit up against the top triangle. If you don't have the bottom pivot triangle, don't get the replacement part for the "with triangle" type. It'll have a hole in it and it'll be noticeable. Instead, opt for the standard type. Simple. I haven't fit my parts because I didn't need to, as mentioned. But disassembly is fairly straight forward. You can pry the whole shoulder open and pop the arm out, followed by the triangle. If you're very careful, that is. Otherwise, there's a screw cover that will most likely be glued in, hiding a small screw that keeps the shoulder together. Removing this will allow the shoulder to come apart much easier. One side on mine was easy, the other was glued in so completely that I wasn't able to remove the screw. Your mileage may vary. Prep of the parts is up to the person doing the installation. But note that none of the parts are terribly smooth unless you opt for the much more expensive translucent material. And even then, sanding is recommended. I'd planned to prime, sand, smooth and then paint these things black. The intention for the NUNS lettering was to print a mask or maybe do some decals. Given my part is still OK, that's a decision I'll leave for somewhere down the track. Check out Xigfrid's store. He's got some great stuff on offer: http://www.shapeways.com/shops/xigfrid3dshop If a mod happens by this, mind adding that missing 'w' to the end of my topic title?

Well that looks interesting. Reminds me of Limitless for some reason. Possibly the fast cars and decadence bits in the clip. Either way, I'll see that one for sure.

I'm digging the flat plastic on this one. Not having owned the YF-30, this will be my first non-glossy Bandai Valk. Looking forward to this one!

Looks gorgeous! Yes, the site resizes them. Saburo uses a hosting site and links to the photos, I believe. I think that helps immensely.

There's a front page?

They are indeed - I've used them. Only thing to worry about is that they're not terribly bright. The reds especially. I used the skull insignia on my DYRL VF-1A Super Packs and was a bit disappointed at how muted they looked. If you paint the circle where the insignia goes in a white or light grey, they'd look a lot better. Unless, of course muted is what you're going for.

Man I love that thing! Wish I'd been in a position to get one when they were available. Glad to experience it vicariously through all the pics - especially yours Saburo. I love how your photography seems to bring out the details. It actually looks like the flat colors are flatter, and the glossy canopy is glossier! Don't know how you achieve that but I seriously love your work.

VF-19 Advance is the special Isamu custom version of the production model, so it's different again. Yes, it's all a bit confusing, isn't it?

In both cases with the 25s I missed out on, they were preorder windows that were open way longer than they should have been. With the VF-19, I jumped in with my order within minutes of the listing going live. So if anyone else had that sort of experience, my gut tells me it's OK. We'll see though...

Same here. Already had the misfortune of not one but two "you can order it but stock won't be present, so you don't actually get it" issue on the 25F and 25S re-releases. This one felt different so I'm gonna go with that.

What's the retail store pricing around your shops, Shukenzero? That's a massive help to folks who can't get these things via other avenues. Nice work!

Thanks for the advice! Great stuff and I'll not hesitate to experiment a bit. I'd always heard you couldn't dry brush acrylics but I'm glad to know that's not the case.

Mintox - that looks superb! Mind if I ask you how you get such a nice finish with acrylics? I haven't used Citadel before but I understand it's very similar to Valejo in consistency. Which doesn't help me because I've never used Valejo either! I have plenty of experience with Tamiya, Gunze, and Lifecolor paints though and in every case, they dry so quickly that dry brushing becomes very difficult. Do you use a retarding agent with the paint?

I hope certain folks in high up positions with toy companies are taking notice - you've got incredible talent, sir!

Yeah,what's with that wonky angle, too? Good shot of the underside, though!

I'll get one for you in a few hours when I have it in-hand (literally). But from memory, the headsculpt is definitely Jazz as well. I'd say it's a knock-off but other than the recolor, it's identical. BTW - I colored the windows black with a permanent fabric marker from Sharpie. Thanks for the comparison pic. Quick update: Found this http://www.seibertron.com/energonpub/new-transformers-knockoff-thread-t57s2050.php (Look through the thread and there's a shot of a bunch of minis there) which suggests it's a knock-off (KOToys?). But maybe KO doesn't mean Knock-Off. I've been out of the TF game for a long time now.

Don't know where else to post this, and feel free to suggest other spots, but I'm trying to figure out who this is: My son's into legion/legends class toys at the moment and this was his first, given to him by his friend. He was told it was Cliffjumper but when I searched for it to find more info recently, I couldn't find anything at all. I originally thought it was a licensed transformers toy but maybe that's not even right. If it helps, it looks like a cross between a Porsche (Jazz) and a Nissan 370z to me. Any ideas? By the way, I love these cheap little toys! So much G1 in them at a tiny price and tiny size. And best yet, my little boy is into them at the age of 6. Brings a tear to my eye.

Nice one Jenius! I use the "view new content" tab thingy on my computer browser, or the "New Content" tile on my phone. I've never had any luck with individual threads.

Very nice!

It's also common practice to use a toothbrush to clean it between salt applications. Worst case scenario: salt gets left in nooks and crannies. I think the only reactions you'd have are with metal. So the risk is pretty minimal.

Oh EXO....