Graham

The Ozma looks awesome. Serious props to the Bandai VF-25 model design team. They have absolutely kicked the asses of the Bandai 1/60 design team. Graham

That sounds worrying. Fighter mode is my favorite. Maybe I should buy two, one for battroid mode and one to glue permanently together in fighter mode. Graham

I've added the other 2 pics that were missing to the first post (1 more battroid and 1 more Gerwalk pic). Graham

Its a test shot. That means the molds are already cut. If Bandai works the same as Yamato, the from now on only minor changes such as tweaking the tolerances to close up gaps and get parts fitting together better will be done. Retooling an all new steel mold is very expensive, so it's unlikely that we will see any major changes now. Graham

Somebody has posted some of them already. Graham

Damn, looks like for the first time ever, you guys in the US might get a Japanese Macross kit before we get it here in Hong Kong. Did another recce at lunch today, but still no sign. Graham

Follow the link in the first post in page 11 of this thread. Graham

I'm still curious about the VF-25's arm transformation, especially the shoulder area. Still can't completely wrap my head around it, despite hours spent studying the anime, kit instructions available lineart etc. Graham

Hmm......I'm a bit concerned about the crotch being able to 'spray outwards'..........Golden shower anybody? Graham

Agreed, it does look like about where Yamato was 9 years ago in terms of design aesthetic. Oh well, at least it will probably be durable if nothing else. What we really need is Yamato and Bandai to team up. Yamato to actually design the toys and Bandai to produce them and be responsible for the QC. That way, we'd get a beautiful and durable toy. Graham

Looks like a test shot, which means the tooling is done and only minor tweaks are likely to be made from here on. This should now be a case of WYSIWYG. Graham

Looks like the hips, ankles and maybe upper arm are die-cast metal. Not too happy if the hips are die-cast. Lots of potential for paint chipping there. Yeah, overall apperance is not that great. Front landing gear looks really short. I'm still disappointed that it looks like the sensor windows on the nose are going to be painted on not going to be separate pieces of translucent plastic. If Yamato can do this on their toys and even Bandai can do it with the 1/72 kit, why not make the extra effort to do it with this toy. Overall not too impressed yet, but I know being a VF-25 fan, I'll still end up buying both Alto and Ozma versions. Note the official December release date. Out in time for Christmas I hope. Graham

Not planning on painting the model, but do want it panel lined. So would this wash method still work? Graham

So how does one do "a wash" then? Heard the term used many times but not sure exactly how it's done. I definitely want to panel line the 1/72 VF-25F when I get it. I've tried Gundam markers in the past for panel lining, but the results were pretty disappointing. I know some people hear recommend pencils, but I really don't like how it looks either. Graham

Yep, definitely the model. Graham

Fantastic show so far. Graham

Checked in some of the shops in Tai Po district and was told by one model shop that they would be getting it in on Saturday 27th September and the price would be HK$298. Graham

That link has been posted before, but it's good to see it again. Graham

Hopefully in the final ep, we will get a fight between Battle Frontier & Battle Galaxy. Graham

Checked out a few of the shops in Wanchai district, bt still no sign. One of the shopkeepers I talked to said he wouldn't be importing any, even though he'd previously had the flier in the window. It sounds like Bandai's HK agent maybe can't import due to the licencing issues, so any shops that want to order this will have to parallel import. Graham

Trust me on this, the new 1/60 VF-11B looks fantastic in all three modes. It is a huge improvement over the old 1/72. The vertical tail fins while not as big as the lineart, are bigger than the ones on the original 1/72 toy. I can't speak for durability, cus' I haven't actually handled one yet, but I've seen lots of photos of all three modes I think you guys will be more than happy with how it looks. Graham

When and where did Kawamori say that? First I've heard of it. Graham

Looks like it's going to focus more on the characters rather than the mecha though. Graham

Just reading Sketchley's translation of the Grea Mechanics DX 6 article and he translates the ISC as "Inertia Store Converter", which implies to me that the system somehow stores inertia and converts it into something else. Some form of energy perhaps? Perhaps the green lighting we sometmes see when the VF-25 transforms is energy bleed off from the ISC? Graham

If we were at the start of the series, I'd agree with you and would have no problem with fansub groups dropping the series and waiting for the official release, even if it takes a year or more. But, as we are only one week to go until the final episode and most of us have already downloaded and watched the first 23 episodes on fansubs, I don't find it hypocritical wanting to see the remaining final 2 episoded fan subbed. And yes, I am buying the original Japanese R2 DVDs to support the creators (even though I don't speack a lick of Japanese) and I will buy an original R1 release if we are lucky enough to get one. Graham