Nani?!

Fully detailed and painted like that already?

I doubt it...

usually the first thing we see is some cad stuff... to see a painted prototype especially shelved like that in a local japanese store is a bit too soon...

honestly though, I wish I was wrong.

EDIT: that looks like it CAN be a 1/60 scale sv-51... since it's behind the vf-0s... the size seems about right...

more than that though... the WHOLE display seems to be yamato... kinda strange if there's just ONE hase model there filled with yamatos, No?

Still leaning on it being a model though...

Graham can you confirm??

WOW...

THAT. IS. HOTNESS.

I was so concentrated on all the yamato stuff coming out the end of this year, I completely missed this one...

YAMATO TAKE NOTE. This toy is an example of how much detail and awesomeness $200 bucks should be able to buy. After being so used to yamato prices, you forget how much a couple hundred can get you elsewhere.

I knew & loved Robocop before I even knew about Macross so this one and the 12 inch robo is a MUST GET BY ALL MEANS NECESSARY for me. I guess I have to hold off on getting a 360 until next spring...

Niiice...

yeah, it looked that way to me as well, just wanted confirmation.

imo, the SHE kit is no way the definitive yf-19... the 1/60 looks like it'll blow it out of the water in nearly every way.

the sculpt definitely blows away anything out right now... I still want to reserve final judgement when we see the final paint, the tampo printed markings, and sturdiness of the thing....

The resin sculpt prototype blows away even the supernova kit IMO...

btw: Did you push the backpack straight up to get it to stay in place? I haven't done that yet. I just pushed it towards to head.

I'll try to explain this as I dont have a camera.

If you look at the dual hinge straight on (in folded up position) the mold of the thin part of the hinge should be in the shape of a bold capital "T". You see this most well if your valk is in fighter or in gerwalk and you're looking straight at the three BP8 thrusters.... it's right underneath that flappy panel attached to the rear of the backpack thrusters. Now the horizontal part of that "T" should wedge into the back pack just a little to provide the tension required to keep the bp8 in place...

This can be accomplished by pushing down on the rear of the backpack gently.... if you look at the dual hinge from the side it should create a wide "V"... the end result should be that the V is still wide, but as close together as possible... Extend out the hinge first to bring the larger part of the hinge out then press down to make the "V". Don't press too hard... You gotta have good judgement on the amount of pressure these parts can take.

If I do this with my 0S, I can actually flip the valk over and the BP8 would move no more than a millimeter...

Good luck.

crap dual post....

DAMN Comcast high speed... reset on me again.

Mine falls down about 2 cm after being pushed up which means the backpack hangs on the back of the VF-0S at about a 50 to 60 degree angle.

As for Yamato sabotaging all of my Valks...You must have me confused with someone else. My VF-0S is fine except for the backpack problem (thank god). And my VF-0A is allmost perfect except for a pitot tube that's slightly bent and a canopy that's a bit scratched.

It wasn't an attacking comment. I'm apologize if it seemed that way.

However , I do recall you expressing much concern over yamato first runs which is why I assumed you've had some unpleasant experiences with their QC issues and hence the reason for my comment.

I was over careful with my vf-0s and it's backpack, but upon applying just a bit of force up it happily stays in place. Anyways, if all fails, I suppose then this is your first sabotaged valk.

And because there is NO joint tension whatsoever the backback just drops back down in battroid mode.

Dude, I suggest you find a different valk manufacturer... Seems as though yamato is personally picking on all the valks you buy and sabotaging them...

Seriously.. "No joint tension whatsoever?" c'mon now...

Either you're exaggerating or the above might just be the case...

It stays in place if you push it up (as far as you can without breaking the thing). I'm actually flipping mine over for gravity's full effect on it and it's still staying in place.... and I'm talking about my vf-0s here... it's even more secure in the vf-0a.

Graham has tendencies...

He usually starts teasing us a couple weeks before something is announced officially...

Given that the hobby mags come out in a week, I'm guessing we'll know about whatever he's teasing us with then.

I think Exo made a comment a while back that I agree with about yamato and scales...

That they'll make it as big as they can as long as they don't exceed the price limit of their fans by much, or take a hit in their profit margin per valk...

More than them sticking with the 1/60 scale, I think they're sticking with the 1/48's overall size.

Graham, throw us a fricken bone here!

16 characters long i think.

Wheel of fortune!

I'll buy a vowel~ E!

I got my vf-0a two days ago from neova.

It's the closest thing to a low vis you'll get... it looked so similar at first glance that I just packed away my low vis 1 for the sake of it's condition. I'm mass happy with the paint job as it definitely looks like a real

As haterist is happy, I think most of "wait for the second release" guys will be just as happy... the first vf-0s is not much different than the vf-0a.... The shoulders of both (for mine at least), are at about the same looseness and I actually like my vf-0s better for it's complete tampo printing... The knee and elbows are a bit tighter but my vf-0s can do any of the poses my vf-0a can do...

I say jump on the band wagon for anyone not on it already. BOTH are the shiznit.

And the answer is: Magnets! Magnetically attached "half-gunpods" on the belly plates. It'd be easy to hide some magnets in the belly plates.

And if the belly FAST packs were magnetically attached too, they could be made very thin.

However, I'm thinking the FAST packs too may need to use the "half gunpods" as well. Just look at the D'stance----it requires insanely long gear that can't possibly retract into the wells to have like 1mm of ground clearance with all the stuff attached to the belly.

If people accept half-gunpods for the armor-less belly, they should accept the same half-gunpods for the armored belly. Full-size gunpods would be for battroid only. (I'm thinking the same set of half-gunpods could be used for both armored and un-armored belly in fighter mode, so there's not a bunch of different sets to keep track of--just one set that'd fit the belly plates with or without armor)

Looking at the d'stance pics I dont think it's necessary for the FP's to also require half gunpods. Heck looking at the pic below, if they somehow shrink the size of the pods themselves, they might make it work even without fastpacks...

D'stance yf-21

Anyway enough about the yf-21... this is the yf-19 thread.

Probably the easiest method for FAST Pack-less gunpods, would be to have simple plug-in, removable false half gunpods on the belly plates, to give the appearance of them being semi-recessed.

Graham

Which is what David suggests with what he tabs as "gunpod parts".

The illusion that they're there with plug-in false half pods are the way to go... but I hope the plug holes on the underbelly aren't some ghastly round holes this time around but maybe thin slits that look ok even with the pods removed.

Retractable landing gears are also preferred if it's feasible with some telescoping method as mentioned... The locking method for telescoping LG's should be something yamato should pay extra attention to and I hope they don't simply rely on friction. Removeable landing gears are perfectly acceptable in my case, but I'd like to see if they try and make it work.

Yes. Also - why would non-English speakers come to an English website, let alone be able to find the thread(s) about their product? Even if they were, the vast majority of whatever their translations (probably software, probably not real people) would spit out would be negative sounding gobblygook.

Of course, I could be mistaken, and they could have a decent enough command of English to understand that this thread is full of negative criticism and not much about how to fix the bits and peices that are being criticized...

Just my two cents.

EDIT: just for fun, using internet translation software, I translated jenius's post into Japanese, and then back into English. Fun!

How hard do you think it would be for yamato to hire an English speaking employee? Especially when they're and international company, and it's already known for a fact that there are several employees at HK...

Does Graham know how to speak japanese? No... He writes emails to them in Engrish, and I'm sure that there a good possibility that if they're capable of receiving Graham's E-mails in english, it wouldn't be a stretch in the imagination for us to surmise that they, knowing that graham has the largest macross gathering site online (a good chunk of their macross toy market), drop by once in a while to see for themselves what's up...

Now, I'm not saying that yamato is say a member like eugimon or David H, who come every couple days with their two cents.... Nor am I saying that the old geezer CEO of YAMATO japan drops by, but I'm 99.9999999999999999999999999999% sure that english com-pat-ible employees drop by once in a while to have a look see. Heck... I'm even pretty sure they have an ID here.

One more question, How do you think they know Graham??? Because, he's a devious SithLord or because he's an HK rock star??

Why is this so hard for some people to wrap their heads around?

Anyways fellow MW bros... believe me, they know we exist... and they can also hear us if we speak loudly enough...

there's definitely a thin line between nitpicking and good point vs point debate....

While the exact location of where that line belongs is definitely varied person by person, overall though, I think it's good we're speaking our minds.

I try to stay within reason with whatever I 'nitpick' and I usually say most of my critical comments EARLY in production or after I get the toy in my hands and find any "oops, yamato did it again" issues.

The upcoming YF-19 looks perfect to me. I still like my original 1:72 version as well. I believe you guys' passion to perfection by voicing it at MW might have contributed to better production. Kudos also to G-Man, our ambassador.

Thanks, I really think this is true... YAMATO is listening... without a doubt through Graham, and I think even to an extent, firsthand.

When fans repeatedly voice their discontent regarding a reoccurring problem, yamato will catch it and try to match it. The same effect is with the opposite however,... If we all sit here and say "hoorah, I want to kiss yamato's ass with what ever they give me", they'll be more than happy and be complacent enough to do just that and no more. Simply waiting until the thing is released till we voice ANY concern is ALSO absurd, as that will lead to the "wait for the second release" syndrome.

While there are some comments and nitpicks here that are beyond what anyone would agree with, STILL, as absurd as they are, they'll die out and be buried in threads just as quick. GOOD POINTS live on until they're fixed... so I'm personally against any filter or any "oh please, shut up" attitude.

Also Alpha HX... don't read too much into replies... NOTHING personal nor was anyone here pouncing at you. Your point was merely anchored by what's possible with anime magic and your presented solution is basically hunching the yf-19 a bit which does nothing really to shorten the nose. EVERYONE here will agree that a less pertruding chest will look better for battroid, but it wont happen without severely compromising the other perfect modes. Debate point and counter-point reply, simple as that, nothing personal, all in peace~

Hmm, alright, u guys kinda misunderstood. Sorry about that, my fault. I shouldve clarified in the post. The reason why i wanted it to be more angled is to make it seem like the nose doesnt look like it isnt sticking out as far out so they can shrink down the support piece underneath the nose to make it seem closer to the lineart. My main concern was the support piece, not the angle of the nose cone. I'm not gonna nit pick at a few degrees of a nose cone. Cuz the way i see it is that the reason they made the support piece so big is to make it more flush with the nose cone since it portrudes a lot more than it does in the lineart. I just want them to shrink down the nose support piece a bit.

As for the cod piece, i can see how it can be a problem for fighter mode if its made thicker. Still wish they could do something tho. Wishful thinking i guess.

Again, making 3 mode variable valks is a delicate balancing act... With the yf-19, it's like spinning 100 plates all together in some chinese circus...

If the chest support shrinks it'll look off with the 'longer-than-lineart' chest... to fix this they'd have to shorten the nose of the fighter, which then would make the fighter look stubby and demented... and as dave mentioned, if the crotch peice is bigger, then so will the already ballooned gull neck... and on and on...

Honestly at this point in production, I think the only thing about now that yamato will change is color, and the slight tweaks to the mold for any unsightly gaps... So I wouldn't expect or even hope for any of these changes you mentioned... sorry Alpha~

I understand that you're a battroid fan, but there are fans of the yf-19's fighter mode here in droves... Yamato in my opinion did an EXCELLENT, F-ing AWESOME job balancing the three modes and making them all look fanatastic. This version looks much better than the hasegawa kit bash, even better overall in my opinion, than the supernova kit...

Barring any major QC issues, this is hands down the best variable yamato has produced so far.

Thanks, i like to learn more and do better work actually and I know lots of masters are in Macross Forum that could teach me.

Well, the tools you need are as show below

The most important tool is your pointing finger (as show in photo) . You will need some cotton buns and also any weathering marker to do the effect. I just apply the maker's ink on to a plastic surface and then use a semi wet (water) cotton bun to absorb the ink. Then apply onto the surface of your VF planes and use your finger/s to even the effect. I guess if you want the panel lines to come out a bit, then you will need to use a small brush (with controled water level) and mixed it with the weathering marker and brush it through. Use your finger again to make sure the color are evenly spread. I'm sure lots of ways we can do weathering and I hope this helps a bit. Cheers and happy trying.

p.s. Try it on your fast pack if you don't want to start from the plane. TINNER is important to do correction but if u use too much, you may spoil the surface of the plane.

thanks man,

it looks simple enough, yet the results are exactly to the extent that I want it to be... subtle...

nice work and thanks for the advice...

After a dozen hours of weathering and also sticking the stickers. Finally it came out nice. It's my first attempt weathering so do forgive if it's not like the pros, still a lot of work to be done. will continue take some good photos and put it up as wallpapers together with my VF0S. Yeh....

how'd did you go about doing the weathering effects? I might do mine if I buy two.

Graham = Faz?

That's hilarious.

it's almost seems like david willis is a MWer... He hit it on the nose~

They did the low vis 1 ok...

but ok... I'm cool without panel lining (takes a while to do but with some rubbing alcohol and a couple of gundam greys, I guess you're right... it's better done by hand to the taste of individual)...

but tampo is a must!

I used micro sol and set to decal up my vf-1S, cutting out each required decal... It's a pain in the ass by ANY means... and no matter how meticulous you are, unless you do a clear seal coat (another huge pain in the ass) over it, some eventually fall off...

Toys like gundam's zeonography come all tampo printed with markings (even tiny ones)... and honestly considering the cost of buying an aftermarket decal sheet, I'd rather pay that to yamato to bloody print all the markings on my valk.

If yamato wants to justify the rising prices of their valks, tampo printing and good panel lining would be a good way to make it seem like a better value... Look at Hayao's vf-0a. A WORLD of a difference as far as quality perception... If yamato starts doing this, it will bring the valks we purchase finally out of the TOY category and into pieces of ART.

here is the fast pic after panel line and applied decal of the VF-0A fighter.

that is NUTS~

yeah...

honestly I just wish they tampo printed all markings....

dont give a rats ass about what number I put on the wing... NOTHING compares to something printed on the valk...

make it bunny make skull, whatever, JUST PRINT IT ON!