Wicked Ace

I use Future straight out of the bottle. I don't know the exact ratios, as I've done a good bit of trial-and-error mixing. Somewhere in between the light and dark cups got me the light purple tint.

I think you did a great job on this.

Maybe I'll stick with the purple tint. . .

I've been MW_ing about the landing gear for a while now.

Great to see this is still coming along. I am still on the pre-order list, right?

The helmet visor effect is on purpose; I've done this to one of my 1/48 scale VF-1 pilots before. It is easy -- blue Ultra Fine Point Sharpie.

A little progress on my VF-25 pilot:

I know the town well. Make sure to get your toys from Los at Lost & Found Toys; I believe he is in the D/FW metroplex -- save on shipping.

I like that blend of blues.

Hey, at least you're not getting onto ebay drunk. --> looks over at 1/48 scale Low Visibility Color Scheme (version 1)

After getting this kit in my hands, I must agree with member wm cheng's sentiment on the landing gear -- what a joke. I wonder how the 1/72 landing gear would look on the 1/60 scale DX; I want to saw off the die cast metal approximation of landing gear on the toy. Seriously, rather than what the toy has, I'd rather have no landing gear and flexi-display stand included.

Maybe purple for the canopy. . .

My New Year's resolution: buy more toys.

Thanks for exploring this. Once we members start figuring out what modifications work, we should create a thread to act as a one-stop-shop for modding/fixing these things.

It would be great if you could post a pic or two of the torn down leg assembly.

Where are the pictures of the sand Valkyrie Gerwalk and Battroid mode?

Tinted canopy, still wet:

Here I go again. . . I really need help.

For those wanting to address the neck issue, this photo (from the Gamu Toys gallery) is helpful for a plan of attack:

I admit, I looked on ebay as well. For me, the rush to get one of these in my hands isn't about my inner child's impatience so much as it is about getting the Macross hobby bug somewhat out of my system before grown up life consumes all my time. edit: If there is some way to get one of these faster than mid-January, then I'd like the option -- will cover the expense(s). Maybe one of our members who can go to a local retailer and pick one of these up can help me.

Pardon my ignorance, but why will it take HLJ so long?

The answer is YES to 1, 2, and 5. The answer to 3 & 4 is YES, HOWEVER. The model kit has water-slide and stickers included. If you want to paint, check out the build-up threads; the members who have put them up have gone through a lot of trouble, so take advantage of their modeling tips.

Like at least one other member has stated, this thing is unfortunately what I was expecting, given the fact Bandai chose to make a transforming model of the VF-25. I preordered this thing (and the model kit) expecting to just play with it as a toy. That being stated, I bet there is a few of us that will attempt to tweak some of the shortcomings of this release. Unfortunately, I do not know how to fix the scale of this thing, but things like landing gear, pilots, glossy finishes, and, my personal favorite, the exposed canopy in battroid mode are likely things that can be dealt with. With the things I've seen the Chunky Monkey Mafia pull off, I see some hope these play-toys can be a little better.

Did the official size change? There was some speculation a while back that this might happen.