Skypoet

Oh, and Version 2's of the VF-1 and VF-25 would be awesome too! :-)

Other plamo kits that Bandai could and should make: 1/72 VF-0 1/72 YF-19/VF-19 1/72 YV-21/VF-22 1/72 VF-11 1/72 VF-17 + VF-117 Well, that means all mainstream transformable valkyries! :-) And yes I'd buy and build all of them :-)

An "Action Base 1" sold by Bandai, try HLJ or Hobby Search or even Amazon or eBay. A stand made for Gundam Master Grades...

Much better, when it comes to the pod, than the "drone-reenergizing-device" :-)

The Lil Draken's are a out and... sold out already! http://hlj.com/product/BANN09430

By the way I worked on my VF-1 a little yesterday (seeing the gorgeous VF-31 and Sv-262 standing proudly together made me feel like having their elder brother standing next to them), and it seems that I found a good solution to the popping hip issue - the hip socket not holding in place well in the nose cone, making the battroid unable to just stand securely on a shelf. My solution consists in drilling a very small hole with a manual hobby drill - I haven't measured the diameter precisely, but it must be below 1mm - and a matching small screw - a servo screw from my RC airplane hobby. You know, there's a "door" that keeps the two hard plastic hip bars in place. Just behind the nose cone, in front of the front landing gear doors. This "door" likes to open on its own and release the hip bars. I figured out that you can make it remain in closed position, and securely, with a very small screw. Now, the battroid can stand, finally! And without compromising any articulation. And the screw is barely visible! :-D ... One problem solved... Several others remain, such as the flimsiness of the gunpod hands (trigger finger hands), and the fact that the back of the battroid does not attach anywhere, but I think I found some simple solutions, using a little bit of CA, a drill once again, some hobby magnets, and old credit cards! (Sorry mods, I will copy-paste this post in the Bandai 1/72 VF-1 thread if it is out of place... but I also plan to post a detailed report of this "field mod" with pictures, once I'm totally done, in the VF-1 thread...)

Did you build the SV-262? Because almost nothing pops off (apart from the arm cannons... maybe personally I'll just glue mine) on this kit... maybe you'd like it! The VF-31 is "sturdier" than the VF-25 because parts lock into place well in fighter, gerwalk or battroid mode. Yes, of course, wing and wing parts popping off are annoying!... Superglue to the rescue!

Just finished putting my VF-31J together. Straight build, no decals, paint or stickers yet. Awesome kit, great trade-off between anime-accuracy, detail and functionality. No inner frame at all, but that only makes the kit sturdier (compared with VF-1, VF-25, VF-27), easier to build, and hopefully more durable. Seems very poseable. Some parts do like to pop off, but nothing that a dab of crazy glue won't fix in an instant. The vertical stabilizers will pop off when manipulated for example. And so will many other parts. Flimsier than the Sv-262, but better looking. Yes, the shoulders are scary. One part of the articulation is already over-stressed even before the first transformation attempt. The VF can hold its gun, you just have to use the multi-jointed elbow properly. Very fragile arms, one has to be careful with them. But in terms of looks and building experience, best gunpla ever from my experience - and I've built maybe 10 gundam gunpla's to date... It looks so cool even without any paint, stickers or decals!... And contrary to Hikaru's advice, I really hope Bandai goes on with other transformable macross kits! Till now, only the VF-1 was a (partial but significant) failure (because it was too perfect-grade-ish). In my opinion, Bandai's transformable macross kits keep getting better and better with time. And they should go on with this line!

Just finished my sv-262. Awesome kit. Very poseable. Sturdy as hell! Fun and easy to build! Not much plastic for the price tag, but the awesomeness of the kit, makes it worthwile! Will post som pics later. Awesome engineering. Fighter: locks perfectly together. Gerwalk: A-stance achievable, good balance thanks to the big feet. Battroid: Great balance too due to the big feet. Transformations are not that hard, but take 10 minutes between any two modes ;-) Gunpod holds well in hand(s), arm joints strong enough to allow any pose. Issues: The machine guns on the right arm are very flimsy. Don't hold in place will fall off. Some joints are so tight that I am afraid they may "seize" after a while. The kit will be as durable as these joints! Unless we can buy some spare sprues from Bandai, which is unlikely.

I'm glad to see that someone appreciates Bandai Plamo Macross kits as much as I do! :-)

You can also make a simple hip bar with a skewer, someone "from" MW has done that successfully! My plan was to use Kotobukiya polycaps (ball joints), however this too will require some work, as no "straight out of the box" polycap seems to work!

Someone actually was able to make a transformable VF-1 out of the Hasegawa. It looked great, but I can't find it on the interwebs anymore...

In the first link, that's precisely the modifications which are required! Making a better hip bar and thinning the head! It dos make a huge difference! Thanks for the sharing!

Some very nice custom build/paint videos of the 262!

I like that ant head!

Agreed.

almost ;-)

The outer wing panels, head and canards are different, but that's it! All the rest is absolutely identical. In my opinion.

They didn't get the transformation entirely right, and watching them perform it is hilarious at times! :-)