wm cheng

Amazing and silky smooth as always @electric indigo!

I just got my VF-31AX DHL shipped to Toronto.  I ended up paying $30cdn for DHL shipping and $70cdn for brokerage, customs & duties.  Mind you VF-31AX box is slightly thicker with the stand but its about the same size as the VF-1S or VF-1J boxes bundled with their stands.  Shipping, brokerage fee (about $20 no matter what the cost) + GST/HST is killing us Canadians.

1 hour ago, David Hingtgen said:

And it's here.  5 days door to door, that's pretty good for EMS from Japan.  

That's great!  I wished they EMS to Canada.

Argh... word of warning for those of us unfortunate enough to live in Canada.  I got seduced by all the great photos (especially with the Super Packs) and decided to get one after the pre-order but before all the QC issues cropped up from eBay.  I got a decent price (not MSRP, but not eye-watering gouge), paid $22 for DHL delivery, and got dinged with a $73.68 brokerage, customs & duties bill on top, so I'm paying about $100 in shipping and handling that's taking now over 7-9 days delivery.  The delivery costs are just souring the experience so much that I think its no longer worth it, plus the middle of the night POs - buying toys sure ain't the fun they used to be!  (ah, it's my 50yrs+ bones talking now)

Thanks @F360 just ordered! 

Is there anyplace I can still order the super packs that is a fair price?  What is that fair price nowadays BTW? (I was away on holidays :()

1 hour ago, orbitalharvest said:

hey wm, i ran into the same thing with ae.  i also checked my orders page, and there was nothing in any of the categories.   i did this twice, so i might have 2 orders in.   

i submitted an email help ticket, and just waiting for them to get into the office tonight, our time.  which is morning/afternoon in japan (if they're actually located there).

if it doesn't go through, i'm gonna stalk mandarake some more or put an order in with luna park (maybe)

lemme know if ya have any luck and i will too! 

Same here, I ended up trying a few more times and I noticed I got 6 emails about receiving my order.  I hope I didn't buy 6 copies!  I haven't received any further emails from AE yet.

OK, saw there was a VF-31AX available on AnimeExport that's linked here available for 29,800Y and decided to bit the bullet, but when I hit the ADD TO CART > CHECK OUT it emptys my cart and I can't go any further.  Is it that they are closed till Jan 4th and not accepting orders?  Is it that they don't actually have any in stock to order and haven't changed their site/page accordingly?  or is it something wrong on my end?  I wasn't originally going for this bird as I thought it was too similar, but now seeing the pretty pictures with the Super Packs has change my mind and there is enough difference to justify the purchase in my mind even with the slight markup.  Is there an alternate site to purchase the VF-31AX for late comers like me that ships to Canada (no Amazon.jp seems to do it / I am looking into evilbay).

Damn, I didn't want this until I saw the packs...

Will they finish up issuing the super packs for the older VF-31 (I want Chuck's) or have they moved on and only doing the movie stuff now?

The Ducati is 646pcs vs. BMW is 1920pcs - hence the price difference...

That's it?!?!  The Original VF-1J and Roy's VF-1S included this (in black) and it didn't make the box any bigger?

Does it include the super packs?

I was hoping for a little more detail, like smaller panel lines and rivets more like their 1/72 VF-1 instead of just the lineart lines.  I wonder how tall it would be built?

On 11/25/2021 at 7:46 PM, borgified said:

Another Canuckle link:
https://hobby-bee.com/products/vf-25-messiah-valkyrie-worldwide-anniv-macross-frontier-dx-chogokin

I think they have a Warehouse somewhere in the Vancouver/Burnaby border. As for the other stores in the GTA, I have no I idea. Check with Anime Extreme, it came from japan and there’s another one down by near Danforth and Coxwell area (Starts with Nitro in the beginning).
 

I don’t know the Danforth area that well guys, as I lived in near the Markham/Scarberia boarder for 20 years when I was in T.O. 
 

Edit: Unless you guys want to go up to Pacific Mall or any of the hobby stores up Richmond Hill/ Markham area, be my guest. 

Oh, I live close to Danforth and Coxwell - I would love to know of a store closer to me than Anime Extreme!  Any other info about it?

Is it this place?

https://www.navitoworld.com/

On 11/18/2021 at 5:05 PM, Thom said:

Dude, Perfect Plastic Putty!

I squeeze a bit out and apply with a toothpick along the seam or gap, and then wipe with a wet q-tip. Not meant for big gaps obviously, but for wing roots and such it is pretty perfect. And it's water-based, so just add more water to reactivate it.

Thanks @Thom  I'll have to try that out.

Beautiful work @Thom!!!  The belts are PE?  What did you use to fill in the gap at the wing roots?  So perfect that its only in the gap and no where else outside?!?!  I hate filling and sanding and often sand off a lot of fine details that I have to go back and put back in afterwards

Absolutely gorgeous @joscasle!!!  Love the burnt metal on the engines.  Did you freehand the camo pattern?  The soft edges are perfect!

Beautifully done @joscasle - are the aircrafts 1/48?  Is the Tomcat the Tamiya kit?

@Thom what F-4 is that?  Is that the new F-4 1/72 from FineMolds?  I just got my kit (next one maybe next year) and waiting on aftermarket to get their acts together to get some detail sets for it.  It helps if you primer the entire plane.  I use Alclad grey primer, but I only spray the areas where I glued or filled or sanded to see any mistakes or need for further sanding - I usually don't primer the entire plane because I'm afraid that sometimes the finer engraved detail might get lost.  It seemed to only lift in areas where the AK was on top of bare plastic.  However I did primer the canopy and it lifted both the AK paints and primer from the canopy frames - don't know what happened there.

Woohoo!!! Calling this puppy done.  After so much went wrong on it, I'm just happy I actually finished it.  Sorry about all the dust on the canopy, at 1/72 scale, it looked clean to my old eyes until the photos magnified the dust.  Love the Photo-etched canopy details, but can't recommend the AK paints, they don't seem to adhere very well (lifts with Tamiya masking tape) and a tad on the dark side compared to the FS color fandeck.  Highly recommend the Eduard Photo-etched set and KA 3d Printed exhaust nozzles though.

No it came with the booklet, but I always scan all the instructions into my computer and access it on the screen, because I usually keep the instructions sealed in their baggies inside their boxes stacked away.  This one was only two sides, so I scanned it anyways.

Does Bandai have a PDF of the Armored Parts Set instructions out for download anywhere?  I thought I should ask first since the last time I scanned the instruction booklets in, I found out the next day there were all already done from Bandai's site already (that URL no longer works now).

37 minutes ago, Master Dex said:

I think my confirmation emails from them said it's all EMS shipping. Though now that I say that I can't find clear wording on my order.

I'd actually prefer EMS shipping (for us in Canada) it usually comes directly to my door from our Postal Service and I rarely get customs & duty and there isn't the Carrier Brokerage Fees.  I don't see it spelled out anywhere on LunaPark - it just says shipping.  I just hope its properly packed in a box and not in a DHL bag.

30 minutes ago, Kanedas Bike said:

3 AM call time here too, a lot of us are 40+.

Try over 50+ - argh I'm old!!! 🤣 (but thought I was young enough to try it this morning).

27 minutes ago, MacrossJoe said:

Anyone know roughly how much shipping will be for something like the vf31ax from Luna Park?

I got charged 5,000Y from LunaPark - it doesn't say exactly what the method is, I'm assuming its DHL? (that's another additional $20-$25cdn for brokerage & customs)