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Yes, where else can I get it - other than Amazon.jp?

Major BOOOO!!! Still my biggest sticking point.

Hmm, for some reason this one looks so much better than the previous photo... are they the same kit?! This one seems to have finer details...

Got my Armored Parts from NY - excellently packed (I was afraid since the box was really battered up and squished in the middle - but the inside contents were perfect!) - can't wait to weather them up and apply them to the VF-171 - amazing design! Got away without customs & duty too - woohoo NY!!!

Hey, I just saw this thread today (even though its old - July is not a good month for me, I'm pretty much off-line with the great weather and both my daughter and my birthdays together). YES!!! I can't recommend Alclad stuff enough - but only if you airbrush. It is pre-thinned and must be airbrushed. The key to this metalizer is surface prep - it needs to be ultra glass smooth. Actually if you ever sprayed it onto glass (as I have accidentally done onto the glass bottles - it looks absolutely amazing). Sand, putty, Mr. Surfacer, primer and sanding again and the results are spectacular! But if you rush it, every little tiny imperfection and flaw will telegraph through and be magnified. That's why they recommend a glossy undercoat as it fills in the slight sanding imperfections and creates a smooth surface. Word of warning (I had to find out the hard way and ruined my Bandai Yamato 2199 Cosmo Zero model!) the Alclad Gloss Black undercoat is NOT a lacquer, despite it saying it is everywhere on the bottle, it refers to the rest of the Alclad metalizer line which is a lacquer, the Gloss Black is actually an enamel and will react to any oil based paints even after an Alclad metalizer has been sprayed over it (the Alclad metalizers are so thin that they do not form a sufficient skin layer protection to the enamel based underlying black paint). This is the reason I've switched to the Flory's Pro-modeller's wash for my panel lines (as its water/clay based and is completely inert as compared to my previous varsol/artist oil washes). Good luck and try some, you'll end up buying the entire colour line (however they've changed their STEEL - its not as smooth as it used to be, its a little bit sparkly where you see the metallic flakes). Can't wait to see some of your work with this stuff!

In Canada, there's usually a $30-40 customs & duties often with an additional $10 brokerage/processing fee - so any place else (HLJ, AmiAmi, HS) other than NY willl have to chage 4,000 - 5,000Y cheaper for it to make any difference to my pocketbook. Plus, I'd rather pay NY for their service (which without them, I wouldn't have been able to get any of my Bandai Renewals) than the government which has done nothing but hinder my toy buying. I went with EMS as there was only a 200Y difference between the two and Fed-Ex is 2-3 days where EMS 3-4 days - but with the Post from NY, I usually get through without customs/duty charges. With FedEx, there will always be a brokerage fee even if the customs/duties were zero (at least in Canada).

Went through NY - there's gotta be more than 3,500Y difference before the customs & duties from AmiAmi or HLJ even out for us in Canada. Shipping is pretty expensive for this though. NY has it for 5,000 registered SAL, 5,400 EMS & 5,600 FedEx - I chose 5,400 EMS since its so close in price to registered SAL anyways, but EMS will arrive via Post instead of FedEx which will tack on a brokerage charge regardless of customs and duties. HLJ & AmiAmi wouldn't disclose their shipping yet - I wonder if I got gouged on the shipping by NY though. The total came out to 35,150Y though, ouch!

Great idea!!! I can't read japanese, what was Mr. K's response?

Great photos... however that thick upper lip to the intakes looks even worst in some of these pictures. It looks like I would mostly have it in the plane mode to display it with all the weapons laid out, so the aircraft mode is always most important for me. It's not a deal-breaker, but its certainly something I had wished they gotten right to prioritize for the aircraft mode over the other modes. (one of the reasons I still like the 1/48s so much)

Yep, same here exactly - although I never knew if I'd ever get a VF-25F at a reasonable price. Strange they reissued the Valks but not the accessories.

It's gotta drop below 12,000Y before it will make any difference with how NY declares on the customs for us Canadians. And even then, I'd still rather pay NY than our government!

Wow!!! That is fantastic, it really gives the flatter areas of colour so much life - I must try that someday.

Great find! Why don't you go with brass rods for the gun barrels, then there's no worry about warping over time. You could even double layer the opening end with a slightly smaller barrel and spacers to give it some detail and thickness.

Beautiful work as always MJ! Not sure about the colour scheme though... I know its more anime accurate now, but it seems out of place for the fast packs to be lighter than the aircraft - maybe I'm just too old school - it might grow on me (its not relation to your amazing efforts and work!).

Are these figures pre-painted/finished?

Way to go MJ!!! Great airbrush control and subtlety - you're ready for models! Can't wait to see them on.

The effect looks fantastic, and I can only imagine how it must look better in real life. What do you mean "slightly cloudy application"?

Wow!!! Simply perfect electric indigo - such subtlety in the weathering... I love it, how did you do it on the solid camo panels? It seems like a lightening of towards the centre of each panel. Very realistic for a "new" aircraft and awesome photoshop job, you nailed the light/shadows down! Beauty, you should be proud. Thanks for sharing.

Huh? "... No news on a Western release...." - we might not get this?

Very nice!!! Still looks like a model kit though, compared to that TimeSlip resin version - still lacking a lot of fine scale surface detail, but at least its $70 instead of $250. When does it come out for sale? I wonder if there's going to be a lighting kit for it?

They're the only ones that have engineered it. There's no competition, they can really charge whatever they want - someone will buy it (maybe just not as many).

Unfortunate, but not unexpected. I'm in for one. Probably at NY though, that should save me $40-$50 in customs alone, otherwise it would be over $400 with S&H AND customs/brokerage - argh. That upper intake lip still really really bugs me.

Let's just hope they don't do pre-order shanagans like Bandai.

I wonder if we can re-shape the opening with some sanding and sand the outer edge and slope further up to minimize this?

Looks great! But that bump down at the leading edge of the intakes still really bugs me - ruins the sleekness. Do you think its improper transformation and that it can be pushed up tighter against the chest plate (or is this just wishful thinking since its been shown like this in all the photographs already)?