Mog

Between futzing around with the Blackjack and dealing with real life matters, I just haven't had time to pose out and shoot my regular YF-21. Glad to see though that no one's posted my other pose idea just yet. Hopefully once things settle down a bit more, I'll be able to set up the flexi's and shoot it up properly. To Wicked Ace: I see the -21's still packing heat while he's ballin'. Guess he wants to make it crystal clear that anyone who steps on his sneakers is gonna get capped.

Blackjack Finished painting/touching up last night. I kinda screwed up spray-painting the intakes (top/outside part), so I had to sand and wound up brush painting them instead. Not my best work on this bird. Also, some of the trim details will look fairly "amateur-ish." But hopefully, you folks will be a bit forgiving on my first try at a full-on custom paint job. Kinda wish I had more of a flat-finish, touch-up paint too (to match up better with the spray paint). But them's the breaks. P.S.--I'm still looking for someone to print out some custom sticker designs for me. PM me with a quote if you're interested!!

Well, eugimon did correctly predict awhile back that Yamato was going to alternate releases between MacZero and MacPlus. So, it wouldn't surprise me if the next announced release is gonna be a MacZero item.

^^Probably still gonna be working on it............I know, I know. (I'm guessing final assembly, panel lining, and stickering up around the time of the con). I'll be out on vacation for about a week between now and the MW con too. Don't worry; I'll post pics for sure once the bird is all dolled up.

If he was going for a Roy scheme, I'd personally prefer if he used white instead of grey. Plus I think the intakes would look better in grey or black with the original yellow trim. Looks okay though. P.S.--Wicked Ace is right: I am working on a custom right now. I'm about halfway done with the painting. But I still need to paint the nose/cockpit/cowl sections and the intake areas. .....And re-attach all the major areas back together again (Legs, arms, and gunpods are all separately reassembled. Backpack is partially reassembled.) ....And pray that there is no major paint-chipping. .....And hope that someone can print up some stickers I've designed.

Thanks for the words of encouragement. I'm about half-way done with the painting. I've also put out the word on the YF-21 toy thread, but is anyone still making/printing custom stickers (pilot name, numbers, custom emblems/designs, etc.)? I've got the major designs ready to go, but I just need someone to print 'em up for me. PM me if you can help me out!

<Mog pops his head out of his cave/workshop> DAMMIT!! I'M WORKING ON IT!!!!! Anyone still making customized stickers out there? I've got the sticker designs ready (been ready for a long while now actually). But I just need to check/measure the designs on the actual bird and then get someone to print/make the stickers for me.

Thanks for the link, Vermillion21. I'm guessing Wild Bill's crew is Ace (in pilot get-up) and Grand Slam. And I'm guessing that the dude with Torpedo (seriously, yellow?! ) and Cutter is Deep Six. Of course, these are just educated guesses on my part. Techno-Viper looks interesting. But Hasbro, please. Can you guys stay clear away from the science-fictiony/Cobra-La stuff for a little while longer? I know a bunch of us would rather have Airborne, Quick Kick, Dusty, Low Light, Mutt & Junkyard, Covergirl, Crazylegs, Ripcord, Eels, Blowtorch (porkchop sandwiches!!), Monkeywrench, Zarana, Strato-Vipers, Steeler (w/VISOR), Zap, Short Fuze, Leatherneck, Wet Suit, Alpine, Kwinn, Outback, Tunnel Rat, Sgt. Slaughter, and a whole host of others BEFORE we see some of these other custom figures.

Voted maybe. Beautiful fighter mode. No doubt. But just ain't feelin' the battroid mode at all. Also, I think 1/48 would be a nicer sized scale for these, would it not?

Ask me again after I've come down from my initial YF-21 high. It'll eventually come down to either the classic VF-1 or my favorite bastard love-child, the YF-21. The VF-1 is just such a beautiful and memorable design that I just have to give it the proper respect and consideration it damn well deserves. It's the foundation upon which most of these VF's have drawn inspiration from. And you just gotta bow down to the original. Of course, staring at the wonderful Human-Zent hybrid that is the YF-21 (especially this newest toy version) makes my decision that much harder.

Thanks for the comic pack pics. Just kinda bums me that the standard IG's are packed with a repainted Destro. I'm sure it ain't gonna stop folks from troop-building though.

If I took in-process pics, I'd never get the damn custom done. A few things I've learned though: 1) When reassembling the two upper thigh halves and the bellyplate connector piece, you'll notice that there are three screws. Make sure to use the longer screw for the middle slot. And make sure to push the bellyplate connector piece all the way into the thigh half. As I learned the hard way, the bellyplate connector piece(s) acts as a screw hole for that middle screw to go into. If you don't push that bellyplate connector all the way in (had to use some butter to get that puppy to push in completely into the thigh) or use the longer screw, you risk the screw not locking onto anything. 2) Be careful in dealing with the bicep covers. You'll need to separate the bicep halves in order to disassemble the arm completely. I wound up being 1 for 2 in getting those things to disconnect properly. Maybe there was some glue, but I wound up breaking both pegs on one set of biceps. (Thank God for superglue!!) 3) When disassembling the lower leg (the part that goes from the knee to the "pants cuff"), you should note that there are three screws: one in the knee joint and two covered by little square pegs. These pegs can be a bitch to remove. So, be very patient and careful when trying to pry and pop these off. Being that this is my first major repaint of a Valk, I'm also making a some rookie mistakes and being a little too anxious to reassemble parts. After painting the arms, I realized I shoulda sanded them down more, especially that little peg piece that covers up the tailfin to the forearm. I'm hoping the sanding and waiting a little longer to reassemble will result in no paint chipping. The last thing I wanna see is paint chips, especially on the two sliding parts of the backpack. Will keep you guys posted if I run into any weird or unusual parts.

Because peolesdru has been cool enough to give us a bunch of very insightful transformation videos, it's only fair that I respond to his one simple request (with COLOR PICS!!). Here's that pinhole on the knee I was talking about: BEFORE TRANSFORMING: AFTER TRANSFORMING: You'll definitely want to make sure the pinhole is covered before going back into fighter mode. It'll make the legs sit a little easier inside the bellyplates. (Just note, the lower leg probably needs to be bent back one or two clicks in my "after" pic before being placed inside the bellyplates.) A few observations after futzing around with my second YF-21: 1) It looks like the blue cockpit/chestpiece is supposed to be screwed down. Looks like the factory workers forgot to put the damn screws on my first YF-21. 2) Even after transforming it and putting the legs and everything in the correct position, the bellyplates on my second YF-21 are still a bit of a bitch to lock up in fighter mode. Not sure what I'm doing wrong with it either, since the bellyplates on my first YF-21 lock up pretty easily.

Because some pilots want to fly the YF-21 the old fashioned way.... The main disadvantage is that I can't really squeeze him in right when I rotate the seat for battroid mode. I guess I could mush the arms and force him to sit in there, but I'm guessing I'll chip some paint off when I do that. Oh well. There's definitely enough space to close the canopy properly when in fighter mode though. P.S.--The pilot's own ride is in the shop right now. He's just borrowing Guld's ride for demonstration purposes.

^^You could always back up your claim and earn some bragging rights here: Link.

It's definitely a unique looking custom. Would love to see pics of the bird in the other two modes (Hint, hint ). EDIT: Found the link for the other modes' pics (Linky Here).

Yeah, I get that issue too. From the design of it, it really looks like you can't tilt the head/eye downward all that much. And yeah, the head tends to tilt back up every time you rotate the head to the left or the right. Must be a design thing. It bums me out a bit, because I love tilting the heads of my Valks downward when in battroid mode. It just gives them that brooding, bad-ass look.

I'm guessing it's usually that thigh/upper knee joint. If you look at the side of the knee (on the grey part), you should see a small circular hole on the outer side. Not the screw, but a little pinhole. When transforming back to fighter, you have to make sure that the knee is bent back far enough into the thigh that the pinhole gets covered by the thigh. (I just don't have the time right now to take pics, but I'm sure someone on the board knows what I'm talking about and can snap before and after pics of that joint moving). I had problems getting everything to link up before, including the back bellyplate connection. But getting the knees into this position really improves the fit of everything for fighter mode. You might wanna check out the supplemental instruction manual too to see how all the different parts should fit inside the belly of the beast.

As soon as I found out the arms could go 90 degrees, this is the SECOND pose idea I wanted to snap of the YF-21: THE DOUBLE-GUNNED X'ed PRAYER POSE.... Not perfect, but it's workable. .....I'll need to set up some flexi's and carve out some time to do the first pose idea that I originally came up with awhile back.

Got my two birds last Friday. (Major, MAJOR thanks to Los!!) Definitely digging this new bird, and can't wait to customize it! (though, I have a feeling the project is gonna stretch out a bit more than I anticipate....) Going from fighter to battroid is not too bad. But it's definitely going back into fighter and putting those legs back in and inside the belly plates that's gonna be the headache for most of you folks. I forgot who mentioned this earlier, but you'll definitely want to push the upper knee/thigh joint as far back as possible. When going back into fighter mode, the whole leg assembly shouldn't look like a straight leg; there should be a noticeable bend between the thigh and the UPPER part of the knee. If the thigh and upper knee are positioned like that, then you should have no problem getting the legs and bellyplates to lock up flush and with minimal effort. Any misalignment, and you're gonna have different parts of the bellyplates and beavertail not sitting or staying flush. As far as possible QC issues, I've only inspected one of my birds. But that bird has two minor issues that I've found: I have a hairline crack on the leg section that connects to the hip joint. Not sure if they didn't put enough glue or forgot some screws, but the blue chest/cockpit section wasn't glued down on mine. When I push down for battroid mode, that outside blue chest/cockpit section can literally slide off and just dangle off of the canopy. Again, these might just be specific issues with my one YF-21. Also, I wish the head/eye could tilt down a bit more like the 1/48 VF-1's. But overall, I'm quite pleased.

Great mid-season finale! Definitely enjoyed the various character montages near the end; it felt like the series had earned the right to show these scenes. And it's about time a show rewards us with the "big goal" but still give us enough episodes to deal with the aftermath and subsequent follow-up. Lastly, let me just say that instead of "Guy Love" ( ), I gotta bad case of "TIGH LOVE"!!!! Even facing imminent death, the crusty ol' bastard got a massive set of stones!

Beautiful work, Swoosh. Great lighting and great pose!

"Shhhhhhhhh.......Hey....hey, stop jumping the ship.....Alright?....." Oh Gaius! You slay me. You really do. A by-the-numbers, but fairly necessary, episode. Wonder how many days have elapsed since the Admiral took the Raptor out? Yeah, I'm definitely looking forward to next week's episode too. Now excuse me; I have my choice of eating crow, red herring, or humble pie. And Vermillion21, instead of getting locked up, I'm thinking they were almost spaced. Edited to correct the quote.