captain america

I love that design, but for some reason, Ikushima's sculpt kinda leaves me flat. How's the parts breakdown?

Told ya so! Believe it or not, the sequence in which I poured the parts was critical too, since resin, over the course of its pot life, tends to increase in viscosity: if I were to take the same exact molds, and pour the resin in reverse sequence, the resin would glop-up before I could pour them all. Crazy...

Yup. In fact, the very first Heavy Gear design came about as a joke: I had sketched-up what I called an updated Votoms that I called the "V2." Apparently, the joke backfired

I would urge you to rewatch episode 2: we clearly see Ozma fly into the city ship (gravity environment) with the full-armor package, fly around, transform, and come to Alto and Ranka's aid... All without ejecting any of the super armor. See for yourself: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ssDkI6yMR1o

I consider durability a criteria for design feasability, and I will explain this in more detail. Let's say, for example, that you take a transforming mecha design whereby all the major body parts are connected to each other not with regular joints, but with only a single 1mm tether. In the virtual world of CAD, the design may work, because you've suspended the laws of gravity. Unfortunately, even if all the sizes, proportions and diemensions are transfered perfectly into a real three-dimensional model, it will simply collapse under its own weight. Now this is an extreme example, but take into consideration that the 1/60 toy is made of ABS and metal, and despite that, parts like the rocket boosters still put quite a bit of strain (because of their size/weight) on the collar, and the hinge joints for the LEX. Now if this is a challenge for something made with ABS & metal, how do you think the model kit would fare when having to undergo the same transformation process, being made of ABS and much weaker styrene? Anyway, this is the 1/60 toy thread, and that's where my gripe lies, with the toy. The video link that Bariaburu Faita posted just seems to echo my point that the (full armor) toy is a big, fragile disappointment. There are a few things that BANDAI could do to make it better, like redesign the way the forearm armor locks into place, relocate the mounting holes on the lower leg armor, and preferably include a little removeable ABS part that would hold the backpack more sturdily in Battroid mode. Those would be, at best, bandaid solutions though, since I tend to agree with some of the reasons you cited above, that the toy, unlike the kit, just wasn't really engineered properly from the start.

If the VF-25 design was all done on computer as you seem to suggest, why does the 1/72 model's proportions differ from those of the 1/60 toy? Things like hinges I can understand being beefed-up for a toy, but there are many, many variances in overall proportions between the two that lead me to think that the design wasn't quite the virtual perfection some think it to be. I seem to recall that there was still a small amount of "cheating" involved with the Mac Zero transformables, even with computers being used. Besides, a computer is just a tool: the Gundam EX-S Sentinel was designed with computing power that is 20+ years obsolete, but they still managed to make it work as a physical model. Sadly, sometimes people use technology as a crutch to compensate for a lack of artistic talent, I see that all the time. As for the VF-25 model kit, that's a whole other ball of wax, since you can simply build it in the mode you want. A friend of mine broke his kit while trying to transform it, and I've handled a basic kit without armor myself, and it all but falls apart even if you try to transform it gently. If I were just some regular guy, I could understand having issues like that with a transforming toy, but I'm a pro model-maker with almost 20 years of on-the-job experience. Face it: the Messiah is nice to look at, but it doesn't cut the mustard as a product.

I think that one BIG problem in the instructions is that, when they discuss adding the massive lower leg armor in Fighter mode, they totally neglect to inform you that the leg needs to be bent into a flattened-out s-shape, nor do they tell you how many "clicks" at the hip or knee are necessary to get the desired angle so that parts will mate properly. Even refering to the pictures, they deceptively show the armor being added to the leg while it appears completely straight. That glaring oversight leads to the user man-handling the toy, and results in virtually every other piece of armor to be shaken off in the frustrating attempt to get things to "lock" into place. To be fair, I think that the blame for the shortcomings of the VF-25 (as a toy and a design) need to be shared between Bandai and Kawamori: the latter, based on my studying of his designs, seems to like fleshing-out rough concepts, but does not seem able or willing to put in the extra work as the creator/designer to make things actually work in three-dimensions, prefering to give his concepts a more etereal quality...Which is nice, but does a tremendous dis-service to his business associates (BANDAI) who have to struggle to bring those ethereal designs into three dimensions. The F/A VF-25 really is an awesome design; very much inspired by the EX-S Gundam (which is probably why I like it) but truth be told, Kawamori is no Hajime Katoki.The latter's design was/is actually feasible in three dimensions, and conceived 20-ish years before the Messiah... A Messiah that, even in its 2-D state, has arms and legs that almost magically migrate from point A to point B, and a cockpit located in the mecha's a$$, rotated 270 degrees out-of-whack.design problem, anyone? Anyway, I'd better get my asbestos underwear on, in preparation for the flaming that is sure to follow my speaking-my-mind.

I'm guessing that you're discussing putting the armor on in Fighter mode. I thought that the Battroid mode was a challenge, but that's nothing compared to the Fighter: it seems virtually impossible to get that mode right. The armor on the lower legs is so bulbous that it pushes the aft upper fulelage upward, making allignment with the LEX peg almost impossible, short of bending or breaking something--and don't get me started on the forearm armor, which falls off if you so much as look at it wrong. Even if I could read Japanese, I'd say that the instruction book is way too small and woefully inadequate to properly address the transformation and armor placement. Without all that armor, the transformation is actually very good and solid, which leads me to think that the heavy armor was a poorly designed afterthought. For a toy that costs $200+, I expect way more than the sub-standard junkpile that BANDAI delivered.

Good God, the model looks absolutely terrible next to the CG rendering! That shade of demon dingleberry purple does nothing to flatter it either.

I just got my armored OZUMA today as well. Might anyone have a link to some english instructions on how to transform and add the armor properly? So far all I've got is a big floppy mess, and the backpack with the armored parts just hangs really loose and unsupported

I wouldn't mind doing weapons/fold booster for it at some point, but I also wouldn't put it past Hase to save these for a future release of their own. If you think about it, that would fit perfectly with their standard M-O: basic kit first, then add a sprue tree or two, new decal sheet, and double the price!

looks pretty much like what I was expecting from Hasegawa: very clean, neat & crisp detail. No big frills; kinda like their F-15 kits.

No one else even comes close.

Yes.

The bunny from hell!

For reasons I cannot explain, Guyver projects, save for the OOC stand-alone OVA, don't seem to really catch on and end up being binned prematurely. Heck, even the VIZ release of the manga died out many, many moons ago. I think that even the Max Factory toy line is dead. Shame...

Nope. No one ever made a 'good' Spartan toy.

Not that I necessarily want to bring the thread back on topic, but it looks like there might be another "opening" for one kit. Just wanted to put it out there, for those that might have wanted one and not been able to get "in" on time.

Stop you from speaking the truth? Never! For what it's worth, the Long/Siembieda artwork has always made my skin crawl; they manage to take an otherwise good mecha concept and render it in the most unflattering way possible. Left unsupervised, I'm not surprised that they came up with that, that... Thing.

Indeed. I thought that this YF was supposed to be somewhat 'exclusive' though, but if it's not, so much the better. That having been said, the color choice and scheme can really make or break the look of a model. While all the VF-25s are essentially the same airframe with a few different details, the color scheme from Luca's plane seems to accentuate the battroid's shape the best, whereas ironically, the Ozma grey/white seems to flatter it the least.

I don't know if it's the paint scheme or the shape of the head, but it seems to "fill-out" the normally anorexic VF-25 rather nicely. I'll probably pick one up at some point if they make a normal production version.

The problems associated with doing something that's "far out there" are, among others: -not always popular subjects -incredibly difficult to mold/cast: concessions have to be made when you want to be able to mold and cast something a few dozen times. That having been said, I have my own mecha design that I've been massaging for the last 17 years, which I never got around to doing anything with. I had considered dusting that off at some point, but I don't know how well it would be received; most people would likely dismiss it as an "Eva ripoff on steroids" even though it was designed at least 3 years before Eva ever aired.

Afraid not.

I will be casting both halves of the cockpit opaque, whereas one side was translucent on the original. I'll also likely be going to a different color of resin to distinguish it from the original... I might also make a few refinements here and there; nothing major.

HLJ can be a lot more expensive than e-bay for certain things and when you order from overseas, you will either get nailed by customs or the shipping charges, or both. Since you're a fellow Canuck, try looking here: http://www.scifianime.ca/ It's run by a buddy of mine, and he's probably got the best prices in Canada, or pretty darn close.