mechaninac

There are many available brands of plastic welds that will do the job, even Testor's liquid cement might work since ABS IS styrene, but here is one that has many more applications: Click Me The pin vise can be purchased on-line (Micro-Mark, for example), at hardware stores, or in most hobby shops; you'll also find the tiny drill bits you will need at the same places... the drill bit should be no bigger in diameter than the metal pin (seamstress' pin, for example) you choose to use. Practice the technique bellow on some model sprues, or anything, before attempting on the toy. When drilling, first mark the drill start point with an exacto knife by turning the blade to get a small depression started; that way, the drill bit won't wonder off center at the start of the process. Work the drill slowly, a few turns at a time and back off to clean the whole and make sure that you're drilling straight... keeping the drill concentric with the shaft and base, and properly aligned with each other is important; you don't want to drill at an angle and risk punching through the outer skin of the part, or the holes not match -- very unsightly. Drill into both parts about 4-7 mm depending on the size of the part, and cut the pin .5-1 mm short of the total added drilled distances. You may also want to cut the pin on both ends with a wire cutter so that the resulting cut edges, which will be flat and splayed, will act as an anchor within the holes once pushed in. Insert the pin all the way on the shaft side and apply a small drop of the plastic cement on the exposed metal... capillary action will carry some of it into the hole. Blow away from the part to dry it. Now test fit to make sure the broken edges are properly aligned (you may want to give yourself a visual key by marking the pieces in their correct alignment with a tiny drop of paint you know to be easily removed later); if so, just pull the parts away from each other and add another small drop of weld to the metal pin, and before it evaporates push the two parts together until you see a very small amount of oozing from the crack. Let the fixed laser cure for about two hours before putting it through any stress. Clean up the marking paint, any oozed excess, and touch up any paint that the weld may have damaged. You're done, good as new!

Not necessarily. If you use a pin vise to drill a hole into the laser's shaft and base and put a metal pin in there as reinforcement, and use a little plastic weld (the kind that bonds ABS), the repaired piece should be stronger than it was before it broke. Believe me, this works like a charm; I just did this to the broken antenna of my 1/100 Destroid Phalanx model, and it's diameter is much smaller than the 1/48's head laser's.

That's the way I'm looking at it this time around... wait and see. There is absolutely no way I'm going to pre-order the YF-19 on faith alone. At an average of $200 USD w/shipping, I want to be absolutely sure that there are no design issues with it. Glowing reviews and near absolute lack of defects of any kind will determine whether or not I buy one.

That's true. No flaps, or removable nose cone means nothing gets knocked off during transformations, although I've never had a heat shield pop off, yet. However, I haven't been able to transform my VF-0S back to fighter mode without having the front of the attached gun pod dragging the ground like a gorilla dragging its knuckles; I've never had this problem with the 1/48... the gun pod clears by more than 4 mm at its lowest point (fins), and the legs lock with the backpack solidly, unlike the VF-0S which won't lock at all even with everything properly aligned.

I have a hard time feeling sorry for them. They were penny wise and pound foolish with the stands; you'd think they would have designed the stands to be able to take the minor amount of stress an attached Valkyrie, their Valkyrie, would put on the stand's socket. After test shots were made, the parts should have been put through a life test regimen to identify possible design/engineering/manufacturing/material flaws, and any problems addressed before release as to avoid having to go through what they are facing now. The fact that so many people have complained about sockets splitting within hours of having the figures mounted for display tells me that they never even tried them out; or if they did, they didn't care (this is euphemistically called a post purchase complaint in the industry. As long as marketing makes its numbers, everything else is background noise)... I'm sure this little fiasco has reduced their profit margin by a good 10%, but they have no one to blame but themselves. I do have to give them props for their costumer relations, and willingness to address complaints and requests for replacements promptly... at least one part of the company knows how to do business. I bit harsh? Maybe, but that's the way I feel.

I got a VF-0S upon it's first release, preordered from TMP. While the joints aren't as stiff as those on the 1/48s, they do hold up just fine on the one I have... dynamic poses don't pose any problems. The only issues I have with mine are the feet thrusters slide back into the legs when the weight of the valk is placed on them (no detents to hold the feet in it's extended position; if anyone has come up with a quick and painless solution for this, do tell) and the lack of detents on the back pack thrusters; they slide back in too easily... I may open up the back pack myself and add a small detent so the thrusters can lock in the retracted and deployed positions. Other than that, I'm happy with it. The damned thing IS beautiful.

Perv!

You, sir, will now be added to my "I hate you list". $15... Great find, and so intact looking too... Soooo envious.

The cynicism is strong with this one... If I had to bet, I'd say a 2 seater VF-1D would cost somewhere between a current single seater and a VF-0. Now, the Ostrich and Elint would probably push north of the current fast pack combo price seen on the super stealth. However, to add my own bit of cynical perspective, given the proposed price tag of the upcoming YF-19, the sky is the limit.

Awesome stuff.

I just recently scored a second edition VF-1S Hikaru off EvilBay at a very good price. The only things I could find "wrong" on it were a slightly crooked skull of the left tail fin and a pilot seat that is a bit askew (+/- 3 deg. off of perfect alignment), but both of these glitches are endemic on most 1/48s of the 1S variety and do not detract form the beauty of the toy. I'd say go for it, you will not be disappointed. But be advised... you will probably want to get the Super/Strike Armor parts to complete the look of this particular beastie.

I too cast my vote for the VF-11. While I adore the 19 and 21, the 11 IMO has to be one of the most beautiful designs ever penned by HFH; it has an aesthetic balance unmatched by any other VF (the VF-0/1 come close) and looks awesome in fighter and battroid modes... gerwalk not so much, but then again, most VF don't. Besides, ya gotta love a VF with a flip-out bayonet on the gun pod.

Because Bandai can make far more money selling less expensive, yet very detailed, models to a lot of people than selling very expensive, extremely detailed, models to just a few die-hard modelers.

The biggest hurdle to overcome in making a connecting Beta to the existing Alpha is the sheer mass of the Alpha. The engineers and marketing geniuses at Toynami put themselves in a nasty little corner by using so much die cast in their design (about 50% of it unnecessary and even detrimental). This mass will create a considerable amount of torque on the connecting boom of the Beta and this will create stress and instability that is likely to result in many Alphas or Betas taking a suicidal dive when the combined Legioss is held by any one of the individual units. While Toynami may find a way to address this oversight(?) in design, the solution may be a whole new Alpha (that would not fly too well with anyone who has already purchased the current versions), or additional bracing pieces to properly lock the two mechs together (a sloppy solution at best).

I seem to recall (could be wrong) that the arcade game "Space Harrier" had some battroids as bad guys. It's been so long that I can't be sure.

Your mesh looks damned good already, but I'm glad if the drawing proves useful; just keep in mind that the proportions are optimized for fighter mode, and are not 100% accurate, so allowances will need to be made to accommodate GERWALK and BATTROID.

You may find this drawing helpfull:

<Guinness spokesman's voice> BRILLIANT! </Guinness spokesman's voice> I second the notion that Graham should respectfully present Yamato with NB4M's solution to the sliding cockpit heat shield for a 1/48 VF-1D. If I remember correctly, wasn't it a custom 1/60 VF-1D that prompted Yamato to make one of their own? Come on Graham, be a trooper and make this happen for all the VF-1D fans out there.

Sorry if my post seemed to be directed at you... it wasn't; the timing of my reply just made it appear that way. My post was just intended to clarify the injection molding process since I've seen the term "retooling" thrown around a lot around these parts. Retooling means alteration of an existing mold, as in correcting a problem or mistake or failure, and not modifying it into a "new" product. That entails a new mold be cut to replace the existing one in the injection tool in order to make the new parts needed for the new product. This way, the molds can be swapped as needed for whatever version required. Flexibility is the name of the game. That's a cool version of the 1D, but it is far more involved than just a few extra bits and plastic color. The wings, V stabs, and hands, etc are also very unique.

Yamato would not need to do any re-tooling to create a VF-1D. Retooling implies that the current molds would be modified into the 1D, or VT, or VE; but doing so would, in essence, preclude them from ever producing another single seater. What Yamato would do is have new, 1D specific, molds made for all the 1D unique parts; the same goes for the VT-1 and VE-1. That way, Yamato could produce any new 2 seaters to their hearts' content, and still be able to make the single seaters for endless versions and re-issues.

Medical testing. You can always become a guinea pig.

Nice, thanks for the scans Graham... it does look better, from what can be seen, than the CAD drawings. I suppose the wings could be a tad longer and the V-stabs a bit larger, but overall it looks really good. As for materials, I would assume, based on Yamato's releases since the 1/48, that the 1/60 YF-19 will be all plastic, with some diecast for critical stress prone areas. IMO, it should be all plastic, since it will look so much better that way... more details, better shape, no paint-to-plastic mismatch, no paint chipping off metal parts, less mass (lower shipping and less breakage due to accidental drops). I'm actually hoping this gets released no earlier than late November; or better yet, first quarter of 07. With the VF-0A(s) and the VF-1A Angel Bird due out later this year, I could use the break.

Sweet: Light Ghost Grey, Off White, and Dark Grey... I love it! I better start setting some money aside for September/October. This little beastie will be mine.

Same here. I'm interested in getting a VF-0/1 sticker sheet if its still available.

Saw it this past Saturday. I thought the movie was great, but it could have been edited down by another 15 minutes to make the pacing a little more taut. And I loved the little nuggets for the sharp eyed movie goer to pick up on in the Tortuga tavern sequence... <spoiler - highlight to view ->the fat guy coming out of the barrel and spitting water was a great homage to the theme ride.<spoiler>