mechaninac

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>

Braised Dork.... anthropophagy at its finest.

In response to your rhetorical question I have but to mention "Peewee's Playhouse"...WTF??? Other than Venture Brothers and Robot Chicken their original line-up sucks major monkey balls.

Angel Birds aerobatics team VF.

I've been waiting forever for this particular MS to be made. Grunt units rule, and the powered GM is one of my favorites. However, I think I'll wait for the inevitable (one can only hope) Master Grade version to come out. After this, the next one I want to see is the Guncannon II from 0083, in MG glory, of course.

I'm hoping you are correct -- getting mine on Friday, but I doubt Yamato would spend the time and resources to redesign the swing arm if they didn't screw up the engineering of the original part in the first place. However, a badly cast early batch would definitely exacerbate failures of an inadequately conceived design.

Oh boy, according to TMP, mine is on its way. Based on the previous posts, however, I have become a bit worried of what I may get. <crosses fingers>

I received my LV at work, does that count? <ducks assorted garbage being thrown at stage>

Bite your tongue, or fingers in this case. Yamato is parting me from enough of my cash as it is...

Let's take haterist's advice and drop this inanity before we thoroughly derail this thread and end up getting it locked. Like I said before, you're entitled to your point of view and I'm entitled to mine... jut let it go at that. Besides, I really don't feel like breaking out my decoder ring in order to decipher that reply. FYI: trying to veil your snide remarks through the use of smilies is rather lame and childish.