1/55's revisited

[sqidd]

Have any of you paint matched the re-issue M&M's by any chance? I'd like to do some custom Fast Packs for them but getting that paint matched would be CRITICAL.

[nightmareB4macross]

9 minutes ago, sqidd said:

Have any of you paint matched the re-issue M&M's by any chance? I'd like to do some custom Fast Packs for them but getting that paint matched would be CRITICAL.

I usually go to the auto parts store for paint matching first. Usually the cheaper selection of rattle cans may have the color that matches the M&Ms pretty well. If you want take your valk to a parts store and look for cheaper paints. They newer better paints have a brighter hue that just doesn’t work.

Buy a few colors that could match and then spray them on a primed plastic card to get an idea of the final color. Don’t forget to buy a satin top coat to protect and preserve your work.

Spray light. And always remember prep is key if you start right your results will be top notch and last for years to come.

Edited October 3, 2020 by nightmareB4macross

[sqidd]

1 minute ago, nightmareB4macross said:

I usually go to the auto parts store for paint matching first. Usually the cheaper selection of rattle cans may have the color that matches the M&Ms pretty well. If you want take your valk to a parts store and look for cheaper paints. They newer better paints have a brighter hue that just doesn’t work.

Buy a few colors that could match and then spray them on a primed plastic card to get an idea of the final color. Don’t forget to buy a satin top coat to protect and preserve your work.

Spray light. And always remember prep is key if you start right your results will be top notch and last for years to come.

That's a good idea!

Doing it on your monitor is an exercise in futility. It took me FOREVER to figure out a "match" (it's still not perfect) for the Yamato Low Vis gray. In the end I got 4-5 different grays. Test sprayed them and then used the closest one. Soooooo, I have a lot of grey in stock.

In the end it did work out ok having the SSP's slightly darker than the Valks. The M&M's wouldn't be as forgiving I think.

[nightmareB4macross]

11 minutes ago, sqidd said:

That's a good idea!

Doing it on your monitor is an exercise in futility. It took me FOREVER to figure out a "match" (it's still not perfect) for the Yamato Low Vis gray. In the end I got 4-5 different grays. Test sprayed them and then used the closest one. Soooooo, I have a lot of grey in stock.

In the end it did work out ok having the SSP's slightly darker than the Valks. The M&M's wouldn't be as forgiving I think.

Well due to my trial and error method and OCD to get the perfect color I have two 48 x 30 inch shelves of rattle cans for any occasion set up as “Wh, Gr, Mtl, Blk, R, O, Y, G, B, I, V, Clr, Ntrl, and Misc” for tack sprays  and other finishes.

Here are my “Reds” Or “R.”

Nice Strike packs on that low viz.

 

Edited October 3, 2020 by nightmareB4macross

[sqidd]

Well, all this talk about Chunkies re-kindled my Chunky drive. Time to spend a little more time on my Chunky collection/display. I had been eye balling a VF-1S Hikaru on eBay for reasonable money ($325) thinking I was going to steal the strike packs for another custom VF-1S Strike Focker (alreday made one from a Takatoku and Bandai SSP's). Then I thought to myself.....self, why not just convert the Hikaru into a Focker? Easy peasy. It alreday has the black heat shield which is the toughest part. The only "downside" is that this one will be bright white opposed to the grey/white. Not the end of the world. There is no way to keep DYRL continuity unless you use a Takatoku or old Bandai "Focker" and paint it with red to be a Hikaru anyway. That seems like a lot of work and $$ to end up with a SSP-less white VF-1S Hikaru. I guess we'll see how strong my OCD is.

[sqidd]

3 hours ago, nightmareB4macross said:

Well due to my trial and error method and OCD to get the perfect color I have two 48 x 30 inch shelves of rattle cans for any occasion set up as “Wh, Gr, Mtl, Blk, R, O, Y, G, B, I, V, Clr, Ntrl, and Misc” for tack sprays  and other finishes.

Here are my “Reds” Or “R.”

Nice Strike packs on that low viz.

 

Geeeeeee, I would never do something like that^^^^^^

I have spent most of my life trying to stay away from paint because of my OCD issues. I have a really hard time "walking away" from CNC stuff. Or hoses/lines!!! I've literally spent days trying different ways of routing hoses/lines (pretty stuff) in cars. I'd never finish a car if I was doing the paint.

I've got drawers full of AN hose fittings that look like your paint collection.

Edited October 4, 2020 by sqidd

[Anasazi37]

5 hours ago, nightmareB4macross said:

Have any of you ever kept track of your incoming custom parts from various craftsmen of the Valkyrie trade?

Here’s a little something I put together three years ago as I was sifting through parts and stashes.

I have plenty more to share but I would invite others to show their custom parts and create a log on this thread for these elusive goodies.

Resin, decals, stickers, custom parts, all are welcome and encouraged.

I do keep track of mine. I even still have digital copies of the orders I sent to Chris Barretta for heads and heatshields, circa Fall 2001. Nice nosecone and hips in that last picture! And I saw some Sazabi hands in the background, too! I have a big bag of those, but gave up on using them because they are so finicky and delicate. I also spotted some parts in your photos that I've been looking for. I'm short a 1J head and a few other things....

4 hours ago, sqidd said:

Is there a trick/fix for the spring clip that holds the back in place in Battroid mode? I have a couple of older 80's units that are loose enough to where if you try and rotate the arms backward without holding on to the body it will lift the entire back off.

Could be a worn-down "nub" on the clip, a worn-down spring, or both. If it's the nub, you could do what @nightmareB4macross suggested and try to build it back up using glue or a little epoxy. If it's the spring, you could probably find a replacement with more tension in it. Either a new one or salvaged from a "junk" Jetfire bought on eBay.

[vladykins]

All this chunky talk and I spotted a (currently) decent priced Takatoku on fleabay. Not my auction but hoping someone here might get a great price on a TT (especially since folks keep erroneously marketing them as Bandai and then including a picture of the TT trademark).

 

https://www.ebay.com/i/264882977560

 

 

[sqidd]

Well, you dirt rats got me back on the Chunkie band wagon. I made some moves over the past few days to improve my collection. On of them was to steal the Strike Packs off of a 1984 Bandai VF-1S Hikaru (the Valk was a little rough) and a "S" head off of a Roy re-issue and put them on a 1A Super Hikaru re-issue so I have a all gray VF-1S Strike Hikaru. It's been driving me crazy that the 1984 VF-1S is white and the other DYRL Valks (1A Max and Hikaru) are gray. He;'s got the green arm armors (the old one won't fit the r-issues) still which is a little funky. But at some point I'll paint all of the Skull Squads SSP's a more screen accurate blue/green.

Just bought another 1A Hikaru to replace the one I just butchered and another 1A Max which is getting converted to a Kakazaki. I'll have the whole DYRL Skull Squad in the same color gray.Well, except a naked VF-1S Max.....for now.

 

[nightmareB4macross]

Looking good!

[nightmareB4macross]

There is a great KO from the 90’ based off the 1984 StrikeValkyrie VF-1S with 1990 SuperValkyrie VF-1S (the ugly one) and makes a pretty damn good stand in for the Movie color Strike Parts.
 

There is a white and grey (pictured here) version of this available.

[sqidd]

9 minutes ago, nightmareB4macross said:

There is a great KO from the 90’ based off the 1984 StrikeValkyrie VF-1S with 1990 SuperValkyrie VF-1S (the ugly one) and makes a pretty damn good stand in for the Movie color Strike Parts.
 

There is a white and grey (pictured here) version of this available.

Like this one? The "Junky Monkey"? I didn't know the parts would swap. Hmmmmmmm.

 

Edited October 5, 2020 by sqidd

[nightmareB4macross]

On 10/3/2020 at 8:39 AM, sh9000 said:

That’s cool.  In regards to customs, I still have my recast 1/55 GBP armor and Strike Parts made by @Myersjessee from a long time ago.  I forgot who made what but I used to have a resin VF-1D head and I think a truer DYRL VF-1A head.  Also DYRL arm armor that would peg into the slots in the arms.

VF-1D head was Chris Barretta.

VF-1A DYRL type head came from Rob Beers.

Wasn’t the originally reinforced GBP made by Rob Beers as well?

I need a copy of this armor for my museum.

[sh9000]

2 hours ago, nightmareB4macross said:

VF-1D head was Chris Barretta.

VF-1A DYRL type head came from Rob Beers.

Wasn’t the originally reinforced GBP made by Rob Beers as well?

I need a copy of this armor for my museum.

Yes now I remember heads and heatshields by Chris Barretta.

Who made the DYRL arm armor?  Those were pretty cool.

[Slave IV]

Love it! Let’s keep this thread going! Hopefully I’ll have something new to share here soon too.

[sqidd]

53 minutes ago, Slave IV said:

Love it! Let’s keep this thread going! Hopefully I’ll have something new to share here soon too.

[nightmareB4macross]

3 hours ago, sh9000 said:

Yes now I remember heads and heatshields by Chris Barretta.

Who made the DYRL arm armor?  Those were pretty cool.

I think the was Erik Mabrich, aka: Takatoys. He was also responsible for the highly detailed VF-1 Nosecone with hinged canopy.

Edited October 6, 2020 by nightmareB4macross

[Mog]

Didn’t @takatoys also make sticker or decal sets back in the day too?

I remember getting a set for the Yammy 1/60 YF-19 V1 way back when.

[nightmareB4macross]

17 minutes ago, Mog said:

Didn’t @takatoys also make sticker or decal sets back in the day too?

I remember getting a set for the Yammy 1/60 YF-19 V1 way back when.

He did. He produced the SDF-1, Destroid Coversion Kit, and several other custom stickers.

I wish I new who started the original decal sets for the VF-1S Super Valkyrie. It is a set of  decals that captured the look of the blackout panel on the cockpit just like the custom found on the Takatoku VF-1S Super Valkyrie box panel on the back.

Anyone know?

[vt102]

6 hours ago, nightmareB4macross said:

VF-1D head was Chris Barretta.

VF-1A DYRL type head came from Rob Beers.

Wasn’t the originally reinforced GBP made by Rob Beers as well?

I need a copy of this armor for my museum.

I have one of Rob Beers GBP. It's a mix matched colored one. The plan was to paint it..... Never happened. Not sure if it is reinforced though...

Edited October 6, 2020 by vt102
Added picture

[nightmareB4macross]

2 hours ago, vt102 said:

I have one of Rob Beers GBP. It's a mix matched colored one. The plan was to paint it..... Never happened. Not sure if it is reinforced though...

Would you be interested in selling it as displayed in your picture?

[Anasazi37]

6 hours ago, nightmareB4macross said:

I wish I new who started the original decal sets for the VF-1S Super Valkyrie. It is a set of  decals that captured the look of the blackout panel on the cockpit just like the custom found on the Takatoku VF-1S Super Valkyrie box panel on the back.

Anyone know?

The earliest decal sets I know of were made by Jung. I came across this old image in my archives (Aug 2001), where his set is the middle one. I'm not sure who made the top one, but I think the bottom one is from takatoys, although the supplemental sheets say "produced by vf1x.com" on them, so I'm not sure. Sorry for the terrible resolution. I might still have an unused Jung set around here somewhere. Will try to find it this weekend.

Edited October 6, 2020 by Anasazi37

[MKT]

On 10/3/2020 at 8:45 AM, Slave IV said:

I'd take a SDF-1 reissue but honestly would just prefer an update.

Meanwhile...

Somehow, looking at these pics are so satisfying! Love the old-skool chunky poses 

[nightmareB4macross]

1 hour ago, Anasazi37 said:

The earliest decal sets I know of were made by Jung. I came across this old image in my archives (Aug 2001), where his set is the middle one. I'm not sure who made the top one, but I think the bottom one is from takatoys, although the supplemental sheets say "produced by vf1x.com" on them, so I'm not sure. Sorry for the terrible resolution. I might still have an unused Jung set around here somewhere. Will try to find it this weekend.

Cool. 
 

The first set has the old white decals you would wrap around the red nosecone of Jetfire so you wouldn’t have to repaint.

I think the decal makers of that time circa 2000 were, Jung Chao (aka: Jung), Jerry Tsai (aka: vf1x), Eric Mabrich (aka: Takatoys), and IIRC Jeremy (?) (aka:  Skull Leader).

Skull Leader was the creator of many incredible customs like the Max & Milia Marriage Set, Max & Kakyzky Vermillion Set, And Evil Jetfire. It was a group called AlphaTeam11. He would even provide signed COAs to guarantee the work and origin of the custom. I wonder how many are still out there to this day?

Also there was another member, Rosario Love (aka: Rosario and then Redemption), I believe he made stickers as well. But only for an amazing Super Ostrich resin kit he used to provide. He was the creator of Valkyrie Dream Flight.

[sh9000]

I remember a lot of those names.  Thanks for the info @nightmareB4macross.

[nightmareB4macross]

27 minutes ago, sh9000 said:

I remember a lot of those names.  Thanks for the info @nightmareB4macross.

There were many greats, back in the day.

Jung Chao - Beautiful custom 1/55 repaints.

Rob Beers - Recasted Super, Strike, VE-1, VT-1, and a full 1/55 VF-1.

Fulcy - The legendary 1/55 hip mods.

Rosario Love - 1/55 Super Ostrich customs ad kits.

Jason Pi (KidKorrupt) - An Arsenal of amazing. custom 1/55 VF-1.

Tony Yao (xstoys) - Just insane engineering of the 1/55 Vf-1D.
 

There were also a ton of great sites back in the days.

Do You Remember...Valkyrie Hangar, VF1X, geocities sites. Valkyrie Dream Flight, and much more.

[Slave IV]

3 hours ago, MKT said:

Somehow, looking at these pics are so satisfying! Love the old-skool chunky poses 

Thanks! Taking the pics and playing with the toy are so satisfying in itself!

Loving all the info shared here. I hope someone who has some of what @nightmareB4macross mentioned can take some current pics and share. 

[Anasazi37]

9 hours ago, nightmareB4macross said:

Cool. 
 

The first set has the old white decals you would wrap around the red nosecone of Jetfire so you wouldn’t have to repaint.

I think the decal makers of that time circa 2000 were, Jung Chao (aka: Jung), Jerry Tsai (aka: vf1x), Eric Mabrich (aka: Takatoys), and IIRC Jeremy (?) (aka:  Skull Leader).

Skull Leader was the creator of many incredible customs like the Max & Milia Marriage Set, Max & Kakyzky Vermillion Set, And Evil Jetfire. It was a group called AlphaTeam11. He would even provide signed COAs to guarantee the work and origin of the custom. I wonder how many are still out there to this day?

Also there was another member, Rosario Love (aka: Rosario and then Redemption), I believe he made stickers as well. But only for an amazing Super Ostrich resin kit he used to provide. He was the creator of Valkyrie Dream Flight.

I forgot about the Skull Leader stickers. My big pile of resin cast Sazabi hands came from Rosario. I bought a Sazabi kit and sent it to him so he could make molds of the hand parts. I got a bunch of casted parts in return. It took *forever* to get them, though. I think he went through a rough period where he wasn't able to fill orders, or those orders took a long time to fill (can't remember which), because of some personal stuff he was dealing with. He started to move away from the forums after that.

[sqidd]

Decent deal on a Bandai re-issue VF-1A Super Kikaru.

https://order.mandarake.co.jp/order/detailPage/item?itemCode=1149457958&lang=en&ref=mail

[sqidd]

Who is interested in CM updated and modernized SSP's?

I've been kicking this around for a bit and a found a place to scan the existing SSP's from the 1984 Hikaru Strike in so I can play wit them in CAD. It's not cheap. About $1000. But, because I'm not interested in making any money on this project if there is even moderate interest costs can be covered to I can do it without losing money.

My target would be to copy the Strike Parts. Unlike the CM Super parts they come apart like a Yamato/Arcadia/Bandai DX, etc SSP's. You can run them as Supers or Strikes. The covers are removable. I wouldn't do a whole lot with the arm and leg armors (open to suggestions though). I'd want to do an improvement on the Strike Cannon (quite a few) and some small improvements on the rest of the packs. Maybe work on proportions a bit too. They would be designed for easy disassembly so they could be painted without having to spend a ton of time taping stuff off. Once done they would be 3D printed.

Real rough numbers here and they would change the more interest there is but I'm thinking $75/ set for the first 20 sets (covers scanning and printing fees I think) and if there is more interest that price comes down. 

So who is interested?  I don't need a commitment. Just a "hey, I would be down for a couple three sets" or something. I'm trying to gauge what I'm getting myself into.

Thanks

 

Edited October 7, 2020 by sqidd

[vladykins]

I'd likely get a set.

[nightmareB4macross]

5 hours ago, sqidd said:

Who is interested in CM updated and modernized SSP's?

I've been kicking this around for a bit and a found a place to scan the existing SSP's from the 1984 Hikaru Strike in so I can play wit them in CAD. It's not cheap. About $1000. But, because I'm not interested in making any money on this project if there is even moderate interest costs can be covered to I can do it without losing money.

My target would be to copy the Strike Parts. Unlike the CM Super parts they come apart like a Yamato/Arcadia/Bandai DX, etc SSP's. You can run them as Supers or Strikes. The covers are removable. I wouldn't do a whole lot with the arm and leg armors (open to suggestions though). I'd want to do an improvement on the Strike Cannon (quite a few) and some small improvements on the rest of the packs. Maybe work on proportions a bit too. They would be designed for easy disassembly so they could be painted without having to spend a ton of time taping stuff off. Once done they would be 3D printed.

Real rough numbers here and they would change the more interest there is but I'm thinking $75/ set for the first 20 sets (covers scanning and printing fees I think) and if there is more interest that price comes down. 

So who is interested?  I don't need a commitment. Just a "hey, I would be down for a couple three sets" or something. I'm trying to gauge what I'm getting myself into.

Thanks

 

Please move this to the for sale thread. I would like to keep this to the corresponding subject matter.

Thanks.

[Slave IV]

Some people never check the sale threads and would never know about it if it wasn't here so I'm all for posts in here relating to anything that is "revisiting/appreciating the 1/55s" Of course, any further details can be taken elsewhere but at least let us hear about something where we might see it.

Edited October 7, 2020 by Slave IV

[nightmareB4macross]

41 minutes ago, Slave IV said:

Some people never check the sale threads and would never know about it if it wasn't here so I'm all for posts in here relating to anything that is "revisiting/appreciating the 1/55s" Of course, any further details can be taken elsewhere but at least let us hear about something where we might see it.

I get what you guys are hoping to achieve  with this, but those who are here are looking for history on the 1/55.

Please post a link here and guide interested parties to your sales thread and you can realize your needs there.

Let’s try not to inundate this thread with off topic discussion. It really defeats the purpose of what this thread was developed for.

Thanks.

[Anasazi37]

7 hours ago, sqidd said:

Who is interested in CM updated and modernized SSP's?

I've been kicking this around for a bit and a found a place to scan the existing SSP's from the 1984 Hikaru Strike in so I can play wit them in CAD. It's not cheap. About $1000. But, because I'm not interested in making any money on this project if there is even moderate interest costs can be covered to I can do it without losing money.

My target would be to copy the Strike Parts. Unlike the CM Super parts they come apart like a Yamato/Arcadia/Bandai DX, etc SSP's. You can run them as Supers or Strikes. The covers are removable. I wouldn't do a whole lot with the arm and leg armors (open to suggestions though). I'd want to do an improvement on the Strike Cannon (quite a few) and some small improvements on the rest of the packs. Maybe work on proportions a bit too. They would be designed for easy disassembly so they could be painted without having to spend a ton of time taping stuff off. Once done they would be 3D printed.

Real rough numbers here and they would change the more interest there is but I'm thinking $75/ set for the first 20 sets (covers scanning and printing fees I think) and if there is more interest that price comes down. 

So who is interested?  I don't need a commitment. Just a "hey, I would be down for a couple three sets" or something. I'm trying to gauge what I'm getting myself into.

Thanks

 

 

1 hour ago, nightmareB4macross said:

I get what you guys are hoping to achieve  with this, but those who are here are looking for history on the 1/55.

Please post a link here and guide interested parties to your sales thread and you can realize your needs there.

Let’s try not to inundate this thread with off topic discussion. It really defeats the purpose of what this thread was developed for.

Thanks.

I've been thinking about getting a structured light scanner so I can, for archival and historical purposes, create 3D models of a lot of rare stuff. That includes resin parts I'm planning to use on customs. Once I use them, they're essentially "gone" and it would be nice to have pristine representations of them. @sqidd, I'll send you a PM with what I'm thinking of doing. $1000 is pretty steep for an individual scan and conversion to CAD.