Valk009 Posted September 17, 2007 Author Posted September 17, 2007 From what I know, there were three different 1/72 VF-4 fighter resin kits made. First, there is the Hobby Base Retppu kit, which is a hollow vinyl kit. This kit is not bad but it does lack of details and many say it looks a little bit on the chubby side. Next, is the Club-M version, which I believe looks very good and they do have a bonus of allowing you to build the kit in semi-gerwalk (without hands). Last but not least is the Musasiya kit, which my version is based on it. Out of all three kits, the Musasiya kit is the oldest and rarest but it is also the most streamlined of all, at least in my opinion. But since the kit was released in the late '80s, the sculpting and casting quality is also from that era, hence the extensive modifications on my newer version. Besides upgrading those old and chunky landing gears and the blob pilot figure, two main differences are the new engraved panel lines and the one piece nose cone design instead of three pieces on the original Musasiya, which did not fit properly for a start and had one fiddeling with it for ages to get it right. All these three kits are long sold out and discontinued, Club-M actually does no longer exist, so makes them very collectible and is worth having in anyones collection. Quote
Steve68 Posted September 17, 2007 Posted September 17, 2007 WOW That looks stunning! Can't wait till I can get a closer look. Quote
Steve68 Posted September 17, 2007 Posted September 17, 2007 Is there supposed to be some sort of thruster on the side of the engine housings? Quote
Valkyrie addict Posted September 17, 2007 Posted September 17, 2007 yes...a thruster goes there, I'm sure it's included as the little fin on top behind the canopy and under it that don't appear on the picture, that's just a picture of a preassemblied (not finished) kit... Quote
Steve68 Posted September 17, 2007 Posted September 17, 2007 I'm pretty sure they are included however I didn't see them in this parts layout. Quote
Valkyrie addict Posted September 17, 2007 Posted September 17, 2007 ummmmm....actually, you might be right we should better wait for valk009 to confirm this, but here's an image of a finished kit from valk009's first VF-4 recast and it looks complete Quote
PetarB Posted September 18, 2007 Posted September 18, 2007 Wow cool image. Any chance of a larger one? Quote
Valk009 Posted September 18, 2007 Author Posted September 18, 2007 Okay...the answer to the question...does the kit include the side thruster pods... ...well, actually no Those additional pods were added by the person who finished up the valk, a little touch of his If you look at the line art drawings by Kawamori, you will notice that there are also no pods in those places. For the people who are interested in getting those pods, if I remember correctly, they were either taken from some old Gundam parts or one of those option parts sets sold by Kotobukiya! Quote
Steve68 Posted September 18, 2007 Posted September 18, 2007 No biggie on the thruster pods. I haven't seen the line art (heck I haven't even seen the VF-4 in action) I wonder what those little spots are for. It really doesn't make sense for them to be thrusters anyway as there aren't any others anywhere else besides the engines. Quote
Valkyrie Posted September 18, 2007 Posted September 18, 2007 Next, is the Club-M version, which I believe looks very good and they do have a bonus of allowing you to build the kit in semi-gerwalk (without hands). Actually, it does include hands for gerwalk mode. But both hands are just fists, so there's no way of building it holding the gunpod (which is non-canon, but still pretty cool) Quote
Valk009 Posted September 18, 2007 Author Posted September 18, 2007 Yeah...now I remember, the Club-M VF-4 kit did come with hands, well fists and a gunpod. The odd bit is only that the VF-4 valk does not have a gunpod. Club-M did a little imaginery thing here Quote
valkyrie13 Posted September 18, 2007 Posted September 18, 2007 Hey, Andy, does this mean that you're going to do a reissue in Gerwalk mode with hands (fists?)? Quote
VF-19 Posted September 20, 2007 Posted September 20, 2007 Got my kit today, and it's beautiful. Just an FYI. I had a broken part right out of the box. It's one of the arches that fit over the end of the engine pods. It's a clean break, so it's easy to fix, but it's something that should have been designed a little better. Quote
Valk009 Posted September 20, 2007 Author Posted September 20, 2007 Got my kit today, and it's beautiful. Just an FYI. I had a broken part right out of the box. It's one of the arches that fit over the end of the engine pods. It's a clean break, so it's easy to fix, but it's something that should have been designed a little better. Good to hear that the kit arrived quicker than expected but sorry about the broken part. Once all 20 kits have been casted, I will cast an extra one or two for parts. If you want I can then resend the part to you. Actually, that design was taken straight from the original Musasiya kit. The main changes of my kit is the one piece nose cone design, all new wings and stabilisers and all-round updated detailing..and of course the new landing gears and pilot! Quote
VF-19 Posted September 20, 2007 Posted September 20, 2007 Good to hear that the kit arrived quicker than expected but sorry about the broken part. Once all 20 kits have been casted, I will cast an extra one or two for parts. If you want I can then resend the part to you. Actually, that design was taken straight from the original Musasiya kit. The main changes of my kit is the one piece nose cone design, all new wings and stabilisers and all-round updated detailing..and of course the new landing gears and pilot! As I said, it's not a big deal, it's easy to fix. Besides, there's a good chance that if you do send the part to me, it'll probably break again in the same spot. The post office is pretty good like that... Just wanted you to know, that's all. Quote
PetarB Posted September 20, 2007 Posted September 20, 2007 I've just received mine. Out of the dozen or so resin kits I've bought in the past couple of years, this would have to be one of the cleanest, sharpest casting I've recieved yet. Minimal clean up and fit issues. Another happy customer, thank you. Quote
cowie165 Posted September 24, 2007 Posted September 24, 2007 Andy thanks for such a great looking kit. +1 for everything PetarB said above. Thank you! Mark Quote
Steve68 Posted September 24, 2007 Posted September 24, 2007 Got mine in the mail today! Hubba, hubba. Very nice. Valk009, Could you post a couple of the pics off of the instruction CD? Specifically the one holding a completed engine pod showing the rear. The pics on the PDF are a little small and aliased that makes the details hard to see. Whatever your next fighter project is I'm in as this is outstanding work on the VF-4. Quote
kkx Posted September 25, 2007 Posted September 25, 2007 The kit arrived just now. The casting quality is very good. This seems to be the best looking VF-4 compared to the club-M and the Retppu version. Thanks Andy. There is just one small problem (carried over from the original kit, I guess), the thruster panel (not sure if this is indeed for thruster or not, have not check the line art) next to the cockpit is slightly miss-aligned. The pair on the port side seems ok, but the starboard side pair need some work. Anyone have any idea how to deal with this? My expericen in resin or model building is very limited, any advise will be helpful. the isside of this thruster panel is also not smooth. Some sanding will remedy that, I think. But I can't imagine how I go about sanding the inside of the panel without doing other damage. What sort of tools will be useful to do this ? A great kit in general. Very happy that I decided not to pass on this. vf4_small_prob.bmp Quote
Valk009 Posted September 25, 2007 Author Posted September 25, 2007 To Steve68: Will take a few close up pics of the area you need clarification. The instructions were done hush hush and I did not bother to set up my camera system, just used a handheld digicam, hence some pics cpuld be a little blurry. To kkx: The nose cone piece is a new sculpt and not taken from the Musasiya kit, which was a three piece design. I will take a look at a kit and see what kind of problem you are referring to. Quote
big F Posted September 25, 2007 Posted September 25, 2007 My thinking is mine should be here soon Quote
Straycatt Posted September 26, 2007 Posted September 26, 2007 Got mine today... (It has apparently been here since saturday, but no-one told me....) Nice clean casting with minimal bubbles... And those that I have identified are in easily fixable places.... On the matter of the misalligned thruster port.... From looking at mine, the issue appears to be that the two sides of the nosecone are not *perfectly* symmetrical... But the misalignmet is minimal. -Adam Quote
big F Posted September 26, 2007 Posted September 26, 2007 Got mine today, and better than that the Postie who is an old school mate saved it up for me and dropped it round on his way home, to save me going to the sorting office to sign for it. Great sculpt Andy, I like the CD idea for instructions. You pack your stuff so well, I never worry about it getting damaged. Thanks again Quote
Urzu7 Posted September 27, 2007 Posted September 27, 2007 Hi Valk , PM and payment sent for 1 kit Cesar R. Quote
kkx Posted September 27, 2007 Posted September 27, 2007 To Steve68: Will take a few close up pics of the area you need clarification. The instructions were done hush hush and I did not bother to set up my camera system, just used a handheld digicam, hence some pics cpuld be a little blurry. To kkx: The nose cone piece is a new sculpt and not taken from the Musasiya kit, which was a three piece design. I will take a look at a kit and see what kind of problem you are referring to. No problem Andy, the problem is really minimal (like Straycatt said) and it is mainly due to the original nose cone being not symmetrical. I am sure it is easy to fix, I was just asking for advise from more experienced resin kit builder for some advise in how to deal with it. Anyone who is still thinking of getting this kit, please do so before it run out. It is so nice that I am thinking of getting another one. Quote
valkyrie13 Posted September 28, 2007 Posted September 28, 2007 Anyone who is still thinking of getting this kit, please do so before it run out. It is so nice that I am thinking of getting another one. I second that. I got my two kits yesterday and the result of the casting is just awesome. For a kit that is 1/72 scale, they come in such cute little boxes, too. Another thoughtfulness that went into keeping the shipping cost down. Thanks, Andy! Quote
Isamu test pilot Posted October 22, 2007 Posted October 22, 2007 Hi Valk009 Only to know, Do you have more kits of this beautiful VF-4? I really would like to get one for me Awaiting your kindly answer, thank you Quote
Valkyrie addict Posted October 27, 2007 Posted October 27, 2007 check here mate... Valk009 VF-4 Quote
Koloko Posted July 12, 2008 Posted July 12, 2008 check here mate... Valk009 VF-4 Dude how come the page won't respond? It keeps telling me Page not Responding! Do you have one on sale? If you do, help me out yeah? Quote
Valkyrie addict Posted July 12, 2008 Posted July 12, 2008 woa, that link is about8 months old, it was an ebay link for an auction on one of Valk009 VF-4, long ver... sorry, I don't have any For Sale, I noticed you ask for them on the for sale section, you should try contacting Valk009 if he has any left or posting on the Wanted section, sorry mate, good luck Quote
Koloko Posted July 12, 2008 Posted July 12, 2008 woa, that link is about8 months old, it was an ebay link for an auction on one of Valk009 VF-4, long ver... sorry, I don't have any For Sale, I noticed you ask for them on the for sale section, you should try contacting Valk009 if he has any left or posting on the Wanted section, sorry mate, good luck Alls well, thanks. Quote
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