Official 1/60 YF-21 News & Picture Thread (ver.2)

[Hikuro]

Hah swoosh XD that's a clever shot right there!

[Mog]

Beautiful work, Swoosh. Great lighting and great pose!

[David Hingtgen]

Flankers have retractable inlet guards (well, more like screens) mounted just behind the lip, on the bottom of the interior surface, much like the MiG-29. They lay flat inside the intake normally, and pivot up when needed.

::edit:: Here, the 2nd pic: http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/flanke...ges/intakes.htm

::edit 2:: This might be better: http://aeroweb.lucia.it/~junap95/fighters/images/intake.jpg

[UN Spacy]

OMG Swoosh.

I think I have a reason to FINALLY change my avatar.

[Lynx7725]

Is it as bad as transforming one of the Megahouse cyclones??? Cause those were a PITA ...

I have no idea, as I don't have a Megahouse Cyclone. If they are halfway as bad as the YF-21 though, I won't buy them..

The good news: The YF-21 didn't take a flight. GogDog was right in his diagnosis of my problem, the knees weren't retracted far enough. While the pinhole is a good gauge, a better one is that the screw hole on other side of the knee -- it should be mostly (>90%) covered by the hip armour. The pinhole really shouldn't even be seen unless you look up the leg. It does take quite a bit of force to go the last indent to achieve the above though.

Other things to watch out for:

• The side panels flap constantly and invariably get into the way as you close the back. Might get damaged that way.
• The same side panels are not apparently meant to sit flush with the shoulder joint just next to it. Extension of the shoulder depressable panels would bring everything in line.
• Shoulder area depressable panels. Annoying as this is where you tend to hold the Fighter. Once fully depressed, you cannot get it out without a tool. Should be improved.
• The flappy panels on the belly plates, you're supposed to lock them away for transformation to GERWALK and Battroid. Remember to unlock them as the first thing to do when you transform back to Fighter, as there is precious little clearance once you get the legs back up.
• The belly plates don't need to bend. If they are bending, you are getting it wrong.
• The hand covers, one of mind sticks too hard and makes it difficult to get the hands out -- might actually cause hand damage IMO.
• The hands would probably need to be in a particular configuration to get the feet to sit nicely. However, that configuration (slightly opened with fingers hooked) makes it difficult to get the hand out during transformation. A tool small enough to get it and tweak the fingers would help.
• Landing gear doors -- all of them! -- are tight and would need a tool to open them. Landing gear has stays to keep them in the up position, so said tool is useful to bring them down. As noted in Graham's review, only the front gear has stays to keep them down; if you reverse your YF-21 on the ground, it's going to collapse the main gears.
• When you transform back to Fighter, you are supposed to rotate the hips. It's tricky as there's two joints there and they conspire to do all sorts of weird things, but there is a groove that denotes where the hip is supposed to be in Fighter. Don't fight it; the groove will give the hips to the correct spot. It's the knees that will give you the problem.
• The pilot seat on mine doesn't reliably turn upright on transformation to Battroid. It does reliably turn back on transformation to GERWALK/ Fighter.
• On transformation to Battroid, there is one point where you have to bring the "folding torso" together. The top joint is a two-tab connector with the neck area. That might need you to force the parts over, as by natural inclination the tabs want to stay below the holes. Watch the intake swing bar to make sure you got the position right first though, and watch the fingers -- easy for a finger to get trapped in the folding torso.

The tool I used was an ear-digger (suitably cleaned). It's small enough to get into the holes and crevasses, and with a hooked edge to grab parts. The weird things you do to get your YF-21 to sit right..

Overall, the YF-21 is a marvel of design, engineering and QC; however, tolerances are very tight and you need to have a lot of patience on your first few transformations. Getting your spouses or Significant Others to work out escape routes might be a good contingency plan...

[wolfx]

Anyone have any idea what picture no. 20 in the gerwalk -> battroid transformation is supposed to tell u? It would seem you could pull out the joint that connects the fuselage flaps to the legs so it has more option but i can't seem to get this out.

I found stress marks below the head area where it would connect to the nosecone. Beware this area while transfrorming.

[UN_MARINE]

* Shoulder area depressable panels. Annoying as this is where you tend to hold the Fighter. Once fully depressed, you cannot get it out without a tool. Should be improved.

you can fish them out by folding out the side panels, then use your pinky finger to push them back out. no tools needed. well, with the exception of bigger fingers.

* The pilot seat on mine doesn't reliably turn upright on transformation to Battroid. It does reliably turn back on transformation to GERWALK/ Fighter.

is it supposed to rotate automatically both ways ? i thought it just did that for battroid-to-fighter.

* On transformation to Battroid, there is one point where you have to bring the "folding torso" together. The top joint is a two-tab connector with the neck area. That might need you to force the parts over, as by natural inclination the tabs want to stay below the holes. Watch the intake swing bar to make sure you got the position right first though, and watch the fingers -- easy for a finger to get trapped in the folding torso.

yup. beware!

Anyone have any idea what picture no. 20 in the gerwalk -> battroid transformation is supposed to tell u? It would seem you could pull out the joint that connects the fuselage flaps to the legs so it has more option but i can't seem to get this out.

it should & it does. but the part has some kind of snap lock & is very tight. the only safe way i could find to use it is to use detach-o & ease the part into unlocking.

forcing it might break it.

[Swoosh]

practise make perfect!!!

I managed to do 2 full transformation cycle within an hour!!!

[Dangard Ace]

First impressions after finally opening and playing with it abit last night.

Beautful sculpt. Gorgeous fighter. Now lets play. Shouldn't be to different from the 1/72's right?

Graaa! Fricken crappy instruction photos!! Fighter to Gerwalk....wuh? Where did the legs go (pic7-? Oops popped them off. Guess that's delimiter mode. Somewhere between pic 22-25 GAh! The entire backside came off! Whew...pop them back on the pegs and its good. Aw screw it. Back to fighter mode and deal with this tomorrow after work. Click. Clack. Click. Clack. Crap forgot to unfold those covers. Click. Clack. Click. Clack. Stupid back not lining up properly. Click. Clack. Click. Clack. Grrr stupid covers flipped back in again. Click. Clack. Click. Clack. Belly plates not aligning right. Click. Clack. Click. Clack. Fracken belly plates. Click. Clack. Click. Clack. GRAH! Hulk SMASH! Oh wait now it goes in. WTF happened? Deal with this later.

[Grand Admiral]

Ordered mine from HLJ today, now I just have to wait for it.

[wolfx]

it should & it does. but the part has some kind of snap lock & is very tight. the only safe way i could find to use it is to use detach-o & ease the part into unlocking.

forcing it might break it.

Got it to pop off finally. Thanks.

Now facing another problem. Going back to fighter mode or at least to put the adapter for the stand. I can't extend the backpack area again. I've used as much elbow grease as I dare but the damn thing doesn't budge. Is there some kinda lock somewhere that i forgot to unlatch?

[warrhead]

What am I doing wrong with the head? The instructions for collapsing the nose and separationg the head are terrible. Now the head will not rotate completely out and the nose won't collapse and it's stuck like that. WTF?

[GogDog]

What am I doing wrong with the head? The instructions for collapsing the nose and separationg the head are terrible. Now the head will not rotate completely out and the nose won't collapse and it's stuck like that. WTF?

You have to push the top part of the cockpit down to where it seperates, and then the head will have room to move. DO NOT FORCE THE HEAD.

The easiest way to do this is when you are first separating the head, when you "pry" it open, it will force the cockpit to separate and slide down. But you can still do it now. It's tight, but slide the top of the cockpit kinda up and forward at the same time.

Edited June 7, 2008 by GogDog

[Lynx7725]

you can fish them out by folding out the side panels, then use your pinky finger to push them back out. no tools needed. well, with the exception of bigger fingers.

I have bigger fingers...

At any rate, if the panel is fully down -- which it can, even in Fighter -- it's very difficult to use fingers to prop it back up. It won't be so bad if elsewhere, but it's right at the wing root, where it's the best place to pick up the aircraft...

is it supposed to rotate automatically both ways ? i thought it just did that for battroid-to-fighter.

I think it's supposed to, just not that reliable on mine.

I managed to do 2 full transformation cycle within an hour!!!

Swoosh, who did a photo shoot for Graham to include on the site, can only do 2 cycles in 1 hour? We are so screwed...

Graaa! Fricken crappy instruction photos!! Fighter to Gerwalk....wuh? Where did the legs go (pic7-? Oops popped them off. Guess that's delimiter mode. Somewhere between pic 22-25 GAh! The entire backside came off! Whew...pop them back on the pegs and its good. Aw screw it. Back to fighter mode and deal with this tomorrow after work. Click. Clack. Click. Clack. Crap forgot to unfold those covers. Click. Clack. Click. Clack. Stupid back not lining up properly. Click. Clack. Click. Clack. Grrr stupid covers flipped back in again. Click. Clack. Click. Clack. Belly plates not aligning right. Click. Clack. Click. Clack. Fracken belly plates. Click. Clack. Click. Clack. GRAH! Hulk SMASH! Oh wait now it goes in. WTF happened? Deal with this later.

Yes, sounds quite familiar..

As a comment, I think full-colour manual would have helped tremendously -- b/w photos is a bit useless on a dark-toned aircraft like the YF-19.

And yes, I think we would soon come to refer the YF-19 as the "Self-Delimiter".. sheesh, but those legs drop off easy. I think in the longer run we might have issues there.

Now facing another problem. Going back to fighter mode or at least to put the adapter for the stand. I can't extend the backpack area again. I've used as much elbow grease as I dare but the damn thing doesn't budge. Is there some kinda lock somewhere that i forgot to unlatch?

There is one major latch along the leading edge of the backpack portion, but that should only kick in while in Fighter mode. In GERWALK or Battroid it should be primarily friction stays.. try wriggling it from side to side to see if that frees things up.

[Swoosh]

Swoosh, who did a photo shoot for Graham to include on the site, can only do 2 cycles in 1 hour? We are so screwed...

, I don't see this as a problem, they are expensive toy, better handle it with care, there is no prize for doing it fast, but it will cost you some good money if you break it...

[wolfx]

I spent 1.5 hours going from gerwalk back to fighter mode. The YF-21 isn't proving easier than its 1/72 predecessor to fit those legs back into the compartment. Even now after putting the stand attachment, the lower fuselage flaps don't close tightly and properly.

Now i'm tired....probably not touching the toy for a week.

[Dangard Ace]

Yes, sounds quite familiar..

As a comment, I think full-colour manual would have helped tremendously -- b/w photos is a bit useless on a dark-toned aircraft like the YF-19.

And yes, I think we would soon come to refer the YF-19 as the "Self-Delimiter".. sheesh, but those legs drop off easy. I think in the longer run we might have issues there.

I think you meant YF-21.

[firmpulse]

can someone PLEASE tell me where sticker #33 goes? it has directions for it's application in the manual but i cannot read japanese...c'mon guys...help a newbie out!

[Ghostkiller]

can someone PLEASE tell me where sticker #33 goes? it has directions for it's application in the manual but i cannot read japanese...c'mon guys...help a newbie out!

you do not need stickers on this bird lol

[firmpulse]

you do not need stickers on this bird lol

"need" and "prefer" are two entirely different concepts.

[Ghostkiller]

"need" and "prefer" are two entirely different concepts.

33 goes in the cockpit

===> it is the control panel of the Yf21

[firmpulse]

33 goes in the cockpit

===> it is the control panel of the Yf21

thank you! but, can you be more specific as to where it is applied? it's an odd shape and does not seem to match the consul in front of guld.

[Ghostkiller]

thank you! but, can you be more specific as to where it is applied? it's an odd shape and does not seem to match the consul in front of guld.

the control panel design does not match

guld does not need it

[Lynx7725]

, I don't see this as a problem, they are expensive toy, better handle it with care, there is no prize for doing it fast, but it will cost you some good money if you break it...

True, true. Thankfully the exterior's plastic, not much wear marks there.. I'm a bit concerned because some of the acrobatics I went through in my first few rounds are quite stressful, hopefully nothing has stressed the plastic too much.

I think you meant YF-21.

Sorry, brain farted. How's it going for you?

[1/1 LowViz Lurker]

I love the pics of this. A youtube transformation video of this is needed.

I remember all those years ago how hard it was to transform the 1/72 though. So it's not surprise this is even harder than that. The legs and the collapsing hips were the key that made me fail at trying to transform it back and forth. I forgot that there were parts that collapse and extend because the collapse and extending of it was stiff so you don't know it can collapse and extend.

Yeah I agree that colour manuals is a good idea. But for me, I think an english manual on the internet by a person who already knows each step off by heart and can take good pics of the parts that lock and unlock (complete with arrows explaining where in the picture he is talking about) would be the best. Just like with the koenig monster.

Then put this "html illustrated manual" on graham's review somewhere so people can refer back to it at any time and/or download it. Maybe print it out if necessary. I mean how many times has the "Koenig monster transformation instructions" thread had to be rebooted again because people forgot where to download that manual from? I say put the HTML page of transformations instruction in english somewhere where it is easy to find. Preferably on a review page of the toy as a link so we don't have to keep rebooting the old thread that it originally appeared in for noobs.

I'm pretty good at following the included instructions but for those who aren't, this is going to help them not break something and put their mind at ease when they know they can refer back to a online manual with colour pics, and big arrows and english comments telling them what to do.

...1.5 hours just to transform something....sheeesh

Edited June 8, 2008 by 1/1 LowViz Lurker

[NMWT-44]

got mine yesterday. Great plane, but same problem as the wing of sv51, the right wing fall

Right wing problem....again ........for those who already have this 1/60 YF-21, do you have similar problem?

[m0n5t3r]

QUOTE (Nexx @ Jun 7 2008, 04:36 AM) *

got mine yesterday. Great plane, but same problem as the wing of sv51, the right wing fall sad.gif

Right wing problem....again ........for those who already have this 1/60 YF-21, do you have similar problem?

question??? doesn't the yf-21 have the locking mechanism under the wing like sv-51 nora?

[robodragon]

no.

[GogDog]

no.

I doubt they could do it right because the wings are double-jointed in order to fold correctly into Battroid mode.

[peolesdru]

I love the pics of this. A youtube transformation video of this is needed.

I remember all those years ago how hard it was to transform the 1/72 though. So it's not surprise this is even harder than that. The legs and the collapsing hips were the key that made me fail at trying to transform it back and forth. I forgot that there were parts that collapse and extend because the collapse and extending of it was stiff so you don't know it can collapse and extend.

Yeah I agree that colour manuals is a good idea. But for me, I think an english manual on the internet by a person who already knows each step off by heart and can take good pics of the parts that lock and unlock (complete with arrows explaining where in the picture he is talking about) would be the best. Just like with the koenig monster.

Then put this "html illustrated manual" on graham's review somewhere so people can refer back to it at any time and/or download it. Maybe print it out if necessary. I mean how many times has the "Koenig monster transformation instructions" thread had to be rebooted again because people forgot where to download that manual from? I say put the HTML page of transformations instruction in english somewhere where it is easy to find. Preferably on a review page of the toy as a link so we don't have to keep rebooting the old thread that it originally appeared in for noobs.

I'm pretty good at following the included instructions but for those who aren't, this is going to help them not break something and put their mind at ease when they know they can refer back to a online manual with colour pics, and big arrows and english comments telling them what to do.

...1.5 hours just to transform something....sheeesh

I believe you're talking about the konig guide I wrote a few years ago. Nice to have it remembered. I'll try to make on for the 21.

[1/1 LowViz Lurker]

That'd be great. Actually if people are going to do reviews.....a transformation guide is handy too. Those transformation guides also help the reader/buyer appreciate what goes on in the toy by exposing the guts of the thing which normally you can't appreciate in the finished form because it's all hidden.

If the manuals were in english there wouldn't be as much a problem but I think for $200+ toys, it's worth doing. The first transformation is very mysterious to you. Having a guide showing everything may save a person from forcing the toy to move in a way that it shouldn't be forced. Placing your fingers in the wrong part and putting pressure on an area where you shouldn't be putting pressure might break something and knowing what NOT to do is important for some of these toys. A guide might be able to show the best way to handle the toy correctly for those too frightened to transform it because they don't have it memorised. Also if there is a warning of possible fragile parts to look out for, that's going to be very handy for any noob who isn't familiar with the TF and isn't aware of the ORDER of steps to take that avoids wrecking it.

I mean not ALL VF are going to need it, but for ones where you might need to transform it in a specific order to avoid damage, that kind of guide is handy. Rather than repair a broken toy, or cause a stress mark from mis-handling, why not just prevent damage by never making a mistake? (that's how I would treat something this expensive)

So far I don't see many videos on youtube of Koenig monster transformation. Mostly just transformer stuff. But transformer stuff is very sturdy and harder to break than yamato stuff, and NEEDs those kinds of instructions more since we are paying imported price for it and because it is more delicate. No offense to yamato fans, just saying...

Edited June 8, 2008 by 1/1 LowViz Lurker

[1/1 LowViz Lurker]

Was that done in Rhino? I made a cg model of a rubber ducky using a program like that once..

[transfan52]

Was that done in Rhino? I made a cg model of a rubber ducky using a program like that once..

nice to add a random/witty comment

[peolesdru]

Ok - I have a guide thrown together and nowhere to host it. It's about 9 MB. I tried to upload it, but it wouldn't take.

Anyone who wants it can email me at peolesdru@gmail.com, then. Hopefully someone who can host it can contact me.

[1/1 LowViz Lurker]

Thanks. Good work.

try uploading the file to these guys for now:

http://www.filefactory.com/

300MB per file. FREE to use.

I've just reuploaded the konig monster transformation guide to test:

konig monster transformation guide

However the limit to how long it stays up after no one downloads the file is 7 days. But that is enough time for people to get it, download it, and if needed reupload until someone wants to host it permanently. so...

..I've also attached the konig monster transformation guide to this thread:

konig_monster_transguide.zip

If you encounter a host that has a smaller file size limit:

you can always zip it with winzip and split the files into say 2mb chunks or something if you find that easier.

@transfan:

That's another avatar with the rubber ducky. The tutorial of Rhino involves making a cg model of a rubber ducky so every time I see one I think of that tutorial in the program that's all, transfan.

Edited June 8, 2008 by 1/1 LowViz Lurker