1/60 Macross 7 VF-19S Blazer Valkyrie Emerald Force Unit Announced

[anime52k8]

Good news: I was able to remove one of the foot pins (the heel of the right foot). Bad news is this is not a procedure for the faint of heart/sane of mind (ended up needing to use a hex wrench, a hammer and a block of wood). The pin is in fact a split spring pin so when not under pressure it is slightly wider than the whole, but fortunately the ends are sufficiently tapered that I'll be able to get it back in once everything is said and done.

forgot to take pictures while I was working and I'm going to be too busy to keep working on this until Monday so we'll have to leave it at that for a while.

[Reïvaj]

[...] I'm going to be too busy to keep working on this until Monday so we'll have to leave it at that for a while.

Good luck!

[ErikElvis]

My only complaint is that you can't turn the forearms. I guess I have been playing with revoltechs for too long. HHmmmm now theres an Idea. A 1/60 Revoltech!

[anime52k8]

So, I couldn't sleep last night and I decided to rip finish ripping the foot part. I was able to get it completely part without breaking the thing so small victory there. Now I need to figure out how to fix the toy joint.

Normally I'd just use a coating of super glue or nail polish, but given the ordeal necessary to get the foot part in the first place I want something that's going to be resilient and long lasting. (i.e. remain adhered to the applied surface through repeated use.)

I'm also not sure how much clearance I actually have because it's pretty tight in certain directions. it's only loose when angled forward so I get the think it's an issue of asymmetrical tolerances but I'm not sure where I'd need to thicken stuff up to fix it.

I'm kind of tempted to pick up some liquid rubber from the hardware store and dip the ball joint in it.

Edited December 8, 2011 by anime52k8

[MacrossJunkie]

I don't know if it's a good idea or not, but maybe you could also score up the surface of the ball joint with something like a pair of pliers to make it rougher and allow for better adhesion?

[anime52k8]

I was actually thinking about doing that, giving the whole surface a light sanding then coating it in something. (still not sure what's going to yield the best combination of strength, flexibility and adhesion.)

[Mommar]

I'm curious to hear what you do and how it works out for you. Would love to be able to fix my issue... though dismantling the thing already sounds scary.

[eugimon]

you don't need to take the whole foot apart to get the ankle joint free, if you just loosen the exposed screws, you can pop the joint out.

Getting it back in is the tricky part. You need to use something to hold the ankle joint in place while you pop the foot back on.

[anime52k8]

we'll I'm just special then because I ripped that crap apart.

so here's the pictures of the disassembled foot.

like I said, the heel and toe are made of three pieces each, the grey top and sole held together buy a screw with the blue cap pegged on top. the heel had vertually no glue and came apart easily

The toe did not. (no worries though, it will be super easy to glue back together when I'm done.)

then we have the ankle halves

and finally the ball joint proper. The plastic hemisphere was barley glued on and fell off as soon as I pulled the joint part. this is after gluing it back together.

:edit:

I decided to try coating the ball in future and then putting it back together. just waiting for it to dry now.

and finally the accursed pin.

Edited December 9, 2011 by anime52k8

[Renato]

Thanks for the pics! Let us know how it turns out.

[Archer]

You, kind sir, are one of the bravest people I've ever met. Not a week with the toy and you're already disassembling the darn thing!

[MacrossJunkie]

So you didn't try sanding the ball joint? I'm surprised the bottom half of the ball is merely plastic rather than the whole ball being die cast.

I have my doubts based on personal experience about the use of future for this purpose as it might just end up detaching from the surface of the ball and make a surface with less friction for the ball to roll around in. Definitely interested to know if it does succeed for you or not.

Good luck!

[anime52k8]

So you didn't try sanding the ball joint? I'm surprised the bottom half of the ball is merely plastic rather than the whole ball being die cast.

I have my doubts based on personal experience about the use of future for this purpose as it might just end up detaching from the surface of the ball and make a surface with less friction for the ball to roll around in. Definitely interested to know if it does succeed for you or not.

Good luck!

Actually I did give it a light scuffing up with some 240 grit sand paper before gluing the plastic part back on. and I also wiped the surface down with paint thinner to clean it so hopefully I'll get good paint adhesion out of this.

As for using plastic at all, I can see why they did it as a softer plastic will produce more friction than hard, slick metal rubbing against hard, slick metal. the part that gets me is that the joint looks and feels like the same blue ABS plastic that the bulk of the toy is made of, it even has the same gloss surface. Personally I'd think a stronger, more elastic material like POM with a matte finish would have worked better.

Edited December 9, 2011 by anime52k8

[Chronocidal]

Wait, so, there's no rubber friction pad in the joint at all? Like.. every other ball joint Yamato has used in the past?

I think the problem with the inconsistent tension is that the socket and ball just aren't spherical at all, or gets stressed out of shape during assembly. I mean, it is made up of two different materials after all, which have entirely different structural properties, and aren't going to react to stress at all in the same way.

I'd love to understand why they thought a joint designed like that was a good idea, but every bit of my engineering education tells me there's something really wrong with that ankle design.

[Mommar]

Didn't you say the tension is actually due to the plastic on the bottom half of the ball? Didn't you also say it was just barely glued on yours? Maybe if the plastic ball is separating on some of the ankles they're losing tension?

[Chronocidal]

If the plastic ball were separating, it shouldn't lose tension side to side or front to back; if anything, it would spin, because the ball looks like it forms a cap to the metal ankle piece.

[anime52k8]

If the plastic ball were separating, it shouldn't lose tension side to side or front to back; if anything, it would spin, because the ball looks like it forms a cap to the metal ankle piece.

Actually it wouldn't. The metal portion of the ball plugs into the plastic hemisphere via a rectangular peg. (forgot to take pictures of that before I glued it back together, sorry.) Even without glue the cup is way too tight to let the plastic hemisphere slip down enough to no longer engage that peg.

Also, I kind of prefer using a hard plastic like this over a soft rubber. joints with soft rubber inserts tend to loose tension over time as the rubber itself will dry out and shrink slightly, I'm fairly certain that's the reason the joints on Bandai Valks become floppy after going untouched for months. I can see the use of ABS making sense as it will last longer than rubber without shrinking, drying out or wearing down.

[Omegablue]

Really glad to read Yamato has released another successful Valk.

Now can we please have our camo and stealth VF-1 v2? PLEASE...

[PsYcHoDyNaMiX]

Aw man... How I love this valk's colors and proportions! I have to keep telling myself 'must not focus on the wings...'.

Edited December 9, 2011 by PsYcHoDyNaMiX

[Reïvaj]

Guys, B_A_T_ has completed his set of awesome pictures, don’t miss them:

[PsYcHoDyNaMiX]

Awesome... he finally got the battroid pics up!

[valhary]

mine arrive today looks a little chunky for my taste specially the head but I understand the lineart is that way and yet is the best version of the 19 I love it

[Mommar]

mine arrive today looks a little chunky for my taste specially the head but I understand the lineart is that way and yet is the best version of the 19 I love it

In what mode are you complaining it's chunky?

[takatoys]

I bet he thinks it looks chunky in battroid mode. But as he said, just a little.

I guess if the VF-19 were taller, it would look less chunky.

[Reïvaj]

But… That’s the whole point and Yamato’s biggest achievement: to make it look as chunky as possible, just like the line art!

Why would anybody want it less chunky?

[pud333]

But… That’s the whole point and Yamato’s biggest achievement: to make it look as chunky as possible, just like the line art!

Why would anybody want it less chunky?

Yeah, I thought that was the point also. The line art is chunky. The 19 looks great.

[VF-18S Hornet]

_{Just got mine on Thursday only had time to take it out of the box to get a look at it, and I just decaled it tonight wish I had got online first to find Macrossjunkie's PM before doing it. haven't transformed it yet but got plenty of shots of it pre-decaled and post-decaled. I just uploaded them onto my computer and tomorrow morning I will upload them onto my photobucket account.}

[Kyp Durron]

_{Just got mine on Thursday only had time to take it out of the box to get a look at it, and I just decaled it tonight wish I had got online first to find Macrossjunkie's PM before doing it.}

Why, is there a certain way those decals should be placed?

-Kyp

[PsYcHoDyNaMiX]

Why, is there a certain way those decals should be placed?

-Kyp

http://www.macrossworld.com/mwf/index.php?showtopic=35121&view=findpost&p=944214

MacrossJunkie used the VF-19 Master File book for his reference...

Edited December 10, 2011 by PsYcHoDyNaMiX

[Mommar]

I bet he thinks it looks chunky in battroid mode. But as he said, just a little.

I guess if the VF-19 were taller, it would look less chunky.

That's pretty confusing because it's supposed to be chunky in Battroid mode and as others have stated it's the miracle Yamato managed to pull off with such a sleek fighter mode as well. As it is if you compare the toy to the lineart it's still pretty skinny compared to the lineart.

[Loop]

I have had mine for so long,without taking it out to play with. I might just have the wife wrap it up and put it under the tree. I don't want to take it out and not have a safe place to display it, as I am out of shelf space. I did notice detolfs are back at ikea though. at one point I thought they discontinued them. I am going to have the same problem with the VF-17 if I don't get off my butt and buy another detolf.

[ErikElvis]

Im with ya. Mine's sitting on top of one of my detolfs right now with my 3 enterprises. kinda freaks me out but no other safe place other than the box. And I can't do that. I lost a vf-25g tornado to a tipping dresser and can't go through that again.

I have had mine for so long,without taking it out to play with. I might just have the wife wrap it up and put it under the tree. I don't want to take it out and not have a safe place to display it, as I am out of shelf space. I did notice detolfs are back at ikea though. at one point I thought they discontinued them. I am going to have the same problem with the VF-17 if I don't get off my butt and buy another detolf.

[VF-18S Hornet]

Finally got these up loaded

front of the box

Rear

inside tray

out of the tray and finally in my hands

notice they did not tampo print the instrument panel on this the 19S

Yeah I know, dust on already after getting it opened. It was next to my TV that somehow attracts more dust than any other object in my room

Edited December 11, 2011 by VF-18S Hornet

[505thAirborne]

Looks awesome VF-18, makes me want to break the bank and grab one of these bad boys!!

[Kicker773]

nice =) can't wait for the next set