Bandai 1/72 fully transform able VF-1 plastic kit for Macross 30th Ann

[Vifam7]

Personally I don't need durability in a model kit. One transformation to the mode I want and it's going on permanent display.

If I want durability, I'm pulling out my 1/55 Takatoku.

[Valkyrie addict]

I guess Bandai would prefer that like some people did with their 25's, buying 3 of them and gluing them locked in one in each mode. Or at least, as usual people bought but never build them, hehehehe!

I noticed that the Bandai super packs have a sight similarity to the v1 Yamato VF-1's on their inaccurate proportions.

[Shaorin]

Personally I don't need durability in a model kit. One transformation to the mode I want and it's going on permanent display.

If I want durability, I'm pulling out my 1/55 Takatoku.

fine for you perhaps... takes all kinds to make a world however...

Diecast and POM are great for toys, not models... Unless you want really expensive models.

i don't foresee too much long-term durability in this thing then... unless BANDAI pulls some sort of miracle here.

1/48 would be a reasonable scale to expect good durability here, but 1/72?!?

...oh well, if anybody can pull such feats off at such a dimunitive scale, it's BANDAI, i suppose. we'll see...

Edited April 29, 2013 by Shaorin

[Hoptimus]

I still think in a MG/PG format they could pull off a nice Variable VF-1. Now at that point it will cost as much or more than Yamato's but part of the fun of MG/PG kits is the build up/customization.

[joscasle]

If this were 6-7 years ago, I'd be with you. However, being a Gundam/Bandai fan (I know, boo) their kits have really come a long way, even since the frontier kits. Hell, MG Delta Plus seems extremely durable and it's transformable as well, and it's transformation is far more complex than a VF1. And if you did compare it to Frontier, I think the durability of the VF1 will be enhanced due to it's simpler design. As far as decal/paint abuse, I wouldn't be surprised if the chest pieces/wing trim were molded in the correct plastic already.

I will concede that I don't like the FP, but I don't see what the big deal about the nose is.

The nose is totally wrong, shape, size (too short for a fighter or gerwalk), etc, etc, etc

About the durability, It's a Model Kit, not a toy, I have like 80 or more model kits, they are dissing for display, toys like Yamato (expensive ones) were dissing to be "playable", so you can manipulate the toy and have some interaction with it.

I know model kits were toys but that's not the case these days, no one, play with model kits, because the small parts, they are fragile, etc.

So you can't ask for durability IMHO

Seriously, I'm not against these new Bandai VF-1, its just I don't get the idea of a new 1/72 VF-1, with Hasegawa having a great line of fighter/battroid VF-1 in the same scale. Gerwalk was so forgiven, why not a new and good non transformable model kit of a VF-1 in gerwalk mode????

Edited April 30, 2013 by joscasle

[jenius]

Seriously, I'm not against these new Bandai VF-1, its just I don't get the idea of a new 1/72 VF-1, with Hasegawa having a great line of fighter/battroid VF-1 in the same scale. Gerwalk was so forgiven, why not a new and good non transformable model kit of a VF-1 in gerwalk mode????

I'm gonna go out on a limb and say it's because they wanted to do something that might sell well instead of something that competed with already good Hasegawa products or something that even Hasegawa had the business sense to say 'there's only like 20 dudes who want to buy that."

[Chronocidal]

Have to agree there, though it's never been that difficult to kitbash a gerwalk out of the combined parts of from Hasegawa fighter and battroid kits, so they never had much reason to make one. A resin conversion kit would probably do decently well, but I doubt Hasegawa would ever recoup the production expenses if they produced it themselves.

The one thing I really don't quite understand about this kit though... They're making it capable of transforming, but they're doing it in such a way as to make it look like it uses the same systems as the actual VF-1 would use. That's great and all, but it seems like the only real use for such a mechanism if is you want to display the valk mid-transformation. You'll know it's there, so maybe that's the entire idea, but this isn't like a PG gundam kit, where you can remove the armor and look at the skeleton underneath to see how detailed it is.

I guess they're trying to cover all the bases, and please everyone by letting the model do everything, but so far, even if it does accomplish that entire leg transformation, I don't personally think it's doing anything else better than any other existing VF-1 kit or toy.

And.. yeah. I know I'm picky about shapes, but that entire nose section is just ugly to me. Looks nothing like the animation, line-art, or any other existing VF-1 that I can remember.

Edited April 30, 2013 by Chronocidal

[SchizophrenicMC]

Yeah.. uh.. someone needs to tell them. The VF-1 does not use the same knee joint as a VF-25. I don't care how far the knee can fold forward, it looks like crap with that kneecap flapping in the breeze. It doesn't hinge there on the VF-1, it's supposed to pivot inside the thigh for gerwalk, and practically disappear.

Braking maneuver VF-1 is best VF-1

[valid]

for me.. if they made it with the same quality as the RG gundam.. then it's all a bargain for me.. hopefully they will tint the plastic

[Valkyrie addict]

Guess only time will tell if this will suceed with Bandai, but they seem to have forgotten that most Macross fans are spoiled and complain about everything. hehehehe!

[Vifam7]

Sideview comparison borrowing what forum member Dan Bickell created a little while back (I hope he doesn't mind). I simply pasted a blownup & flipped pic of Bandai's sideview CG.

[Excillon]

Those views are great. And after seeing them, I like the Bandai even more now. Granted, the nose may not match lineart, but it does fit with what they're trying to do. I think the thing looks really sleek overall. I give Hasegawa the credit for overall aesthetics though.

Never noticed how chunky the Yamato looks until now.

[cobywan]

The leg angle on the Hasegawa kit always bugged me.

[Vi-RS]

Those views are great. And after seeing them, I like the Bandai even more now. Granted, the nose may not match lineart, but it does fit with what they're trying to do. I think the thing looks really sleek overall. I give Hasegawa the credit for overall aesthetics though.

Never noticed how chunky the Yamato looks until now.

yup, the Yamato still looks skinny when they first came out for those who used to looking at the 1/55. The Hasegawa will look like set of skeleton without fresh in Battroid mode.

The leg angle on the Hasegawa kit always bugged me.

This is one of biggest flaws to an otherwise perfectly made model, but luckily they fix that in their 1/48 line.

[Hoptimus]

Fighter mode looks pretty close to the master file. Tail fins look a bit short but otherwise pretty nice.

[ahiachris]

More pics

[Vi-RS]

These are all old pictures that have been posted before couple pages back.

[Shaorin]

IMHO, the 1/60v.II is the most accurate depiction to date

of what the VF-1 would look like were such a military vehicle able to actually exist.

as such, i consider it the unimpeachable golden standard in VF-1 scale replica design...

Edited May 5, 2013 by Shaorin

[Vifam7]

IMHO, the 1/60v.II is the most accurate depiction to date

Maybe so, but I'm always open to alternate renditions of the VF-1. Revoltech, GNU, Wave, Bandai Hi-Metal, Yamato 1/48, Yamato 1/60v1/v2, Hasegawa, Doyusha, F-toys, Takatoku, Arii, Imai, and even Toynami... tried them all. Some of them better than others but all of them interesting in their own way. I never tire of the VF-1.

Edited May 5, 2013 by Vifam7

[Shaorin]

indeed, it's such a realistic and roundly plausible design, much akin to the starships of the TREK universe;

the sort of fictional engineering work that one sort of naturally wants to take for granted as tech that could and should in fact exist somewhere in the short or long term future...

Edited May 5, 2013 by Shaorin

[ahiachris]

These are all old pictures that have been posted before couple pages back.

Edited May 5, 2013 by ahiachris

[JET7]

i just hope the plastics are pre-colored. just snap on assemble like gundams.

[raptormesh]

Even so, you'll still have to colour the cockpit canopy frame.

[Hoptimus]

i just hope the plastics are pre-colored. just snap on assemble like gundams.

Yes I am hoping that too but it will probably just come white.

[Vi-RS]

In order to make pre-color parts, they have to break it down into more parts, which we don't see that from what have been shown.

The stripes on the chest, legs and wings have to be in separate pieces, especially each halve of the leg and stripe that make the unique M&M schemes.

[mechaninac]

It would just be nice to have the major color breaks depicted in the animation as individual parts; stripes could be handled via vinyl stickers or decals (or both as in the 1/72 Frontier line). That way, one could have a good representation of a particular unit without the need for any painting that would be prone to scratch, flake or rub off during transformation; and if painting is desired by the modeler, having separate parts keyed to the color breaks would make painting much easier, it would be a win-win from the standpoint of the builder... the downside would be the added cost of developments, material sourcing, extra molds, increased manufacturing time and/or injection production lines used, etc., which would lead to a higher price point.

[Shaorin]

actually, it's easier to paint plastics of a neutral tone (white, light grey) than those molded in most colors,

especially very bright or dark shades. GUNDAM red and yellow are some of the worst in my experience...

Edited May 7, 2013 by Shaorin

[JET7]

darnit..supposed to be "collector" haha..

just wishing the strike parts are already anime colored..im good with it.

Edited May 7, 2013 by JET7

[mechaninac]

actually, it's easier to paint plastics of a neutral tone (white, light grey) than those molded in most colors,

especially very bright or dark shades. GUNDAM red and yellow are some of the worst in my experience...

Yes, unless you're painting Yellow over yellow plastic, Red on top of red, Blue over blue, and so on... the thing is that for a transforming model, being able to assemble the thing without painting and have the end product be collored as closely to the box art as possible has distinct advantages.

[wm cheng]

Yes, unless you're painting Yellow over yellow plastic, Red on top of red, Blue over blue, and so on... the thing is that for a transforming model, being able to assemble the thing without painting and have the end product be collored as closely to the box art as possible has distinct advantages.

Then, what makes it a model? Isn't it just a smaller fragile Yamato kit then?

[Vifam7]

Then, what makes it a model? Isn't it just a smaller fragile Yamato kit then?

It's a model kit in the sense that one has to build it.

It's not just a smaller fragile Yamato kit. The draw to Bandai's kits are their ease of construction for the novice, busy, or lazy builders. Snap fit construction and pre-colored plastics being the main key points.

[Shaorin]

i'd prefer color molding on this thing myself. painting of fine details is all i'd prefer to do on this besides the actual assembly.

color molding might make life a little hard on the pro modellers among us here, but they'd just be hitting the entire kit with a can of primer

and spending 60+ hours of work thenceforth to achieve a museum-quality finish that would be ruined if one dared a single transformation,

so i think the color molding would be the best possible compromise for both the diehard pros and us casual modellers...

Edited May 7, 2013 by Shaorin

[Chronocidal]

Ease of construction for younger folks, maybe. My father loves building models, but I don't think he'd be able to even see half the parts that will be involved in this kit, much less assemble them.

The nice thing about the VF-1 when compared to the VF-25 kits though is that 90% of the VF-1 is all the same color, and several of the major markings are in places that there really isn't much danger of scratching them off. Even if the entire thing is molded in color, you're still never going to have anything like the colors on the VF-25s. At most, you'll probably get exactly what the Yamato kits have (white, gray and black), none of which are going to be that hard to paint over.

It looks like they've already separated out the black band on the nose as a part, and all the internal mechanisms will probably be a single color, so the only markings that anyone will probably need to paint/decal/sticker on are the stripes on the nose/wings/chest/legs, and the tails and ventral fins. Out of those, only the nose, wings, and tails are really at much risk of scratching, and those should be easy enough to protect.

In the case of Hikaru's 1J, the wings, tails, and chest are really the only major markings anyway, and the chest is at no risk of scratching from anything, unless you pull off some crazy poses with the arms.

Edited May 7, 2013 by Chronocidal

[peter]

it looks alright to me, I just wish they made it bigger.

[jvmacross]

...and in DX Chogokin style?