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

[Shaorin]

you DO know it comes with the markings you need to color it? Sticker and decal forms. Fair enough it does need some painting but VERY little from what I've been looking at parts wise...

indeed, the only areas i recall are the head lasers, chara figures, landing gear wheel hubs and minor cockpit detail...

[Chronocidal]

Basically yes. Watching that movie makes me think how quickly any paint job I might attempt will get ruined. Just transforming it from fighter to gerwalk involved more handling than I had with my last model after I finished a glosscoat. Three transformations and it would be all for naught. The modes are a mixed bag. Fighter looks terrible. Gerwalk pretty good, and battroid the best... sorta big head aside.

Fighter may look incredibly froppy, but it's still miles ahead of that gerwalk. There's just no way to make those knees look good.

[mechaninac]

Chrono is right. Bandai completly FUBARed the whole upper thigh/knee assembly; it looks almost okay when collapsed for Fighter mode, and marginally passable for Battroid, but the GERWALK is just all wrong in those areas... and is this design that Bandai's kit engineers thought look good even capable of rotating longitudinally to allow for dynamic A-stance posing?

[MinoRem]

I just finished mine today, it was very fun to put together. I'm don't bother with much of the wash etc before building so I just cut and go and hope for the best. I found a few problems like in valkyrie mode I could not have the legs stick to the body of the plane without the body bending and exposing the red plating, gerwalker is fine looks kinda cool and battleroid was hard to put together. First off the back plating where the legs goes isn't very strong so the legs can come fallling off when moving around, the back tail fin doesn't hold it's up-right position so it flops down. That is just problem with mine but as someone said earlier it's not meant to be a toy so moving around too much isn't the point of it. I personally think it's a great model (not an expert with macross models) but it was money well spent whether in valkyrie, gerwalker and battleroid mode.

[Kyp Durron]

. I found a few problems like in valkyrie mode I could not have the legs stick to the body of the plane without the body bending and exposing the red plating,

Pics? How does it look in fighter mode with everything set like it should?

-Kyp

[Hoptimus]

I want to see the first Macross World Basic build but with a panel wash and some light detail painting.

[Chronocidal]

Chrono is right. Bandai completly FUBARed the whole upper thigh/knee assembly; it looks almost okay when collapsed for Fighter mode, and marginally passable for Battroid, but the GERWALK is just all wrong in those areas... and is this design that Bandai's kit engineers thought look good even capable of rotating longitudinally to allow for dynamic A-stance posing?

Judging by the assembly pics, there's no thigh swivel for gerwalk stance. The VF-25s never had it either. Whatever actual splay you get in the legs is probably either due to joint froppyness, or maybe those funky thigh pivots actually flex inward, and allow the toes to look like they're pivoting outward.

The entire leg just looks like a pile of ass in gerwalk, because they cut the leg for the hinges in entirely the wrong place. Since they cut the lower thigh section so short, there's no upper leg in gerwalk at all. Either they made the upper thigh too long, the lower leg too long, or both, and the middle section of the leg is just nonexistent.

[Kyp Durron]

I want to see the first Macross World Basic build but with a panel wash and some light detail painting.

I get mine tomorrow, give me a couple of days.

-Kyp

[Noyhauser]

you DO know it comes with the markings you need to color it? Sticker and decal forms. Fair enough it does need some painting but VERY little from what I've been looking at parts wise. Infact, there's probably a lot less to paint on this VF-1 then there was on their 1/72 VF-25's from years back.

OMG it does? Who would have thought! I mean when a guy can build this, he probably doesn't know that decals even exist.

Seriously though, decals aren't really helpful in this case because they require glosscoat sealing to prevent damage. I'd rather paint almost everything in order to make it as tough as possible.

Fighter may look incredibly froppy, but it's still miles ahead of that gerwalk. There's just no way to make those knees look good.

Sorry, it was my exhuberance for a gerwalk mode that got the best of me.

Edited July 5, 2013 by Noyhauser

[Noyhauser]

Double post.

Edited July 5, 2013 by Noyhauser

[VF5SS]

http://www.fg-site.net/archives/2912613

here's a build up from FG-site

[Hikaru1234567890]

Nice making a Cannon Fodder out of the kit.....just nice!

[raptormesh]

The way the legs splay to the sides aft of the intake in battroid mode is all i could focus on...

[jenius]

I think I have a good solution for that ankle issue for a larger scale VF-1 in the future some day. They should make it so the inside portion of the leg is made of two parts (kind of like this Bandai kit) but rather than hinging outward like the Bandai kit the lower portion can be slid slightly upward (ideally within the leg but since space is always so tight it could probably be done on the outside and still look decent) to give the foot more room to angle inward. Since this section isn't incredibly visible in fighter mode (the insides of the legs that is) they could also cheat and make it so the inner shell doesn't come down as far as the outer shell.

[MinoRem]

Pics? How does it look in fighter mode with everything set like it should?

-Kyp

Here's the pics where I think they could of done better (or maybe I could of constructed better). Some pieces don't fit as neatly or doesn't fit where it's required to when it's in the plane, gerwalker is fine I don't see much problems with that. Main problem on the battleroid mode is the tail fin that doesn't seem to stay in position but rather flops down. I do like it in battleroid mode too.

Oh yeah and the place where you put the legs underneath the nose, it doesn't click in (I think they should) so it opens and closes pretty easily so your battleroid doesn't do the qwop walks.

Edited July 6, 2013 by MinoRem

[Jefuemon]

You can already pick up a completed one on Yahoo Japan Auctions, if you're so inclined.

[Kelsain]

All in all, battroid doesn't look TOO bad. In all the pics ive seen, it just seems like the chest should slide down just a little more.

[jenius]

Mino, it looks like you're missing a gimmick to the backpack, like maybe it slides down on that piece it folds up on? It looks like it's floating above the vehicle in GERWALK mode and I don't remember it looking that way on other builds... this would probably stop it from flopping down in battroid also.

[MinoRem]

No it just stays there, nothing to clip it on to keep in position the manual also has it hanging without any clip on or anything to hold it in position

[jenius]

Well that's terrible then. Even Yamato's V1 1/60 toys had a way to slide the backpack down flush in GERWALK and Battroid modes and lock them into position (it might not have been until the Super variants of the V1, I can't remember).

[sketchley]

It doesn't look like you've got the joint past the point where the "lock" engages - there's a locking tab on the long, thin piece with the vernier motor* that engages when it's completely folded up.

* the one that's directly attached to the back, not the one directly attached to the backpack.

[MinoRem]

The part that is loose is where the rod is placed. Other parts where the rod are placed seem tighter soooo ya....

[sketchley]

I'll try the explanation again:

When folding up the backpack, part A (blue) folds into part B (purple), and C locks into B.

The only relationship the rod has to the lock is that it acts as the axle that the two parts rotate around.

[MinoRem]

HOLY HELL it does lock! wow I never noticed that, makes it so awesome! Thanks a bunch. Still think this model is worth the money it looks pretty awesome (in case people still don't think it's not worth it)

[Kyp Durron]

Got mine 75% built, just need to build the other leg/nacelle assembly and it will be done. Fighter mode is really nice, once you have everything positioned correctly, much more accurate to the line art, which I love. Mine will be semi permanently glued in fighter mode using Goop. May or may not add the Strike parts when I get Roy's in, haven't decided yet.

*Edit* If Bandai EVER does a 1/60 toy version of this and addresses the faults with the kit as a whole, I. WILL. BUY. IT.





-Kyp

Edited July 7, 2013 by Kyp Durron

[JET7]

kyp what decals did you use, slides or sticks?

[Shaorin]

pics getting me really excited about this now! mine should be arriving tomorrow (7-8-13) with the HI-METAL 1S focker the day after!!

[Kyp Durron]

kyp what decals did you use, slides or sticks?

All stickers.

-Kyp

[Hikuro]

1 thing so far really bugs me, which is odd for Bandai to make this move, you have to glue the pieces of your chara figures to complete them. And I didn't even put that together until it was to late and had to make repairs to the paint job. Either way, I think this was one of the better paint jobs I did on such a tiny little figure I've ever done.

But after 5 hours, I've built most of the body and stickered and STILL feel like I got more to do.

[tetsujin]

1 thing so far really bugs me, which is odd for Bandai to make this move, you have to glue the pieces of your chara figures to complete them.

Oh dear. How dreadful.

These are 1:72 scale figures - a snap-fit peg the size of the figure's arm probably wouldn't be durable enough to survive assembly anyway. The only other option is to mold the figure all in one piece - which usually results in things like pilots with their hands in their lap instead of on the controls.

Given that you need to paint those figures, they probably figure anyone who can't handle it wouldn't bother anyway.

Edited July 7, 2013 by tetsujin

[Shaorin]

indeed... i had at least 5 hours into the IMAI/BANDAI 1/72 1J MAX GENIUS type i did back in the late 90's, which required all manner of painting

as all of those old 1/72 VARIABLE TYPEs did (save for the Focker 1S and Ichijo 1J, which can get by with a relative minimum of paint work)

[Hikuro]

I've also owned one of those old Bandai 1/72's, infact I owned 3 of them and they all went to the trash eons ago due to how crappy they were.

Oh dear. How dreadful.

These are 1:72 scale figures - a snap-fit peg the size of the figure's arm probably wouldn't be durable enough to survive assembly anyway. The only other option is to mold the figure all in one piece - which usually results in things like pilots with their hands in their lap instead of on the controls.

Given that you need to paint those figures, they probably figure anyone who can't handle it wouldn't bother anyway.

See, there's the odd thing, Bandai's chara-figures are usually 1 whole mold, not several pieces. That's why I'm scratching my head on their decision to do this not only on the pilot figure, but Minmay as well.

Another thing that's irking me off now are the hands, they're stubborn and small as hell! They're very much like Yamato's design, but of course it's putting them together that's the bitch of it all. I can't even get them out of the arm compartment and I think it's cause the fore arm panel that seals them in is just to thick at the connection point to the fore arm side panels.

[sketchley]

Given that you need to paint those figures, they probably figure anyone who can't handle it wouldn't bother anyway.

I believe that's a common theme in the kit. It shows up in places where they give you the choice of either putting the silver foil underneath the clear parts, if you intend to paint the kit, or coloured foil over the clear parts if you don't intend to paint the kit.

I'm also surprised at how much detail has been added to the internal pieces that are generally to mostly covered up. And that's despite one not being able to remove external panels in key places!

[Duymon]

Got mine 75% built, just need to build the other leg/nacelle assembly and it will be done. Fighter mode is really nice, once you have everything positioned correctly, much more accurate to the line art, which I love. Mine will be semi permanently glued in fighter mode using Goop. May or may not add the Strike parts when I get Roy's in, haven't decided yet.

*Edit* If Bandai EVER does a 1/60 toy version of this and addresses the faults with the kit as a whole, I. WILL. BUY. IT.

PICT0291.JPG

-Kyp

Sure looks nice when it's all locked together in fighter mode

[Hikuro]

Well there's mine, it's 90% finished. I got some applications for the right leg I need to add, and the Gunpod and missiles.

Think next week I will do the fast packs.

All in all here are my impressions

1) Chara-figures need limbs glued...unusual tactic from Bandai.

2) LOTS of stickers, and some added details are missing unless you use the decals...that's rather odd.

3) Hands are awful! I wish there was a better pair they could give you that were like HG types not MG.

4) Not a bad first impression, it's miles ahead of the VF-25's, and light years ahead of their old 1/72 VF-1 kit.

Eventually I'll have the other modes pictured.