Hi-Metal R

[Chronocidal]

I love the nostalgia factor of those old markings, but they're missing the classic blue and red striping with the stars.  

Also, I enjoy the mental calisthenics of seeing a historically Navy squadron based at New Edwards... which funny enough, is actually the situation at the moment?  Due to all the joint testing going on with the Lightning II, VX-9 (the merger of the old VX-4 and VX-5 squadrons) currently has a detachment flying out of Edwards.  

 

[wmkjr]

5 hours ago, Saburo said:

Did you get a different lighting?

[Lolicon]

Fixed up my HMR VF-4. She looked a bit plain out of the box.

One of my favorite fighter modes of any valkyrie.

The HMR can angle its wings down a bit for the proper look.

[Slave IV]

11 minutes ago, Lolicon said:

Fixed up my HMR VF-4. She looked a bit plain out of the box.

One of my favorite fighter modes of any valkyrie.

The HMR can angle its wings down a bit for the proper look.

Nice work!

[sumyumgoy]

Damn sweet @Lolicon the extra decals really help.  Did you use a matte overcoat or is it satin?

[Lolicon]

18 minutes ago, sumyumgoy said:

Damn sweet @Lolicon the extra decals really help.  Did you use a matte overcoat or is it satin?

Satin coat. Flat coats look nice but I always end up regretting it because they scuff so much more easily and visibly.

Gerwalk and battroid mode. I wasn't a fan before, but the VF-4's battroid has grown on me.

 

I'm off to the galactic core with my two M honies!

[tekering]

Damn, Lolicon, you're doing it again...  Making all our beloved Macross toys look like crap compared to yours.  

20 minutes ago, sumyumgoy said:

Did you use a matte overcoat or is it satin?

A satin overcoat?  

Seriously, what model paints come in "satin?"

[sumyumgoy]

15 minutes ago, Lolicon said:

Satin coat. Flat coats look nice but I always end up regretting it because they scuff so much more easily and visibly.

Gerwalk and battroid mode. I wasn't a fan before, but the VF-4's battroid has grown on me.

Cool, yea Flat would be a nightmare with transformations.  Pics look great!  Battroid has definitely grown on me too.

9 minutes ago, tekering said:

Damn, Lolicon, you're doing it again...  Making all our beloved Macross toys look like crap compared to yours.  

A satin overcoat?  

Seriously, what model paints come in "satin?"

Lol you got me...I meant semi-gloss   Although the VF-4 would look great in that outfit!

[sh9000]

Nobody likes to put Hikaru in the cockpit?

[Lolicon]

1 hour ago, tekering said:

Damn, Lolicon, you're doing it again...  Making all our beloved Macross toys look like crap compared to yours.  

A satin overcoat?  

Seriously, what model paints come in "satin?"

Dude, that's a sweet coat! lol

I've seen people use satin and semi-gloss interchangeably so they mean the same thing to me. Though most paints I've used are either gloss or flat. Certainly all the bottles of paint I have are one or the other; no semi-gloss paints here! Only seen it on finishing materials.

[mickyg]

Looks beautiful Lolicon!  I like the extra touches like that light on the tail stinger too.  Which semi-gloss clear did you end up using?

[no3Ljm]

2 hours ago, Lolicon said:

Fixed up my HMR VF-4. She looked a bit plain out of the box.

One of my favorite fighter modes of any valkyrie.

That bird looks gorgeous, @Lolicon!   

29 minutes ago, sh9000 said:

Nobody likes to put Hikaru in the cockpit?

That is already Hikaru in his 2012 space flight suit, right?  

[sh9000]

10 minutes ago, no3Ljm said:

That is already Hikaru in his 2012 space flight suit, right?  

Kind of.  I checked the video again.  There are some details missing.

[Lolicon]

17 minutes ago, mickyg said:

Looks beautiful Lolicon!  I like the extra touches like that light on the tail stinger too.  Which semi-gloss clear did you end up using?

Thanks! And is that what it's called? I just added the light because it was on the Yamato version. I wonder why Bandai stopped painting the navigational lights? The HMR VF-1 has them.

Still using Mr. Topcoat from GSI Creos. 

12 minutes ago, no3Ljm said:

That bird looks gorgeous, @Lolicon!   

That is already Hikaru in his 2012 space flight suit, right?  

Yeah that's his FB2012 flight suit. Not expecting Bandai to give us a perfectly screen accurate suit at this scale. They didn't even give us the correct pilot on Nexx's VF-2SS. 

Edited April 4, 2019 by Lolicon

[Hikaru1234567890]

2 hours ago, Lolicon said:

Satin coat. Flat coats look nice but I always end up regretting it because they scuff so much more easily and visibly.

Gerwalk and battroid mode. I wasn't a fan before, but the VF-4's battroid has grown on me.

 

I'm off to the galactic core with my two M honies!

So how did you take it apart? cause I'm seeing some areas i dare not sand with out taking it apart.

[sh9000]

The VF-4 came with a DYRL pilot just painted differently.  I would at least carve away at the shoulders, paint some red on the helmet, and paint the sides of the helmet.

[Saburo]

5 hours ago, wmkjr said:

Did you get a different lighting?

@wmkjr I have made some small changes to lighting setup and processing adjustments. Is there a noticeable difference?

 

4 hours ago, Lolicon said:

Fixed up my HMR VF-4. She looked a bit plain out of the box.

One of my favorite fighter modes of any valkyrie.

The HMR can angle its wings down a bit for the proper look.

 

@Lolicon Your VF-4 looks amazing!

Edited April 4, 2019 by Saburo

[chyll2]

Are they releasing premium edition of Hi-Metal R?

 

Love all the effort you did on that pretty bird @Lolicon Though it seem the wings are slightly of different color in the photos.

[Lolicon]

2 hours ago, Hikaru1234567890 said:

So how did you take it apart? cause I'm seeing some areas i dare not sand with out taking it apart.

You can take most of it apart by removing a few screws and popping the ball joints off. Wings and canards can be popped off too.

 

2 hours ago, Saburo said:

 

@Lolicon Your VF-4 looks amazing!

Thank you, sir!

 

1 hour ago, chyll2 said:

Love all the effort you did on that pretty bird @Lolicon Though it seem the wings are slightly of different color in the photos.

Hmm really? Must be the lighting or color balance. They're definitely the same color in person. 

[tekering]

2 hours ago, Lolicon said:

I've seen people use satin and semi-gloss interchangeably so they mean the same thing to me.

I used to be an exterior home painter, and the latex brands we used came in four types of finish:  Gloss, Semi-gloss, Satin (Eggshell), or Matte (Flat).

The Tamiya and Mr. Hobby paints I use come in 光沢 or つやあり (gloss), 半光沢 (semi-gloss), 3/4つや消し (3/4 flat), or つや消し (matte).

So I suppose the 3/4 flat could be called a "satin" finish.

1 hour ago, sh9000 said:

The VF-4 came with a DYRL pilot just painted differently.

Yeah, same with Wave's model kit.  Basically just a movie-style flight suit; certainly nothing like the helmet seen in the OAV.

 

[chyll2]

@Lolicon

Where did you sourced the markings?

[tekering]

3 minutes ago, chyll2 said:

@LoliconWhere did you sourced the markings?

We've just addressed the same question here.

[Lolicon]

20 minutes ago, tekering said:

I used to be an exterior home painter, and the latex brands we used came in four types of finish:  Gloss, Semi-gloss, Satin (Eggshell), or Matte (Flat).

The Tamiya and Mr. Hobby paints I use come in 光沢 or つやあり (gloss), 半光沢 (semi-gloss), 3/4つや消し (3/4 flat), or つや消し (matte).

So I suppose the 3/4 flat could be called a "satin" finish.

Yeah, same with Wave's model kit.  Basically just a movie-style flight suit; certainly nothing like the helmet seen in the OAV.

 

The HMR line's track record with pilots is pitiful, from the wrong size to the completely wrong pilot being included. Getting *a* pilot included that's painted more or less the correct colors is about the best one can hope for with this line.  They're small enough to where I can ignore some things. Heck, you can't even really see the pilot that well through the VF-4 canopy as the canopy shape warps light passing through it.

I do however put some effort into repainting DX pilot figures.

[seti88]

 awesome shots and panel lining everyone!

cmon bandai....release moar next year!

[Dobber]

I love this toy and the VF-4 design overall.

Though, I will say, the only thing that bugs me about the VF-4 design is the lack of lower thrusters to counter the upper ones that are below the stabilizers. The VF-4’s design was supposed give the capabilities of a fast-packed fighter in the standard frame. They could have included them in the design easily enough but neglected to so it looked slightly out of balance. They tried for some realism but didn’t follow through all the way.

Chris

Edited April 4, 2019 by Dobber

[wm cheng]

13 hours ago, Lolicon said:

Fixed up my HMR VF-4. She looked a bit plain out of the box.

One of my favorite fighter modes of any valkyrie.

The HMR can angle its wings down a bit for the proper look.

Amazing work Lolicon!  Really needs it and you made it look great.

Am I the only one here not that impressed with this tiny VF-4?  I just don't get it, its ok, especially for its small size, but there's no comparison to the Yamato/Arcadia version.  Someone here said it was leaps and bounds better than the Yamato/Arcadia version and a ton of people agreed, so it really upped my expectations.  When I finally received it, I guess I was too pumped because I felt such a let down.  I consider the Yamato/Arcadia VF-4 the pinnacle of their design production, everything fit so perfectly, there were no gaps and closed up so sleek with fantastic proportions and perfectly scaled panel lines.  The only thing wrong with it was the colour scheme.  While I'm so happy Bandai actually chose to represent this amazingly beautiful design and they did the best they could at this size, its far from perfect. 

My gripes are that there's a huge gap between the nose cone and the forward fuselage, the nose is a bit too needely/long and lacks the typical VF-1 side profile downward drop, nothing locks in place (relying on friction to hold), all the fins/wings move at the slightest handling, but there is not real detent at any of the right angles, the downward fin under the cockpit is too small and all the panel lines are massively to big and out of scale.  The brown stripes on the tail fins at the top and bottom of the black field with the white skull, shouldn't they be red and shouldn't there be another black stripe at the very top and bottom before the marking goes to the grey of the tailfin?  Oh plus that stupid huge yellow rescue arrow in the middle of the side pointing at nothing - argh!

I do like the toy, its fine for its size but its just not comparable to the Yamato/Arcadia 1/60 version.  I guess I just don't get these HM-R line.

Edited April 4, 2019 by wm cheng

[rdrunner]

12 hours ago, Lolicon said:

Satin coat. Flat coats look nice but I always end up regretting it because they scuff so much more easily and visibly.

Gerwalk and battroid mode. I wasn't a fan before, but the VF-4's battroid has grown on me.

 

I'm off to the galactic core with my two M honies!

My jaw dropped seeing those pics.  That's an Ultra Premium Finish HM-R you have there!  Very nicely done.

[no3Ljm]

Finally received the 3 orders I have from Nin-Nin the other day at work. It looks nice on a small scale. I really like the FB2012 scheme on this one but for me it doesn't really replace the YamArcadia ones that I have even though it's not having the FB2012 scheme. I tried on transforming one last night and I got scared about the knee joints. Even though it's metal, it kind of looks thin and fragile. Hope it will last multiple transformations. I also find the instruction weird on the top body going upside down diagram. 

Anyways, seeing how cool the FB2012 scheme in the VF-4 in my hand, I really wish Arcadia will somehow get the rights on producing it on their 1/60 VF-4. That's an instabuy for me.  

 

[Bolt]

6 minutes ago, no3Ljm said:

Anyways, seeing how cool the FB2012 scheme in the VF-4 in my hand, I really wish Arcadia will somehow get the rights on producing it on their 1/60 VF-4. That's an instabuy for me.  

 

Doesn’t Arcadia have the rights to the

VF-4? I know they re released the. Yammy version under the Arcadia name.. Or is it the flashback scheme in particular they can’t do?

[wmkjr]

13 hours ago, Saburo said:

@wmkjr I have made some small changes to lighting setup and processing adjustments. Is there a noticeable difference?

Looks like the lighting color is more in the daylight vs the cooler looking temp.

@Lolicon awesome job and shots of the VF-4

[Chronocidal]

4 hours ago, wm cheng said:

Amazing work Lolicon!  Really needs it and you made it look great.

Am I the only one here not that impressed with this tiny VF-4?  I just don't get it, its ok, especially for its small size, but there's no comparison to the Yamato/Arcadia version.  Someone here said it was leaps and bounds better than the Yamato/Arcadia version and a ton of people agreed, so it really upped my expectations.  When I finally received it, I guess I was too pumped because I felt such a let down.  I consider the Yamato/Arcadia VF-4 the pinnacle of their design production, everything fit so perfectly, there were no gaps and closed up so sleek with fantastic proportions and perfectly scaled panel lines.  The only thing wrong with it was the colour scheme.  While I'm so happy Bandai actually chose to represent this amazingly beautiful design and they did the best they could at this size, its far from perfect. 

My gripes are that there's a huge gap between the nose cone and the forward fuselage, the nose is a bit too needely/long and lacks the typical VF-1 side profile downward drop, nothing locks in place (relying on friction to hold), all the fins/wings move at the slightest handling, but there is not real detent at any of the right angles, the downward fin under the cockpit is too small and all the panel lines are massively to big and out of scale.  The brown stripes on the tail fins at the top and bottom of the black field with the white skull, shouldn't they be red and shouldn't there be another black stripe at the very top and bottom before the marking goes to the grey of the tailfin?  Oh plus that stupid huge yellow rescue arrow in the middle of the side pointing at nothing - argh!

I do like the toy, its fine for its size but its just not comparable to the Yamato/Arcadia 1/60 version.  I guess I just don't get these HM-R line.

I don't think you're alone, though I'm not sure why anyone would say it's better or worse than the Yamato/Arcadia version, because it's like they literally shrunk it down.  The 1/60's wings and tails didn't really have any detents to stay in place either, and I always thought the Yamato's nose was too long as well, and had a similar issue with a gap (though it was less noticeable in the larger scale).

The markings... eh.  I chalk that up to Bandai being Bandai.   The lack of wing droop bugs me, but I'm just glad to have a real FB2012 VF-4 finally, and the smaller scale is more desk-friendly.

[Bolt]

Wow. Hikaru’s VF-1S (27,500yen) more expensive than the Monster(24,500Yen)!

@ Nippon Yasan..

[Mommar]

5 hours ago, wm cheng said:

Amazing work Lolicon!  Really needs it and you made it look great.

Am I the only one here not that impressed with this tiny VF-4?  I just don't get it, its ok, especially for its small size, but there's no comparison to the Yamato/Arcadia version.  Someone here said it was leaps and bounds better than the Yamato/Arcadia version and a ton of people agreed, so it really upped my expectations.  When I finally received it, I guess I was too pumped because I felt such a let down.  I consider the Yamato/Arcadia VF-4 the pinnacle of their design production, everything fit so perfectly, there were no gaps and closed up so sleek with fantastic proportions and perfectly scaled panel lines.  The only thing wrong with it was the colour scheme.  While I'm so happy Bandai actually chose to represent this amazingly beautiful design and they did the best they could at this size, its far from perfect. 

My gripes are that there's a huge gap between the nose cone and the forward fuselage, the nose is a bit too needely/long and lacks the typical VF-1 side profile downward drop, nothing locks in place (relying on friction to hold), all the fins/wings move at the slightest handling, but there is not real detent at any of the right angles, the downward fin under the cockpit is too small and all the panel lines are massively to big and out of scale.  The brown stripes on the tail fins at the top and bottom of the black field with the white skull, shouldn't they be red and shouldn't there be another black stripe at the very top and bottom before the marking goes to the grey of the tailfin?  Oh plus that stupid huge yellow rescue arrow in the middle of the side pointing at nothing - argh!

I do like the toy, its fine for its size but its just not comparable to the Yamato/Arcadia 1/60 version.  I guess I just don't get these HM-R line.

It’s smaller and lighter.  The Battroid is fun to pose.  Anybody saying it’s leaps and bounds better is just fermenting Yamcadia hate.  It’s largely the same, given the size, and has a different paint scheme.  Otherwise it really isn’t better, especially in the proportions department.  That being said it’s a good fun toy to pose and is less expensive.  I’m far happier with it than all of their VF-1 releases or the VF-2.

[Saburo]

3 hours ago, wmkjr said:

Looks like the lighting color is more in the daylight vs the cooler looking temp.

Yes, Lighting changes and adjustments to white balance with this shot.

Edited April 4, 2019 by Saburo

[Lolicon]

6 hours ago, wm cheng said:

Amazing work Lolicon!  Really needs it and you made it look great.

Am I the only one here not that impressed with this tiny VF-4?  I just don't get it, its ok, especially for its small size, but there's no comparison to the Yamato/Arcadia version. 

*snip*

I do like the toy, its fine for its size but its just not comparable to the Yamato/Arcadia 1/60 version.  I guess I just don't get these HM-R line.

Thanks! You're right; there's no way any HMR valkyrie is better than any Yamato valkyrie, at least from the V2 VF-1 onwards. The VF-4 is a nicely engineered little toy, but very plain straight out of the box. As you noted, the markings are off and Bandai for some reason stopped painting navigational lights, which they did on the smaller VF-1. That just adds to the plain-ness, like it's an incomplete model. I felt the same way about the VF-2. Ironic given that Bandai is known for tampo printing so much stuff, yet they can't bother on their HMR releases. This was a pretty expensive HMR!

 

5 hours ago, rdrunner said:

My jaw dropped seeing those pics.  That's an Ultra Premium Finish HM-R you have there!  Very nicely done.

Thanks you, sir!

 

3 hours ago, no3Ljm said:

Finally received the 3 orders I have from Nin-Nin the other day at work. It looks nice on a small scale. I really like the FB2012 scheme on this one but for me it doesn't really replace the YamArcadia ones that I have even though it's not having the FB2012 scheme. I tried on transforming one last night and I got scared about the knee joints. Even though it's metal, it kind of looks thin and fragile. Hope it will last multiple transformations. I also find the instruction weird on the top body going upside down diagram. 

Anyways, seeing how cool the FB2012 scheme in the VF-4 in my hand, I really wish Arcadia will somehow get the rights on producing it on their 1/60 VF-4. That's an instabuy for me.  

Me too. It seems Bandai went through the hassle of sorting through the red tape to get the FB2012 rights. I hope Arcadia can get the rights for 1/60 scale and give us a perfect FB2012 version.