Bandai DX VF-31

[raptormesh]

Well I guess it's the first valk designed to sport bell bottoms on their landing gear.

Edited April 6, 2016 by raptormesh

[Duymon]

You'd think they could just sacrificed the inner-leg missile ports and gone for regular landing gear instead like on the YF-29.

The VF-31 landing gear scare me, especially if they happened to have painted knees / shins.

[M'Kyuun]

Scratched paint is certainly a concern, but my greater concern is that the wheel basically sits at the end of a torque arm putting stress on that linkage pivot. I can see those wearing out and elongating if the valk is displayed on its gear for any period of time. Kinda interested now to see if the same design will be applied to the DX, which will be significantly heavier than a model. For the sake of quality and aesthetics, I hope not. Again, I think they should be mounted behind the exterior shin panels and made to angle out slightly using the shin panel as a gear door. It would be a more solid and realistic looking gear with proper shock struts that wouldn't contact other parts of the fuselage when extended.

I'm liking the looks of this valk's fighter the more I see it, and I'm generally a battroid guy. The VF-31E has me intrigued- I generally shy away from bright colors, and I don't care for orange, but that looks really sharp, and I like that the radome can be deployed or retracted. It makes tactical sense...do the scan, retract radome for better aerodynamics and fuel economy, and haul ass out of enemy territory. And then land in GERWALK b/c your landing gear are basically afterthoughts.

Edited April 6, 2016 by M'Kyuun

[anime52k8]

Anyway, I wouldn't be a bit surprised if the gear design of the VF-31's model is echoed on the DX toy. It's ugly and impractical, but much less complex than making a standard collapsible gear mounted on a proper strut. It certainly cheapens the design, though.

But from an engineering and parts count standpoint it's not any simpler than normal landing gear.

[Valkyrie Driver]

That landing gear is a bit goofy, and it scares me a bit for the DX toy. Still, I like to see interesting things on my toys so...

[Chronocidal]

Yup. As mentioned a few pages ago, it folds underneath it. Here's another rear angle photo of the VF-31E Mecha Collection Valk from AmiAmi. You can see the edge of the radome at the back.Photo from TagHobby.

I'm really suspicious that all those "painted" prototypes are actually computer renders. The details are just way too crisp for something only a couple inches long.

[Falconkpd]

I think it's kind of cool, myself. Let's think about how landing gear have evolved in the last 60+ years. Maybe less detailed, smoother struts will be common in the future?

It works, it looks slick, and is a new direction in design. I'm honestly rather impressed.

[ULessa]

I've been under a rock for a while after delta was announced. So whats the estimated release date for these?

[ManhattanProject972]

I'm liking the looks of this valk's fighter the more I see it, and I'm generally a battroid guy. The VF-31E has me intrigued- I generally shy away from bright colors, and I don't care for orange, but that looks really sharp, and I like that the radome can be deployed or retracted. It makes tactical sense...do the scan, retract radome for better aerodynamics and fuel economy, and haul ass out of enemy territory. And then land in GERWALK b/c your landing gear are basically afterthoughts.

From what we've seen of Chuck, the 31E's pilot, he'll more likely dive head first into an engagement when given the chance.

[no3Ljm]

I've been under a rock for a while after delta was announced. So whats the estimated release date for these?

First DX Siegfried VF-31J will get released Winter 2016.

[platypus]

Just what's so wrong with sticking to the original yf-29 landing gear? I agree that in real life applications this new design is trickier to implement than conventional landing gear.

[M'Kyuun]

From what we've seen of Chuck, the 31E's pilot, he'll more likely dive head first into an engagement when given the chance.

I'll take your word for it. I know nothing of the Delta characters except the group with the -31s are a band called "Walkure", and the other group are some sort of knights. I'm hoping that Delta will get subbed and streamed somewhere I can watch it (like I did with Frontier), but I won't hold my breath. For me, it's all about the mecha; so as long as info concerning the VF-31 and the Sv-262 continues to be posted, I'm content, even if I never see the anime. I've never seen M7, but I own a VF-17 and a VF-19 Blazer simply b/c I really like both designs.

Platypus: Nothing's wrong with the -29's, or any VF-25 variant's landing gear. It's solid and realistic, but like most valks, is positioned far aft of CG due to the gears' being housed within the shins. The VF-31's um..unique gear are better positioned closer to CG, but their construction is dubious, at least on a real aircraft, since there are no support mechanisms in place to absorb the shock of landing, and the panel to which the main wheel is mounted is likely to strike the lower fuselage upon landing. In this way, it would act as a lever, with the fuselage contact point acting as fulcrum; the wheels experience upward force due to the increasing downward forces imparted by the aircraft's mass and acceleration, which stresses the linkage at the forward end of the gear panel. Elongation and eventual sheering of the linkage pin would occur. My observation is hypothetical as this gear design would relate to a real aircraft, where weight, gravity, and extreme acceleration forces would come into play. On a toy or model, only weight and material strength will be concerns, unless the valk makes an unscheduled flight from the hand or shelf with gear extended. On a personal note, it's just a lazy, cheap design on an otherwise realistic looking jet fighter. I would have even preferred it had standard gears mounted on the wings a la the AV-8B Harrier than these inverted kneecaps with shopping cart castors. It sullies an otherwise lovely fighter.

Edited April 7, 2016 by M'Kyuun

[raptormesh]

I can't imagine saying this but actually pop out skids would be preferable as I don't see these needing to do a rolling take off.

[M'Kyuun]

Just like the Bell X-15. Sexy.

Edited April 7, 2016 by M'Kyuun

[Sildani]

I think the gear are there simply to move the 31 around the base in fighter mode. It makes perfect sense for me if this Valkyrie was a pure VTOL. If the VT-1 can do it with only verniers on Earth, surely 60 years later the 31 can. Vertical take off, get to altitude, cut the burners in, and given this thing's undoubtedly ridiculous T/W ratio, it'll accelerate faster than most any catapult could do.

Now watch it be CTOL in the anime...

[Nekko Basara]

Concerns about the clearance of the main gear from the shins may be overstated - the model render could be showing them at full compression, while on the "real" craft they might pivot much further away from the shin when not under load. Admittedly, the degree to which the knee-guard covers the rear of the wheel would limit how far forward they could pivot before that piece hit the ground before the tire did, but I could chalk that up to one model-maker's interpretation - a very small change in the placement of the wheel relative to the knee-guard would alleviate this.

Honestly, I think I'd be fine with the design if we were seeing a mechanically-detailed strut attached to the wheel, rather than an simple block. As far as why this was changed relative to the YF-30, I'd say that the legs of the VF-31 appear more slender and tapered than the YF-30's bulbous calves (which I like, but they are very thick), so there may have been less room for the gear bays. And, frankly, this is a clever, space-saving design if they can just make it fit the realistic aesthetic a valkyrie should have.

[seti88]

If it doesn't ruin the fighter stance am all for it. Who knows it might look cool with the solid knee cover from the top view.

My concern is I hope it doesn't make the knees floppy in g/b mode, pulling off any leg poses.

[ManhattanProject972]

Well these new generation of Valkyries weigh less than real world fighters. The YF-30 weighed around 9 tons and the 31 is probably around the same so it wouldn't need such beefy gears and the material they're made out of is most likely some OT composites.

[M'Kyuun]

You guys, rewarding poor engineering will only get you more of the same with future releases. It's like giving your dog a treat after he poops on your kitchen floor. The greatest thing that separates valks from Transformers is the amount of realistic detail in their designs. Yamato, and then Arcadia, established a new high standard in this regard, and Bandai was coming along (although why they don't paint their landing gear white is beyond me, esp when they're willing to do excessive tampo. ) So, until now, every valk they've produced, except their unmentionably bad first line of VF-25s, have had realistic gear. That was good progress...and now this. It seems to me a step in the wrong direction, design-wise. Now if that's the way Kawamori actually designed the valk, well then I'll humbly retract my criticism of Bandai. But, this would seem an odd design choice on Kawamori's part, being the acft fanatic he is. I hope it's just the model, and the DX toy has more standard gear. Fingers crossed.

[no3Ljm]

If it doesn't ruin the fighter stance am all for it. Who knows it might look cool with the solid knee cover from the top view.

My concern is I hope it doesn't make the knees floppy in g/b mode, pulling off any leg poses.

I'm sure the knee will be fine during Gerwalk and Battroid mode as seen on all those DX VF-31 prototype shown on display. But I guess, even the DX will follow or will also have the same rear landing gear as the 1/72 kit have. Just by looking at this photos, you can see that the knee cap has some hinge or pull out hinge connector at the bottom part. It's interesting to see this new landing gear concept on these upcoming DX figs. I really don't mind at all since I don't leave my Valks in fighter mode for too long.

[seti88]

The pics so far of the 31 certainly did a very good job of hiding the fact that the knee's where housing landing gears.

Certainly made us look in the wrong area for panel hinges!

I still cant see where the hinge is at the bottom of the knee cap though. Who knows whats is or what isnt, since its a prototype.

Strangely though the D05 is starting to appeal more to me....help!!

[chyll2]

^Bandai tactics, set the release date monthss apart so that the color grows on you.

[abbadon]

The pics so far of the 31 certainly did a very good job of hiding the fact that the knee's where housing landing gears.

Certainly made us look in the wrong area for panel hinges!

I still cant see where the hinge is at the bottom of the knee cap though. Who knows whats is or what isnt, since its a prototype.

Strangely though the D05 is starting to appeal more to me....help!!

Hehe! Resistance is futile!

[Xigfrid]

It reminds me the VF-25 V1... Oh well time to wait until these VF-31 Version 2!

[Chronocidal]

The pics so far of the 31 certainly did a very good job of hiding the fact that the knee's where housing landing gears.

Certainly made us look in the wrong area for panel hinges!

I still cant see where the hinge is at the bottom of the knee cap though. Who knows whats is or what isnt, since its a prototype.

Strangely though the D05 is starting to appeal more to me....help!!

You don't see any evidence of the gear yet because there's nothing there on that model. All they've been showing is that same half-baked concept prototype that's missing half of the features of the final product.

Now, not to get anyone's hopes up, but the only evidence we have of that nonsense gear design is a concept render from the model kit. I'm not expecting anything much better, but it's at least possible that the gear on the DX won't suck that obnoxiously bad.

[kajnrig]

Now, not to get anyone's hopes up, but the only evidence we have of that nonsense gear design is a concept render from the model kit.

Beat me to the punch. Keep in mind that that landing gear is from the model kit, not the toy. Anyone who has ever built any version of any Gundam core fighter knows how bad Bandai model kits are with landing gear. If there's a joint in there, they'll focus all their efforts on reinforcing that joint rather than making it aesthetically pleasing. They will always err on the side of practicality rather than aesthetics if they can.

That said, the toy I expect to look slightly better but only just. If it's not made by Hasegawa, I don't have high hopes for it at all. /snob

[aurance]

I actually like the shape of the gear, although David's point about the doors acting as accidental air brakes during take off is interesting.

[no3Ljm]

Beat me to the punch. Keep in mind that that landing gear is from the model kit, not the toy. Anyone who has ever built any version of any Gundam core fighter knows how bad Bandai model kits are with landing gear. If there's a joint in there, they'll focus all their efforts on reinforcing that joint rather than making it aesthetically pleasing. They will always err on the side of practicality rather than aesthetics if they can.

That said, the toy I expect to look slightly better but only just. If it's not made by Hasegawa, I don't have high hopes for it at all. /snob

Not every Core Fighter sir. I like the landing gear from the U.C. Hardgraph one.

[kajnrig]

Not every Core Fighter sir. I like the landing gear from the U.C. Hardgraph one.

grumble grumble yeah so you have a point shut up grumble grumble pout

EDIT:

I'd say even those are a bit too thick, even for 1/35, but meh, semantics. They look alright, I guess. If you blew them up to scale, though...

Edited April 8, 2016 by kajnrig

[no3Ljm]

grumble grumble yeah so you have a point shut up grumble grumble pout

EDIT:

I'd say even those are a bit too thick, even for 1/35, but meh, semantics. They look alright, I guess. If you blew them up to scale, though...

Sure. Keeping my mouth shut now.

[kajnrig]

Sure. Keeping my mouth shut now.

Like I said, /snob

[Major Focker]

in an upcoming episode, Hayate will do a dance move/attack sliding on his knees/landing gears ala James Brown/John Travolta

[Sandman]

And he'll knock over 6 enemies like bowling pins.

[Major Focker]

that'll be when he does a handspin, after he slides through, between the legs an enemy mech, and into the thick of things.

[kajnrig]

Honestly, you guys are just making me think of Vanquish, and I have no problem with that.