BANDAI DX YF-19!!

[Chronocidal]

On 9/17/2024 at 3:56 PM, IIymij said:

Sorry to resurrect this thread from the dead but does anyone know if the missiles from the YF-19 fit on the DX VF-1 hardpoints?

I pulled out a few of the missiles earlier to test, and while the center pegs look about the right size, I think the general shape of the hardpoints are incompatible between the two.  The VF-1s are all meant to rotate, but the YF-19 (and other existing missiles like for the VF-171) all have longer pylon clips that engage bigger sockets on the underside of the wing.  I couldn't get any of them to stay on, because they don't have those extra sockets.

Sadly, the reverse is also true, and the VF-1 weapons don't have the properly shaped clips to lock into the YF-19's wings either.  It looks like the VF-1s are just a unique category.

The YF-19 weapons do work all of the other DX valks I've tried though, including all of the VF-31 derivatives, the VF-171s, and (I think) the Sv-262s.

As a side topic though, as long as I'm here...

Has anyone ever figured out a way to detach the feet from the legs on the YF-19?

I'm just.. I have absolutely had it with the stupid stub heels, and want to make some new more-reasonably-sized feet for the YF-19 that don't look so bad in fighter mode.  I just don't know of any really effective method for pushing out Bandai's spring pin obsession and getting access to the main foot.  Does it just come down to using a properly-sized punching rod, and a hammer? 

[PointBlankSniper]

The VF-1 is in a diffeent scale from the rest of the line. Bandai probably designed things to be incompatible on purpuse, just to stop people from mixing accesories of mismatched scales lol.

[IIymij]

20 hours ago, Chronocidal said:

I pulled out a few of the missiles earlier to test, and while the center pegs look about the right size, I think the general shape of the hardpoints are incompatible between the two.  The VF-1s are all meant to rotate, but the YF-19 (and other existing missiles like for the VF-171) all have longer pylon clips that engage bigger sockets on the underside of the wing.  I couldn't get any of them to stay on, because they don't have those extra sockets.

Sadly, the reverse is also true, and the VF-1 weapons don't have the properly shaped clips to lock into the YF-19's wings either.  It looks like the VF-1s are just a unique category.

The YF-19 weapons do work all of the other DX valks I've tried though, including all of the VF-31 derivatives, the VF-171s, and (I think) the Sv-262s.

As a side topic though, as long as I'm here...

Has anyone ever figured out a way to detach the feet from the legs on the YF-19?

I'm just.. I have absolutely had it with the stupid stub heels, and want to make some new more-reasonably-sized feet for the YF-19 that don't look so bad in fighter mode.  I just don't know of any really effective method for pushing out Bandai's spring pin obsession and getting access to the main foot.  Does it just come down to using a properly-sized punching rod, and a hammer? 

Thanks for testing! Appreciate it!

 

As for the stub heels at one point I was thinking about a slip on cover heels

 

[Chronocidal]

I know I could probably just print a copy of the VF-19 Advance heels and screw them on, but the YF-19's heels have a different metal structure with a couple of tabs protruding out the back that the heels surround.

And even then, I'd rather just replace both the toes and heels.  The toes are stupidly huge, and the heels are the complete opposite, leaving the foot completely unbalanced in fighter mode.  To get all of that disassembled, I really just want to push the mounting pins out of the ankle so I can remove the heels and toes without wrecking the rest of the leg from all the stress it's going to induce.

[Lolicon]

I was sufficiently annoyed by all three of my YF-19s from the full set packs having loose AF stabilizers that fall off at the slightest touch that I went and bought the reissue. Pretty lame considering that the full set pack wasn't even the first release of this toy. It's a repainted VF-19 Advance with a few minor tweaks and they still botched it up.

But at least I finally have a good copy of the second best YF-19 toy out there. 

[Chronocidal]

I've been tempted to do the same thing at times, but mine don't tend to fall off quite that easily, and I have a hard time justifying another one.  I still might if I see a good discount on Amazon.

I think if I could just swap the feet from the Advance, I'd be happy.

One thing I've been contemplating since release is actually stripping away a chunk of the black patch behind the cockpit on each side, raising the lower border until it's level with the canards all the way back.  Unfortunately that also leaves the black hinges on the canards, because of course they drop below that line, and it's probably why the line is so low in the first place.  

 

[David Hingtgen]

If you're gonna repaint it, fix the inverted chest stripes while you're at it...   (the #1 reason I don't own the DX -19, might be the chest stripes--bug the HECK out of me)   

[Lolicon]

Bandai also needs to learn to put plastic wrap around the wings like Yamato always did. I have to touch up the painted navigational lights right out of the box.

[Chronocidal]

I wasn't planning on repainting anything if I can avoid it, just taking some of what Bandai put there off of the spine, since it's such a huge patch.

The wings would definitely need repainting though, and I've just never gotten around to it.

[seti88]

11 hours ago, Lolicon said:

I was sufficiently annoyed by all three of my YF-19s from the full set packs having loose AF stabilizers that fall off at the slightest touch that I went and bought the reissue. Pretty lame considering that the full set pack wasn't even the first release of this toy. It's a repainted VF-19 Advance with a few minor tweaks and they still botched it up.

But at least I finally have a good copy of the second best YF-19 toy out there. 

same here! I got another normal yf-19 release so that i could have a fuss-free valk...

bandai may have "accidentally" discovered a dastardly way to milk the mold.....just have a oopsie release and then a fixed release... 

to be fair the full set pack was tolerable to me...but my OCD nerve got hit esp on one of my fav valks... 

gah!

[PointBlankSniper]

Maybe if yall hurry up and buy up all the 19s, bandai will see a reason to reprint those fast packs, fold booster, missiles, and arm canon.  🙃

I'm sure they'll throw in another whole main body in the bundle out of kindness because they know how much we love the thing. 🤡😭🤡

[MKT]

3 minutes ago, PointBlankSniper said:

I'm sure they'll throw in another whole main body in the bundle out of kindness because they know how much we love the thing. 🤡😭🤡

This sure sounds like exactly the kind of thing Bandai would do lol

[seti88]

1 hour ago, PointBlankSniper said:

Maybe if yall hurry up and buy up all the 19s, bandai will see a reason to reprint those fast packs, fold booster, missiles, and arm canon.  🙃

I'm sure they'll throw in another whole main body in the bundle out of kindness because they know how much we love the thing. 🤡😭🤡

So..how much will this "kindness" cost? 

[Radioguy]

For those in the Northeastern USA, you "might" be able to get a YF-19 for under $160 from Amazon. There a promotion going that comes and goes, but will definitely end on 1/6.

(It's $157.25. I just have a personal $5 courtesy credit to use as well)

I'm not gonna bite, but I'd be more tempted by the 21 if that were included. It's not. (List)

[Radioguy]

Regional 30% coupon came back twice since, like 4 times in total, and while the base price keeps dropping, so I succumbed.

Well, I can now complain the 21 hasn't dropped like this. Head lasers or not, it probably won't

[oshanmacross]

Late to the game, but I finally got my hands on a mint YF-19 Full Set pack thanks to Fred Su.
An engineering marvel.
What a horrible and unpleasent transformation to fighter mode, Don't think it will ever be transformed again.

Is it my age? or is this thing a beast  to get back to fighter mode?
Think I need a drink....

Thankfully no damage to the hip joints.
 

[Chronocidal]

35 minutes ago, oshanmacross said:

Late to the game, but I finally got my hands on a mint YF-19 Full Set pack thanks to Fred Su.
An engineering marvel.
What a horrible and unpleasent transformation to fighter mode, Don't think it will ever be transformed again.

Is it my age? or is this thing a beast  to get back to fighter mode?
Think I need a drink....

Thankfully no damage to the hip joints.
 

It's absolutely a beast to transform, and a nightmare to get massaged back into fighter mode.

This might sound ridiculous.. but it's much more pleasant to transform if you just take the legs off.    I took one of mine apart to loosen the hip joints, and when you don't have to wrangle the whole figure, it's easier to appreciate how much mechanical origami is going on with the torso transformation, and how well it all works.

I would definitely recommend loosening the hip screws though.  The entire hip section is classic Bandai mechanical nonsense, with far too many parts involved, and it's a very intricate joint.  Loosening the screws to let it move easier will make it much easier to transform, and lessen the stress on the plastic parts of the hips.

[PointBlankSniper]

I think the hardest part of going back into fighter for me was just understanding the inner thigh and rib cage somehow needs to be inside each other. Two parts that shouldn't be paper thin on a mecha but somehow are required to overlap. And then those integral chest cannons in the same area that won't stop sliding in and out as they please, or stop flopping up and down seperately with their inner lining piece that moves independent of it... Everything else can kind of just be winged and be close enough that it shouldn't cause too much suffering elsewhere.

I kind of regret messing with the thighs on mine. I ended up making them loose where they need to hold when standing, and stiff where I need them to move to the fighter angle, and the screws started stripping after so many adjustments. None of that really compensated for the original problem which was the spring ramp of the swing bar not catching very well to allow the thigh ball to move without the swing back swinging back.

Despite the hangups, it's probably still the most intuitive to transform among the DXs IMO. Most of he engineering gimmicks are iconic in their own way, so they remind you that they are there and guide you through the process just by knowing they exist.

[oshanmacross]

This is the screw that should be loosened?
Not sure if I have the strength to tackle that

Edited January 12 by oshanmacross

[PointBlankSniper]

You unclasp the plastic intake halves and remove the whole leg from the joint with the screws on the other side. And then you use both screws shown on the joint do a little bit of something, you just don't know what, until its simultaneously too loose and too tight at different points of rotation. And then you never figure out what does what or how to revert it to factory tightness without stripping the screws.

I'm not sure where to go from your image though... 😱

Edited January 12 by PointBlankSniper

[oshanmacross]

These ones? 😅

Edited January 13 by oshanmacross

[oshanmacross]

Ugh, what am I doing wrong here?
Anymoon's video nor the instructions are helping me. Does this leg need to slide forward more?
The wings refuse to tab in obviously.
 

Edited January 13 by oshanmacross

[26662]

7 hours ago, oshanmacross said:

This is the screw that should be loosened?
Not sure if I have the strength to tackle that

I haven’t messed with mine since I transformed it once-and-back the day I got mine.  I’m honestly not certain I know what I’m looking at.  What’s that “gunk” just above the red arrow?  

[oshanmacross]

That is a pic earlier in the thread of some poor soul's that the hip joint broke.

[26662]

5 minutes ago, oshanmacross said:

That is a pic earlier in the thread of some poor soul's that the hip joint broke.

TY.  I was guessing the same.  The lengths we go to in order to keep our mechs flight worthy.  🙂

[oshanmacross]

2 hours ago, oshanmacross said:

Ugh, what am I doing wrong here?
Anymoon's video nor the instructions are helping me. Does this leg need to slide forward more?
The wings refuse to tab in obviously.
 

Finally got it! The legs just refused to go forward until I added just enough force to make me nervous…

[Chronocidal]

1 hour ago, oshanmacross said:

Finally got it! The legs just refused to go forward until I added just enough force to make me nervous…

Glad you got it, just be careful when pushing the legs in.  If I remember correctly, a lot of the time the reason they didn't go in easily was due to being caught up on the tabs that lock into the torso on the inner side of the leg.  Make sure those are all seated correctly, and it should go together smoothly.

 

[PointBlankSniper]

12 hours ago, oshanmacross said:

These ones? 😅

Yeah, those screws keep the thigh/intakes sandwiched over the actual joint housing. I took it apart while in battroid. It's the mode you want to make it function for and test the tightness in anyway, and the stand will hold on to the toy for you like that if you don't want to set the thing down unevently on all the thin bits.

Alternatively, you could probably just through the legs out by the swingbar swivel. You really only just want the swing bar to reach the end of that spring loaded ramp its on, so it catches in the battroid position. Then you have resistance to test the ball joint against.

As for the wing not tabbing in. Great that you solved it. IDK if you had the same problem, but one of the causes for that could be the thing I mentioned about the thigh and the rib area. The inner wall of the hollow backside of the thigh needs to slide up inside the lower rib area of the torso. Basically it has to jam up the space where the sliding chest cannons store. If the thigh is on the outside of the chest, it will push the leg out and can cause the wing tab to not line up with the outer calf similar to what you have.

[oshanmacross]

I figured out what my issue is with the legs.
Looks like the dark blue tab on the top image below doesn't slide all the way making one leg longer (image on the bottom is how far it should slide).
There must be some part that is getting in the way but an hour or so of figiting with it had no results.
Could anyone point out what I might need to concentrate on to get it to slide all the way in?

I should have left it alone when it slid in properly the other day, wanted to get an unsderstanding of the idiosyncrasies mine posesses

Edited January 14 by oshanmacross

[Chronocidal]

2 hours ago, oshanmacross said:

I figured out what my issue is with the legs.
Looks like the dark blue tab on the top image below doesn't slide all the way making one leg longer (image on the bottom is how far it should slide).
There must be some part that is getting in the way but an hour or so of figiting with it had no results.
Could anyone point out what I might need to concentrate on to get it to slide all the way in?

I should have left it alone when it slid in properly the other day, wanted to get an unsderstanding of the idiosyncrasies mine posesses

So, knowing Bandai's fetish for incoherently excessive mechanism designs full of self-destructive interlocking parts, I would bet something in either the knee joint or foot collapsing mechanisms (possibly both) is getting in the way of that panel shifting correctly.  Make sure the feet are collapsed properly, and the knees are as aligned as they can be.

Also.. I'm going to make what should be a ludicrous suggestion, but this is Bandai we're talking about, so all bets on anything actually making sense are generally off the table...

Try extending the landing gear from the leg.  I know it sounds crazy, but the sliding mechanism for the leg travels directly above the gear inside the bay, and if they managed to mis-cast the gear in one leg, it could be catching on the slider when you try to collapse it.

 

Edited January 14 by Chronocidal

[oshanmacross]

23 minutes ago, Chronocidal said:

So, knowing Bandai's fetish for incoherently excessive mechanism designs full of self-destructive interlocking parts, I would bet something in either the knee joint or foot collapsing mechanisms (possibly both) is getting in the way of that panel shifting correctly.  Make sure the feet are collapsed properly, and the knees are as aligned as they can be.

Also.. I'm going to make what should be a ludicrous suggestion, but this is Bandai we're talking about, so all bets on anything actually making sense are generally off the table...

Try extending the landing gear from the leg.  I know it sounds crazy, but the sliding mechanism for the leg travels directly above the gear inside the bay, and if they managed to mis-cast the gear in one leg, it could be catching on the slider when you try to collapse it.

 

Thanks, those are really good suggestions!

Let you know as soon as I try it tonight depending on when I get home from work. I work in the IT field and power is being shut off to equipment all over LA because of fire concerns.

Probably yet another 12 hour day…🥹

[Radioguy]

Watching Jenius' transformation videos has always been my go-to for any figure he's gotten before I have. Bandai really ought to be giving him a kickback and including the links on a flyer along with the booklet.

In all seriousness, when complicated devices like PCs have a "quick setup guide" as well as a manual, and that many companies already utilize Youtube as a place for support, Bandai not producing even unnarrated transformation guide videos for their premium products at least is a little surprising.

Anyhow, got my "bargain" Amazon YF-19, and he seems intact. Gonna watch that Scorched Earth video again before anything else.

[oshanmacross]

Success,
I was unable to recreate the issue but I believe my solution was applying pressure / massaging the dark blue panels inside the leg with a computer pry tool.

One more question if I may...
Nothing in the instruction book but I'm curious, these panels behind the gunpods should the lay flat as on the left or up at an angle as on the right?
Also, thanks all for all the help, Macross Plus Valks are almost as precious to my as my DYRL Valks

 

[Radioguy]

Were/Are the full pack missiles ever sold separately?

[PointBlankSniper]

13 minutes ago, oshanmacross said:

Success,
I was unable to recreate the issue but I believe my solution was applying pressure / massaging the dark blue panels inside the leg with a computer pry tool.

One more question if I may...
Nothing in the instruction book but I'm curious, these panels behind the gunpods should the lay flat as on the left or up at an angle as on the right?
Also, thanks all for all the help, Macross Plus Valks are almost as precious to my as my DYRL Valks

 

Them schordinger's chest cannon flap things... IDR for sure, but I have mine up flat. I think only one orientation truly gets out of the way for everything in proper transformation, but those bits are so floppy and bendy that they can flop to the opposite position while you're transforming some other part, and then squeeze their way in as is, for every mode lol. For fighter, you want the inner thigh's lip to not be interfered with while inside the rim of the lower chest.

 

19 minutes ago, Radioguy said:

Were/Are the full pack missiles ever sold separately?

No.

We just pretend Bandai might release all the missilse, fast pack, arm canmon, and fold booster someday, even though they never will, because the 21 comes with fold booster mounts and no fold booster etiher.