Bandai Macross Δ Mecha Collection Small Scale Plastic Model Kits

[David Hingtgen]

Yeah, I worry these may be molded in like one color and use a TON of stickers. Due to the striping, while two-tone molding may help, you'd still need a lot of stickers. (I'd be *very* surprised if we got three colors, for the black nacelles etc)

[electric indigo]

Were there multicolor Mecha Collection kits before?

This pic shows the Mecha Collection X-Wing and the sticker sheet which is probably what to expect for the Delta kits.

[mechaninac]

Most of the Mecha Collection Yamato 2199 kits released so far have been comprised of two sprue trees, each shot in a different color plastic; and all are snap fit construction; model cement is not required with the exception of a few kits with very tiny parts that could not be engineered with adequate pegs, but paint to varying degrees is necessary to get the kits to look like the box art because any foil or regular stickers provided are unlikely to be comprehensive enough... it all depends on the subject.

I do not expect the Macross Δ Mecha Collection to be any different.

[electric indigo]

Was the design of the VF-171 changed for Delta? The nose looks shorter than what we've seen in Macross F.

[Jefuemon]

VF-31 Siegfried.

[Graham]

VF-31 Siegfried.

I know that's not the final "approved by Kawamori scheme" yet, but I'm really wondering if it is kinda generally representative of what the kit is gonna look like out of the box, or whether it is supposed to represent the kit after it's been painted up?

[mechaninac]

^ Unless Bandai decides to use multi-injection molds like they've done with some older Gundam kits, which I highly doubt they'd employ on a cheap little Mecha Collection model, it is safe to assume that what's shown is a painted and decaled sample; there's next to zero chance it would look that detailed, or even halfway there, right out of the box, and the provided stickers will not yield such nice results either.

[Graham]

I'm hoping against hope that it's like Bandai's old Star Trek kits, that had all the detail asks colour printed on. But for ¥500, my expectations are not high.....hahaha

[David Hingtgen]

^ Unless Bandai decides to use multi-injection molds like they've done with some older Gundam kits, which I highly doubt they'd employ on a cheap little Mecha Collection model,

I haven't seen Bandai do that in YEARS, and the failure rate was high. I figure if they've improved on it, we'd have seen it by now. Even the higher-end MG's don't have it. (PG fingers are kinda like that, but that's really more like "2 same plastics enveloping each other")

[kajnrig]

I haven't seen Bandai do that in YEARS, and the failure rate was high. I figure if they've improved on it, we'd have seen it by now. Even the higher-end MG's don't have it. (PG fingers are kinda like that, but that's really more like "2 same plastics enveloping each other")

The RG frame and PG fingers use more or less the same tech as the multi-color plastic injection in older kits. They just do so using the same color plastic. One of the Astray Red Frames, MG or RG, alternates red and white plastic for the fingers (if I remember correctly). And even multicolor injection hasn't gone away; Bandai have simply gone from mixing colors on the parts to mixing colors on the runners. The A runner of most High Grades (and I believe some MGs/RGs still as well) come in this multicolored setup.

The big reason it went away was because modelers complained of problems masking parts for painting, which Bandai chose to address by increasing color separation in their kits.

(If I remember correctly, the recent RG Astray Red Frame's frame is also molded in red-and-white, so... yeah. It's far from a dead technology.)

That all being said, Bandai won't use it for these. They're not worth the effort, being the budget kits that they are.

[David Hingtgen]

Aren't all of those still multi-piece parts, just "molded very closely together" like the PG fingers are? (I must admit I don't know how the Astrays are at all, only ever looked at the box).

There's a big difference between molded colors "very close together" like the multi-color sprues, and having an actual single piece being multiple colors (like a mid-90's blue/yellow/red chest-plate). (though actually, LEGO just started doing this, and pretty evenly--not perfectly crisp, but pretty good)

[kajnrig]

Well, I'm no expert, obviously, but it seems the two (PG fingers/RG frame and multicolored parts) essentially use the same tech, with the former just being more complex and refined. System Injection, as Bandai called it, allows you to make one runner out of multiple "constituent runners," essentially. It was originally used to achieve multicolored parts: the constituent runners would be molded in different colors. (If you have one of those older kits on hand, you can see where the constituent runners criss-cross each other, and there are sometimes even channels within the parts themselves for differently-colored plastic to flow through. The red of a shield part, for instance, might have channels on the side where the yellow runner can flow through to form the cross of a Federation shield. If you were to look at the back of the piece, you would see that yellow plastic coming in through those channels and filling in the cross. You can even sometimes separate a multicolored part into its constituent colors given enough effort and patience.)

When Bandai moved onto PG fingers, they must have refined the tech to allow for articulation (likely by way of changing the plastic used), but the process itself is still the same: a single runner consisting of multiple constituent runners. And from PG to MG to RG, they've steadily miniaturized the technology. (You can tell by looking at the leftover sprue: Some sections of sprue are noticeably thicker than others, and this is by design.)

God, that was a mouthful, and would be so much easier if I just had examples to show you. But I hope I get my point across.

[chyll2]

I actually got all of the discussion so far but I didnt know that the technology used on the PG fingers (which was downsized to MG manipulator and RG frame) was introduced years ago.

As for the actual topic, the SAMPLE is most likely a painted sample. Even the 1/100 Frontier kit had a very bad part separation that it requires a sticker, unfortunately, the stickers is really bad.

[IXTL]

.

[MechTech]

Those are some intricate paint schemes! - MT

[derex3592]

THIS is exactly why I don't mind paying Bandai and Arcadia pricing for 1:60 and High Metal R collectibles. I can't even imagine having to mask and paint most of the crazy Macross paint schemes on any planes after Plus.

[Chronocidal]

Late reply about the multi-colored part thing, but Bandai has been using that in at least one of the new Star Wars kits. The Tie Advanced kit molds the solar panels on a double layered sprue that's clearly filled in separately. The end result is that the entire solar panel is molded in color, with no seams between the gray and black plastic.

The only downside is that you actually have to cut the parts free from two interwoven sprues of different colors, and you wind up with black bits of plastic showing around the edges of the gray panel. I personally prefer the way the standard Tie's panels are assembled, but I expect they'll do a similar trick with the Interceptor when it comes out.

For kits this size though, I doubt they'd even consider something like that technique. The multi-colored sprue marks on such a tiny kit would be huge.

[electric indigo]

Those are some intricate paint schemes! - MT

Don't worry, Bandai will provide lots of ...stickers

[IXTL]

http://hobby.dengeki.com/news/178314/

[Dash]

Yeah this is what I kind of expected, the VF-31 seems to have two colors for it's pieces, white and blue and all the other details like for the cockpit, the engines and the wings are stickers, the VF-171 is just one color and stickers, the other ones are just 3d models apparently.

Since these are really cheap I might try to paint one because I don't like stickers, or at least try to paint the easy details

[David Hingtgen]

Ouch. Delta 5 is half white, and half grey. And so will all the others. They could really just do one kit, with all 5 heads included. The only difference is the stickers.

(I was thinking the main "bold" color would be molded, with the white being stickers)

[Duymon]

Just release the kits in all Grey. Any modeler will paint it anyways after they fill in the seams.

For peeps that want small pre-painted fare they can just wait for the Tomytech's

[Major Focker]

was on the fence because i thought these were box scale, but that Dengeki link spells it out: 1/144. wohoo!

[seti88]

Am I fantasizing or do the wings on the 171 seem swingable and the draken wings seem to be foldable due to the seam line on the wing?

Edited March 26, 2016 by seti88

[Kelsain]

500 yen for properly scaled 1/144? Yes please!

Now, will they do battroid sin this collection, or leave that for Tomy?

Perhaps expand it beyond Delta?

[kajnrig]

Has it been confirmed by a second source that these are 1/144? Wouldn't that be competing with the Tomy Tec 1/144 Gimix kits that are set to be released in a few months? I thought BW didn't allow that.

[Major Focker]

that's what i thought too, so a secondary confirmation would be nice.

however, the fact that the 31 and 171 mechacolle have different lengths suggests an intention for proper scaling rather than box scaling.

so maybe there is technically no conflict in the licensing because mechacolle are unfinished kits while Gimix are pre-finished.

or this might just be a similar license sharing arrangement like Hasegawa making a 1/72 non-transforming 25 and Bandai's transformable kit version.

[Chronocidal]

Yech... those decal canopies look nasty.

Wish they would just stick with 1/100, that line had so much potential, but it's like they stopped caring after releasing the YF-29 and one VF-25 variant.

[aaajin]

dat 171 details look amazing. But Ill prolly wait for Tomytec release before jumping in

[derex3592]

Same here -- the 171 and the Drakken look good, but not the others with that fake canopy look going on.

[Chronocidal]

Seriously, those things are so heavily stickered, they look like papercraft models.

I can't really tell if the others are fully painted, or if they're just computer renders though. They look a little too perfect for the size they are.

[David Hingtgen]

Renders.

[Mr Bomber]

VF-31E Sigfried model kit or up preorder

http://www.hlj.com/product/bann09545

Edited April 6, 2016 by Mr Bomber

[seti88]

Hmm the 31J and 171 panel lined...am not sure if it comes prepanel lined or is something you need to do.

from Bandai's hobby twitter...https://twitter.com/HobbySite

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CfU7PuBVIAA3z7T.jpg

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CfU7PuVUEAMYtWi.jpg

[MechTech]

HLJ is saying "unpainted." I wonder what kind of stickers/decal work these would really need? - MT