Bandai 1/72 Scale Transformable Macross Δ Kits

[Chronocidal]

I might have gotten a lemon somehow, but I would say don't expect the VF-31 kits to stay together without glue either. The one I've built pretty much falls apart at the seams any time I start to transform it. Worst offender is the tails coming off every time I try to fold them, second would be a tie between the hips falling apart and the entire wing assemblies popping off.

Or maybe they expect the stickers to hold it all together?

[ayaxr]

I might have gotten a lemon somehow, but I would say don't expect the VF-31 kits to stay together without glue either. The one I've built pretty much falls apart at the seams any time I start to transform it. Worst offender is the tails coming off every time I try to fold them, second would be a tie between the hips falling apart and the entire wing assemblies popping off.

Or maybe they expect the stickers to hold it all together?

Some of the guys have said the tails definitely need glue. Not sure about the rest. (Mine is still in the HLJ private warehouse) .... Are any of these parts subject to be affected by how they are cut or trimmed from the sprue? Not saying thats the case, just wondering.

[Chronocidal]

Not that I've noticed, it's mostly just that the pieces don't interlock enough, or have stiff enough connections to survive the stresses put on them by transforming.

They've greatly simplified the construction compared with the VF-25 kits, but the cost of that has been that quite a few of the pieces don't interlock nearly as solidly or from as many directions. Rotating the gerwalk twist will often pop the outer panel of the hips clean off, possibly detaching the front of the intake.

The most surprising to me though is the main wing hinge connection. On the VF-25, the hinge was sandwiched between two layers of fuselage plate. This one just has a dinky tab that's supposed to hold onto two little pegs to support the entire wing.

[NZEOD]

Got my first VF-31 for the Hall Display and DAMN thats a big box! What a ton of wasted space!!

These will all be permanently glued into fighter only mode.

Edited August 8, 2016 by NZEOD

[NZEOD]

Anyone know how to order replacement stickers/decals?

you can have what ever I have left after I finish mine

Edited August 8, 2016 by NZEOD

[NZEOD]

where is the splashed red canopy?

Who's going to be the first to do THAT I wonder?

Edited August 9, 2016 by NZEOD

[Chronocidal]

Got my first VF-31 for the Hall Display and DAMN thats a big box! What a ton of wasted space!!

Bandai and Hasegawa both love their huge boxes. My Hasegawa 1/48th strike VF-1 box has 4 complete kits in it, with room for the weapons sets I have ordered.

The Bandai kits though... in general, the parts for a VF-25 kit will fit into a sandwich baggie. My armored Ozma box has about 8 kits inside it (including 2 full armored VF-25s and 2 with super packs), with room to spare.

Edited August 9, 2016 by Chronocidal

[NZEOD]

http://www.imageanime.com/vfsimihcu1p.html

VF-31F Pre-Order

No red canopy open though...

Is that Bumblebee's Combat head?

Edited August 9, 2016 by NZEOD

[Skypoet]

I like that ant head!

[Petrov27]

like the 02 all around

so will we have all five by Christmas?

[NZEOD]

I reckon all 5 by mid next year. In between will be the other Knights and maybe at the end the VF-31A and VF-171

[ayaxr]

I'd really love to entertain the possibility of a VF-171, but seeing as it didn't happen for Frontier.. I think chances here are even less.

[no3Ljm]

From TagHobby.

[sh9000]

[derex3592]

Since the DX will be next to freakin impossible to get, and judging from the pre-order meltdown at HLJ n the first VF-31, I may go this route with all of Delta -- certainly cheaper.

[seti88]

From TagHobby.

The 262 on the box looks weathered with the streaks and realistic paint..that's a real nice rendering if only the kit could turn out like it...

Since the DX will be next to freakin impossible to get, and judging from the pre-order meltdown at HLJ n the first VF-31, I may go this route with all of Delta -- certainly cheaper.

At least the kit proportions don't look too bad, except for maybe the gear..a viable option indeed if you just want it as a display..

[mickyg]

Haven't gotten these (yet) but am I noticing a somewhat matte plastic on these? Or is it just a topcoat on the finished models in all the pics?

[no3Ljm]

Haven't gotten these (yet) but am I noticing a somewhat matte plastic on these? Or is it just a topcoat on the finished models in all the pics?

Probably topcoated.

[derex3592]

Weeeell...took the plunge and ordered my first Bandai 1/72 Delta Valk -- it'll be here in a couple of weeks, so we shall see!!!

[Graham]

I might have gotten a lemon somehow, but I would say don't expect the VF-31 kits to stay together without glue either. The one I've built pretty much falls apart at the seams any time I start to transform it. Worst offender is the tails coming off every time I try to fold them, second would be a tie between the hips falling apart and the entire wing assemblies popping off.

Or maybe they expect the stickers to hold it all together?

Nah, you do need to use glue on these, otherwise parts will regularly pop off or come apart during transformation and handling.

I used small dabs of superglue on pretty much most parts when building this kit.

[cwmodels]

New official images of Draken III

http://bandai-hobby.net/site/character_macrossd/72_sv262hs.jpg

Frame and Parts

http://schorst.blogspot.tw/2016/08/172-sv-262hs-iii-from-kenbill-blog.html

[Duymon]

That clear-cockpit option is sweet

[iguanaman8989]

HLJ payment request for Draken has gone through.

Mine's gonna sit in PW until the Arcadia 1S releases later.

Unless I decided to get impatient and ship anyway...

Nope! EMS will cost a third of the model, shipping SAL might just take as long as the 1S to come out, so I'll just do it all at once in a couple weeks.

Edited August 18, 2016 by iguanaman8989

[Chronocidal]

I'm going to wait for the 1/144 Tomytec kits to get in stock, then ship the lot of them.

Really looking forward to the Draken though, love the design. Also really hope we get the CF version later on, it just looks cleaner without the toothy wings.

Edited August 18, 2016 by Chronocidal

[mickyg]

That looks really nice! So tempted...

What annoys me though is that I JUST shipped my PW items from HLJ 2 days ago, since some items I had sitting were due to auto ship on the 22nd. I looked at a few of the items in my preorder list that hadn't become available yet and the earliest one (a Mecha Collection VF-31C) was meant to be available on the 30th. Imagine my surprise when I see a payment was processed overnight for it!

Same story for the SV-262. I uhm'd and ah'd about it but didn't want to risk it because I wouldn't be able to take advantage of combined shipping on this order.

Oh well...

[kajnrig]

Just got my payment request as well, hoping to ship it with the TomyTec 31A that should also be releasing soon.

Shame it won't come with swappable fixed-mode tail fins, but oh well. Looking forward to it nonetheless.

...also those hands look rather alarmingly big. Hopefully it's just me.

[Chronocidal]

Just got my payment request as well, hoping to ship it with the TomyTec 31A that should also be releasing soon.

Shame it won't come with swappable fixed-mode tail fins, but oh well. Looking forward to it nonetheless.

...also those hands look rather alarmingly big. Hopefully it's just me.

Hands are likely just fixed-pose swap outs for battroid. I don't think any of Bandai's 1/72 kits have had perfect transformation hands.

[kajnrig]

Hands are likely just fixed-pose swap outs for battroid. I don't think any of Bandai's 1/72 kits have had perfect transformation hands.

Oh, I prefer fixed-pose hands. I was just commenting on the SIZE of the hands. They look two sizes too big.

[cwmodels]

Draken III Assembly process part 1

http://blog.livedoor.jp/hobisima-rittai/72_Sv-262Hs_2016-08-20

[Darth Mingus]

I am really liking the clear red parts on the Draken III. It is too bad they only did partial parts separation for the gold portions.

[cwmodels]

Draken III Assembly process part 2

http://blog.livedoor.jp/hobisima-rittai/72_Sv-262Hs_2016-08-20-1

[cwmodels]

This is really odd to see... the Draken is smaller than the Seigfried in Fighter mode but towers over it in Battroid mode!

The head, feet and hands in comparison to the VF-31 looks way too big.

Edited August 20, 2016 by cwmodels

[Chronocidal]

Wow.. yeah, those are some massive gorilla hands there.

Otherwise, I can't wait to build a few of them. The 31 really didn't do it for me, but I can see myself grabbing a bunch of the 262s.

[sketchley]

This is really odd to see... the Draken is smaller than the Seigfried in Fighter mode but towers over it in Battroid mode!

I think this has more to do with the transformation than the scale - in order for Kawamori to get the legs to match up with the intakes and to form a single exhaust nozzle, he's had to make them comparatively longer than those on the VF-31. The torso and arms of the two are roughly the same size (going by that comparison picture alone).

As for the different appendage sizes: not the first time that Valkyries have been 'out of scale' with each other. Remember the VB-6 and the VF-25?

[seti88]

Interesting comparison of the fighter/battroid indeed by cwmodels.

i think the small size of the draken fighter makes it even more nimble than the 31, and its larger battroid would have an advantage of being a bruiser in battroid combat...

Looks like the windermariens got the best of each class..

How abt the gerwalk mode?