Bandai 1/72 Scale Transformable Macross Δ Kits

[arbit]

Mr Topcoat. I usually use lacquer but since I used stickers for the big stuff, I didn't need the extra protection. I just wanted a uniform finish throughout.

I applied the topcoat on entire sections at a time. Like the entire front fuselage, body, wings, arms, legs, hands, etc.

I struggle with coats because I live in a very hot humid climate, even though I airbrush indoors.

My flat Mr Topcoat and flat Vallejo always fog up like crazy. Clear performs better.

But I wonder what max working temperatures are for flat, if anyone knows?

[Wiz13688]

Here ya go. Mine are okay, but a few others on here have done much better. But at least it kinda sorta resembles Hayate and Freyja.

Thanks for the close up. Still looks good this close.

[Wiz13688]

Just did a quick unboxing video for the Fast Pack. If anyone wants detail closeups, I can post some pictures.

[505thAirborne]

Do you all think there is any chance Bandai will do a VF-31A kit in this line?

Fingers crossed that they do, I would easily get 2 kits!

[seti88]

More than meets the eye! Valkbot transform into pen mode...

https://twitter.com/tosaka_ssk/status/783898445165662208

[derex3592]

someone with mad video editing skills needs to redo that stupid pineapple apple pen song with a Valk and a pen...

[NZEOD]

well just finished the first of my Bandai VF-31s and I HATE IT!

I bought it to display as Fighter only and its such a fiddly pain in the ass to get it all to sit with nice tight joints!

Its Taco Tuesday on a Friday... RELEASE THE KRAGLE!!!

Anyone else notice the 31A Kairos uses VF-30 Chronos Wingtips? Should be a no brainer to turn a 31J into a 31A

Edited October 13, 2016 by NZEOD

[Chronocidal]

Yeah, they simplified the construction of the 31 kits compared to the 25s, and they lost a lot of the reinforced structure that held them together. The transformation mechanism is probably better, but you'll have parts popping off every which way unless you glue the thing together.

[NZEOD]

yeah that little white panel the clicks on last under the wing that covers the shoulder joint...grrrr.

The real unfun part will be this weekend when I have to now pull it all down to paint it up, decal it and fit up the mounting magnets... then reassemble it.

When the Hasegawas arrive these nightmares will be coming down off the wall, be getting packed the tannerite and taking a trip to the range.

[kajnrig]

I dunno, I found my 31J way less fiddly than the Bandai 25s I'd built just before it. It held together better, and the legs actually tucked up into fighter mode nicely, forming a nice tight seal with the fuselage where the 25s always always ALWAYS had ugly gaps, regardless of how much I worked the joints to try to get them to fit into place. I agree the under-wing panel is dumb, though. Terrible design decision, that.

[derex3592]

Oh boy..not looking forward to this now! Eeeeek! Thinking about going for a custom low viz fighter mode only scheme, since I have the Tomytec 1/144 show colors.

[NZEOD]

ok the second one assembled tonight and it was a lot easier now I got how they go together and how they look when done

[Lolicon]

Got around to transforming mine. Had to handle it like a newborn. Stressed a few parts and snapped that damned head antenna again. Transformation involves some parts to be removed and then reattached, like the forearm gatling guns. Didn't bother painting the inside of the opening sensor unit on the weapons rack (it's a swapping part) since this thing's going straight back to fighter mode permanently after this.

Joints are not particularly strong, and it's pretty back-heavy, so I had to use a stand.

It looks nice but I'm really looking forward to the DX release instead.

[IXTL]

[David Hingtgen]

Does it come with a second, buff/Var pilot sculpt?

[seti88]

Anyone thinking of doing a PSVITA custom?

[David Hingtgen]

Isn't that just Roid's?

[seti88]

Somehow roid's name didn't come up in the screenshots i saw and I don't have the PSvita.

I did find it fetching with the drakens on the tips, and since the draken kit is coming out, painting them black would contrast the white quite nicely

Mirage's 31 with black armor parts was a stunner

[IXTL]

http://hobby.dengeki.com/news/274659/

[Skypoet]

Just finished my sv-262. Awesome kit. Very poseable. Sturdy as hell! Fun and easy to build! Not much plastic for the price tag, but the awesomeness of the kit, makes it worthwile! Will post som pics later. Awesome engineering.

• Fighter: locks perfectly together.
• Gerwalk: A-stance achievable, good balance thanks to the big feet.
• Battroid: Great balance too due to the big feet.

Transformations are not that hard, but take 10 minutes between any two modes ;-)

Gunpod holds well in hand(s), arm joints strong enough to allow any pose.

Issues:

• The machine guns on the right arm are very flimsy. Don't hold in place will fall off.
• Some joints are so tight that I am afraid they may "seize" after a while. The kit will be as durable as these joints! Unless we can buy some spare sprues from Bandai, which is unlikely.

[IXTL]

http://masterfileblog.jp/review/2016/10/27/6819.html

[IXTL]

http://masterfileblog.jp/review/2016/10/27/6819.html

[IXTL]

Edited October 29, 2016 by IXTL

[NZEOD]

Anyone thinking of doing a PSVITA custom?

CvWSyzDUkAAH-17.jpg

Roids one that he mind controlled and fought Keith with was a CF model

[snakerbot]

Roids one that he mind controlled and fought Keith with was a CF model

There was a CF involved, but there was also an Hs.

[David Hingtgen]

I dub that one Hathor. (because it's like Anubis, but white---we really could use some more Z.O.E. stuff...)

[Hikaru1234567890]

Got the VF-31J about 3 days ago, and Im pretty impressed with it, BUT it definitely feels far from perfect like the 1/72 VF-25/ the short lived VF-1 line have tried to fix. I feel as if holding this it could be easily snapped in half, The worst and scary part about the kit I find is the transformation gimmick with the shoulders. THAT is what my absolute fear about the kit. But other then that, It feels a bit flimsy, to the point where even touching the plastic it could snap. But all in all, its got a Solid transformation (unlike the last kit I bought which was the VF-1S/A. which was a waist of money IMO) and it comes with a great amount of accessories to. But in all honesty (at least for me) I say bandai should stop making 1/72 kits and focus on more amazing/ bigger Macross kits like that forgotten 1/48 transformable VF-25 line and made the VF-1 and VF-31 kits in that size.

[seti88]

There was a CF involved, but there was also an Hs.

vlcsnap-2016-10-30-11h15m28s453.png

Smells like P-bandai...but a white anubis is awesome!

Edited October 31, 2016 by seti88

[Skypoet]

Just finished putting my VF-31J together. Straight build, no decals, paint or stickers yet. Awesome kit, great trade-off between anime-accuracy, detail and functionality. No inner frame at all, but that only makes the kit sturdier (compared with VF-1, VF-25, VF-27), easier to build, and hopefully more durable. Seems very poseable. Some parts do like to pop off, but nothing that a dab of crazy glue won't fix in an instant. The vertical stabilizers will pop off when manipulated for example. And so will many other parts. Flimsier than the Sv-262, but better looking. Yes, the shoulders are scary. One part of the articulation is already over-stressed even before the first transformation attempt. The VF can hold its gun, you just have to use the multi-jointed elbow properly. Very fragile arms, one has to be careful with them. But in terms of looks and building experience, best gunpla ever from my experience - and I've built maybe 10 gundam gunpla's to date...

It looks so cool even without any paint, stickers or decals!...

And contrary to Hikaru's advice, I really hope Bandai goes on with other transformable macross kits! Till now, only the VF-1 was a (partial but significant) failure (because it was too perfect-grade-ish). In my opinion, Bandai's transformable macross kits keep getting better and better with time. And they should go on with this line!

[Chronocidal]

I wouldn't say the VF-1 was a failure due to being too much like a perfect grade, I think they just completely blew it trying to reinterpret the design in ways that were A) not an improvement over anything commonly used on VF-1s, and B) pretty darn ugly. Redesigning the entire knee area to work like the VF-25's legs was just a mistake.

The animation accurate leg system was actually quite an achievement I think (though it would have been better in a larger scale to be sure), it's just that that seemed like the only thing they were interested in being accurate about, and the rest of the changes they made to the design just looked bad to me.

Far as the 31 is concerned though, I'm not sure I'd call it sturdier than the VF-25 kit, since I've never had that many parts popping off my VF-25s, but it definitely transforms a lot more easily, and fits together a lot better in fighter mode without all the tiny arm and shoulder panels to mess with.

Edited October 31, 2016 by Chronocidal

[Hikaru1234567890]

I wouldn't say the VF-1 was a failure due to being too much like a perfect grade, I think they just completely blew it trying to reinterpret the design in ways that were A) not an improvement over anything commonly used on VF-1s, and B) pretty darn ugly. Redesigning the entire knee area to work like the VF-25's legs was just a mistake.

The animation accurate leg system was actually quite an achievement I think (though it would have been better in a larger scale to be sure), it's just that that seemed like the only thing they were interested in being accurate about, and the rest of the changes they made to the design just looked bad to me.

Far as the 31 is concerned though, I'm not sure I'd call it sturdier than the VF-25 kit, since I've never had that many parts popping off my VF-25s, but it definitely transforms a lot more easily, and fits together a lot better in fighter mode without all the tiny arm and shoulder panels to mess with.

I agree with you on the Accurate Leg transformation, that was AMAZING to even see on any Macross kit ever. In fact if they decided to go all old school with more kits, they should really add the die cast parts they had with the old 1/72 VF-1 kits. then I could see them being more durable and they could last longer with multiple transformations. But then I could SEE them crossing the realm of being DX Chogokin, and old MG CCA Gundam kits. Still i think it would be a good idea to incorporate Die Cast in certain areas.

[Skypoet]

I wouldn't say the VF-1 was a failure due to being too much like a perfect grade, I think they just completely blew it trying to reinterpret the design in ways that were A) not an improvement over anything commonly used on VF-1s, and B) pretty darn ugly. Redesigning the entire knee area to work like the VF-25's legs was just a mistake.

The animation accurate leg system was actually quite an achievement I think (though it would have been better in a larger scale to be sure), it's just that that seemed like the only thing they were interested in being accurate about, and the rest of the changes they made to the design just looked bad to me.

Far as the 31 is concerned though, I'm not sure I'd call it sturdier than the VF-25 kit, since I've never had that many parts popping off my VF-25s, but it definitely transforms a lot more easily, and fits together a lot better in fighter mode without all the tiny arm and shoulder panels to mess with.

Did you build the SV-262? Because almost nothing pops off (apart from the arm cannons... maybe personally I'll just glue mine) on this kit... maybe you'd like it! The VF-31 is "sturdier" than the VF-25 because parts lock into place well in fighter, gerwalk or battroid mode. Yes, of course, wing and wing parts popping off are annoying!... Superglue to the rescue!

[Chronocidal]

Oh, yep, I was actually going to add that I just finished slapping a 262 kit together, and loved it. That thing is like a brick by comparison, and I was surprised how tightly the legs and wings locked together once I got them aligned correctly. Didn't expect it to be so well put together from the somewhat complex assembly, but it holds together nicely.

Only sloppy bit with that kit seems to be the gunpod connection, and its folding fin doesn't like staying in place, but even the split tail seems to stay pretty well aligned. I might have to get a couple more, and I know I'll be grabbing a few of the non-Keith versions later. Here's hoping they make a white Roid one too.

[no3Ljm]

Smells like P-bandai...but a white anubis is awesome!

Ditto. I wouldn't mind a TWE White Anubis.

[NZEOD]

Going back over my 2 VF-31s this weekend with cyano and cement.