Bandai 1/72 Scale Transformable Macross Δ Kits

[no3Ljm]

17 hours ago, kajnrig said:

Is there a head comparison of the various -31s at all? I'm thinking about picking another one of these up and debating between the various kit releases - regular J/C/F/S, J-Kai, or Super J. The itasha decals that come with the J-Kai don't interest me that much (though the paint scheme is nice), and I'm on the fence about the Super packs, though I suppose if I do want one I can just pick up the add-on kit.

But yeah, a head comparison would be greatly appreciated, since that's the major difference between the different models. I'm leaning toward getting the F and shaving the horn, but I still don't have a great idea how the heads looks aside from the J's.

JVMacross posted this on the Macross Master File thread. Hope that helps.  

[Wolf-1]

Roid is up for presale on HLJ.com, Sept. release.

 

[kajnrig]

On 6/5/2017 at 3:23 PM, Focslain said:

Any chance we might get a Mirage version from Scramble?

Does Mirage join Walkure in Scramble or something?

[mickyg]

13 hours ago, Lord_Of_Tetris said:

See the part I pointed at in orange? It's a small, flat piece that slides back and forth inside some grooves located in the body of the jet/robot torso. I drew a 2-sided arrow to show you its intended motion.

The fit inside the grooves is very, very tight. You should sand the tabs on the small, flat piece so that it slides back and forth easier inside the grooves.

Thanks for this LoT!

[Focslain]

On ‎6‎/‎6‎/‎2017 at 9:45 PM, kajnrig said:

Does Mirage join Walkure in Scramble or something?

No, but if you beat the Xaos campaign you get a special VF-31j with a nice pin-up of Mirage, also it's fully unlocked. I'll try and remember to get an image of it tonight.

Edit: I was wrong, it's a J version. Anyway once I manage to get my email linked I'll see about uploading a pic. It was late and I was tired.

Edited June 8, 2017 by Focslain

[kajnrig]

7 minutes ago, Focslain said:

No, but if you beat the Xaos campaign you get a special VF-31c with a nice pin-up of Mirage, also it's fully unlocked. I'll try and remember to get an image of it tonight.

This I would buy in an instant. It also reminds me to buy the Figuarts Zero figure of her ASAP.

[no3Ljm]

This guy is doing that famous Bogue stance: Onoore! Walkure!

 

[Lord_Of_Tetris]

Darn things like "full time job," "cooking," "laundry," and "going to the gym" mean I only have ~30 minutes a day to work on model kits. Grrr.

[Lord_Of_Tetris]

Pretty slick, if I do say so myself.

[seti88]

Nice wip!

[mickyg]

I don't know man, something about those landing gears looks a little off.  I mean, can't Bandai do proper white gear?  Those look decidedly metallic!

Edited June 13, 2017 by mickyg

[Lord_Of_Tetris]

Aaaaaaaaaaah what have I done. I ordered a Dx Chogokin VF-31 (Messer's colors) despite firmly swearing I wouldn't buy one until HLJ gets them back in stock. All in all, I paid ~$250, which I know isn't a bad price, but it's the most money I've ever spent on one figure.

Heh. You know, the intent really was to use the 1/72 model kit as a cheaper alternative to the Dx Chogokin. Ah well. As I wait 3 weeks for my VF-31 to arrive, I'll hype myself up with the model kit.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaalmost done. 

 

VERY impressive model kit. All this is the result of the provided stickers, a Gundam marker for panel lines, and very small amounts of paint (for example, I painted the intakes gunmetal gray)

 

Model not 100% finished yet. Still need to build the forearm-mounted guns.

 

Looks good from every angle

 

Painted the landing gear black. Would probably look better if I painted the struts gray or white, but I didn't have the patience. :/

 

Here it is with the Dx Chogokin 1/60 SV-262. You know, I know these are in 2 different scales, but they look pretty darn good together. I don't even mind that the SV-262 is bigger than the VF-31, as I'm totally fine with the bad guy's jet being bigger, beefier, and meaner-looking than the good guy's jet. And, I grew up watching a cartoon where a police car transforms into a robot the same height as another robot who transforms into an F-15 jet. Scale isn't all that important to me.

 

Darn good looking model kit, even with my meager skills. Oh, and you can see that I colored the little Hayate figure using Sharpies.

 

 

After I'm done with the build, I'll finish putting on the stickers. I don't have a pre-set plan for which stickers I'll put on, but I know it won't be all of them. I don't necessarily need to see a hundred "no step" markings, plus, the kit has so many stickers already I'd rather not make such an elegant design look too busy...or like papercraft.

Edited June 15, 2017 by Lord_Of_Tetris

[wmkjr]

On 6/5/2017 at 0:24 PM, kajnrig said:

Is there a head comparison of the various -31s at all? I'm thinking about picking another one of these up and debating between the various kit releases - regular J/C/F/S, J-Kai, or Super J. The itasha decals that come with the J-Kai don't interest me that much (though the paint scheme is nice), and I'm on the fence about the Super packs, though I suppose if I do want one I can just pick up the add-on kit.

But yeah, a head comparison would be greatly appreciated, since that's the major difference between the different models. I'm leaning toward getting the F and shaving the horn, but I still don't have a great idea how the heads looks aside from the J's.

You probably found more info by now but here is some from the Macross website in color:

http://www.macross.jp/delta/mechanic/

[seti88]

Got these pics from hlj. They forgot to apply the reaper on one of the pics...looks quite fetching plain too..what does everyone thk abt a livery with black/blue stripes but without a reaper?

Plus never tot there would be a black strip underside too..I like it...

[no3Ljm]

2 hours ago, seti88 said:

Got these pics from hlj. They forgot to apply the reaper on one of the pics...looks quite fetching plain too..what does everyone thk abt a livery with black/blue stripes but without a reaper?

Plus never tot there would be a black strip underside too..I like it...

To be honest, I like it as is without the knight decal.  

But then again, Seti, same as the Kairos kit, I need one DX of this in my life.

 

Edited June 16, 2017 by no3Ljm

[kajnrig]

Yeah, they show it (intentionally, I think) in all three liveries: plain, then with either of the two emblems/itasha. I agree it looks best without the gaudy emblem, but I think that of all the oversized emblems going back to Ozma's -25S.

[seti88]

Correction, seems like they did have the reaper in the gerwalk photo. You can just make out a horn at the edge of the wing. But the illusion is there, and gives maybe an idea to have an alternate look to not include the reaper knight..

11 hours ago, no3Ljm said:

To be honest, I like it as is without the knight decal.  

But then again, Seti, same as the Kairos kit, I need one DX of this in my life.

 

Just one? i guess no extra DX for you to custom this valk then, since its sort of a custom of hayate's 05 in the first place..

[no3Ljm]

4 hours ago, seti88 said:

Just one? i guess no extra DX for you to custom this valk then, since its sort of a custom of hayate's 05 in the first place..

Yup! Just one, sir! He will be the Squadron Leader of the Blues (Supers) Brothers.

 

[Chronocidal]

The knight emblem is on there, it's just further back than Messer's reaper logo, and stuck smack dab in the middle of the weapons pod hinge.

Personally, I think all of the giant logos have been goofy, including Ozma's.  Would much rather see emblems on the tails.

[Lord_Of_Tetris]

It's done! After ~1.5 months of working on and off on the Bandai 1/72 model kit (several times a week, for ~30 minutes each), I've completed it!

No special tools or skills required. All of this is the result of the provided stickers, a Gundam marker, some plastic cement, and a small amount of paint.

Despite being so light, it's very back heavy.

Bang bang! 

Pew pew! 

It's not flexible enough to go into the crouching position. BUT! With some creative use of the knee pad...

Yack! Deculture!

I've applied maybe 80% of the provided stickers. All of the stickers with the large surface area. I'm not going to apply the rest of the stickers. I don't necessarily NEED to see dozens of "no stop" or "no lift" stickers, plus it's already so stickered up, I'd rather not have it look like Papercraft.

Edited June 20, 2017 by Lord_Of_Tetris

[Lord_Of_Tetris]

Here we go again!

Previous VF-31 took me ~1.5 months. OTHER THINGS got in the way of my model-building priorities, such as 8 hours of work each day, gym, cooking, laundry, washing the dishes.....so I worked on the model 30 minutes at a time, maybe 2-3 times a week.

Wheeee!

I usually use paint to color my models, but the pilots were so small that I used Sharpies.

[seti88]

what did you use to panel line and is it staying on while you continue the build?

Edited June 24, 2017 by seti88

[Lord_Of_Tetris]

Just a Gundam marker. It indeed stays on as I continue to build.

[seti88]

Nice, i have gundam markers too but always interested to see any alternatives, just for trying...

i have used felt pens, mechanical pencils and of course diluted black/grey paints... just a balance of time and convenience and cost...

Edited June 24, 2017 by seti88

[kajnrig]

In case anyone's interested, there's a really good sale on a bundle of kits over at an online store called Banzai Hobby. I've shopped there only once before, but everything went fairly smoothly iirc.

The bundle is 7000 JPY and includes the following:

- 1x Bandai 1/72 VF-31J Siegfried Hayate use
- 1x Bandai 1/72 SV-262Hs Draken III Keith use
- 1x Bandai 1/72 VF-31J-corresponding Super Pack
- 1x Bandai 1/72 SV-262Hs-corresponding Lil' Draken set
- 2x Limited Edition Macross Delta decals (pics at link)

http://banzaihobby.com/77-sale/bandai-plamo/macross-delta-siegfried-hayate-pack

[seti88]

I gotta give it to bandai, when it works it works...battroid mode all in a row looks absolutely fabulous...

 

and not to mention mixed up with others too...

 

[Beltane70]

I just discovered today that they now have a VF-31J Super Siegfried kit!

 

[KOG Water Dragon]

Where is the VF-31E and the remaining supers though?

 

[mickyg]

This^^

I just started on my SV-262ba yesterday and the engineering in the nose alone has got me excited. They need to get moving on the rest!

[mickyg]

Really enjoying the SV-262ba kit so far. It's got a few issues, like the fact that the plastic is dark and shows stress marks even when I use huge amount of care in snipping parts off the sprue, the incredibly complicated mechanisms required for it to transform causing alignment headaches, and the way the markings make me laugh when I look at how they're meant to be applied to all the various complex curves EVERYWHERE! But, as I've said many times before, these kits are fun and the engineering is outstanding!

I'll figure out how to paint the silver I think. There's just too much to cover with decals or stickers and I simply don't like my chances of making it look presentable if I go that route. The canopy sticker and decal are one piece, for example. 

 

Progress so far:

I'm painting the back of the red parts as without it, the red looks shapeless and detail is lost in the dark voids inside. This is Tamiya acrylic aluminium. 

The face and forehead get Gundam panel line black applied.

Sub assemblies.

On leg is done and attached so there's still a lot to do. Next will be to figure out what needs to be painted and if masking will be easy or a royal pain.

[seti88]

At last some WIPs on the Ba...nice post mickyg!  

Did you get roids white deculture version? I want to but the usual time contraints...

[mickyg]

No, I didn't.  I considered it but the scheme didn't really hook me I'm afraid.  Too little, too late, I think.

I'm surprised they haven't released the other variants of the Ba yet, along with the 31E and the rest of the super parts (for both VF and SV machines, for that matter).  I don't remember the initial release schedule on the Frontier kits, so maybe it's just a patience thing.  I do recall there was a lot of stuff released though.

[kajnrig]

8 hours ago, mickyg said:

No, I didn't.  I considered it but the scheme didn't really hook me I'm afraid.  Too little, too late, I think.

I'm surprised they haven't released the other variants of the Ba yet, along with the 31E and the rest of the super parts (for both VF and SV machines, for that matter).  I don't remember the initial release schedule on the Frontier kits, so maybe it's just a patience thing.  I do recall there was a lot of stuff released though.

The Roid kit hasn't been released yet, though I agree it's not particularly enticing. I wonder if/when they'll release Deculture kits featuring the other Walkure members/Mirage, though.

I also wonder how well merch is selling. I have no data to back it up, but I suspect that the big selling point this time around is Walkure, not the mecha designs. That being the case, it makes less business sense to invest the effort to market the 31E/etc. That said, what other Super packs are there? The -31s have the speaker/projector pack, but what about the SV-262?

[Chronocidal]

I've built up two of the Ba kits, but I have to say that the color molding on that version was pretty disappointing.  I get that they didn't want to have to rework the entire molding to get the same level of detail as on Keith's, but they cheapened out.  There were quite a few common parts that were gold on Keith's, and should have been silver on the Ba, but they ignored them, and went with a single color for almost everything.

Also.. the Hs's head is boatloads more sturdy.  The itty bitty panels around the pope head pop off if you look at them funny, and that whole interlocking mechanism is a mess of fragile parts.  I'm halfway convinced that the head is most of why we haven't seen a DX version of this one yet.

That said, it's still a fun kit to put together and transform, and I love the shape of the delta wings on it.  I've actually considered doing some kitbashing, and putting the Ba wings on the Hs.  If we wind up getting white versions of both, I'm going to be mixing and matching all over the place.  

[mickyg]

Chronocidal, my thoughts exactly!  But I don't have the Hs kit to compare it to. The colour moulding has surprised me the most.  There's a whole silver sprue for quite a few parts but then many of the ones I'd expect to be silver are green instead.  Some very easy to separate parts, in fact.  The nozzle parts that sit at the back of the wing roots or parts right above the foot in Battroid, for instance.  They're clearly exhausts vents of some sort and are metallic at least.  I'm glad they're separate parts, as a quick steel painting session fixed them right up, but they're prime candidates for being moulded in the right colour to begin with.

And very glad to hear your experience with the head part also matches my own. Those "cheek" panels are unbelievable.  I keep thinking I haven't engaged the ball sufficiently, so fragile is the connection.  And pushing on them harder is darned near impossible, given the way the ABS arm is attached and how thin it is.  The whole area looks very fragile and I'm more than a little concerned about how it's going to look when it's done.

Still, looking forward to the rest of the build and thinking about how I'll paint it up and what to use.  I still have plans to use the decals or stickers in places where it makes sense.  With that in mind, finding a paint to match the provided markings is going to be fun.

Did you go that route with either of your Ba builds?  Any tips on paint?  I've got Mr Metal Color (it's apparently a lacquer but it smells like an enamel to me) and Mr Super Metal (I think?) in Steel, Chrome, Stainless Steel, and a couple of Alclad colours as well.  The Mr Metal products are amazing when brush painted, too.  You brush them on a bit heavy and then dry brush after a few minutes and they polish right up, creating a very nice gleaming metal sheen.  I've also airbrushed them too, but found they weren't nearly as durable when done that way.  Probably means I need to do a few more coats is all.