Bandai 1/72 Scale Transformable Macross Δ Kits

[SebastianP]

I got bored with machine translating that PDF and posting my findings in the Tech thread, so I went over the instruction booklet instead.

The runners are weird, there are VF-31J -specific bits on runners A, B, D, E and F, and aside from the A bits, they don't look like they were designed with dummying them out in mind. I'm predicting that they might have to give us an extra multi-color runner for each of the other versions, and leave most of the J bits in.

Also, the multi-drones are molded as part of the ABS frame for the leg, so unless they decide that the A models have drones as well (and they shouldn't, given the blurb I was just translating) they'll need to supply some replacement ABS parts on top of the outer wing panels and whatever parts are needed for the A-version head if they intend to give us one of those. Which they probably won't, because when has Bandai ever supplied Macross Cannon Fodder kits?

I Just canceled by VF-31J PO. There's no stock pilot fig and I'm planning on making a non-hayate valk :0 Will just have to settle for the VF-31S and then maybe an A or so down the line.

Leave the pilot out? Put the female figure in the front? Put head of the female figure on the male figure? Sculpt a new head? Use a head from a different figure? The possibilities are still endless.

Edited June 23, 2016 by SebastianP

[UN Spacy]

Looks great but I'll wait for the DX version.

My plamo skills are pedestrian and I wouldn't do it justice.

[SebastianP]

Looks great but I'll wait for the DX version.

My plamo skills are pedestrian and I wouldn't do it justice.

So are mine, but the kits themselves don't take that much skill. It's not like you need to fully paint the whole thing to make it look decent, unlike a Hasegawa kit. You can make it look better with some paint, true - you can also make it look a lot worse, and you don't strictly need it anyway. The only really bad part is usually the decals or stickers, which is like a choice between plague or cholera, due Bandai being cheap bastards.

And I can get all of Delta Squad (or at least the current membership ) for the price of one DX toy...

Edited June 23, 2016 by SebastianP

[iguanaman8989]

HLJ just took payment for the VF-31J a few minutes ago.

I've got a couple of other kits to go along with it, gonna set up a shipment as soon as possible.

[SebastianP]

HLJ just took payment for the VF-31J a few minutes ago.

I've got a couple of other kits to go along with it, gonna set up a shipment as soon as possible.

Mine is paid for, as is shipping. Using the slow option this time, usually I wait until I have enough kits that EMS is cheaper than SAL, but my budget won't allow that many kits for a while.

[mickyg]

Not totally thread related but it looks like the Armored Messiah kits are back in stock too!

http://hlj.com/product/BAN958765

[Graham]

Just got my payment request from HLJ for the VF-31J.

[seti88]

Super siegfried out in september? Am not sure but are those supers sold separately?

There seems to be 2 boxes containing prices in the pic....

AH looks like supers also have a seperate pricing...Y2200

http://www.taghobby.com/1-0/1-2/%E4%B8%8D%E6%96%B7%E6%9B%B4%E6%96%B0-hobby-japan-2016%E5%B9%B48%E8%99%9F-%E6%A8%A1%E5%9E%8B%E5%85%A7%E5%AE%B9/

Edited June 24, 2016 by seti88

[David Hingtgen]

That's an insane amount of decals/stickers needed to look even close to right. I may buy a -31A kit, because it has a much simper scheme, but there's no way I'd buy a "colorful" -31 with that parts/color arrangement. I really think they split up the parts poorly. Inner wings solid color, outer wings solid white? Surely they could have done front/back instead? Many a Gundam kit has MUCH finer color-separataion. I don't expect all the fine striping of course, but this isn't even close.

[kajnrig]

It occurs to me that the VF-31 looks quite a lot like the X-02 Wyvern from Ace Combat. And like the Wyvern, it looks best in its "diamond" delta-wing configuration, and worst in its FSW configuration. I doubt a kit of the 31A will ever become reality (or if it does, it'll be a P-Bandai exclusive), but I'm already dreaming up ways to mod the FSW version into something that approaches it (and/or the YF-30 and/or the X-02).

[Graham]

Yay, just got my shipping notice from HLJ.

[aaajin]

just paid for mine. Paid slightly more with low USD/Yen rate from Brexit....

[UN Spacy]

Love seeing displays like this.

https://twitter.com/yatasith/status/746196067142668289

[Chronocidal]

I figured I'd order one of these to see if I care about the design enough to try and order the DXs... fortunately for my wallet, those booster packs look ducking fugly, so that's nice chunk of change I don't need to spend.

[Kelsain]

Yeah, they looked better on the show, in the dark...

[seti88]

I kinda like the way the packs add bulkiness to the back whilst maintaining a sleek front section.

looks like hayate's got some serious boost power out back.

kinda like....

[Petrov27]

Ordered here as well - little worried as this is my first Bandai and it sounds like their decals are not so great? Also that is one complex paint job (especially if the decals are crap) but I guess we will see!

[anubis20]

Just ordered one from Ebay for $55 shipped. With the crappy exchange rate i thought that was an ok price. Its coming SAL but thats ok, it will give me enough time to study the manual. I only plan on painting some parts but not all of it. decals can look as good as painting if applied correctly and its less work

This is what decals look like on the MG Hi-Nu i built. At first i was thinking about painting them but the decals turned out just fine.

Edited June 24, 2016 by anubis20

[Chronocidal]

Just ordered one from Ebay for $55 shipped. With the crappy exchange rate i thought that was an ok price. Its coming SAL but thats ok, it will give me enough time to study the manual. I only plan on painting some parts but not all of it. decals can look as good as painting if applied correctly and its less work

This is what decals look like on the MG Hi-Nu i built. At first i was thinking about painting them but the decals turned out just fine.

Don't expect these decals to be anywhere near the quality of a gundam kit. Much ado was made about the VF-25 kit decals, and how utterly terrible they were in every way possible. Wrong shapes, didn't adhere, dissolved on contact with certain common decal liquids, they were even screen printed to the point they looked like magazine clippings, as if Bandai didn't have access to solid colors, or anything even as advanced as an ink jet printer.

The one VF-25 kit I've "finished" is all hand panted, because I didn't feel like dealing with the decals.

[kajnrig]

http://scope-eye.net/?p=838

There's a link to a blog post by gunpla builder tetsujin discussing some of the problems with Bandai (Gundam) decals.

EDIT:

How do the Bandai 25 decals compare to Hasegawa's in terms of fit/shape? Understanding that the Bandai ones are meant for a transformable kit and the Hase ones aren't, obviously. I'm interested in how easily one could use Bandai's decals on a Hase 25, and vice versa.

Edited June 24, 2016 by kajnrig

[anubis20]

Don't expect these decals to be anywhere near the quality of a gundam kit. Much ado was made about the VF-25 kit decals, and how utterly terrible they were in every way possible. Wrong shapes, didn't adhere, dissolved on contact with certain common decal liquids, they were even screen printed to the point they looked like magazine clippings, as if Bandai didn't have access to solid colors, or anything even as advanced as an ink jet printer.

The one VF-25 kit I've "finished" is all hand panted, because I didn't feel like dealing with the decals.

Damn i thought this being made was Bandai would equal the same quality as the gunpla decals. Hopefully they learned and these dont turn out like crap.

[SebastianP]

Damn i thought this being made was Bandai would equal the same quality as the gunpla decals. Hopefully they learned and these dont turn out like crap.

We'll probably know within a couple of days, as the kits are available in Japan now and the speedbuilders will be posting their reviews soon.

Edit: Pictures of the decals from Hobby Search at least still make it look like the decals aren't solid colors, but you can't tell how thick they are or anything like that.

Edited June 25, 2016 by SebastianP

[IXTL]

Scans from Figure King magazine.

Edited June 25, 2016 by IXTL

[Skypoet]

First speed build is started:

Complete model, fighter mode:

Complete model, gerwalk:

[SebastianP]

snip

Without looking at the videos yet (have something else running), it does look like it might be significantly easier to get the VF-31 to hold together in fighter mode.

[Delta_Kazu]

Why does he snip so many of the connector pieces? Haven't built a macross kit yet but I would assume they aren't 'that' badly put together.

[kajnrig]

Connector pieces? Are you talking about the pegs for the snap-together mechanic? If so (haven't seen much of the video yet), then usually that's done to simplify the disassembly process (the pieces hold together less firmly) for those who prefer to cement/paint/mod/otherwise build the kits "traditionally." Snap-build pegs and sockets are great for, well, snap-building, but they also mean lots of extra plastic that tends to get in the way of a modeler.

Otherwise maybe the person's just not paying attention due to speed concerns.

Edited June 25, 2016 by kajnrig

[Delta_Kazu]

Connector pieces? Are you talking about the pegs for the snap-together mechanic? If so (haven't seen much of the video yet), then usually that's done to simplify the disassembly process (the pieces hold together less firmly) for those who prefer to cement/paint/mod/otherwise build the kits "traditionally." Snap-build pegs and sockets are great for, well, snap-building, but they also mean lots of extra plastic that tends to get in the way of a modeler.

Otherwise maybe the person's just not paying attention due to speed concerns.

Ah I see, thanks for the explanation

[kajnrig]

A while back we were talking about the landing gear, especially the rear ones. What were the suggestions for replacing them again? I seem to recall talks of Hasegawa F-18 and YF-23 kits because of them having similar landing gear designs and a similar opening mechanism...?

[VF-1A Grunt]

Love seeing displays like this.

That's definitely cool to see. When I was in Japan last fall, it was like Macross was an afterthought in all the hobby shops I visited in Akihabara. An handful of kits buried on a shelf among the piles of Gundam models.

[Skypoet]

A few more videos:

Everything seems good so far with this model :-)

At least it seems sturdy according to the fisrt vid :-)

Edited June 26, 2016 by Skypoet

[kajnrig]

Hm... First impressions are cautiously optimistic. I still don't trust it to look any good in-hand and up close, but at least it's fine from a distance. (Then again, the same can be said of the Bandai VF-25...)

[David Hingtgen]

There is no Hase -23 kit, and -23 kits are rare nowadays in 1/72 but I still think it's the best option looks-wise. That said, the -23 itself used modified -18 gear for the mains (it used -15 for the nose) and -18 kits are very cheap if you buy older releases with lower-quality decals.

[Big s]

In that video where he snips the pegs and widens the holes, he probably has the intention of doing a first test fit. With these transformable kits it can be tough to spot where to mask parts or if the modeler is going to fill in seams it can be difficult to see what will show and what won't. It's also so that you can see what parts would be easier to paint before assembly then disassemble for all the work.

[Graham]

Yay, mine just arrived at my office this morning from HLJ.