Bandai 1/72 Scale Transformable Macross Δ Kits

[Skypoet]

One speedbuild finished, but it won't show us anything we couldn't have learned from the manual already available from 1999.co.jp, except that the model takes approximately 8 hour to build straight out of the box:

By the way I like the solution that was adopted for the front landing gear: at least we won't need to take a sharpie out to open the landing gear doors, even if this is not scale (or may not be). It also seems that the mechanical design of the legs is simplified (and in spit of that we have a hip swivel motion, which is great) compared with the three former Bandai Valks, which could be very good for durability.

Yes, I know, the rear landing gear is cheesy! But designing a custom landing gear (or find a way to attach a F-18 gear) will be a lot easier than improving the articulations, which seem good and sturdy according to pictures and videos.

Bear in mind that a Macross Gunpla is always a compromise, a trade-off between accuracy and functionality! So it can't be both perfectly accurate and functional at the same time. Remember the VF-1. Superbly accurate and absolutely faithful to the blueprints, however very, very, very fragile - and not even able to withstand its own weight!!

The only thing which worries me is the ankle articulation. On the other hand, it seems to be the same as that of the VF-25, which... never broke throughout the years, at least in my case.

You'll notice that they very pointedly haven't shown us whether the modular pod on the super VF-31 is the same as the normal one, or the speaker pack... and that they haven't shown us whether those pods on the back open. Pretty sure they do, given how similar they are to the VF-25 super parts. but they probably have smaller payload.

It looks like it's the same :-( ... I hope I'm wrong!

[Chronocidal]

You mean like aerodynamically it wouldn't work? or you refer to something else?

More mechanically speaking, in terms of the landing gear. Sure, you can say and do whatever you like with Macross universe overtechnology, but up until now, they really haven't used that sort of magical mechanical nonsense on things as mundane as landing gear.

All of the landing gear on pretty much every valk ever designed up until now would probably function perfectly well if you produced a pure aircraft using modern technology.

These things? They're shock-less sticks that rely on a torsion joint for any sort of suspension or compression. Not to mention that without ridiculously strong materials, the gear doors would rip themselves clean off the aircraft when they started to open, because they open into the airstream, and not pushing against it. Then, assuming the gear actually do compress, if they take a hard landing, you're going to have the gear doors slamming into the shins, and potentially seriously compromising the airframe. Don't they store missiles in there?

I'm not saying that they wouldn't work without the right amount of non-existent applied super-technology. It's just that on an aircraft that generally follows the design conventions of modern day aerodynamics, they look completely out of place, incredibly ugly, and entirely unbelievable from a functional perspective.

Edited June 29, 2016 by Chronocidal

[ayaxr]

Ok I get what you mean. The landing gears seem like horrible afterthoughts, period both visually speaking and with what you mention from a design feasibility point of view. It doesn't bother me that much since I dont really look to display them with landing gears deployed even if they were decent looking, prefer the flying look or in gerwalk.

That's not to say that it continues to be a big oversight towards the quality of the kit and a legitimate concern and eyesore for those who do look forward to displaying them with the gears deployed.

Edited June 29, 2016 by ayaxr

[Vifam7]

More mechanically speaking, in terms of the landing gear. Sure, you can say and do whatever you like with Macross universe overtechnology, but up until now, they really haven't used that sort of magical mechanical nonsense on things as mundane as landing gear.

All of the landing gear on pretty much every valk ever designed up until now would probably function perfectly well if you produced a pure aircraft using modern technology.

I've always had issues with the location, gear covers, leg length, and/or wheel size <-my biggest complaint with most VFs. I try to change/mod what I can on Valk kits.

[SebastianP]

All VF landing gears are bad, period. Except maybe the YF-21/VF-22, and that's only because I don't remember where they go on that plane.

The problem with the previous ones is that ideally, you want the landing gear right behind the center of gravity in order to make the take-off rotation easier, with nearly half the mass of the aircraft acting as a counter-weight. All the VFs with the landing gear in the leg have them way too far back for this to work properly, thus they need a bunch of extra lift (and thus speed) in order to get the nose up during take-off.

And the problem with the VF-31's gear isn't the landing gear door orientation - look up what the nose gear on the F-15 looks like - but that it appears to retract into the intake trunking for the main engine. Which means that air would have to magically get from the intake to the engine without passing through the leg, somehow.

Not that the airflow needing magic is anything new in VF legs, all those joints in the legs would make airflow pretty much impossible IRL anyway.

Edited June 29, 2016 by SebastianP

[Chronocidal]

I'd actually forgotten about the F-15's nose gear, was trying to think of anything that opens that direction. But even then, that's a tiny flat door which is partially shielded from the airflow by the tire and strut, where the VF-31's are giant scoops. Even if they don't get ripped off entirely, they're going to massively slow the plane down.

Good points all around. As far as gear location goes though, once you start talking about craft with such ridiculous amounts of thrust, and also thrust vectoring all over the place, rotation probably wouldn't be so dependent on how close the gear are to the CG. The thrust these engines put out in-universe now is probably enough to not even need a catapult.

The only valk toys I've seen that actually look decent that way are the YF-21/VF-22 like you said, and the SV-51, which stows its gear in very Su-27-like bays along the sides of the fuselage. Most others just kind of shove the gear into whatever space is available. The VF-11 at least tried, with the rotating strut, but they were mounted too far back in the bay, and wound up too stubby to do much good.

[SebastianP]

Maybe I should have pointed out as well that there are plenty of aircraft where the landing gear themselves deploy into the airstream like that without getting ripped off - because by the time the gear are deployed, the aircraft is moving slow enough for that not to happen. Same thing most likely applies to the VF-31's main gear, it doesn't deploy unless you're below 200 knots or so and thus isn't exposed to forces sufficient to rip the doors off.

Also, to expand on the take-off rotation problem:

Most aircraft pitch up by forcing the tail down, rather than the nose up. That's why jet fighters either have delta-wings or ginormous horizontal tails - so that their elevators are as far back as possible and can provide downforce to lever the nose around.

VFs don't have horizontal tails, and a lot of them - all the variable-geometry ones definitely - have their only horizontal control surfaces well in front of their landing gear. The only way of providing downforce behind the landing gear is the thrust vectoring engines, which in real life aren't enough for the kind of pitch authority you need on an aircraft with conventionally placed landing gear, hence why the F-22 still has massive horizontal tails.

The delta-winged VFs at least have control surfaces behind the landing gear, but they still need to provide a lot more downforce with those control surfaces than they would with a more reasonable landing gear placement.

Which is why the more forward-mounted landing gear on the VF-31 is so welcome, because it means Kawamori has finally figured out the problem and is working on fixing it. Even if he's introducing other problems by doing so. (just put the landing gear in the wings where the arms go now, and put the arms back between the legs where they used to be, and the problem will be more or less solved. Except for the model kits probably becoming impossible to balance on their landing gear, but then model builders have had to insert nose weights into their fighter kits for years.)

[iguanaman8989]

Finished mine this afternoon. Straight build + stickers.

Fighter mode locks together all over, nothing floppy anywhere.

Gerwalk and Battroid modes are decently possible for a model kit, and lock together pretty well too.

Other than being really flimsy, the stickers fit really well, no issues lining up the panel lines.

Battroid does have a rotating waists joint, and there is a gerwalk swivel.

Only problem I had was that I stressed the right side landing gear assembly, and now it tends to fall off.

Overall, I'm pleased with the kit and the result. I already have Kieth's SV-262 on preorder, and I'll probably go for Mirage's too when it releases.

Edited June 30, 2016 by iguanaman8989

[Delta_Kazu]

Finished mine this afternoon. Straight build + stickers.

Fighter mode locks together all over, nothing floppy anywhere.

Gerwalk and Battroid modes are decently possible for a model kit, and lock together pretty well too.

Other than being really flimsy, the stickers fit really well, no issues lining up the panel lines.

Battroid does have a rotating waists joint, and there is a gerwalk swivel.

Only problem I had was that I stressed the right side landing gear assembly, and now it tends to fall off.

Overall, I'm pleased with the kit and the result. I already have Kieth's SV-262 on preorder, and I'll probably go for Mirage's too when it releases.

You sir have just convinced me to order this

[Skypoet]

Finished mine this afternoon. Straight build + stickers.

Fighter mode locks together all over, nothing floppy anywhere.

Gerwalk and Battroid modes are decently possible for a model kit, and lock together pretty well too.

Other than being really flimsy, the stickers fit really well, no issues lining up the panel lines.

Battroid does have a rotating waists joint, and there is a gerwalk swivel.

Only problem I had was that I stressed the right side landing gear assembly, and now it tends to fall off.

Overall, I'm pleased with the kit and the result. I already have Kieth's SV-262 on preorder, and I'll probably go for Mirage's too when it releases.

Love it Thanks for the pictures and feedback! :wub: :wub:

[iguanaman8989]

Disclaimer: First Bandai Macross kit, missed out on the Frontier releases and just never bothered to track down the one that I wanted (VF-25G). I have put together dozens upon dozens of Gunpla and quite a few Zoids (picked up a couple of the Koto HMM kits along with this one)

[Golden Arms]

Awesome work Iguana! Mine is progressing pretty well. I stopped at the second wing. So far I've been really impressed with this kit so far. Defiantly restored my faith in Bandai's Macross Kits. Currently building this and the 1/100 Impulse gundam.

Big stamp of approval for Bandai bringing their A game to Delta. Can't wait for the DX toys!

[chyll2]

Fighter mode looks good sans the landing gear.

[Graham]

I've got the nose, forward fuselage, backplate and one wing done so far, just straight snap-fit build + panel lining with a Gundam marker and using the stickers.

Just spending about an hour on it each night, 3 nights in so far.

I've gotta say what I've built so far locks together very well. The engineering that went into this is pretty impressive.

[Delta_Kazu]

Disclaimer: First Bandai Macross kit, missed out on the Frontier releases and just never bothered to track down the one that I wanted (VF-25G). I have put together dozens upon dozens of Gunpla and quite a few Zoids (picked up a couple of the Koto HMM kits along with this one)

Did you apply anything to keep the stickers in place? I havent built a model with so much stickers especially with ones that can be in contact frequently. Did you apply any top coat or something to keep them in place afterwards?

[chyll2]

Stickers or decals, if you want it to stay where it belongs, then sealing it is suggested. There will be a tendency for dust to settle in the border of the stickers.

[iguanaman8989]

Did you apply anything to keep the stickers in place? I havent built a model with so much stickers especially with ones that can be in contact frequently. Did you apply any top coat or something to keep them in place afterwards?

Nope, just a quick build, nothing fancy.

[Skypoet]

Stickers or decals, if you want it to stay where it belongs, then sealing it is suggested. There will be a tendency for dust to settle in the border of the stickers.

What kind of sealing would you apply and is there a tutorial somewhere whan I can learn about sealing decals or stickers?

[anubis20]

What kind of sealing would you apply and is there a tutorial somewhere whan I can learn about sealing decals or stickers?

Decals you can just spray some flat top coat on it.

[Delta_Kazu]

Decals you can just spray some flat top coat on it.

What about stickers tho?

[Big s]

I stay far away from stickers. I may pick up the 31a since it's the only one I really like, but I was wondering about add ons. I will probably wait for a review on it with add ons before buying though.

[Petrov27]

well mine finally arrived. First Bandai kit of any kind here. I have to say, from a presentation and packaging standpoint everything is really top notch. As a plastic model nut all those colorful sprues really speak to me - can't wait to dive into this one. Maybe I shall sing a different tune after I get into assembly but first impressions are great

Were they likely doing all members of Delta in this format?

Edited June 30, 2016 by Petrov27

[hal9000]

Not a bad guide for top coating.

But one big note is for sticker and decals. You should never try and put decals/stickers on a mat clear coat. Sticker wont stick well and decals wont move or lay well, you want a smooth surface for the decal/sticker bare plastic or high gloss clear coat.

http://www.gunpla101.com/top-coat-guide-for-gunpla/

[Skypoet]

Thanks everyone for the suggestions regarding stickers and decals!

[hal9000]

Mine just deliverd, so my weekend project is here.

Now I'm just going to have to decide between stickers or decals.

[Golden Arms]

What Hal said regarding the stickers/decals. For Decals I apply gloss top coat first. Next I then use Micro sol Setting solutions to prep the surface for decals and to soften the decal once applied. Allow decals to dry and then finish with another top coat. The micro sol solutions work very well for tough decals. They work wonders on the Hasegawa decals which I've found can be difficult to work with if applied to a curved surface. They are a must own in my book if you do any modelling.

That's why I bought a 2nd kit. First kit is stickers/quick build. 2nd kit will be painted and decaled.

Edited June 30, 2016 by Golden Arms

[Graham]

Added the other wing and one arm last night.

[Skypoet]

Review of articulation and poseability:

Link

Edited June 30, 2016 by Skypoet

[SebastianP]

well mine finally arrived. First Bandai kit of any kind here. I have to say, from a presentation and packaging standpoint everything is really top notch. As a plastic model nut all those colorful sprues really speak to me - can't wait to dive into this one. Maybe I shall sing a different tune after I get into assembly but first impressions are great

Were they likely doing all members of Delta in this format?

99% sure we're getting all five Siegfried versions, and 100% sure we're getting Keith's Draken III. Only 75% sure we're getting the "regular" Draken III, though, and I wouldn't bet on us getting either the Nightmare Plus or the Kairos - last time, they only made the main character VFs and a grunt version of the VF-27, and that was it, except for decal and equipment variations. We didn't even get a YF-29 or super parts for the VF-27, as Bandai had basically dropped the 1/72 line by the time the second movie was released.

Then again, last time they only started releasing kits after the show was over, whereas this time they've started while show is only half way through. *And* they've got the whole "Macross Modelers" thing in the background. Depending on how well the new kits - and the re-issues - sell, they might find it in their budgets to give us some grunts for this show, and maybe even the earlier shows. After all, all it would take for them to give us a VF-25A would be to switch the color on the VF-25G and include the standard gun pod runner instead of the sniper pod, and an extra sticker sheet with some separate numbers.

[Big s]

Personally I never use setting solutions, but I do use microsol decal solvent. Gloss coat first then decal then solvent after the decal is dry. Some decals may need another coat or two to make the decal conform to the surface. They recomend cleaning the decal with a little water after a quick dry time then top coat.

If I'm painting the kit, I will use a little over spray of the color I used around the decal to blend the edge better, then top coat.

On the Gundam real grades everything seemed to be molded correctly with no seam lines, so I just did the gloss, decal, solvent, then top coat.

[ayaxr]

I would love a nightmare plus 1/72! DO IT Bandai!

[Skypoet]

I would love a nightmare plus 1/72! DO IT Bandai!

TOTALLY!!!! Bandai please do the Nightmare PLUS!

[Graham]

Well, finished building mine yesterday, just gotta apply the stickers, but will do that tomorrow.

Gotta say, it locks together pretty well in Fighter mode, with one exception, the two small white pieces that fit just ahead of the railgun muzzles, they don't lock in place very well. Anybody else having that problem.

Haven't transformed it yet.

As I'm not gonna use the decal sheet, if anybody wants it, I'll post it to them, as long as you PayPal me the postage cost. PM me, first come, first served.

[kajnrig]

As I'm not gonna use the decal sheet, if anybody wants it, I'll post it to them, as long as you PayPal me the postage cost. PM me, first come, first served.

PMed!

TOTALLY!!!! Bandai please do the Nightmare PLUS!

Hasegawa please do the Nightmare! (Honestly I love the way it looks in fighter mode. Its best form hands down.)

[seti88]

From tochiro's tweet of macross fan club event...

https://twitter.com/GwynCampbell/status/749083090027294720

one moar...https://twitter.com/macrossD/status/749159768619642880

Edited July 2, 2016 by seti88