Max Factory 1/20(!) VF-1S/A Hikaru

[GMK]

On 12/7/2018 at 5:17 PM, GMK said:

Hmm. My EMS package is listed as “Retention”. No idea if that’s in Sydney, or more locally. Good times. 

Boom. Just arrived. It’s not little! Bottle of Asahi for scale  

Edited December 10, 2018 by GMK

[Nyankodevice]

and its here! yay

[Atrial]

Just joined the forum, greetings. Wow, there's a lot of Toronto folks on this thread. 

I got mine from Amiami and used EMS. It's in the sorting facility in Mississauga and it got hit with $59.73 duty+taxes. A fellow Torontonian also got his with the same fee. So if you used EMS, especially from Amiami, that's what you have to look forward to. 

Any second now... now... Sigh, after all this time it's a day or two away. 

[TMBounty_Hunter]

Yeeeeeeeep. $592CAD turned into $652CAD      ;_;

[Atrial]

3:07 pm the adventure (arrives) begins. Dang it, I have to clean up and make enough space so I can actually open the box. lol 

[macsam]

did an unboxing video today

did anybody else find the mystery item inside when we opened up the box???

 

 

[Sanity is Optional]

I'm guessing you bought from HLJ?

That's a promotion they're doing right now, a kitkat with every order, plus another for every ¥6000 you spend.

[tekering]

Okay, I think I've nailed the pose I was after.

Now, what should I do about the feet, guys?  Do I fill the gaps above the feet with kitbashed servos and hydraulics (like a real-world mecha), or do I scratchbuild new feet large enough to fill the gap (like the animation model sheets would suggest)? 

[macsam]

8 hours ago, Sanity is Optional said:

I'm guessing you bought from HLJ?

That's a promotion they're doing right now, a kitkat with every order, plus another for every ¥6000 you spend.

yes. purchased from HLJ and got the unexpected kit kat.  really cool stuff.  The entire process from order to home delivery took about two weeks.  

[Atrial]

For the feet... extending or enlarging them could mess with the proportions. I'm sure you could make it work, though. Perhaps extending them up a little and then filling any remaining space with greeblies and mechanical stuff. (I am biased - I'm a fan of greeblies and added detail - imo they elevate the model.)

One issue I have with these thrusters that double as feet is how thin the walls are. Could they support the weight just standing? Let alone during hard impact combat action? Hrm...  It would be easy to Star-Trek-splain it: "new material, stronger composites, blah, blah." But it's a perception thing, they feel thin. I am considering making them a little thicker/sturdier - no firm ideas yet.

 

[nightmareB4macross]

7 hours ago, tekering said:

 

fill the gaps above the feet with kitbashed servos and hydraulics (like a real-world mecha)

With a VF-1 In such a large scale it would be a shame to lose out on such a wonderful opportunity to really detail this.  

Great job! Keep it up!

[TMBounty_Hunter]

Full manual scans for those that like to build in their head instead of physically:
https://imgur.com/a/VjcWEYc

 

This thing is super fun. Opening the box and looking at all the huge part filled me with so much child-like glee that it fully shut up my adult thinking about how much this cost.

Sure the detail is a lot softer than I would have liked, but this was never going to be on par with actual aircraft kits. For a giant cartoon robot kit this is more than fine. Definitely a fantastic accessory for the 1/20 scale pilot figure kit.

Now to try and rebuild the cockpit for TV version......

[Chas]

About the feet. Way back in 2006 I posted a thread (really a step by step walk through ) of the mods I did while making a kit-bashed Gerwalk fro a Hase. battroid and fighter kit. It was a similar pose as what you are attempting and i went with extending the feet up into the gap.You can check it out here and see what it looked like to judge if you want to try something like it.

link

Edited December 12, 2018 by Chas

[DewPoint]

13 hours ago, tekering said:

Okay, I think I've nailed the pose I was after.

Now, what should I do about the feet, guys?  Do I fill the gaps above the feet with kitbashed servos and hydraulics (like a real-world mecha), or do I scratchbuild new feet large enough to fill the gap (like the animation model sheets would suggest)? 

If you're bold, I say hydraulics and engine detail.  Because there has to be an engine in there somewhere! I can't wait to see how you decide to finish this!

[Atrial]

I mentioned strengthening the foot. After doing some searching I found this scene from episode 1. 

https://youtu.be/99XzBdhpF0c?t=1383

Since I'm doing the TV version anyway, I think that I'll be reproducing this thicker edge detail and making those internal thrusters more prominent. I did not want to do any LEDs, but for the first time I'm tempted.

Edited December 13, 2018 by Atrial

[tekering]

Hey, I never noticed the guy that gets fried as Hikaru crashes...  

16 minutes ago, Atrial said:

I did not want to do any LEDs, but for the first time I'm tempted.

Make 'em super-bright!  

7 hours ago, Chas said:

Way back in 2006 I posted a thread (really a step by step walk through ) of the mods I did while making a kit-bashed Gerwalk fro a Hase.

Thanks for sharing!  

[TMBounty_Hunter]

Oooooooooh, here's what we do. The base is big enough to fit an arduino, the pipe is nice and hollow for wires, so all nice for brainy wiring. Put super bright LEDs in the feet, but also put a light sensor in there. So if anyone at a show gets curious enough about the internals to take out there inspection flashlight and point it there, THE INNER LIGHT WILL SHINE BACK! :P

[GMK]

On 12/13/2018 at 1:42 AM, tekering said:

Okay, I think I've nailed the pose I was after.

Now, what should I do about the feet, guys?  Do I fill the gaps above the feet with kitbashed servos and hydraulics (like a real-world mecha), or do I scratchbuild new feet large enough to fill the gap (like the animation model sheets would suggest)? 

Could you extend the fairing down to cover the gap?

[THOR]

if I had some dimensions or the parts I could draw up a set of proper feet for 3D printing.

[GMK]

4 hours ago, THOR said:

if I had some dimensions or the parts I could draw up a set of proper feet for 3D printing.

Would you consider a TV-style cockpit?

[THOR]

Yes. I prefer it too.

[Atrial]

Omg, TMBounty_Hunter and I were going to try to scratch build TV cockpits. (Turns out he's my friend and he's been here all along. )

[Mr Jones]

I forsee lots of interesting 3d printed and detail-up parts for this kit. I can't wait until I can start digging in on it ( in like 6 months :S ) 

[THOR]

a little bit o fun

[macsam]

has anyone started painting?

[Return To Kit Form]

On 12/13/2018 at 5:00 PM, tekering said:

Hey, I never noticed the guy that gets fried as Hikaru crashes...  

I think I read somewhere that the guy is supposed to be Kowamori...

[GMK]

2 hours ago, macsam said:

has anyone started painting?

Just panel lines to check their consistency. 

[GMK]

4 hours ago, THOR said:

a little bit o fun

Looking good. Do you think you could make the instrument panel the same interface/outline as the kit one, just with the TV layout?

[THOR]

Yes.  Just need dimensions of the kit piece.

[GMK]

4 hours ago, THOR said:

Yes.  Just need dimensions of the kit piece.

I’ll measure it up when I get home. 

[GMK]

Okay. 21.1mm wide - main screen bezel.

https://i.imgur.com/iFB2g7D.jpg 

14.5mm high - main screen bezel. 

https://i.imgur.com/7P4gPKx.jpg

34.3mm wide - instrument panel, including quarter consoles. 

https://i.imgur.com/2gFJ2el.jpg

5mm wide - centre console. 

https://i.imgur.com/Boj7cG9.jpg

12mm wide - quarter consoles.

That ought to get you started. 

[GMK]

Mocked up the backpack using Hasegawa’s 1/72 proportions (very roughly). 

 

I need to work on the taper for the top surface. 

Compared to this:

 

[TMBounty_Hunter]

Oooooh, I love seeing CAD (Cardstock Assisted Design)

[Atrial]

Did anyone else have cracked or broken pieces? I had a lot of nubs snapped off from the piece, but they were clean breaks, ready for sanding (happy days).

Unfortunately I had a few imperfect breaks. Not a big deal since there's need for putty in a bunch of places (tho the wingtip break below is in a super visible spot and will need extra attention). The two worst issues were: 

[Nyankodevice]

On 12/16/2018 at 4:36 AM, GMK said:

Mocked up the backpack using Hasegawa’s 1/72 proportions (very roughly). 

 

I need to work on the taper for the top surface. 

Compared to this:

 

not even Hasegawa are consistent in they're backpacks...

this 1/20 model takes alot from the 1/48 Hasegawa kits..

you new backpack looks good, however im actually more partial to the original kit backpack..

that said, im gonna display the kit with FAST pack so wont se much backpack anyway..