MΔ - VF-9

[valhary]

My doubt is about if this screen comes with the kit?  

I assume that not but worried me have lost when I opened

[sh9000]

Damn that VF-9 is awesome.

[Priss!]

Wow, this is really amazing! 

I have been watching for your models since a long time, and there's nothing but improvements with every release.

You're really amazing. hope someday you can make your own 3P company about Macross/Robots/Whatever you want.

You could try to make some resin kits as well for the people less talented with the primer and sanding process :P.

As a sugestion, with the optional parts/add ons, You could design Intake Covers.

I will buy a copy ASAP. (Shapeways is a bit expensive to Chile)

PS: Do you have a detail of the size and quantity of pins and screws you need to build it?

PS2: Thanks for bring this bird alive

[Xigfrid]

@Priss! Thanks for the kind words. A non transforming resin kit is in the pipe, I just have not much information to share for now because this is a challenging model, but if you want a fully working/transforming kit you will have no choice. I know Shapeways can be very expensive outside the USA, send me in PM the price asked by Shapeways and I will see if I can order a kit myself and have it shipped to Chile at a lower price.

I think that the VF-9 is officially the only VF that doesn't need intake covers! Pins and  screws, since you can order these in no smaller 50x quantities of ebay, buying 50x of each screw models and pins will be plenty enough. Or you can count them in my Assembly Manual. Sorry I am very short of free time for that :)

 

[arbit]

On 9/22/2018 at 12:49 AM, Xigfrid said:

whoohoo, transformation video is up at youtube, sorry sound is a little too low.

I've been waiting for this video!

It looks like a perfectly engineered toy. Puts the old resin transforming kits to shame.

It is definitely worth the money.

[Mechapilot77]

i don't frequent the workshop because i usually prefer toys that are already made, but this looks AMAZING. i didn't even know a vf-9 exists until today.  i'm so curious about this kit and will have to read the entire thread now as i might be tempted to buy/build one.   kudos to xigfrid!

[jvmacross]

If anyone wants to start a build service for the VF-9.....count me in as an interested customer!

I'd probably be interested in completed builds of several of Mr. Xigfrid's creations, particularly the 1/60 Vajra.

Hope to see a 1/60 VF-14 M+ ver and a VA-3 soon!

[Sanity is Optional]

I'd love one as well, but don't have the time or practice to go about painting one up. Assembly I don't mind.

[Xigfrid]

@arbit Thanks ! I hope you liked it, you video-junky!
 @Mechapilot77 That's a lot to read, I didn't realise that this thread is almost 5 months old... time flies
 @jvmacross I hope you will find someone to help you, but probably if you can assemble it first (or have it assembled by someone), then you can just have it painted by a "warhammer" guy or a Transformer custom guy. I will leave you a PM about that.
@Sanity is Optional if you assemble it, you should be good to find someone who can paint it for you :)

 

[Xigfrid]

I just received the fins (version 3 on the left), now that I have tested them, I think they look better than I thought, but still undecided which version I prefer (version 2 on the right).  I will let you decide by yourself !

 

[Tage]

On 9/27/2018 at 6:34 PM, jvmacross said:

Hope to see a 1/60 VF-14 M+ ver and a VA-3 soon!

Yes this please! :-)

And yeah i think i prefer fin version 3. The more pointy ones seem to fit in more with the rest of the kit i feel. 

Edited September 30, 2018 by Tage

[Urashiman]

well - the original fins are not pointy at all, but are horizontally aligned to the main body, compared to the interpretion from xigfrid. Just check the official Kawamori line art below.

Edited September 30, 2018 by Urashiman

[arbit]

On 9/28/2018 at 1:56 PM, Xigfrid said:

@arbit Thanks ! I hope you liked it

The video really shows off the transformation quality, strong locks, and the stiffness of the joint positions.  Great job!

[Xigfrid]

I have put a grey primer on the HP copy, no sanding yet. I like how the details show up 

[Kelsain]

Ah OK, so it is smooth. That HP plastic looks really grainy in all of these photos, and I was wondering why you guys had used it!

[arbit]

Do you disassemble before priming?

[Xigfrid]

I don't because I like to play with it between two prime layers. If I do as usual, I plan to disassemble it on the legs, hands and the head only when I will need to apply the last paint layer.

[DarkArchon3000]

I wonder how awesome this would look using the Stratasys J750 full color printer that Shapeways is announcing.

[Xigfrid]

That would be a godly time saving!

[Jasonc]

I'm a little confused as to the head unit construction. It mentions that you need 3 pins, which I have, but the head has a section that appears to have one pin connection. Where do the pins go? I'm sure one goes into the head connection to the cocpit, so that's 2, but there's a third that I cannot figure out.

[Jasonc]

On 9/19/2018 at 11:25 PM, nightmareB4macross said:

That looks really good. Would you mind casting me canopy?  Xigfird has done an amazing job on this and I want to get this kit and build it.

I'll recast one for you. I will need to make sure it's sturdy enough to handle the stress of  fiddling with it. So far, this one is still a little soft, but it could just be the mix I gave it.

[Xigfrid]

7 hours ago, Jasonc said:

I'm a little confused as to the head unit construction. It mentions that you need 3 pins, which I have, but the head has a section that appears to have one pin connection. Where do the pins go? I'm sure one goes into the head connection to the cocpit, so that's 2, but there's a third that I cannot figure out.

I made just now a detailed head assembly manual, I hope every pins will be explained correctly now! Let me know if you have any question of course.

 

[Jasonc]

That was what I needed. The piece that has 3 holes, only had 2. Now I can continue. Thanks for your help.

[nightmareB4macross]

13 hours ago, Jasonc said:

I'll recast one for you. I will need to make sure it's sturdy enough to handle the stress of  fiddling with it. So far, this one is still a little soft, but it could just be the mix I gave it.

I would really appreciate it. Thank you.

[Jasonc]

Isn't Shapeways getting the Stratasys J750 color printer, that can print up to 500,000 colors? Depending on the durability of that plastic, you may need to consider putting color on these parts.

[wmkjr]

I wonder how much the pricing will be for the Stratasys prints?  When Shapeways HP rolled out I thought it would be cheaper since it was touted it would be but that changed after the beta. 

Xigfrid, any model files in your shop not edited before Oct 22 should have your pricing grandfathered until sometime in 2019 correct?

[Xigfrid]

I did apply to beta test the J750, I don’t know yet if I would be pick or not. The J750 is supposed to take voxel files as input and I don’t think sketchup does this kind of files. But if the J750 accepts the surface-colored files such as the DAE, then I could use it in color. 

J750 price will be stratospheric I guess. I am kind of disappointed by shapeways pricing strategy for their WSF and HP prints and it seems the new CEO is only rising them. There is a discussion in their forum about the new prices and it seems that their will be an option for “slow manufacturing” that would lower the new prices at the current price +\- 5%

In Europe, I have found a manufacturer that can print the HP material at the current shapeways WSF price, I am pretty happy by it but they don’t have any marketplace. So this is not a solution for me until I can make a website or find another manufacturer with a marketplace ...

 

[Jasonc]

With the set I have now, I'm going to try a new method of paint application. Because this material is quite sponge-like, I'm not going to apply a primer. I'm going to use several layers of the color I want to let that soak into the crevices. After a few times of paint/sand, I should have a solid color I don't have to worry about scratching completely off, and should be under the top most layer.  At least that's my hope. I'm doing the Macross the Ride yellow valk, as I'm not a big fan of the prototype color, and the Miriya version, well, I just have too many Miriya versions of things already. I may do that one if I do a second version, but for now, MtR is my go to for this. So, a loud yellow, red, and I should have that decal done in a couple weeks.

[Xigfrid]

I have done that before, and it works great, specially in two cases: 1- when the part is half hidden and  doesn’t need a lot smoothing. 2- when the paint is kind of pearlescent and it covers thicker and smoother than the primer so it reduces the preparation time. 

Only downside is that the color ruins the sanding tools that you cannot use later on different colors

[Xigfrid]

I like the mtr theme choice too

[nightmareB4macross]

Wet sanding would be the best option when putting on too much paint. Plus it helps release some of the trapped paint on your tools. You might also want a steel bristle brush to remove residual paint from you tools.

[Mommar]

23 hours ago, Jasonc said:

With the set I have now, I'm going to try a new method of paint application. Because this material is quite sponge-like, I'm not going to apply a primer. I'm going to use several layers of the color I want to let that soak into the crevices. After a few times of paint/sand, I should have a solid color I don't have to worry about scratching completely off, and should be under the top most layer.  At least that's my hope. I'm doing the Macross the Ride yellow valk, as I'm not a big fan of the prototype color, and the Miriya version, well, I just have too many Miriya versions of things already. I may do that one if I do a second version, but for now, MtR is my go to for this. So, a loud yellow, red, and I should have that decal done in a couple weeks.

I’m very interested to see how this all works out for you.

[Jasonc]

I was going to try today, but I have a lot of sleep to catch up on, and I'm not feeling that great, so I'll try to start tomorrow. I am having one helluva time with the wings though. Maybe I'm just not prepping them right?  I may need to order them again to try those again.

[Xigfrid]

21 hours ago, Jasonc said:

I was going to try today, but I have a lot of sleep to catch up on, and I'm not feeling that great, so I'll try to start tomorrow. I am having one helluva time with the wings though. Maybe I'm just not prepping them right?  I may need to order them again to try those again.

I had a hard time to insert the pins, I ended using 0.9mm pins for the 2 last articulations. Other than that, you can sand a bit around the articulations to make them close better. If you have any issue just let me know.

[505thAirborne]

So when do we start seeing these VF-9's with custom paint jobs? 

Wish I had the spare cash, these kits look amazing!