Arcadia 1/60 VF-4A ‘Flashback 2012’ Premium Finish & Regular Release

[no3Ljm]

11 minutes ago, Lolicon said:

The covers can be pulled out with tape or blue tack. They're just held in place with a little friction. 

Later Bandai DX releases are harder to take apart than earlier ones as Bandai has continually upped the amount of glue applied to each release. I know because I've disassembled (or tried to) all of them. 

Thanks @Lolicon! 

[seti88]

There ought to be a collective macross disassembly thread...

as part of the charm of macross valk toy collecting..

[no3Ljm]

1 minute ago, seti88 said:

There ought to be a collective macross disassembly thread...

as part of the charm of macross valk toy collecting..

Macross Maintenance has only have 8 pages. Maybe we can ask the mods to rename it to Macross Maintenance and Disassembly?

 

[seti88]

14 minutes ago, no3Ljm said:

Macross Maintenance has only have 8 pages. Maybe we can ask the mods to rename it to Macross Maintenance and Disassembly?

 

Macross maintenance has disassembly of certain parts. What i am thinking of is a complete disassembly guide for every valk.

Of course that can only be written by someone who has done it. And not to mention the time and energy required to put such a complete guide together.

So...if it happens it happens..

Note: Might be an entire section of its own..or maybe a subsection in the workshop ...but thats mixing with other model builds etc....another story all together...

Edited May 21, 2022 by seti88

[Lolicon]

Had some time to buckle down and apply the thousand or so tiny markings on the VF-4A. Again thanks to @Anasazi37 for the awesome decals!

Also been sanding down the unsightly seam lines. The seam lines on the nose were especially obvious.

Just need to topcoat her and seal everything in! 

[no3Ljm]

You need to atleast showcase the lovely white landing gears, @Lolicon.   

Looking forward to your VF-4A.  

 

[Chronocidal]

Isn't it nice to not have to paint the landing gear yourself?  

[Lolicon]

Gotta seal in the wash on the landing gear. 

Not having to paint them myself saves a lot of time. 

[Anasazi37]

6 hours ago, Lolicon said:

Had some time to buckle down and apply the thousand or so tiny markings on the VF-4A. Again thanks to @Anasazi37 for the awesome decals!

Also been sanding down the unsightly seam lines. The seam lines on the nose were especially obvious.

Just need to topcoat her and seal everything in! 

Looking good! 

[Ignacio Ocamica]

11 hours ago, Anasazi37 said:

Looking good! 

+2!! It's looking really good.

[wm cheng]

Beautiful @Lolicon can't wait to see it all together!

[Lolicon]

On 5/26/2022 at 11:18 AM, wm cheng said:

Beautiful @Lolicon can't wait to see it all together!

As requested, I put it back together and took a few pics. (I really need to get my hangar setup back up.)

Anyway, here's my homemade "premium finish" VF-4A. 

Edited May 28, 2022 by Lolicon

[no3Ljm]

16 minutes ago, Lolicon said:

As requested, I put it back together and took a few pics. (I really need to get my hangar setup back up.)

Anyway, here's my homemade "premium finish" VF-4A. 

Just gorgeous, @Lolicon. Gorgeous.

 

[MKT]

32 minutes ago, Lolicon said:

Loving it! 

Recently I’ve been thinking the YF-21 has the sleekest Fighter mode, but seeing these VF-4A pics in both its anime & toy form again just makes me think it should be right at the top for best Fighter design.

[Slave IV]

Beautiful work @Lolicon

@MKT agreed. One time a friend of mine who is a Macross fan and well versed in transforming toys saw my display including the VF-4 and he had to ask if that one actually transformed.

[MKT]

@Slave IV in addition to its design, it’s also a testament to both Yamcadia 1/60s & Bandai HMRs (now why not the 31AX dammit! ) were well implemented in their fit & finish.

There are no obvious tell-tale gaps that show which parts come apart for transformation & this help sell the non-transformability factor.

[Lolicon]

Thanks guys. Agreed that the VF-4 has an absolutely beautiful fighter and really stands out even among Kawamori's many other amazing valkyrie designs.

If I had to pick my 3 favorite fighters, it'd be the VF-4, YF-19, and VF-25. 

[Slave IV]

42 minutes ago, MKT said:

@Slave IV in addition to its design, it’s also a testament to both Yamcadia 1/60s & Bandai HMRs (now why not the 31AX dammit! ) were well implemented in their fit & finish.

There are no obvious tell-tale gaps that show which parts come apart for transformation & this help sell the non-transformability factor.

Definitely! It’s part of why I hold Yamacadia to a higher standard. Their fit and finish on most of their Valks is just better and more seamless. The design of the VF-4 really helped showcase it for them. Now…if only they could have made the missiles attach better. 😂

[no3Ljm]

34 minutes ago, Slave IV said:

Definitely! It’s part of why I hold Yamacadia to a higher standard. Their fit and finish on most of their Valks is just better and more seamless. The design of the VF-4 really helped showcase it for them. Now…if only they could have made the missiles attach better. 😂

Magic Tape or thin coat of Clear Nail Polish. 

[Slave IV]

3 hours ago, no3Ljm said:

Magic Tape or thin coat of Clear Nail Polish. 

Yeah, next time I dig mine out and find my future, I’ll try to fix that issue. 

[Chronocidal]

The new release was quite a bit better at holding on the missiles, but yes, I just stuck a small sliver of scotch tape over the tabs on my old Yamato release, and they all hold very firmly.

[Lolicon]

One more for the road.

Arcadia 1/60 vs Bandai 1/??? 

(I actually had to put more work into the HMR version)

[Slave IV]

39 minutes ago, Chronocidal said:

The new release was quite a bit better at holding on the missiles, but yes, I just stuck a small sliver of scotch tape over the tabs on my old Yamato release, and they all hold very firmly.

Forgot i have the recent 4A release and i didn't notice them falling off so they must have been improved.

[Magnus]

Can I ask, if I were to get the Arcadia release what would be the key major issues to look out for?  I can deal with loose joints, but are there any catastrophic flaws in the toy?  I've noticed that the price for it has really bottomed out which makes me suspicious. 

[treatment]

20 minutes ago, Magnus said:

Can I ask, if I were to get the Arcadia release what would be the key major issues to look out for?  I can deal with loose joints, but are there any catastrophic flaws in the toy?  I've noticed that the price for it has really bottomed out which makes me suspicious. 

The only catastrophic flaw with the Arcadia VF-4A  (and the VF-4G, for that matter) is that it' is just supremely fugly in battroid-mode...

 

[Lolicon]

24 minutes ago, Magnus said:

Can I ask, if I were to get the Arcadia release what would be the key major issues to look out for?  I can deal with loose joints, but are there any catastrophic flaws in the toy?  I've noticed that the price for it has really bottomed out which makes me suspicious. 

The Arcadia VF-4A is just a recolor/reissue of the old Yamato VF-4G from 10 years ago, which itself was a pretty much problem-free design (a rarity with valkyries). The worst problems are some loose joints and missiles that pop off sometimes. Nothing that some Kiki or nail polish can't fix.

[Chronocidal]

I think the only serious flaw some people saw was some bad die-cast in the shoulder joints on the early releases.  I don't even remember if it was more than one case of that, but I do remember people loosening the shoulder joint screws as a preventative measure.

[505thAirborne]

13 hours ago, Lolicon said:

As requested, I put it back together and took a few pics. (I really need to get my hangar setup back up.)

Anyway, here's my homemade "premium finish" VF-4A. 

Simply a Masterpiece! 

[ValkAddict]

Awesome work @Lolicon

[wm cheng]

Absolutely beautiful work @Lolicon - another masterpiece to your collection.  Congrats!

[nightmareB4macross]

On 5/28/2022 at 10:00 AM, Lolicon said:

As requested, I put it back together and took a few pics. (I really need to get my hangar setup back up.)

Anyway, here's my homemade "premium finish" VF-4A. 

Beautiful.

🤩

[Lolicon]

Thanks for the kind words all, though Arcadia did 90% of the work. I just did the painstaking last 10% to bring out the level of detail hiding in this lovely bird. 

21 hours ago, 505thAirborne said:

Simply a Masterpiece! 

I stared at that gif forever trying to remember which episode of CYE that was from and I finally remembered! It's when what's-his-face catches the baby from the burning building. 

[chriswoo]

I manage to get mine one too Arcadia ver. the battleroid mode look very majestic.

Edited June 7, 2022 by chriswoo

[jvmacross]

[Darotower]

Yamato VF-4G Lighting III, Arcadia VF-4A & Bandai Hi-metal R VF-4 Lighting III