Bandai 1/60 DX Chogokin Macross Plus YF-21

[Berkut]

 

I am also curious on how thin the side profile is given the rear of the engines looks like a block. I hope its rather not too tall. 

[Actar]

3 minutes ago, Berkut said:

 

I am also curious on how thin the side profile is given the rear of the engines looks like a block. I hope its rather not too tall. 

Indeed. Looking at the pictures closely now, it does look a little bit too fat in the rear for my liking.... The juxtaposition between the sleek fighter and chunky battroid is one of my favorite aspects of the YF-21 and Bandai looks to have sacrificed the fighter ala the V1 1/72 Yamato. 

[Berkut]

2 minutes ago, Actar said:

Indeed. Looking at the pictures closely now, it does look a little bit too fat in the rear for my liking.... The juxtaposition between the sleek fighter and chunky battroid is one of my favorite aspects of the YF-21 and Bandai looks to have sacrificed the fighter ala the V1 1/72 Yamato. 

The Bandai DX model we are looking at is thankfully a prototype so things will definitely change. The fuselage cone, cockpit shape, the yellow tail band behind (looking round than tapered) is all things to change I hope. 

[Actar]

1 minute ago, Berkut said:

The Bandai DX model we are looking at is thankfully a prototype so things will definitely change. The fuselage cone, cockpit shape, the yellow tail band behind (looking round than tapered) is all things to change I hope. 

I was actually hoping Bandai would have employed some clever technique to collapse the legs like what Takara did with Masterpiece Megatron. If you haven't seen the figure before, check out the 1:39 mark:

 

[easnoddy]

I'm cool with it as-is, so long as the legs are easier to get in and out than the Yamato.

[Mog]

I really don’t like the shortened bellyplates in battroid.

I can understand making them shorter than the 1/60 Yamato’s, but not THAT short.

[Bolt]

It's finally about time we get a modern YF-21.  And she does look good.  Makes my old Yammy look plain Jane, lol. 

Yes , there are some proportion difference that some people may not like. But IMO this is one of the hardest Valks to get right. There was a good amount of anime magic to make it look so good in every mode.

[Sanity is Optional]

33 minutes ago, Berkut said:

Overall I do like the fact the engines are closer but ONE little thing I found out (and I'll maybe find more tid bits) is the engine nacelle pods on the top and the fuselage angle is supposed to be all lined up. The Bandai doesnt line up all together as far as I see.  Well its a minor complain but It will NOT be a deal breaker for me. I will buy this for sure.

Well, if you look at the lineart, they're actually not lined up.

Still looks like Bandai made the engines a bit too close together.

[Berkut]

14 minutes ago, Mog said:

I really don’t like the shortened bellyplates in battroid.

I can understand making them shorter than the 1/60 Yamato’s, but not THAT short.

I looked at the pictures of the battroid skirt and the under fuselage section for those flaps/bellyplates, but noticed the rear section of the plates folds up as the cover for the underside of the jet engine backpack. unfortunately this makes the side skirts appear short unless the fastpack add on can make it look elongated. I hope it gets changed in the final too. 

The other part I'm not too happy is the elbow/arm joint being an obvious 3 piece simple double hinge joint that doesnt look "mecha" like. 

[ErikElvis]

Yamato might still technically win fighter mode but I’m in either way.  Definitely need more pics. Does look a little thick in fighter.  Pics are always so hard to tell.  Sometimes you really need to physically have it in hand. 

Edited October 24, 2019 by ErikElvis

[MILKAUTICO]

Holly YF-21!!!

[Chronocidal]

Yeah, proportions have been changed across the board, which I think is a mixed bag?  The engines being closer together makes the whole thing look narrower, but I think the biggest change I noticed was how short they made the lower arms look (or possibly how far forward they're mounted in fighter).  The tails are a decent amount farther forward, and the curved plate hiding the hands next to the engines looks a good deal bigger.

Not going to pretend I won't buy at least a couple, but I actually think the only real improvement here is the shape of the lower legs.  It doesn't look bad, but the battroid arms and shoulders look a bit too skinny I think?  Might also be that I'm too used to the Yamato's legs being skinnier, so it's throwing off my perspective.

Edit: I just realized.. no gunpod mounts.    Hopefully that changes, but undersides of the wings are also bare, so I doubt we'll be getting any fancy ordnance with this one.

Also, looks like they might have articulated the airbrake panel on the spine, so that could be a plus.

Really though, the shape of the upper engine cowls reminds me a lot more of the old resin kits, a bit flatter and more stretched.

 

Edited October 24, 2019 by Chronocidal

[Mog]

The fact that they were able to put a UN Spacey logo on the fuselage chunk, right under the tailfin, does make me worry about the overall fighter mode thickness.

On the Yammy, that’s where the forearms meet a backpack side cover.  So, there’s no room for a UN Spacey sticker there.  It’s just too thin of an area and the transformation process doesn’t make it a feasible spot.

I wound up putting UN Spacey stickers on the back nacelles instead.

[enphily]

i still think with lower legs YF-21 would look much better

Left original, right after some work in photoshop

[jenius]

The YF-21 is inspired by the Q-Rau and the Q-Rau has high hips so while you're probably right, it was a conscious decision by Kawamori. 

[Chronocidal]

I think putting proper chunky hands on it would go a long way to helping battroid too, those little grippers look way undersized.

I'm glad they're tackling it, but while they say "prototype," with that much tampo printing already laid out, I'm not betting much will change before release.

[Mog]

I still think they should elongate the bellyplates in battroid.  They’re just too short.

I don’t see the point of having so much of the lower bellyplate become part of the backpack assembly.

Even if it’s a design or transformation compromise, it really messes up the look of the battroid the most.

[MikeRoz]

I tentatively agree fighter might have some issues, but didn't that tweet two pages back say prototyping would continue? Why is everyone reacting like this is the final product? 

[Chronocidal]

4 minutes ago, Mog said:

I still think they should elongate the bellyplates in battroid.  They’re just too short.

I don’t see the point of having so much of the lower bellyplate become part of the backpack assembly.

Even if it’s a design or transformation compromise, it really messes up the look of the battroid the most.

They could be longer, but the battroid lineart does make them really short.  

I think the trick with the rear bellyplates is that they actually enclosed the entire legs.  If you look between the engines, there's no opening near the feet, and the hand covers extend the entire length of the lower arm.  The whole back end of fighter mode is a giant box for the legs, which explains a bit about why it's so long, but I think they need to push the arms and tails back further to balance that out.  I feel like the extra length wouldn't hurt the arms.

1 minute ago, MikeRoz said:

I tentatively agree fighter might have some issues, but didn't that tweet two pages back say prototyping would continue? Why is everyone reacting like this is the final product? 

There are a lot of things that can change about certain parts without affecting the transformation, like the nose shape and such, but it also looks like the transformation is pretty well set.  We'll have to see, but historically, Bandai really doesn't make many changes once we see a design at this stage.

Edited October 24, 2019 by Chronocidal

[spacemanoeuvres]

This iteration does seem to be a mixed bag. I think overall battroid looks better than the Yamato version; but I think we need more pics of fighter mode. 

[ErikElvis]

Agree. I like battroid but fighter is where I’d like it to shine. 

[jenius]

I'd say the look of the Yamato toy wasn't much of an issue, it's a handsome toy. If they can make a toy that looks just slightly better but handles a LOT better then we're going to be very happy.

[Mog]

I still remember the debacle with CM’s Legioss and Tread.  The uncolored prototype had flaws (Legioss tailfins peaking out in combined fighter, split level look of the combo fighter, and the yellow array on the Tread not sitting down flush), none of which ever got fixed all the way through to final product.

If it’s early in the process, I’d rather make a stink now, while changes can still be made.

I get that Bandai is trying to make a box for the arms and legs to hide into, but they could apportion more of the bellyplate to the hip armor, rather than almost a third of the bellyplate to the fighter box cover.

[spacemanoeuvres]

Yeah the hip armor is definitely too small. Dang, I wonder what the chances are they would address something like that before release. 

[Berkut]

Again, for me in battroid mode, the arm joint kills it for me. The DX YF-19 by Bandai had proper mechanical joints rather than that simple design. I hope that its just for testing purpose only. 

Edited October 24, 2019 by Berkut

[jenius]

What's wrong with them? That looks like a double hinged elbow... would have great articulation.

[Berkut]

12 minutes ago, jenius said:

What's wrong with them? That looks like a double hinged elbow... would have great articulation.

Well even if the articulation is good, because its a simple design used on most Gundam plastic model kits too, its not aesthetically pleasing. Try compare that joint design with the Bandai DX YF-19's here as you can see if an elbow joint on a "would-be" real mecha should look rather mechanical in form or design. 

[Chronocidal]

17 minutes ago, jenius said:

What's wrong with them? That looks like a double hinged elbow... would have great articulation.

Yeah, have to agree, those pieces look more like the unfinished ABS joint components you would find inside a gundam kit, rather than something that you would actually see externally.  They just look like plastic joint pieces snapped together.

They might not change substantially, but that's really the type of thing I'd expect them to make out of metal.  The multi-directional hinges there remind me a bit of the VF-171's elbows.

[jenius]

My guess is that joint slides in and out of a sleeve for transformation so I don't know that it will be dressed up much more than that.

[Berkut]

1 minute ago, jenius said:

My guess is that joint slides in and out of a sleeve for transformation so I don't know that it will be dressed up much more than that.

Yeah thats my observation too, that elbow joint for sure is to slide into the rudder arm pods and pulls out. The limited space in the pods is likely why its designed simple, but if the pods were made slightly larger it can house a bulkier mechanical style joint instead of the basic joint. Well this is all tentative stuff we are looking at with no promises if its final or not.  Still its a good start to really make a rapid prototype with all the paint, tampo markings and all (and transforms too).

[Chronocidal]

Maybe Bandai stashed the shoulders further back in fighter mode, but if it's anything like the Yamato arm transformation, the arms actually have to get longer, with the lower arms extending to cover the hands.. and even then, the arms still don't look like they reach far enough back in fighter mode.

Going to look forward to learning more, it's fun seeing different approaches to the design.

[kajnrig]

As always, the only way to get the best of all worlds would be to make separate toys in each of the three modes. Ah well. I guess I have no choice but to spend $1200 on four of these. No choice whatsoever. No choice. None.

[recon]

2 hours ago, jenius said:

I'd say the look of the Yamato toy wasn't much of an issue, it's a handsome toy. If they can make a toy that looks just slightly better but handles a LOT better then we're going to be very happy.

And also ratchet joints for the hips and knees, to support the weight of the back piece when i  battroid mode

[frankell05]

I just soiled myself

[PsYcHoDyNaMiX]

I don't want to say this is going to follow the previous PO and release date for the VF-19Adv and the YF-19 Full Set, but for reference:

VF-19Adv PO was Jan 6th 2015; Released May 2015

YF-19 Full Set PO was April 27th 2018; Released Sept 2018