Arcadia YF-19 Re-Issue and new Premium Finish

[ValkAddict]

PSA: there's one available on Mandarake for 45,000 yen if you're looking for one
https://order.mandarake.co.jp/order/detailPage/item?itemCode=1228933367&ref=list&keyword=macross&lang=en

[Lolicon]

On 5/6/2023 at 9:42 PM, MacrossJunkie said:

Yeah, I think you're right. In any case, I think it's shameful that they knew about breakages, delayed the release, and then apparently that time spent didn't seem to resolve anything.

It could have been avoided with using just a tiny bit less force on the shoulder screws. I guess over-tightening screws is the new thing because the screws on my revival 25 were also incredibly tight. Had to break out a much larger screwdriver to loosen them because my little hobby screwdriver simply couldn't provide enough torque. 

[max928]

was recently gifted a premium yf19 from my uncle who was in Japan last week.  Of course the right shoulder came broken out of the box.  I may just display it in fighter as it can still pull off that look and stay together. 
 

Anyone here by chance have a broken Left shoulder?  we can trade for good copies of the needed arms

 

[Chronocidal]

Have any pictures of the break?  There have been a few variations, and some are probably easier to fix than others.  I think some of them could definitely be fixed with printed parts.

[max928]

not sure how to take apart the arm/shoulder area, but i did take off the screw

 

Edited June 9, 2023 by max928

[Chronocidal]

Look back a way through this thread, and there are discussions of how to take the shoulder apart entirely.  Once you get the screw out of the shoulder mount on the right, you can pull the entire arm out, and access everything you need to completely remove the shoulder, and replace the broken part.

Actually, with that particular breakage, I kind of wonder if you could drill out the shoulder, and replace the shaft with a piece of solid plastic that would friction-fit into the shoulder pivot.  I'd have to take mine apart again to experiment with the idea.

As an alternative though, if you can get in contact with your uncle, he should have no trouble getting in contact with Arcadia directly to request a replacement part.  You might even be able to make the request yourself, if you can find the right support email address to contact.  I'm not sure how much the barriers to getting service in the US have weakened, but it's probably worth a shot trying to get a replacement either way.

Edit:  Wasn't sure which post it was, so I went back to check.  Check here for showing how to get that screw out.

I could also just get off my backside and model the parts for a Shapeways replacement like I originally considered.  

 

Edited June 9, 2023 by Chronocidal

[Lolicon]

Was the overtightened shoulders something that affected the regular edition reissue as well, or is this problem exclusive to the PF?

Continuing the long trend of some single catastrophic problem affecting what would otherwise be an excellent release. 

[Chronocidal]

I don't remember ever hearing about it, which makes me think it's either a mold degradation issue (which didn't show up in the normal re-releases), or they slopped on so much clearcoat to protect the finish that they gummed up the arms in the process.

[Lolicon]

There's no clearcoat on the PF as far as I can tell. That was only done for the PF SDF-1.

[Chronocidal]

The only thing that makes me suspect it's all clearcoated is the effect I got when I pried apart the wing gloves to install my replacement hinges.  When I pulled the halves apart, there was something like a thin layer of transluscent film along the edges that flaked away very slightly.  I didn't mess with it any further, and it didn't flake away much, it was just a weird thing to see.

I do think the weathering coat on the arms is having an effect though.  I don't have mine handy at the moment, but I remember pictures looking like there was definitely weathering applied to the arms, which is going to have an effect on the mechanical tolerances of the parts.  Inconsistency in that coating is going to make the effect on joint tightness unpredictable, whether it's sprayed on, or applied by hand.

Edited June 13, 2023 by Chronocidal

[davidwhangchoi]

Arcadia has disappointed me with this issue alongside the DD sv-51 ankle errors,  legs breaking off 0A and original 0D release.

 

[IIymij]

On 5/22/2022 at 6:59 AM, Anasazi37 said:

Back in 2007, for the original Yamato YF-19, I made two sets. One was a conversion of the stickers to waterslide decals. The other was a resize of Hasegawa Option Decal #1, from 1/72 to 1/60. That sheet had some relevant markings on it, like the "Super NOVA" one.

Back in 2014, a MW member commissioned me to do a conversion of the original Arcadia YF-19 stickers:

I'd have to ask the person who commissioned them if it's okay for me to print another set (probably fine), but the bigger issue is that I retired from printing decals several years ago because my work keeps me extremely busy. I occasionally produce small sets that address oversights or mistakes made by Arcadia and Bandai and take on unique/challenging commissions, but right now the waiting list is pretty long. There are folks on it who have been waiting patiently for more than a year because of my limited free time.

Any chance this waiting list still exists, if so I'd be happy to be put on it for several sets? 😅 

Edited August 7, 2023 by IIymij
spelling

[jenius]

A little late to the party but I put together this video comparison of the PF vs the Regular release:

 

[treatment]

Nice!

Would've been a bit nicer if you had instead used the more recent non-PF reissue with the 40th-Anniversary logo to comment if it did improved the loose ankles and wings of the original release.

 

 

Edited July 7 by treatment

[jenius]

I think that would be its own video, a YF-19 Original Release vs. Reissue. That would definitely be a video with talking instead of this picture show. I have a few hurdles though:

1) I don't have unlimited money for toys so I can't afford to buy the same toy twice; that's why I tend not to pick-up straight reissues. I make exceptions when a manufacturer like Arcadia puts out some tweets about improvements or even changes the packaging. 
2) First release vs. second release would always be an unfair comparison. My first release toy will have always been handled and transformed several times in comparisons to other toys while the reissue will be right from the box experiencing its first handling. If the reissue doesn't feel better and tighter, that's a really bad sign! Things like the Arcadia YF-19 ankles are known to get looser over time, especially if you put the toy in GERWALK a few times.
3) Though you would think with all the computer assisted manufacturing that tolerances from toy-to-toy in a manufacturing run would all be consistent, but they're not, so observations like "this joint feels tighter on the second release" could be specific to the toy I purchased. I did make a few of those references in the DX YF-19 comparisons but tried to make sure it never sounded like "this is what you will experience if you buy this toy". 

Maybe I can purchase and compare a lightly used reissue to my lightly used original release... so maybe it'll happen some day. 

Edited July 8 by jenius

[MKT]

22 hours ago, jenius said:

A little late to the party but I put together this video comparison of the PF vs the Regular release:

 

Nice video.  Liked the way you did the comparison with lots of close ups & both regular + PF mimicking the same pose & camera angle.

I’m still ruminating to pick up the PF, but afraid I’ll get a lemon with broken shoulders. Definitely no support for replacement parts at this time!

[aurance]

I wonder if the wing joints could be tightened with polish and/or super glue, or are they inaccessible? That's my only qualm about this guy.

[MKT]

Not sure if this has ever been posted on these boards before, but here’s Kawamori showing the YF-19’s 4th mode. And no, it’s not a pengroid, but very suitably the pterosaur. 

https://x.com/kawamoriexpo/status/1692706042453598645

Actually, the toy looks like Yamato’s instead of Arcadia. I guess my Yammie YF-19 can be brought out of obsolescence now for display. 

[treatment]

22 hours ago, aurance said:

I wonder if the wing joints could be tightened with polish and/or super glue, or are they inaccessible? That's my only qualm about this guy.

Just try it.  

Maybe Kiki can help if Future/Pledge are not able to.

[MikeRoz]

30 minutes ago, MKT said:

Not sure if this has ever been posted on these boards before, but here’s Kawamori showing the YF-19’s 4th mode. And no, it’s not a pengroid, but very suitably the pterosaur. 

https://x.com/kawamoriexpo/status/1692706042453598645

Actually, the toy looks like Yamato’s instead of Arcadia. I guess my Yammie YF-19 can be brought out of obsolescence now for display. 

Nooooo, you can't let these toys see the sun!

[aurance]

1 hour ago, treatment said:

Just try it.  

Maybe Kiki can help if Future/Pledge are not able to.

I don't have one to try it on, that's why I was asking.

[Uxi]

After playing with old Yamato Gullet model, I probably wouldn't upgrade tbh but did get and am enjoying the Arcadia Basara reissue. I'd rather get a 19S or 19P if they revisit those.  

[Chronocidal]

I did find a tweak to the old gulleted YF-19 that would bring it closer to the VF-19 mold, it just required a few adjustments to the neck joint to lower the nose.  I hacked mine up, and never finished once the new YF-19 was announced.  It just sits in the box.  Maybe someday I'll go back and finish it, but it just feels like a waste now with much better options available.  I almost feel bad about chopping it up, but this particular old Yammie was already in a shambles in the box, and needed repairs when I got it.

It did give the nose a lot better angle, but never did anything to fix the actual gullet, which is mostly due to the gear bay area being oversized compared with the later VF-19 mold.

The new mold has its drawbacks, but it's so much more solid and well engineered in almost every way (looking at you, wing hinges), I don't really have any nostalgia for the old Komodo dragon version.   If anything, the nostalgia is more for the time when it was released, when the market was seeing the explosion of new Yamato molds into a vacuum still mostly filled by bootleg Chunky Monkeys.

It definitely looks like that particular YF-19 has been aged though, the tan color of the upper surface looks like it's been displayed in a sun room.  

On 7/8/2024 at 11:06 AM, aurance said:

I wonder if the wing joints could be tightened with polish and/or super glue, or are they inaccessible? That's my only qualm about this guy.

It's interesting to note that the wing joints on one of my PF versions actually are very tight, they actually hold quite well, I think partly from the spray fixative I believe the PF finishes receive.  The only loose joint is the innermost pivot, which has metal rotating on plastic.  That one probably would benefit from a coat of nail polish, future floorwax, or maybe a bit of superglue.

That aside though, the first thing I did with my first PF YF-19 was open up the wings and swap out the metal swingarms with permanent hinges I designed.  They just lock the wings into place with a single pivot like the old YF-19 and VF-19s used.  The hard part is disassembly, which requires prying out a couple of screw covers, opening the wing gloves, and then gently prying the wings apart to remove the original hinges and slip in the new ones.

The hinges still look available in POM from Sculpteo, and aren't expensive at all, so if you're frustrated enough to do the disassembly, they might do the trick for you. 

More details about installation of the replacements start here in the old YF-19 thread.

Just be careful with the wings themselves though. They were shown to be rather fragile early in release of the Arcadia YF-19, since some folks received ones with wings that were cracked clean through.  I would not recommend trying to pry them apart completely.

The only reason these parts work is because the wings don't tend to be fully glued together at the root, and I was easily able to wedge them open enough with a fingertip to remove the stock hinges, and slip in my replacement after removing the screw.

 

Edited July 10 by Chronocidal

[aurance]

1 hour ago, Chronocidal said:

with my first PF YF-19 was open up the wings and swap out the metal swingarms with permanent hinges I designed.  They just lock the wings into place with a single pivot like the old YF-19 and VF-19s used.  The hard part is disassembly, which requires prying out a couple of screw covers, opening the wing gloves, and then gently prying the wings apart to remove the original hinges and slip in the new ones.

The hinges still look available in POM from Sculpteo, and aren't expensive at all, so if you're frustrated enough to do the disassembly, they might do the trick for you. 

Yikes, I definitely do not trust myself to do that. But thanks for the tips and instructions, that is some amazing work.

[Uxi]

Arcadia should do a VF-19A Ravens repaint.  Fix the ankles already (ratcheted) and maybe a couple detents for the wings for regular fighter mode, if not battroid and high speed. 

[Sandman]

On 7/11/2024 at 12:33 PM, Uxi said:

Arcadia should do a VF-19A Ravens repaint.  Fix the ankles already (ratcheted) and maybe a couple detents for the wings for regular fighter mode, if not battroid and high speed. 

I loved that ravens repaint for the 1/72 yamato vf-19a. I wish they would give us this repaint for the new mold.

[Uxi]

On 8/25/2024 at 8:52 PM, Sandman said:

I loved that ravens repaint for the 1/72 yamato vf-19a. I wish they would give us this repaint for the new mold.

Some of the Macross 30 schemes were cool,  too. 

[no3Ljm]

On 8/25/2024 at 8:52 PM, Sandman said:

I loved that ravens repaint for the 1/72 yamato vf-19a. I wish they would give us this repaint for the new mold.

20 hours ago, Uxi said:

Some of the Macross 30 schemes were cool,  too. 

Seriously. At this point, Arcadia should just get some license from Dengeki Hobby to produce the Valks featured in Macross R. With the existing molds they have, and some tweakings and additional molds, they can produce VF-19 Active Nothing, VF-1X++ Hakuna, SV-52y Oryol, VF-19A Brauhitsu. Assuming they also have Yamato molds for VF-22 and VF-11, they can also do VF-22HG Schwalbe Zwei and VF-11D Thunder Focus.

I'm in for VF-19 Active Nothung.  

[Chronocidal]

I don't even care about mold changes, I STILL just want this one produced officially.  

 

[Mommar]

22 hours ago, Chronocidal said:

I don't even care about mold changes, I STILL just want this one produced officially.  

 

I'll echo this.

[MKT]

On 8/29/2024 at 12:21 AM, no3Ljm said:

Seriously. At this point, Arcadia should just get some license from Dengeki Hobby to produce the Valks featured in Macross R. With the existing molds they have, and some tweakings and additional molds, they can produce VF-19 Active Nothing, VF-1X++ Hakuna, SV-52y Oryol, VF-19A Brauhitsu. Assuming they also have Yamato molds for VF-22 and VF-11, they can also do VF-22HG Schwalbe Zwei and VF-11D Thunder Focus.

I'm in for VF-19 Active Nothung.  

+1... + many 1s!   Love the modded designs from Macross R. 

[davidwhangchoi]

anything arcadia will be good news