Bandai VF-31AX Kairos Plus - Hayate Type

[MKT]

2 hours ago, treatment said:

I said I wasn't planning on getting this 31AX, but with the favorable exchange-rate and relative cheaper shipping from amz-jp, why not?

So I did.

As such, compared to all various pics of the first-edition I've seen and watched, Bandai seemed to have fixed the side-guns issue:

indeed, the side-guns on my copy of this re-issue are not pointing downwards anymore:
 

Unfortunately, the sides and the underside are still quite gappy and non-flushed in places.
 

 

The issue about the arm-cannon is that it will point straight ahead provided the panel at the rear of cannon is not fully tabbed into the wing. If that rear panel is flushed in fully, then the cannon will point down. Only on some copies people will be able to get both - fully flushed panel with gun pointing straight, and even less if they can get both left & right sides to do the same. So far it has been very random to the degree of flushness vs angle of guns and everything in between. 

[Mommar]

The armors and supers fit better on the new Hayate.  Except for my old Super thigh part, that apparently wasn't glued, and then every single thing that could go wrong gluing something did.  But it'll work if you aren't three stooges combined.

[68whiskey]

On 7/8/2023 at 12:15 PM, Mommar said:

The armors and supers fit better on the new Hayate.  Except for my old Super thigh part, that apparently wasn't glued, and then every single thing that could go wrong gluing something did.  But it'll work if you aren't three stooges combined.

Well it finally happened , on my third Hayate I got one that doesnt have any of the previously mentioned issues. Then I realized my second set of super also has the messed up tabs on the mini gun but everything else fits fine. Safe to say Im done with this line of bandai products 

[Sandman]

Hmm I need to handle my AXs more. I haven't encountered any of these issues but they've also pretty much been on display since I bought them.

Edited July 20, 2023 by Sandman

[sjoebarry]

I’m so torn about pulling the trigger on getting one of these. All three versions are available thru Mandarake for around $200-$250 and that’s including shipping…….  

[68whiskey]

12 hours ago, sjoebarry said:

I’m so torn about pulling the trigger on getting one of these. All three versions are available thru Mandarake for around $200-$250 and that’s including shipping…….  

If you want to pose it in Gerwalk or Battroid I would get one. If you want to display it in plane mode I would not roll the dice on this unless its the latest issue.  If you want a first release version ill sell you one of mine for $210 shipped

[sjoebarry]

3 hours ago, 68whiskey said:

If you want to pose it in Gerwalk or Battroid I would get one. If you want to display it in plane mode I would not roll the dice on this unless its the latest issue.  If you want a first release version ill sell you one of mine for $210 shipped

know what?  you may have sealed the deal for me.  I actually wanted this because of the new FIGHTER mode design, display it in that mode and put my 31-J into battroid.  So sounds like thats not the way to go then, even with the REISSUE version.......

[ValkAddict]

On 7/23/2023 at 6:23 PM, sjoebarry said:

I’m so torn about pulling the trigger on getting one of these. All three versions are available thru Mandarake for around $200-$250 and that’s including shipping…….  

^ QA/QC for the VF-31AX was crap IMHO. I would get one to have at least one of each valkyrie version in the collection, but keep your expectations low.
 

15 hours ago, 68whiskey said:

If you want to pose it in Gerwalk or Battroid I would get one. If you want to display it in plane mode I would not roll the dice on this unless its the latest issue. 

^ Truth

Edited July 25, 2023 by ValkAddict

[treatment]

The fancy white-stand does not come with the reissue...

 

[sjoebarry]

Reissue version available on CDJapan for $212 that includes shipping……..  

[twich]

I just ordered one of these reissues from Mandarake, I have the VF-31AX Mirage Custom, and I was able to get it non-cringe worthy in fighter mode, I just hope that the Hayate is the same or better! I really like the design and the toy, I would like to get the super ghost set and armor pack, but the price has me hesitating.

Twich

[Lolicon]

Another aspect that isn't mentioned too often is the cockpit. While the cockpit is more spacious and the pilot no longer is squished up against the instrument panel, Bandai didn't think to add an actual seat, so the pilot sits on the floor and can't see over the instrument panel.

This isn't a QC issue. It's a poor design issue. It looks really dumb and makes the pilot look like a little kid at an air show.

[MKT]

The 1/60 Chogokins really need to have more cockpit details moving forward.

It may have sufficed 10 years ago, even when Yamato / Arcadia we’re already doing nicer cockpit interiors, but every other VF competition have moved forward in this area.
The smaller scale KCs have better interior paint & details, and it looks like Threezero’s upcoming VF-1 will be the same as well.

Bandai’s 1/48 Chogokin VF-1 may have been slightly better with colored seats, but the rest of cockpit interior is still a drab grey.

 

[wm cheng]

Hey has anyone come across the Bandai Transformation PDF Manuals to these AX toys?  They used to put out PDF of their transformation PDF manuals for the other toys, but that link had been down for a while now and I'd like to have the PDFs so I don't have to crack open my paper manuals every so often.  I know I can just scan them myself - but thought I should ask first before going through the trouble - or maybe someone has already archived a files section for these things?  TIA.

[Angesdad]

1 hour ago, wm cheng said:

Hey has anyone come across the Bandai Transformation PDF Manuals to these AX toys?  They used to put out PDF of their transformation PDF manuals for the other toys, but that link had been down for a while now and I'd like to have the PDFs so I don't have to crack open my paper manuals every so often.  I know I can just scan them myself - but thought I should ask first before going through the trouble - or maybe someone has already archived a files section for these things?  TIA.

Cheers.

VF-31AX カイロスプラス（ハヤテ・インメルマン機） (tamashiiweb.com)

 

[twich]

I just received my copy of this from Mandarake. Comparing to my VF-31AX Mirage Custom, this toy is light years better. The tabs go right in, no trimming needed.  The only “thing” is the mini-gun pods not tabbing in all the way and the inherent looseness at the wing roots. I think this is a design flaw and not something that can be fixed. I have just handles it a little, have not transformed it yet. Have to say that my initial impression is a good one.

Twich

[sjoebarry]

13 minutes ago, twich said:

I just received my copy of this from Mandarake. Comparing to my VF-31AX Mirage Custom, this toy is light years better. The tabs go right in, no trimming needed.  The only “thing” is the mini-gun pods not tabbing in all the way and the inherent looseness at the wing roots. I think this is a design flaw and not something that can be fixed. I have just handles it a little, have not transformed it yet. Have to say that my initial impression is a good one.

Twich

Reissue version???

[wm cheng]

7 hours ago, Angesdad said:

Cheers.

VF-31AX カイロスプラス（ハヤテ・インメルマン機） (tamashiiweb.com)

 

THANK YOU @Angesdad so much!!!  Is there an English version of that site that lists other manuals?

[twich]

4 hours ago, sjoebarry said:

Reissue version???

Yes, Reissue version.  Sorry that I did not clarify that before.

Twich

[Angesdad]

10 hours ago, wm cheng said:

THANK YOU @Angesdad so much!!!  Is there an English version of that site that lists other manuals?

My pleasure. No English I could find but suggest installing Google translate on your phone which helped me immensely where it translated to "Caution may rub off". 😁

Edited August 3, 2023 by Angesdad

[68whiskey]

On 7/25/2023 at 3:33 PM, treatment said:

The fancy white-stand does not come with the reissue...

 

that white stand was cool if the plane was displayed by itself. If you added the super parts it would slide off with any movement if positioned in that tilted/banked position. 

[sjoebarry]

i've decided screw it, ima get me one of these.  Reissue version has been going for 15,000-20,000 yen on Mandarake recently, so that seems a decent price point to take the plunge, regardless of the potential fit issues.

[Firefox21]

Just got this one from Mandarake too. The price is good. My impression is that the overall quality is a drop compared to the VF-31. I'm not sure how it fair compared to other VF-31AX as this is the only one I have. The grey upper intake is molded in grey and the quality of the plastic looks cheap. Overall, many areas are a tad loose and some areas are overly tight.  But the tabs in the wings fit properly to the legs in fighter mode though.

[jenius]

On 1/11/2022 at 4:05 PM, Chronocidal said:

So, filed the tabs down to actually fit into the legs, and those are secure now.  Pain in the backside to have to fix Bandai's shoddy work, but the tolerances on this thing are just all over the place.

Speaking of which, I decided to test the hardpoints using one of the Sv-262 drones.  Yes, they fit fine under the wings... but no they do not fit on the new hardpoints hidden in the wing fold hinges.  The central peg looks to be the right size, but the space between the tabs is too wide for them to lock in place.

I don't trust any of the measurements on this thing, so who knows if they're actually supposed to be a different size for the packs or not.

Also, I eventually managed to fix the droopy cannons.  I'm utterly baffled as to why, but two of the outer panels on the forearms slide.   No clue why they would even bother with this (maybe they just desperately wanted to give that elbow armor panel more clearance?), and it's a royal pain in the butt to get them to move, so I'm guessing someone slopped glue on them.  They seriously must only move one sixteenth of an inch, so I cannot begin to understand why they thought it was necessary.  Either way, if you don't shove the moving part of the arm as far toward the elbow as it will go, the cannons don't sit flush correctly, and they'll droop.

As an addendum to that.. don't snap the cannon mounts down at the back edge of the underside of the wing, or it'll make them droop.  Those tabs just do not line up correctly.

On a lighter side note.. yeah, the old VF-31 pods look much better than the thermometer sticking out the back end.  Gray paint isn't quite as dark, but I had a spare from my sound booster 31 anyhow, and much prefer being able to stand it on the feet in fighter mode.

Just pulling my 31AX toys out and wanted to thank you for this explanation. The first time I had it out, I dont' recall ever having slid the forearm parts... I don't think the instructions even mention that. Now to see if this sliding action is the reason why one of my guns on Bogue points down while the other side looks pretty respectable. 

[ArchieNov]

Does anyone know if the reissue of the Hayate VF-31AX has improved QC over the initial release? I remember people saying the Bogue variant had better QC over the previous releases so I was hoping that trend continued to improve.

[MKT]

On 9/5/2023 at 12:35 AM, ArchieNov said:

Does anyone know if the reissue of the Hayate VF-31AX has improved QC over the initial release? I remember people saying the Bogue variant had better QC over the previous releases so I was hoping that trend continued to improve.

I was one of those that thought the arm cannons on Bogue were fixed. But it turns out I just got extremely lucky, whilst others’ copies still have the same issue.

Edited September 6, 2023 by MKT

[ArchieNov]

What was wrong with the arm cannons? I have the first release Hayate and I don't recall having that issue. If I remember correctly, I just had to make sure the forearms were slid into the correct position. The only real issue I had with the Hayate were the wing tabs that didn't fit into their sockets. And overall fitment tolerances I guess.

[jenius]

When I first pulled out my Mirage toy, the arm cannons were definitely pointing askew of each other. After going to GERWALK and back to fighter and fiddling a lot with the arms, they now look like they're supposed to. I can't quite seat the rear tab completely to the wing housing, or both guns will point down, but I do have that tab mostly employed and it all looks good! Looking forward to doing the full photo shoot! Gonna try the same thing on Bogue next and then see if I can't make my Hayate first issue look decent. They should have made those arm cannons much smaller, as someone pointed out earlier, it really sucks trying to swoosh the toy around because there's such minimal space to put your hand comfortably. 

[Chronocidal]

5 minutes ago, jenius said:

When I first pulled out my Mirage toy, the arm cannons were definitely pointing askew of each other. After going to GERWALK and back to fighter and fiddling a lot with the arms, they now look like they're supposed to. I can't quite seat the rear tab completely to the wing housing, or both guns will point down, but I do have that tab mostly employed and it all looks good! Looking forward to doing the full photo shoot! Gonna try the same thing on Bogue next and then see if I can't make my Hayate first issue look decent. They should have made those arm cannons much smaller, as someone pointed out earlier, it really sucks trying to swoosh the toy around because there's such minimal space to put your hand comfortably. 

Yeah, as much as these are called "toys," the 31 series is altogether not very fun to swoosh.  They have too many pointy/folding bits to actually pick them up easily, and they're really not that fun to handle, because they are absolutely covered in tampo prints that your fingers will eventually rub off.  The bulkier construction of the AX just made the situation worse.

Funny enough, if you remove the canards, they actually get much easier to pick up, since you can grab them around the intakes, and if you add the super packs, they cover enough of the valk that they feel like tampo shielding.  

[MKT]

3 hours ago, ArchieNov said:

If I remember correctly, I just had to make sure the forearms were slid into the correct position. 

I tried sliding the forearm parts but it didn't do much for me at all, whilst others like yourself have success. The arm cannon issue seems to vary differently from one copy to another.

 

3 hours ago, ArchieNov said:

The only real issue I had with the Hayate were the wing tabs that didn't fit into their sockets. 

If you meant the wing pegging onto the leg, my first copy Hayate's hardly fit too. Mirage's and Bogue's at least fit somewhat better, but still feels like they can easily come undone.

[Chronocidal]

20 minutes ago, MKT said:

I tried sliding the forearm parts but it didn't do much for me at all, whilst others like yourself have success. The arm cannon issue seems to vary differently from one copy to another.

 

If you meant the wing pegging onto the leg, my first copy Hayate's hardly fit too. Mirage's and Bogue's at least fit somewhat better, but still feels like they can easily come undone.

I forgot that I posted better pictures later of the arm slider, and two sides of the arm do move a fair distance.  Not having them all the way in one direction or the other definitely makes a difference in how well they fit into the wings, and that sliding mechanism seems like it was a magnet for sloppy glue application.  Mine took a lot of force before they began sliding the whole distance.

Pics are in this post: 

Far as the wing/leg tabs go, I had to do a significant amount of filing those down on every release before any of mine would tab in.  There were visible molding seams on all of them that had to be removed before they would even begin to fit into the slots.

Edit:  Looking closer at those pics, it might be worth using a better camera and redoing them, I didn't realize how out of focus they are.  Probably posted them from my phone.  

Edited September 5, 2023 by Chronocidal

[MKT]

5 minutes ago, Chronocidal said:

I forgot that I posted better pictures later of the arm slider, and two sides of the arm do move a fair distance.  Not having them all the way in one direction or the other definitely makes a difference in how well they fit into the wings, and that sliding mechanism seems like it was a magnet for sloppy glue application.  Mine took a lot of force before they began sliding the whole distance.

Pics are in this post: 

 

Thanks for pointing to the post.
I'll give the arm sliders another go on my Hayate's the next time I bring it out from storage. 

[jenius]

Keeping the live blog going. My Bogue was very askew out of the box. I transformed to GERWALK and fidgeted a ton with it (like I did Mirage) but there is no fixing the arm cannon. No matter what, it's angled down on the left side while perfectly flat on the right. Maybe it's a tiny bit of flash on the cannon itself that prevents it from being level as its rotated. Maybe they should have put a slot in the gun and a peg in the forearm so minor manufacturing tolerance issues could be overcome by locking the part in position.  Both Mirage and Bogue have their wings tabbing firmly into the legs at least. 

[Graham]

I think I have a VF-31AX Hayate fighter mode obsession. 😅

So far I have 4x VF-31AX Hayate, displayed as:

• 1x in Fighter mode.
• 1x in Fighter mode with Super Packs.
• 1x in Fighter mode with Armored Pack.
• 1x in Fighter mode with Super Ghost set.

I just absolutely love how the VF-31AX looks in Fighter mode.

I also have:

• 1x VF-31AX Mirage type in Fighter mode.
• 1x VF-31AX Bogue type in GERWALK mode.

If Bandai ever release the Arad and Chuck VF-31AX, I'm definitely getting 2 of each and displaying one in Fighter mode and one in Battroid mode.

[twich]

3 hours ago, Graham said:

I think I have a VF-31AX Hayate fighter mode obsession. 😅

So far I have 4x VF-31AX Hayate, displayed as:

• 1x in Fighter mode.
• 1x in Fighter mode with Super Packs.
• 1x in Fighter mode with Armored Pack.
• 1x in Fighter mode with Super Ghost set.

I just absolutely love how the VF-31AX looks in Fighter mode.

I also have:

• 1x VF-31AX Mirage type in Fighter mode.
• 1x VF-31AX Bogue type in GERWALK mode.

If Bandai ever release the Arad and Chuck VF-31AX, I'm definitely getting 2 of each and displaying one in Fighter mode and one in Battroid mode.

I agree that the VF-31 is a great design, and is definitely one design that I own the most.  I have a VF-31E, VF-31F, VF-31AX Hayate and VF-31AX Mirage. The only toy for me that comes close if the YF-29, which I have the YF-29 30th Anniversary Edition, YF-29 Full Set Pack Alto and YF-29 Full set pack Max.

Twich