Jolly Rogers Posted July 19, 2004 Posted July 19, 2004 A "nice Bandai reissue" would have cost him several hundred dollars after customs fees. Even if you send him one for free, he'd still get raped by customs. Quote
ChristopherB Posted July 20, 2004 Posted July 20, 2004 A "nice Bandai reissue" would have cost him several hundred dollars after customs fees. Even if you send him one for free, he'd still get raped by customs. Hello, I'm not doubting you, but I have (3) years of experience sending items to my friend Augusto in Argentina. I've been sending US Money Orders and brand new/used valkyries to Buenos Aires since at least 2000, and we've never had a problem. I'm talking 1/55 Bandai, a brand new 1/48 Yamato, and dare I say..., even a 1/55 MPC before we knew what crap they are. I've sent him Jetfire boxes and foam in excellent condition, Jetfires, perfect 1/55 Bandai VF-1S Strike Valkyries, and so forth. All he has me do is mark the box as "Regalo" or something like that, which means gift I think. I remove the valkyries from the boxes, and make sure there is no price indication anywhere. I mark the customs form as a gift, and declare the value at $5. I then ship the box separately, and a week or so apart. Where there is a will, there is a way, and as I said, I'm not talking cheap bootlegs here. I've had more trouble with Canada went I sent (2) PG Gundams, than I've ever had with Argentina. Sincerely, Christopher Quote
nyacumo28 Posted July 20, 2004 Author Posted July 20, 2004 Guys, guys, thanks for taking the time to explain all your points!!! Actually, ChristopherB, you are right!!!when there´s will there´s a way, first than anything on one of the first posts i stated that the looks of the VF where not my aiming at this time, after i ruinned the valk trying to take of the paint i started to try to improbe the way it looks in the mechanin aspect of the transformation, that´s way i´m doing all the stuff you´ve seen in the pics. But you said something right i´m scanning the parts wich i like, the new ones i mean, to reproduce and apply them in another valk. And as you said when there is will there is a way, and you are correct when you say that sanding the valk parts for example the chest plate will make them thinner, but i foun a product,( i don´t know if i can mention the brand on the forum), wich is a really thin epoxy paint wich it´s self leveling, so i covers in an awesome way anything you put it on, and when it dries you get a ceramic termination incredibly hard, so the thin parts do get hardened and filled. The line panes should be painted later some how, i din´t figure it out yet. The customs fees issue is, as Jolly Rogers says, except that i never had a friend to buy my valks from, i always bought them in a local store, and the one and only time i made it on e-bay the guy who sold it to me declared the value of the valk as per the transaction price, something like 50 U$D and i paid almost the triple here, so i never figured out that it could be send as a "GIFT" (you are right that´s the menaning of REGALO) therefore the customs shouldn´t charge anything on it. Thanks for the advice. I only have to find some one selling VF´s on the USA willingly to mark it as a gift. No offense taken, when i decided to post on the forums was to get ideas and advices from you guys, you are the experienced ones. I´m only a big Macross fan who tryies to have a nice valk as you do. Regards and thanks to ALL of you. Nicolas Quote
ChristopherB Posted July 21, 2004 Posted July 21, 2004 (edited) nyacumo28, I'll make you a deal. If you finish your project using your current bootleg as the testbed, I'll personally send you either a nice Jetfire or a Bandai reissue. Once you have the mechanisms perfected, you can then apply them to a nice 1/55 valkyrie with no damage, and you'll be able to paint it and make it look great. I'll send it via the method I described, and you'll get to own a valkyrie without paying a ton of money. After your finished, you can then post the pictures and show off your work. Don't think of it as charity or anything like that. I mean, what kind of Macross fan would I be if I let a fellow brother bust his ass trying to fix up a bootleg that should be buried with full military honors. That thing is so sad, I don't know whether to laugh or cry. Sincerely, Christopher Edited July 21, 2004 by ChristopherB Quote
nyacumo28 Posted July 21, 2004 Author Posted July 21, 2004 Well Christopher i don´t know wht to say but Thanks!!! i´ll keep working on it, at this time im working in a leg swing bar similar to the one on the Yamato 1/48, but is hard to adapt it to this valk becauso of the lack of space. Actually i´m very near to acomplish the transformation acurate to the Macross design (at least on the mechanics off course) THANK YOU VERY MUCH AGAIN. Nicolas Quote
nyacumo28 Posted July 28, 2004 Author Posted July 28, 2004 Well here is the first part of the customizing process for the legs, onece again pay no attention to how it looks, y crafted the feet of the valk on metal, trying to make itmlook like in the anime, with trapezoid walls and terraced faces. i thinks they look more nice than the bandai 1-55 like it had the bootleg valk. Also i retouched the intakes, and the knee. In the other leg i`m starting a convertion process in order to make able to have a moving knee cap, and to allow the leg to rotate at the knee segment. Well, here goes the pics Quote
Zentrandude Posted July 28, 2004 Posted July 28, 2004 (edited) not bad on the mechanics your doing to it. but man that test bed seen better days, like someone vomited paint on it then threw it in a food processor to remove the paint. Edit: is that a finger print on the neck? Edited July 28, 2004 by Zentrandude Quote
nyacumo28 Posted July 28, 2004 Author Posted July 28, 2004 i know, i know, before week end i´ll send some pics of the same leg to show how it looks onece the process is finished. Regards froma argentina. Nicolas Quote
nyacumo28 Posted July 28, 2004 Author Posted July 28, 2004 yes, it is , it stood there wile desperately i was trying that the removing paint solution stop eating the plastic!!! L o L Quote
nyacumo28 Posted July 28, 2004 Author Posted July 28, 2004 do you mean by the paint and general state of the plastic? i will improve it, believe me, it wont look like a yamato toy but it will stop looking like a piece of trash. I hope i can show you some pics by the end of the week. Regards!!! Quote
nyacumo28 Posted July 28, 2004 Author Posted July 28, 2004 I hope you like it better now...still isn´t finished. Regards Quote
Kin Posted July 28, 2004 Posted July 28, 2004 (edited) seems very difficult.. oh man u really must use sand paper... and what happend to the paint? dust, thick paint, fingerprints... Edited July 28, 2004 by Kin Quote
nyacumo28 Posted July 28, 2004 Author Posted July 28, 2004 thank´s as soon as i modify the knee cap i´ll give it the final paint hand. Nicolas Quote
nyacumo28 Posted July 28, 2004 Author Posted July 28, 2004 this is a prime hand, just to stop discusting everyone with how it looked previously! Please guys, you must recognize it improbe a little since the first pics!!! I´ll give it a nice look, not a brand new one!!! Regards Quote
nyacumo28 Posted July 28, 2004 Author Posted July 28, 2004 Ok, i just red the last line added by the Miami vice fan. I guess i´ll keep reading you guys, until i have it finished. I just wanted to show you a day by day progression. So long pals. Nicolas Quote
Angel's Fury Posted July 29, 2004 Posted July 29, 2004 Keep up the good work nyacumo28 and welcome!!! Eventually it'll look great!!! Quote
nyacumo28 Posted July 29, 2004 Author Posted July 29, 2004 (edited) non taken Kin ,i´m just saying i´m going to post pics when i get the valk looking better. I thought it would be interesting to show it step by step. That´s all, no problem. Regards. Nicolas Edited July 29, 2004 by nyacumo28 Quote
nyacumo28 Posted July 29, 2004 Author Posted July 29, 2004 Thank´s Angel! i will. Regards. Nicolas Quote
nyacumo28 Posted February 25, 2005 Author Posted February 25, 2005 Hey hi to everyone, i want yo show you how the legs modified on the knee and feets turn out, also the heatshield integrated, the leg atachment system, and the nosecone, finally i`m ready to make all this modification in a new bootleg as soon as i find one, don`t pay atention to the aspect of the valk just the mechanical part please. I Just wanted to show tha a bootleg 1/55 can look better with a heatshield integrated and new feets knees and so on... The arms and head have to be placed yet. Remember i don`t have a fancy hobby store near myhome or even in my state, materials used are aluminum sheet, plumber epoxy, and notebooks screws, the tools i used are not pro either. Greetings. Quote
nyacumo28 Posted February 25, 2005 Author Posted February 25, 2005 notice the knee rotation and the knee cap, compare it to the aoriginal one Quote
nyacumo28 Posted February 25, 2005 Author Posted February 25, 2005 the heat shiel system, remember this is only to show it can be added on a 1/55 Quote
nyacumo28 Posted February 25, 2005 Author Posted February 25, 2005 all the pieces are made on aluminium sheets Quote
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