Bobby

My 29 broke obliterating its resale value...and since I had to fix it, I modded it and one of the first things I did was get rid of the black "tiger" stripes. I really like red valks as well (reminds me of Milia)! The orange, yellow and some other colored lines were not my fancy so much and it's quite easy to remove the stripes (and any other paint you don't prefer as well). You just need some paper towels, 91% isopropyl alcohol, and some patience to rub it off (and blue painters tape to mask off other nearby paint). Of course you wouldn't want to do this if you are concerned about resale value.

Here's a YF-29 Durandal that I modded shooting for a new Delta's VF-31 kinda look. Here's a color corrected pic I based it off of: I bought the YF-29 used off of here and the central linking hinge beneath the canopy body was cracked and broke in half after just a few transformations Bummer. It had to be repaired and it had lost it's resale value. I shaped a piece of aluminum and after fitting it with tiny washers it was actually good as new (if not stronger) I got the bug to keep going however so this seemingly negative incident turned into the opportunity to mod it. I know the result isn't going to be everyone's cup of tea, but I really enjoyed doing it. First, I had recalled seeing this in a display online I liked what I saw and adjusted the colors on another display to this From here I thought I would try it. I used all existing parts, so in essence it was just a re-arranging of planes and parts (with some elimination of excess). front back action front gerwalk back What I was impressed by the original design was the consistent use of acute angles being all within 3-5 degrees of each other all throughout the airfoil pieces. The wings, rudders, canards, etc. all partake in a healthy share of similar acute and obtuse angles to create all corner edges of the various surfaces. This consistency of angles made transitioning them to other parts of the plane a much easier task. What I particularly like is that the wings still retract in and out like on the original (but without the engines) and has some VF-19 sweeping movement So there you have it, when your valk breaks and you venture out to fix it knowing it's value's been compromised, being optimistic and doing something about it can help cuz I went from not liking it (when broken) to really enjoying it (when fixed).

« CAUTION » ARM TAB HINGES « CAUTION » I disassembled the arm in prep to modify and came across something you definitely should be aware of if when transforming into fighter mode. Even more so if you plan on or have used superglue/nail polish/future, etc. to make it more sturdy. Quick Overview: In fighter mode ET's uses 4 contact points that hold it together: 2 for the legs and 2 for the arms. I am referring only the ones for holding the arms. Description: The tabs that extend out of the forearms to connect the arms to the lower legs have an INCREDIBLY under engineered hinge. There is a substantial risk of breaking this hinge if you thicken either the tabs and/or the holes and are not careful when pushing the forearm tabs into the legs because of the need to apply more pressure. Explanation: This diagram represents the hinge internals. The large folding forearm panel and the tiny connecting tab have a metal rod running through them which is very sturdy. However, supporting this entire assembly are tiny, molded pin-sized pegs. Below is the metal hinge for the tab and the forearm coverplate. You can see the tiny hinge pegs are on the actual arm itself. To contrast, Transformers usually use a dimple for the hinge so if too much force is applied it snaps out. This peg being longer has the potential to bend, stress, or break. When inserting the tab into the leg for fighter mode, almost all support gets placed on the bottom peg-hinge. Conclusion: Whether you thicken the tabs/holes or not, while inserting the forearm tabs into the legs to convert to fighter mode, always be careful and not press too hard or you will eventually snap one of these tiny pegs because all the force is focused on these 2 points...they are only 1mm thick. An EDIT to Post #1754, consider not even applying any thickening agent on the arm tabs. You may find that you are quite satisfied with just improving the leg tabs (which are waaaay more sturdy). I will go so far as to suggest that if you want to preserve these hinges in the forearm tabs from ever stressing or breaking, just forego even using the tabs while in fighter mode as it still holds together extremely well imo by just improving the leg/hip tab.

Yes, this is what I used and did it to both the slots for the arms and the hips. Your brain will go from thinking, "Man, I don't wanna even touch that thing!" to "Man I can't wait to pick it up n' hold it!" BTW...on another note, is everyone aware that the feet do retract in and out from the legs (if so I didn't see any comment about it sorry)? Makes it even TALLER in battroid mode

For me personally, you wanna do something like this as few times as possible and you want to be able to make sure you have good control when applying whatever it is. So I always have a couple bottles of this lying around because it can actually be applied just like nail polish It's not gonna be at every store...I usually see it at office supply stores or Walmart more often than I do something like a Home Depot. But like others have said, once you apply it, it is night-and-day difference! I only did the 2 long edges of the openings on mine.

It's actually not that difficult to explain. In general, you will only want to apply it to the edges of the respective holes/openings and not to the tabs and I'll explain the logic behind my opinion. To Secure Arms To keep the arms more secure, apply your preferred thickening agent onto the edges of the holes in the legs (inside of the calves area). If you apply it to the tabs on the arms, you will make it more difficult to open/extract them since they already have a tight fit (at least on mine) and you don't want it to be any more difficult to pull them out from the forearms for fighter mode. Please See Post 1766 for further info regarding the arms. To Secure Legs To keep the legs (referencing the top of the intake) more secure, only apply your preferred thickener onto the edges of the holes in the top of the intake. If you apply it to the tabs coming from the chest area, you will thicken them up making inserting the arms into them (for battroid mode) unnecessarily more difficult since it is already pretty solid and secure as is (again, at least on mine it was). Summary Only the legs end up getting any thickening agent. Another tip: Since thickening agents vary in their "thickening" effectiveness you can consider applying in stages. Since each hole opening has 4 sides that you can each individually thicken, you don't have to do them all at once. Doing just 2 sides might be enough to satisfy how secure you want it. Now on the contrary, if anyones tabs are not thick enough and needing to be built up, then apply it to the tabs, but it would be better to start with the openings in my opinion. Also, if you do need to build up the tabs that come out of the forearms, if they ever become tight/harder to pull out you can always just open the forearms and push them out.

These were done quiet a ways back by tennozeorymer I think. Oh the fun that could be had by imagining upgrades for all your favorite pilots/paint schemes...

As you know this design can E...A...S...I...L...Y be milked (albeit hopefully with some significant improvements), and since canonization has been debateable for years and years...could that work to a VF-2SS lovers advantage and get milked into fantasy territory? Probably not but it won't prevent inevitable customizations which could look like previous bandai mods such as this made by a VF-2SS fan... Which without armor could look something like...

Wow, that's pretty good. If anything, I think you might appreciate the battroid mode and enjoy its presence. It's tall, commanding and has 90's vibe going on strong. Knowing what I've seen of your work, I think you could do it some heavy photo justice and capture a nostalgic representation of this rather rare bird previously only scene in art or renderings but now finally in 3D

Completely understandable and makes a ton of sense. However if for any reason you change your mind cuz you think it could somehow make casting simpler...here's an idea that I appreciate you at least humoring if nothing else ... note: the tab in the middle is about as far forward it can be and still 1)provide adequate clearance for the central canard when it's down, 2)would help for alignment/placement when inserting the piece, and 3)would continue to further fill in gaps! I know, I know it's a lot to ask and prolly not gonna happen (which again is completely understandable)...but one can dream

Since you're taking suggestions ... the intake underneath the chest plate might look a little better in profile (more sleek) if you reduce the thickness and imo better mirror the line art i.e. have a much steeper angle like... ____ __/ Hopefully there will still be enough behind the actual inlet to conceal most of the bar.

Ur welcome! And at least its got the intakes jutting out right

Thanks Yes it is. I bought it about 5 yrs ago and that is actually the small version. It was emodelairplanes and I was given the chance to send them edits as to what I hoped they would change/improve and I was happy with the final outcome. I don't know if they still do that but back then they offered a "proofing" process to make sure you were happy. Each one is hand-carved and hand-painted therefore a little different. Some parts are really smooth and sleek while other parts are crude and not as shiny. They are spots where the airbrush was held a little to long and heavy but the markings are crisp and straight. I touched it up with various paint markers/pens after I received it. There are a few online right now (red, white, SAPP) and my guess is you would be buying the one you see unless you request they carve another one. Here are some pics (you can pull a still from any pause). I really enjoy having a rather large dedicated fighter version on the shelf I'm sure he still is and will be buying 5 of these just to re-enact the transformation sequence from #9 Hobby Japan '92 Yes, the 3 fighters on the left are the licensed Bandai 1/250 scale Macross Fighter Collection Set #1 that was originally released in '09 and can still be found on ebay. The little battroid next to them is a custom featured here and on my friend's site here. The next 2 battroids are customs of the Bandai kit (more here and here) and the fighter on the right is wood and was just described earlier.

As a looong time fan my input is: Not that great... ...but great to have! It's like it just walked off Issue #79

Actually, I think ET has the placement correct, the issue is more in that D (see pic) is not long enough and able to point downwards to give that effect. In G-walk, it appears to me that the relationship from A and D is they are stacked on top of each other and very close compared to how far away those corresponding points are in Fighter. The lineart seems to show that the top of the valks hip/intake actually sits underneath the intakes on the underside of the chestplate. The relationship in Fighter between B and D is that they are more side-by-side (i.e. D's distance from A is greater). Our old Bandai kit kinda got it right when they provided us with 3 hip-socket sets where the G-walk set spacing was in between Battroid and Fighter width, but closer to the spacing of battroid.

Hopefully, it looks like the diecast hip joints will allow the top of the legs to swivel out to create that "parallel" look with the intakes. When they are tucked in and make that "V" you described it loses that cool look that's kinda reminiscent of wing-mounted Frontier Super Parts I totally agree. Here's an experiment photochop below...the intakes on the underside of the chest plate should have a higher profile (not to mention more pronounced intakes) so that the shoulders can line up/tuck under them better to hide them. This piece could clip on (parts-former...booooo ) or, ideally be hinged (possibly sharing the underbody front canard hinge) so that it can open and close (swings open towards nose) to allow the diecast hip swivels a chance to get in and out of the way for transformation!!! (one can dream, right?) (underbody photoshop possibility...) (click below only if you wanna see the bare underbody overlayed w/idea) http://www.vf2ss.com/transfer/underbody.gif

After seeing the unboxed pic...it looks like at the very least the proportioning from top down got better. Check out this overlay of the B-Club drawing on the final. That iconic (recolored) rendering from the DEC 91 issue in three dimensions would almost fit

Hmmm...that pose it's in really looks like the Toynami Veritech Super Poseable Figure line. However they never made a VE-1 to my knowledge. It might be a one-of-a-kind custom or a possible future release! Here's a link to the first release w/out armor <LINK> and the second release w/armor <LINK> I personally liked wave 1 more and got a couple since their posing was so dynamic (note the similarities in the OP pic)...

It sure would make things a lot easier if the forum had a more noticeable favicon in a bookmarks bar. Instead of this... (which promotes vbulletin?) Could it be this... ? I attached the file in .ico format which just needs to be dropped into the root folder. Thoughts? favicon.ico

^ oh man flashback...i used to love that game...now I've got the 8-bit moonlight sonata stuck in my head

Dodonpachi was a series of popular (and very difficult) Japanese shooter games from the late 90's for the schmups genre. Google image Donpachi ship or Dodonpachi ship to see all the variants which included several winged helicopters somewhat reminiscent of the Veritech Copter. Thanks. From left to right it's sort of a hybrid of a VF-11chest/front, a VF-22 head, VF-4 arms/legs, equipped w/a built-in VF-1 A-E Booster

I always liked the aircraft in Dodonpachi and thought this would be a cool chop...

Here's a slightly better angle...(still no closeup tho )

Yes, I've spoken to him on a few occasions and he's placed his pre-orders (yes...with an "s") and featured it in his blog in July --> http://valkyrie.cloud-line.com/blog/2015/07/22247/

^ Lol. I'm bummed you don't like it but I can understand. You're welcome technoblue. I completely acknowledge the many visible flaws and misgivings as mentioned in the previous posts. The only reason I like it is because (and this will sound like settling) it is "good enough" and is really just a measure of personal expectations being met. If I had little to no connection to Mac II, then with the exposure to the lengthy history of quality engineering of Bandai in various genres, plus Yamato and (the inherited engineering of) Arcadia, I can clearly see how this would disappoint. To compare, there is no comparison when it comes to the fine details of all the complicated transformational prowess that decades long veteran toymakers are putting out these days. My forgiveness quotient or willingness to overlook these visible shortcomings would be very little paired with high engineering standards and design expectations. The above would be the norm for me. -but- It's a VF-2SS for cryin' out loud! Which betrays the fact that I am overlooking many things. Personally, I do have a connection to Mac II as it came out during my college years and believe that this design captured some pretty timeless lines in this archetypal valkyrie. Years and years have gone by of literally just hoping that someday someone would attempt to make it happen. As such, I'll be the first to admit that it's really more just about the idea of actually buying a fully transformable VF-2SS (and fulfilling a longtime dream), more so than it is truly buying a high-quality, anime-accurate, superbly-engineered valkyrie. Besides...I have plenty of those