mickyg

Looks very, very nice! 

I have to say I'm confused as to why they went the extra effort to make the bigger front winglets, massive split gray "fold carbon" collarbone pieces, missiles instead of drones, and then for some inexplicable reason, totally forgot about the completely different arrangement of the nose sensors.  They've already modified the mold for all those parts above (not to mention the wings themselves of course) so why not go 100% and get the nose right?  I can forgive the charging pod because that's how it was shown anyway...

I'm actually beginning to wonder if the doors are all the same from top and bottom. Maybe they've been put into the wrong parts?

Just wanted to add a few pics to better describe my particular gripes with the parts, specifically the missile packs. Hopefully they speak for themselves but my issue is with the way the doors fit, the sprue marks, and the paint application. 

I'll stress again, I do actually like them, I just am not sure what happened in the QC department for these things. 

Sprue marks on the edges of the doors (front and back, the removed door is similar):

The shape of the door doesn't seem to allow for the contour of the body of the pack, with the missiles peaking out from the gap here:

A shot of the edge of the gold, showing the gappiness of the pain app at the back here:

A (bad) closeup of the gold paint.  This doesn't appear to be paint that has flaked off, either.  It's just been applied poorly from what I can see.

Anyone else notice this sort of thing?

24 minutes ago, valhary said:

Ha! Almost exactly the same state mine is in!

"Come at me bro"

I was surprised to see that the Lilldraken drones don't want to go on to the arms of the VF-31 though.  Not sure if I was doing something wrong but it appears the outer "tabs" of the mount on the drone, are shaped a bit too wide to press into the slots in the arm.

Anyone else try this?

Mine arrived after a 3 week transit (eco SAL from NY) and I have to say, I'm underwhelmed. Not quite disappointed, just not really what I was hoping for. 

The lil'draken drones are cute but there's very little going on except for the landing gear and wing fold. And the main gear collapse way too easily. I'm with Jenius on his critique that there should have been something to catch them, even if it's the doors themselves. I was also under the impression the exhausts had some level of articulation to them and was surprised to see they're completely fixed.  Unusual for a DX in my opinion.  I mean, even the super packs for the Siegfried have every single nozzle on a ball joint.

The missiles, as nice as that paint app is, fall flat in how badly the doors close up. There's a noticeable gap around the sides on all four of mine, making the green micro-missiles quite visible from some angles. And the gold trim looks to have been painted while the parts were still on the tree in my example. The blue plastic, with nearly white stress marks from being cut, is visible around the gold edges on a few doors. And the fit, although I managed to get them applied correctly, thanks to all the tips in this thread, don't fit as tightly as expected. There's no click to be heard, more like a soft clunk I guess. They won't come off but they feel less solid than what I am used to with other parts in the DX Macross line. 

Anyway, it's not all bad but there's definitely a touch of buyer's remorse on my end, given the premium we have to pay for these TWE items. 

No doubt it looks good though, I'll give em that!

Bingo!  Get enough views and YouTube becomes a source of income.  Maybe not much but enough to keep content coming in most cases.  And Jenius' stuff is quality so I'd like to see his content continue to be worthwhile for him.

I'd love to have something that would be worth people's time to watch but sadly, I'm just nowhere near that goal yet.  We live in some exciting times where a hobby/interest/niche can actually be a source of income for those brave enough to make something that the public will watch.  I am a huge fan!

Same here Graham. Had time to open the outer box and look at the clear cover on the styrene tray but that's it. 

Agreed with David, it's redder than I'd hoped. Or it could be the flouro lights I have at work. 

Also agreed with others, the colour isn't as big a deal as it might've been, had mirage been a character I'd cared a bit more about.

Beautiful design, regardless of any of that, though. 

I'm not feeling it. The black hides a lot of bulk that I always thought the 31 didn't need, to be honest. But with it gone due to the "slimming" the black adds, I actually think I like the phat look. 

It's not horrible but I agree that it's a bit boring. Surprising, given the contrast and colours are anything but. 

Yeah, really hoping to see the E in some format.  Don't really care if it's "just" the transformable model kit at this point.

Still no good for me...

2 minutes ago, Sildani said:

Geez, anybody hates their 171's THAT much, send them my way!

And lovely pics, Saburo!

Ditto!  My 9 year old son likes it the best out of my 6 or so different types of valks too.  I get the frustration but it sure is a nice thing to look at.

I can't believe how great your Gerwalk Draken looks, Saburo.  Looking forward to getting my add-on sets too, now!

Except IRL it's a yellow band instead of red.  Any ideas why Macross does red instead?  I'm guessing it's more to do with visual pop than anything else.

^^^^

I've read it's due to some scares they had with a fire and the way the F-35 uses fuel to cool basically everything from electronics to the engine.  In hotter climates, the problem is a lot more likely to happen so they open some of the panels up to allow more air to circulate in hot spots.

2 hours ago, Lolicon said:

Wow mickyg is harsher than me! 

I was just going to say black is a bit too dark for general panel lining on white surfaces, at least to me. 

Yeah, I totally don't mean to sound harsh! My point was that by the standards of some of the amazing modellers here, and what they are capable of, imagine what would be possible on a "premium" of that standard. 

This is fine work, and shows the quality of the Hasegawa kit, with a bit of "minimal" effort, really is. 

That's the Hasegawa 1/48 I think...  And no offence to the builder, it's a great job but it's also fairly minimalist, compared to what some folks even in our little community are capable of.  For example, there's no tonal variation in the paint, I can see some silvering in the decals, the panel lining is too dark (for my liking anyway) and there are places where the lining is not even very consistent.

...and I agree, it still looks WAY better than the fully done Premium Finish Arcadia, in my opinion. Just goes to show that "premium" is definitely a subjective term.

Gaaaahhhh!  You people and your peer pressure!

I put one in my cart at HLJ, "just in case" and then saw the OOS post.  "I wonder what will happen if I just complete checkout for this item that's been there for a few minutes..?"

Bam! One unexpected Mirage to go with my Hayate.

So tempting.  But with all the costs coming up in the next few months, the credit card is my only option and there's no way it'd be paid off in my interest free period.  Makes that sweet, sweet savings, pretty much nil...

11 hours ago, arbit said:

Cool, thanks for the recommendation. I've spent a week stripping my figures after that dastardly Vallejo mask. Usually I trust their products.

How does Humbrol do with little cracks and crevices? Does it pull right off in one piece?

It remains flexible so it's got a much better chance of coming away, even in cracks. That said, I've definitely had it stick in the odd place and not peel off in one piece.  But generally that's because I didn't put it on thick enough in those areas.  I'm not sure how readily available Humbrol stuff is in the US but it's everywhere down here in Australia.  And for the most part, I avoid it. I think it's because it's all enamel paints and I stopped using those years ago, switching to Acrylic and Lacquers instead.

But the masking liquid I'd happily buy again!

Mine finally shipped from NY!  That's 8 business days from "Preparation in Progress" to actual "shipped" status.  Once again, glad I'm in no hurry...

I haven't got any 1/48 versions around but based on those pictures, I'm guessing you're wanting the dimensions of the Yamato 1/48 toys and NOT the Hasegawa 1/48 model kit, right?

If you can clarify that, it may help you get some better responses to your request.  Good luck!

I've had really good luck with the Humbrol liquid mask.  It's basically purple rubber cement.  Never used the green stuff in the video so I'm not sure if they're the same thing, chemically.  But my experience has been really good with the purple stuff.  It comes off easily, dries very quickly and as far as I've experienced, doesn't seem to react with my acrylic paints.  The last part is surprising, as the smell of the stuff is definitely of the ammonia variety and usually that spells disaster for acrylic paints.

...and so are mine

On the upside, it's good to know that I'll have a very good idea of what goes where and why, given all the updates people are posting!

That scheme works really well in Battroid too!  I'm actually kinda surprised!

All 3 are backordered.  Is that right?