Graham

Wasn't it mentioned a few weeks ago in a magazine or online article translation that Bandai purposely made the 1/60 DX big n' chunky, to give it an old school feel like the 1/55s? I'd be interested to know what Japanese fans think of the DX sculpt so far? It seems we fans outside Japan want a lineart accurate and slim toy, but how about the Japanese fans, do they want slim or chunky? I wonder is this just a case of Bandai not doing enough market research? Graham

I'm sure if the first production run sells well, they will reissue it. Graham

The S-type head is the Bandai head, not fan made. Only the G-type and RVF-type heads are fan made. Graham

Very interesting theory. Graham

As mentioned, the new November 2008 issue of Hobby Japan magazine (just out) has a Macross Frontier cover and 47 pages about Macross Frontier model kits, toys and some CG mecha art. Out of those 47 pages, 40 pages focus on the Bandai 1/72 scale model kits, with some beautiful photos of completed VF-25F Alto and VF-25S Ozma kits, as well as custom Michael VF-25G, Luca RVF-25 and a scratch built 1/72 scale VF-27 battroid mode. Here are scans of 10 sample pages. Enjoy! I really recommend buying this issue so you can enjoy all the pages. Graham

CG mecha scans from the new November 2008 issue of Hobby Japan Magazine. Note the various versions of the VF-171EX. After about a month, I will remove the pages from the mag to file them and then I can do better scans. Graham

Guessing it wont have removable intake covers like Yamato. Graham

Just out today in HK, so probably out yesterday or the day before in Japan. Graham

Sorry correction, the 1/72 scale scratch built VF-27 model in the new Hobby Japan is battroid mode only, not variable. Graham

Sorry correction, the scratch built VF-27 model in the new Hobby Japan is battroid mode only, not variable. Graham

As I said, a scratch built variable VF-27. Graham

I'll scan some, but probably not all. I'll try to get some done tonight after my son goes to bed. Graham

Stay on topic please. This thread is for discusing the 1/60 DX toy, not 1/32 PG kits, which don't even exist. Graham

Definitely recommend getting the new November 2008 issue of Hobby Japan magazine. Not only does it have a Macross Frontier cover, but it also features a 47 page article on the Macross Frontier kits and toys and CG art. Most of the pages showcase the completed builds of the 1/72 Alto VF-25F and Ozma VF-25S model kits, along with custom conversions for Micheal's VF-25G and Luca's RVF-25 and a scratch build variable VF-27! There's some really beautiful photos. I'll try to scan in some of the pages later. Graham

Pics of the 1/100 VF-25F from the new November 2008 issue of Hobby Japan magazine. Graham

New pics from the November 2008 issues of Hobby Japan magazine and Dengeki Hobby magazine. New Super Pack Photo....Yay! Quite a nice detailed cockpit interior as well. Actually, it looks pretty good in some of these photos. However, given the long lead time in print publishing compared with online publishing, these photos are probably older than the ones that came out yesterday on the Tamashii Nations website (page 11 of this thread). Also, these magazine photos appear still to be the resin prototype, rather than the ABS and die-cast test shot. Anyway, enjoy (or not). Graham

Definitely recommend getting the new November 2008 issue of Hobby Japan magazine. Not only does it have a Macross Frontier cover, but it also features a 47 page article on the Macross Frontier kits and toys and CG mecha art. Beautiful builds of the 1/72 Alto VF-25F and Ozma VF-25S are shown along with custom conversions of Micheal's VF-25G and Luca's RVF-25 and a scratch build variable VF-27. There are of course some interesting new pics of the 1/60 DX. There are also the largest CG pics published so far of many of the mecha, including the VF-171EX, Vajra carriers and others, which I'm sure Mr. March will love. Oh and a custom Yamato VB-6 in SMS scheme is also shown, complete with Ranka nose art. Graham

Yep so will I buy 1 of each, but with landing gear like that, it will be displayed wheels up in flight. I wonder if Bandai will include a display stand with the toys? If not, time to invest in some more flexi stands. Graham

If I use a Gundam marker to panel line an unpainted VF-25 kit, what should I use to wipe off the excess ink? Water? Mr. Thinner? If the latter, should it be diluted? If yes, what ratio? And do I use tissue, a soft cloth, q-tips, cotton balls? help! Graham

Which is what I've been saying, but people are still expecting miracles. Graham

Season 1 just started showing here in Hong Kong last night. Pretty good first episode IMO. Mind you, even if it was crap, I'd watch it just for Summer Glau, as she is a real hottie! Graham

For Luca, you would also need the folding ventral ELINT fin that is sometimes (but not always) shown. Graham

Exactly, it is a test shot. And when you are at the test shot stage, that is already 98% representative of your final product. Test shots are just for the factory to refine the fit and finishing, tighten or loosen tollerences where necessary to ensure good parts fitting, minimise gaps, tighten up joints etc. Once you are at the test shot stage, it's unusual for any major design changes to be implemented, unless a serious problem is encountered, requiring redesign and retooling of a part or parts (expensive). As I said before, once you see a test shot, it is usually a case of 'what you see is what you get', although the final product will always fit together better, have fewer gaps and a better finish than a test shot. Graham

Heh, I don't want to say "I told you so" just yet, but thinking back to when it was first announced that Bandai had the toy licence and the Bandai fans were all like "Bandai's gonna kick Yamato's ass with their superior design. Bandai is so great....blah...SOC....blah....Gundam.......Blah........Blah...etc! And look what we get. Mwahahahaha! But seriously, I really wanted them to make a nice looking VF-25 and they did it with the 1/72 model kit, but failed miserably so far with the 1/60 toy IMO. Well, they have 3 months to redeem themselves. Lets hope they use the time wisely. Graham

Even with CAD CAM, the first test shots always have tollerance issues resulting in loose or poor parts fitting. It usully takes about 4 generations of refiniments from the first test shot to get things to a standard acceptable for production. Graham