David Hingtgen

Build Fighters actually was fun though. (early on when it was basically a ton of homages, the later iterations got worse)

Props for painting the chin grey. (and the white ankle-discs)

Even better than a -3000, a -3000B. Let's see an old relic still in use. If the USAF is going to use B-52's through 2040+ (When M+ happens!) then there should be at least a few big old bomber valks still around in the Frontier/Delta era.

No easy way to open the shoulder any meaningful amount, my suggestion is just to put lots of thickener/joint stiffener in during multiple sessions and try letting it sit in different positions while drying to wick/flow its way around inside. *don't use nail polish, the plastic tip on the ball reacts.

The stripes (and parts themselves) don't line up across the various panels as well as previous releases, (and one spot they actually made a change that is simply wrong) so I've been doing my best to try to improve the paint:

Thanks much.

I'm curious what's the current interest/rate for a set of Super parts for a renewal Alto 25? Since the originals are dark grey but the recent reissue is rather purple. I figure some people may not like the color and want "the originals" now.

It's almost impossible to search the old threads, so I'm hoping someone remembers----when the intakes refuse to peg in flush, what's the fix? The gap's not huge, but it is causing issues with getting all the panels lined up and flush in fighter mode.

While Bandai manages to get nearly every detail/marking there is on the -25 (especially on the Armor pack) they always miss a significant(IMHO) one on Alto's----the grey part of the "jaw". They leave it white, which makes the whole bottom half of the head look off as there's like 3x as much white as there should be. So I painted mine.

They're BOTH #09? Is that correct, for them both being originally assigned (presumably) to plane #09? Or they are a "matched set designed to be deployed in pairs", and so share the same number? Or is just Bandai being cheap/lazy?

Got my Retro Zartan, so gonna sell my SDCC one. (I'm painting my retro one to look just a BIT more like the SDCC one----a few silver accents here and there, to make the coloring not so "each part is just one solid color")

Shoulders don't match the rest of the fuselage very well, they're quite a bit lighter/brighter shade of red. But that's partly what samples are for checking...

"The hinge that often breaks" at the waist, because Bandai uses split pins there that slowly expand over time. The entire valk's 2 main halves are held together by that hinge, and it's plastic. Mine cracked apart while sitting in fighter mode with no packs/boosters attached, under zero stress/weight. This is a -29, but it's the same piece/issue:

Let me know what you find---I'm currently working on getting the nosecone flush. (it's not nearly as bad as the WMM one, but it could be better---my first thought was the hinge-bar is preventing the nosecone from tabbing in fully, but shaving it down a smidge didn't do anything---now I'm just trying nail polish on the tab--which is clearly NOT the issue/cause, but may "overcome" whatever the source of the pressure is)

My original -25F renewal definitely had the wing roots pivot/angle and sit flush a lot better and easier than the latest issue, and the intakes/thighs pegged together better in fighter mode. Plus the nosecone issue. But my original broke, so a new one is better than a broken one, despite some minor issues.

I'm wondering how long I should wait to see if there's going to be a reissue, before spraying my Alto Armor Pack with matte coat, so it'll match...

That's insanely fast, my AmiAmi hasn't even shipped... May I ask how much FedEx cost?

I'm trying to remember what I did on mine (first release)----the GERWALK joint IS scary-stiff and I'm honestly not THAT surprised to see one break right by it, but I don't think I sanded it, but I know I did SOMETHING to make it less scary (though if it makes it through the first transformation or two, the odds of lasting a while greatly increase).

It's lighter but still too saturated.

5100 yen for DHL from AmiAmi to US, much better than 7600 EMS. Also---Paypal's own exchange rate is notably even more terrible than usual, it made almost a $15 difference, for Paypal vs a no-foreign-fee credit card. Look carefully at rates before you commit.

I had to go much deeper, right up to the actual "confirm payment step" but it IS there, thank you!

Eek, Ami-Ami wants 7600 yen for EMS! Anyone choose a different method? What was the price? Wondering if I should try DHL or Air Parcel.

Well, Hasbro seems to have made things worse with some recent batches of plastic----some recent Transformers parts yellow so fast, they're yellowing on the shelves. (seems to affect light grey parts more than white, but it's a worrying trend)

The canopy is deeper/darker blue this time, too. Not "VF-31 bad" but definitely "obscures the pilot some".

Correct, they definitely made a notable change to the plastic used for the super parts for this run.