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OK, saw there was a VF-31AX available on AnimeExport that's linked here available for 29,800Y and decided to bit the bullet, but when I hit the ADD TO CART > CHECK OUT it emptys my cart and I can't go any further. Is it that they are closed till Jan 4th and not accepting orders? Is it that they don't actually have any in stock to order and haven't changed their site/page accordingly? or is it something wrong on my end? I wasn't originally going for this bird as I thought it was too similar, but now seeing the pretty pictures with the Super Packs has change my mind and there is enough difference to justify the purchase in my mind even with the slight markup. Is there an alternate site to purchase the VF-31AX for late comers like me that ships to Canada (no Amazon.jp seems to do it / I am looking into evilbay).

Damn, I didn't want this until I saw the packs...

Will they finish up issuing the super packs for the older VF-31 (I want Chuck's) or have they moved on and only doing the movie stuff now?

The Ducati is 646pcs vs. BMW is 1920pcs - hence the price difference...

That's it?!?! The Original VF-1J and Roy's VF-1S included this (in black) and it didn't make the box any bigger?

Does it include the super packs?

I was hoping for a little more detail, like smaller panel lines and rivets more like their 1/72 VF-1 instead of just the lineart lines. I wonder how tall it would be built?

Oh, I live close to Danforth and Coxwell - I would love to know of a store closer to me than Anime Extreme! Any other info about it? Is it this place? https://www.navitoworld.com/

Thanks @Thom I'll have to try that out.

Beautiful work @Thom!!! The belts are PE? What did you use to fill in the gap at the wing roots? So perfect that its only in the gap and no where else outside?!?! I hate filling and sanding and often sand off a lot of fine details that I have to go back and put back in afterwards

Absolutely gorgeous @joscasle!!! Love the burnt metal on the engines. Did you freehand the camo pattern? The soft edges are perfect!

Beautifully done @joscasle - are the aircrafts 1/48? Is the Tomcat the Tamiya kit?

@Thom what F-4 is that? Is that the new F-4 1/72 from FineMolds? I just got my kit (next one maybe next year) and waiting on aftermarket to get their acts together to get some detail sets for it. It helps if you primer the entire plane. I use Alclad grey primer, but I only spray the areas where I glued or filled or sanded to see any mistakes or need for further sanding - I usually don't primer the entire plane because I'm afraid that sometimes the finer engraved detail might get lost. It seemed to only lift in areas where the AK was on top of bare plastic. However I did primer the canopy and it lifted both the AK paints and primer from the canopy frames - don't know what happened there.

Woohoo!!! Calling this puppy done. After so much went wrong on it, I'm just happy I actually finished it. Sorry about all the dust on the canopy, at 1/72 scale, it looked clean to my old eyes until the photos magnified the dust. Love the Photo-etched canopy details, but can't recommend the AK paints, they don't seem to adhere very well (lifts with Tamiya masking tape) and a tad on the dark side compared to the FS color fandeck. Highly recommend the Eduard Photo-etched set and KA 3d Printed exhaust nozzles though.

No it came with the booklet, but I always scan all the instructions into my computer and access it on the screen, because I usually keep the instructions sealed in their baggies inside their boxes stacked away. This one was only two sides, so I scanned it anyways.

Does Bandai have a PDF of the Armored Parts Set instructions out for download anywhere? I thought I should ask first since the last time I scanned the instruction booklets in, I found out the next day there were all already done from Bandai's site already (that URL no longer works now).

I'd actually prefer EMS shipping (for us in Canada) it usually comes directly to my door from our Postal Service and I rarely get customs & duty and there isn't the Carrier Brokerage Fees. I don't see it spelled out anywhere on LunaPark - it just says shipping. I just hope its properly packed in a box and not in a DHL bag.

Try over 50+ - argh I'm old!!! 🤣 (but thought I was young enough to try it this morning). I got charged 5,000Y from LunaPark - it doesn't say exactly what the method is, I'm assuming its DHL? (that's another additional $20-$25cdn for brokerage & customs)

Did everyone receive what they pre-ordered from LunaPark (I'm trying them for the first time on this) - it was just a bit of an initial growing pains with poor packaging on the first round of shipping? I'm getting your frustration @Mommar - totally understand. Had to get up at 3am here, took forever to get back to sleep on a work day - argh. I'm too old for this crap too! I wonder how long will it take them to get their legal gears together for international distribution of these toys - its gotta be at least a year away. The worst part is that they might not make any more of these toys initially to gauge demand, it will just be more people fighting over the same number of toys initially maybe?

Saw the pre-order at AmiAmi, but got login error even through I logged in, got cart jacked at HLJ, ended buying it from LunaPark so I ended up paying more AND getting up at 3am in the morning for this but at least I got one from LunaPark - should have just paid the extra in the beginning and slept (but some asian part of me thought I'd take the chance and see... I saw, I lost...) Hope some of you had better luck.

Argh cart jacked at HLJ and can't login to Ami Ami even though I was already logged in...

@peter Easy, just use Alclad Metallic Laquers, its pre-thinned and easy - just have to prep the surface and make sure its smooth first. @CrossAir Thanks. I hate doing anything twice through.

So I ended up re-painting my bird after decaling because the gloss coat really darkened the panel wash and weathering too much. Luckily I still had my paper masks for the pattern, so I re-applied a light thinned mixture of the paints overall to lighten up the panel details so they are more subtle. You can hardly even see that there were 60-70 tiny data stencil decals applied over 2 days. Don't like AK paints, they don't stick well (without primer) - a few spots lifted with Tamiya paint and canopy frame had some spots that lifted (never happens with Tamiya acrylic or Mr. Color) Finally after carefully repainting the entire thing to lighten the weathering and panel lines... I get to a less cartoony version of the Eagle. Must say USAF do keep their birds cleaner than Navy. Hate re-doing stuff I've already done. Next time, don't use G.W.H. decals - they are either incorrectly sized or wrong hues/grey. Tried a little metal/burnt tarnishing with metallic pencil crayons (blue, purple and yellow) - looking at Flankers for too long 😛

Very happy to receive my GBP Armored Parts today delivered to my door from NY (after a lot of worry from the stories around here) - they haven't failed me yet in at least 10 or more yrs. I'll try to post some pictures to compare against my old weathered decaled up (thanks to @Anasazi37) Yamato 1/48 GBP-1.

Thanks all, I guess things have gone up. At least I know its not a total gouge, but just a small profit. I know about the shitty luck with NY - but they've never failed me yet and they are my last resort. Thanks for the feedback. I just got lucky from HLJ for a model that I sent via SAL and it arrived in a week and a half. The problem with UPS or FedEx is that I'm guaranteed another $30-$40 in brokerage, customs & duty in Canada.