pengbuzz

I see HG as having been on "life support" for years now, with a death-grip on the rights as their last gasp. They really need to stop existing already, jmo.

UPDATE: Okay, the tails are in. And.... They just need a little cosmetic "sprucing up"; aside from that, they're set a little more apart now, and look better. As for function: They lay down pretty flat now, and the ailerons aren't flopping around like they were. Not to mention, the joint is smaller and they just look a LOT better. The tails also don't bump into one another during transform: the now miss each other and move quite smoothly. I also too the opportunity to address one more (albeit minor) issue: The extension at the end of the pack in fighter mode was also bugging me. Checking the blueprints and whatnot of the VF-1S, it was too small and too short. So while I was there, I removed the old one, took the "points" off of it, filed a bit of the ends off of them for gluing and glued them to a new piece of plastic. Then, the whole thing was plastic-welded into place; it looks good and smooths the tail/ backpack out. This project is really coming along now, and the valkyrie is staring to look the way it should; just working at this point on cosmetic issues and final fit and whatnot. Most of the transform issues have been worked out, and it's no longer a floppy overall mess. Stay tuned...

I have to agree with Joe here (BTW: welcome Joe!) This is one kick-butt project, MechTech! I'm re-reading this whole thread!

UPDATE: I got the locking mechanism done to keep the Battroid from flopping apart in the torso. That said, the longer I looked at the tail fin assembly and those huge, awful hinges, it bothered me increasingly. Finally, I could take no more: Using a pair of flat-closing hinges from the Bandai version, I cut away the offending joints and plastic-welded these in. Another view: When I attach the ailerons to these, I'll trim the stubs here down a little, then remove a corresponding piece in the fins. Once plastic-welded in and sanded smooth, the join should be pretty much seamless, and the fins should be able to fold flat. Being a little further apart should also help with proportions, as well as the fins continually hitting each on during transform. Here they are in the closed position: This should keep them as flat to the "amidships" of the backpack as possible, and avoid further problems. (Wondering how much of the original model will be left at this rate!) This also gives me the opportunity to get in there before i glue anything in, and scribe the rest of the tail/ backpack panel lines in there and "snazz it up" a little more". Stay tuned everyone...

Actually, I check in on this thread almost daily.

A little humor for everyone: "SAY 'WHAT?' AGAIN, MOTHER--!"

*Pengbuzz takes notes...*

Still laughing about the therapy group and "beast mode"!

Okay, a little bit more work here: Got the doors permanently installed and trimmed. Just need to shim them a little and get them to match up.: Starting to look like a valkyrie... Just need to get some cosmetic work done after the last of the mods. Next step: retainer peg for Battroid mode, and thinking of covers for the chest (open areas between chest and back). I may also do something about those hideous joints on the ailerons; we'll have to see. Stay tuned folks...

Okay everyone: as promised, pics: I grafted in the landing gear doors from the Bandai into the Imai nose section; this should make it a lot easier on pulling out the landing gear and not have to worry about snapping the doors someday. Of Course, it still needs some fitting and trimming, but we're getting there. The nose wheels clear the doors, so it's just a matter of alignment and final fit here. On now to the legs: Yeah, those strakes need a slight bit of trimming, but they still look better than the old ones. But most of the work done was on the sides and back of the leg/nacelles: I'm going to be restoring the panel lines and detail work here, but I wanted to streamline these a little more. Yeah, a lot of it looks like absolute hell right now; by the time I get finished with mods and get to sanding and painting, it should look a LOT better. Trust me on this everyone. Stay tuned...

UPDATE: right now, working on replacing the nose landing gear doors. The thin wisps of plastic holding the old ones gave out on one side, and rather than trying to repair them. I'm putting in a different hinge method that will be more stable over time. Also: working on reshaping the legs (looked at the animation art and determined the lower leg was a bit too "blocky". Also, the ventral strakes on the legs (fins) were located too far back on the leg (should be closer to the landing gear doors), so I took the liberty of replacing them and relocating them. Yeah, by the time I'm done, this will probably have 1% each of the Bandai and Imai kits and 99 percent pengbuzz-produced parts. But at least it'll be unique! I'll see about pics this evening; right now, pretty tired so I'm going to go lie down for a bit. Stay tuned...

Definitely; the more you do now, the (hopefully) lesser headaches that should pop up later on. Anytime someone makes a transforming mech, there's always stuff that comes up; but so for, you've got this planning done in spades, and the quality shows! Looking forward to seeing this progress.

Wow, that model is just SMOKING!!!! I love the paint and weathering on it! A true class act, mintox!

Okay, time for another death-defying, high-risk, high-calorie ("GET ON WITH IT!!!") update: Well, the Vf-1S can now stand in Battroid mode; the link-up system for locking the front to the back isn't in place yet, so the shoulders are kinda droopy at this moment. That should be fixed soon; that said, the canopy shield stays in place, the lock mechanisms for the legs/ retainers for the chestplate are glued in place (pics next time around for these) and the detent for the head in Battroid mode are set: As to the legs: I removed a chunk of the nose "side-blisters" to install some square-channel plastic I had to scratch up. The leg pegs will go into these channels, and should lock into place (as soon as I use plastic-welder to re-form the blisters and tighten the fit of the channels up: I'll also scratch-up some covers for the holes in there; the landing gear missed the assembly inside, so no worries about that. More to come ...stay tuned....

No, I was just trying to get an idea on just the head itself. I have one I want to sell, but not sure what to charge for it (like 1 or 2 bucks).

Thanks! Yeah, I don't like the spindly arms on the other one, so I'm staying with these. The kit is almost at the point where it stays together on its' own; I might reduce the shoulders' width slightly, but I'm a bit indecided on that as of yet. More to come as I build; stay tuned... As for the Mospeada Ride Armors; I think I would sooner take a 1/6 figure and build the bike from scratch myself.

This might sound a bit stupid, but have to ask: how much is a 1/72 Bandai VF-1S head (model kit) worth?

This so far...

Wow! Some really impressive work here Andrea! I'm definitely going to be interested in seeing the next progress pic!

Okay, decided to take a couple of more pics: So far, what I have in Battroid mode.Thighs look a little slim, but maybe it's just the size of the shoulders doing that. Speaking of arms: Took the elbow joints from the Bandai and incorporated them into the Imai. The hole fits the peg inside the forearm joint, and just a modification to implant the shaved-down shoulder joint into the Imai housing. Stay tuned...

Now we know how they did it on South Ataria Island to rebuild the Macross! Nice job!

I've had success with Devcon plastic welder: I'm using that on my Imai/Bandai kitbash and it holds the abs and other parts quite well. You may want to try it if you can find it. Stateside, it's at Ace Hardware. Overseas and outside the US; not so sure.

Well, I managed to save the chestplate, but I had to backtrack on a few details I wanted for the Vf-1S. In any event, I was not very happy with the upper thigh/ intake on the fighter, so I went ahead and did some "splicing": I ended up grafting the thigh from my crappy Bandai VF-1 onto the rest of the leg for the Imai VF-1. It scales pretty closely with the line art in fighter mode. I cannot vouch for how well the gerwalk form for the legs squares with how it appears in the line art/ anime, but it looks a LOT better than the Imai original. I just have to fill in and prep the extra space and get that down to acceptable levels between the knee cover and the upper thigh. I might do poseable kneecap armor like on the Yamato version. As to the swing bar for the legs: I'm seriously thinking of just making the legs "plug-ins" like on the Bandai and the Yamato v.1 valks. Trying to sort the swing bar and all of that past the head in fighter mode and getting it to come around the nose in Battroid mode is getting wearisome. Plus, gluing the bar in place and just covering it with the "reactor shield" (as I like to call it) would do a world of good in stabilizing it. Last: working on a "gun transplant" for the head lasers: I like how they pose on the Bandai version, but i have mine "fire linked" on the Imai (turn one side and they both turn). Just the lasers aren't all that good looking on the Imai, and one kinda popped off on me. Stay tuned folks: looks like it's gonna be a "Macross Summer" for me...

I may incorporate that into my viper.

Thanks for the vote of confidence vince, but it really crimps the transform (the whole point of it! lol ). The break is clean through and it's in 2 pieces that I'm trying to rejoin into 1. Gonna have to see if plastic welder can fix it. Plan b: see if anyone here has a spare in their parts box. Stay tuned folks (or tuna'ed, as Hikaru can attest when he and minmay were trapped together).