Sanity is Optional

The issue is that in Solidworks I'd have to have all the parts present inside a single part file, rather than in an assembly, any time I save an assembly to stl it saves the individual parts instead. Haven't figured out how to import bodies into an existing part file yet. Think of it like an engine limitation, Solidworks treats every body as an individual part and saves them all separately.

Looking good, the speaker detail came out very nicely. What gap size did you design in? I've been using 0.1mm as a base, but it should vary (in more complex assemblies) by the number of components connecting the 2 parts and what material is used. Also I wish Solidworks made it easy to combine multiple parts into one STL file (maybe I should import to sketchup for that). I had to separate everything out since it's non-trivial to attach them together with runners for printing.

Looking very nice.

I'm not enough of a painter/custom model guy to do anything more than re-paint existing sections of the plastic. I'll settle for having it look more like a cool robot/vehicle thing and less like a fanservicey fetish thing.

I am 100% going to repaint mine. For one thing she's getting some pants (at least shorts), for another going low-vis on the Valk. I have 0 idea why all the mecha-girls have to be wearing swimsuits or leotards with thigh-highs.

Aside from a severe vitamin M (for missile) deficiency, and the whole charger pod thing, the VF-31s are quite nice. Bandai really nailed making the figure too, or I would not have bothered, let alone gotten 2 (with a 31a on preorder as well).

Well, whatever it is, it's probably crouched down.

I think I've realized why NY's shipping is so high. They include the shipping cost from the manufacturer in the shipping cost you pay. My PG Phenex was 900¥ above retail, there's no way that included the shipping from Bandai to NY.

As to the angle of the LEDs, I saw a trick used with them to, put a bead of UV cure epoxy over the top and cure it to make a bulb, diffuses the light a bit.

I assume the other leg was what you had to pay for the loot?

I've wanted to get a VF-0S for a while, may as well buy the Premium what with how much these cost on the secondary market (plus the whole QA issue).

Looking good, you going to paint once it warms up?

VE-1's up at HLJ if someone still needs it.

How do you guys get all these discount coupons? I had a Hi-rez Wing Zero ship to me broken, and all I got was a refund once they got it back in the mail (they did pay for the shipping at least).

Well, I'm in. I want a VF-0S anyway, may as well get a new premium one.

Had a NY shipment prep on the 26th, ship on the 29th, and just made it to LA customs.

I'm interested by how much parts-forming this will involve. I guess removing the wing-folding mechanisms (apart from the inner-most pivot) simplifies that area at least.

You can try getting a sheet of conductive glass and putting it between the base and the camera, ought to shield some of the EMI. Same deal if you wrap the camera with tinfoil except for the lens and viewfinder.

I collect gundam kits MIB. It's called my backlog.

Probably for the best. One of the main reasons I went with the -27 is it's relatively low number of pinstripes compared to say the -25s, which have gigantic decals all over. There was only two parts that needed significant decal coverage.

I've got an armored VF-25 Also myself in my backlog, going to try and use a bunch of tiny neodynium magnets I have to mod the armor to be removable. By default you can remove it, but you've got a bunch of tabs and such underneath. The Armored/Super kits do include the normal parts without such, but there's no way to attach the armor to them by default. I'll say my favorite of the 1/72 was the SV-262, since in some ways it's nicer than the DX Chogokin, at least as far as the transformation goes. The 1/72 VF-1 is actually really accurate to the mechanisms and transformation from the TV series/movie, but unfortunately that makes for a terrible transformation in practice. I have made the Brera VF-27, with full decals and topcoat, plus some detail work here and there. I can't get the damn thing to transform into gerwalk properly, the legs won't lock into the intakes, and putting pressure starts destroying the decals so I gave up. It looks amazing, and gerwalk aside it's much better than the VF-25 in battroid and fighter, holds together much better. I've got some WIPs and pics of the final product on the -27: https://imgur.com/a/29TBG https://imgur.com/a/smpKq https://imgur.com/a/QdBuE https://imgur.com/a/h0iWK https://imgur.com/a/CWOd4 [edit] Finished model: https://imgur.com/a/78X1t [edit #2] Feel free to PM me if you want some tips, I ran into a couple problem areas: neck and a couple of the decals specifically.

Is this the 2013 bandai VF-1? If so, I can tell you as someone who has built it alongside the Bandai VF-25, VF-27, VF-31, and SV-262 that the VF-1 by far the worst of them all. The rest are much better, and the -31 and -262 are downright pleasant to transform and lock together nicely. The VF-25 doesn't have as many tabs locking it into form as the later ones, and the -27 is essentially an updated -25 with some improvements.

I'm more thinking of when there's a cut between different video segments, like if you put more than 1 transformation in a video. In that case you're already doing a fairly jarring cut.

What about a 1-sec long splash-screen when you cut between transformations or other video sections? Much harder to remove than one at the start.

According to NY's customs form this is a ¥6000 plastic model (no batteries).