Okay I busted my copy open today which marks my very first Arcadia Valk (yay!😗).
My first impression is it’s a big bird for 1/60 scale I suppose the Zero valks are designed significantly larger than VF-1’s eh, it takes up a good chunk of my limited display space. I have not audacity to transform it yet however right from the get go, the drooping intakes do bother me as they do not seem to positively lock in against gravity. I keep pushing it up, wiggle jiggle the remainder of the legs with no success. I was watching Jenius’s review dated 9 years ago and it had the exact same problem. 9 years is apparently not long enough time for a reputable boutique toy manufacturer to redesign an extra tab. Lastly is it just me, the whole thing feels so bare like a blank canvas with wings without tampo printing it screams decals and possibly some focused weathering because this was a 40k yen valk, yikes. I see now why folks spend the money to get its premium finish equivalent.
Of course it isn’t the worst toy, I like the die-cast landing gears come already painted in white, that’s a first and real fresh coming from a heavy Bandai’d user.😆 I have ordered in some Aliexpress third party waterslide decals hopefully I will grow to appreciate it more when everything is said and done.