drifand

I'm game, but I don't think there's a 'Nyan Nyan' equivalent close to Suntec City... unless you're serious about the Maid Cafe at CHIJMES :-) Otherwise, a good spot would be the Xin Wang HK-cafe at Marina Square... good for light bites and chit chat. I'll be bringing my copy of Koji Morimoto's 'ORANGE' art book on Sat. Still unsure if I should bring something by Ohkawara... What time is better? Meet in Sat morning and then collect tickets together? Or meet on Sunday before the concert? Lunch maybe?

Good effort for a fan project but I'm not digging the overly linear mecha designs. And yes... 'United Earth Group' definitely sounds more like and EFSF / AEUG homage.

Yes, the designs were nice but there was too much retcon going on for its own good. If it weren't for the success of Frontier, Zero would truly be a big fat zero.

One of the best things they could do is to make the fists swappable PVC instead of unsuccessfully aping Master Grade kit-hands with Disaster-Grade construction. And definitely agree about the boxes... they really should put more money into the product.

I sincerely believe Yamato bases their business ops on that of modern software companies: release something that's good enough (or slightly imperfect) and then sell upgrades to the customer base. After the immensely improved YF-19 (bar the too-tight neck lock), and the seemingly 'perfect' YF-21, they really didn't have to try too hard for the VF-11... if it looks 60-70% more refined and 'in-character' with the 2 big ones, then fans will grumble and still pay for it. That leaves the opportunity for another improvement in the future... possibly with bigger tailfins, etc. It isn't a 'conspiracy' by any means... just business.

But.. but... but... the MP Alpha was a LIMITED EDITION release. No way they'd make more now. Right? :-)

It's a great time to be a Real Robot fan... as Bandai slows down/runs out of obvious retro-70s candidates for 'Soul of Chogokin' toys, they are starting to dip into the well of 80s Real Robot goodness... apart from their eternal Gundamned franchises, of course. Patlabor has enjoyed a lot of love recently. So has AT Votoms (but slowing down already). Bandai's SPEC series has given us Layzner, Dragonar and L-Gaim... hopefully we'll see more companion pieces.

Yes, 'exclusives' suck... just more anxiety for the real fans as scalpers rejoice. Here's hoping for a miracle...

Ya know, I'd never REALLY noticed how badly the rear of the cockpit fuselage sticks out above the chestplate in Battroid mode before... the VF-1D is lucky to have a straight-line across the top of its chestplate to cover that silly oversight in design. It's almost like it was planned: everything's so nice except for this one little thing, you'd kill to own a better version in the future.

Well, good luck to your guys! Update with pix when you're done :-)

If the DX Chogokin Quarter comes with SFX, it might be stored in a display base, ala SPEC Layzner. Flashing lights... I'm not so sure that's a workable idea, unless the battery is enclosed within the firing arm itself (like the special tube-cell for the PG Eva). Who wants to deal with crimped wiring, eh? Chances are, a larger Quarter with all the gimmicks could be produced as a MG-level kit.

Bandai would probably include SOME mini-mecha, but there's also a chance they'll profit by selling them as gashapons I know I slotted a small fortune getting mini Zoids to make up fighting battalions for the 'playset' style Whale King, Dragoon's Nest and Hover Cargo.

Here's a not-so-happy guess: the heatshield won't be perfect transformation. Remember the 'ejectable cockpit'? What are the chances we'll be getting a 'heatshield' plug that slots in place, hmm?

I'll just say that the tiny tailfins don't look any better than the old toy... what happened to 'Fighter First'? LOL.

Video is already taken down... shucks.

Hi Promethuem5, Thanks for the superglue tip... I think I will look for one of those not-so-instant versions! I get nervous thinking about the potential disaster if the glue acts too fast! Anyway, for those who are thinking of doing the same mod for the gun mount, here's a rough sketch: What I left out: It's a good idea to snip off the ring collar and triangle-struts on the AB1 piece first. This lets you place it on the Garland's arm and outline the area you need to snip off.

The handy size means a JUMBO GRADE Macross Frontier is now possible. Thank you Bandai, make it a great TOY!

Here's a couple of screencaps of the Army Garland... more metallic than white, wouldn't you say?

Well, I'm at work now but for those who are interested in the mod, I used: 1. A 'flat-L' attachment piece from a large gray Action Base 1 series for the main structure; 2. A square-slot piece from a smaller black Action Base 2 series for the outer brace. On the gray AB1 piece: Cut down to size and snip off the 3 mini buttresses on the inside-L corner to ensure a flush fit on the arm. Snip off the hexagonal peg by 1 mm to allow the black piece to fit snug against the gun. I also sanded down the peg's hexagonal sides a bit to let the black piece rotate away for stowage in robot mode. On the black AB2 piece: The original screw hole has a raised supporting 'collar'. I snipped off about 1/3 of it so that enough remained to grip the gun along its raised ridges on the sides. If you snip off the whole collar, the piece will not be able to secure the gun well.

One more view. I cut the piece down to size and chamfered the edges, then superglued it onto the arm. Yes, I made it permanent. In action, the limp hands and left shoulder were simply useless. After much experimenting my solution for the wrist is to use some 'cow gum' residue (handily scrapped from the spine of various Macross Chronicle issues), and stretch it like a gummy rubber band around the wrist gap. It really helps to stop the flip-flop. For the left shoulder, I dripped Tamiya super-thin cement into the joint... works for a few days until repeated posing wears the glue off. At least now it can hold a balanced pose. Due to the short weapon and body proportions, 2-handed poses are very limited. There's the barely possible 'overhand stabilised stance'... And the 'undergrasp supporting stance'. Pretty convincing for CQB poses. Next to the Proto Garland, the Army Garland can actually reach the same height if the feet are fully extended out of the lower legs. However, I find this makes the Army Garland look ungainly and off-balanced. Instead I choose to pull them out to just 2 'clicks'... enough for lateral positioning of the feet. And so, the much improved Proto Garland manages to look taller than its predecessor. The duo in action... neither can pull off a convincing kneeling pose, but I'd be more than happy if only the whole line-up was as sturdily built as the Proto Garland. I know this is counter-intuitive after all the 'fun' you see in my pix, but for fuss free enjoyment, steer clear of ANY Garland and stick with the superior Proto Garland.

OK, here's my customised 1/15 Army Garland, which came out of the box a limp-wristed, limp-shouldered and lame-legged POS and had to be exchanged for one that was... less lame. Anyway, with nothing to lose on this piece of not-quite-there designer-mecha brilliance, I decided to redo all the stark white parts in dark-metallic, like the way it's shown on the Aoshima kit. The painting was done solely with Gundam Markers with some dry brushing on top. First up, bike mode. Notice the contraption on the forearm-fuseage? That's a custom mount for the beam gun scrounged from Bandai's 'Action Base' attachment parts. Since the weapon is relatively short even when extended, I opted for a more functional location up-front instead of a bracket on the legs like I did for the Proto. I prefer this solution to the anime magic of stowing the gun 'somewhere' inside the body in bike mode. In robot mode, the mount is still pretty functional ala ye olde 1/55 Valkyries. Getting rid of the white areas for metallic silver doesn't look too bad either. A closer look at the custom mount. The only white parts left are the 2 'braces' on the forearms... too tricky to repaint without masking.

Ohkawara has done so many cool designs I don't know what I should bring to be autographed (if he would even oblige). Maybe the fold-out poster that came with the most recent Takara 1/24 RSC reissue? Can't recall if he painted that one...

Quid pro quo for Yamato: They alienated plenty of Macross fans who have different needs with their 8 years of industrial production tragi-comedy :-)

Well, I've finished with my 'lemonade' for now: Repainted ALL the white parts with alcohol-based silver Gundam Marker, then dry-brushed over with the metallic-oil G-Marker as weathering. I think this was the color scheme sported by the Aoshima kit... tan brown + silver + dark gray. Pix in a day or two.

Thanks for the scans... always good to know.