Chronocidal

Ok, when I say "same legs" I'm actually referring to it in a sort of backwards way, and I technically am referring to the toy, but it could apply to the aircraft in-story as well. What I really mean is that yes, the legs of the YF-29 toy<i>look</i> as if they were taken directly from a VF-25 (aside from the new outer panels/packs). By that, I mean they share the same marking patterns, overall shape, and some finer details (the small black panel under the knee cover, certain panels). In fact though, it's also clear thay are <i>not</i> the same legs from the toy, since they include a lower leg swivel, and earlier pictures seem to indicate opening intakes, and better detail in the feet. The DX YF-29's legs are clearly improved over the DX VF-25. Where I'm coming from here is from the idea that they are similar enough that the legs on the YF-29 could be used to upgrade the ones on the VF-25. Swap a few smaller parts around, change up the paint, and the YF-29's legs could be used on a <i>new</i> VF-25 somewhere down the line. If I wind up getting one or more of these things, I might be tempted to kitbash the better legs and nose of the YF-29 onto a DX VF-25. The connections will likely be very different, but having legs that will pull of a proper gerwalk pose and a nose that doesn't look like it was mounted upside down would really improve the older DX.

Yep, I don't see any reason this couldn't be the start of a VF-25 v.2. Legs look pretty much identical, except now they have twisty knees (yaaayyyy), arms look the same, etc... I just hope they learned from all the structural issues the first DX had, and linked together the two halves of the backpack hinge somehow. And I would like to know if some of those fast-pack looking pieces are just add-on packs, or actual permanent additions I may have to get one just to see how quality has improved. Even while the design looks slightly ridiculous with the extra engines, I think the overall aesthetic is just much more pleasing than the first DX VF-25 due to the nose shape. Heck, I might buy one just to kitbash a better VF-25 using the new legs and nose section. Hard to tell for sure, but it looks like the backs of the legs are still the same as the VF-25's, and they're just overlapped by the new pod structures near the tails.

While I'd definitely prefer a 1/72 fighter-only kit (or 1/48 for that matter), this'll probably entirely satisfy my custom scheme urge for the VF-25. While I love the transforming kits, they're too much work to paint up all fancy. Actually.. you know, this makes me think... and maybe even dream a little... Remember the original VF-100s pitch? The poster that included nearly every single VF ever? I'm guessing they had to acquire the 1/100 licensing rights to all those Valks to make that pitch, sooo..... No, 1/100 isn't a great scale.. but if Bandai releases a series of models of all those planes.. Plus, the rush to market the kit of the YF-29 for the movie release makes me think they might just still be developing a transforming 1/72 kit of it. Given how much closer the DX YF-29 looks to the line-art, maybe the model and toy divisions are working a little closer together this time.

Actually, the YF-21/VF-22 is an oddball. I can't confirm this myself since I don't have any of the other stands, but I think the fighter/gerwalk adapter for the YF-21/VF-22 actually has the proper attachment points for either the included stand or the mighty-block type. But aside from the YF-21/VF-22 and SV-51, I don't think any of the other valks or adapters are compatible with that style of stand. It's a shame really, those things are rock solid. Considering I've got 3 of them, I might try and modify some of my other stand adapters to attach to those stands.. but anything as small as a VF-1 would look tiny on such a huge pedestal.

Honestly, I don't trust their stands one bit, they have the most head-scratchingly bizarre design I've ever seen. They work well enough in battroid, but the little two piece structure that has the tab tab for the Valk to rest on in the front just fails miserably for me in fighter mode. The two pieces never stay together (should they be glued?), and anything heavier than a clean fighter will pull the tab plate clean off the stand, and let the plane slip backwards right off of the rear support plate. And for all it's problems, I'd actually say battroid turned out a heck of a lot better than fighter mode.

Probably closer to 1/32 I think. I've seen some comparison shots to the 1/18 F-14, and it looks about half the size.

Shoot.. despite having all those in the 1/60 v.2 line, I'm tempted to grab a bunch of these now for fiddling with since they're so cheap. Wonder if the 2-seaters will all come in a bundle?

Hmm, well I'm mainly concerned about them putting the stickers in the right places. Nothing like getting a plane covered in stickers that all need to be removed/replaced. On the other hand, if the tails really are black, it'll save me some trouble making a VF-84 scheme. Sad to hear about the Hurricane though. I have my old one completely disassembled along with my Crusader shuttle, and the parts are sitting in a big box ready for some restoration someday. Seems the plastic in the toys from that time period either really liked to yellow, or they must have been baked in my parent's garage. The shuttle is a nice even shade of yellow on the exterior (but the scout ship is still pristine from being in the bay), and even the blue plastic on the Hurricane has yellowed and turned greenish.

This is the first thing I read this morning, and it's already made my week. At $30 (holy cow!) I might have to get more than one of the new Skystrikers, but I am kind of sad they changed it to a one seater (at least on the normal release... the Starscream version looks like it has the original cockpit ). The wings definitely do look reinforced, but I'm confused as to why.. the original wings were one large piece, and it looks like these have a break near the root. I don't know what the original assembly was like, but it looks like they've tried to change things by having the wings snap on without opening the fuselage up. Makes me glad I held onto all those missiles from the "Flying Fighters" series from years ago.. I've got a nice stash of semi-accurate missiles and bombs to load my Joe planes up with. I just hope they let us put the stickers on ourselves. Now, go and re-release the original Night Raven and Hurricane!

I don't know how much modification would be involved, but I also remember someone saying that it's fairly easy to modify the Bandai Action Base stands for use with smaller valks, though I might not trust even using fast packs on a 1/60 VF-1. But at about $8 a piece before shipping, you really can't go wrong grabbing one to experiment with. If I remember right, the existing stand connector is roughly the same size and shape as the square attachment prong on the Yamato stand adapters, so adding some type of extension sleeve to the tip, or modifying the adapters, might let them connect pretty securely. I bought 5 of the things for my VF-25 kits, so I might try modding one to work. I might even just screw a fighter mode adapter for a VF-1 directly to the tip of one. For battroid though, I think someone might have actually gotten one of the standard Gundam figure adapters to clip decently to the hip bar on a VF-1. Honestly though, I've always wished they could come up with something better than all the adapters for mounting valks. I've got a long history of adapting model aircraft meant for ground display to flight displays, and building stands to support them in various ways, but it usually involves drilling holes and mounting stand adapters internally... which I'm sure Yamato could do if they tried to. While I do think the flight pose stands are a nice little piece of engineering, ehh.. they just don't sit well with me. I've never liked "cradle" type stands, where the aircraft is just resting on something, and not firmly attached by some shaft or hook. Funny...for all their absolute fuglyness, I do think that is one thing the revoltech variable valks got right: a single stand with multiple integrated attachment points for multiple modes (or at least that's what it looked like, I could be wrong).

Ok, this is getting utterly ridiculous.. they added MORE ENGINES. It's like they tacked a tornado pack onto the already tornado-ish design. "Hey, I put some more engines on your engines, so you can go faster while you're going faster!" This is approaching Tim Taylor levels. Next, it's going to be dual wielding plasma rifles, and strapping a pair of reaction missiles to each of the four engine pods.

Looks like they might not have done ball jointed hips on this one, and went with the same dual-pivot type of hip seen on the Hi-Metal. I'm kind of glad actually, since the ball jointed hip design on the YF-19 was one of its weakest points. And for something like this design, I think making a few parts swap out is well justified. The extra parts really do improve the hips and neck, though I may not use them myself. The shield though I'm not sure about.. Unless the mounting points are different, I don't see why you couldn't just use the anime accurate one in fighter mode as well. It might not cover the arms as well, but it's one less part to keep track of. I can't wait to see an actual plastic one.

On the other hand though.. I really don't want the fire valk the same shade as the VF-22. I'm perfectly happy chalking that screenshot up to the fact that they probably used one red ink for both planes out of practicality. While it might look pinkish in some shots, I think that's more from trying to look metallic than actually being that light. (pic got removed, I'll look for a better one later at home) While yes, red military aircraft usually do wind up looking faded like the VF-22, considering it's a performance oriented aircraft, I think they should be aiming more for something like this:

Not that it so much matters anymore... but I once had a similar issue when I got my first v.2 1/60 strike pack (I've since bought 3 more strike sets, Hikaru 1S, and the newer Max and Kaki strike sets, so now I can do two dual strike cannon setups ). I wasn't so worried about accuracy in my case though.. in terms of pure aesthetics, I'd ALWAYS go with the black skulls, just because the black will match any of the DYRL valks, and black with the skull matches the tails (not to mention the original VF-84 scheme). Honestly, I never really understood color-coding the packs' markings.. I mean, by the standard set by Roy's scheme in SDFM (going by just the canopy shield), they should have all been black to begin with.. but then DYRL came along, and Roy's scheme was the odd one out, who should've had a yellow canopy shield and pack markings to match. In the end.. I never put ANY stickers on. I just don't like using them much, and I usually don't display the valks with packs anyway.

.... .... I'm desperately resisting the urge to post an incredibly overused Andy Samberg picture right now. But that profile shot is quite possibly the most appropriate application of said picture I have ever seen. If Yamato decides to start milking the possible repaints of this mold.. I may need to reconsider my finances for the next few years.

Maybe a dumb question... but are they trying to make Jetfire? I don't mind making the 1J a bit fancier looking, but I think all the tweaks to the older style markings are really overdoing it. The bent stipes on the nose and legs just look bad to me, and the chest piece stripes look hokey that way. I'm all for adding the Skull markings, and giving him black tails, but bleh. I mean.. the old markings actually looked like something you'd find on a real aircraft (specifically, VF-1 Wolfpack markings, plus the upper chest/wing stripes).. this? Not so much. I might buy it, but kinda doubtful. I'd have to see the toy first.

Mmmm full photo-etched upgrade for the 1/60 VF-1 kit... *drool*

Ok, I've said this before, but I'll say it again to make sure people actually notice this: THEY ARE NOT THE SAME LEGS. The pictures a few pages back now have added a significant amount of detail. The intakes show compressor blades. The feet show actual exhaust nozzles built into them. THERE HAVE BEEN CHANGES TO THE LEGS. The redesigned intake area that has the intake visible means at the very least the hip has been redesigned somewhat, which would point to a possibility that the legs on this will be better. The feet likewise have a nozzle in them now of some sort.. how good it is, I don't know. But all signs here are pointing to NEW LEGS. Which is why I'm even excited about this design at all. If they went to the trouble to redesign the hip some, that means they probably had to redesign the leg mechanism in the hip a bit, which COULD mean the new legs will have a thigh swivel for a proper A-stance. I'm not counting on it. But with these design pics, I am cautiously hopeful.

Woo, fans of the Super Ostrich, better grab it now while it's still there! I haven't seen that even in stock for quite some time. I'm tempted to get some stuff, but I need to wait until I'm settled in my new place I think. Maybe if I get something small... *taps fingers together in thought, Gendo style*

Well, that's exactly my point, it's NOT the existing leg. There are intake fans added, there are blocky exhausts visible in the foot, and on top of that, I didn't think the kneecap on the DX could even bend that direction, though I might be remembering the model. And that leg is definitely dropped at the thigh, it's just that the leg pieces are a MUCH better shape on this leg. They're closer to the model instead of the DX, and the double hinge in the thigh extension allows you to pull the thigh out away from the hip quite a bit. If anyone has pics handy, I'd love to see that side profile compared with the leg assembly of the 1/72 model kit. Really, I think the DX scarred all of our memories of the way the VF-25 is supposed to look.. the legs are supposed to be MUCH higher in fighter mode... Hold on, this might help The fins cover up how high the legs reeally are, but they're up there. I mean, just in general, the split between the heel and toe should be almost level with the wing, so those legs are definitely drooped.

I guess I should clarify... Those are not the existing DX VF-25's legs, they are updated. Yes, using the old legs on the new design would save time, but they didn't do that. These legs are clearly VF-25 legs, but they have several improvements over the old DX version. So my question is, why are they using the wrong legs for the YF-29 on these images? Clearly, they've put the time in to design a set of more accurate VF-25 legs. Why they have slapped them on the YF-29 I don't know, and it doesn't really matter... But the fact that these CAD legs exist would point to the idea that Bandai is already working on a V.2 VF-25, in which case, I am cautiously excited. They clearly have added open intakes and foot exhausts, and after the VF-27, they would have to be absolutely daft to not include a thigh swivel this time. Nutcase theory? Maybe, but I'm still hopeful to get a VF-25 that holds up against the model kits, and can attach booster and armor sets as solidly as my Yamatos can.

It's been bumped down the list a bit, but this should take you right to the repair pictures. Just don't overstress that metal plate, and you should be fine. VF-0 Reissue Discussion

See, this is what makes me suspicious about this design. Those legs do not match the YF-29 pictures seen so far. I mean, look at them, they ARE VF-25 legs. They're the only part of the plane detailed with markings (the red and black ankle stripes, black panels on the lower leg around the gear door, the shaded portion of the kneecap), and all the markings are identical to what the VF-25F has, but not anything matching the colors we've seen on the YF-29 pics. I think the colored physical YF-29 we've seen had the entire lower leg painted reddish. What makes me really interested is that these are NEW VF-25 legs, with several features the DX did not have, like intake compressor blades, actual exhaust ports in the feet, and a redesigned mechanism to let the legs drop correctly for fast packs to mount. It makes me think they're using this new YF-29 design as a springboard to launch a new VF-25 design, since the designs are similar enough to share major components. I mean.. even if the YF-29 DOES use legs identical to the VF-25, that doesn't explain the legs being in markings for Alto's VF-25F (unless the CAD artists just got bored and were experimenting with color schemes >_>).

Can't say it looks worse, but without the engines there, the wings look like they should be clipped off a little. Meh. I like the design okay, but I would love to hear the reasoning behind making those wing engine intakes face inwards of all things. I mean, in space, sure, it doesn't matter, but the airflow into those things is going to be terrible in atmosphere. Truth is though, this thing kinda pisses me off. Not because of the design, but because it's proof that Bandai can make a decent looking VF-25, and they chose not to. I'm almost tempted to get one of these just to have a decent looking nose I can slap on my VF-25F. Anywho though.. unless I'm seeing things, it looks like they already have some sort of fast pack mounted on the legs and around the hip guns. And apparently, they realized that making the legs sloppy to allow room for leg packs was the worst idea in valk design ever, since this one actually has the thigh joint extended to accomodate the packs. In fact, I'm not sure what to think now.. looking closer, that CAD model is a weird hybrid of some sort.. All the newly designed pieces are bright colors, maybe for materials or mold planning. But then, the legs are already decorated with markings and stripes, and look like straight up VF-25F legs in Alto's markings, and a new and improved version at that (uncovered intakes, nozzles in the feet, plus I don't remember the knee covers rotating as shown when the thigh and knee joints were bent like that). Honestly.. now I'm kind of excited about this thing. Not because I love the design all that much, but because it looks like Bandai is trying to sneak in a revised VF-25 design in the process.

Oh please feel free to pass that model around, I've found it all over the net in various forms over the years. Just be warned, that one is 100% Hasegawa based. It's a nice aircraft model, but you will have serious trouble if you try to transform it. It's also fairly low poly for this day and age. I've got an in progress update to it, but it's been on my virtual shelf for a couple years now with no progress. It's meant to be for FSX, but I kind of fell away from my modeling hobby near the end of college. I really should pick it back up again. That leg looks incredible by the way.