Chronocidal

It's hard to tell if they've made any changes, but the things that stuck out to me about the painted prototype still stick out as being very obviously wrong and completely off-model from the lineart, so at this point I'm just assuming that Bandai's doing their usual thing and deciding they know best. Also.. It actually looks like it has swappable feet for battroid mode. Where was that feature when they made the garbage feet on the YF-19?

It's definitely hefty, but mostly hollow, since it has a cockpit and internal mechanism to link the wings together. I think the walls themselves are mostly solid ABS, about 3-4mm thick. Frankly though, I don't have the room for a project that big right now, and the plastic spool I was using ran out in the middle of it, so I'm holding off on the huge one, and have been focusing on one about 60% of the size. It's about 9 inches long with a 14 inch wingspan with the wings spread. I would guess that's something like 1/48 scale? It looks about right for a pilot I have sitting around, but the physical dimensions of this thing are nonsense, since the cockpit in game only had a disembodied head under the canopy, and barring insanely compact propulsion technology, the pilot would have to be riding the engine like a bicycle. Printing is pretty much done, with maybe one or two parts left to re-print if I decide to roll the dice and see if I get a better result on some of the details It's obviously due to the N64 polygonal nature, but this thing is pointy, and there are lots of little bits that can snap off easily. I actually had to thicken up several of the parts to allow them to print correctly, because my printer software was having issues trying to print parts with infinitely sharp edges. The original large design was made with metal rods and dowels in mind, but shrinking it down let me break it up into a press-fit kit that holds together really well. He also had the laser pods mounted on magnets to let them be extended, but I changed those to friction tabs to be more compact. Was really shocked by how sturdy the ABS spool I got is, I was able to print the parts at half size, and they hold up very well, even the wing hinges. They stay on the pivots on their own, and I just ran a section of thick paperclip through them to hold them in place. Still easy to pull apart with some effort, so it will be simple to paint. Fun fact.. I separated the wing sections right about the same place the wings would break off in the game, so I could even display it with damage if I wanted.

Your best bet for that would probably be the 1/72 Hasegawa kit, since the 1/48 would probably be too big for 1/60.

I think the overall proportions are slightly different, because I don't think the HMR slides up the nose quite the same way as the Arcadia. I haven't transformed either in quite a while though, so I might not remember it correctly.

Yeah, it's kind of noteworthy that none of the Macross items in that video thumbnail have seen more than a vague tease by Bandai. They obviously have other priorities.. and it kind of feels like they will use any and all excuses to put off anything new for Macross. This year has.. well, the gif above puts it very plainly. They've really done almost nothing this past year. Yeah, there's been a couple HMRs.. and they teased an exclusive DX VF-1S that no one is going to be able to purchase. Everything else has been (more expensive) re-releases of things from years ago that they can put on the international market now. I can't really fault them for milking their existing products in a new market, but they just do not seem interested in putting any effort toward satisfying anyone waiting for all the stuff they tease every year.

I feel like Plamax is bound and determined to sell model kits that do everything model kit builders do not want.

I think any attempt to actually assign a scale to that YF-19 is a fool's errand at best, but yeah, I would assume they based the measurements on the length of fighter mode, and didn't try to account for the proportional shifts in battroid.

Not mine, an artist essentially gave the ship in Starfox 64 the HD treatment. They extracted the in-game model (all 200 polygons or so of it, given it's a 1995-ish design), then rebuilt it into a kit using box art and publicity renders as a reference. Essentially took this: Extrapolated the details from this: And turned it into this. I'm going to eventually print the whole large model, which has linked swing wings, and several optional parts attached with magnets, but for the moment I'm more focused on a more manageable model that's about 60% of that size, and without some of the fancier features. I still want to make the wings swing though. The nerd in me seriously wants to build a stand that mounts into the engine, and will slowly roll the model while playing the menu music.

Right on the money! I had been working (very slowly) on a model of the version from Starfox 64 for a long time, but I went browsing printable models the other day, and found this one. Immediately gave up my goal of making my own model, and decided the buy the completed one to print after I saw the author's video of assembly and features. He made his mostly in liquid resin, so I've been modifying a few bits to make it more ABS-friendly, and it's not going badly, but the polygonal nature of the basic design is proving tricky to get solid structures. I've had to thicken and rearrange some areas, since printing slicer software tends to have issues with perfectly sharp edges. The author goes by "nerdmakerengineer" and has some incredible models on his CGTrader profile, including a Tie Phantom from Rebel Assault II, and an insane X-Wing replica kit designed for 1/12 scale figures. Seeing how this works, I might put a couple of my own designs up for sale/download. I still have a few tweaks to make to my old printed Excalibur model, but I'm tempted to try and make a much larger version than my original.

Something to keep in mind about the VF-0, I think they are naturally raked. They were patterned after the F-14 after all, and it wouldn't surprise me if they just modeled it in a general kneeling position. In Bandai's case though, it also might be that the rear gear are actually too long. The old Yamato VF-0s had gear that splayed outward, and I think the Arcadia's followed that pattern. The HMR version there certainly looks like there's a fair bit more clearance under the back of the gun than the Arcadia would have.

I might have slightly underestimated how big this model is going to be once I make the rest of it.... The print failed on the smaller one due to missing some wall thickness in important places, but I think I'm going to make a new one in that size once I get a new ABS spool. I'm debating how to give the wings a ratcheting rotation joint, and I might actually just embed some LEGO joints in the model. Edit: Got the rest of the big fuselage printed, and fits decently, but going to take some filler. Going to re-try the single-piece one overnight.

On the plus side, at least it can't be as bad as the VF-2SS. That thing is just a pile of joints that you can eventually manhandle to look sort of like an airplane.

That's completely worth it, you could just cut a new laser out of sheet plastic, don't even need something as fancy as printing.

As much as I will generally complain about gear doors not fitting the bay on almost every kit I built as a kid... I actually have a hard time faulting them in this case. Sure it would be nice.. but I mean.. it's just a nosecone. How else are you going to display this? And if you're actually going to make the effort to build the rest of the plane, I feel like making the gear doors fit are the least of your worries.

I'm mostly in an annoying place because of the stupid rarity of the 25G when it originally launched, combined with the fact that the single copy I got came missing pieces. I was completely SOL for ever getting those parts, because Bandai just doesn't do spare parts, and there was nowhere with stock available for a replacement. My VF-25G has been using the YF-25 crotch plate for years, because it was the only one that matched reasonably (I actually prefer the swapped colors, compared with the standard VF-25G one). It was never a huge issue for me, because I wasn't going to transform the YF-25 out of fighter anyhow, but it's always felt dumb that I was never able to get a complete set.

Anyone want a 1/12 X-Wing for their Black Series figures? Found this while browsing printable models, and wow. Have to print it yourself of course, but the base model looks insanely accurate.

Whoa, ok, that's almost $40 cheaper than my previous order.. I might have to grab a second, and just stash one for a rainy day later.

Youch, that's a pretty big leap from the pre-order price I got (¥28,600). Really hoping Hobby Genki comes through on this one, been waiting to get a second one of these ever since the original release.

I would guess they're gauging how much demand there is for a complete set based on sales of the same characters the first time around. That is to say, no, I don't expect to EVER see Arad and Chuck get any releases of anything, ever again. I really can't even attempt to wrap my head around what they're planning at this point. They seem to be half-and-half over whether they're trying to string along the HMR crowd waiting for the rest of the destroids, or re-issuing a pile of things to satisfy the international market now that it's open (which doesn't seem to include anything from Delta, funny enough). On the other hand, I really wouldn't be surprised to find out that Bandai has gone silent to prep for a simultaneous international release for whatever series Kawamori is busy cooking up now. I would love them to get around to someday finishing the first set of super packs for Delta, or, even better, get around to finishing the DX VF-1 line.. but it looks like they're too focused on the things they can actually release to the rest of the world.

To be fair, Bandai has just as much trouble in this regard, at least as far as the DX line goes. They don't understand that fighter cockpits are tight. Making the pilot two scales undersized is the only way they seem capable of making their pilots fit in anything at all.

Holy cow... Honestly, I don't even care about the auction, but those photos are freaking fantastic. Like, seriously, I'm over the moon to get such clear images of one of these models up close, no other source I've ever seen has such a complete set of perspectives and photo coverage of any of the original filming models. They've also got a Colonial Viper and Cylon Raider up for much smaller amounts, but still way out of my price range.

Will probably be fine, provided you don't mind it being a repaint of the Last Jedi/McQuarrie concept, rather than the actual ROTJ type. The X-Wing has always looked incredibly cheap and disappointing from every picture I've seen though. I've also seen a new Y-Wing for order on Amazon, but given they want over $50 for it, I'll wait until it's on par with the rest of the ships that size before even considering it. It definitely looks like it has better proportions than the old Action Fleet version, but I admit, having the Bandai model kits has spoiled me with how good they all look, and everything else feels cheap and janky by comparison now.

HLJ's private warehouse does help sometimes, but unfortunately all of these release windows seem to be spaced out perfectly to ensure I can never actually group any of the bigger items together. I can always toss in some modeling supplies or a small kit or something to pad out the box, but since they started auto-shipping things again, I don't think any major releases have overlapped enough to ship together. Unless they aren't actually auto-shipping yet? I think I've just been saying to ship with a couple days left to try and time deliveries when I can be home to get them.

Yeah, BBTS is never the cheapest source, but they make a good backup, and their cheap shipping does help reduce the sting a little bit. My pre-order at AE was only $220, but it'll probably cost over $60 to ship it.

Funny thought, but are there any detail drawings of what that panel of the backpack is supposed to look like? The toys usually have it as some kind of intake vent, but I don't know what the source on that detail is. I don't even know if I've seen art that doesn't just show that area as a black void.