Chronocidal

I haven't seen anyone printing a full set, but for the work involved, it's probably a better deal to just buy the 1/48 Hasegawa set for the models, and build hardpoint adapters into the pylons. Bandai made the pylons ridiculously stubby for some reason, so the Hasegawa set is a pretty huge improvement if you're displaying them in fighter or gerwalk.

I don't believe the issues have been seen on any YF-19 release except for the Premium Finish version, which I'm personally leaning toward blaming on tolerancing issues with the weathering coating the parts got. The part that doesn't make any sense with the AX releases is that they know the tolerances for those molds. The parts that don't fit seem entirely randomly distributed through the production run, which makes me think Bandai have been outsourcing the production to alternate factories, possibly with alternate molds that aren't made to the same tolerances. Or.. I actually wonder whether the 31AX is literally a kitbash. What if it was cobbled together from extra parts and molds left from the original 31 production runs? The ones that were almost up to spec? That would explain a lot.

If you actually want one just to have one, in a collecting sense, now's probably the best time. On the one hand, the design has been kind of a clunker, so I would imagine there may be a few bargains to be had on the secondary market. On the other.. Bandai is re-releasing the main character already, and there's nothing special about it compared with the original. That makes me think they're trying to get one last gasp out of the most popular one before they shut down the product line, and abandon the unmade Delta designs. Now might be the last chance to get one at retail before the supply dries up, and Bandai's terrible QC mess winds up boosting the collectability.

Weird backpack split aside, that honestly just looks like you could make it into a pretty solid VB-6 model that might fully transform without many compromises for the figure. Which is nice.. because I really don't care about the figures, I just like nice displayable size of these valks. The fighters are pretty close to HMR-scale..-ish.

Because Bandai needed an excuse to re-use half of the 31 molds (which they somehow made worse) while still making a "new" hero toy to sell for their movie. I do wish they made it easier to get more of the original 31 gun/drone pods, since they look a lot better on the AX than the thermometer.

Yeah, the consistency of all of the AX release is just off the rails. I don't think Bandai is even making it in the same production lines as their older VF-31s.

Honestly, it's just a stick of tan model sprue that I drilled out and filed to match the size of the weapons pylon pegs. Lots of careful trial and error testing to fit, then I sawed the individual rings off, and superglued them to the underside of the wing.

Ok, I'm intrigued. I actually kind of like how the art style is giving me slight Titan A.E. vibes. I'm also a sucker for time travel/alternate timeline shenaniganry, so I imagine it will be quite fun to try and unscrew the twists and see how it interleaves with the original storyline. Even if it breaks things, I'm sure I'll enjoy the mental puzzle of working out the details.

Yeah, it does look similar to the 1/8000 kit, but some of the specific details are different. The thruster banks on the underside are just pits instead of raised nozzles, and there's no molded circle in the side of the rear bridge area. Very cool find!

It really kind of depends on your eyes, and the light you're used to seeing it under. I've actually noticed in the past that my right and left eye actually see slightly different shades of gold/brown/yellow. I think it's not a pure blue, there is definitely a tinge of green in it. It's probably harder to see on the valk itself, since it has a slightly blue-gray color.

I think it's a good balance yeah, I'd still like them a bit cheaper, but I can vouch for their durability quite firmly, and they're the perfect size to display on my desk at work. I had a pair of HMRs posed on my desk during the 2019 earthquake. They toppled onto the floor, parts flying everywhere... but nothing broke. They popped right back together, good as new. One of my DX VF-1Js took it even harder.. took a 5 foot header off a bookcase in gerwalk mode, and fortunately landed in a pile of cardboard boxes and packing materials. Hands and gun popped off, a few parts here and there, and it's still in one piece, but it definitely fouled up one of the hip joints on impact, so that leg isn't much good for posing anymore.

All the more reason to use those with the armor. Or just swap the canopies around, in any case. As long as you have a few in battroid, you'll probably have a few free clear ones to use.

Yep, the recent white VF-1S with super packs is a good match to the revival armored VF-1J, with a matching canopy tint. The earlier ones were a very light gray, while the DYRL releases were a darker gray.

I never even really considered it before, but I wonder how difficult it would be to get a set of super parts printed, and paint up a set in orange. I'd rather not mess with the stock parts that much.

The only thing that makes me suspect it's all clearcoated is the effect I got when I pried apart the wing gloves to install my replacement hinges. When I pulled the halves apart, there was something like a thin layer of transluscent film along the edges that flaked away very slightly. I didn't mess with it any further, and it didn't flake away much, it was just a weird thing to see. I do think the weathering coat on the arms is having an effect though. I don't have mine handy at the moment, but I remember pictures looking like there was definitely weathering applied to the arms, which is going to have an effect on the mechanical tolerances of the parts. Inconsistency in that coating is going to make the effect on joint tightness unpredictable, whether it's sprayed on, or applied by hand.

Have to agree, and given my clear DX VF-1S super parts stand mount cracked the first time I used it, I really don't trust them to make clear stands either.

I don't remember ever hearing about it, which makes me think it's either a mold degradation issue (which didn't show up in the normal re-releases), or they slopped on so much clearcoat to protect the finish that they gummed up the arms in the process.

I don't even want transparent. Just make them transluscent. I'm sure we all know one or two manufacturers who just love making plastic you can see light through. Just use that. And just think.. if you molded the glowy parts in color, we wouldn't even have to deal so much with diffusion either.

Side note, I know Luna Park has been sketchy for a while with orders, but I took a gamble and put in an order last week for a second armored VF-1J, and just arrived today via FedEx. Box was a little scrunched, but in okay shape overall. Think it came to about $150 shipped in the end, which I was okay with to get a second one after the fact, considering I think that's about what my HLJ one cost after shipping.

I did go back to watch the first episode once to confirm it, and no, they never did load Hikaru's 1D up with missiles before they sent him into combat. Probably an oversight in terms of capability, but Bandai seems to go to great lengths to adhere to what's seen on screen so long as it will let them cut production costs. Technically speaking though, they probably didn't include missiles because they would have had to mold them in another color. The light tan missiles in the Brownie VF-1A were passable, but the tan and orange parts on the 1D probably wouldn't have looked as good. Training rounds would generally be marked blue in terms of real world weapons though, so I doubt that would change to match the plane (and I doubt Bandai would take the time to learn that in the first place). Otherwise, just because an aircraft can be used as a trainer, doesn't make it a dedicated trainer, like the VT-1. Lots of planes with a back seat can be configured for training, like the F-18, but they're also fully combat capable. The closest analogue to the relationship between the VF-1D and VT-1 I know of is when you compare the F-5F with the T-38.

Me, every time this thread resurfaces:

The only thing consistent about the AX quality is how inconsistent it is across the board. The leg tabs not fitting is one thing, but I've seen a few other larger tolerancing and assembly issues. That sticky arm slider mechanism plagues every one I have, the front gear doors continue to get worse on every release (across both the 31 AND VF-25 lines), and the Mirage I got has the tail and wing hinge pinholes drilled cockeyed, making the whole thing a disheveled mess of off-kilter angles. And that's leaving out the holdover issues from the original 31s, because that sloppy neck gap has only gotten worse. It's like they bypassed the B team, and handed down all of the AX releases to the C and D teams. Far as the swoosh factor goes though.. Yeah, the entire 31 line has not been conducive to picking them up. They have so many folding bits and pieces poking out every which way that it's really difficult to find a grip that doesn't stab you, let alone one that doesn't knock something out of position. It's kind of hilarious, but the best option I found? Just yank out the canards. They pop off without much trouble if you lift them vertically, and taking them off gives you space for a nice solid grip to pick them up and handle them. Removing the canards and head is always the first step I take when I go about fixing anything on the AX, since it just gets them out of the way. (No lie, I actually kind of prefer the look without them, especially the Kairos )

Highlighted for emphasis. We've had three AX releases now, and they've all been a complete crapshoot for bonkers QA failures that shouldn't happen. I still hope they'll turn it around, but I don't like the design enough to buy any more, and Bandai seems to have zero interest in finishing all of the other dangling product lines they left in Delta's wake. The situation actually feels like a self-reinforcing spiral of failure, where the fans have stopped caring, so Bandai stops caring, quality takes a dive, driving the fans to care even less, and so on. The nose fix for the VF-1 was insanely tiny, so I guess that's the threshold of what they're willing to change. It wasn't even what I would call the worst flaw in the design, so that's probably a good indicator of how much effort Bandai is willing to expend to correct their own mistakes. "Changing molds and tampo patterns? That's too much work. Just send them stickers to fix it."

Is it too much to hope that maybe we'll get something focused on actual military things this time? Or are we going to be forever stuck in the "plucky group of teenagers inexplicably entrusted with advanced military hardware" trope? I'm not even sure I care either way.. just please write a good story this time, and build around that. Delta had so much wasted potential.