regult

Will wait for your report then! If possible please do post some pictures of the areas modified from the first issue... and how does one tell them apart by looking at the box? The pictures are really warming me up to this DX line, but I am still very bothered by the wrong placement of the hip/leg in battroid.

Gracias Andrés, esta explicación es mucho más clara que la mía... I've been on board USS Kittyhawk before she was decommissioned and I observed the phenomenon you described. Unfortunately diecast models hardly recreate that, and plastic modellers also tend to use very matte paint and weathering. Back to Valk aesthetics: the 1/144 Doyusha diecast models were painted in high-gloss paint and they look horrible. Most Sci-fi modellers use matte finishing instead, maybe nothing above semi-gloss unless you like Valks to look like sports cars. To akt_m: I don't know how to make CGI models, but in Flight Simulator X, the CG models can have reflective surfaces of different qualities (simulating glass, polished metal and painted surfaces that react only when "sunlight" is at the right angles), so I guess you may be able to achieve the same effect with your CGI Valks. (edit: deleted quote of previous post to save scroll space)

He said (literally word by word): "too beautiful. long wait was worth it! nice work! is all the English I can speak '''--!" So he likes your work and cannot express his admiration in English Master Cheng!!

after a long hiatus, good things come to those who wait! really beautiful, I see the magnets are doing a great job, and the different shades also make the actual gaps for transformation blend better with simulated panel lines! would hate to see scratches and decal peeling on such a beautiful work!

Weird as it seems...the Vajra don't need to communicate yet they sing Aimo, don't need heads but yet Grace had to connect through the head and once severed she lost control of the Queen...so why can't they carve nice poles to scatter around a planet! I do have a question, the Queen was hidden in the center of that big spiral-ring around the planet until Grace O'Connor hacked in, then rose above it, and after the battle, red lobster Vajras and the Queen seem to be floating higher above the ring, as if they're leaving, evacuating!? Is this just some kind of artistic license or the Queen decided "hey humans, take this planet! we're calling it a day"? EDIT: I think this was in the broadcast version so I am not wrapping this in no-spoiler tag.

Downloaded the full length episode 25 raw, could not wait anymore, w/o fan subs I realized I actually pretty much memorized the dialog already. Your guys are so right, it certainly was less "full length" than I thought with 2 additional minutes. (At first I thought "full length" would amount to even more), only some additional short sequences, more explosions, slower end credits (that took about a minute!). Still good though, tiny bit slower pace but still very exhilarating. Now that all the DVD versions are out, I am waiting for the feature film.

Duh! even the moon reflects light! You do realize I am talking about paints that are supposed to be dull but under certain circumstances are quite glossy? I collect mainly military diecast models, and diecast models hardly get that aspect of real-life aircraft done: DULL is really "coarse" and very "flat", while GLOSSY is like nail polish, but matte-flat-dull grey on modern fighters do look shiny at some angles under the sun. To the point: the fun of making CGI models is probably (I don't have the skills) the capability of achieving a more realistic effect.

I am starting to develop this idea: You DON'T need any tools (paint, brushes, pliers, knifes, airbrush, spray cans, NOTHING). All you need is a friend to professionally built the whole SMS squadron for you, for free!

I am still excited about the "full length version" of episode 25, if anybody find the linky, please share with me!! I've watched the broadcast version too many times, and it still is my fav. episode, but the pace was a bit too fast. Would buy the DVD but I am currently too broke with all the macross toy explosion in the middle of the financial crisis, and I need fan subs.

Metal is still metal (assuming VF are made of some kind of overtechnology metal) so they still reflect light, even if they're covered in dull/flat paint....in a 3D model, probably you have to find a good balance between weathered (using bitmaps as "skin" with weathering painted in) and some kind of semi-reflective surface instead of just assigning colors to the surface of the CGI. FSX did a good job with some of the stock aircraft (yes, they're civilian) in that matter, they look dull but when sun is reflected there is some kind of sheen to it. Look at pictures of contemporary fighter planes in low vis (gray) paints, they still reflect sunlight at some angles and the paint is definitely dull, not glossy like commercial aircraft. David is right about white paint though, especially US Navy 70's liveries, and the "Skull Squad" pretty much takes it from Jolly Rogers (VF-84?) F-14's, still, when in active service, the gloss usually wears out quickly! And the most important thing: that VF-25 CGI you have there is amazing, can we have a look with higher res? the transformation looks accurate and so the proportions!!

He had a bad flu when he did the review... I gave the first issue "F" a try and I have my mixed feelings. On the one hand, it's nice to have fighter and battroid without having to assemble, decal and paint it (1/72 kit), or pay a lot of money for a modern chunky (1/60DX). On the other hand, the price for the 1/100 isn't reasonable to me, I think it should be cheaper than the kit, say around 2000-3000 yen. On the technical aspect, partsmorphing is annoying, but I can live with it, what I don't like at all is the lack of a locking mechanism (a small 2mm tab?) to fix the legs in fighter mode. Finally, the deal breaker is the wrong location of the hip/leg in battroid: that made me buy one and only one, and passing on the "S" despite it being quite decent looking in fighter mode (and passable in battroid despite the hip). Hopefully, they'll fix the leg placement with future releases of the "clean" configuration, but I am afraid they'll only do it with the Armored, because that's a different crotch piece altogether. If they fix that (armored and clean), I'd be all over these 100s, whole SMS squad, all configurations!

good one!

What??? you mean the guy who never ate his steak and got killed? that's a long wait for sure. You're SOOO right about micron Klan, how could I have forgot about that!

Initially the price was driven up by the perceived limited availability (it was a raffle prize, not a off the shelf limited/unlimited edition)...but that was tricky, coz if you do a search in Yahoo JP auction, you'll be happy to see plenty of them available (just HOW MANY were made??), and the prices for the KK figure are about the 30-50 bucks range. No idea how to bid coz sellers don't send outside Japan as a rule of thumb. I think the Ranka and Sheryl are still overpriced, other versions are coming out and they look like they're going to be better sculpted and painted than the Banpresto prizes. I don't expect any more non-micron Klan figures after the Banpresto though. That blue-lit picture looks great, like in the Quarter's hangar or sth. Should have a bunch of valks as backdrop

Poor Michel/Mikhail/Michael, he had to die in front of the love of his life, powerless Klan in a glass tube to become this piece of gashapon nobody wants... I suggest (wild dream) set HGIF set III (or the boxed expensive set): 1) Ozma in SMS fatigues 2) Michel in SMS fatigues 3) Cathy in NUNS uniform (did she wear anything other than that?) 4) Nanase in school uniform with Aikun in larva form alternatives: 5) Bobby in SMS uniform 6) Grace showing off her nightmares and despairs (scene before jumping into VF-27, 1 second screen time, eternally remembered) 7) Grace in manager suit Capitain Wilder!!!! (forget Luca, I am fine with him sitting inside the cockpit of the 1/72 model or the 1/60 DX...)

This is getting interesting, and increasingly unaffordable! I was waiting for the M&M VF-1s 1/60 v2 (the 1/48 pair is at discount prices but, honestly I cannot afford the space and a new scale), and now there is this slight chance for a VF-22 M&M!?! ...what a sweet and sour Macross renaissance!

In the credits for the final episode of Frontier, you can see Klan Klan micronized standing on the hand of Nene (screencap below), she's not as tiny as Michel in the hangar scene with the Q-rea, and micronized Klan is even shorter than Ranka, so... In the Formo scene, she's right behind Alto and he's at least as tall as her head (actually 1 1/2 the size maybe?). I am not so concerned at Exedol shriking or growing gigantic so much because he never piloted a Q-rea or Q-rau, but the pilots/battle suit scale problem is a concern for me because I like my models (or toys) to-scale, if there is any official scale!

yeah, I actually thought this was the new mystery toy from Yamato Graham's signature was implying, but apparently not, since this is a model kit (!!). Wonder what's the presentation of it, a classic Hasegawa-type or what? at least it seems it says paint and glue are required, so it's not simple snap-fit of pre-colored or pre-painted parts. I imagine this is going to be not much bigger than the cockpit section of the VF-1 V2!

What about the lazy noob who only wants to top coat the model so decals applied with mark setter or sth similar don't crumble when model is posed and transformed? are there acrylic clear coats or only oil-based? My problem is: will have to paint the tail and ventral fins of the entire SMS squad, red, yellow, blue, green, grey, white (decal provided just does not fit) Tamiya worked ugly on the Bandai kits...then I need to clear coat the entire model to protect the decals, and I am trying to avoid a catastrophic chemical reaction or panel line blurring. Sorry if these questions are too noob, but thanks again to all the experienced guys.

Try the blue-tac solution I mentioned a while back, a very small amount of the sticky substance in the "inner" part of the knee press against the arms (in fighter mode of course) and usually it stays there if you don't play "chase the vajra" around your house. Since mine is in fighter model almost all the time, with gears down, the legs stay as high up as they can, no gap between leg and lower fuselage (arms). I will sit and wait for the Armored versions to see if they really decide to relocate the leg pegs for battroid...that will be my next 1/100 purchase for sure!

just curious: can one wear these helmets and get on a bike or sth.? I mean, do these comply with any safety regulations or are just props.?

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but that Michel is (...) I am not sure I want any more Ranka+Sheryl, but they're the main female characters so I don't expect them to disappear in future sets, unfortunately. I just hope someday we get the other characters, and I do want the SMS squad in uniforms or flight suits! Grace with her manager suit or in flight suit showing off her nightmares and despairs? "new stands" you say? I wish they did give us real "stands" (there are so many gashapon with decent stands these days!) and not chunks of "leg huggers"

Thanks for reminding me about my post...First of all, I am not sure if my English is too poor or Hikaroso is too unhappy with his broken VF, but I didn't mean any evil towards somebody who got a broken 100-dollar toy (maybe more) right out of the box, that sucks, and I thought that's what I meant, if that happened to me, I'd be...you get the point. Hmm...I did follow the discussions regarding the VF-1 version 2, and maybe because mine didn't break, I thought there was not a huge pile of dead Fockers and an angry mob of collectors with torches in front of Yamato's office, but you're right that at least it wasn't as epic a failure as the VF-0 (lucky me, I have a floppy issue 3 VF-0 Focker with everything supposedly fixed!). Regarding QC, I don't mind what "brand" is printed on the toy, I will be more demanding with more expensive stuff, so I am not going to kill anyone because of a paint smudge on a gashapon...and I also agree with you on this: there is a proclivity toward panic (that's the message my poor English was trying to convey)...and wanted to add that now even Bandai toys are the subject of some sort of (non-double digit) panic (or at least "concern" maybe?). But the 1/60 DX is still so much uglier than the 1/72 model...

Hopefully someday they'll make a decent Michel in SMS uniform or flightsuit, that day, I will definitely get the figure to pair him with macro Klan! The problem is, has anybody heard of a "HGIF Part III" or a Macross (very expensive) characters (with exactly the same features except their heads are on ball joints) part II?? I am afraid there won't be any of these figures for a while

I just saw the latest batch of figures in a shop in Hong Kong, and I was not slightly but VERY let down! The only figure I was interested in was Michel/Mikhail, and honestly, if it didn't say so, you'd never know from the face sculpt! The legs are attached in the most ridiculous way possible: instead of hiding the seam under the shirt (or at the waistline like in most figures), they actually made the torso with waist and trousers way down to crotch height and then inserted the rest of the legs. Here is an image from an auction site in HK: (EDIT: photo credit goes to account name "peter_ayr", don't know the guy, maybe picture is not even his) Also, the "stand" (chunk of plastic to make the figure more stable) was not translucent anymore, it was actually flesh-colored! Did anybody get this figure and does not have these issues?