Hand differences in the 1/48.

[rewooh]

If you look at the up coming vf-1j hikaru's hands and the current 1/48, there seems to be a different. The vf-1j looks less boney and robotech and more like a hand while the current ones look like skeletons.

Was this on purpose or something? or was this another improvement?

[Mr March]

The next 1/48 Yamato VF-1J is going to include to sets of non-articulated, removable hands. These hands are sculpted to look as they appeared in the Macross television series. I beleive it was Yamato's response to the single biggest criticism of the 1/48.

As far as I know (and beleive me I'm trying to find out) these hands will only be made available with the VF-1J. They may become available in the future seperately, but that's just wishful thinking at this point. Here is a comparison picture to look at:

[LePoseur]

the 1J they are issuing is from the TV series, so, as such, it will have the TV style hands, Hikaru in his TV flightsuit (at least this time I hope) as well as TV style FAST packs.

That being said, I do view it as an improvement though, and I wish they'd offer mail-ins for DYRL style hands.

Mr.March beats me to the punch, but now, looking at that picture, the new hands make the whole arm look better (thicker) for me. Then again, it could just be the camera work.

Edited October 6, 2003 by LePoseur

[orguss01]

reight, the whole arm looks much thicker, wider forearm??i am rethinking the beauty of 1/48,IMHO- i thought they were disproportionate, i even go as far as to say i like the 1/60 sculpt better>>>

[bake_art]

Ugh... I really don't like those TV-styled hands, reminds me too much of mickey mouse. I think the dyrl hands are a bit too skinny, but it's still looks better than the TV hands.

How come yamato didn't make perfectly proportioned hands like the hasegawa models?

[Radd]

Well, you'll find with a little searching that this has been quite a big topic for a while now. The VF-1J is, like others have already mentioned, being made 'tv' style. That is to say, tv style hands, tv style pilot, and tv style cockpit.

In addition, it will come with the standard 1/48 hands (at least I believe Graham confirmed this at some point), but the tv style hands will be oversized (because many feel that the standard 1/48 hands are too small), and non-articulated. Also, the hands will have to be removed to transform the Valkyrie. The larger hands simply will not fit into the Valkyrie's forearm, which is why the 1/55ths and the 1/60ths have oversized 'popeye' style forearms. "Perfectly proportioned" hands, that being hands as large as they are in the show, simply will not work. Even in the show it took "anime magic" to make the hands fit for the transformation.

The arm width of the VF-1J will not be any different than those of the previous 1/48ths, though there will be minor changes to the sculpt. Mainly, the back of the forearms will be left 'open' forming a U shape, as this is closer to the line art.

[myk]

From the looks of those TV hands, will holding the gunpod be a thing of the past?

[Radd]

The TV Hikaru VF-1J will, much like the 1/60 toys, come with mutliple sets of hands. A couple closed fists, a couple open hands, and at least one hand shaped to hold the gunpod. There's pictures floating around showing the 1J with all these different hands.

[Mr March]

Mr.March beats me to the punch, but now, looking at that picture, the new hands make the whole arm look better (thicker) for me. Then again, it could just be the camera work.

It's partly the look and part the length. The tv style hands do away with the wrists, so the actual length of the arm does shorten slightly. This will obviously make the arms look shorter. Also, the hands are much more properly proportioned to the size of the mecha itself, so the arms will look better. Remember, the 1/48 does have slightly thinner arms than the lineart, with this being compunded by the disproportionatly small, articulated hands. If the small thin hands are done away with, the whole arm will look slightly larger.