Official Bandai 1/72 Scale Macross Frontier Model Kit Thread Ver.2

[Vince]

Ozma Ranka Custom

http://www.actoys.net/bbs/read.php?tid-322017.html

Look so.... gay!

funny the rest of posts there think so too.

[IXTL]

New Figure Oh scans.

[ntsan]

Nice on SMS stand.. though priced a bit higher than normal stand

And do we need 3 stands for the RVF-25 and it's 3 ghosts?

Edited December 26, 2008 by ntsan

[protostar8]

Nice on SMS stand.. though priced a bit higher than normal stand

And do we need 3 stands for the RVF-25 and it's 3 ghosts?

If I remember correctly, it's supposed to come with all the stands needed, possibly even the one pictured (with the ghost and RVF-25)

Edit: Anyone know if the Luca RVF-25 will be molded in color? These things look like they have very tight fight parts as is, so I'd hate to have to paint it...

Edited December 26, 2008 by protostar8

[theplasticwerks]

If I remember correctly, it's supposed to come with all the stands needed, possibly even the one pictured (with the ghost and RVF-25)

Edit: Anyone know if the Luca RVF-25 will be molded in color? These things look like they have very tight fight parts as is, so I'd hate to have to paint it...

I don't see why not - the entire fighter is green. I was thinking as I was building up my Ozma that Bandai had some hand in designing the Valks to make them easy to produce and retool...each Valk is a pretty much a single color and decals make up the rest.

[protostar8]

I don't see why not - the entire fighter is green. I was thinking as I was building up my Ozma that Bandai had some hand in designing the Valks to make them easy to produce and retool...each Valk is a pretty much a single color and decals make up the rest.

Good. I was hoping they would do something like that being Bandai and all, but since the one they keep putting in magazines is colorless and I can't read what the articles say, it made me a little worried...

Now all I have to do is find the cheapest place to get the Luca and Michael (possibly the Alto too)

Edited December 26, 2008 by protostar8

[ron5864]

Any word on the 1/72 Vajra? Even though it was displayed earlier, I haven't seen any news of it lately.

[electric indigo]

Scans of the new Model Grafix issue are up.

http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?m20ykwdlp2j

It has the VF-25 Battroid with a detailed upgrade guide, armored VF-0, VF-4 Battroid, and the Aoshima Moto Slave! You'll also see a VF-25 in an interesting aggressor paint scheme...

[VFTF1]

Hello.

I have given up all hope in the DX now that there are pictures and have some questions about the 1/72 model, just to be sure:

1) Is it basically the same as a Mastergrade Gundam in terms of durability, complexity, detail and color finish?

2) It's snap fit right?

3) Are the yellow/red stripes applied watermark decals?

4) Do I HAVE to paint it? Will it look really ugly if I don't? I don't paint my Gundams and they don't look ugly to me...

5) I've seen pictures of an upcoming Luca - so is it safe to assume they're working on Mikhael and there will hopefully be more coming up?

Thanks

Pete

[Wicked Ace]

Hello.

I have given up all hope in the DX now that there are pictures and have some questions about the 1/72 model, just to be sure:

1) Is it basically the same as a Mastergrade Gundam in terms of durability, complexity, detail and color finish?

2) It's snap fit right?

3) Are the yellow/red stripes applied watermark decals?

4) Do I HAVE to paint it? Will it look really ugly if I don't? I don't paint my Gundams and they don't look ugly to me...

5) I've seen pictures of an upcoming Luca - so is it safe to assume they're working on Mikhael and there will hopefully be more coming up?

Thanks

Pete

The answer is YES to 1, 2, and 5. The answer to 3 & 4 is YES, HOWEVER.

The model kit has water-slide and stickers included. If you want to paint, check out the build-up threads; the members who have put them up have gone through a lot of trouble, so take advantage of their modeling tips.

[Master Dex]

Hello.

I have given up all hope in the DX now that there are pictures and have some questions about the 1/72 model, just to be sure:

1) Is it basically the same as a Mastergrade Gundam in terms of durability, complexity, detail and color finish?

2) It's snap fit right?

3) Are the yellow/red stripes applied watermark decals?

4) Do I HAVE to paint it? Will it look really ugly if I don't? I don't paint my Gundams and they don't look ugly to me...

5) I've seen pictures of an upcoming Luca - so is it safe to assume they're working on Mikhael and there will hopefully be more coming up?

Thanks

Pete

I might be able to help you VFTF1. I am not a seasoned model builder and definitely no expert but I got the VF-25S model and it turned out quite nicely and I am satisfied. I was also looking to the DX as well but more for Michael VF-25G.... now I'm not sure, will have to see more on it but I am not sure. Regardless, these models are very nice.

They do feel brittle at times and I wouldn't want mine to drop from a shelf (I remedy this by not putting it on a shelf, lol) but as far as model kits go this holds together very well. It seems sturdiest in Fighter and Battroid, I have to fight with it a while to get a good pose in Gerwalk, but when I do it usually stays in the pose without any problem.

For the build, you do not have to paint anything if you do not want to as you can get it looking pretty good without paint. I did not paint by the way as I don't like going to that much trouble for models (also why I don't really build glue and cement models, I stick to snap fit because that is all I really want to do for a model). The build itself is very straightforward but it will take a while, I split it up into about 2 hours a day for 3 to 4 days just because I didn't want to work on it straight through. It builds into fighter mode and I panel lined it when I had the core components assembled (cockpit, arms, and legs). Without stickers or decals it is very... gray (or white if you go with Alto), the entire thing is all the right gray colors but looks very nice still with panel lines.

I chose to do stickers since I'm not experienced with decals and I didn't feel like trying something new with this model but I hear both work out quite well. The stickers were pretty simple, some were difficult to apply though. You'll defined want the help of tweezers. Sometimes the small ones are easier to apply but the really big ones like the main stripes and the skull are easy to do. I only got frustrated with the stickers for the main stabilizers (upper tail fins I mean) and the cuffs for the legs but I got them on.

All in all I say it will definitely give you the display piece you want but not much play value. Easy to handle but once transformed I pretty much just leave it there. Ironically when I first built it into fighter mode some parts (like the wing root pieces) seemed loose and didn't want to stay and the shield would always pop off, but now that I've had it go to Gerwalk to battroid, back to gerwalk, and now fighter again... everything is fitting together nicely all of a sudden and it looks great (had to get used to its form maybe).

Also you will have a lot of random parts lying around, these things happen, I just keep them lying in the box which I will use for storage when I take this thing back with me to college (I plan to cushion it in the box so it doesn't get tossed around). The excess parts pretty much consist of the pieces that hold the gunpod on in fighter mode which have no use in the other modes, the landing gear if you aren't using them, open panels for the back gear or closed panels for the legs, the various connectors for the action base stand (which I don't have so I ignore them, but I may get a stand so I don't get rid of them), and two sets of hands that aren't in use depending on which you have on the model at the time (they include fighter mode hands, hands for holding gunpod or knife, and open hands for... well just open hands really). Also, the knife can be stored in the shield.

So I think it is really good. I am satisfied. It looks great and all I did was build, panel line (with a gundam marker btw, I didn't do wash method), and apply stickers (I am keeping the decal sheet though, just in case). I can take some pictures of mine if you want to see it, let me know though because otherwise I probably won't but I'd be glad to show it off (though if you go back a couple of pages I do show a picture of my battroids head which I posted to make sure I had gotten the neck extended correctly which I now believe is correct).

Hope that helps you VFTF1.

[SDF-ONE]

Hi Pete

Yes, the kits are completely snap fit. No cement required. They are practically MG in terms of complexity and number of parts. No paint is needed, apart perhaps for the canopy frame. You could do it with a marker if you have a steady hand. It will take a good few hours to assemble them. Don't rush it. Spread it out over a couple of days and you will have a great looking valk. I can recommend taking a look at Dalong's website. He takes tons of pictures. You can also take a look at the instructions and parts to familiarize yourself with them (follow the information link at the top of the page). He builds them without painting them and without modifying them, so WYSIWYG. He only applied the stickers and did the panel lining. At the bottom of the pages you can also see what the kits look like without stickers and panel lining.

http://www.dalong.net/review/etc/mf02/mf02_p.htm (Ozma)

http://www.dalong.net/review/etc/mf01/mf01_p.htm (Alto)

Edited December 28, 2008 by SDF-ONE

[Guest sh002]

some minor painting is required like the canopy, the head lasers, and landing gear.

[miriya]

I built mine completely snap using only gundam markers for panel lines and painting the pilot with gundam markers too as well as the canopy using masking tape and then the stickers. It was fun but it took about 9 hours. The leg broke and that was the only time I used cement.

[Hikuro]

So, are there any good cheap places in the US to get Ozma right now? orrrrr am I pretty much stuck with getting it from Image Anime for 80 bucks?

[Master Dex]

So, are there any good cheap places in the US to get Ozma right now? orrrrr am I pretty much stuck with getting it from Image Anime for 80 bucks?

I got it from HW Japan when they were having their 20% off all Bandai products sale. It was lucky timing since they only had 2 or 3 of them at the time. So I got it for about 3600 yen (without shipping) instead of 4500.. which in the end ran me a little less than $50. However I imagine they are long sold out, and I know HLJ isn't good with high demand products. I don't know much about other sites like Rainbow Ten or Overdrive (I've heard them referenced a lot) so I can't say much for that.

However all of those are for importing, places in the US though? I doubt any but Image Anime would have it in the US, and the fact that Image gets imported things and sells them from New York is probably why they overprice so often since you don't have as much shipping to deal with. If you don't want to import (if any of the import sites had them) then Image might be your best bet for now.

[007-vf1]

Scans of the new Model Grafix issue are up.

http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?m20ykwdlp2j

It has the VF-25 Battroid with a detailed upgrade guide, armored VF-0, VF-4 Battroid, and the Aoshima Moto Slave! You'll also see a VF-25 in an interesting aggressor paint scheme...

The Gray VF-4 is absolutely gorgeous..nice detailed upgrade...

[Hikuro]

VF-4 does indeed look cool, I just have an issue with how far the fuselage sticks out of the torso along with the nose bending so far out in angle.

I got it from HW Japan when they were having their 20% off all Bandai products sale. It was lucky timing since they only had 2 or 3 of them at the time. So I got it for about 3600 yen (without shipping) instead of 4500.. which in the end ran me a little less than $50. However I imagine they are long sold out, and I know HLJ isn't good with high demand products. I don't know much about other sites like Rainbow Ten or Overdrive (I've heard them referenced a lot) so I can't say much for that.

However all of those are for importing, places in the US though? I doubt any but Image Anime would have it in the US, and the fact that Image gets imported things and sells them from New York is probably why they overprice so often since you don't have as much shipping to deal with. If you don't want to import (if any of the import sites had them) then Image might be your best bet for now.

Look slike they still got it in stock, I'll plonder on it this weekend, if I end up getting the job I"m trying for then maybe tomorrow or monday I'll score.

[Vifam7]

Excellent write-up Master Dex.

One extra step I'd recommend: When the core components are built, panel-lined, and stickered, give them a spray of Testors Dullcote (comes in a spraycan) or equivalent clear flat coting. Make sure you don't spray the canopy unless you want it foggy. Spraying clear flat makes "no paint" builds look much nicer. In fact it makes them look as if they were painted. I recently completed a MG Zaku which I gave a spray of clear flat and it turned out awesome.

[thankheaven]

Now that i have seen the DX 1/60 Vf-25 up close in detail i know its not for me. So looks like i'll be getting the models instead. All 4 with superpacks and armor when that gets released.

Does Luca's RVF-25 come with just one ghost or all 3 ?

Also any ETA on the VF-25G ?

[protostar8]

Man, they need to sell that VF-4 as a model kit! It kicks ass!

[IXTL]

Does Luca's RVF-25 come with just one ghost or all 3 ?

It comes with all 3 Ghosts according to this promo sheet and this month's Figure Oh magazine.

Edited December 29, 2008 by IXTL

[anime52k8]

hello? whats this?

I haven't noticed anyone mention this but what's with these decals. I can't read japanese so could someone fill me in on where you can get a set of these?

[Guest sh002]

just finished the alto. this will look cool next to my 1/72 yamato valks and bandai hcm valks. does anyone think you can use the skeletal structure to make a custom transformable sv-51? I can't wait for more 1/72 stuff.

[anime52k8]

just finished the alto. this will look cool next to my 1/72 yamato valks and bandai hcm valks. does anyone think you can use the skeletal structure to make a custom transformable sv-51? I can't wait for more 1/72 stuff.

considering the VF-25 transformation is nothing like the SV-51's, no, I don't think so.

[ntsan]

hello? whats this?

I haven't noticed anyone mention this but what's with these decals. I can't read japanese so could someone fill me in on where you can get a set of these?

Vifam7 already explained here

Edited December 29, 2008 by ntsan

[Master Dex]

considering the VF-25 transformation is nothing like the SV-51's, no, I don't think so.

It is kind of similar though. I see the 25 transformation as a combination of the SV-51 and YF-19 transformation. YF-19 in how the cockpit is dealt with, and SV-51 in the design of the swing bars and how the upper fuselage becomes the back.

[SuperHobo]

Excellent write-up Master Dex.

One extra step I'd recommend: When the core components are built, panel-lined, and stickered, give them a spray of Testors Dullcote (comes in a spraycan) or equivalent clear flat coting. Make sure you don't spray the canopy unless you want it foggy. Spraying clear flat makes "no paint" builds look much nicer. In fact it makes them look as if they were painted. I recently completed a MG Zaku which I gave a spray of clear flat and it turned out awesome.

Hey Vifam7 does the Testors Dullcote work well to cover up the remains of the marks made after you cut the piece from the runner?

[miriya]

Does anyone know if there are any shops in San Jose or the bay area that have any of these kits in stock?

[Vifam7]

Hey Vifam7 does the Testors Dullcote work well to cover up the remains of the marks made after you cut the piece from the runner?

Yes. Not completely but certainly it's better to put the Dullcote on than not. The marks are less obvious after a spray of Dullcote. Ofcourse it works best when you sand down the marks first. Even a litle bit of sanding (like with a sanding stick) makes a difference. Dullcote will cover up those obvious sandpaper marks and even up the discoloration.

Just be careful when spraying the stuff. Don't try to lay it on thick or try to get into every crevice & corner.

[SuperHobo]

Yes. Not completely but certainly it's better to put the Dullcote on than not. The marks are less obvious after a spray of Dullcote. Ofcourse it works best when you sand down the marks first. Even a litle bit of sanding (like with a sanding stick) makes a difference. Dullcote will cover up those obvious sandpaper marks and even up the discoloration.

Just be careful when spraying the stuff. Don't try to lay it on thick or try to get into every crevice & corner.

Ok. Thanks for the info. I'll try this on my next kit.

[ron5864]

I am still building the Alto Vf-25. I noticed that using Tamiya Matt White (TS-27) to spray over the part covers up all the scratches and unwanted marks well. The color matches perfectly with the original plastic white. So I have parts that are painted and unpainted assembled. After spraying them with Dullcote, you can't tell which was which. Dullcote also seals in the decals from getting scratched or peeled accidentally.

Man, those shoulder pad decals are a pain to put on properly. Seven applications of Micro Sol were needed to make the decal conform.

[SuperHobo]

What grade of sandpapers do you use to sand down and finish up parts? Do you dip the sand paper in water to clean off the excess residue from the plastic? Any big retailers or convience stores sell the testors dullcote? Wal-mart perhaps?

Edited December 30, 2008 by SuperHobo

[Zeropioneer]

Rainbow Ten has listed the Super Pack with a tentative release date of February 2009! w00t!

MACROSS F 1/72 VF-25 SERIES SUPER PACK 2000YEN(1600YEN) FEB

Thing is... how much will the yen go up during these two months?

Edited December 30, 2008 by Zeropioneer

[Vince]

Rainbow Ten has listed the Super Pack with a tentative release date of February 2009! w00t!

MACROSS F 1/72 VF-25 SERIES SUPER PACK 2000YEN(1600YEN) FEB

Thing is... how much will the yen go up during these two months?

That's not bad.