Jump to content

Yamato 1/60 VF-11B Thunderbolt - Thread 2


azrael

Recommended Posts

I think they should do a skull 1 in every generation fighter.

Absolutely agree and I can't believe it hasn't occurred to Yamato. It seems to be one of the most common and wished for custom schemes. I believe they would sell like gangbusters for them.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Got mine today. Looks fantastic. No issues thus far. Everything's nice and tight, including the fingers, which are usually very floppy on my valks. The gear are a pain, as stated, but add so much to the realism, and the doors flush right up with the legs and fuselage. It's a thing of beauty, and all the little sliding panels and such are great touches. The heat shield snapped tight, first try. The transformation is simple, almost intuitive, if you're used to handling transforming toys. One of the hinged shoulder panels came off of mine while I was rotating the shoulder into position, but it snapped back on with no further worries. So far, this feels like a solid toy; there's very little flimsiness or delicate parts, really, beyond the head laser.

My only gripes are the limited elbow articulation( c'mon Yamato, double jointing should be standard on a high end toy), and, although it's not in the current design, a little more articulation could have been possible if the shoulders were mounted on ball joints.

Overall, a great looking toy with some neat engineering to overcome "anime magic". To anyone on the fence, I'd recommend it highly.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I really should have been cleaning the place before I head off island hopping but instead I was working on a hearty review of the 11B

Check it out by going here!

I just noticed something that could be corrected whenever you get back. In your pic named "Yamato 160 VF-11B 13.jpg" The top middle pic you have labeled as 1/72 Isamu in VF-11B is actually still the 1/60 VF-11B Isamu.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Great review Jenius.

And thanks for following through with the requested picture comparisons.

Couple of more questions pertaining to how good the hip/intake area in Battroid mode is:

- Are those back plate thingies an irritating obstacle like canards on the YF-19 and the metal tabs on the VF-0?

- Good range of movement?

- Does the groin joint sort of have lock so it doesn't constantly collapse back in like on the YF-19?

- And is it in anyway loose?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The LERX does get in the way of the intake/hip part of the leg. You have to kind of maneuver the hip either in front of it or behind it. It's a minor annoyance.

Overall, it has pretty good articulation aside from the often mentioned lack of a double jointed elbow for more-than-90-degree bends. The forearm does have a slight ability to tilt about 20 or so degrees left or right, which is the first time I've seen that in a valk toy. It seems to help the shield face forward more since it's attached to the underside of the arm. Leg articulation is about the same as the VF-1 at around the same points. You can pull the legs a bit further out, similar to the 19, to get a wider range of movement, but it's not as limited as the 19's to begin with.

Not sure what you mean by the groin joint collapsing back in like the 19. What part of the 19 collapses back in for you?

As far as the 11 goes, the plate that covers the "face" in fighter mode folds down and locks in behind a tab at the point where cockpit folds away from the neck in battroid. This prevents any accidental folding or swiveling of any sort. I'm not sure if that answers your question.

The 11 has the overall tightest joints of any Yamato toy I've had so far and even better than my VF-25G which has some issues with the legs sometimes not being able to hold a pose when off the ground or be able to keep its arms up in certain positions.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I for one hope they revisit the SV-51 with some of the clever locking mechanisms they used on the VF-11.

The only lock I can think of that the SV-51 really needs is a wing lock so the wings don't lose their horizontal position if you turn it upside down.

The YF-19 could use a lock for the battroid and GERWALK modes too as it relies entirely on gravity, not even any friction, and an upright position to hold it together which I think is really lame.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The VF-11B is great, but i guess i was one of the unlucky few to actually have TWO left thigh armors for the fast pack! d'oh! Luckily the store which i got it from let me swap out for the correct part. ;)

Can't believed i missed that when i chose the box. :p And to think i almost did not open it to inspect....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The only lock I can think of that the SV-51 really needs is a wing lock so the wings don't lose their horizontal position if you turn it upside down.

Absolutely..the pins on mine won't even stay in place when you move it around. I also wouldn't mind a peg that helps keep the wings from flopping down in gerwalk as well. (And a better way to latch for the keeping the battroid's folded torso together..but let's not get carried away.)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

trying to put the F#$@ing 21 back into fighter mode.

Goddam legs...

I just got my YF-21 from HLJ, and it come with an extra paper showing the correct location and the hinge to get the leg in the right angle. May be the first batch didn't have it?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yup, I'm ashammed to say that the YF-21 is the only valk that I STILL can not transform...even with the directions. :( I don't even bother trying now because everythng needs to be JUST RIGHT for it to transform correctly, and I don't want to go through the agravation again. The 11 on the other hand is really fun...except for the lower heat sheild which I can not get without removing the escape pod first.

Chris

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...