Yamato 1/60 VF-19S/F/P - All Variants

[Renato]

♪ "It's a new frontier!" ♫

BEAUTIFUL toy! It's the Valk I've wanted for so long.

I have only transformed it to Battroid so far, and all the joints are nice and tight... except the shoulder swivels. I don't know why, but on my Fire Valk they are dead tight, and on the P they are worryingly loose. Not so much that the arms do not hold their position, but I worry that they will get looser in time.

Other than that, maybe it's the early tightness, but I had some issues trying to push the chest module down far enough for it to lock into its proper battroid position. This 19 mold is finicky and everything must be just right for all the modes to work just right.

I have not moved the Gerwalk joint yet, and I don't know if I will get round to it, because I remember from my experience with the Fire Valk that that joint is the tightest, most heart-attack-inducing thing Yamato has ever, ever made...

Oh, one more thing: Although the shoulders do not open, there are holes at the back just like the VF-19S (and the F, I assume?) that will fit the Sound Booster!

[Scream Man]

My P shipped last night.

Scream I would have done the same if I had to. The P will be around.

Thats my theory as well

Ren: I've not noticed any shoulder looseness, and I have 4 of that mold. Do u mean the swivels are loose where they attach to the torso, or a different spot?

[Renato]

Ren: I've not noticed any shoulder looseness, and I have 4 of that mold. Do u mean the swivels are loose where they attach to the torso, or a different spot?

No, not the die-cast ones attached to the torso, I mean the ones attached to those: the actual arm swivel that allows the arm to swing forward and back.

[Scream Man]

huh. Yeah that may just be yours mate, I don't have that issue on my Kai or the S and 2 F's i have.

[kamadoma]

@Renato re: shoulder pauldrons, did you actually mean the fin-like speakers?

[Renato]

@Renato re: shoulder pauldrons, did you actually mean the fin-like speakers?

Yep, sorry, that's what I meant.

[jvmacross]

I really wish I could have purchased this.... I can only hope it goes on sale later down the road.... that and the 17D :)/>

Both will....give it a year or less...the list of valks that couldn't be bought at a steep discount within a year of release is short...patience is rewarded if you collect Yamato valks....Bandai....not so much...

[Renato]

I know why I was having so much trouble getting the chest low enough to lock. One of the die-cast hinge pieces connecting the backpack to the bottom of the body has been assembled backwards. I thought it looked a little odd so I compared it with the one on my Fire Valk and yes, it's the wrong way round. Tiny fractions of centimeters really make a world of difference when you consider the tolerances involved. I have been phoning Yamato the day after nearly every single purchase since 2001 and I had hoped that this would have been an exception. Alas...

[Twoducks]

Heheheh

Super Crappy Paint Skills

*Sign* This pic is just soo true. Wanted the P but this month Macross just nuked my wallet.

[Kicker773]

Nice Renato!! More PICS!!! I'm with you Jenius.. i think I will have to wait. Although I do want that valk I would have to do some reorganizing in the Macross room to find room for this. The Mac7 shelf has almost no room due to the Emerald and Diamond Force

[Loop]

I have the same problem, I bought all these valks and I don't have a home for them yet. I have to either buy a larger display or a few detolf's at this point. I still have homeless frontier valks too.

[Kicker773]

I feel like I've betrayed the Macross family...for some reason i'm not that into frontier.. i don't know why... =( So hunting the rest of the bandai exclusives is not a priority for me which was sort of good for the VF4 this year. My fleet are waiting =)

[Dobber]

Just opened my VF-19P box -- confirmed, the shoulder pauldrons are removable (they come packaged separately)!!

That is awesome news! This just moved up to the buy list!

Chris

[Scream Man]

Oh really?? that IS interesting.

How white is the plane? Like, White White like the 1S or an off white?

[Chronocidal]

Good to hear about the shoulder fins, not so good about the loose hinges and backwards joint though.

My personal worry has alwas been that those shoulders would turn into miserable failures due to the lack of any kind of ratchet or access to any screws to tighten them. My YF-19's shoulders are nearly the same exact design, but are absolutely useless. Fortunately, the materials used in the VF-19s seem to be MUCH better. The YF seemed to use vintage VF-0 explodium.

Edited December 29, 2012 by Chronocidal

[Renato]

Good to hear about the shoulder fins, not so good about the loose hinges and backwards joint though.

My personal worry has alwas been that those shoulders would turn into miserable failures due to the lack of any kind of ratchet or access to any screws to tighten them. My YF-19's shoulders are nearly the same exact design, but are absolutely useless. Fortunately, the materials used in the VF-19s seem to be MUCH better. The YF seemed to use vintage VF-0 explodium.

I located a screw... you have to hinge the whole transformation shoulder joint 45 degrees towards the back of the robot (the arm's position in fighter mode) to access it, though, and even then it looks like it would be hard work to try to fit a screwdriver in there, though.

As for the colour, it is quite a bright white, I don't have any white 1/60 VF-1's... It is brighter than the 1/48's I have, though. Although I think it is a slightly more off-white than the non-paint plain versions of the 1/60 mold (those are completely bone-white, almost with a pink hue, from what I have seen, but I don't own any).

I love this thing. I'll see if I can get the issues sorted out in the new year. I will post more pics as soon as I can.

[Sandman]

I know why I was having so much trouble getting the chest low enough to lock. One of the die-cast hinge pieces connecting the backpack to the bottom of the body has been assembled backwards. I thought it looked a little odd so I compared it with the one on my Fire Valk and yes, it's the wrong way round. Tiny fractions of centimeters really make a world of difference when you consider the tolerances involved. I have been phoning Yamato the day after nearly every single purchase since 2001 and I had hoped that this would have been an exception. Alas...

.

Jeez...you have bad luck with Yamato valks. I remember buying the vf-11b and breaking the leg off a few minutes after opening it. Shitty feeling.

[Scream Man]

hmmm... if its a good white, i see the basis for a new Skull 1 variant in my future....

[Renato]

Here is the joint that has been assembled backwards, compare it to the one on the Fire Valk. Believe it or not, it does make a difference.

Here's what the head looks like underneath the visor. Oh no, faces, faces everywhere, whatsoever will I do, etc.

The rest is a bunch of kickass pics.

Edited December 30, 2012 by Renato

[Dobber]

Very nice! Can you post pictures of it without the shoulder speaker/fins on. Curious to see how it looks.

Chris

[troyness]

You weren't wrong about kick ass pics!!!!

I never really liked fighter mode, but from your pics I consider my ass well and truely kicked

Concerning that joint assembled backwards, I hope you can do something about it, are you thinking about taking it apart, is it pinned or screwed?..

[charger69]

Not bad at all

[Golden Arms]

Badasss Pic Charger!

[Scream Man]

Seriously though; remove the shoulder speakers, paint the tops black. Paint out the red stripes black.black and yellow on the chest, black and yellow on the canarad and lower fins. Black out the tail and add skulls. paint the red lasers black.

Skull 1 19P

[GGemini]

Great photo charger69!!

[derex3592]

That pic rocks!!!

[mechaninac]

So much 19-ness...

[Dobber]

Does anyone else have a REALLY hard time getting the shoulder pauldrons to flip up in fighter mode? My 19F arrived the other day and the first step in the transformation process is to raise them off of the legs and I can only get them up if I use a little screw driver wedged in between the pauldrons and the leg. They are just really locked in there with 2 tabs which is a good thing but I just don't want to scrape up the Valk.

Chris

[derex3592]

My Kai is like that. Damn near think I'm gonna break something every time I try to transform it it's so tight. But I would rather have it that way than loose!

[Renato]

Does anyone else have a REALLY hard time getting the shoulder pauldrons to flip up in fighter mode? My 19F arrived the other day and the first step in the transformation process is to raise them off of the legs and I can only get them up if I use a little screw driver wedged in between the pauldrons and the leg. They are just really locked in there with 2 tabs which is a good thing but I just don't want to scrape up the Valk.

Chris

They are rock hard at first, but it gets easier.

[Scream Man]

if u pop the legs and extend them out, u can pop the shoulders up easier. do the tail legs first.

[Chronocidal]

"Tail legs?"

I'm guessing you mean something about the order of popping the tabs, but I gave up trying to open the shoulders manually on my VF-19s. I just keep a plastic spoon handy, and it works like a charm.

You could probably file down those latching tabs to let them release easier, but I dunno how much I'd want to do that.

[kamadoma]

^ that has got to be the best option. You guys are lucky that yours are still fine. I already broke one of my shoulder pauldrons way back (already posted the photo a few pages back). However, I managed to attach it back in place with the uber tiny broken piece, and it seems to have stayed there and even a slight pull won't take it off. It's like it magically repaired itself into the body. It's a bit more loose than the unbroken shoulder pauldron, but hey it's better than popping off with every slight nudge or so. Ever since then I've been dreading doing that first step of transformation that I really need to have something to pry it with.

[eugimon]

anyone notice that the kai mask is molded into the inside of the green visor?

my copy also came with that unfortunate birthmark on the visor (remains of an air bubble)

Edited January 1, 2013 by eugimon

[Scream Man]

Sorry i meant tail fins. flip up the tail spins, extend the legs at the knees a little, and then use that to reach your finger in to move the shoulders up.