Max Factory 1/20(!) VF-1S/A Hikaru

[geck]

Sent DM.

[Anasazi37]

I compiled the list of everyone who has expressed interest (fifteen) and have reached out to each person via PM. I have already heard back from twelve of you, which is extremely helpful. At this point I think I can handle all of the orders. I'm really excited to see what you do with the decals.

[TMBounty_Hunter]

LOL

 

Max Factory has just announced water slide decals. One 3,000 yen set, and a DX 6,000 yen set. Only DYRL version though.

 

 

 

[TMBounty_Hunter]

Also announced release date and price for Super/Strike Valk. September of the year and 36,852 yen

Weapon pack is also September and 7,000 yen

 

 

[Anasazi37]

The good news is that Plamax realized they screwed up by only including stickers and have rectified the situation. The bad news is that I might have just wasted a lot of my precious free time on this project over the past few months and several of you have already gone through the trouble of placing orders and sending payment. Luckily I haven't started the print run yet. I'll PM everyone who has expressed interest and ask what they want to do. I'm 100% okay with refunding payments if you want to go with Plamax's decals instead.

[TMBounty_Hunter]

It's worth noting the PLAMAX decals come out at the end of August, so it'll be a bit of a wait. There's also quite a few people on Japanese twitter asking why the decals need all the striping when they could have made a minimalist set for those that mask the large areas. They've still left the door wide open for non-Skull Squadron decals. If you're like me an Atrial who're doing TV versions of the kit, the PLAMAX DYRL sets aren't that useful. Not enough numbers for 202 and 303, wrong color warning labels for Milia, etc. I'm sure there'll be the inevitable madman who want VF-1D decals :P

It's also been mentioned that the Super/Strike Valkyrie will be packaged exactly the same as the Gerwalk, so overall same price and shipping rates.

[geck]

The real question: 

Will they include decals in the fighter kit???

[TMBounty_Hunter]

29 minutes ago, geck said:

The real question: 

Will they include decals in the fighter kit???

No. The website listing only specifies stickers (ステッカー付属).

[Sanity is Optional]

10 hours ago, Anasazi37 said:

The good news is that Plamax realized they screwed up by only including stickers and have rectified the situation. The bad news is that I might have just wasted a lot of my precious free time on this project over the past few months and several of you have already gone through the trouble of placing orders and sending payment. Luckily I haven't started the print run yet. I'll PM everyone who has expressed interest and ask what they want to do. I'm 100% okay with refunding payments if you want to go with Plamax's decals instead.

If you're still making decal sheets, I'm still in.

If there's not enough interest in it to be worth the printing run, then I'm good going with the Max Factory set.

[Anasazi37]

1 hour ago, TMBounty_Hunter said:

No. The website listing only specifies stickers (ステッカー付属).

I had a feeling that Plamax wasn't going to pass up the opportunity to nickel and dime us for the stuff we really want them to include with each kit: weapons and decals. I'm still planning on using my decals for my kits, but that's a personal choice.

[Anasazi37]

5 hours ago, TMBounty_Hunter said:

I'm sure there'll be the inevitable madman who want VF-1D decals :P

And I'll be there to help them

[Anasazi37]

2 minutes ago, Sanity is Optional said:

If you're still making decal sheets, I'm still in.

If there's not enough interest in it to be worth the printing run, then I'm good going with the Max Factory set.

I'm still making them and I really appreciate the support. Several of you have already reached out to me to say that you want me to move forward with the print run. Since I can print sets on demand, it's not a big deal. I just didn't want to force them on anyone that is simply looking for a basic decal option.

[Anasazi37]

And did anyone else notice that the yellow/red/green/blue decals for the legs that are shown in this preview pic aren't actually included on the $60 DX sheet? We might just be getting a subset of the sticker sheet....

[slide]

59 minutes ago, Anasazi37 said:

And did anyone else notice that the yellow/red/green/blue decals for the legs that are shown in this preview pic aren't actually included on the $60 DX sheet? We might just be getting a subset of the sticker sheet....

 

There are two decal sets for pre-order at HLJ: 

DX Version Decals: 5700 JPY at HLJ

 

VS

 

Normal Version Decals: 2850 JPY at HLJ

 

Note the lack of Leg-fin and leg-circle decals [as you mentioned] on the DX version.............

 

Edited April 26, 2019 by slide

[Anasazi37]

2 hours ago, slide said:

 

There are two decal sets for pre-order at HLJ: 

DX Version Decals: 5700 JPY at HLJ

 

VS

 

Normal Version Decals: 2850 JPY at HLJ

 

Note the lack of Leg-fin and leg-circle decals [as you mentioned] on the DX version.............

 

Thanks for posting that, @slide! It prompted me to take a closer look, and there's a lot more missing. Here's a quick analysis, based on scans of my stickers (missing stuff in red boxes). It seems like their minimalist set is overkill and their full set is anything but that. You only get part of what you need.

 

[Return To Kit Form]

Yeah I won't be rewarding Plamax for their questionable engineering and endless options for items that should have been included. 

[Anasazi37]

I have some good news and bad news for you all. I'll start with the bad news, otherwise the story won't make sense. I kicked off the print run last night, was several orders in, and...my printer died. I knew that I had been asking a lot of the old girl lately (she's 14!) and was hoping that she could hang in there just a little bit longer. Honestly, I'm amazed she lasted this long. These printers are notorious for breaking down and back in the day when I was making decals on a regular basis, I had two printers so I could keep one in active use and send the other out for repairs on a rotating basis. The good news is that I wouldn't have taken on this project and offered sets to you if I didn't have a backup plan. When I retired from making decals, I had just received my second one from the repair facility and instead of fixing the one I sent, they gave me a new one which I kept in its shipping box, unopened, until last night. I've moved that box across the country and back several times over the past 13 years, thinking (and explaining to my wife) that I was going to need that printer someday. So, we're still in business, but now I'm working without a safety net. Plamax has not only taken a lot of our money, and is now nickel-and-diming us on accessories, but also just cost me an irreplaceable printer.

Edited April 27, 2019 by Anasazi37

[Chronocidal]

Yeeeeeeeeeesh... $60 for decals, and a $70 weapons pack?  That's not nickel and diming, that's highway robbery.   

[Kamandi]

I sold my ALPS-1300 printer on ebay last year, otherwise I'd offer it to you.  

[Anasazi37]

On 4/28/2019 at 3:30 PM, Kamandi said:

I sold my ALPS-1300 printer on ebay last year, otherwise I'd offer it to you.  

I really appreciate the thought. I started out with an ALPS MD-1300 about seventeen years ago and then moved to the MD-5000P a few years later. I've been using that model ever since. Temperamental little buggers....

[Macrosslwh]

Dear Sir,

I woudl like to use A8 as my cockpit picture. (direct print out from printer) Is it ok???

Frederick 

[Anasazi37]

On 5/8/2019 at 1:22 AM, Macrosslwh said:

Dear Sir,

I woudl like to use A8 as my cockpit picture. (direct print out from printer) Is it ok???

Frederick 

I'm not exactly sure what you are asking. Are you planning to scan in the sticker sheet and print the graphic onto decal paper using either an inkjet or laserjet printer? If so, the white areas will come out transparent and the entire decal may not show up well if the surface you put it on is dark (i.e., grey).

[kkx]

On 5/9/2019 at 6:43 AM, Anasazi37 said:

I'm not exactly sure what you are asking. Are you planning to scan in the sticker sheet and print the graphic onto decal paper using either an inkjet or laserjet printer? If so, the white areas will come out transparent and the entire decal may not show up well if the surface you put it on is dark (i.e., grey).

@anasazi37,

Your decal rock, I think I still have a set of Minmay guard from you that I have not use yet. So I hope you can help advice about this idea that I have been toying with.

If I print on white laser decal paper to have the white backing that help with using it on non white surface, and then use a laser cutting (like the Forge) machine to cut out or trim the decal down. Will that be a good setup?

Need to learn more about the capability of the laser cutting machine. If. There is an easy way to register the position of the pattern, then painful trial and error will not be necessary.

 

 

[Anasazi37]

On 5/12/2019 at 4:24 PM, kkx said:

@anasazi37,

Your decal rock, I think I still have a set of Minmay guard from you that I have not use yet. So I hope you can help advice about this idea that I have been toying with.

If I print on white laser decal paper to have the white backing that help with using it on non white surface, and then use a laser cutting (like the Forge) machine to cut out or trim the decal down. Will that be a good setup?

Need to learn more about the capability of the laser cutting machine. If. There is an easy way to register the position of the pattern, then painful trial and error will not be necessary.

 

 

Thank you!

Unfortunately, that will probably end up being a painful process due to misregistration. What might be a lot easier to do is print the decal, brush on some Liquid Decal Film to protect it, then cut it out using very thin and sharp scissors or a hobby knife. The film keeps the ink from chipping off during cutting if you’re using a laser printer and keeps the ink from running when dunked in water if you’re using an inkjet printer. Just be sure that the ink is fully dry before applying the film.

[kkx]

20 hours ago, Anasazi37 said:

Thank you!

Unfortunately, that will probably end up being a painful process due to misregistration. What might be a lot easier to do is print the decal, brush on some Liquid Decal Film to protect it, then cut it out using very thin and sharp scissors or a hobby knife. The film keeps the ink from chipping off during cutting if you’re using a laser printer and keeps the ink from running when dunked in water if you’re using an inkjet printer. Just be sure that the ink is fully dry before applying the film.

Thanks for the reply.

Yeah, I am really worried about the registration problem.

I think this problem will also be the key issue for using the ghost white toner for laser printer (https://www.ghost-white-toner.com/shop/white-toner-hp-canon-1215w/). I was tempted to buy a used printer and one toner cartridge and try this out. But you will need to print the white backing first and then the color image on top of that on a second pass.

Some video tutorial suggested trying to shrink the white pattern a tiny bit to eliminate white edge around the graphic.

The printer is just over $100. If I have the time, it might be cheap enough to just get it and test out the registration consistency on consecutive runs. My old impression from using laser printers (decades ago when using HP laser printer) is that the feeding mechanism is more consistent compared to the cheapy inkjet printer that I have now. I might be too over-optimistic about this.

[Anasazi37]

6 hours ago, kkx said:

Thanks for the reply.

Yeah, I am really worried about the registration problem.

I think this problem will also be the key issue for using the ghost white toner for laser printer (https://www.ghost-white-toner.com/shop/white-toner-hp-canon-1215w/). I was tempted to buy a used printer and one toner cartridge and try this out. But you will need to print the white backing first and then the color image on top of that on a second pass.

Some video tutorial suggested trying to shrink the white pattern a tiny bit to eliminate white edge around the graphic.

The printer is just over $100. If I have the time, it might be cheap enough to just get it and test out the registration consistency on consecutive runs. My old impression from using laser printers (decades ago when using HP laser printer) is that the feeding mechanism is more consistent compared to the cheapy inkjet printer that I have now. I might be too over-optimistic about this.

I avoided the ghost toner method for the same reason. OKI makes a printer that handles white, too, but even at the $6000 price point registration is still an issue because you have to send the paper through twice. For big decals, not a big issue. For small decals, definitely a big issue. 

[Atrial]

There's also the possible issue of the decal film. Last Sept. I used the Testors Decal Bonder Spray can and it was ok at first, but after about 3 weeks it started to shrink and ended up like this.  

[Anasazi37]

2 hours ago, Atrial said:

There's also the possible issue of the decal film. Last Sept. I used the Testors Decal Bonder Spray can and it was ok at first, but after about 3 weeks it started to shrink and ended up like this.  

Wow, that’s not good. I always use a combo of Microscale’s Micro Set and Micro Sol. You have to brush them on, but that kind of wrinkling doesn’t happen. Well, you get a little a first while the decal settles, but after that you’re golden. I guess really crappy decal film could still end up that way, but I’ve never seen that happen....

[vt102]

Just a quick note. Anyone visiting Tokyo, can see a built display of the upcoming strike fighter. My son was at Akihabara In the radio kaikan building, and sent me pictures. 

[007-vf1]

 

Bring me the Battroid!!

 

[macsam]

the fighter is beautiful 

has the release of it been announced?

[Anasazi37]

12 hours ago, macsam said:

the fighter is beautiful 

has the release of it been announced?

This is what Plamax has on their site:

• Normal and DX Decals: Aug 2019
• Fighter: Sept 2019
• Armaments: Sept 2019

No specific dates yet. The Gerwalk kit experienced several delays, so I think we're all a bit skeptical that anything will be released soon. My wallet would like for the Fighter to be released before November, though. Too many other preorders are going to hit right around the holidays....

[MechTech]

Anasazi, have you seen this yet: HP Laserjet and Ghost White Toner ? At $789.95 its expensive, but should last a long time. It's cool more white toners are starting to come out. - MT

[Anasazi37]

2 hours ago, MechTech said:

Anasazi, have you seen this yet: HP Laserjet and Ghost White Toner ? At $789.95 its expensive, but should last a long time. It's cool more white toners are starting to come out. - MT

Thanks for sharing, @MechTech. Yes, I looked into that option a few years ago. If all you need to do is print white designs, it's a viable option. If you need to print color designs that can sit on dark backgrounds, which requires printing them on top of a white backing layer, you'll need a more sophisticated setup. You can try to achieve the same effect with this ghost white toner method by passing the same page through the printer twice (one for the white, then once for the color, maybe having to swap out toner cartridges along the way), but the registration will be bad for small designs, which is pretty much what we all deal with for scale models and customs. By registration I mean the alignment between the color layer and the white backing layer. It happens because the paper isn't held in place between passes, like you get with ALPS and higher-end OKI printers. This option is definitely cheaper than the $6000 OKI printer that officially supports white, but suffers from the same problem (hand-feeding the paper through each time). The OKI printers that can do it right are on the order of $30,000. So, I'm trying to keep my ALPS printer running as long as I can....

Edited August 18, 2019 by Anasazi37

[electric indigo]

A dirty but cheap solution would be to print one decal in white and then place the separate color decal on top of that, doing the registration by hand.