DX Chogokin VF-25 Revival Ver (WWM Releases)

[Angesdad]

52 minutes ago, Repiv_Onex said:

 

Can any kind soul tell me how tall VF-25 is in such gerwalk mode so I can know whether it fits my shelf? If it can't fit probably I won't buy it now. 😊

You got it all wrong. You get a bigger shelf.

Edited May 26, 2023 by Angesdad

[DewPoint]

Most ideal solution:  Bigger shelf in a bigger house!    If only we could all do that.... 

[no3Ljm]

Macross section at the Tamashii Nations World Tour Tokyo.

[Mommar]

My Alto arriv3d from BBTS finally (earlier than I expected, actually.)  Everything is perfect on it minus it's completely impossible to attach the left armor part to the intake.  I can't figure out what is going on with that.

[twich]

My Alto VF-25F from BBTS arrived today. I am impressed with it and really enjoy my initial experience with it.

I have a confession, I have never had fast packs for a VF-25 before. I don’t understand why some of the things that come off to be replaced by the exact same thing have to happen, but I can now say that I have.  With as fidgety as it was to get the legs, wings, arms and friggin shield to play nice together, I cannot imagine trying that with an armor pack, though if they release a box set with the VF-25S and Armor Pack, I will definitely want that for sure.

sorry for the ramble, just happy about finally getting this Macross Jet!

Twich

[dur]

I ordered my 25F from tokyo otaku mode (got it for $208!)  and it's pretty sweet- the main thing I'm confused by is the fighter mode/FP stand.  For me, it's physically impossible for me to mount the fighter- the "prongs" for the hip bar are too wide.  I did a little experiment and removed the armored intake covers and it fits perfectly without them.  Is this just me?  I see that there's two versions of the front part of the stand adapter for FP's/no FP's but both of them have the same problem/are the same width, which doesn't make sense to me.

[Chronocidal]

Just got my first copy delivered from HLJ, and looks about as close to perfect as I could hope for.  I have a second coming from BBTS, and I'll probably transform and armor-up the worse of the two.

Had to do a little bit of surgery to get things to line up right, but nothing major.  Biggest problem is the shoulder blocks not rotating fully into place against the backplate in fighter mode, which makes the hip gun panels offset, which screws with the wing gloves.  I detached the arms (one screw each to remove them by the shoulder mounts), and massaged the rotation joint a little until I could push them all the way into place, and now everything lines up.  

Think my biggest criticisms are that the nosecone fits a little sloppy (expected, after hearing so many people see it, but it's not bad), and the hip gun panel joints are tight.  Like, so tight I can't move them without the panels popping off, and having to move the ball manually before re-mounting them.

Still, best-looking Alto I have by far, I'm glad to finally get one with a matte finish.  Will probably stay in fighter forever.  

Edit: As a nerdy footnote, I'm also very happy to finally have a plastic clamshell packaged version for long-term yellowing comparisons. 👨‍🔬

Edited June 1, 2023 by Chronocidal

[kajnrig]

Revival Alto arrived from Kappa Hobby. People were always a bit wary because they're newish and offer a suspiciously low price (IIRC something like 240, 250 shipped ConUS), but they continue to come through for me some 4+ years now, so I continue to highly recommend them. My Alto was double bubble-wrapped, even!

[guyxxed]

Got mine from Kappa Hobby yesterday as well.  First time dealing with them, but have no complaints.  $255 delivered, which seemed competitive to slightly better than other venues, packaging was solid.  Haven't messed with the toy itself yet, but plan to give it some attention over the weekend.

[guyxxed]

Got my Alto out over the weekend and zoomed it around in all its forms.  I get all the shade thrown for quality issues (the right arm of mine is super floppy) on such an expensive toy, but at the same time in terms of anime accuracy, both in looks and transformation mechanics, it's really hard to beat these things.  Color me happy.

Funny enough, the thing that made me smile the most was the english translations in the instruction manual.  Not particularly necessary, but a nice touch that says "hello to our friends in the US".

[dur]

One of my arms was also super floppy out of the box: I disassembled and reassembled the ball joint and the problem seems to have disappeared.  Perhaps it was just a funky screw thread?

[Lolicon]

Fixed up the revival 25F a bit. Was originally just going to do a quick panel wash and call it a day, but then I kept going...  Was a fun, quick little side project though.

 

Whoops! Forgot to reinstall the rear seat when I was putting the fuselage back together and now I have to take the whole thing apart again just to put the seat in.  Fighter and gerwalk pics will have to wait till tomorrow...

Edited June 6, 2023 by Lolicon
spelling & grammar

[David Hingtgen]

Props for painting the chin grey.    (and the white ankle-discs)

[twich]

50 minutes ago, Lolicon said:

Fixed up the revival 25F a bit. Was originally just going to do a quick panel wash and call it a day, but then I kept going...  Was a fun, quick little side project though.

 

Whoops! Forgot to reinstall the rear seat when I was putting the fuselage back together and now I have to take the whole thing apart again just to put the seat in.  Fighter and gerwalk pics will have to wait till tomorrow...

I am impressed with the ability to get those tiny little stickers/waterslide decals on to your toy.  I am old and my hand is not steady enough, nor do my eyes possess the acuity to be able to see that small detail.  That is indeed a good looking VF-25F Messiah!

Twich

[leeboo1211]

On 6/6/2023 at 12:03 PM, Lolicon said:

Fixed up the revival 25F a bit. Was originally just going to do a quick panel wash and call it a day, but then I kept going...  Was a fun, quick little side project though

Did the matte finish give you any trouble when panel lining/cleanup?

[Lolicon]

On 6/5/2023 at 11:35 PM, David Hingtgen said:

Props for painting the chin grey.    (and the white ankle-discs)

There's quite a lot of of little details that are visible on the CG model when zoomed in, but it seemed like too much hassle to add them. 

 

23 hours ago, twich said:

I am impressed with the ability to get those tiny little stickers/waterslide decals on to your toy.  I am old and my hand is not steady enough, nor do my eyes possess the acuity to be able to see that small detail.  That is indeed a good looking VF-25F Messiah!

Twich

Thanks! Funny you mention that because up until a few years ago I was nearsighted and had no problem seeing tiny details up close. Then I got my eyes fixed and now I have normal vision and have to wear magnifiers when doing tiny detail work. 🫠

 

18 minutes ago, leeboo1211 said:

Did the matte finish give you any trouble when panel lining/cleanup?

Yeah more wash got caught up in the surface imperfections compared to the old gloss finish toys, requiring me to really scrub the surface with a Q tip to remove excess. 

[borgified]

I might bite on the DX 25g Full Set when the prices are reasonable for me and upon review. It's way overpriced up here in Canuckle Land as you have to either pay Provincial Sales Tax and the GST (Goods and Sales Tax)  or the HST (Harmonized Sales Tax and the Provincial Tax) on top of the price of the item itself.    

[MKT]

Gorgeous work on the VF-25F @Lolicon 
I thought this new F looked a bit too naked out of the box; somehow the matte surfacing makes the bright white that much more plain, but all the details you've added made it really pop!

[MikeRoz]

A few of the VF-25F Revival available for $280 from a US retailer, free shipping over $200 and they've never charged me tax (though this may be different for you if you're in CA).

https://newtype.us/p/6Zln2InGHsa609Yl0u6S/h/vf-25f-super-messiah-valkyrie-alto-saotome-custom-revival-ver-dx-chogokin

[Robin-11]

So i am considering top coating with a matt finishing only the super parts of the old release to put them on the new release in order to make them match the matt finishing. Honestly i am not a big fan of the new shade of grey (purple) that bandai came up with for the re-release. Actually i kinda hate it. Any thoughts about that? Did anyone already try something like this?

[Lolicon]

On 6/7/2023 at 2:10 PM, MKT said:

Gorgeous work on the VF-25F @Lolicon 
I thought this new F looked a bit too naked out of the box; somehow the matte surfacing makes the bright white that much more plain, but all the details you've added made it really pop!

Thanks mate!

Got held up by work during the work, but finally fixed the missing seat and got a few extra pics in. I really wish Bandai had increased the detail of this line so it would be on par with the Delta and 1/48 lines, given how much these cost now. 

The VF-25 is definitely one of my favorite valks; I'd say it's right up there alongside the VF-4, YF-19, and of course the VF-1.

Have a great weekend everyone!

 

Alto and Ranka... or is that Sheryl? 

[Chronocidal]

Yikes.. I forgot how monstrous that stand bracket is.

Did anyone ever try and make something to mount the VF-25s on that doesn't involve clamping the entire thing in a claw?  I'd be curious to see if you could work a wire armature between and above the arms to mount it on something that looks like it's actually meant to be displayed.  

[DewPoint]

I don't remember if it was portrayed in the show, but I do wish they made the wing hard points functional this time around. Seems like a missed opportunity to sell more accessories.

[PointBlankSniper]

11 hours ago, Robin-11 said:

 Honestly i am not a big fan of the new shade of grey (purple) that bandai came up with for the re-release. Actually i kinda hate it. Any thoughts about that?

i always thought that was the canon universal "gray" they used for the series based on the gunpod. i think the superpacks were supposed to look like that despite previous dx releases. and i thought that nobody cared how ugly and out of place it was for it to be slapped on all the totally unrelated color schemes lol

[Robin-11]

8 hours ago, PointBlankSniper said:

i always thought that was the canon universal "gray" they used for the series based on the gunpod. i think the superpacks were supposed to look like that despite previous dx releases. and i thought that nobody cared how ugly and out of place it was for it to be slapped on all the totally unrelated color schemes lol

Well, colors on a model are important to me. And i don't care very much if they match perfectly the anime counterpart. What works on the screen might not work in real life. Also, i am not planning to buy the other skull squadron re-releases so colors on the super parts would be incosistent compared to the other three VFs. I mean, i can get by with the different top coat finishing but the color of the super parts is something too...flashy.

[ValkAddict]

@Lolicon - Your custom work is always amazing!! I wish I had the skills to do that!!

[Lolicon]

On 6/10/2023 at 1:37 AM, Chronocidal said:

Yikes.. I forgot how monstrous that stand bracket is.

Did anyone ever try and make something to mount the VF-25s on that doesn't involve clamping the entire thing in a claw?  I'd be curious to see if you could work a wire armature between and above the arms to mount it on something that looks like it's actually meant to be displayed.  

That's another improvement I wish they had taken from the Delta line: clear stand brackets. It would have been an easy thing to do, but again, why would Bandai bother? It's "good enough" as far as Bandai is concerned. 

 

On 6/10/2023 at 3:04 AM, DewPoint said:

I don't remember if it was portrayed in the show, but I do wish they made the wing hard points functional this time around. Seems like a missed opportunity to sell more accessories.

Don't think they ever mounted weapons on the wings in the show even though all the toys and models clearly show hardpoints under the wings. Functional hardpoints would have been another improvement I would have loved to see.

I think the only hardpoint use was when they had speakers mounted on the 25G.

 

On 6/10/2023 at 1:22 PM, ValkAddict said:

@Lolicon - Your custom work is always amazing!! I wish I had the skills to do that!!

Thanks! And I'm sure you could easily do the same; I only possess beginner modeling skills. Amazing what you can do with a bottle of Flory's, a mechanical pencil, and some topcoat. 

[Sanity is Optional]

1 hour ago, Lolicon said:

That's another improvement I wish they had taken from the Delta line: clear stand brackets. It would have been an easy thing to do, but again, why would Bandai bother? It's "good enough" as far as Bandai is concerned. 

Speaking from an engineering perspective, they probably didn't want to have to redesign the bracket and make new moulds.

Yes, that would be required, clear plastic is different, generally more brittle, and would likely snap if they just re-made the existing ones in clear.

[Chronocidal]

2 hours ago, Sanity is Optional said:

Speaking from an engineering perspective, they probably didn't want to have to redesign the bracket and make new moulds.

Yes, that would be required, clear plastic is different, generally more brittle, and would likely snap if they just re-made the existing ones in clear.

Have to agree, and given my clear DX VF-1S super parts stand mount cracked the first time I used it, I really don't trust them to make clear stands either.

[Lolicon]

VF-25F Super Messiah

Super parts look great but really make the 25 a lot more fiddly. It's a far cry from the rock solid super parts on Yamato's VF-1. 

Edited June 29, 2023 by Lolicon

[MKT]

55 minutes ago, Lolicon said:

 

 

Great work detailing up everything & pic set @Lolicon  I like how the green lenses are portrayed with details going inside it.

[Lolicon]

6 hours ago, MKT said:

 

Great work detailing up everything & pic set @Lolicon  I like how the green lenses are portrayed with details going inside it.

Thanks! I just got it to what I wish we had gotten out of the box to begin with, given how expensive these toys are. Bandai seems to be giving us less and less for more money i.e. YF-19 reissue.

Everything kinda attaches and lines up worse once the supers are added into the mix. 🦃

[ValkAddict]

Great pics @Lolicon!!

[Chronocidal]

On 6/29/2023 at 7:20 AM, Lolicon said:

Everything kinda attaches and lines up worse once the supers are added into the mix. 🦃

Try as they might (and it might be assuming too much to say they actually are trying ) Bandai really cannot seem to work out how those packs are supposed to attach, and keep everything in line.  

It's actually sort of bizarre to think about.. if the things are made in CAD, isn't that all supposed to be worked out ahead of time?  And yet, they can't figure out how to make the VF-25 line up, they can't nail the tolerances on the VF-31s, and they seem somehow incapable of making a VF-1 that lines up and locks together as well as a Yamato design from 15 years ago (and this applies to both the HMR and DX).

It feels like they're just missing some material tolerancing fundamental here, and designing things to be the wrong size.  They just don't fit.

I realize I'm being pretty darn picky here, but it bugs me to death how sloppy their "locking" mechanisms tend to be.

[Sanity is Optional]

It's not nearly that easy, especially with how many pieces there are in these figures.

Tolerances add up across every connection, and even 0.001" adds up when there's a bunch of pivots, hinges, and sliders between two sides of a connection.