Ace Combat 2/3/Zero/X 1:144 garage kits

[sv51macross]

http://usi.kir.jp/Musium/Garage/USI_Musium_Unchara.html

So far I see the XR-45(ACEX), ADFX-01(ACE0), XFA-36(ACE3), R-103 Delphinus(ACE3) and the XFA-27(ACE2/X) and the price range is about $40/$50.

Scroll to about 1/3 the way down.

[GreyGhost]

Cool ...

Nice find, Mike !

Gregg

[sv51macross]

Here's some Asian model show with alot of sci-fi jets from Yukikaze and Ace Combat there.

http://www.geocities.co.jp/Playtown-Bingo/...2007w/index.htm

[ChernayaAkula]

Nice find indeed!

That F-31 at the top in the second link is pretty cool. At least I think they were called F-31s in Yukikaze. Pretty cool design.

Edited August 2, 2009 by ChernayaAkula

[scifi58]

I want that 1/48th scale Gunstar REALLY bad but I've heard nightmare stories about ordering from MIM.

[Inquisitor]

Just for a head-ups. Hasegawa will start releasing the AC6 planes with Idolmaster schemes. The first one by mid-september will be the Futami Ami F-2A in 1/72. Dunno why they waited this long, almost two years after the game was released!

And just to clear up any misconception generated by Sv51 post. The first page as the url indicates it's a garage kit web museum, it only showcases this hard to find items and at what price, where they were sold and their rarity. They're not selling them!!!. The second page in geocities is a coverage of the Wonder Fest 2007 and as seen someone was selling garage kits of the ADFX-01 Morgan and XFA-27. All this kits are most likely sold-out by now and out of production, you may find one in yahoo auctions japan if you're very very lucky, but not likely.

Those not familiar with japanese garage kits, as the name implies are a one-man operation something close to what Zactoman does at his home but on a more limited numbers. They do very limited runs and sell them out on a convention or expo like the wonderfest.

Now you'd ask why not keep pumping them and keep sellling that stuff. Because japanese people tend to stick with the law and copyrights. They pay their fees or royalties to the owners of those intellectual properties. So for a garage kit maker it's easier to buy the rights for a one-time deal or do the paperwork to sell 100, 500 or 1000 or whatever number they expect to make and sell at a single event. Most garage kits be it resin figures, sci-fi stuff, and even this Ace Combat planes are completely sold out within the timeframe of that event.

Just as an example, I recently read a blog of one of this guys. He designed some decal sheets to decorate the F-22 and Su-47 with Idolmaster Schemes. He submitted his application to have a dealer stand at the Wonder Fest 2009, to sell his Ace Combat decals there he also had to submit an approval request and royalty fees form to the intellectual property owner in this case Bandai Namco. He requested to sell them as Ace Combat decals. Now they replied with something that brought up another problem. He'd need to pay 5% of his profits at that event to Bandai-Namco for selling something that uses the Ace Combat copyright, but also they'd need to redirect the request to Lockheed and Sukhoi too since Ace Combat products involve their planes. He finally solved his problems in a roundabout way but within the law. He erased any mention or image of F-22, Su-47 and Ace Combat from his decals and instructions; and changed it to a "Decorative Decal with the characters from Idolmaster". For Idolmaster copyright he'd be paying 7% royalty fees, but he wouldn't need approval from Lockheed or Sukhoi in this way. He had 50 sheets at 5000 yen each. So you can imagine how an-al retentive japanese people are.

So if you see something Ace Combat related in a japanese site, most likely you won't be able to buy it. It would end up being a garage kit or a scratchbuilt one for a magazine article.

PS checked the home page of that garage kit maker who sold 1/144 kits of Ace Combat planes. He sells his kits, but unfortunately only 1/144 real planes, no Ace Combat stuff and only ships within Japan.

Edited August 7, 2009 by Inquisitor

[TaiidanTomcat]

Thank you for the explanation. Love those exotic AC aircraft nice find Mike.

[Inquisitor]

You may ask why I had to explain all this stuff. Well some time ago on another forum (an AC one) people started a thread about buying AC related scale models, posting websites and scans from magazines and swearing you'd buy them. In the end I had to explain the same stuff and even ask them if they needed glasses because the magazine scan they angrily said couldn't read because it was in japanese, yet in the small info box about the model, said in clear english X-02 Wyvern, 1/72, Scratch build.

AC stuff is pretty hard to get outside going to each convention in japan since it's such a small niche.

Speaking of the devil, here's a Wonder Fest 2009 coverage

http://www.geocities.jp/puramoyamaguchi/wf2009s/index.html

The fist vendor is the blogger I was speaking of, which explained all the paperwork he had to go thru to sell his decals only at the wonderfest. And coincidentally another vendor was selling decals for the F-22 too and sold out. Scrolling down, you can see the same vendor selling 1/144 with the same and other different AC planes, too bad he doesn't offer the at his site or even ship outside japan. Scroll down some more and someone has been selling decals for all the main planes in the AC series at each WF.

[Patrick_Nevin]

Speaking of the devil, here's a Wonder Fest 2009 coverage

http://www.geocities.jp/puramoyamaguchi/wf2009s/index.html

That looks quite a lot like a J2m6 conversion for the Raiden, about half way down (dribbles)

[Inquisitor]

Just to update some info, since someone on the Hasegawa Su-33 thread in the Jet forum was wishing hasegawa rereleased the X-02. As I mentioned many times above, here are the scans of some japanese mag as posted on countless AC forums, aerospaceweb and Gamespot claiming hasegawa made this kit.

On the first page, if you made a little effort or zoomed into the lower right corner you can make out: 1/72 scale scratch built EASA X-02A modeled by Naoki something. Even if you can't read moontalk, japanese model mags on their built model articles start with some info box with the scale, manufacturer and/or mods and author.

Edited April 6, 2011 by Inquisitor