Forces of Valor Waltersons

Happy Boxing Day everyone!

Boxing Day is worth remembering not just because this is the day to open our Christmas gift, but 78 years ago today in 1944 towards the end of World War II, something special happened on the following day of Christmas, a Sherman variant named the "Cobra King" with the first letter of their companies' designations and its five-man crew from the 37th's Company C led a column of infantry and armor that relieved the encircled Soldiers of the 101st Airborne Division at Bastogne, Belgium.

It may look to you as another Sherman tank but if you notice carefully this Sherman was a unique beast, the front glacis, hull sides were welded with extra thick armour, the turret sides and mantlet also equipped with massively thicker armour. The Cobra King Sherman was equipped with the special duckbill end connector tracks that helped rectify the floating problem a normal Sherman had encountered.

Our new Metal Proud 1/32 scale Cobra King Sherman has featured our new v.2 metal figure, instead of making the entire figure in diecast, we used plastic materials to make the head and palms as a result many undercut details on the face could be retained. For the first time, we stamped an eyeball on our figures and frankly it looks a lot more life-like compared to the past. The Cobra King Sherman would be our third Sherman release in the metal proud AFV series, for those who have collected the first 2 Shermans, you would probably notice that despite all Shermans were officially used the "Olive drab No.9" as a main body colour, the way we developed our Olive drab shading is quite unique, they all look different when you put them side by side.

Our Cobra King Jumbo shipment will arrive in the US by the end of January and 2nd week of February to the United Kingdom. For more details, please check our website for more details:

https://www.forcesofvalor.com/product_detail.php?pid=163

Recapping from our last V-22 Osprey post, please find video of our 3D print moving flaperon, there are two flaperons on each side of the wing and they can be moved individually.

Excuse us for the 3D print quality, certain parts are bended.

Enjoy!

G'd day Aviation fans...

We got some major updates for the upcoming Boeing / Textron V-22 Osprey, Forces of Valor was one of the first manufacturers to make the Osprey in 1/72 scale, probably still the only brand that offers a full interior, however!! The casting was not done very accurately. The 1/72 Osprey was one of the projects that we have been working on silently in the last 12 months, it is ready to go to the tooling stage next so we thought it's probably the right time to disclose the update development.

There will be 2 versions:

1) Forces of Valor version with new canopy casting and major paint improvement
-90% similar to previous Unimax release

2) Metal Proud version with 85% new casting and the following details:
- Diecast upper & lower fuselage and during the design process, we spent a lot of time to hide the parting line towards the bottom
- Diecast tilt rotor
- very intricate rivets and panel lines across the fuselage surface
- We kept the original interior because it was well done
- Open / close crew entry & exit door
- Nose landing gear with magnetic insert
- Belly landing gears cover with hinge
- Bulged main gear forward door with hinge
- Rotatable swash plate (Propellor blades can tilt)
- Engine Nacelles can rotate between 0 - 90 degrees
- Blade folding mechanism
- Rear elevator can move between 0 - 20 degrees
- Flaperon can move, 2 on each side of the wing, they can be moved individually (YES, we are taking the game to the next level!!)
- Upper cabin hatch can move
- Rear ramp can move

We will be doing all the V-22 Osprey variants; MV-22, CV-22, CVM-22 (with CFT)

P.s - Pictures shown are 3D print parts used during our development process

Available time:
Forces of Valor V-22 Osprey --> 2023 May
Metal Proud V-22 Osprey --> 2023 July

of Valor V-22 Osprey
#1/72 scale Osprey
#1/72 scale Diecast Boeing / Bell V-22 Osprey Tilt rotor helicopter

Good Day Aviation collectors,
We have our final F-16 Viper updates for you guys.

1) We have managed to overcome one of the biggest challenges in modern aircraft casting technique, to create the real bubble shape canopy. 95% of finished model manufacturers would compromise over this issue, as shown in the fifth picture you clearly see that the Unimax version F-16 canopy sides are nearly straight (due to easy mould release angle), whereas the new Waltersons version F-16 canopy has a clear bubble shape.

We developed a highly precise slider mould to overcome this issue, at 20cm observation distance you can hardly notice the seam line at the centre, if you get close to 5 cm distance, yes you can see the line, but when you touch it with your finger you can hardly notice an uneven surface.

2) While we were developing the bubble shape canopy mould, with this opportunity we also rectified an existing flaw on the canopy surface, we re-worked on the canopy shape and details according to better photo research.

3) We have found probably the smallest magnet available and have created the first canopy with magnetic fastening feature, even if you hold our F-16 upside down, the canopy will not fall off.

4) We have made a mistake with our F-16A ROCA 20 sample, the vertical tail part as shown in our sample was taken from F-16C, it has a wider leading edge compared to earlier F-16A & B models. We have now re-tooled a correct vertical tail with a much smaller leading edge.

Part of our research information is contributed by two very good sources; Daco publication and Reid publication, their books about F-16 are very ... very good, recommended for those who want a deep understanding of the F-16 family.

Our first 1/72 scale F-16 Viper final production will be ready by mid December.

Have a good weekend!

G'd days everyone, please find photos of our 2nd generation diecast figure. For those who have bought the Tunisia and Winter Tiger, you have seen our 1st generation method of making diecast figures, the result was not as good as expected because making the entire body with mass production method had to make too much compromise on surface details.

The beauty of the 2nd generation method is creating a separate mould for head and palms using PVC plastic, it retains a high level of surface details yet the body is casted by metal so it offers a good hefty weight feeling.

This 2nd generation diecast figure will be used as a STANDARD figure beginning from our new 1:32 scale US Sherman M4A3E2 Jumbo release. Another improvement we have contemplated with the 2nd generation figure is printing eyes, along with a very light shade of lips and eyebrows.

Our next attempt would be German commanders!

The new 1:32 scale US Sherman M4A3E2 Jumbo tank will be ready to deliver from our Hong Kong office next week, shipment going to the US will leave on 3rd week of November, finger crossed it will arrive before X'mas.

G'day everyone,

This is a short update to inform all the Sherman JUMBO fans that our 1:32 scale Sherman JUMBO M4A3E2 will be available to pre-order, the first batch of production will arrive at the Hong Kong office by 1st week of November. We have shipment going to the US and UK in the 2nd week of November, so hopefully they should be arriving on the dock before Xmas.

Sorry to keep you guys waiting, beginning from this Sherman JUMBO, we would like to introduce a new "mass" manufacturing methodology to create diecast figures. In last two releases, we have contemplated the idea of metal figures with our Tiger Initial phase models, feedback were divided, some collectors love the metal weight, whereas some prefer intricate details retained by PVC soft plastic. That gives us the inspiration to create probably a pioneer technique (correct us if we are wrong), DIECAST + PLASTIC hybrid figure. The beauty of this technique is making head & palms with plastic (no need to worry about undercut in mould) meanwhile diecast body offers a lovely sensation to collectors. The downside is, of course cost incremental, however it is still considerably more economical than a white metal soldier which could easily cost over 40 usd.

In coming future, we would like to produce mG'day everyone,

This is a short update to inform all the Sherman JUMBO fans that our 1:32 scale Sherman JUMBO M4A3E2 will be available to pre-order, the first batch of production will arrive at the Hong Kong office by 1st week of November. We have shipment going to the US and UK in the 2nd week of November, so hopefully they should be arriving on the dock before Xmas.

Sorry to keep you guys waiting, beginning from this Sherman JUMBO, we would like to introduce a new "mass" manufacturing methodology to create diecast figures. In the last two releases, we have contemplated the idea of metal figures with our Tiger Initial phase models, feedback was divided, some collectors love the metal weight, whereas some prefer intricate details retained by PVC soft plastic. That gives us the inspiration to create probably a pioneer technique (correct us if we are wrong), DIECAST + PLASTIC hybrid figure. The beauty of this technique is making head & palms with plastic (no need to worry about undercut in mould) meanwhile diecast body offers a lovely sensation to collectors. The downside is, of course cost incremental, however it is still considerably more economical than a white metal soldier which could easily cost over 40 usd.

In the coming future, we would like to produce more figures in different posture, figures in different body shapes (soldiers do not necessarily have 6 packs abs), and would love to include female figures and figures with more accessories.

We will post a painted version picture in the next few days.ore figures in different posture, figures in different body shape (soldiers do not necessary have 6 packs abs), would love to include female figures and figures with more accessories.

We will post a painted version picture in next few days.

.com
Jumbo M4A3E2
#1:32 scale
figure, metal body + plastic heads & palms

Good day, Naval fans

For those of you that have been inquiring about our new 1/700 scale USS Kitty Hawk CV-63, here is the answer.

First of all, we are terribly sorry about the wait, it must have been 2018-19 since we first announced committing this project, your question would be, "What takes so long?"

Well, here is our answer, our "mindset" wasn't ready to build a hobby grade aircraft carrier back in 2018, so did our tool shop technique skills, it was too kindergarten level back then.

Let's start with research...
It is probably an open secret that many finished model manufacturers would "re-engineer" 3D shape data from model kits because it saves time and energy to conduct research (we say probably the most time consuming part, believe it or not). We are frank with you guys, our 2019 Kitty Hawk 3D model was copied from one of the model kits manufacturers + photo references. After that we printed a 3D model to check the accuracy, and that's where the problem began, "it's not that accurate at all"

Fortunately, with help from a Naval enthusiast, they directed us to resources with real blueprint drawing of the CV-63, now with accurate ship silhouette information we have created a 95% accurate Kitty Hawk hull structure (as shown in picture with black background).

Here comes another challenge, like the HMS Invincible carrier we have contemplated, at first we have only planned the Invincible R05 and later on we acquired more research information and discovered that it would be silly not to do three sister ships at once. We believe that one of the fundamental differentiation between Hobbies & toys is authenticity, if our product does not attach to a specific time frame, then there would be no referencing.

We carried on with the CV-63 research and discover that it had completed a few major overhaul during its life span, for the sake of simplicity we have defined the differences into 3 Phases:

Phase 1: 1960 - 80s
Phase 2: 1980 - 90s
Phase 3: 2000 and beyond

If you guys notice carefully there are many differences across the Kitty Hawk between these three time phases and eventually, we decided that we would tool all three phases at once. Furthermore, we have tooled air wings from the 60s all the way to 2000, as one can imagine, its quite a tremendous amount of workload :)
Again, sorry for the wait, but we can assure you that the FOV-Waltersons will deliver the 1/700 Kitty Hawk CV-63 with the highest quality, creativity and craftsmanship possible.

We are expecting to finish the molds by the end of this year until then we will post test shots.

.com
Hawk CV-63
Aircraft carrier
#1/700 scale

Good day Aviation fans, we owe you guys a late update - The F-16A Block #20 production sample, it is READY!!

Unimax had created this set of tooling in 2015 but have never put it into production, this is also the first time Waltersons engaged into production of modern military aircraft, this first time reminding us of a famous expression, "You Never Get a Second Chance to Make a First Impression".

Based on Unimax original tooling, we basically modified everything and created a few sets of new moulds. Following are what we have done:

1) We would include the engine intake, nozzle and parachute protection covers as we were conducting our research, we found many vipers with these covers in our photos.

2) We have included a die-cast ladder that can be clipped to the cockpit edge.

3) Air brakes can be deployed in open or close positions (Insert parts).

4) We applied a grey shading spray paint technique to the body surface so it looks more authentic and besides we added a light touch of weathering washes across the body panel.

5) The front radar dome can be opened, we developed a special mechanism inspired by real viper (after watching many times in a YouTube video... LOL), the antenna plate can be pivoted slightly.

6) Front and belly landing gears are equipped with magnetic for easy fastening.

7) The Unimax F-16 has no rivets at all, so we created a new mould with full rivet details across the upper body and specifically for the ROCA version Block #20, it has a unique panel line that differentiates it from the rest of the Viper family.

8) Three engine nozzles opening with burnt paint effect.

9) Again from our research photos, we found some missile racking appeared next to the aircraft, we thought it's pretty cool so we decided to offer 2 rankings per set.

10) This is a little ground breaking feature FoV have created for aviation fans - our pylons, wings and missiles (except the wing edge because it is just too small), they are all detachable. The magic behind is simple, we created another new soft plastic moulds which creates tolerance offset between the two parts, so it can be put together or detach quite a lot of times, (we tried at least 100 times and it won't fall off)

11) Like our Armoured Fighting vehicle series, we created a beautiful landing base for the modern aircraft series, specifically for our distributor Brilliant Wings, we used the "Emergency highway landing" as our background theme.

Q&A ...
1) Release time?
Production will begin in 2 weeks, it should be catching the December vessel to North America and the United Kingdom.

2) Price?
99.99 USD

3) Any other F-16 variants?
yes, Block #10, #15, #32 (F-16C), #40 and so on... The F-16 family contains tremendous members, we will try our best to cover each variant.

4) A more exotic Metal Proud version in our agenda?
Yes, we are in the process of making a MP premium version, on top of what you are seeing in the FoV version, it will have a removable engine, moving flaps, additional ground crews and more ... when? 2023 Fall

Enjoy and have a good day!

Dear FoV collectors, we have a great piece of news to share.

Ever since we established this page back in 2017, we have received so many private messages asking when we will be re-introducing the iconic 1/16 scale Extreme metal series King Tiger tank? To be honest, we were not sure because when we took over FoV from UNIMAX, it had so little production information left over. We reviewed the tool list of the 16th scale Extreme Metal King Tiger, it contains nearly 70 sets of mould (Just to give you guys an insight, a Metal Proud level 1/32 scale contains around 15 moulds).

Besides, our kindergarten knowledge with diecast production back in 2017, to put this complicated Extreme Metal King Tiger back into production was merely a dream for us. Someone asked, "why don't you get someone to produce on your behalf, which is OEM production", it was possible back in 2005 but nowadays most hobby factories refuse to undertake complicated projects like this because the whole duration would consume maybe 18-24 months which makes them find it difficult to even quote a production cost.

Good news is, we have had a major break-through in the last 12 months. Our managing director moved back to Mainland, he has been stationed in the factory practically everyday to improve our production efficiency and resolve many technical issues. We have basically re-build the entire production team from ground zero, to put it in short, there will be a lot of new products rolling out in the next 3 months, it won't be just Tigers and Shermans...

As for this Extreme Metal King Tiger, we had a gentleman's agreement with the previous owner that we will not produce the exact same colour scheme because the Extreme Metal series has been a limited edition series.

The new FoV Waltersons Extreme Metal series will be available to pre-order in 2023 summer, thanks to the production and tooling knowledge we have learnt in the last few years, we can assure you that the new Extreme Metal will be next level. (Similar to the differentiation between Forces of Valor & Metal Proud)

Dont worry, we won't keep you hanging until 2023 summer, a monthly update will be available beginning from October to share information of areas that we are going to improve and add new parts etc...

So please stay tuned to our page.