Hasegawa Battroid Question

[agass4u]

I just wanted to get some input on a model I am hopefully going to get to finally finish. It is the Hasegawa Battroid kit and I want to know what people think about the letting on the sides of the Gunpod. Are the letter supposed to be right side up, or upside down when in Battroid mode? The models seem to change to reflect the mode of the model. For instance, in the Battroid model, the lettering is right side up, but on the fighter mode models, the lettering would be upside down when it transformed. I am pretty sure I am going to put them right side up because I plan on building a companion model out of the fighter kit with the same color scheme and decals; but I wanted to ask for people input to see what they thought about it. I attached some images to help clarify what I am talking about. The first image would be right side up and the second would be upside down.

Also does anyone know a good way to print custom decals?

Edit: If anyone thinks this belongs in the "How to build Macross Model Kits" thread, by all means please move it there.

Edited April 6, 2005 by agass4u

[Grayson72]

On the battroid the lettering is supposed to be right side up, so in fighter mode the lettering would be upside down.

The second picture you posted is of a VF-0B (completely different fighter), for some reason the lettering on one side of the pod on that particular fighter is right-side up and the other is upside-down.

The VF-0B is the last model I built so I know that's how it goes based on the instuctions given.

Oh the best way to print custom decals is to ask Anasazi to do it for you. Very affordable and the only way to get white decals printed.

Edited April 6, 2005 by Grayson72

[Ghadrack]

Is it really a no-no to place them in opposing directions so you can have a "Good Side" in each mode? I have alway put mine, right back from the days of Jetfire with one side up for Battroid, (Usually the right side of the gun) and one for side up in Valk.

I might just have learned to live with something that looks retarded to most, but the upside down sticker doesn't bother me too much, knowing that I have at least one right side up in any mode.

[jardann]

This thread has made me think a litlte bit on the subject. Before, I always put the lettering on right side up for the Battloid. Now that I think about it I think the next one I build will have the lettering both ways, one on each side as Ghadrack just said. When you think about it this makes the most sense.

Do we have any canon pictures that show the lettering upside down in airplane mode? Most pictures I recall seem to have the lettering the right way in all modes. An impossibility unless it employs some technologically advanced protoculture based perfect transformation paint. That may be what is used to get the missles to match the plane they are attached to also.

It really comes down to what you like best I guess.

[Gerwalker]

Ohh it's a very old discussion without a final answer. I opted to put the lettering upside down in my battroid for many reasons:

1. This kind of lettering is ussually found in real life fighters on their tanks so I assumed that this is could be the same in the VF-1 in fighter mode.

2. If the VF-1 transformation was a secret until the space war I then I see no reason they would have the lettering upside down in fighter mode when this would be the only mode shown to the public.

3. While in the original Macross series the lettering never appears on the VFs (I assume it was for lack of resources in the animation at that time or just because it would make it more complicated to animate) in M0 we can see the lettering on the VFs in almost every detailed scene since the tecnology used in the animation of the OVA allowed the creators (i.e Kawamori) to display the lettering. In M0 all the gun lettering is upsidedown in battroid mode (AFAIK)!!

4. Is cooler to have the lettering upsidedown in battroid It is sort of saying: somethig is weird with this robot. It is an eye catch too!

As for the decals: you can ask Anasazi (he uses an Alps printer) or you can try one of those blank decals sheets from BareMetal:

decals

They have one version for ink-jet printers and other for laser printers and copiers. They have clear decals and white (most printers don't print white)

[agass4u]

I know those are different fighters, but the decal layout in that picture gives a good idea as to what I am referring to.

Is it really a no-no to place them in opposing directions so you can have a "Good Side" in each mode?

That all should depend upon the modeler really. If someone doesn't like how you did your model, then give them the finger and tell them shut up. I personally like my decals to mainly be the same on both sides, but that is just me.

I guess I am curious which way it was in the original show and Movie?

Edit: Nice answer Gearwalker. That makes a lot of sence, but I still think I am going to have it right side up in Battroid mode, just becuase I think it will look better to have the lettering upside down in fighter mode.

Edited April 6, 2005 by agass4u

[DatterBoy]

Upside down on the gunpod for sure. I believe the lettering is intended for identification in jet fighter mode. The result of course is that the letters come upside down when used as a gunpod.

But... because it is a Battloid specific mode, I don't see how it could hurt either way.

:Dat

[honneamise]

I have always built all my Valkyries with the lettering right side up, took me a long time to notice something did not work with this.

My guess is none of the creators bothered to think about this. There are hardly any sketches showing any markings at all and in the animation you don´t get to see them either.

I just speculate but maybe these markings even had their debut with the first Imai/Arii kits and they were only included to make the models look more realistic and impressive.

In the 80s it was a standard to have big white "VF"-Markings on the lower front side of both legs....they seem to have completely dissappeared from nowaday´s newer VF-1 kits - just want to point out there is no canon on every little thing here.

So you could go both ways: logically thought, choose ONE position and stick with it. Or apply the markings the way you think it looks cooler.

OR go with the thought that there is some revolving mechanism within the gunpod which makes the part with the lettering rotate 180 degrees when transforming so the letters will always stay upright. If everything transforms why not add this little feature? Maybe Kawamori has designed it that way but the artwork has been lost:lol:

Whatever you decide, neither way will somehow ruin your model. Most people will not notice anyway and all the insiders here will know you went with ONE of the possibilities and that should be OK.

[Ido]

The only show with the "un spacy" on the gunpod was Macross zero and the sign is sometimes right side up and sometimes upside down...

In the ps2 macross game is always right side up both in battroid mode and fighter mode.

If you are building a static model I will not care about, for my !/48 I prefer it right side up in fighter mode.

[agass4u]

Well the gunpod has a telescoping feature that causes it to extend forward. What if instead of just extending forward, it rotates 180 degrees while it moves forward. Of course the rotation would not rotate the entire barrel of the gun or the scope at the end would be on the bottom when it was extended out. It could be possible that the different locked position fires a different way. The gunpod would probably always be unexpended in fighter mode, so maybe it is more accurate in this state. When it is extended it could allow more of a less accurate burst fire for hitting close range targets and missiles. That theory could also be applied in reverse order because you would think that a longer barrel would give you a more accurate shot; but I would think that while flying around faster than the speed of sound you would want a more accurate shot than in slower close combat. I don't know too many specific details about the gunpod so I could be dead wrong on this one, but that would explain how the lettering would always be right side up.

Also, does anyone have the Design Works book handy? I have it at home but I won't be able to check until after I get off work in about 9 hours. I was wondering if it has the writing on any of the VF gunpods in the book.

[AlphaHX]

Nope... no writing.

[Gerwalker]

Well the gunpod has a telescoping feature that causes it to extend forward. What if instead of just extending forward, it rotates 180 degrees while it moves forward. Of course the rotation would not rotate the entire barrel of the gun or the scope at the end would be on the bottom when it was extended out. It could be possible that the different locked position fires a different way. The gunpod would probably always be unexpended in fighter mode, so maybe it is more accurate in this state. When it is extended it could allow more of a less accurate burst fire for hitting close range targets and missiles. That theory could also be applied in reverse order because you would think that a longer barrel would give you a more accurate shot; but I would think that while flying around faster than the speed of sound you would want a more accurate shot than in slower close combat. I don't know too many specific details about the gunpod so I could be dead wrong on this one, but that would explain how the lettering would always be right side up.

Also, does anyone have the Design Works book handy? I have it at home but I won't be able to check until after I get off work in about 9 hours. I was wondering if it has the writing on any of the VF gunpods in the book.

Funny thing is that I propossed the rotating gun idea many years ago and a rather fanatic MW member told me: it's a war machine!! It should not have any fancy rotating mechanism for the gun casing.

It's just a casing the real barrels are inside. The Gu-11 is three-barrel gattling gun. There is no extension of the barrels lenght when the gun pod extends. I assume that the only reason the gun pod extends is for a better handling in battroid mode (think about it as the folding part of a real life paratrooper gun)

[phoenix01]

On the battroid the lettering is supposed to be right side up, so in fighter mode the lettering would be upside down.

The second picture you posted is of a VF-0B (completely different fighter), for some reason the lettering on one side of the pod on that particular fighter is right-side up and the other is upside-down.

The VF-0B is the last model I built so I know that's how it goes based on the instuctions given.

Oh the best way to print custom decals is to ask Anasazi to do it for you. Very affordable and the only way to get white decals printed.

Actually, it is right side up for Fighter and upside down for Battroid.

[Desram]

I really think it looks much better with the lettering inverted in battroid mode. Not that anyone will give this any weight, but the vf-1j on the cover of robotech battlecry has the lettering upside down in battroid.