Graham

Guys, can we please have no more talk of any old 19FP prototypes and no pics of supposed prototypes, even if they just are photoshopped versions of the old IHP resin kit photos. That is a still a sore subject and a certain company still gets very steamed about seeing photos with their name on and 'Copyright, even if they are not actually their real photos. Any such posts will get deleated as soon as I see them and persistant offenders will get a a good ass whooping. Let sleeping dogs lie please. One day, if I can get permission I would like to post the true story of the YF-19 resculpt development, which is a long and interesting tale, but until then, it must not be mentioned. Graham

The CAD lineart is in the new issues of Dengeki Hobby & Hobby Japan, that were just released a couple of days ago. I'll have larger scans up in the MW magazine section on Monday. Graham

Review is well on the way to being completed, hopefully by Monday morning. Sorry, got snowed down with work and family stuff the last few days. Graham

Yes, the VF-2JA was shown in episode # 2 at the culture park. Nex is piloting one and grab's Feff's Gigamesh from behind and promptly get's the arm of the VF-2JA cut off by the Gigamesh's extending scythe-type wing IIRC. Graham

The thing is, I don't think it's a matter of force being the reason for breakage of the diecast peg at the end of the swing bar. That area doesn't need force to transform at all. I certainly didn't use force on mine. In fact I was very careful. I still suspect that it's just some toys that have flaws in the casting, resulting in soft as butter, break-prone pegs, while the majority will hopefully be correctly cast and fine (touch wood). I guess only time will tell, as the toy is still rather new and not that many people outside of Japan and HK have them yet. Graham

Guys, if you have a broken Garland, can you please PM me with a description of the broken part and a photo if possible. No promises, but I might be able to get some replacement parts. Graham

I can honestly confirm with whole-hearted sincerity that I have absolutely no idea whether Yamato has a D-Stance YF-21 or not. Graham

Westworld, Death Race 2000, Rollerball (the original), Planet of the Apes (the original), Beneath The Planet Of The Apes, Logan's Run, Soylent Green (although the Harry Harrison book it's based on 'Make Room, Make Room' is better). THX 1138, Dark Star (gotta love talking bombs), Mad Max and a few others that slip my mind. Graham

A Yamato 1/60 variable VF-17 would be great, but unfortunately, I don't ever see it happening Graham

It was proven here some time back that those parts are in fact the lameness emitters, at least when equipped on the fire valk Seriously, nice news though. 410462[/snapback] VF-19Kai/F/S/P don't even feature those tubes. Only the YF-19 & VF-19A do. Graham

One thing I've always hated about the Bandai kit is that the canopy is too flat. Graham

While I can't talk about specific features of this toy, I can go over the CAD lineart drawing and point out improvements that we can obviously see on the lineart, compared to the 1/72 version, which no one seems to have done yet:- The canopy is now the correct shape. The canopy on the 1/72 was completely wrong, by having a curved lower edge instead of a stepped angled edge. The curve of the top edge of the canopy viewed from the side was also completely wrong on the 1/72. The nose-mounted Hybrid sensors now appear to be correctly shaped. Again on the 1/72, they were completely the wrong shape. Gone are the large ugly screws and screw sockets on the wings, that the 1/72 has. The gunpod is now visible from the front of the fighter mode. On the 1/72 it was blocked by the groin peice. The rear landing gear doors now appear to have the correct 'sawtooth' edges, instead of just being plain rectangles on the 1/72. Heck, the 1/72 didn't even have any proper rear landing gear doors. The 1/60 appears to have proper solid knees, rather than the orignal 1/72, which had really ugly exposed knee joints. The 1/60 has proper chest tubes (guns?) on the underside of the chest. On the 1/72, this part lacked detail. The 1/60 has shoulder flaps, the 1/72 didn't. The way the upper and lower feet are positioned in fighter mode is 100% anime accurate. On the 1/72 in fighter mode, the position of the back part of the foot was completely wrong. The shoulders of the 1/60 in fighter mode sit much lower, making the plane more streamlined, compared to the 1/72, where the shoulders were too high up. From the top view fighter CAD drawing, it appears the 1/60 has far fewer gaps around the shield head/neck area than the 1/72. Looking at the CAD drawings, the 1/60 obviously has removable intake covers, which the 1/72 doesn't. Graham

The SHE YF-19 had no front or rear landing gear. It's groin peice also folded incorrectly in fighter mode as does that on the 1/72 Yamato. (it's correct on the 1/60 tho). The SHE YF-19 also had no locking and was a floppy mess, unless all the small screws were tightened all the way, which wears out the resin quickly. Graham

you really like clones or robots that much? 410399[/snapback] Toasters, is I believe the correct term. Graham

Ya' got find me and catch me first. Not too difficult though in theory as there's 2 members here who've been to my house. Although, sometimes it's not a good idea to mess with people who sell guns, ammo and body armor for a living though...Mwhahahahahaha! Graham

Comparing the proportions of the upcoming 1/60 scale YF-19 with the Hasegawa 1/72 YF-19 model kit based only on the few CAD drawings so far published is I feel a little unfair. While the Hasegawa is a nicely detailed kit, and looks great when veiwed from the top, I've always felt it is far too skinny when viewed from the side, especially the leg area, when compared with the official side view lineart published in the TIAS M+ book. Graham

I have a feeling that it's a random casting flaw, as the number of breakages has been statistically very small so far. Graham

OK guys here's the deal. Get me a night of wild sex with either Jessica Alba, or the chick who plays Boomer in the new BSG and I'll spill the beans on the next couple of years of releases. Graham

Don't forget that the Garland has an official licensed US release. Heck, even the RT.com site is selling it. This means that US stores should be able to order replacement parts from Yamato USA. Graham

That was the prototype Bandai 1/100 scale non-SAP VF-2SS plastic model, which unfortunately never made it into production. It was shown in several Japanese hobby mags at the time Macross II was first released. Graham

In response: - 1) I could tell ya, but then I'd have to kill ya! 2) I guess it's safe to say that this is a totally new sculpt. 3) [dirtyharry]Do you feel lucky? Well, do you punk?[/dirtyharry] Graham

Yep, the front landing gear/groin/hip-joint area of the YF-19 is a major pain to design, without involving either parts removal, too short front landing gear or lots of ugly external lumps and bumps which spoil the lines of the fighter mode. Another problem area is the interface between the upper arms and shoulders and the back of the legs in fighter mode, to keep the fighter looking streamlined enough without the shoulders sitting too high up or having to remove half of the back of the leg. After many years work those geniuses at Yamato have solved all the above issues. And yes, it will be perfect transformation with no parts removal or parts swapping. The old Bandai 1/65 VF-19S/Kai had extremely bad proportions, simplified transformation and limited articulation Graham

The 1/60 YF-19 is an improvement on the 1/72 YF-19 in the same way that the 1/48 VF-1 was an improvemnt over the 1/60 VF-1........only better! We are talking quantum leap here. Can't go into details yet, but it's gonna be amazing. Graham

You mean Ray Bradbury, the science fiction author? Graham

Heh, that's why I just sold my last mint in box 1/72 YF-19 on ebay. Graham