Graham

Just guessing here, but perhaps: - A 'Space Air Force' is a force which is equipped to handle both atmospheric and space missions. An example of this could be a battlegroup which is tasked with attacking and recapturing a rebellious colony planet as this would involve fighting through the planets space-based defence and then moping up the rebels in the atmosphere/ground. The 'Air Force' is equipped primarily for atmospheric only missions, such as planetary defence within an atmosphere. The 'Space Force' is equipped for space based missions, for example colony fleet escort, where the colony fleet would spend several years (or decades?) in space until they find a suitable planet to colonise. This would mean that 99.99% of the time, the VFs would be operating in space. While most VFs can operate in both atmosphere and space, there are various models that were designed to be better in one environment than the other. Examples of this include the VF-17, which was designed primarily for space combat and the VF-5000, which was originally designed as a low-cost atmospheric air-superiority fighter. Graham

Couldn't find the magazine yesterday when I went out to try to buy it. Will look again today. Graham

The stand came with clips for the YF/VF-19, YF-21, VF-11, 1/60 VF-1, 1/48 VF-1 & Q-Rau. No clips for the VF-0S or VB-6 were included. So yes, basically, each type of Valk has it's own separate clip and they are not interchangeable. Graahm

Hmmmm.........not really into any other toy lines except Macross. I'm just too much of a Macross fan at heart . I have dabbled briefly in other toy lines, but I almost always end up getting rid of them after a year or so for various reasons such as I need money or I'm running out of storage/display space or I just get bored with the toys. Lets see what other toys I have collected over the years: - I collected all the V-Gundam toys that were released in 1993, as at the time I was a big fan of the TV series. I still have the toys in storage. I've also collected the Bandai Gundam Sentinel 'Gundam Fix Figuration (GFF)' figures over the last 2 years, but I've got them all and there's no more to collect unless Bandai releases some new ones. All my Sentinel figures are now in storage as I needed more shelf space for my Macross toys and models. For some reason I went really crazy about UC MSiA for about a year in 2002 and collected over a hundred. Even today, I don't know why as I don't really even like Gundam or most MS designs very much. Anyway, I ended up giving away or throwing away all of the little rubbery PVC things about a year ago. Actually, they weren't that bad and I still like the RX-79G the best. Still, the Macross purist in me wouldn't let me keep so many Gundam toys in the house as I consider Gundam the arch enemy of Macross. I collected the Bandai SOC toys up to Grendizer, beacuse at that time I was in a stage of collecting cool robot toys irrespective of whether I actually liked that particular anime robot or not. However, after a while I deceided to collected only the mecha I truely liked, i.e. Macross, as I had no display room for other robots. So I sold all my SOC on ebay apart from Combattller V who is a childhood favorite. I collected Star Wars figures as a kid when they first came out in 1977 and I carried on collecting them up until the Return of the Jedi figures in 1983, but I grew out of Star Wars as a teenager and never really got back into it again as an adult. No idea what happened to my figures and vehicles. My mum probably threw them out years ago. I've never been interested in superhero toys, GI Joes, Transformers, McFarlane toys, movie toys, or sports star toys. I liked Lego and as a kid, but I haven't touched it for probably 25 years or more It's safe to say that Macross toys are the only toys that can hold my interest and they have been doing that for nearly 2 decades so far. Graham

I'm wondering if Yamato will sell the VF-0 and any other new Macross toys like the VB-6 together with an attachment clip so the toys can be used with the Yamato display arm. Graham

Nice body sculpt, but that's not Milia's face. I guess CM's just used their generic anime girl # 6 headsculpt or whatever Graham

Well, it does say 'Figure 3 Pieces Set' on the cover of the box, so I'm sure it will be in there. Graahm

Hmmm....not that impressed. In typical MF fashion, it looks to have nearly no articulation. Surely somebody can make an ultra detailed Colonial Marines figure with decent articulation that doesn't cost a bomb to buy. Graham

Issue # 78 I presume? Don't have it yet, but will look for it tomorrow. Renato, how many pages is the Macross article? If it's only 1 or 2 pages, i may not buy it. Graham

According to the Macross Compendium, the top speed of the SV-51 is not that much greater than the VF-0. SV-51 Max Speed at 11000M = Mach 2.81. VF-0A/S Max Speed at 11000M = Mach 2.74. VF-0D Max Speed at 11000M = Mach 2.62. Anyway, max speed is most irrelevant in jet fighters that use conventional fuel burning engines like the SV-51 and VF-0. It takes quite a while to reach max speed and by the time you get there you can't sustain it for long, otherwise you run out of fuel. I would imagine this is especially true of both the SV-51 and VF-0 as the specs list both of them as having short cruising ranges. SV-51 Cruising Range = 1910Km. VF-0A/S Cruising Range = 2075Km. VF-0D Cruising range = 2400Km. I would think that Instantaneous thust/acceleration is more important than max top speed. Perhaps David or some of the other aviation experts can chime in? Graham

Given the limited number of SV-51s produced (an estimated 32 units according to the Macross Compendium), I find it strange that Nora has a spare identically painted replacement SV-51 all lined up ready for her immediate use in ep # 5. At least that's what the pics I scanned seem to imply. That's not a simple paint job that Nora has (I have the Hasegawa kit,so I know ). It would take time to repaint a standard tan color cannon fodder SV-51 to Nora colors, so there must have already been a replacement ready for her, which seems a bit unusual even for an ace pilot. I also notice that the pics seem to show both Nora and DD are carrying 4 (2 per wing) of the micro-missile launcher/auxillary tank composite pods instead of the normal 2 (1 per wing-tip) as in the previous episodes. Graham

The CG pic of the VF-0S on the Bandai Visual Macross Zero site shows it as being 'V' shape. Graham Now I'm all clueless. I'm guessing that the revised knee sculpt was to improve knee articulaltion. I mean why change it to make it less anime accurate unless there is some reason to, like improving articulation or durability. Graham

The CG pic of the VF-0S on the Bandai Visual Macross Zero site shows it as being 'V' shape. Graham

I thought I remember reading a few months ago that McFarlane was going to be making Colonial Marine figures, but IIRC they would be smaller than 12". Can't remember where I read it tho. Graham

IIRC, it was in the mid-¥4K range, but bear in mind that all these delays and sculpt revisions may increase the price to consumers. Graham

Well, after further study of the photos of both the new and old sculpts, I've also noticed that the shape of the cut-out below the knee has been changed from a 'V' shape to a straight line (see comparison pic below). Not sure if this will have a positive or negative affect on the amount the knees can bend in Gerwalk mode though. Graham

Actually, after studying the pictures some more, it appears that the micro-missile pods are actually attached to the VF-0's dorsal fuel tanks and not connected to the drone. It also appears that the drone has several hexagonal black shapes on it's nose, which are I presume micro-missile ports. Graham

Here's a slightly larger scan of the mecha. Graham

Here's a page from the new October issue of Hobby Japan showing scenes and mecha from ep # 5. You can clearly see Roy gets a new VF-0S with a FAST Back booster/drone(?) attached. The drone seems to be armed with 2 rocket or micro-missile pods and the VF-0S also has 2 of the same rocket or micro-missile pods under the wings along with what are probably 2 drop tanks. It looks like Ivanov & Nora's SV-51s also have some sort of drone or booster or large missile mounted over the wing. Graham

Here's a good CG pic showing how far the sides of the cylinder at the rear of the VF-0S's head should extend and also the correct angle for the head lasers in battroid mode. Graham

I also thought that, but I doubt it on 1/100 scale. Graham

Another thing, those head lasers are going to look pretty strange in fighter mode as the angle is going to make them stick out from the sides of the plane. Graham

I'm wondering why the photos of the VF-0S battroid taken by both Matt Alt and Toy News International were taken at such an odd upwards looking angle? Did Yamato have the toy on a 7 foot high pedestal or something? Anyway, I stll think that the basic head sculpt remains unchanged, although it's somewhat difficult to be sure due to the odd angle of the photos. What does appear to have changed drastically though is the angle of the head lasers (see comparison pics below). In the original sculpt, the head lasers were only canted outwards a few degrees (in fact they were nearly parallel), but on the latest revised sculpt, they are now canted much more steeply outwards which really does not look good IMO. Graham

One thing I hate and have always hated in movies is unrealistic, exagerated, over-the-top combat scenes, whether it be hand-to-hand combat, sword fights or gunfights. Personally, I think that showing realistic skill in any of the martial arts or combat disciplines is far cooler than 'wirework' martial arts or John Woo style jumping through the air in slow motion firing two pistols at once. It's just a pity there are so few actors or directors capable of displaying/filming realistic skill at arms these days. Graham

Gotta say I don't like CM's sculpt of Milia's face. Looks nothing like her IMO. Graham