Graham

So if fitted with the clamshell type opening back and leg FAST packs from the VF-X game as shown by Nanashi and also carrying 4 x UMM-7 pods on the wings and regular arm FAST packs, the VF-1 with a total of 122 missiles could theoretically unload it's entire missile load in three salvos as follows: - 1st salvo = a whopping 80 missiles! (all 16 missiles from both back FPs + all 40 missiles from both leg FPs + 4 missiles from the arm FPs + 20 missiles from the 4 UMM-7 pods) 2nd salvo = 22 missiles (the remaining 2 missiles from the arm FPs + 20 more missiles from the UMM-7 pods) 3rd salvo = 20 missiles (the final 20 missiles from the 4 x UMM-7 pods). By comparison a VF-1 fitted with the GBP-1S armour could single salvo a maximum of 64 missiles + grenades in the first salvo. The second salvo would be 8, the third salvo 8 and then empty. Breakdown as follows: - 1st Salvo: All 22 missiles in the shoulders + all 10 missiles in the chest +all 16 missiles in the side leg launchers + all 8 missiles in the rear legs + 6 missiles from the forearms (3 left & 3 right) + 2 x hand grenades (assuming one thrown with each hand = total 64. 2nd Salvo = The second set of 6 missiles from the left and right forearms (remember each forearm stores 9 missiles) + 2 more hand grenades thrown with the left and right hand. 3rd Salvo = The third and final set of 6 missiles from the left and right forearms ) + the final 2 hand greanades thrown with the left and right hand. EMPTY. Graham

I think pretty much every current US jet fitted with the M61A1 20mm Vulcan cannon (F-16, F-15, F-18, F-22 etc), recycles the spent cases back into the ammo drum. The A-10 with the 30mm GAU-8 Avenger cannon also does the same as I think does the Marines AV-8B Harrier with its 25mm rotary cannon. However, I'm not sure about whether modern Eastern or Western European Jets such as the Flanker, Mig-29, Rafale, Gripen, Tornado, Typhoon etc recycle their cases or eject them overboard. I'm also not sure about the older Korean war era jets such as the F-86. Graham

Sephiroth, I'm really curious, what is that runway type material your Low Vis is sitting on? Did you make it yourself or buy it? If you bought it, can you let me know where? I'd love to get some to use in my Macross toy reviews. Graham

OK guys thanks. Ill give it a try soon. Graham

I've been considering buying the Guyver III figure for the last few days. The articulation looks cool. However, for a 6" high (approx) action figure, it's damn expensive. The Japaense retail price is ¥5,040. Here in HK, it's selling between HK$340 to HK$420 depending on where you shop. I'm a big Guyver fan, but that's a little more than I'm prepared to pay for a non-Macross plastic action figure. Graham

I was thinking of checking out the Gungrave anime, but a friend who is usually quite reliable told me that it was dripping with teen angst. Is this true? Those who know me know there's nothing I hate more than overly-angsty anime characters Graham

Even the 1/55 reissues cannot really be considered perfect transformation due to the need to swap out the heatshield/canopy during transformation (except for the VF-1J Hikaru, which doesn't come with a heatshield). Graham

Ah, but if you pretend your Valk is in space, you don't have to remove the covers as they are supposed to stay closed when the Valk is in space Graham

AFAIK, the number of shots the strike cannon holds has never been officially specified. IIRC, the Macross PS2 game gives you 30 shots from the strike cannon. I forget what the PC game 'Macross VO' gives for the strike cannon, but anyway game figures should be taken with a grain of salt. The Yamato 1/48 FAST Pack toy holds 20 micro-missile per missile nacelle. So assuming the toy is accurate, that means a Super Valk, with two missile nacelles fitted to the back FAST packs holds 40 micro-missiles. And of course, there are another six slightly larger micro-missiles in the arm FAST Packs (3-per arm pack). If you add four UMM-7 micro-missile pods to the wings, you get another 60 micro-missiles (15 missiles per pod), for a grand total of 106 micro-missiles maximum for a fully loaded Super Valkyrie! As for the amount of missiles that can be fired in a single salvo. I believe this has never been officially specified either. I presume a Valk pilot can select between a minimum and maximum amount to be fired per salvo. Going with the fully-loaded Super Valk example mentioned above, I would imagine maximum single-salvo amounts for a Super Valk carrying 4 x UMM7 pods would be: - 1st salvo = 32 micro-missiles. 2nd salvo = 30 micro-misiles. 3rd Salvo = 28 micro-missiles. 4th salvo = 8 micro missiles. 5th salvo = 8 micro-missiles. EMPTY In the first salvo, the Super Valk would fire 4 missiles from each of the back FPs (there are 4 ports per FP) for 8 missiles, 5 missiles per UMM-7 for 20 missiles and the front 2 missiles from both arm FPs for 4 missiles. The second salvo would be nearly the same as the first, except that there is now only 1 missile remaining in each arm FP. The third salvo would see the final 20 missiles firing from the UMM-7s and 8 more from the back FPs, the arm FPs being already emptied during the second salvo. The fourth and fifth maximum fire salvos would see only the back FPs launching 8 missile each salvo as the UMM-7s were emptied already during the third salvo. Of course, the above assumption may be incorrect as during fighter mode, the micro-missiles in the arm FPs and the rearmost 5 micro-missiles in each UMM-7 pod actually point backwards, so these may be specifically for rear defence only. Graham

Only just got my Miria VF-1J yesterday. Haven't had time to examine it properly yet, but during the five minutes I spent unpacking the toy last night and transforming it to Battroid mode, I did notice that the white stripe on the head is a bit sloppy and the white paint goes over the line. Graham

It's not released yet. Next month I think. And it can also hold the 1/60 and 1/72 Yamato Valks, not just the 1/48. Graham

Personally, I think either the story of the M3 or VF-X2 games would make a great OVA. I'd love to see more of Aegis Focker and the VF-X Ravens. I'd also love to see more of Valks fighting those giant bugs shown in the opening movie of M3, that was exteremely cool IMO. I'm still pissed that the M3 opening movie was not included on the 20th Anniversary DVD Graham

I think for sure the 1/48s have sold better than the 1/60s. Anyway, I'd definitely buy a VT-1, VE-1, VF-1A DYRL Kakizaki and a VF-1A Cannon Fodder if they made them in 1/48. I probably wouldn't buy a Max TV VF-1A or a Kakizaki TV VF-1A as I find the color schemes to boring. I'd have to think carefully about buying a VF-1D or VF-1S DYRL Max if they made them, but I'd probably end up buying them without having to have my arm twisted too much Graham

Only a little drunk? Shame on you! Now go and get very drunk It's still 2 more hours till I get off work and can have a cold one. Graham

You mean like a err.....giant box cutter.....LOL..... Graham

Exactly. Graham

Got to briefly handle that batmobile toy last night. Pretty cool toy. I'm not a batman fan, but if I was I'd definitely buy one of these. Graham

I've never bought into the whole premise in Gundam that just beacuse radar is mostly nulified by minovsky particles that combat has to be mostly a point blank "bash-em-over-the-head" type affair. In modern warfare, tanks shoot other tanks at ranges of 3-4km. Optically guided TOW missiles have a range of 3km. IR homing missiles like the Sidewinder have a range of at least 10km. When you have modern ranged weapons, swords and axes become obsolete. this is why infantry today fight with rifles and machineguns instead of running around chopping each other up with swords Graham

I'd much rather they make a 1/48 VT-1 Super Ostrich. I'm more a DYRL fan than a TV design fan. I don't know whether they have changed their minds or not, but in the past (about a year ago) Yamato did mention to me that there would be no 2-seat 1/48 toys. Graham

As JsARCLIGHT said, you don't bring a knife to a gunfight, or in the case of Macross a gun & missile fight I've always felt that Macross portrays giant mecha and giant mecha combat in a far more realistic manner than Gundam. This is especially true of Macross Zero and Macross Plus. As I've stated in another thread recently, in my opinion Kawamori and Itano have a far better grasp on military technology and combat tactics than Tomino. If you have a giant mecha bristing with projectile weapons, beam weapons and missiles and capable of supersonic (or in somecases hypersonic) speeds, it's pretty silly to go charging at each other with giant swords and axes (if you want to live that is) Using a real world example (sorta), I've yet to see an M1 Abrams tank with a Lance strapped to it's barrel go charging at another tank like a Knight of old (although jousting tanks would be kinda cool to see IMO) There may be certain rare occasions when close-quarter mecha combat may take place, such as urban combat in a city or combat within the confines of a ship, but this would be the exception rather than the rule and in most cases ranged weapons could still be used and are superior to any melee weapon. And as others have said for emergencies, VFs have fists and feet for punching and kicking and can use gunpods as clubs. The VF-11B has a bayonet and the YF/VF-19 and YF-21 and VF-22 (and maybe other VFs) also can perform a pin-point barrier punch. One-on-one Gundam style beam sabre melee combats may look cool in anime, but IMO are not very realistic and are there purely for the 'visual coolness' factor rather than any percieved attempt at realism. OK, I know we're talking about giant anime robots, so any discussion on 'realism' is highly subjective. However, I've always thought mecha combat in Gundam is generally fairly unrealistic for a show which is supposed to be a 'real robot' anime. Graham

I think June, but I'm not too sure. Graham

Actually, I prefer glass display cases. Open shelves = dust magnets. Graham

I'd rather Big West release a new Macross TV series or OVA, rather than reanimate SDF Macross. However, if it was to be reanimated with better art, I also think that the original voice, song and BGM soundtracks should be retained. Oh, and I'd also like more Minmay fan service as well...........lots more Graham

I second that we really need a 'Soul Of Reality' line from Bandai, just leave out Gundam. There's too many Gundam toy lines in existence already. And Yamatos' got Votoms covered with the upcoming 1/12 scale toy Let Bandai give other Real Robots some love. I'd love to see the following real robots included in an 'SoR' toy line: - Orguss. Dorvack. Dragonar. Metal Skin Panic Bubble Gum Crisis. Megazone 23. Gasaraki. Blue Gender Patlabor. Graham

I didn't necessarily mean that is the first time they meet, just that Edgars' funeral will show them meeting up again. Or maybe it is the first time. Afterall, Kawamori has already admit that continuity is taking a backseat to story telling. Graham