Hurin

Post SDF-1 Macross class capital ships still transform? Why!?! I mean, if the SDF-1 hadn't lost its fold system, there would have been no point in it ever transforming? Yes, it would be nice to have the ability to Daedelus attack. But. . . I find it hard to believe that a ship would be built to transform just for that. H

Wow, I've never seen M7. And I've tried to approach things I've read about it with an open mind. But having seen that picture, I don't think I'll ever, ever watch it. H

Holy crap dude. You have the most terrible luck of any MWer I've ever seen! Sorry man.

Duplicate entry or typo? Great list though! Interesting stuff! Thanks for posting it! H

I think the flaps issue was more of a design flaw than a QC issue. So I don't think he's listing it. Much like you don't see the crooked skulls listed. H

Hmmm, looking at Kevin's list in the "What's Wrong" pinned thread, I guess so far we can't say for sure that the Max is any worse than prior releases. Unless, of course, you buy into the paint problems as being particularly egregious. Interesting list Kevin! Thanks for posting it! H

Holy crap! Check out Kevin's post in the "what's wrong with my Yamato" pinned thread. He opened his Max to find two Left shoulder pieces. Okay, even I'm getting a bit upset now. My crooked seat was bad enough. . . and sloppy paint I can understand a bit. . . but this whole using the wrong parts thing is just lame. H

ditto.

Oh, and thanks for the compliments on the images! I happened to borrow a friend's tripod last night. Boy does it make a difference! I'm taking a bunch of pictures today of some stuff I'm going to sell.

Woops, didn't realize that! Yes, I meant to point out that this could just be an example of me being lucky. Then I forgot to do so. Point well taken! Yeah, I think you're being very fair. But readind some of the responses to your concerns, I thought people might be getting the wrong impression about the severity of the problems. I'm just here to be the Yin to your Yang. As for the head lasers (another person's post). Was watching "Romanesque" last night. . . and the head lasers in the anime are blue. So these, I think, are more accurate, strictly speaking. That's not to say that the line art or models might designate them as metal/gray. After all, there is no UN SPACY on anything in the anime either! Best Regards, Hurin

Hi guys, I have some higher-res pictures. I really couldn't see anything in Calvin's pictures. But these pictures do show some of what he was talking about. My take, however, is that, while I wish Yamato had done a better job, I'm not really that disappointed. I see some of what he's talking about, but I don't think it ruins the toy. I definitely wouldn't warn anyone off this toy (especially if they like the Max colors) based on these problems. I think this is just inherent to trying to get a solid white paint to cover a dark blue base. . . that's not an excuse, just an explanation. All just my opinion. Remember, I'm also not bothered by most of the complaints leveled against these things every time a new one is released. I used to consider myself pretty picky. . . but I guess maybe I'm not. Then again, if I had pre-ordered three of these things (sight unseen!). . . I'd probably be much pickier! Here's the pics. Judge for yourselves. . . I hope these are of good enough quality to help people make an educated buying decision. If anyone wants the original high-res (2048x1536), uncropped, pics that are un-JPEG-compressed, you can download a zip file with them here. Good Luck out there! H *Edit: Clarified the link to the High-res versions.

"not great" or "poor?" I'm not asking this to be snarky. People are making their buying decisions based on this sorta stuff. So. . . what if you only bought one? Would you regret the purchase? Seriously. . . please respond as well as you can given your obvious disappointment. I think mine looks great. But, I'm also not bothered by the 1S face gap, the DYRL hands. . . etc. So I just hope that everyone out there realizes that these opinions are subjective and we should all try to keep all the varying opinions in perspective. I am not saying you (or anyone else) is too picky. I'm just saying that everybody is different and we should keep that in mind. I would just hate for Yamato to lose out on sales (and thus endanger future valks) because one opinion is over-represented. I do not want to touch off another "This suck vs You're anal" debate that seems to follow every Yamato 1/48 release. Best Regards, H

Yup http://www.macrossworld.com/macross/art/_art_macrosstv.htm I've seen those images before and they are increcible. Are they touched up at all? Because they seem more vibrant than the TV series ever did! Even the Animeigo DVDs. . . Thanks! Hurin Edit: And now that I look more closely at some of them, I'm almost positive they never appeared in the actual show. Could easily be wrong though. So, what is the source of these? Did the original team get together to re-render some of these as sorta "commemorative cels?"

Holy crap! This is all just amazing! Just curious, however, if the big empty space behind the seat in the cockpit was there because the seat needs space to "tilt back" and get tucked up into the torso while in battroid mode? Not that this kit transforms. . . Just a theory. I think it looks better with the gak back there anyways. Hurin

In the atmosphere, I think the covers are off. In space, they are on. They are clearly shown as off when Hikaru is rescuing Minmay in Episode 2. You can see the turbines spinning as he holds Minmay in the VF-1D's hand. H Edit: hehe, "turnbines."

I wouldn't be quite that dismissive. While I doubt we've gotten there yet, many geologists believe that earthquakes may be predictable in the future. I don't think it's too foolish to believe that there may be warning signs of large quakes. Perhaps patterns of smaller tremors on adjoining faults or tributary faults? Not saying this guy isn't a quack. . . but I wouldn't be so flatly dismissive either. H

Amen brother! I'd love to see more "painted on" markings, especially the "UN SPACY" on the legs. So far, only the Hikaru 1J has those painted on. . . suprisingly, the Max 1J does not (though it is on the FAST Pack Leg Armor). If anyone would ever create a latex stencil of the UN SPACY writing, that would be really cool, because even with high quality TakaToys stickers, you still see the clear film of the sticker. . . More paint! H

Actually, the Hikaru entry needs even more work now that I look at his 1S entry too. Here's the corrected version: For Rick/ Hikaru: DYRL = 011, 1A, Red Heatshield w/ Skull. DYRL = 001, 1S, Red Heatshield w/ Skull. TV = 001, 1S, Black Heatshield w/ Skull. Macross Logo on FP. TV = 101, 1J, Macross logo.

TV = 011, 1A, Macross Logo. I think you mean DYRL since Hikaru never flew a 1A in the TV show (IIRC). Also, since it's DYRL, it should be a skull logo. Unless I'm reading things wrong. But thanks for the list. When complete, it'll be cool! H Edited to sound less terse!

What color of lt. gray/white would best match the base color of a Yamato 1/48 Roy or Hikaru 1A? Ya know, for touching up the head after sealing up the 1S face seam. Something like that? Sorry, I know this is the model-ing area. But well, modeling techniques would be used! Best Regards, Hurin

Skull-1. The canopy frame is definitely black. I'm looking at mine right now. H

I got mine last night. Aside from the pilot seat being crooked (see my post in the Yamato problems thread). . . mine looks fantastic. The paint lines are crisp and clean. The blue color is deep and rich. I have no complaints. . . Yes, I notice some more sprue marks. But not in noticable places. There is one on the heatshield. But that is hidden when in battroid mode (which is the only time the heatshield is actually displayed!). I think these sprue trim marks are only showing up because of the plastic color. I'll bet if you compare the marks to a white/light-gray valk, you'll see the same marks if you look closely. They just aren't as visible on such a neutral background. Anyways, I'm happy with mine except for the seat. I'd take pictures. . . but mine is in pieces while I wait for the replacement seat to come. The dealer who sold it to me is sending me a replacement. I'd give the dealer public kudos for doing this, but I'm not sure if he wants my kind of whining encouraged in his customer base. Thanks, Hurin

Just got my Max VF-1J 1/48 last night. Everything is great except one really annoying thing. It looks like they glued the pilot seat to its base crooked. Re-gluing isn't a safe option because the seat is "melted" quite securely to the base. I took things apart and confirmed that the seat is all tweaked. Just posting this so that others can open up the flap and sneak a peak at the seat before buying (if buying from a store). As you can see, the crooked mounting causes the cockpit to look quite tweaked. I highlighted the top of the seat in the first picture and then marked two vertical lines that are equidistant from the fuselage center-line. Obviously, the seat is way off-center. At first, I didn't think it was a big deal, but it's beginning to bother me more and more as I see it more often. The Max 1J is otherwise great! Best Regards, H P.S. I might contact the seller and see if they have a spare seat. Otherwise, it's time to hassle Yamato.

Hey, that's a good question. What # was Milia?!? H

anime-inspired computer case/female statue Don't know if that's cool or disturbing. H P.S. Doh, can't use italics in sub-titles.