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Seto Kaiba

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  1. Seto Kaiba
    Well... this pushes the date of the first explicit mention in an unambiguously official Macross source back a decade or so, yeah. I think we've actually talked about this before, a couple years back, when I was looking for other mentions of anti-beam coatings outside of the Macross Frontier mecha.
  2. Seto Kaiba
    Or heat in general... we know that atmospheric friction can really mess a VF up, to the extent that atmospheric friction-heating at high speed is one of the primary obstacles to a VF getting hypersonic below 30km. Looking at it this way, that would explain why the VF-27 needs both its energy conversion armor and pinpoint barrier to achieve top speed below 30km... using the energy conversion armor to improve airframe durability and the barrier to reduce friction-heating.
  3. Seto Kaiba
    Very unlikely... as pinpoint barrier systems produce a focused distortion in local space, rather than any kind of electromagnetic effect. They're a derivative of fold technology. Nope, you weren't hearing things. Not sure when exactly the technology came into being though.. I vaguely recall being told that it existed as early as the VF-0, though the only main Macross timeline designs that I recall explicit mentions of it for are the YF/VF-19, VF-171EX, and VF-25. One thing that occurred to me a while back that may explain the apparent discrepancy between energy conversion armor's excellent resistance to physical impacts and its apparent vulnerability to energy weapons is that the descriptive details we've uncovered so far sound a LOT like a "smart material" version of something that exists right now... (bulletproof) laminated glass. The way it sounds, energy conversion armor may be increasing the structural rigidity of the layers of composite armor material (and possibly enhancing the elasticity of the laminate), using the hard-armor layers to stop the actual projectile and the laminate layers to permit the armor to flex without losing its integrity and disperse the impact energy over a larger area. This would possibly explain why comparatively low-powered laser weapons are moderately effective when otherwise overwhelming kinetic force is usually required to damage the same material... the laser (or particle beam) is heating and ablating the armor, which would melt and/or de-laminate the elastic layers that would otherwise absorb much of the impact, robbing the armor of most of the structural strength it would have against a kinetic impact.
  4. Seto Kaiba
    Well, it's similar to a number of technologies in theoretical development... and also contains the functionality of a number of things that already exist. The latter is very relevant to your question... The underwater battle scene in Macross Zero is a bit of an eyebrow-raiser in that we don't know how exactly they intended to get that bloody thing airborne again afterwards or if it had the necessary equipment to maneuver underwater since it didn't implement thermonuclear reaction turbine technology. Normally, a VF would simply be able to use the MHD ion engine system that's built into every thermonuclear reaction engine as an aquatic MHD engine, and maneuver underwater using power from the reactor. Most likely, the VF would close the main intakes to protect the deactivated turbine blades while operating underwater. Where it gets sticky is that, in Macross Zero, the VF-0 derives its propulsion from a pair of overtuned conventional jet engines... it may or may not have been outfitted with a separate MHD system to compensate for not having one built into the reaction turbine engines it was supposed to have had at that point. All we're told is that it can run for several minutes on power from the onboard capacitor banks when the engines are no longer supplying generator power. It's not really clear from the animation how much of Shin's underwater maneuvering is controlled "flight" and how much is simply drifting on the momentum he'd built up in the dive to attack the Octos. It does, however, appear that he may have been using the VF-0's Shinnakasu ARR-2 rocket sub-engines (in the "backpack") as a propulsion system after transforming to battroid mode in the fight... the rockets are definitely lit when we see him escape from the fight and head toward the surface. Per spec., the VF-1 Valkyrie was able to operate underwater to a depth of 100m (328ft). Spec. gives the VF-0 a maximum underwater operating depth of 20m (65.5ft). Macross VF-X2 had a specialized underwater variant of the VA-3 Invader. EGF-127 turbofan jet engines, yeah... whether or not they have a separate MHD for underwater use run off the generators and/or capacitors is unknown.
  5. Seto Kaiba
    They're pretty much on par when it comes to the variety (and modularity) of fixed, internal gun systems... it's missiles where the difference really comes into play. On the Feios Valkyrie and most "5th Generation" VFs depicted so far, we don't really see a lot of armament versatility. The VF-22 has limited internal room the larger missiles, but is principally armed with guns and micro-missiles... barring the optional external body pylons in Master File. The Feios Valkyrie, VF-27, and YF-29 all go in for large numbers of micro-missiles but don't seem to have any concession to larger ordinance in common use. The YF-30 seems to have 2 or more pylons per wing but just never uses them. The VF-25's got either 6 or 8, depending on how official Master File's wing glove stations are. So, against a newer, more agile opponent, a VF-19's best option might be to out-range them with HMM-111 or CHM-2 missiles.
  6. Seto Kaiba
    Of the VF-19? Sort of... there are a lot of limited-production modifications and locally-produced versions of specific variants. There aren't many true "one-off" designs though.1 The locally produced versions still get built by the dozens or the hundreds, like the -EF version built by the Frontier fleet2, the Macross Galaxy fleet's VF-19C local spec3, or the VF-19A2 built for flight demonstration team use. Quite possibly, yes... we're not really given a ton of information on patrol circuits and so on for VF operations, esp. since the ranges attributed to shipboard and fighter-carried sensor systems are pretty significant... sometimes easily exceeding the practical range of fighters without fold boosters. As far as the attributes of the VF-19 aiding it against an enemy with superior thrust and agility... that's a tough one. An enemy that has superior engine power and maneuverability is likely going to be either a next-gen VF with an ISC or something like the Feios Valkyrie. In most cases, the big advantage might be in ordinance carrying capacity (unless you're dealing with a VF-25, in which case all bets are off), since most of the super-high performance fighters exceeding the VF-19's capabilities tend to internalize their armaments and therefore carry less (or less variety). 1. The known "one-off" versions of the VF-19 are mostly evaluation craft built to field test new tactics and technologies. Basara Nekki's custom VF-19(F) was built to test equipment for "Project M", a UN Forces development program. Chelsea Scarlett's VF-19ACTIVE was built to test some of the hardware being developed for the YF/VF-25 Messiah. Isamu's is probably the only ace custom that was actually built to be a true ace custom... since it was built specifically for Isamu's use and to his specifications. Oscar Brauhitsch's VF-19A is a grey area, since that one is supposedly a mostly-stock VF-19A with later model engines... but is believed by some (in-series) to be an experimental aircraft for the VF-19's 2050s-era upgrade program. 2. The VF-19EF Caliburn, VF-19EFs Caliburn, and RVF-19EF Caliburn used by SMS and the NUNS Special Forces unit "Round Table", of which ~160 were built. 3. The VF-19C/MG21 Excalibur, a calculated "take that" aimed at Shinsei Industry if ever there was one... a technically superior VF-19 built by Shinsei's rival.
  7. Seto Kaiba
    Welcome! Also, I may have some unfortunate information WRT your perceived flaws in the VF-1 design. For instance, per spec. the VF-1 Valkyrie actually has more wing area than the comparably-sized F-16 Fighting Falcon. It boasts a wing area of 32.8m2 (353.1ft2), 17.7% more than the F-16's 27.87m2 (300ft2). Well, it has a couple different systems to supplement conventional control surfaces... but on the conventional side, those outward-canted stabilizers are basically ruddervators that, combined with the ventral fins, forms an X-tail. Ruddervators are a pretty common design feature on VFs in Macross (often variable cant). On the less conventional side, there's also single-axis thrust vectoring (possibly verging into multi-axis thanks to a little side-to-side freedom in the nozzle/ankle), and also the usage of boundary layer control for attitude control assistance as well. Later VFs have vortex flow control systems as well. Kawamori did something along those lines for Character Model magazine... resulting in the SW-XA1 Schneeblume (think of a VF-1 with modern stealth aesthetics and internal ordinance bays).
  8. Seto Kaiba
    Sadly, none that I am aware of. Well, most VFs do have proper variant letters... and most of the 2050s era ones have a special designation section indicating what fleet or emigrant planet they belong to... though Master File does give production block numbers in detail for some of the covered craft. (Principally VF-1 and VF-19).
  9. Seto Kaiba
    Those are Zentradi picket ships... they don't have an actual "name" like the Nupetiet Vergnitzs or Queadol Magdomilla. I believe it is... AFAIK, a correct romanization of "Nyan-Nyan" ought to be hyphenated. I don't think anything is said about how the Tomahawk's guns are meant to fire... which is probably the genesis of the problem. Both the Tomahawk in the series and in DYRL are supposed to be the same model and mark (Mark VI) so I would assume that's simply the greater attention to detail in DYRL at work. (My take would be that the DYRL presentation is the "correct" one.)
  10. Seto Kaiba
    The "Fire Valkyrie" was built as part of a secret UN Forces development program "Project M". Ray still had deep connections to the UN Forces even after he left the military, so he was entrusted to pass the plane along to its intended test pilot, Basara.
  11. Seto Kaiba
    Minor? The UN Forces stripped him of his medals, put him under house arrest a few times, and his last bout of reckless flying got him kicked out of an active duty unit and sent to be a test pilot on a program that had already been the death of two pilots and hospitalized two more with severe injuries. (After first threatening him with virtual exile to coal mine security or planetary fragment disposal duty!)
  12. Seto Kaiba
    Probably? The actual statement (the last one at the bottom) just says that those are supposed to be VF-19E types with the F-type wing and "MML"... which I would assume to mean "Micro-Missile Launcher". That would appear to be the same micro-missile pod used in Macross the Ride1 on the model for Anthony Clemens' VF-11C Thunderbolt Interceptor. If it adheres to the usual convention for micro-missile pods, it'd hold 24 micro-missiles (No. of ports x 3). WRT your inquiry in the other thread about the device Master File refers to as the SPP-8 propelled mass driver pod, the only source that offers any commentary on it is toy manuals, which affirm the Master File identification. The SPP-8 does not appear to be a micro-missile launcher pod. 1. Macross the Ride's visual books identify the one on the VF-11C Thunderbolt Interceptor as a micro-missile launcher pod.
  13. Seto Kaiba
    There's a distinct nod to this in the Variable Fighter Master File: VF-22 Sturmvogel II book as well. On most VFs, there's enough clearance to keep the pylons in place... and it looks like that's probably still true for the VF-19. When the VF-19 transforms to battroid, the wings fold, and that fold puts the underside of the wing facing in towards the space behind the battroid's legs. The diagrams on page 076 of Variable Fighter Master File: VF-19 Excalibur bear this out, and from their art it looks like the VF-19's folded wings have enough clearance to leave the pylons in place. Well, according to the specs and description published as part of Macross the Ride, the VF-19EF produced by the Macross Frontier fleet was an attempt to enhance the monkey model spec they'd been given for the VF-19E. It's mentioned that they had to produce their own local version of the airframe control AI and sensors... and that limiters were installed in several systems. I'm sure it outruns and outmaneuvers the comparatively mild VF-171, though I'd wager the weapons are probably at the same level unless we're counting the Caliburn's usage of the GU-17 on a field test basis. The kicker, I'm sure, is that the VF-19EF is probably still more expensive to build, maintain, and operate than the Nightmare Plus.
  14. Seto Kaiba
    Indeed... and on those occasions where we're shown coaxial laser weapons being used against enemies of comparable or superior armor strength to the VF that the laser's mounted on, they don't seem to do a hell of a lot unless they hit an exposed weak spot or lay down a sustained barrage. Probably the best example is in Macross Zero Ep4, where Roy attacked a pair of Octos units and his lasers weren't doing anything until he hit an exposed leg joint on one and shot the missile the other had shot at him almost the instant it launched.
  15. Seto Kaiba
    A lot of different Macross sources tend to say the same thing in slightly different ways... once you've translated the same factoid in nine or ten different forms, it sticks with indecent tenacity. The generally unhelpful non-answer is "Anywhere from 'not at all' to 'essential' depending upon the fighter and mission in question". Well... I suppose part of it is that active stealth isn't infallible, and becomes less effective as the power of the enemy radar increases, necessitating some measures to preserve passive stealth design. Having internalized armaments also has the advantage of reducing drag, which I'd imagine would be a pretty vital consideration for aircraft that are as acrobatic and prone to sudden acceleration as the later generation VFs. (It'd probably also help with their flying near-hypersonic at ~10km.) Nah... most can. For oversized loads, they just leave the wings unfolded (e.g. VF-1 carrying UUM-7 pods or Super Valkyrie). The ones that can't, but don't also fully internalize their armaments, are pretty rare... seems to mostly be a FSW problem (except on the YF-29).
  16. Seto Kaiba
    Sort of... the VF-25 was meant to be the next main fighter for Frontier (and its close allies). The YF-24 specs were redacted a bit and sent to all of the emigrant fleets and planets with a sort of "do whatever with this" kind of attitude. In terms of raw flight performance or technological sophistication perhaps, but both the VF-27 and YF-29 suffer from low versatility as a result of the overwhelming emphasis on anti-Vajra combat. Neither could honestly match a VF-25 for general purpose-fulness or the sheer diversity of combat roles it can fill. Not to mention ANYONE can fly a VF-25, while only cyborgs can fly the VF-27, and the YF-29 is prohibitively resource-intensive.Thr VF-27 plays by different rules because it was developed by a different fleet and different designer to fight a single foe... the Vajra. The YF-29 was likewise built for that one fight. To incorporate the same levels of firepower as a VF-25 with FAST packs without sacrificing the insanely high performance that was their overriding design consideration, internalizing their armaments was the only way to go... even if it ultimately restricted the types of armaments used. Yes, the VF-19's internal modular ordinance bays are meant to allow the fighter to carry various types of armament without compromising passive stealth... though that became less of a concern after the better active stealth systems were implemented on the production model.
  17. Seto Kaiba
    Your math's off in a few areas... the GU-11's muzzle velocity is 2km/s, not 3.3. Also, the VF-1's head laser is delivering 100 5MW discharges per second, per spec. Having a 16.7t Zentradi officer drop onto it swinging a pipe made from who-knows-what from considerable height and not folding up like a papercraft model is pretty damned impressive. Likewise, all the acrobatics we see in the original series (VF-1's rolling and diving and doing handsprings in Battroid mode) make for a very convincing case. So too does bulling through buildings at speed, or surviving hits from large numbers of missiles without the aid of a barrier... The VF-1's were (mostly), but that's likely got more to do with the power of Zentradi weapons than anything else. (The natural, organic logic of "my enemy can make armor of X degree, therefore his weapons are probably just powerful enough to penetrate armor of X degree" fails a bit hard on an enemy that cares little for casualties and considers troopers replaceable equipment.) It's a retcon that explains away an acknowledged discrepancy in the presentation of VF durability between modes... which became particularly obvious in later titles like Macross 7, but was already rearing its head as early as DYRL?. It's not perfect, but it's better than nothing.
  18. Seto Kaiba
    The space argument holds up pretty well, actually... considering the VFs are using what is ostensibly a (massively upgunned version of) REAL ion engine technology. To achieve the amount of thrust they're getting with (~451.11kN peak) with modern MHD/MPD technology you'd need something on the order of 1.8 gigawatts1... (which might explain Sky Angels comments on peak reactor output). Clearly efficiency has improved considerably. 1. Best case scenario for a modern MPD with 40-60% efficiency is about 25N of thrust for 100KW of input power.
  19. Seto Kaiba
    Effective against what? We've seen pretty conclusively that VFs are impossibly tough by modern armor standards from almost the very beginning of the original series... probably the most graphic demonstration was in Frontier, where Ozma used his barrier and Armored Pack's ECA to tank a hit from a weapon we see one-shotting cruiser-class warships and his fighter was still combatworthy afterwards. Reduced engine thrust. The thermonuclear reaction turbine engines produce thrust by bleeding heat and plasma that would otherwise go to the generation of electrical power to flash-heat intake air in place of burning hydrocarbons. The quantity of reactant being used is very small (very realistic too, according to NASA), so the losses in generator output incurred in providing the impressive amount of engine thrust the VFs produce are fairly severe. All that heat energy that's being bled off the reaction to heat intake air isn't going to the generator... and in space, the VF is consuming its fuel at a far greater rate and most of its generator output is going to the MHD ion thruster to provide the same levels of thrust the engine would produce in atmosphere. The VF-0's energy conversion armor only had performance roughly comparable to that of a main battle tank in Battroid mode... and that feat required 90% of the Battroid's generator output. The generator output of VFs powered by reaction engines is greater, yes, but so too is the engine thrust (more power lost to thrust) and the greater armor strength requirements consequentially demand an increase in power supply... to say nothing of other increases in demand on the power system like more powerful coaxial lasers, or built-in beam weaponry, high-powered RADAR, active stealth, and other notoriously energy-intensive technological toys. Because, on the whole, fighter mode is more agile... many fights start out as long-range missile duels or dogfights, before things go to close quarters where Battroids are suitable. If you sit still and try to tank everything, the damage you take will add up very VERY quickly. The cannon fodder VF-11's were up against fighters that were, in practical terms, AVF-equivalents... VF and VA-14s that had been enhanced with technology supplied by the Protodeviln. It's not surprising that their armaments would be more powerful than those the (economized model) VF-11's were carrying. Max and Gamlin were going up against them in fighters that were more on a level with the Varauta fighters (though even then there's a certain amount of plot armor involved).
  20. Seto Kaiba
    Thank you! Which toy's booklet is that from?
  21. Seto Kaiba
    Posting here, since I didn't think this appeal for help merited a new thread... Anyone out there who's got a YF-19 that includes this doodad... ... could you please post a photo/scan of the part of the toy's instruction booklet that identifies the parts by name? (Or just copy out the text, whatever's easiest for you.) We're trying to get a non-Master File ID this weapon (and its triangular, similarly-colored counterpart), which have appeared in promotional materials but never been identified by name in art books. It seems to come with a lot of the YF-19 toys, so I figured that was our best bet to get an alternate identification for it.
  22. Seto Kaiba
    Possibly... though since they apparently had ready access to multiple YF-19 and VF-19 kits, I'm inclined to suspect that it's meant to be something new for the VF-11. (Or if the SPP-8 really is a micro-missile pod, that it's a VF-11 version of same.) Well... the whole "missile with a gun instead of a warhead" thing isn't entirely unprecedented in Macross. It was a technology used by both humanity (circa 2037) and the Mardook (circa 2092) in the Macross II: Lovers Again parallel world continuity, though those used beam guns instead of solid projectiles (like Master File's LPP-12). The mass driver part... that's definitely out there. I'm gonna pop on over to the Toys section and ask if anyone can offer an ID on the part from the little instruction booklets. EDIT: It looks like the toys may be on the same page as Master File on this one... I got a reply to my inquiry in the toys section, saying it's identified as a "Self-propelled Physical Warhead Launcher Pod". Well... it'd make a certain amount of sense for under-wing micro-missile pods to be absent from the VF-19/VF-22, since those had internalized micro-missile capability to preserve passive stealth. Seems like the feature came right back courtesy of the VF-171 in the space of just a few years though.
  23. Seto Kaiba
    Went over the Macross the Ride Visual Books, and I'm pretty sure what you're referring to is this thing on Anthony Clemens' VF-11 Thunderbolt Interceptor: (Page 44 of Vol.2, in one of the modeler commentary sections, for those with copies.) You're right, it is labeled as a micro-missile launcher. It's got eight ports on a wedge-shaped front end like what Master File calls the SPP-8, though they're shaped and proportioned differently. Not sure they're actually the same thing, or meant to be. EDIT: We should probably ask a toy collector... I know the SPP-8 has come with a couple different YF-19s, maybe the instructions from those say what it is (if not a railgun pod)?
  24. Seto Kaiba
    No, I'm afraid not... the mechanic sheets for the YF-19 only talk about the equipment and features seen in the Macross Plus OVA/movie itself. (I haven't checked the OVA version of the TIA book, but the movie book for Plus is similarly mute on the subject... though Master File isn't THAT far out in left field.)
  25. Seto Kaiba
    Yep, per Macross Chronicle's VB-6 mechanic sheet, the Konig Monster can fire all of its weapons in Destroid mode. It supposedly uses its engines to stabilize itself. Humanity's discovery that the Zentradi possess countermeasures for gravity control systems might have played a role too... and they found that out fairly early in the first space war.
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