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M'Kyuun

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  1. M'Kyuun
    A7, that video. Her giggle at the end. LOL I just woke up, and clicked on it for the heck of it. Nice start to the day. Thanks.
  2. M'Kyuun
    So enjoying this topic. Overtech is a nice blanket, esp from a modern eye, to account for some of the VF-1's abilities. But I consider that HFH designed this back in the early 80's, when stealth was still in the black, and the F-15, F-16, F-18 and F-14 were the pinnacles of American fighter tech. Esp the 16, which owed its nimble performance to high instability, necessitating the air data computer to keep it in the air. It wasn't called 'lawn dart' for no reason; it was a widowmaker in its early days. Anyway, the VF-1, to my eye anyway, is a very anachronistic design in its fighter mode. There are no stealth features, no memory metals, no hideaway panels to preserve stealth...just a somewhat blocky, decidedly unstealthy but lovely 80's fighter with some interesting add-ons (the backpack) to facilitate the battroid mode. I don't think VTOL was in the original plan; Kawamori's art shows nothing of the sort, and I don't think that's a detail he missed. The FAST packs were his answer. Of course, in animation, anything can happen to serve the story at hand, so all sorts of modifications appear to give the thing abilities it originally didn't possess. They did it like crazy in Transformers. Off topic: I'm also reminded of some of the observations when Macross: Zero came out, and the VF-0 was revealed. Of course, it has a design aesthetic incorporating stealth cues and, in many of its subtle details, looks exactly like what it is: an updated VF-1 design, contrarily presented as a predecessor to the same. But I remember alot of comments about how it looked like an old workhorse and such to try and justify the design. I could never reconcile the modern looking VF-0 as predating the VF-1...I can't unsee the modern touches. However, it looked amazing in those dogfighting scenes. And to kinda push this on topic again, how would the Zero fare as a viable aircraft, since it's larger and heavier than the VF-1, but with weaker engines? I don't see any VTOL verniers on it, either. Discuss!
  3. M'Kyuun
    I haven't seen any Protectobots in my area yet, and I'm not sure if I'll get the whole team. I like Hot Spot, but I may just wait for the eventual Onslaught redeco, since I prefer Bruticus anyway. I'd like to get both versions of Groove, as I like transforming motorcycles, for some reason. I'm not a bike guy, but I think it's more about the engineering and clever design in such a small space. I'd like to get Rook just because both his bot and alt modes look cool. On the MP front, if Ironhide is the next fig in the series per rumor, I'm pretty excited for that. If/when they make him, I hope they can find a way to make his laser cannon extend and retract into his back in bot mode, and stick out the back of his van mode to recreate the scenes from the first season. "We're gonna make a new river."
  4. M'Kyuun
    So true. And....so sad. This series is in dire need of reboot, from the top down. Start with hiring a director who likes Transformers.
  5. M'Kyuun
    I used SAL, so mine came courtesy of the USPS. Once mine arrived in LA, tracking updates ceased until delivery, which was documented. But it spent about 7 days in limbo. If you feel that that something's seriously amiss, I'd suggest contacting the seller, as they may be able to track down the package for you. In the meantime, here are some questions to verify concerning your order: Did you receive notice that payment was accepted, that your item was being processed, or that it shipped? Do you have tracking? How much time has passed since you paid for your order? What method of shipping did you choose? (delivery windows vary, and your seller should have a chart with estimated delivery times) Best wishes to you in tracking down your Monster. I hope it shows up soon.
  6. M'Kyuun
    Beautiful! Love the racing mods and the deco work. The VF-4 really is a perfect airframe for racing/demonstration.
  7. M'Kyuun
    You guys got my nostalgia going, so I watched a short vid of the Gunstar in action. For the time, the CG was really impressive, but I think a practical model would have stood the test of time better. The scene I watched had them fighting another ship through caves in an asteroid, and the dated CG cave really spoils the realism. The ships look decent, but today's CG has me spoiled and it just looks like old CG to me. It wouldn't bother me if they George Lucas'ed the CG scenes to make them more believable, and put the original scenes on the disc as extras for side by side comparison.
  8. M'Kyuun
    Recently got the Renewal Monster from Bandai. Nice toy. W8kbrder, congrats on completing your M+ collection. The 19 and 11 are perfect, but I'm hoping Arcadia will make a new improved 21 with a more lineart accurate battroid.
  9. M'Kyuun
    All of that was very cool. I'm a believer.
  10. M'Kyuun
    As long as you're landing on the deck in assigned parking with designs to relaunch soon. Fighter makes more sense, esp if you're hangaring; ceilings don't need to be as high, and fighter mode would be more conducive to routine maintenance, servicing, and munitions reloading. And, if you need the space, you can tow the fighter without cranking engines or APUs. I'd hate to be the crew chief of a pilot who always landed in GERWALK. Actually, it'd be a royal pain in the ass for all the maintenance folks, too, since everything would have to be done from stands. Dreadful things would eventually find their way into the bastard's helmet. Sorry to spoil the coolness factor, but I can't help but see the situation from a maintainer's point of view. Edit: I was just looking at my Arcadia 1/60 VF-1S looking for verniers on the legs that might produce the puff-jet exhaust we've been discussing, to no avail. I then consulted the original lineart in the Design Works, and I see no verniers on the naked valk to produce a vertical thrust. The FAST packs have them, however. Am I missing something on the bare valk that's not shown in original art or on the toy?
  11. M'Kyuun
    Is that Optimus Primal handing her her stuff at the window?
  12. M'Kyuun
    She's 56, but has maintained her looks pretty well. And I have to agree that the Gunstar is a cooler ship than the X-Wing.
  13. M'Kyuun
    I thought they were cannons, but if they are missile or rocket launchers, how do they reload in such tight quarters, if at all? If the barrel circumferences in the arms are indicative of the corresponding munition, there wouldn't be much room in the arms to carry much ammo and the reloading mechanism. Just typing out loud.
  14. M'Kyuun
    Interesting observations, Vsim. Sounds like it's not a very stable platform even in normal flight, which would make it much more unstable during landing. And yeah, fast landings often lead to undesirable outcomes, the least of which are overheated brakes, which can end in brake explosion and fire, and subsequent loss of hydraulic pressure. Worst case, of course, is crashing. As for your rapid action actuator to control vectoring, I offer a real world analogy: the B-1 is fitted with Structural Mode Control System (SMCS) vanes on either side of its nose for improved stability. The actuators in that system are capable of 4000 cycles per second. They are also 1970s technology. I've not worked on the 22 or the 35, but I can imagine the servoactuators being employed on these aircraft are likely superior in terms of force, sensitivity, and cyclic speed, and they are 1980s, early 90s tech. It's hard to imagine what the next gen fighter will be capable of, as it will likely approach what we now consider sci-fi. However, I'd say that the tech necessary to make a VF-1 inspired aircraft fly exists, although I'll concede that, for practicality, some design concessions, most notably the pitch controls, would be tweaked. Making it transform is probably another 150 years away. I'd love to be alive to see it, but it's enough to hope that it'll become an inspired reality. Maybe Kawamori's great, great, great, great grandchild will be a robotics engineer, and bring his/her ancestor's drawings to life. Cool to think about.
  15. M'Kyuun
    Welcome to the boards, Valkyrie1981. I was a bubblechaser in my AF days, and worked with alot of good crew dogs over the years. Appreciate your service. As to the VF-1's flight effectiveness, the YF-23 is a good real world indicator that canted stabs and substantial thrust are enough to make a large fighter fly with impressive flight characteristics. As David pointed out, valks would have substantially greater thrust, verniers, variable wing geometry for high and low speed flight, and a bit of thrust vectoring due to the ankle joints. Although its stabs are small with conventional rudders, I've never really looked at the VF-1 thinking it wouldn't fly. OTOH, the whole leg detachment-reattachment dynamic for transitioning from fighter to battroid is more magical than unicorns farting rainbows. If any engineers are reading this thread, it'd be an interesting study to put the VF-1 in a simulator to test its flight characteristics. We've put enough rockets and other flight capable objects in the air, and into space, to know anything can fly with enough thrust behind it. As an argument that even small flight surfaces can be effective, consider the JDAM. To see the tail unit, one wouldn't think it'd steer a 2K lb bullet so effectively, but it became the munition of choice, and changed the way we employ our bombers.
  16. M'Kyuun
    Well, considering the leaps in technology required to make a space shuttle transform into a robot and a walking gun platform, it seems highly impractical to actually require a person to physically reload the cannons. Likewise with the arm cannons, which have no visible feed system, nor apparent ammo storage. Animation magic. All the excitement of infinite ammo without pesky physics bogging down the action.
  17. M'Kyuun
    There's lineart, and it's pretty easy to find if you Google 'Konig Monster'. However, there's no explanation as to how the cannons would have dual functionality beyond pure frikkin' magic. IMO, it was nothing more than an aesthetic design choice to satisfy the GERWALK and shuttle modes with no thought as to how it would function in reality. It's more a case of 'looks cool' than F=MA with regards to Newtonian laws. But, if you really want to examine it with an eye to practicality, then one has to ask: 1. What is the firing mechanism, and what kind of ammo does it use? 2. How does it reload, if it even does after the first volley? 3. Where is extra ammo stored so as to feed into the cannons? 4. If the aft section are engines, how are they buffered so as to be protected from the forces generated from firing the cannons? 5. Why would you put compact engines on the aft side of large cannons to begin with? 6. Would it even be worth the trouble of designing such a system if, by necessity, said engines were so small and compact as to produce negligible thrust? I'm sure there are better questions than these to be asked, but as a practical guy with aircraft maintenance experience and some high school physics, this design is silly, but looks pretty cool on a big sci-fi robot. As for the toy itself, I'm a little disappointed that Bandai didn't design the two small lateral feet to swing aft so that the destroid could stand per the lineart with the engines off the ground, rather than resting its weight on the engine flaps. That's one thing Yamato got right on theirs, and it looks better.
  18. M'Kyuun
    Finally, it came today. The tracking never updated past its arrival at LA on the 4th, so I was starting to become concerned, until the postman knocked on my door this afternoon. Mine came in a pretty interesting slap together box with enough packing tape to last two Christmas'. But I digress. Out of the box, my copy looks to be in excellent shape, with no stress marks to be seen anywhere. It did have a bit of a sheen, so I tamped it with a soft cloth to soak up any residual release agent. So far I only converted it to GERWALK, which was full of clicky joint goodness. The ratchets and die cast were used to good effect in areas where structural integrity and stress is of concern. It's night and day in comparison to the Yamato Monster in terms of joint strength, and ability to hold a pose. Shuttle mode is solid, and I like how they molded the groin flaps to cover the gaping hole under the shoulders to make the shuttle much more streamlined. I wasn't crazy about the nose art, but in hand, my eye is drawn to so many other aspects of the thing that I barely notice it. IMO, Bandai did an amazing job translating this into a rather impressive toy. And like the other Frontier toys, the tampo is copious, and the paint apps well done, at least on mine. Very glad I got it.
  19. M'Kyuun
    I was at Target today; no third wave CW figs at all. It takes a while here, too.
  20. M'Kyuun
    Mine's been in LA since the 4th, with no further updates. I figured on its being delivered today, but who knows. Great service they provide, esp when you paid extra for it.
  21. M'Kyuun
    One of the best sci-fi novels I've read. Watney's narration is the greatest strength of the book, and I assume Damon will be doing voiceover throughout in order to capture the feel of the novel. The trailer doesn't really show much, just let's you know there's a ship and some people are walking on Mars. I hope Ridley captures the essence of the book; I mean it's Castaway on Mars, only with a really smart and really funny castaway. If Ridley can translate the loneliness, isolation, and desperation, along with Watney's singular humor throughout, then I think it'll be good. I have high hopes.
  22. M'Kyuun
    I saw it with my wife last Saturday, and we both enjoyed it. The principals all played their roles brilliantly, the special effects are often so well done as to be un-noticeable as such, the dialog amongst the characters was always poignant and propelled the story. As most sci-fi in the A.I. genre, it's a cautionary tale, but the setup, i.e.sessions, and intimate setting lend a certain tension and credibility. I could see this scenario playing out realistically, although I'll concede that the first true A.I. to pass the Turing test will most likely be designed at one of the premier labs around the world with more than one person's input, and will probably occupy more realestate than Ava's little blue brain. The heavy reliance on dialog and ideas over action may not appeal to everyone, but I like movies of this sort, as they generally leave you thinking 'what if?' I hope to see the emergence of at least a rudimentary A.I. within my lifetime, and hope that said Intelligence is free of sociopathy...just rainbows, happy thoughts, and an undying love of transformable mecha.
  23. M'Kyuun
    Unless Takara produces an official version to rival it, then yeah, demand and prices are going to increase. I'm going to be patient and see. If Takara takes note of the popularity and sales of Apollyon, then that may be the impetus they need.
  24. M'Kyuun
    Perhaps, but I'm more inclined to think that the added $15 isn't as much X-Transbots as BBTS. X-Transbots said they were including the extra repair items at no additional cost, a cool move on their part for keeping faith with their consumers. I think BBTS sees the demand and charges accordingly.
  25. M'Kyuun
    Out of curiosity, I consulted the original lineart, and as Yeti mentioned, it's a single turret with an adjacent targeting lens. I also pulled up a video of Frontier with Canaria transforming from bomber to destroid, and the nose turret is the same. So, your toy is good to go!
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