Zinjo

The 171 looks more like a mass production model of a proven design to me. Several of the standard equipment on the VF-17 was removed possibly to make it more affordable and faster to build. That isn't to say the VF-17 still isn't in service, just not on a massive scale. The new cap ships are an interesting departure from previous ships. The inclusion of battleships in the fleet is new. I tend to believe the Uraga's are a "properly" proportioned version of the Miyataki design. As for the ARMD carriers, I suspect the "maw" is the recovery hanger bay, not so much a launch bay.

I didn't care for the poor seam fit on the nose (compared to the Doyusha), but the Minmay Guard has sold me! Now I have to grab Series 1!

OK, I admit it, I missed the reference...

OK, you win.... Let's move on to something else before this digresses any further....

Graham, Any eta on the new Yammie 1/60 Battroid line?

Is there a link? I find it hard to beleive that HG could stop Revoltech, a Japanese company licensed by BigWest from stopping production on any Macross line. They tried to stop the Yammies way back when but were b*tch slapped by the courts who ruled that they can't stop any "imported items" from being sold in the US. The only reason Revoltech would stop production would be for soft sales reasons.

You are under the mistaken assumption that I am trying to "win" something... I am pointing out what common production procedures are. Whether you choose to accept them is entirely your perogative.

Dude, I love it when you do that! Thanks!

Love it! Finally someone cleaned up the cartoon and colored it! The only thing I'd suggest is to boost the contrast so the black looks black. not charcoal. Do it on the line art layer so it doesn't affect the colored layers. Very nice!

No he isn't, but neither are you... OK this isn't a hollywood movie, it's a weekly TV show and in Japan the director's reputation is hinged on the final product. Likely, much like Lucas, he has the CG animators get his "approval" of their work "before" spending time and money on actually animating anything. It's just good business sense. Granted the detail work went on the hero models, but the others would have been approved before hand including how much detail would be required on them. What has meaning to you is irrelevant to this discussion. Those who've done the homework will understand what I am saying. The fact remains the "producers" consider all canon stories including sanctioned games to be part of the universe, whether you want SK to "STFU" or not. That includes all the vehicles previously designed and all the cg models built for the Frontier, whether they be updated versions of old designs or if previous animated designs were out of proportion. The story events and elements are also taken into account, regardless of what some fans choose to include for themselves. I don't appreciate many elements of where Macross has gone, however, this is the producers' vision not mine.

Doubtful, since SK is Supervising Director, thus has final say in all the animation, including mecha and character designs. He may have always intended these carriers to look larger than they were presented in M7. In M+, the Maizuru appeared considerably larger in the floor window of the scene when Dyson was getting re-assigned in the Captain's office. IMO all the scales of the capital ships in M7 were often skewed when animated and appeared smaller than what they should have. One could argue that the ships in the Frontier fleet are the Uraga II and Maizuru II classes. Same design only larger. The basic layout design of a modern aircraft carrier really hasn't changed much since WWII, however they've become considerably larger than before.

No, actually the bridge is the same, but the flight deck looks like it's been extended, even with the odd angle in the line art. In the line art the bridge is quite large in comparison to the rest of the ship. It is possible that the Frontier Uraga is showing the "proper" scale of the carrier compared to Mac 7's animation.

My money is on a DYRL Kakizaki or a VF-11! Both had fast packs and I read on YHJ in a seller's description an allusion to 7, so we'll see. If they stick with the Valks only then there is still the DYRL VF-1S Max and the TV VF-1A Max as well... It's in their best interest to start to introduce newer series' fighters since that will extend the number of series to produce. It worked for CMS!

Maybe, but that would be large a$$ed destroids! The idea of space propelled destroids has been stablished in SDFM tho (granted we never saw how well they operated flying in space...).

Then I stand corrected. I always believed they were in the legs like the Nos. That's why I suggested earlier on that there may be some truth to Keith's speculations that the space whales from Dynamite were created by the PC. The Hammerheads appear to "swim" through space as opposed to being propelled by some sort of an engine exhaust.

LOL! Can you tell Bandai is the sponsor for Macross Frontier?!!!

That's why I've mostly forgiven Kawamori for Mac 7, since I suspect HIS vision of the story and what ultimately appeared on screen were not exactly the same.. This is clear when you compare all the works he has directed himself to that series. He is more internationally influenced as opposed to domestically influenced.

When is the Wonder Festival? Well the festival is a showcase for all the new toys / kits in development, so no doubt Bandai will have some prototypes to display for Frontier... Hmm, I wonder if CMS is on board with trading figures for the new series?

I noticed that too about the capital ships.

I am in love with the VF-171's. The Battroid still works for me, however I'd suspect that the gunpod is carried underneath the fuselage as it traditionally is on variable fighters. Makes me wonder what kind of threat would justify breaking out such large artillery as the VB-6 Konig? The Q-Rau's appear to be designed for Microns considering how thin the legs are and the fact that Meltran warriors wore the mecha like a suit... We'll have to see I guess. If not then we have the potential here to have a larger conflict with either a Zentreadi fleet coming in to assist or even the Galaxy fleet. I am hoping this will be a roller coaster of a series to watch! BTW, thanks again Graham for the pics!

Well the Valks are the star mecha of the franchise, so doing side stories about destroids would garner comparisons to Gundam and most other giant robot anime... Not that it couldn't be done, but it would need to find a way to stand out from the crowd, which would not be easy these days... Macross destroids helped to inspire real robot mecha shows like VOTOMs and Gasaraki, etc... so that niche has already been adequately filled. The Koenig Monster, and Octos are transforming destroids, thus making them unique mecha to the Macross universe. Logically, as the variable fighter becomes faster and more efficient in battroid form, so too would any destroid units. Essentially they'd be able to "borrow" from the technology for development purposes. That being said, I am doubtful we'll see any new destroids, since the trend is toward colony fleet stories and not the military (where destroids would most likely be used). Since Mac 7 & Mac Frontier have established that destroids are not employed in civil defense aboard colony vessels there will not be any new destroids designed for subsequent series' featuring colony fleets.

$889.00 US!! This guy has an inflated idea of the game's worth.... $100.00 is probably more reasonable....

Need Scans, STAT!!

SK is a good director, however with his current penchant for preaching, it may be best to limit him to work within the confines of the original voice track. So as to maintain the original story as much as possible. IMO, that is the only way to update SDFM and be able to retain it's original potency... To allow a revisionist story would open the likelyhood that the show would loose what made it special in the first place. It's like the redesigned Thunderbird. It looks good to those who wanted an update and new fans of the car, but it lacks the beauty of the original lines of the 60's models. The designers didn't respect what made it an icon before and thus the car only saw limited sales and wasn't as well recieved by the target market as expected. The new Bug however, was able to capture design and update the original VW Bug and it still sells well, even today...

That shot is the one where Ozuma and Gilliam fly into the fray. Ozuma had the armored VF-25, while Gilliam only had FAST packs. I suspect you are reading too much into the image.