Jump to content

sketchley

Members
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    7387

  • Joined

  • Last visited

 Content Type 

Everything posted by sketchley

  1. sketchley
    "FC"... I also don't like it, as FCS usually refers to "Fire Control System". The image source is the Variable Fighter's Aero Report article in This is Animation: Macross Plus. Alas, that's what it is labelled as in Japanese (with no description of what "FC" stands for). For better or for worse, there are known typos in that article, so I suggest taking it with a grain of salt. ECM antenna/aerial makes much more sense, all things considered.
  2. sketchley
    My first thought upon seeing the brick shape was "roof ridge". So, architectural/building sets? Edit: apparently the technical name for what I'm referring to is "roof hip". 🤷‍♂️
  3. sketchley
    If memory serves, that's the main route of contamination. The general advice about those bricks is that they should be OK "for normal use". However, if those vintage bricks are breaking and crumbling into little pieces, they should be disposed of.
  4. sketchley
    Here's a rather in depth article on it: https://tamararubin.com/2019/05/vintage-1970s-legos-test-positive-for-a-high-level-of-a-known-carcinogen-how-can-i-tell-if-my-legos-are-safe/ Short form: vintage bricks from the '70's and (early) '80's contain the carcinogen cadmium (among other toxins) more prevalent in certain colours (red, black, and yellow) there are ways to ascertain if you have a 'modern' brick or a 'vintage' brick (refer to article for details)
  5. sketchley
    I've heard something from the Lego group about older bricks being "toxic" compared to the newer ones. I don't know when the Lego group changed their plastic recipe, but it is something to keep in mind depending on whether or not you intend to give the Lego to kids.
  6. sketchley
    For me, backpack is something one wears on the back, irrespective of the age. E.g.: Soldiers wear backpacks. Rover scouts where backpacks when they go hiking. And so on and so forth. As for jetpack, what does Boba Fett have? Of course, rocket pack should be perfectly acceptable, as it is a literal description (according to the official setting, there are 3 liquid rocket boosters in there). The alternative is you can adopt some kind of code. E.g.: BP-shell (= Backpack-shell), BP-nozzle plate, BP-nozzle
  7. sketchley
    What about: backpack cover backpack shell The only thing I'd be concerned with, in using the shorter 'cover' or 'shell' is that it is not immediately obvious where it goes for the common user.
  8. sketchley
    The snarky side of me wants to say that it went under the table to cover Discovery's production costs. However, if they're doing a lot of location shooting, that's probably where it went. Not just logistics and hotel fees, but renting the facilities. One wonders if they forgot to do a "Blue Harvest" and got fleeced...
  9. sketchley
    Writing's not easy. There's the J.K. Rawlings approach of writing the last chapter first, and then mapping things out to the start of the story. Or there's the Steven King approach of setting events in motion and letting the writing dictate where the story ends up. Speaking of King, have you read any of his advice on writing? The one that's on my mind the most right now is: the second draft is the first draft -10%. As for kicking up the writing mojo, try Pixar's 22 Rules of Storytelling: https://www.aerogrammestudio.com/2013/03/07/pixars-22-rules-of-storytelling/ For fun, see how many movies come to mind for each 'rule'.
  10. sketchley
    This is in no way official, but someone once created the following estimates for a captured Factory Satellite (while it can be considered to be in top condition, it *may* be also producing at a slower rate due to all the health & safety requirements that humans tend to add to workplaces). Small Starship (E.g. Bolognese Stealth Frigate) 2 months 3,000 per year Large Starship (E.g. Uraga Escort Carrier) 6 months 1000 per year Transformable Starship (E.g. New Macross Battle Carrier) 12 months 500 per year Emigrant Vessel (E.g. New Macross City Ship) 24 months 100 per year Again, it's not official, but it gives a ballpark idea of the production time for a single ship (not just producing the shell, but also all the outfitting), as well as the mind-boggling quantity a single satellite can pump out.
  11. sketchley
    In Japan, there are quite a few people who use 0.3 mm mechanical pencils for panel lining. Maybe a similar sized art pen might work? If you don't have either, what about trying with a regular (0.5 mm) mechanical pencil? Worse comes to worse, you can erase it.
  12. sketchley
    That's correct, but only for Tokyo (24 hours ago. Tonight it's 11,562). 24 hours ago, Japan saw 65,671 new cases* (tonight it's 72,165**). https://www.yomiuri.co.jp/topics/covid19/ * https://www.yomiuri.co.jp/national/20220225-OYT1T50247/ ** https://www.yomiuri.co.jp/national/20220226-OYT1T50162/
  13. sketchley
    as of 02/22 (c/o 読売新聞): 80.2% 1 dose 79.0% 2 doses 14.4% 3 doses
  14. sketchley
    Going by John Hopkin's coronavirus map: in the last 28 days, Japan has moved up to #9 worst, and Canada has improved to #43. https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html Another way to visualize it (c/o BBC news):
  15. sketchley
    Erm... I see a lot of conflation going on in your post. Totalitarian is fundamentally different from communism. Communism is distinctly different from Fascism as well, and it's quite shocking to see them being treated as one and the same. In short, there's a reason why communism survived WWII, and Fascism did not—which may have something to do with the former being a political economy, and the latter being a system of government. As for Capitalism vs Communism... some have said that Capitalism is electoral freedom, but job slavery. Communism is the polar opposite: job freedom, electoral slavery. There are advantages and disadvantages to each system. I could very well make the case that a job-slavery capitalist society forces citizens (= workers) to give up their individual identity in order to keep their jobs. As for greed... that's the main reason why communist, guided-democracies, and capitalist systems get so much bad press. It's not Adam Smith's or Karl Marx's fault that greedy people misuse and abuse their ideas for their own personal gain.
  16. sketchley
    Something like this, right?
  17. sketchley
    Agreed. Either there's magic involved or those "horns" aren't actually horns, but something like giant dry mushrooms. I like that they're attempting to further embellish the Rings' world and that they're attempting to do it with practical effects, but after seeing that one picture... I can't say I like the artistic direction that they're taking.
  18. sketchley
    ? We weren't talking about any other articles. We were only talking about that page.
  19. sketchley
    It's not indicated (or annotated) anywhere on the link provided* for the Macross Mecha Manual that the source(s) are anything but Macross Chronicle, you know. * originally posted by Marvf1 in this topic: https://www.macrossworld.com/mwf/topic/45063-super-macross-mecha-fun-time-discussion-thread/?do=findComment&comment=1612051
  20. sketchley
    Thanks for clarifying where those numbers come from. As suspected, it's another example of confusion caused by poor writing, and why it's always good form to note one's source(s).
  21. sketchley
    To stave off confusion, I'm going to refer to Macross Chronicle by publisher: We've (original), and Deagostini (revised). VF-19F We've: 78,500 kg (max instantaneous thrust in space) x2 Deagostini: 78,500 kg (max instantaneous thrust in space) x2 VF-19S We've: 68,950 kg x2 Deagostini: 68,950 kg x2 We've: #27 Pg 02, #41 Pg 06; Deagostini: #D27 Pg 02, #D39 Pg 06 Going back to Mr. March's site here http://www.macross2.net/m3/macrosstechman/tech-vf19engines.html , the numbers don't match for neither the "OLD" VF-19F and VF-19S, nor the "NEW" VF-19F (only the "NEW" VF-19S matches). So, while you can argue that I was misreading the numbers on the Macross Compendium vs. both versions of Macross Chronicle (which I wasn't comparing), I was not misreading the numbers on Macross Compendium vs. Macross Mecha Manual's misleading information on the two versions of Macross Chronicle ("OLD" and "NEW"—the link is in the preceding paragraph).
  22. sketchley
    ? You'll have to explain that. The old Macross Compendium states: "Two 72500 kg [x g] class (maximum output in outer space) Shinnakasu Industry/P&W/Roice FF-2500F thermonuclear turbine engines in VF-19F. Two 78950 [68500] kg [x g] class (maximum output in outer space) Shinsei Industry/P&W/Roice FF-2550J in VF-19S."* As indicated in Mr. March's opinion piece, Macross Chronicle (revised edition?) went with the lower number for the VF-19S when Macross Chronicle (original?) used the higher number. Both versions use information that was available on the Macross Compendium years (a decade?) earlier. I don't see a change. * https://macross.anime.net/mecha/united_nations/variable/vf19/index.html I feel like I've been here done this, as I've had a similar discussion about this on a Macross RPG forum around 15–20 years ago... long before Macross Chronicle was published. The only conclusion we had was that Macross Compendium was badly phrased, and the 2 numbers given for the VF-19S are for space and atmospheric use. Ergo: engines more efficient in one regime, and less efficient in the other. As an aside: Mr. March mentions the top speed. However, that Mach 5 barrier has long been established as a materials-heat resistance barrier (due to friction at high speeds), and not entirely related to an engine's max output.
  23. sketchley
    I can't comment on the Macross Mecha Manual or the opinion in their technical articles. Nevertheless, the nice thing about the Macross Compendium, is that the old (pre-Wiki) version is still available: https://macross.anime.net/mecha/united_nations/variable/vf19/index.html That page has the same engine output numbers, and was apparently last updated "2006 October 17". What the original source is for the Macross 7 VF-19 Valkyries' engine data is, I can't say. The site gives a "partial list" of references here: https://macross.anime.net/endnotes/index.html , however among the books I have that are on that list, it's not in any of them—and that's all the M7/M+ books! Perhaps it was from one of the model kits released around the time M7 was being broadcast? The only thing that's clear is that the publishers of Macross Chronicle didn't change what had been previously published.
  24. sketchley
    Yes it would be fair to say that. Long story short: air intakes (the compressor stages) are less important in space, and the engines would take on more rocket-like aspects (larger fuel/gas inlets as they can't rely on an atmosphere for the gas that gets heated and shot out the rear end). There'd likely be a greater emphasis on cooling, as well. This is reflected in the engine output for the VF-19F and VF-19S. Even though they are "all-regime" fighters, the VF-19F is more optimized for space. And this is despite having essentially the exact same engines! I don't think it would have an impact on the choke (aka 'pinch') point just inside the nozzle. On the other hand, the angle that the nozzle opens would have to change to be optimize for atmospheric or space operations. However, as that's a standard feature in those nozzle (able to open wider or squeeze shut), there shouldn't be any drastic shape changes. That said, this is where the fantasy of Valkyries slams head first into reality. All the nozzles that we have seen are, frankly, extremely inefficient in space. Truly space optimized Valkyries ought to have bell-shaped nozzles like the ones on the back of the Space Shuttle. Long story short, have a look at the SpaceX Raptor engines on their Starship rocket. These are the exact same engines. The difference is one has a nozzle optimized for sea-level flight, the other nozzle is optimized for outer space. Note that the bell curve angle (especially around the top) greatly differs.
  25. sketchley
    I was looking through the Variable Fighter Master File books, and if they are considered a trusted source (they self describe themselves as not being part of the official setting), then there is a different mechanism being used inside the nozzle of the VF-25 and VF-31. Specifically: the thrust redirection plates (what "pinch" the flow to increase speed) are separate from the nozzle (foot) assembly itself. So, going back to Aurance's post with the side-diagrams, the Valkyries should be lumped into 2 categories: non-"pinched" nozzles (VF-1) "pinched" nozzles (VF-4, 11, 19, 25, 31) Of the latter, it appears there are 2 versions: foot assembly doubles as "pinching" mechanism (VF-11, 19 style) foot assembly and "pinching mechanism" are separate (VF-25, 31 style) It probably doesn't help that Kawamori-san designed the VF-25 as an homage to the VF-1. 🤷‍♂️
×
×
  • Create New...