Jasonc

Just wanted to say Merry Christmas to all my Macross brethren. I was working on this a bit today, and today's update is the leg locking mechanism. For those that have the S.H.E. kit, it's not made nearly as well as this, and is prone to getting loose over time. This redesign fixes the issue, and makes it to where it will hold its position in fighter mode. The first two show the way in which the connector piece is fitted into the slots. The third picture shows the connector piece itself, I added a stopper on the back of it, that will make guiding the pin into the other leg, and a small lid to give it some ease when lifting it up. Anyways. Enjoy, and while I'll be on for the next few days, I probably won't have an update till probably Tuesday. Thanks for viewing.

Well, this maybe where I get my decals out, and rectify what Yamato seems to have blundered on, unless Yamato actually did somehow send a color sample to Graham. From what I'm getting over the posts today, still a possibility. Not holding my breath, but I'll keep hope till people start opening their boxes.

All this pretty much shows that Robotech was just a link in a chain of events that led anime to its popularity. While an important link, it's still just a link in a chain of events. As Keith also mentioned, the anime craze really started to snowball when DBZ, and Sailor Moon made their way out here. The ball really started to roll before Robotech with Star Blazers, Voltron, and anime-like shows such as Transformers. Robotech. If I had to rate it in car driving gears, Robotech brought anime from 3rd to fourth gear, and DBZ kicked it into the highway 5th gear. Robotech deserves some credit, but to claim anymore than that for its importance in the western acceptance of anime is a stretch to me. Nostalgia doesn't gain it anymore credence as well.

Well, that's kinda stupid having no tampo printing. So, if I get this correctly these are getting more expensive, but less detailed? Not good, Yamato, not good.

While I totally understand that it brought quite a few into the world of anime on a personal level, The idea that it spawned this great hunger for anime in the U.S. just isn't true. The amount of anime that was coming to the U.S. was already a realization for many companies, and the movement of people getting bootlegs of some shows was already in the works. While Transformers isn't necessarily anime, it takes a lot of the ideas that were coming from anime, and utilized them to help further the realization that anime as a whole, was a viable venue for children slots. The anime shows were already done animation-wise. All they needed was to come up with a story that would "fit" American audience, dub, and add the sound effects, and to buy licenses for anime titles back then were very inexpensive, as opposed to nowadays. As for giving Robotech credit, it does deserve some credit. It was very supplemental, to getting a lot of people in the voice over industry their position they are in now. It also had a great story, albeit mostly just reworked from the originals, but it made the 3 separate series work together. For many others that I know personally, that strong story helped guide great careers, and like I said, did help keep the momentum of anime shows coming into the U.S.

Which brings up the old debate about whether or not Robotech was simply just a supplement to something already in motion, which is what I think was what was occurring. I don't think for a moment that Robotech started an era of anime in America. If you look at the motion of anime in America prior to Robotech, it already was a ball in motion, and rolling fast. There was Battle of the Planets, then some time, then BAM! Transformers, Voltron, and then Robotech. I think the natural course was an upsurge of anime in America, and while I do acknowledge Robotech had supplemented it, it by no means started it, and caused it. That (again) goes back to a bunch of nostalgic fanboys, less educated "officionados", as well as corporate wannabes trying to paint a fake rosie picture for Robotech's past, that it was the start of this great movement. People can try to debate that, but it simply wasn't the case. If he does, he only mentions her at the brunt end of a joke. Must be sad to only be mentioned in that light. If he doesn't, then I assume he really only means his brother Steve Yun/Yune, which I think he's only mentioned maybe once, and not in public that they are indeed related.

I don't get the CD "single" thing either, but it seems to just be a gimmick to get people to buy the calendar. They should ask Michael Bradley if they could use his new versions of the songs....oh wait, they only screw people over, nevermind.

Well, I guess we can only hope that it's just a color sample. Still, Graham, if you got one already, that's pretty darn nice.

I hope they didn't go back to early 2000s when we had to sticker the toys to look proper. If it is the case that they didn't tampo anything, that's a problem.

2012, Kawamori-san will be a very busy man it seems. Definitely looking forwar to this. I hope there is a preview soon.

I actually have that kit. It's a nice kit, but sadly, it's not the greatest looking kit, and my interest in Southern Cross has waned down to really only wanting a hovertank, and the "space helicopter", of which I doubt we'll ever see. On an update here, I've only managed to create the hinges that connect the lower leg and feet to the mid leg section. They are the two joint pieces in the front of the design. From the look of this, this section would be a great place to reinforce the area with ratchets and springs. Once it's all sized up, I will alter it so that this area will work more like a toy, than a kit.

I'm going to guess those are still test color samples, being that there are no tampo prints on it? In any case, the poses this thing is able to accomplish are fantastic. I look forward to this in about a week and a half.

I don't want this to be just a copy of the S,H.E. kit, so I am going to be looking for places to make the kit more poseable. For the parts I need to redesign, I do plan to use metal for the parts that will benefit from it. Due to the weight of resin, and knowing how these kits get a little loose over time, I plan to look for ratcheted joints, springs, and whatnot, to keep the kit tight. As for your other question, my only experience in plastic tolerances, is my own use of them in scratch builds, and some basic knowledge in grown, or 3D printed material reports online. Aside from that, I do have a degree in Electrical engineering, which came with almost a minor in mechanical engineering. I'm not a guru when it comes to materials and design, but I know what will work, and what won't. I also have the ability for trial and error, and when it's done, it's going to be to my specs, which for a fan project, should be pretty high.

Thanks. I've been trying to hollow out the pieces as much as possible, save for parts that are just thin already. I'm trying to keep a 1mm-1.5mm thickness, as I've found that to be a generous thickness. Once I'm done with the legs, I'm going to order those, and test fit them. That will probably be in about 2-3 weeks time.

A 17S Milia??? That would be pretty cool, but I'm going to keep hoping and praying that the next VF is the VF-4, as I'll be getting 2. Either that, or the VF-2SS.

Hahaha yeah, that was funny, considering I was ten when I first saw it, 9 when I saw Macross. However, I wouldn't even come close to calling that the best time of my life. I guess if you see the majority of the fans, you would believe that statement.

The one thing that is really throwing this release into the confusion, seems to be the fact that, like many have said, we only see prototype pics. It also doesn't help when it's black, and isn't supposed to have very much tampo printing, so the idea of wanting to simply know these things, and not being able to make a lot of assessments is a lot different than before. At least it seems that way. I will trust Renato, and the fact that he says it's pretty solid, should mean well.

What I find funny, is that there are 31 "guests" viewing this topic. Quite odd, if you ask me.

I don't have a problem with people posting about their issues with a product. Heck, if they wanna sound whiny abut something they haven't ever seen in person, or touched, that's on them. Attempting to make assessmnts based on assumptions, misunderstood pictures, and then coming to unfounded conclusions, just shows ignorance, and a lack of foresight. OK, so it looks like there are gaps. Did anyone bother to think it wasn't transformed fully to show some mechanics? Maybe they're showing how something operates? Maybe, the other pics that look like mistransformations, or mid-step transformations are a clue that maybe they're highlightling a feature. If one doesn't like the design, I don't care. That's their opinion. I'd only caution about basing those opinions on design features, or lack thereof, that one hasn't yet seen, or handled yet. If there's an issue after that, then run away with the complaining. And just so that it's known, I'm not ponting this at anyone, nor am I trying to pick at anyone. Just making an observation.

If you could do high res scans, that would be awesome, but as you don't have a scanner, great pics are good, too.

People pushing the panic button well before knowing anything. Besides, I think the correct transformation of the 17 in GERWALK is supposed to have the arms upwards, and the beams pointing out, and would essentially get rid of the midsection gap.

I think HG could make a claim and go to court for it, but at this point, just about any judge would look at the case, look at the history, and dismiss it. If HG let the distribution of II and Plus go for this long, they can't simply say, "hey, you can't do that, we're going to sue over that." They wouldn't be able to get any monies from it, and in the end, if all that came out of it was a C&D, it would only make HG look bad. I don't think HG wants anymore bad publicity, or scrutiny from its fans, and the fans that like both Robotech and Macross. While many in this thread don't give an ounce to Robotech, the moderates who like both may get a little T.O.'ed at that sorta decision. As for the cover of the French DVD, that is one of the stranger covers I've seen. And what the hell is she shooting out of her hand? I wonder if the French just thought the original cover was sh!t, and decided to do something different?

I have thought of that as an option. Since the kit is buit with 4 or 5 sections, I think that would be a good start to it. Set#1, the legs, #2, arms, #3 body, #4 head and detailed stuff. I do have a shapeways account, but I'd probably have people order from me directly, as I think I'm going to recast these in color. Minimal painting would be the most ideal for a kit of this size, plus there's also a lot of hardware. Yeah, I totally understand. Like I said, I'm not expecting very many to want the VA-3. I love it, simply because it's got a vintage look to it, and it's just very different from the very "spacy/ultra sci-fi" looking stuff that Macross valks are evolving into. This could be the one in my collection that when unknowing people walk into the display room, they ask what it is, just based on the shape. Out of all the valkyries, this one looks like an undersea fighter, and those are some of the reasons why I'm doing this. Of course, if Yamato made one, I wouldn't have the need to do this. Thanks for the vote of confidence. There's still some things I'm trying to learn on this program. The parts I've done so far aren't too complex, but that's not to say that it only gets easier from here. Along with the design, I've got to think about materials. I may have some of these materials made in a diecast sort of way, for durabilty of high moving areas, and for a little more realism. There's so much to think about in this project, but I'm having fun doing it, so I can't complain. I'd love to see the finished 1/48 Inbit you're doing. I've been wanting to see that for sometime. I hope you do get it done. That'll probably keep me going as well. It's amazing the talents people have here. I feel like the noob just learning how to color inside the lines sometimes.

Man, sorry I didn't see this earlier. The site is supposed to inform me on when I get posts on this thread. To answer your question, the first one I did was scratchbuild with styrene. The other ones will be done with 3D print. Not really much to update on. I finished the legs, but did not like the way the tail fins are positioned. I'm probably going to recast some of the VT-1 or VE-1 fins, and use those, as they are shorter, and should work much better. As for the nose, I want to clean it up, but just trying to find a good way to do it. The mechanism works great, but it's got a bit of weight on the front, so if I can fix those two main issues, this should be done. Oh, and the head. I have to finish up the head. It's really close before I paint it.

Thanks! I'll be keeping up with it here, as well as screen shots of the work. I'm hoping I get two pieces done tomorrow, which really equates to 4. I'm basically building the model, but on a screen, so as the pics come along, people here can see, and let me know if something needs to be fixed. Thank you. As stated, I hope to have some pics, or at least one pic up at least every other day. It maybe a stretch, but doable.