mechaninac

After heaping some criticism on this latest interpretation of the venerable VF-1, I ran across a good deal on eBay and just couldn't pass up on it. I'm now the owner of a 1/100 VF-1S Roy. While I won't refute all my previous criticism, except the one about the canopy, although the translucent one with zero detail under it is not that much of an improvement, I will say that I am pleasantly surprised with what Toynami has produced. The toy looks great in Battroid and GERWALK modes, and passable in fighter configuration, and the largish shoulders and stylized 1S head look far better in person than they do in pictures... not perfect, but definitely not as garish. Now the particulars: The Good: 1. Incredible posability for a transformable toy of this size. 2. Inclusion of the openable knee caps. 3. Excellent hand sculpts. For their size they are on par with the ones included with the 1/48 GBP-1S. 4. Most accurate feet exhaust nozzles of any VF-1 toy I've ever seen. 5. I like the use of polycaps. 6. Proportions are very good overall. Yes the shoulders are big, but not as big as they appear in pictures. Forearms are beefy (they look great in GERWALK and Battroid modes). VF-1S head is a bit elongated but, again, not as much of a visual sore spot as pictures would lead you to believe. The Odd: 1. The raised skull on the heat shield is just plain goofy; it looks fine head on but crappy from all other angles. 2. Paint application, while not horrible, could be better. Most paint edges fall short of engraved detail they should abut. This can be easily remedied with some gloss black paint and a steady hand. Speaking of paint; if you take the time to paint the engraved square on the back of the hands yellow, and the hand joints a very dark grey, the hands will look awesome. 3. Frosted canopy. The Bad: 1. Floppy back pack in fighter mode. 2. No locking function to securely attach the intakes to the fuselage underside in fighter and GERWALK modes. The only thing holding them in place is the available friction on the swing bar, and that is not adequate for anything other than static display. 3. Proportions (I know it's a positive, but it's also a negative). The legs are a bit skinny in depth (height in fighter mode) and cause the fighter to look awkward with too much exposed back pack. The upcoming Fast/Strike packs should ameliorate this shortcoming nicely. 4. Complete lack of a cockpit; although you wouldn't be able to see much of anything with the frosted canopy. 5. Haven't tried the stand yet, but from all reports, the socket sucks. As I've mentioned before, a bit of paint here and there will make this toy really stand out. A little chrome silver for the wing lights and landing gear pistons, gloss black to touch up the factory paint apps, yellow for the back of the hand, dark grey for the hand joints, red for the missile tips (yellow for DYRL...?), and some panel lining.

Cloaking device in the works...life imitates Star Trek. http://www.latimes.com/news/science/la-sci...-home-headlines

The way I look at it, the perception of time, and it's relativistic time dilation effects in the Macross universe's version of space fold is entirely distance and energy dependent. Like Keith posited, the distance a ship can fold is related to the amount of energy a space fold generator can muster and/or handle. Unlike Keith, I think that there is only one type of fold, but it's effects on the passage of time within the fold relative to the rest of the universe is dependent upon the distance being traversed in a somewhat exponential relationship: the longer the distance the greater the relativistic time dilation. Therefore, the SDF-1's impromptu fold to Pluto's orbit would seem instantaneous to those on-board, and anyone observing from Earth; but the fold to Bodolza's headquarters would have taken days or weeks within the folding ship, and several weeks or months to an Earth bound observer. In a way, fold in Macross seems to be somewhat akin to near light speed travel in real space, in that the faster you go the more time slows down to the traveler; but in Macross, distance, and not speed, is the factor. My two cents on the subject. Man, did I just geek out that much??? Well, at least it's out of my system for a while.

Like you said, modern fighter aircraft are designed to be inherently unstable to improve maneuverability. However, internal weapons stores on fighters have far more to do with stealth considerations than aerodynamics. Sleek is important, but sleek in the right places to maximize lift, minimize drag, and optimize control surface efficiency is paramount: Yukikase aircraft may be sleek, but they are drag hogs with no aerodynamic merit, and if able to fly would do so only through brute force. The same can be extrapolated to all the VFs. The VF-0 series, having been penned 1/4 century after the VF-1, naturally looks more streamlined, even more sophisticated, than the VF-1... that's only natural. Within the continuity, the VF-0 is, maybe, more primitive as a narrative device; hence the fuel burning engines (I know it was to have prototypes of the thermonuclear power plants installed), inability to operate in space (assumedly), larger size, etc. Another way to look at the relationship between the VF-0 and VF-1 is to take the Gundam universe as an example: The VF-0 is akin, after a fashion, to the RX series mobile suits and the VF-1s are the RGMs. The VF-0 was more complex and slightly more sophisticated precisely because it was a test bed for the VF-1, and included features that would not find their way into future VFs until they matured and/or became easy to manufacture.

It does look like those two pilots fudged their pants. That must've been some bad chili they were serving in the SDF-1's cafeteria.

I don't know... getting grown men to buy most, sometimes all, and even multiples of everything they make associated with the Macross license counts as a major win in my book. Don't get me wrong, I think their stuff is great, leagues beyond anyone else, but I do reserve the right to point out something that I think is boneheaded.

Since the missiles are PVC (or similar), and the struts and tow bar are ABS, there is no way they share a common mold; therefore, they could have completely different colors if Yamato so chose. However, pigment sourcing for their raw materials supplier may be a factor. @Dante74: I must have missed that particular post. See what a difference, and improvement, the "white" missiles make to the overall look of the plane? Yamato, your grey missiles are poo!

If there is a problem with the gummy pilots reacting and/or adhering to the paint in the seats, the easiest solution would be to just put a small piece of translucent scotch tape on the pilot's ass to isolate it from the painted surface. That will prevent the two trouble surfaces from contacting each other and the low tackiness of the tape won't harm the pilot, and it's plastic side should be completely non-reactive with the paint on the seat.

After reading all the comments and ogling all the posted pictures I must admit that the VF-0A is indeed an improvement over the VF-0S, although my 0S is near flawless to begin too (major gripe are the too easily collapsible feet... most of the other minor looseness is easily fixed/ignored). However, I do have one nit to pick with it: Why are the missiles molded in grey PVC?... they should be, at the very least, off-white like the ones for the 0S; just like the VF-1A LE LV, while the pylons are fine, the missiles are unworthy of being displayed with the plane and should remain inside the box.

I have no idea what you mean... WHAM! This SDF-1 is like a bolt out of the blue, isn't it? It is a bit pricey, but it looks so good that if it is confirmed that it is fully transformable, and pre-painted with minor assembly, I'm very tempted to pre-order one. Does anyone know if HLJ will be carrying this thing... the 5% early bird discount will make the deal a little sweeter.

Mom taught me that if I couldn't say something nice, I shouldn't say anything at all. However.... daiuhm! That's one fugly Mech!

Everytime you think that they've reached the bottom of the barrel, Hollywood prooves that if you lift the barrel...

Why wait?... Looky HERE Too rich for my blood, but if you want CA's masterpiece now....

We have a winner!... The next movie should be about, and called, Zombie Snakes on a Plane.

Your best bet for getting your hands on a 1/72 Regult, or a Glaug for that matter, is eBay. However, they command a sizable sum when they show up... around $90.00 before shipping. Or, you could get lucky and grab one of the iron series models (not the Glaug); they are the exact same kit, decals and all, shot in a dark metallic color, and include a display base. I got one a couple of month ago for $39.00, shipped. As previously mentioned, I would not hold my breath for Bandai to re-issue any of the rare stuff any time soon, if at all. So old plastic kits and resin recasts on eBay, and/or making a request in the wanted thread, are about it.

What's so special about a plane full of zombies that it would warrant a movie?... Have you been in a flight lately? From the TSA screeners to the flight attendants, they are all mindless undead.

Now, that does sound like the Graham we all know and despise... err -- admire.

Net nannies suck, don't they? Here is the last picture, and the one relevant to my last post.

And a VF-11. And a VF-4, and a VF-17, and a VF-5000, and a VF-2SS, and, and, and....

keg armors? ...you must be wishing for a tall, cold, glass of beer, aren't you? The conformal leg armors seem to be the same color and tone used on the 0S to me; the minor difference can be attributed to the interaction of light and shadow, and the way the camera balances them out. I think it's safe to assume that when the Ghost pack is released it will be visually compatible with both VF-0s.

I didn't much care for A Thin Red Line myself. I found it tedious to watch... good thing I did so on DVD; it was far too long for it's sparse plot. In the end, I think I fall under the category of people who went in thinking they'd get Sands of Iwo Jima, but instead got the last two episodes of Evangelion.

Unfortunately de-saturated colors indeed seems to have become the convention for depicting WWII. You can thank, or blame, Steven Spielberg and his Saving Private Ryan for that, BoB's look, and Enemy at the Gates ' for that matter, was inspired by SPR; and it does tend to imbue the pieces with a vintage "news reel" quality to them. BTAIM, since I'm a sucker for war flicks, I'm sure to check it out.

Okay... how about a hinged, yet still removable, nose cone so that the VF-1 can be displayed with it swung open for radar maintenance access? Also, piston(s) for the chest plate air brake.

The only things I've done that could be loosely referred to as modifications to any of my 1/48s are drilling the head lasers to simulate the bore of the barrels with a little black paint added also, and to sand down and buff the seam lines on the air intakes/thighs to make them look less toy-like... with the parting lines removed those pieces look a lot better.

I haven't seen it yet, but the one thing that bugs me with the trailers is the overabundance of Fokker Tri-planes. That particular plane was never that common, specially during the time of the Lafayette Escadrille, before America officially entered the war. Other than that apparent anachronism and the wiz-bang action sequences implied by the trailer, it does look like a fairly cool movie, and better than almost anything else currently showing.