mechaninac

To achieve the kind of resolution necessary for viewing an exoplanet within, say, 100 LYs from us, and be able to distinguish geographic features smaller than large continents, let alone things as small as cities, in the visual spectrum would require a telescope with the effective light gathering capability of a mirror larger than the size of Earth's orbit. That doesn't even take into account the fact that the glow of the parent star just about completely obscures the reflected light given off by its planets; all exoplanets discovered thus far have been indirectly detected by either the wobble they cause the primary due to gravitational influence or by the very minute dimming of the primary's light when the planet passes in front of the star, if the orbital plane happens to be aligned with our line of sight; to my knowledge, there has been no direct observation of a exoplanet in the visual spectrum, but I seem to recall that some hot Jupiters have been "imaged" through infra-red astronomy... enough to visualize hot and really hot hemispheres. Ultimately, any determination of an exoplanet's viability for harboring life, of the terrestrial variety anyway, not it's actual existence, will need to be made by inference of it's distance from its sun, its mass and density, and spectrographical analysis once interferometers with enough power can directly image a world to see what gasses are present.

Just about the same for me. N-Y's shipping confirmation email was sent out on 12-24 and I received my Isamu 29 on 1-10. Gotta give'em props; they did an excellent packaging job... they've definitely been improving. Also happy to report that my copy seems to be flawless.

The nuke do. And the cockroaches... don't forget the roaches. Then Death reaches across the table, touches/kills his date in disgust, and asks for the check...

About the ignored logic of Cowboy Bebop, disregarding the fact that the show is sci-fy and no worse than anything else in the genre: Self-contained cartriges do work in space (vaccum). The combustion of the charge does not depend on external oxygen; see here Inhaling, exhaling in space. This is something most sci-fy gets wrong. SG1 got it right: you first inhale to pack your lungs and over-oxygenate your blood, then you exhale all the air out so that your lungs don't pop. A terrestrial lobster wouldn't but the lobster in episode 11 was not a lobster, it was a Ganymede Rock Lobster. This organizim's metamorphosis is perfectly consistent with sci-fy tropes. Hacking into secured systems with handheld/junk would depend on the quality of the so-called "junk", and one has to take into account the technology portrayed in the show and the time in which it was created; given that, I don't really see any incongruities. Not all portions of the Earth were damaged to the same extent; it was all rather random. Methinks you're just fishing for things to dislike. Some of your criticisms are valid, others... not so much. Agreed. While not good, it was far more enjoyable than the train wreck that was the first.

No definitive official word as far as I know; I woudn't count on it.

Insert off color, Persian targeted, joke here: _______________...

From my point of view, based on the above side view comparison, the old Yamato version outshines the new Arcadia one in a few areas: The canopy treatment - I'd rather have it clear than the too-dark blue tint they've got going now, but since we're still dealing with a prototype that may change by release time... hoping that's the case, anyway. The overall shape of the leg intakes, not just the lip, looks better/sleeker on the older toy. The relative height of the stabilizer tails on the Yamato makes it look more prominent and a bit nicer. The lack of the black gap between the legs and knees on the original 19 make that section look more integrated. In every other aspect, however, the Arcadia version is leaps and bounds superior to the Yamato one, which looks fat and arch-backed by comparisson... and that gullet was, is, and forever shall be an eyesore.

Watched it and my first impression is that I want my half hour back. They went for zany, but only accomplished stupid; not Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo bad, few things in this world are, but up there in the I-feel-soiled-for-watching-this scale.

Ha! The infliction of blunt force trauma... the cornerstone of every successful marriage.

Excellent step by step breakdown of how to take these babies apart; it's much appreciated.

Well, that's kind of weird, but I stand corrected; I was positive they'd be molded in color. This does make it very easy for those who plan on changing the fold crystal color to whatever suits them, so I'm definitely glad for that. Personally I'm fine with them in blue.

That's awesome and cute at the same time, and an excellent 3D modeling redition on the artwork... and it's just begging to be uploaded to shapeways.

Anywhere It wants...

Ouch!

In the sense that all VF-19s from Yamato use different parts from, say, the VF-17, of course they had their own molds and production windows at the factory, but that is the case with all the different VF model numbers (not their letter sub-designations). If you look at all VF-19 Yamato produced (Kai, S, F, and P), every single one is gloss because they all share the exact same molds with mirror finished inner cavities, save for extra tooling (or tooling inserts depending on how the molds were originally engineered) used for different shoulder pauldrons, heads, wings, etc. Due to the fact Yamato decided to go with a gloss finish for the Fire Valkyrie, they pigeonholed themselves into producing an all gloss VF-19 lineup; the only way they could have made everything after Basara's unit into matte finished toys would have been to make all new molds with etched cavities, or rework the existing ones to accomplish the same goal (this rout, while less expensive, would have precluded them, had they survived as a company producing Macross toys, from ever pumping out reissues of the Kai with a gloss finish. Note that the upcoming YF-19, from all indications, will have a matte finish. It is also, logically, a completely new toy with all new tolling that will share nothing/almost nothing (maybe Arcadia will be able to reuse the landing gears, but I doubt it) with the current crop of VF-19s. In the future, if Arcadia were to release a VFX2 VF-19A, it too would be matte as it is the same as the YF-19, and because the other 19s come from different tools it's feasible that a Kai reissue* could come out at the same time. * I'm not saying that any such reissue is forthcoming, I'm just illustrating a point: there are molds to produce the current 19s and a new set of tools meant for the production of the YF-19 and VF-19A. Exactly. Other than the old YF-19s, there are no current ones with a matte finish; all Yamato VF-19s on the market are gloss (thanks a bunch Basara! ). The only VF-19s with matte finish anyone will ever encounter are those that have had a flat overcoat applied by one of our bold customizers. I've tried explaining this in the past, but here it goes again: There is no such thing as gloss plastic or matte plastic, regardless of the type of plastic; surface finish of the molded part is all in the treatment given to cavities (the spaces into which the plastic is injected) of the injection tooling molds.

I can play the non-tranforming, non-Destroid, non-Zentradi, wishing game too. How about, in 1/60 of course, a F-203 Dragon II, a MiM-31 Karyovin, an ES-11D Cat's Eye, and a SC-27 Star Goose?

We're getting Pinky, so... when are we going to get The Brain (Gamo or Gosu)?

If you're asking what the difference is between Bandai's semi-gloss/gloss Frontier DXs and everything 1/60 from Yamato/Arcadia (excluding the super-gloss VF-19s), the answer is: The mold surfaces of the injection mold tooling; the particular grade/quality/type of ABS used, or any other plastic for that matter, is irrelevant. In order for any manufacturer to give you a choice of purchasing either a matte or a gloss version of the same product, ex.: a VF-1, would require the toy maker to invest in two separate sets of tooling for the same toy; one set, with mirror polished internal cavities, if used, would produce glossy parts for a glossy toy, and the duplicate set of molds, with etched cavities, would generate matte parts for a matte toy. Everything would have to be doubled: two sets of mold tools; two concurrent production lines, or staggered runs (double the set up and manufacturing times); two separate parts storage set-ups to keep gloss and matte apart prior to assembly; two independent assembly lines, etc.; the logistics alone are mind boggling.

If Arcadia were to go with the made-to-order paradigm they're employing for their upcoming YF-19 "2.0", same as Yamato did with the almost as equally obscure to the VF-2SS -- the VF-4G, I'm sure they could make Macross II variable mecha a profitable venture... at least the Valkyrie II with SAP; a general release would almost certainly prove a financial loss. I would certainly preorder 2 Sylvie versions and 2 Nexx ones, as well as one copy each of the other Faerie squadron variants (Amy, Natasha, and Saori), if released at widely spaced intervals, even at Arcadia's absurdly high 30K+ Yen per limited edition unit going rate... I want them that much. I know that chances are that it will never happen, even if they could make the numbers work, but it's fun to dream. I'd also be up for the VF-2JA Icarus, at least 2 copies; but the Metal Siren... not so much.

Well, it wouldn't necessarily need to be the Zola patrol version, now would it?... I'd certainly be up for this M+ version and/or the VFX2 one.

I'd wish for a VF-2SS with SAP as well, but see it as highly unlikely. If I were to speculate on Arcadia's first, totally new, 1/60 perfect variable from Macross, I'd have to bet on the VF-5000.

An alcohol soaked cotton swab should do it; more aggressive options would be oven cleaner (it's plastic safe), nail polish remover, and enamel thinner (can turn styrene based plastics brittle).

Aside from the colors, other than the pilot?... Absolutely nothing.

Here are some links: http://www.macrossworld.com/mwf/index.php?showtopic=21944&hl=%2Bcrusher+%2Bjoe http://www.macrossworld.com/mwf/index.php?showtopic=23880&hl=%2Bcrusher+%2Bjoe

To me, if Bandai announces the Ozma version of the YF-29. that assertion may come into question. Although, I'd rather get the news that his 25S is being reissued soon, before the YF-30, even.