F-ZeroOne

We don't know that. Guld had mental problems, and that's as likely to have caused issues as the actual hardware. 336829[/snapback] Its an untested prototype with a thought control system in a science fiction setting. Of course the BDI and BCS are to blame!

No need to cheat but Black Valkyrie got there ahead of me! This one probably isn't such a mystery for UK-based MWers as going by previous threads here we seem to have got a lot more of Gerry Anderson than the US. Incidentally, this year is the 40th anniversary of Thunderbirds. F.A.B!

Now for one that should need no introduction, but here it is anyway! Ladies and gentlemen, I give you... the PAIN! The FURY! The WUSS that pilots it! The Soul of Chogokin Evangelion Unit 1!

Heres one of my all time favourites - the Big Dai-X DX, from X-Bomber/Star Fleet. Believe or not, hes a Valkyrie cousin - by Takatoku! (and it even transforms, too!).

I will post some images as soon as I can get attachments to work! Is there a temporary problem at the moment or am I missing something extremely obvious? Edit: Mods, please remove. Worked it out for myself - replace user and insert new brain!

Funnily enough, the US - I think the Navy - used Kfirs for aggressor-style training for a while. I think the US desigination was "F-21"!

I was lucky enough to visit the AsoBit City store in Akihabara when it was open. That was big enough, but this... this... makes that look like a small corner shop!

NATO was worried about the quality of Russian tanks for a while; they were smaller, relatively high performance, and had things like auto-loaders. Until the M1 came along, American tank designers had a little bit of an inferiority complex. But, yes, numbers was the big worry. However, the Gulf War showed up quite a few flaws in Russian tanks. The T-72 has a fuel line that goes across the front of the turret; this caused some interesting examples of unpowered turret flight after hits by 120mm rounds; also, there are some horror stories about gunners getting limbs loaded into the gun by the auto-loaders! I understand that after the Gulf War, the Russians reviewed why so much of their equipment failed so badly; a lot of interesting equipment started turning up on Russian tanks afterwards, such as improved reactive armour, anti-missile systems and even on one modified prototype, a couple of 20mm AA guns...!

Ummm, that how you write Japan in French. The writing on that label other than Japanse is French, so everything has to match up. Nothing unusual on that label. 333184[/snapback] So why they write French on postal stamp in Japan? 333299[/snapback] Its a historical thing. I can't remember exactly what, but possibly some international convention like the one that settled on GMT (Greenwich Mean Time). In the UK, when you send something by airmail, you get a little sticker with "par avion" on it. Quite possibly the only example of the British adopting something French you will ever find...

Its an aircraft, it can do just that and a tanks armour is typically weakest there. However, the side is also less well armoured - you can't armour a tank everywhere, because then it can't move! - and the engine on most tanks is typically at the rear (the Israeli Merkeva is an exception; they treat the engine as additional armour and place it at the front), so that is also a good place to hit.

Slight correction - the GAU-8 is 7 barrels, not 9. Also, its designed to hit tanks from their more vunerable sides and rear, not the front - traditionally the most heavily armoured part of a tank; there are reports of modern American tanks surviving direct hits from Russian-type 125 mm guns on the front. British tanks of World war II mostly used a "2 pounder" - roughly 40mm. German panzers started the war with 37mm guns - slightly contrary to the widely-held belief that German tanks were automatically superior; it was only later that the true monsters like the Tiger appeared. At the start of the war, it was German tactics that did a lot of the work. Mind you, British tanks did tend to suck quite a bit...

"Aerial" is the BBCs in-house news magazine. Oh, wait. You mean the anime...

What are those bulges on the underside of the wings? ECM/ECCM/electronics stuff? Or is it some sort of visual illusion?

Animated by Gonzo? Hmm, imagine the cross-over potential: "Yo, Joes! Lets all welcome the newest member to join us in the fight against the evil of COBRA. People, this is the Major... " So, do pilots still leap out of exploding aircraft just barely in the nick of time then?

Thanks for the heads up - I've been thinking about getting Mospeada for some time. As we say here in UK-land, "Ta, muchly!" [1] [1] Translation: "Thank you very much, old chap."

I'm 31, and love anime. I've met anime fans that run the age bracket from children to over-50s and everything in-between. Nuts to them. If you have any trouble again, just say quietly: "Know what? We won. We don't need your approval anymore." And then walk off into the cherry blossoms.

ROFLMAO......and spitting coffee everywhere. Funniest thing I've heard all month and so true as well. Graham 324333[/snapback] After several months of splattering coffee over my own monitor reading posts here, I'm glad I was able to spread it around - thanks, Graham! (and just to set the record straight, I have three Yamatos - including a first release VF-1A - and love 'em to bits... )

Of course, what you could end up with is something with a model kits fragility, Yamatos quality control, and Bandais love for Macross over Gundam (i.e. none).

lol is there anything starwars can't explain? 324174[/snapback] What the heck was up with Episodes I, II, and III? <ducks and runs like hell...!>

Ah, yes - Calorie Mates, the foodstuff that contains everything the average human needs to survive nutritionally for an entire day in one handy package. Except taste. Glad you had a good time though!

Sorry, Agent One - although some of this is probably made up, I really can testify that you see stuff like this every day in Japan. In fact, I'm currently looking at a Microman Acroyear box that reads "We entrust him to the care of thoes who have a child's heart... "

And, not sure if this counts as a "cel", but its a limited edition Kiki portrait from the Studio Ghibli Museum:

My "collection", such as it is: First, the immortal Lum, in all her glory:

And Spaceman Spiff wasn't Sci-Fi? And, yes, I want it very much...!

Terror of MechaGodzilla.