Myersjessee

thats not really an informed statment. the vf-1 has more of a v-tail which acts like a horizontal and vertical stablizer. albiet the vtail is a bit small, the angle between the 2 fins controls the proportions of each. Dude, I have a 4 year degree in aeronautical engineering. What your referring to are commonly called elevons, but they imply being able to provide ample vertical and horizontal stability, thus the wider angle. If you chaged their size and angle they might work, if you added a canard and swept the wings back, with enough thrust you might have a proper CG and that might work...but the VF1 as is,....no way...sorry...the CG is way off. For proof, look at the F-14. Check the size of it horizontal and vertical stabs compared to a VF1....if the designers could have done without the horizontal stabs they would have (why, less drag, less cost) but they are necessary. In fact, up until the YF23 not many people had tried a high power production tailess aircraft. Flying wing designs abounded in the 50's and 60's but none caught on. The X-19 was the next one, but thats not really tailess, as it has a canard. Nope...VF1 would plummet without major mods. By major I am guessing chaning the angle of the vertical stabs to about 40 degrees and doubling their lift (lift therom eludes me,but it has to do with the airfoil, cord (basically wing width) and wing length It would be more akin to the YF23 at this point. Also, the wings are to small unless you have tons of thrust and lots of runway. Making them variable would only increase the complexity of the model and flight controls (as this is a major CG change) so I would think you would end up increasing the size of the wings, and locking them out.

Very nice work!

Yep...no dice on the VF1 without a horizontal stabilizer...but you could probably pull off a YF19 or 21....maybe a VF0D as well...

Very very nice work Mike!

Im getting close to the same problems!

LOL...would love to...but I think it would be a one way trip...my wife wouldn't take to kindly too it! "Honey, I know you think it's odd for a 32 year old father of 2 to spend this much time and money on collecting toys...but certainly you would not have a problem with me spending the money, and the time away to go to a big hobby show in Japan...." Yep...that would go over like a Led Zeppelin...

Nice work Kurt!

I just remembered where I saw all those pictures MechLeader put up. This guy must sell stuff on Yahoo Japan from time to time, because I have those exact pictures saved from Yahoo Auctions about 6 months ago...

You all need to meet up...you all need to go..and you all need to buy me things since I can't go....isn't that clear? Stop thinking about yourselves and start thinking...."I wonder what Jesse needs?" ....and a guy to girl ratio of 1-8?!?! WTF! Why didn't I go there...I went to school to be a pilot...and the ratio was like 1-20...in the wrong direction! DOH! Two slurms and 1000 idiots....man I picked the wrong school...

Where's Jungs pictures...now that was Bad A$$!

Oh yeah! Mee three please! (and Minmei....and and... )

Ouch...I have one broken one...but that was a physical fall...but I have not put on my FP.s yet...forwarned is forarmed I guess! Sorry y'all.

Last time I checked you were in CA...now talk about your long train ride! Actually, I would bet he would love the help...carrying all the models we would want! Grayson...I dont know...but he has an address...so Im thinking the next order I would ever make would be best made if someone could pick it up.... "Throw me the whip" "Throw me the models!!! "

Shh...I have not even convinced him to go...maybe when the models are done we can make an order big enough to warrant the 5 hour train ride!

mmm...Treads...yummy....

I would like a Dragon and a VF4...and the SD VF11 and the SD Strike...man...I love the models...wish the business end was as smooth....Im thinking of trying to convince Monkey or someone to buy some for me if they ever get done...I need someone who can go to the shop with $ in hand and walk away with a kit! As for waiting...all votes are in....Phatslappy says wait, SPiff says wait...kinda...everyone else says refund....so...always trying to satisify everyone...here is my thought...(though this might just complicate things) Do we see if we can communicate this to Tanmen? Give him Phatslappy and Spiff's address and ask him to complete the deal for them in a timely fashion...and refund the rest of the money (minus their inverstment? Might just confuse things, but it doesnt seem like a ridiculous request. Thoughts...

Its a prettty full set...but I have never done decals...so if we did this we might have to enlist Anasazi's help for the decals if people want them....

Does anyone know the screen names for VF2SS and Junmei? Their old names dont work in PM. Im sure I have their email at home, but Id like to PM them if I can.

Seems like the most sensible option would be to ask for the money back and wait to see when the models are done. When they are an order can be placed for them at that time (for people who want one) I, honestly, dont think I have the fortitude to organize an order again with this guy...Ive called out way to many favors on this deal as it is! Im going to PM all the parties left with models on order so we can get their feedback. THANKS ROB! Monkey Nuggett to the rescue!

Another big update from Rob...please read

Problem is they would be very complicated to recast. The CatsEye mold pis stunning....fan racer and liner are also fairly advanced. Considering the number of pieces we would have to sell a lot of both even to considerbreaking even for the recaster...this is before selling enough to make $1000 to repay the members who have lost out....I just don't see recasting as the way to solve the problem. Im wondering if in the letter we include a "threat". I don't know how hard it would be to sue him, but we could threaten to spread the word of this incident everywhere...modeling stores and sites throughout all the countries that MW members exist and are willing to share. We notify Big West, HobbyFan, E2046..and everyone we can. I don't know if he would care, which is why I mention "we could".

You might watch Ebay...since the rerelease they have showed up some...you also might post in the Wanted section..Monkey Nugget came up with some, and he or other members might be able to get one for you.

Mods, there has been a major change in the Tanmen order. I posted all the information in the pinned article, but I wanted to make sure everyone knew about it. Please consider leaving this up for a day or two to help people become aware, then feel free to delete it. Thank you for your consideration TANMEN THREAD UPDATE

Okay...here is the latest news and most sadly anticipated update on this debacle. I asked Rob (Monkey Nugget) to call Tanmen again. It was Rob who basically single handidly got us the first shipment in, and Tanmen stopped returning my emails. I would have called him myself, but I don't speak Japanese, and he doesn't speak english. Rob, who has nothing in the order and got no $ from us, offered his services to help us contact Tanmen. Well....now months later with no word I asked Rob to contact him again. Rob (and his partner) found they could not get an answer from Tanmen calling from the toy store, so (afraid Tanmen was screening their calls) Rob enlisted another friend to call from a new location and check on the order. Here is the email sent to me by Rob in regards to that call: Hey Jesse, Finally got ahold of TANMEN. It took 3 tries today but I finally got my boss to get in touch with him. Here's how it went. 1st Call: Nobody by that name lives here. (Fake name on the invoice sheet he gave you, possibly fake address - but it is verified he is in Yokohama) 2nd Call: Verified telephone Number. Got ahold of him and he said he didn't know who Jesse Myers was and had no business dealings with him. 3rd Call: (I printed out the mail you sent me today). She read him the info in which he remembered suddenly. 1. When asked why he had not E-Mailed you he replied his computer is broken. (I plan to test this today by sending him an E-Mail). 2. When asked if he had sent out the kits he said "No". 3. When asked when he was going to send them out he replied - (Japanese word for unknown) I don't know. They are not finished. 4. When asked when they would be finished he replied - Unknown 5. When asked again about delivery he replied - Maybe next February, I'm not sure. I know this is not great news but it seems as though he has no intention of sending the other kits. My boss got the same feeling as Syoji before and he is lying. I would consider calling him yourself, I know it's Japan and you don't speak Japanese but I could probably translate into english words what you would want to asay to him. I could call him again and have someone relay the info to him. But it doesn't seem to be effective. He's not afraid of not completeing this deal. (IMO) Not anymore. I know this sounds bad but he was avoiding Syoji's calls. I had to use a different phone to get in touch with him. Ask for a refund or threaten him with legal action or even reporting him to Big West. If I can help anymore just let me know. Talk with everyone at MW and get the concensus of what they would like to do. If you need me to reply to him I will. Robby/Monkey-Nugget Well...honestly, at this point I can't say Im shocked. This whole thing stinks. February will mark the anniversery of when the first delivery was supposed to come. I have gotten to the point that I dont expect them to come in Feb. I dont know if I expect them to ever come. Shawn shared a nice little story with me about some amazing acts of generosity Tanmen did for him and America, (donations around 9/11) I believe in my heart that he is a good person, and I hope at some point he will come through with his commitment, but obviously something has gone horribly wrong. Perhaps he is overcommitted, perhaps he has had family or life issues, but considering the lack of communication I can know longer excuse this. So, we have some options. I want to leave it to the people on the order to make the choice, though all opinions are welcome. This is new territory for me, and I don't claim to know how to deal with it. Here are the options that occurred to me: 1) Wait. If you want the kits we don't have much choice here. Threats or visits would seem to not spur him on to finish the originals and molds. We risk seeing nothing, but patience may pay off. We could send a letter via mail to him in Japanese with a postage paid envelope enclosed asking for an update. ...we could do that every 3-6 months and hope to keep the lines open. 2) Threaten legal action. Im not sure what is available in terms of a small claims court in Japan, but I have the copies of the check, all the emails sent from Tanmen, and his invoice to me. (I saved EVERYTHING) We could send a much more formal email requesting a formal time table for action or we sue. To actually sue (if he calls this bluff) well, we would need help from inside Japan. Perhaps friends, or family could pitch in (if people have any there) or we could take up a collection to pay for small costs. I'm not sure how successful we could be, but we could try. 3) We could do the above but just ask for our money back instead of the pieces. This may be just as hard, but perhaps simpler to complete the transaction then trying to get the models. 4) We could also ask for other models instead. (equivilent or greater value? ) My thinking is, he has the molds for the pieces we got. I don't think he has them for the pieces we are waiting on. Assuming he has some stock, or can complete those, he might more easily part with $1000 worth of other kits. We could either give these to the waiting buyers as compensation, or try to sell some or all of them on Ebay and MW to other buyers to make all or most of the lost money back. Obviousley, this would be least idea, but would seem to be most feesible. Please...any ideas, suggestions, requests...anything...Im stumped. Wish I had a reason to go visit Yokohama and have a talk with this guy.....

cockpit looks sweet! Man I love the look of the VF4!