Chronocidal

Well considering how simple the VF-11's packs are, I wouldn't be too concerned. The legs don't have to move to attach them, so no conversion there, you just slap the pieces on over the sides. If you wanted to make a set yourself, the pieces required would probably be on the relatively easy end of scratchbuilding. The leg plates might take a little work, but they're not very complex. The boosters though are mostly just big blocky constructs with nozzles. You could practically build them papercraft-style using sheet styrene.

I'm guessing the problems had with the Defiant were mostly with the launch complex and booster then? (I think it was a booster ). I still have my Crusader shuttle, and aside from the plastic turning a nice shade of yellow, it's still pretty much in one piece... well.. ok, a lot of pieces, but I took the entire thing apart to attempt to restore it a little. I'm kind of considering just spraying the entire thing flat white with some indoor/outdoor paint, since the body is way too huge to use any of the plastic whitening methods I've seen. Funny, the shuttle body is extremely yellowed, but the scout ship in the bay stayed nice and white.

Pretty close to the triangular tails, yep, but it's almost like a hybrid of the two styles. Nearly vertical trailing edge like the canon, with what looks like a slighty more swept overall shape, and a more pronounced angle on the rear lower section of the tail. I'm also interested to see how they shape the upper surfaces of the.. back plates I guess? The areas where the boosters attach. Yamato made them really sharply angled boxes, along with the backs of the lower legs, but the art shows them much more rounded off, like I think they were supposed to be. I think some concept art shows those big panels popping up into a dual airbrake as well, so I wonder if they'll include that feature. I'll be very interested to see the production pics on this one, and barring any complications, I'm pre-ordering two. If any delays happen though, I'll have to cancel and reorder later, since my shipping address will change in late July. If things work out according to schedule though, and they get released in June, I should have no problems.

Yeesh, fanmade or not, I love how that not-ramjet looks. Depending on how high the production values are (materials and all that) I might have to get that one, just because I've always had a softspot for that particular conehead (and delta wing designs in general). He was the ONE actual name brand transformer I had as a kid (the 1993 edition).

Considering it's marketed as a Macross Plus kit, I don't see what else they'd paint it as. But in all honesty, screw the Mac+ scheme, I want Ravens decals. And I'd love to see them milk this one like they have the VF-1 kits, especially if they start releasing more tribute scheme decals. I know I'd never have the guts to repaint a 1/60 in a VF-84 scheme, but I know the first VF-11 I build will be getting one of my spare sets of 1/72 F-14 decals. Though.. now that I think of it, a nice VF-111 sharkmouth might really go well on the VF-11's nose. For the tails, yep, the triangular ones are much closer to what is seen in Mac+, and nigh identical to what Yamato put on theirs. Not that the bigger ones don't look a bit more pleasing aesthetically, but the triangular design does lend itself more to folding into the leg. Fortunately, regardless of how Hasegawa decides to do it, it's relatively very easy to make a set of tails if you want one style over the other. As far as the MAXL goes, yes, the plane is pretty super robot-ish to begin with, but as long as we don't care about it transforming, you can tweak the design to make it into a fairly believeable aircraft (speaker bumps not withstanding). Plus, I really really want some nice VF-19 kits. Throw in the MAXL, and you're well on your way to finishing Sound Force, which would leave things wide open for a Hasegawa VF-17. Yes, that one would be a trainer, but given their history of mold milking, doing Diamond Force would probably be a bygone conclusion. Eh, it might not be likely. I kind of wonder if this VF-11 isn't meant to just test the waters on other designs. The Macross kits have tapered off considerably (except for the few 1/48 kits recently), and I'm really surprised they didn't put out the VF-11 years ago, when they could have sold it alongside the YF-19 and YF-21 kits (and by extension, the Mac7 VF-22 releases).

YES. So glad to see they're continuing to develop their 1/72 kit line. I might have to preorder a few, though I'd love to see some pictures first. My big question now though.. will Hasegawa use this to get a foot in the door for more Mac7 stuff? I mean, technically they already did with the VF-22 kits, so they obviously have (or at least had) the rights to do Mac7 stuff in 1/72. But I would LOVE to see some VF-19s in 1/72 done up Hasegawa style (especially if they tap the VF-19 Master File for schemes and variants), or even a 1/72 MAXL kit done up as a realistic aircraft. Oh, and the thought of them expanding the line further into 1/48 has me drooling profusely.

I'm not actually sure if the color is actually pinkish, or if that's a combination of the plastic's texture with the blue background. The close-up photos with less reflection seem a little less pink. Edit: On second thought, I dunno.. I still want to see it photographed against a white background, but it actually looks kind of purple.

I enjoyed the first Frontier movie plenty when I finally watched it, and the pacing didn't bother me, but I personally thought the ending didn't really didn't make any sense at all (whether that's due to pacing is up for grabs though). Not that it seemed rushed exactly, but I think the series did a much better job coming up with a justification for the singing. The movie pretty much defaulted to "I'm going to sing during battle whether it makes any sense or not!" It was cool and all, it just required me to turn off more of my brain than I'm used to in order to enjoy it. If they integrate it better in the second movie, and make the strategy make a bit more sense, I'll be happy. I'll probably enjoy it regardless because I love the music, but the ending of movie #1 really made me just wonder what they were thinking.

One of these days I need to make a fully rigged VF-1. I've never gotten around to it because I've always been absorbed in other projects, but I would love to tackle the design entirely from a realistic perspective.. ie, making everything fit, and look realistic (even if we don't have the technology to do it). I started making an X-Wing with a similar method, and the results are actually really good. It's fun throwing in all those little details you know should be there for things to work in real life.

Ok, now the big question: Will it come with actual squadrons, or just Joe themed markings? I want me some Jolly Rogers dangit! Plus.. why does the Starscream version still have the two seat cockpit?

These usually get put in the Fan Works section, and I know I've done my share of builds over the years. Just found this particular site on a random search, not in english, but the pics speak for themselves. http://macrossrobote...ules-t2501.html This made my jaw drop. There are more shots of it on the site I linked, and yes, it transforms. I'll see if I can dig up my old VF-1 pics. I started out with a massiv 1/18 scale one, but that wound up being a bit... well... HEAVY. It wouldn't hold up under its own weight (not to mention I ran out of parts ). I eventually rebuilt it to about 1/32 scale, with much better results. Edit: Bleh, I just went and made a new MOC page for it. Been meaning to for a few months now, bout time I posted the pictures there. http://www.mocpages.com/moc.php/261224

Been fiddling around with the game Vindictus recently, sort of a mashup of dynasty warriors with an mmo, built on the source engine. Mostly it's just eye candy hack and slash (plenty of fanservice items/outfits etc) but for April 1st they randomly had GlaDOS and the Companion Cube drop in and recruit you as a test subject (to collect some metal ore from somewhere, really just a hunt/fetch quest), then the heavy from TF2 showed up with a similar quest for an easily found item. The actual quest content was negligible, but the dialogue from both GlaDOS and the Heavy were absolutely hilarious. They flat out lampshaded the game's style (GlaDOS pointed out that there were far too many pointy objects and not enough clothing to protect from injury, while they Heavy just stated he would stand around and watch all the pretty girls running around in very little clothing while you found the items he needed), but they even made fun of the way the game works in general, poking fun at the token system they use in game. It was basically a string of in-jokes, but it's nice to see the people running the game have a good sense of humor about it. The quest rewards are pretty much joke items in the game, but having a knight in full plate armor running around beating things up with a crowbar is pretty awesome (even a magic crowbar staff for the mage characters). The head crab and City 17 Police gasmask helmets are pretty amusing too.

Ok, now that is rather awesome and creative. I might need to go grab a few of those. I usually display my valks in a similar pose, but without the support stand. I just stand them on a shelf, and balance them by playing with how far I open the feet. VF-1s will stand fine on their own, even with fast packs, but things like the YF-19 and VF-11 need something to lean against. Then there's the oddballs like the YF-21/VF-22 and SV-51, which don't like to stand on their engines in fighter mode. These little stands would save a ton of space compared with the massive chunky stands they came with. My concern is, how hard is it to balance the YF-19/VF-11, or maybe a VF-25/VF-27 on these? I think everything else has nice open toes to catch those hooks, but those particular valks have big solid pointed toes that seem like they might make catching a good foothold (hah) on these stands a bit tricky.

Considering the manufacturing tolerance and plastic stressing issues the DX line seems to have in general, I wouldn't be at all surprised if the reason the joints loosen over time is because the plastic is stretching, or even splitting in ways we don't see. I mean, look at what tends to happen to the backplate on armored VF-25s. When you have evidence of engineering problems that .. well, stupid, I have no trouble believing the joints are loosening because the parts weren't made the right size in the first place. Sure you can make a joint really tight if you make the metal ball larger than the socket it's going to be put into, but over time, one of those pieces is going to have to change shape to relieve stress, and it isn't going to be the metal. Fortunately for me, joints aren't a problem if you just leave the thing in fighter mode the whole time, which I do anyway (except for the VF-25 actually..flawed as it may be appearance-wise, I find the problems with battroid much more tolerable than the ones with fighter mode ). I still think the wing engines look a bit ridiculous, but the fighter itself looks good enough that I want one (if only to show my monetary support for a new VF-25 based on the way the YF-29 looks).

Holy cow. I remember those fruit snacks. And.. I'm pretty sure I remember one of the boxes having a cut-out Tomcat you could make from the box. It was just a top plan view with a dividing segment in the middle that you folded into a ventral fin to throw it by, paper airplane style.. but I remember that thing flying pretty well (with a few modifications). I do wish those special schemes would actually show up at China Lake sometime so I could see them though. I'm not sure they're painted on actual VX-5/9 aircraft, but I'd hope they'd use actual squadron aircraft for this. I'm still waiting to see some nice 60's-70's high vis though, that era had a ton of memorable schemes.

Was mentioned quickly in passing in one of the topics about the DX YF-29, I'd have to skim those to see where it was. I don't remember if it was officially mentioned, but given how successful the first run of 1/72 variable kits was, I have a really hard time believing they wouldn't do it. The way I'm thinking, the 1/100 kits are more for the niche market of aircraft purists and detail modelers who just want a fun little aircraft model to detail without the hassle of all the extra parts and assembly/painting complications (not to mention making a quick buck capitalizing on the movie while they work on the DX and potential 1/72 kits, which will take longer to design). The 1/72 kits are targeted more to their cash cow gunpla market, and I can't imagine they'd abandon that to focus on the aircraft kits. Edit: Here we go, apparently the source is a Figure Oh article, and mentions a few interesting potential developments on the model side of Bandai. http://www.macrossworld.com/mwf/index.php?showtopic=34295&view=findpost&p=900035

Definitely looks awesome, but I have to agree he fell victim to "random glowy bits" syndrome. He painted in a lot of details that probably have no business lighting up. While some of them might be windows, I doubt there is any reason for a good number of those details to glow (especially the red circular areas.. I have no idea what those are, but I don't think they glow in the movie.. though, please feel free to correct me there)

Ah, good memories.. well, tiny ones at least. Right now, it's just reminding me of the road race skit in an early episode of Robot Chicken, where I'm pretty sure they used a few M.A.S.K. toys. Though, I still blame this show for instilling me with a childhood belief that all cars with gull-wing doors can fly. Back to the Future didn't help either. Always irritated me that Switchblade was flown by a bad guy though. Never understood why the bad guys seem to get all the best planes, or at least more airpower in general. GI Joe at least had a good blend I think. And even if Cobra did have more planes overall, the Skystriker was all they needed.

Wait, what?? I am now completely and utterly confused. In fact, you might actually want to spoiler tag that particular pic, because now my curiosity is going into overdrive.

Actually, think I heard that a 1/72 transforming kit has already been confirmed for a bit later this year. The 1/100 fighter kits are just a quick marketing gimmick that also happens to match something I've wanted for a long time. The variable kits are beautiful works of engineering, but I've been aching for some simple fighters I could just slap together and paint up in all sorts of schemes, without worrying about how complicated the variable ones are to actually paint. I'm going to grab a few VF-25s as well. I've got my share of the variable kits already, but I want some dedicated fighter kits. It's such a waste to build the 1/72 in fighter mode only. Now I can have my full SMS Skull Squad in 1/72, and still have some fun painting custom schemes like an M&M set, CF, classic Jolly Roger, etc. And.. shoot.. they're about $12 right now on sale on HLJ too. Makes buying a bunch of them at once VERY tempting, considering the shipping is also about that much. I might have to grab a couple now, and just figure out some way to cram them in my car when I move back to california this summer.

Thank you for that, I nearly snorted coffee across my work computer. That would be absolutely epic. I'm going to have to draw that now too.. Darth Churuya! As for the vision...

Ok, this is where the fun speculation begins. Theory 1: Asahina is Kyon and Haruhi's daughter, hence the "don't get too close to me" bit. Theory 2: Haruhi is Kyon and Asahina's daughter. This makes even less sense, but would be a hilarious turn. Theory 3: Haruhi is Kyon an Nagato's daughter. Even crazier, even less sense, but then we'd have some idea of where her powers might've come from... though in that case.. the paradoxes caused by get even more mind bending than I even want to consider. Either way we'd have the potential for a "No.. I am you father!" line from Kyon, which might cause the universe to implode in a roiling massive ball of facepalms.

Ok, that custom did it... I'm buying a dozen. It just looks so clean in actual military colors. Plus, I might buy four (or possibly six) of the blue Sheryl version.. I have no intention of using those ridiculous decals (not on the model at least), but I'm really really tempted to make either a VF-29 Diamond Force group, or even a full Blue Angels set. And I LOVE the fact that this thing comes with a stand. Bout time they started doing that.

I'd have a hard time believing anyone could mistake a Tornado for a Tomcat due to their different shapes, but I suppose it's possible. What wouldn't surprise me at all though is if they were actually delivering an F-14 for permanent display at Miramar. With the destruction of so many of them due to fears of spare part leakage, they're going to be a precious commodity on the aviation museum circuit. And as for the touch-n-go bit.. believe me, if I was the pilot on what was going to be the final flight for that aircraft, I'd be stretching that flight for as long as I possibly could. Even from a practical standpoint, if they're going to display the plane, they'll run the engines after landing until the tanks run dry anyway, so might as well get as much milage out of her as you can before she's parked on a pedestal somewhere. I really wish they'd get one for display out at China Lake. While VX-9 mostly operates Hornets now, with the VX-4/VX-5 merger in the 90's they also picked up the legacy behind Vandy-1, and did have about a dozen F-14s there until they were retired. VX-4 did primarily operate out of Point Mugu I guess, but with all the Phoenix missile work that went on at China Lake, I'm surprised they don't have an F-14 on display anywhere yet.

Actually, this is one thing they have never addressed directly. Yes, there was the original 3-years-ago Kyon in that timeline, simultaneously. But we have never heard what was going on for him at that time. Many people are very curious to see what exactly Kyon himself was up to on that night when the world changed. Suffice to say.. I'm really really curious about that too. But anyway, no there wouldn't be two Kyons when he woke up from the three year sleep, because he woke up shortly after he was taken back in time to begin with. Despite all the crazy time shenanigans in the series, one thing they are very careful about is the small details, and I've had many an hour spent just tracing all the individual stable time loops that occur throughout the story. It's a fun ride that would really be more accurately described as a time pretzel, or even a sweater.. yes, there are enough time lines and loops you could probably knit one out of them.