SchizophrenicMC

That's a problem, because?

All this about the VF-0 not being as far on its development timeline as the SV-51, and I have to wonder, were the Anti-Unification forces working on another VF design, simultaneously? For that matter, how much did the -0 and -1 affect each others' development? I mean, obviously, they seem to be very similar, except in size, and were developed at the same time, so I have to wonder, if the -0 had reached the end of its development stage, would it have surpassed the SV-51, as the VF-1 surpassed them both? It's an interesting question, for me.

From Bandai, yes I can.

Well, if we're gonna keep spouting Master File, I mean, that's canon stuff, right? According to Sketch, it says capacitor. Okay, even if the VF-1A's laser put out only 1MW of power, that is 1,000,000 joules of energy, per second. The laser is capable of, (Oh, EXCUSE ME for quoting the Macross Mecha Manual) 6000 pulses per minute, which is 100 pulses per second. That means you need to draw 100,000,000 joules of energy per second to operate the laser. That is 100MW. This is about a thirteenth the total power the VF-1A can produce. Still, you have to factor in that the VF-1A can not spend 100% of its time at maximum throttle, and, even if it could, there would be some base inefficiencies that detracted from that. A lot of that power will be lost to heat. A lot more of it will go into powering actuators, ECA, sensors, avionics, not to mention any thrust needs the machine has. And all that is under the assumption the VF-1A's laser is a 1MW laser. (Which I have to add, again, is not powerful enough, in practice, to cause significant damage without prolonged exposure) Not to mention the J Model or S Model, each of which have more laser units, which each have the same performance as the A-model's. So, you know, 200MW and 400MW draw, in the other models. Still, assuming the Mauler ROV-20 is a 1MW laser. If it's any higher, (Which, I can't imagine a combat-effective laser with a <1MW yield) that end number goes way up. So, to ensure that power is available, you have a capacitor that can be charged to store that much power to feed the laser when necessary. Not only does it make sense, but VFMF says it's there. Why are we arguing this?

I've been telling myself battroid would be the make-or-break pictures for this. I spoke too soon. This has decidedly prevented me from even considering wasting my money on these kits.

You know, strangely, for once, I'm with Sketchley. Aside from it being explicitly stated in a canon work, that the lasers run on a capacitor, it doesn't make logical sense to assume 650MW. The engines are rated to a maximum of 650MW, each. That means at fuel consumption and performance level right on the brink of them slagging themselves, they can max out about 650MW in ideal conditions. Take out the actuators' power supply, the sensors', the large percent of that power which is being converted to heat specifically for thrust, the amount that's likely greater that is lost to waste heat from operating, and the establishedly-large power cost of Energy Conversion Armor, and you're left with a small amount of power left. That can be used to run the laser at a low power setting, but it's not enough to inflict the kind of massive damage we see them doling out. Keep in mind it takes the Airborne Laser (YAL-1) 5 seconds with a 1MW laser to simply heat up the skin of a thin-skinned missile enough for the projectile to rip itself apart through high-speed flight stress. We see the lasers on a VF-1 blow holes in other craft in fractions of a second, and pulse thousands of time per second. That kind of damage would have to be at least tenfold on the YAL-1's laser, meaning each pulse draws 10+ MW of power. Multiply by 2 lasers on the -J model and 4 on the -S model, and the number of pulses per second, and you've just severely exceeded your power generation capability. So, what do you do? Keep the laser's power consumption and output the same, but rig a capacitor to store power until it reaches a level where it can keep up with the lasers' needs, and constantly charge it with every bit of leftover power from the reactors.

See, that's what I was wondering. Makes sense, given the position of the roll posts, compared to the position of the turbine. Turbofans and Turbojets differ in that fans are quieter and more fuel efficient, but turbojets are more capable of high speed, because thrust isn't derived from low-speed bypass, but rather, high-speed core air. Fuel efficiency in turbofans come from the mass of slow-moving air around the engine being able to produce more thrust as it expands than a smaller mass of fast-moving air inside the engine. And, see, I'm fairly certain the lasers operate off of capacitors. See below. While the turbines can produce 1300 MW total yield in power, that's at full power, and most of that energy is going to be lost to heat, anyway. Take away from what energy you retain, all of the servomotors and actuators to operate the battroid, and you're left with quite a bit less than that much energy. Plus, the amount of power you'd need in a laser to operate even close to what we see in the VF-1 and -0, even, surpasses what's left. Thus, capacitors. Ah, the capacitor. The tool of all sci-fi to explain greater-than-capable power consumption and dramatic buildup.

That wasn't Gundam, that was AWESOME in a can. A Gundarium can.

But then, it wouldn't identify as a fighter plane, but as some weird space fighter, and I think that would alienate quite a bit of the fanbase. (Who like their transforming giant robot fighter jets, not transforming giant robot zigs... For great justice)

I'm going off of what I read, and I misread. My apologies. I mistook the Rolls-Royce LiftSystem brief for the actual design of the turbine. (According to what I read about the LiftSystem design brief, bypass is directed through the engine, to increase lift by a certain percent, thus turning the engine into a turbojet) Turbines are devices that convert energy to a usable form, in a rotary manner. That can be a Hydroelectric turbine that converts mechanical energy from water into electrical energy, or a turbocharger to increase aspiration rate in internal combustion engines, or a thrust turbine on a jet aircraft. Hence the whole "Turbo-" thing. Turbofans are Turbine-driven fans. Turboshafts are Turbine-driven power shafts. My nomenclature is sound, at least from a mechanical standpoint. The VF-0 is never shown using its lasers outside of Battroid mode, if I remember right, which cycles back into the whole Battroid-only thing. Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't a model of the -0 equipped with a capacitor bank that allows it to operate its high-energy equipment for short periods, regardless of state?

lol I heard TIE Fighter Pretty cool rigging you got there.

And you say the YF-1R doesn't count

See, I'm worried that's what's gonna happen. I'll love Macross until Frontier movie 2.

Well, assuming it has good fly-by-wire, the thruster paddles should be able to adjust fast enough to compensate. Still, Thrust does not equal Shaft Horsepower. The maximum power the F-135 can generate on its turboshaft is 35,000 SHP. That's at full throttle. Even then, the majority of the plane's energy is spent in the turboshaft, to keep it airborne, while the rest of the turbine switches to a very fuel-inefficient turbojet to make up the other 45% of its thrust lift. So, when the engine is at maximum performance, the aircraft is at minimum performance because of how much energy the added shaft is consuming. In essence, the F-135's shaft produces 2.6MW of energy. After loss of that energy to friction and various inefficiencies in the generators and various power conversions to change mechanical energy to electricity to whatever it is that powers ECA (or light for a laser), you're running on far less than 2.6MW. You'd be lucky to pull a number of kilowatts out. And, then, you're at the lowest possible performance the plane can fly on. Not an ideal situation for a combat aircraft. Hence, the reason ECA is only used in Battroid mode, because the engines aren't producing thrust, and can be used as pure turboshafts to power the Battroid.

Don't get me wrong. I really, really do want a gravity-feed brush, but I'm just saying a siphon brush is better than nothing, and the one I have has been around longer than I have. If I get some money together, I'm thinking of buying one that HLJ carries, along with an order of (dare I say it?) gunpla.

The super dimension, as I recall it is, is where fold waves take you, hence all of that stuff I said, and beam weapon was a blanket term I hoped you'd understand to mean the Super Dimension Energy Cannons that all Macross-class seem to carry. And, my whole original point was that the Fold Quartz was the M-particle! How you seemed to skirt around that until reaching that on your own, I will never know. And, while I didn't mean to imply particles like the M-particle exist, or even could, I did mean the way they cause all that crazy stuff to happen is at least given some substance. Magnets and all that jazz. (Mmm, I-field lattice) Why is it you all feel Macross handwavium is superior to Gundam handwavium? It's like the anti-Gundam thing is a personal vendetta a lot of MW members carry. Can't we just love 'em both because they're both about giant robots and bloody destruction?

Because it's not controlled by (Cyber) Newtypes like Brera Product, while the F135 can produce 18,000 pounds of thrust, that doesn't equate to shaft horsepower. The thrust is generated, mostly, as an effect of expanding gas that pushes the plane forward, versus creating a lot of power by spinning a shaft, that drives a fan that pushes the plane through air, like a turboprop engine would. And, so, to gauge the amount of power you could actually glean from the turbine, you would have to attach a meter to the shaft and determine Shaft Horsepower. From there, you can figure out how much you can bog down the turbine with a generator, before it ceases to function in powering the craft. While generators are in place on jet turbines, powering the avionics, they can't produce substantial amounts of power, while still remaining capable of desired performance. That's the issue that they must have run into with all VF engines until the '27. (And, even then, only because it has 4 large turbines, connected to generator apparatuses) Oh, and more like the tie-maker.

Well, I mean, my airbrush has been around nearly 20 years, now, and it still works. Just sayin'.

Super Dimension: Power supply for large vessels Makes beam weapons work Gives Macross flying ability Fold-Wave Tracking Superluminal communication Plus, it lets you listen to Ranka's song, mmkay? Fold Quartz boosts at least some of those Super-Dimension things. I still feel my plot science call is valid. (And, at least the Minovsky Particle is described in real physics )

But the shields of those VFs seem to take up a large part of the aft fuselage. Surely that'd affect aerodynamics, too. I'm still Zero for the greater simplicity of design and lighter, apparently-cheaper airframe.

Mine fits Tamiya jars, and a couple buddies' older brushes do. And, while I agree, siphon brushes aren't as good as gravity feeders, they're cheaper and easier to maintain. Plus, you can just swap the feed bottle. In any case, my brush is a hand-me-down from my father. Anyway, Testors is okay, but expensive, and, if your third part prefers to use it, all the better for him. I, personally, prefer Tamiya paint, because it costs less and works well in an airbrush.

Okay, that makes more sense. So, Macross really is adding another Minovsky Particle. This Fold Quartz can do anything. Plot science for the lose.

Wait, I thought all VFs used ECA in fighter mode.

My airbrush feeds from the bottom. And, so do many. But the point isn't necessarily feeding paint straight from the bottle, but making it cheaper on me, because I don't have to buy any more jars to fit to my airbrush, because once I use up a Tamiya Color, I can just mix paint in that, brush it on, and call it a day. That said, my compressor broke down, and my brush has seen better days... (Well, it IS 3 years older than I am) I'm looking into getting a new brush and compressor, and a fume hood for my work bench. Using Tamiya Spray just isn't as effective, and I'm getting tired of how poorly white paint brushes on for details.

Oh, and Tamiya bottles fit right onto standard suction-feed airbrushes Of course, I need to eventually spring for a gravity-feed...