SW-XA series

[mikeszekely]

I know Kawamori and company were investing a lot into getting Macross Zero out, but remember the SW-XA series? I really liked both of those designs, and I was wondering if there were anymore? Graham, if you're reading this, you especially seem to have info from the modeling magazines. For those of us not into toys or models (is that just me?), if there was anything brand spanking new (as oppossed to variations or new kits for old mecha), you'd let us know here, right?

[AlphaHX]

Dunno if these are new or not but here ya go. Looks pretty darn sweet to meee...

I like models...

[Knight26]

That model while nice really doesn;t do that design justice, kind of like the Yammie YF-19 only more so.

[AlphaHX]

That model while nice really doesn;t do that design justice, kind of like the Yammie YF-19 only more so.

yeah... w/o anime magic tho... you can only carry it so far.

Edited November 15, 2004 by AlphaHX

[vanpang]

Sorry guys, can you enlighten me on this one. Is this a new anime series ? The plane looks pretty cool but which time line would it fall under ?

[Final Vegeta]

Macross 3D VF-X, a project which got canceled and replaced by Macross Zero. Much like Macross Plus there would have been a competition between the prototype of the VF-17 and the SW-AX-1, an experimental stealth attacker based on the VF-1. Obviously the VF-17 won, and so we got the SW-AX-2.

FV

[azrael]

Sorry guys, can you enlighten me on this one. Is this a new anime series ? The plane looks pretty cool but which time line would it fall under ?

This is a Character Model magazine exclusive column, VF-EX. It's like Kawamori's scratch paper. These are just some ideas he's come up with over the years. VF-EX is like Gundam's MSV artwork. Not official (yet) but it give him a chance to draw to his heart's content.

[polidread]

nice good info! thanks Final Vegata and Azrael!

[Ignacio Ocamica]

Wish the SW-AXI appeared in Mac Zero as the VF-0.

It's a pitty because Kawamory designed this plane as an advanced stealth fighter from the VF-EX program situated around 2040.

The Schneeblume is very similar to the VF-0A (legs, thrusters, arms, wings, backpack) and IMHO would have served better as an advanced prototype for the VF-1 series.

The SW-AXI is my favorite VF design together with the VF-1 series and the VF-3000!!!

I still can't find this IHP kit And I know I'll never see this in the form of a toy made by Yamato (well they proved me wrong with the König, but it appeared in a game and it's cannon). The SW-AXI isn't official yet.

[Ignacio Ocamica]

Another pic...

This could be an instant classic just like the VF-1

[jardann]

Thanks for these pics guys! I've never seen these valks before. I really like the SW-XA. I like it a lot better than the Mac 0 valks actually. I'd say that model comes really close to the artwork too. The feet and the nose could use just a little tweaking maybe, but other than that it seems dead-on. Any mor einfo on these would be appreciated.

[mikeszekely]

I really like both designs, although the canards on the SW-XAII look ridiculous. With a transformation closer to the VF-1, I think it looks better in Gerwalk mode than most of Kawamori's more recent designs... and dare I say it, better than the VF-19 (even the VF-19A) in fighter or Battroid.

But anyway, I guess with Kawamori finishing up Macross Zero, there hasn't been anything new in VF-EX?

[Dat Pinche Haro!]

just a lineart pic in battroid

i remember for a while people were thinkin' this was the VF-0

Edited November 16, 2004 by Dat Pinche Haro!

[Chronocidal]

Heh. It's easy to see why, though.. some parts of the two planes look almost identical.. the wing shape, the upper intake design.. pretty similar.

[valk1j]

Lineart of fighter, pretty cool underside pic.

[AlphaHX]

Heh. It's easy to see why, though.. some parts of the two planes look almost identical.. the wing shape, the upper intake design.. pretty similar.

wouldve fooled me too. looks like a vf-1a. i wouldve jumped onto the bandwagon too thinking it was the vf-0. definitely cant blame them.

[Dat Pinche Haro!]

magazine scan...don't know if it's up on MW tho

Edited November 16, 2004 by Dat Pinche Haro!

[mikeszekely]

Anyone have the lineart for the SW-XAII?

[DatterBoy]

The XA1 is definitely my fighter of choice. Even if it is not the VF-0 as some thought, you can definitely see the MAJOR influence it had on the 0 design. The lines are very similar. What is interesting is the deviations between the lineart and the actual model that whoever made, but it still looks really good.

I'll make this happen.. in CG.

:Dat

[Noyhauser]

I actually think the Zero was a excellent design, especially when you had to think about the problem of not making the VF-1 obsolete. If the SW was made to be the VF-0 (when it looks far more futuristic)... it would be considered munchkinesque.

With its wing design, I'd say it was a predecessor to the VF-11, incorporating elements of the VF-1.... if it doesn;t have a extensive back history already. I always thought of the VF-11 as really a VF-1 design philosophy (similar weapons, and transformation) with upgrades.

[Ignacio Ocamica]

I actually think the Zero was a excellent design, especially when you had to think about the problem of not making the VF-1 obsolete. If the SW was made to be the VF-0 (when it looks far more futuristic)... it would be considered munchkinesque.

Good points, but the VF-0 also looks far more futuristic than the VF-1!!

When I first saw the lineart of the Zero I thought what the #$%? The Hory Head copied himself!!! (he has the right to). I like M Zero but, being the SW-AXI an advanced fighter from 2045, it's impossible to make me believe the VF-0 is the prototype of the VF-1. It has the same arms, feet, legs (almost identical panel lines and details) as the SW-AXI. The Schneeblume could have been made to be the VF-0 (but it was impossible since it was situated in the VF-EX program/universe). That's why Kawamory designed the VF-0 (but took too many things from another design).

Ah, I got it out of my system

But I do like both fighters. When I watch M Zero I pretend the SW-AXI does not exist!!!

[Noyhauser]

you really think that it looks more advanced? I think when you look at the hasegawa models, (especially the size difference) you really gain an appreciation of which one is more advanced than the other. The VF-0 is so large, and it looks somewhat antiquated with holed airbrakes, and less sleek design. (maybe thats just my perception of it)

Looking at both SW prototypes, is there names attached to their makers? Because one looks like a predecesor to the VF-19, and the other looks like a cross between a vf-1 and 11

[Ignacio Ocamica]

You are right about the size and antiquated look of the VF-0, but it "borrows" many design details from the SW-AXI. When I see the VF-0, I also see the SW-AXI.

The VF-0 looks more advanced than the VF-1, just like the "Schneeblume" (my perception). At least we got two cool designs

[RichterX]

You are right about the size and antiquated look of the VF-0, but it "borrows" many design details from the SW-AXI. When I see the VF-0, I also see the SW-AXI.

The VF-0 looks more advanced than the VF-1, just like the "Schneeblume" (my perception). At least we got two cool designs

The VF-0 looks more like a robot that transforms into a fighter.

The VF-1 look like a fighter that happens to transform into a robot

[Onimusha-shin]

i just have this to say: "damn if it's in a Macross episode or not, just get Yamato to make those toys!"

[Zero Enna]

The VF-0 looks like a prototype for SW-AX-1 (also the Vf-0 have a stealth system listed in compendium entry).

AVIONICS: HUD. One AN/ALE 55 flare and chaff dispenser system. AN/ALQ 220A IDECM. ASS/PS 110 active stealth system. AWAG/RA 105 SWAG energy converting armor system, other equipment.

But the SW-AX-1 was surely one of the influences on VF-0 desing.

[Final Vegeta]

also the Vf-0 have a stealth system

All VFs ever had a stealth system. In Macross TV there is a stealth system called EMC: it was used by SDF-1 and Gnerl fighters, but there was no reason Valkyrie didn't use it.

FV

[Ido]

Personally i find those SW-XA near ugly, I'd rather see the VF-5000 or the VF-4 in some new series or in toy version.

[Zero Enna]

All VFs ever had a stealth system. In Macross TV there is a stealth system called EMC: it was used by SDF-1 and Gnerl fighters, but there was no reason Valkyrie didn't use it.

Sorry, but it was used by spaceships, and in a Zentradi mecha. In VF's, the only with stealth systems (due to desing or avionics) who appeares were those used by VF-0, VF-17, Excalibur and Sturmvogel.

[mikeszekely]

also the Vf-0 have a stealth system

All VFs ever had a stealth system. In Macross TV there is a stealth system called EMC: it was used by SDF-1 and Gnerl fighters, but there was no reason Valkyrie didn't use it.

FV

EMC, or ECM? ECM is Electronic Counter Measures.

[Final Vegeta]

EMC, or ECM?  ECM is Electronic Counter Measures.

It was called EMC, obviously to mean something that works like ECM but is not ECM.

It was mentioned only in few episodes: 7, 8 and 19. I saw it even in this picture:

FV

[vanpang]

Looks like the great Shoji has many ideas and designs stacked up. May we see more of them in future Macross anime !!!

[mechaninac]

It is also obvious that the SW-XA II has some influence into the SV-51's design...forward swept canards.

[ewilen]

FV, do you know where that picture comes from? I asked in the thread it originally appeared in but I don't think anyone said it was from an official/canonical source.

Even so, I think it's likely that Kawamori would say the VF-1 has essentially the same countermeasures as the VF-0. We keep going over the issue of whether the VF-0 is supposed to be "more advanced" than the VF-1; the last time was in the MZero spoilers thread, where I posted links to most of the previous discussions. Whether Kawamori et. al. successfully conveyed their intentions is another matter. Apparently not, or it wouldn't keep coming up.

[Final Vegeta]

FV, do you know where that picture comes from? I asked in the thread it originally appeared in but I don't think anyone said it was from an official/canonical source.

Yes, I read that only later, anyway someone may have drawn it reading the notes authors made at the time, Japanese fans really care for all details. Maybe that "EMC package" was not supposed to be in the head, but I think that, since that technology was found even in Regults, VF-1s were more than likely to be outfitted with it (that said I don't know if it was originally limited to a mode - maybe Fighter).

In itself the EMC was kinda an in-joke with Gundam's Minowsky particles, and it was done in such a subtle way most of people who have watched Macross don't remember it.

Even so, I think it's likely that Kawamori would say the VF-1 has essentially the same countermeasures as the VF-0.

Well, maybe the VF-1 isn't supposed to have an "IDECM", but it's a trifle. Since Macross Zero was done in these years authors chose to have modern names, but the substance is all the same.

Seeing that way I think every VF (with the possible exclusion of VC-1 and other similar Valkyries) is outfitted with stealth technologies, even if Compendium doesn't mention it. Stealth, along with Battroid-tougher-than-Fighter, seems to be the basis of Macross' fights as they were intended from the beginning.

FV