Yamato 1/60 VF-11b under development

[Black Valkyrie]

Here are the line arts regarding the heatshield :

[ruskiiVFaussie]

Wonder if we'll get Plus type Zentran armour later on for the 11 to do battle with? That would be fun!

[bluemax151]

Forget about the heat shield.

I'm just hoping that Battroid mode doesn't turn out to be a crappy compromise like the YF-21.

wait WHAT?! I'm quite happy with my 21 so far..

hahaha! detachable vf-11 cockpit, this is a Macross 7 thing...so Yamato doesn't have the license to make it detachable, hahahaha!

Well Played Trebek

but the detachable cockpit is a VF-11C thing I imagine.

Now I wonder, will Yamato include the dual atmospheric boosters, and FAST packs, or make a supplementary set for them? Also, it would be great to see some drones come with the VF-11B, like the ones in the scene where Isamu is the chase pilot for Guld and steals a kill, and pisses him off.

Could release 11 with fast packs and drones with atmospheric boosters or other way around if they really felt inclined to do so. Or even a generic 11 with one set and an Isamu version with the other.

[QuinJester]

Yamato seem to be improving with their joints. The joints on my 1/60 YF-21 toys are still nice and stiff and can hold any pose. Likewise, the new 1/60 VF-1S has super tight joints (some may say too tight).

Sadly most of my 1/60 YF-19 toys have turned into froppy messes in battroid mode.

Graham

... so the skirting of the ratchet question means no ratchet hips, huh? Oh well.

I secretly hope the 11 will be oversized to be closer to the 19 and 21 height as opposed to VF-1 sized.

I suppose it's not really a secret though if I say it outright.

[Dobber]

Good news!!!! I was a little conserned since the last info we heard was that they didn't have the go-ahead, with the design they had, yet glad to hear it IS moving along and that Graham has even seen it!!!! Looking forward to pictures. The 11 is my favorite too.

Chris

[eriku]

Yamato seem to be improving with their joints. The joints on my 1/60 YF-21 toys are still nice and stiff and can hold any pose. Likewise, the new 1/60 VF-1S has super tight joints (some may say too tight).

Sadly most of my 1/60 YF-19 toys have turned into froppy messes in battroid mode.

Graham

Yeah, the shoulder joints on my 1/60v2 are so tight that when I move the arms it puts a lot of stress on the shoulder hinges and wants to bend them. I always make sure to brace that area when I move the arm so the hinge doesn't break. I do like her better tight than loose though.

I still would prefer some good ratchet joints. Doesn't Yamato's Scopedog have some ratchets in it? Or am I getting it confused with one of the other 16,000 Scopedog toys?

[QuinJester]

Yeah, the shoulder joints on my 1/60v2 are so tight that when I move the arms it puts a lot of stress on the shoulder hinges and wants to bend them. I always make sure to brace that area when I move the arm so the hinge doesn't break. I do like her better tight than loose though.

I still would prefer some good ratchet joints. Doesn't Yamato's Scopedog have some ratchets in it? Or am I getting it confused with one of the other 16,000 Scopedog toys?

The Yamato dog has ratchets in the toes (at least, the fixed versions), elbows, and knees. It could definitely benefit (even the fixed ones) from ratchets in the shoulders and hips. The shoulders are tight to the point of it being awkward to reposition because it sticks, and yet if you put a gun in its hand it still wants to droop.

Yamato's definitely no stranger to ratchets... most if not all of their valks have ratchet knees, elbows and feet. I just wish they'd ... use more. Hips especially. Ball joints are great on smaller figures, but when it's a heavy piece like an SV-51 or something, there's nothing like a good clicky joint for stability and peace of mind.

[Knight26]

I think I know how they will do the canopy cover. The lineart shows that it is in two parts, if they keep that it could simply be a system wherein you push in the canopy and it pushes out the two cover pieces. There would then be a switch maybe in the landing gear well that releases the cover and pushes the cockpit back up. Just a thought.

[eriku]

I hope it's a rotating cockpit/canopy, like the Joke Machine valks.

[danth]

... so the skirting of the ratchet question means no ratchet hips, huh? Oh well.

I dunno, Graham ignored one of my questions once and I assumed the worst. Turned out he was just ignoring me!

I do like her better tight than loose though.

*giggles*

I hope it's a rotating cockpit/canopy, like the Joke Machine valks.

Yeah! I love those little guys!

[Sumdumgai]

I guess it's possible to get the cockpit escape pod, since they did appear in Macross VFX2 in an illustration at the beginning of the game (unless I remembered wrong and am just crazy). Likely? I doubt it. But with the 1/60 VF-1 v2 and the removeable nose area, who knows!

I'm still betting that the heatshield will be a push down on the canopy to press the whole cockpit area down, and have the heatshield slide out in two parts like the lineart. Since there's nothing in that area that's involved with the transformation, I see them going with that method (no nose to break like the YF-19, or SV-51, no opening nose area like the YF-21, and no swingbar like the VF-1 and VF-0).

I'm wondering how the gunpod will be mounted...

[David Hingtgen]

The problem is, the upper part of the heatshield would be right behind the cockpit--which is where the whole forward fuselage pivots 180 to transform. If the heatshield is stored behind the cockpit like the VF-1----it's in the way to transform.

[Sumdumgai]

Good point David Hingtgen.

Depending on the length of the cockpit, I think that the upper part of the heatshielf could be stored behind the cockpit at a severe angle. When the cockpit is pressed down, you'd grab the tip of the heatshield and slide it up and out into place at an angle.

Or rather than have a two-piece, they could have the whole thing be stored in front of the cockpit as one piece.

[Shin Densetsu Kai 7.0]

I have a feeling the heat shield is actually stored underneath the entire canopy/cockpit, you merely swivel the cockpit up on a hinge aft of the opening canopy hinge, about 110 degrees upwards, swivel the heatshield out, put the cockpit back down, and with the heatshield no longer underneath it, the cockpit can be pushed in further. Then the heat shield is swiveled downwards over the canopy, with an interlocking tab that is secured behind the canopy into the fuselage(neck), this way in battroid mode, there is no indication that a tab is even there, its cleverly hidden.

This is the most feasible way I could think of, I think a canon shield storage would be very tricky, especially if its a 2 piece, canon spring loaded mechanism that I am thinking of.

[Sumdumgai]

Interesting idea!

I'm having some difficulty picturing it. I like it though.

I'm just pleased that we're not going to have a vac formed pos like on the original 1/72 VF-11, and that it's perfect transformation.

[bluemax151]

I still would prefer some good ratchet joints. Doesn't Yamato's Scopedog have some ratchets in it? Or am I getting it confused with one of the other 16,000 Scopedog toys?

The ver1 Scope Dog I own has ratchets everywhere but like waist/upper arm/wrist/toe area. The only problem with it is the thumbs really and the new ones are supposedly tighter overall.

[badboy00z]

I read that the VF-11 can VTOL in fighter, how does it achieve lift?

[ruskiiVFaussie]

Vernier thrust? Just like the VF-1?

[warrhead]

Slightly OT, but what are the actual new dimensions for the the -11? The original "1/72" was determined to be closer to 1/62, could it actually be closer to 1/72 now?

[Shin Densetsu Kai 7.0]

The original "1/72" was determined to be closer to 1/62, could it actually be closer to 1/72 now?

The original was close to 1/68 from what I remember.

Graham did say that Kawamori retconned the actual size of the VF-11, so that the 1/60 one will actually be bigger than previously thought.

[1/1 LowViz Lurker]

Do you think the pilot will look bigger now too?

[Scream Man]

Its not supposed to be much bigger than the VF-1

[Shin Densetsu Kai 7.0]

Its not supposed to be much bigger than the VF-1

It wasn't, but Kawamori retconned the size this year...

[Dante74]

I wonder if Kawamori retconned it at Yamato's request?

[1/1 LowViz Lurker]

I reckon more because it looks better as a bigger valk because small makes the arms skinny.

In the anime it looked about the same size as 19 and 21. So I'm not angry.

For the toy, you'd want thicker arms imo. So it's a good thing it went bigger.

But my original question is "will the pilot also get bigger now?" hehe

1/60 vf-1 pilot sitting next to a 1/60 vf-11 pilot will make the vf-1 guy look like he is small now.

Oh well. They DID have food rationing back in SW I due to the rain of death I suppose and this is mentioned in the anime when kaifun was complaining about lack of money from minmay concerts. They must have genetically modified pilots to be smaller than the ones in the future.

Edited August 26, 2008 by 1/1 LowViz Lurker

[Scream Man]

Wair, what? Why is the pilot getting bigger?

[Valkyrie addict]

heehe...well...Yamato could just tinker a bit with the canopy size to fit the proper 1/60 size pilot and also get more housing for the canopy shield to hide however they're suppose to do it

oh man, when will there be pics of this?!

[505thAirborne]

Well after all the delays that have occurred with the VF-11B, I just hope it is a very accurate looking Valkyrie that is true to the anime and has every detailed matched up correctly.

And even if the pilot sizes a slightly off between a VF-1 & a VF-11 pilot, well just keep those valk's on separate shelves!!

And just think...... Accurate landing gear this time, Holy cow!!!!

[Sumdumgai]

Not all pilots are the same size anyway. Try swapping the pilots between the different 1/60 scale valkyries. Isamu will not sit in the YF-21, the VF-0 pilot won't fit either.

[Black Valkyrie]

No pic yet regarding the Heatshield.

Edited August 27, 2008 by Black Valkyrie

[Dante74]

Not all pilots are the same size anyway. Try swapping the pilots between the different 1/60 scale valkyries. Isamu will not sit in the YF-21, the VF-0 pilot won't fit either.

Not all pilots are the same size in real life so Yamato's pilots are pretty realistic in a way. Makes you wonder though, if Isamu were to go to a Valk museum, would he fit into a VF-0?

[1/1 LowViz Lurker]

I think the bigger vf-11 will mean better value for money so I like the change in size. It will be interesting the size of gunpod in relation to the valk though. They should always make the gunpod arm a little tighter than the non gunpod arm in case it gets heavy.

[sharky]

Yes, they are nice, thank you.

Sorry, can't show em' yet.

Graham

Is there a schedule as to when you can reveal the pics, or have they not mentioned a date that it would be OK? That's cool that they would give you a sneak peak, but I am curious why they would let you see them, but not let you post them for anyone else to see? Is it so you can write a review, etc?

I am eagerly awaiting this release as it's one of my top favorites. I missed the boat on the first one, but I'm sort of glad I did after reading of the quality issues. Keep us posted. Thanks.

[Valkyrie addict]

Graham tests Yamato's prototype and also gives them feedback from the community since he runs a major macross forum, they allow him to see prototype pictures or the prototype itself with the one condition to keep quiet about it or the Yamato ninjas will get him

Yamato decides when to let him post pictures or info or if the pictures are already released by a legit source he will consult Yamato if he can post his pictures, if he doesn't do as he is told, Yamato will cut him off, and we don't want that over here

[sqidd]

Man, I saw this up at the top and got all excited.

No pictures huh?