The Newbie and Short Questions thread

[Mr March]

I would be the Darth Vader of directors.

Quick question: is there any information on what the head laser does while deploying the landing gear. on the VF-1/0 single head laser Valkyries. I assume that it rotates out of the way but in some images the room between the landing gear and the tip of the gunpod look rather narrow.

I haven't personally read any trivia about that, but the VF-1A head laser cannon is on a elevated mount, capable of raising upward or lowering downward. I just assumed the cannon "raises" (it would be "lowering" in fighter configuration, because the head unit is upsidedown), the landing gear deploy and then the cannon "lowers" (raises) back into position. It's not like clearance is needed on the ground, so while in flight the cannon would have plenty of room to drop straight downward while the gear are deployed and then the cannon can be pulled back up prior to landing.

An of course, we've seen in both the TV series and the DYRL film that the VF-1 head units can drop and swivel laterally while in fighter mode. So the cannon could be cleared from the landing gear without ever using the elevated mount for the cannon itself.

Edited July 2, 2015 by Mr March

[Scyla]

I haven't personally read any trivia about that, but the VF-1A head laser cannon is on a elevated mount, capable of raising upward or lowering downward. I just assumed the cannon "raises" (it would be "lowering" in fighter configuration, because the head unit is upsidedown), the landing gear deploy and then the cannon "lowers" (raises) back into position. It's not like clearance is needed on the ground, so while in flight the cannon would have plenty of room to drop straight downward while the gear are deployed and then the cannon can be pulled back up prior to landing.

An of course, we've seen in both the TV series and the DYRL film that the VF-1 head units can drop and swivel laterally while in fighter mode. So the cannon could be cleared from the landing gear without ever using the elevated mount for the cannon itself.

I literally forgot about that. Thanks for the reminder.

Edited July 3, 2015 by Scyla

[RedWolf]

Is there any art for the VF-4S, VF-4ST and VF-4SP?

[Primus1X]

In episode 1, who voiced the officer in a brown uniform that informs Captain Global while the politician was making his speech?

In the ADV credits that play after Runner, under English Cast there is a character simply named "Officer" voiced by Rob Mungle. But when they get to the Japanese Cast, instead of "Officer", there is "Technical Official", voiced by Minoru Inaba.

[Seto Kaiba]

Is there any art for the VF-4S, VF-4ST and VF-4SP?

No.

[RedWolf]

No.

Thanks.

[Dio]

Mac+ question:

In the 4-part OAV at the end, Isamu is shown bleeding all across the forehead when he hovers in to see Myung near the SDF bridge, but nothing on-screen happened to explain it.

In the movie version, we see that the wound was caused by disabling his console to silence Sharon. His recovery of control also had some extended footage that fit a little too well with the follow-up scene.

Was the headbutt & recovery storyboarded at one point, but not animated in the first iteration? Or was it a cut scene that got put back in for the movie?

[sketchley]

Mac+ question:

In the 4-part OAV at the end, Isamu is shown bleeding all across the forehead when he hovers in to see Myung near the SDF bridge, but nothing on-screen happened to explain it.

In the movie version, we see that the wound was caused by disabling his console to silence Sharon. His recovery of control also had some extended footage that fit a little too well with the follow-up scene.

Was the headbutt & recovery storyboarded at one point, but not animated in the first iteration? Or was it a cut scene that got put back in for the movie?

Just rewatched the sequences in question - in the OAV he isn't shown bleeding. It's just his long hair (had to watch it twice to confirm, as it's almost a blink-and-you-miss-it moment ).

Edited July 6, 2015 by sketchley

[Primus1X]

What aircraft is in the background?

http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/robotech/images/a/a8/Big_Bro_has_no_change.png/revision/latest?cb=20140831024327

[Mr March]

LOL, best to try identifying it in just a little higher resolution

I don't think it's identified. But I can see some weird stuff going on, like that it apparently has a set of canards, elevated above the main wing line. Take a look at the top pair of canards, particularly the wingroot where they are attached to the fuselage: it seems to indicate the top pair of canards are placed forward of the main wings. And these canards also feature "winglets" on the outer tip of each. Very strange. The engines kinda look A-10 Thunderbolt-ish.

[Seto Kaiba]

What aircraft is in the background?

http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/robotech/images/a/a8/Big_Bro_has_no_change.png/revision/latest?cb=20140831024327

... pretty much impossible to tell from a thumbnail the size of a postage stamp.

EDIT: Looks vaguely like a Beechcraft Starship... though that seems unlikely, since that design didn't go into production until 1983.

Edited July 8, 2015 by Seto Kaiba

[Lorindor]

I've always thought that it's an A-10. What look like canards could also be the horizontal stabilizers (drawn a bit sloppy). It lacks the massive gun in front, but perhaps it had been dismantled for the show.

[Mr March]

Yeah, like I said it can feel a little A-10-like. But the fuselage is kinda flattened and wide in the screenshot, whereas the A-10 is narrow and tall. Maybe it is meant to be, but not drawn quite as accurate. It is a rather quick scene and it's meant to be just background fodder.

[anime52k8]

Actually it looks more like an A-10 seen from the back.

And also not drawn particularly well.

Edited July 9, 2015 by anime52k8

[azrael]

And also not drawn particularly well.

That's probably the point. It's there in the background and isn't suppose to be the focus.

[Andras]

The nose gear is offset correctly to be an A-10 seen from the rear.

[wmkjr]

Someone posted a cool video in the aircraft thread.

[Primus1X]

Who voices the guy talking to Captain Global in this scene?

[calubin_175]

Theoretically, is there a slave mode for any of the VFs, especially those in the Frontier era? Could a pilot in one VF control another unmanned VF next to it?

[Dio]

Who were the singers they got for Fire Bomber American's album "English Fire?"

[mickyg]

Theoretically, is there a slave mode for any of the VFs, especially those in the Frontier era? Could a pilot in one VF control another unmanned VF next to it?

Alto pilots his VF-25F from outside, using his EXGEAR. I think that's pretty slave mode-ish. I don't know if it would be possible to slave into another VF from inside the cockpit when the pilot's suit is already connected, though.

[JB0]

Alto pilots his VF-25F from outside, using his EXGEAR. I think that's pretty slave mode-ish. I don't know if it would be possible to slave into another VF from inside the cockpit when the pilot's suit is already connected, though.

From a practical standpoint, I'm not sure why you'd want to. Outside of an airshow, it'd just be a good way to get a lot of planes blown up.

[Seto Kaiba]

Theoretically, is there a slave mode for any of the VFs, especially those in the Frontier era? Could a pilot in one VF control another unmanned VF next to it?

Only via implant technology... and, as far as we've seen, only on the VF-27.

[Primus1X]

In episode 1, did the three Ghost fighters and Skull Squadron take off from the Prometheus or from South Ataria Island? In the scenes where Ghost Fighters and VF-1As they take off it looks like it is land because there are hangars and other buildings in the background (as well as the Macross) but after Roy shuts his canopy the scene is cut to the Prometheus where two groups of indistinguishable fighters take off, one is a group of three, the next is a group of five.

I am also wondering how many planes are in the Skull Squadron initially? In real life is it 12 to 24?

Who voices the guy talking to Captain Global in this scene?

Anyone?

[Seto Kaiba]

In episode 1, did the three Ghost fighters and Skull Squadron take off from the Prometheus or from South Ataria Island?

You can clearly see buildings and the Macross in the background... that would tend to indicate the Ghosts are launching from South Ataria island. They literally ascend right past the Macross's bridge in that scene.

I am also wondering how many planes are in the Skull Squadron initially? In real life is it 12 to 24?

The only official org. chart ever published for VF squadrons suggests 15 is the most likely answer.

Anyone?

Minoru Inaba.

[TMBounty_Hunter]

Are there some official pics showing what the VF-1 and VF-0 radars are supposed to look like? What do they hide under those nosecones?

[Mr March]

I'm not sure about the VF-0 Phoenix nosecone radar, but I know of two such pictures for the VF-1 Valkyrie. The first is an official cutaway diagram of the VF-1 Valkyrie from This Is Animation Special Macross Plus
(1995) and the second is an unofficial cutaway diagram of the VF-1 Valkyrie from Variable Fighter Master File VF-1 Valkyrie Vol. 1 (2009).

[Seto Kaiba]

Are there some official pics showing what the VF-1 and VF-0 radars are supposed to look like? What do they hide under those nosecones?

As an addendum to Mr March's answer, Variable Fighter Master File: VF-0 Phoenix has a similar cutaway diagram... but it's facing the wrong way to get a good look at the AN/AWG-12 radar.

[Renato]

Here's how the 1/48 toy represented it.

[TMBounty_Hunter]

Hmm, so there's a bit of reference but not as much as I hoped. Oh well. Thanks very much for the pics and info!

[Dio]

Who were the singers they got for Fire Bomber American's album "English Fire?"

Still hunting for info on this one. The canon story is humorous (Macross 11 fleet band that asserts the original creative rights behind FB music, with Kaifun as manager), but the actual IRL vocalists who sang the tracks are pretty hard to find.

One Spanish site I found lists the singers as Dennis Gunn and Dawn Moore, but aside from that one mention (and some pretty scathing review comments) I can't find any other listing.

http://www.macrossgeneration.com/musica/macross7/english.php

The Dennis Gunn website mentions him being a singer popular in Japan with movie/video game soundtrack contributions, so that might be legit.

http://dennisgunnmusic.com/

I can't find anything on Dawn Moore though, has anyone ever looked into her career info?

I know these are probably low items on the totem pole, but make for interesting trivia.

[Seto Kaiba]

Still hunting for info on this one. The canon story is humorous (Macross 11 fleet band that asserts the original creative rights behind FB music, with Kaifun as manager), but the actual IRL vocalists who sang the tracks are pretty hard to find.

One Spanish site I found lists the singers as Dennis Gunn and Dawn Moore, but aside from that one mention (and some pretty scathing review comments) I can't find any other listing.

We need someone who actually has a copy of the English Fire!! album.

I've found a whole bunch of details of the people who did the arrangements and the composition of the English lyrics... but the only 2 members of Fire Bomber American who have artists associated iwth them are Dennis Gunn (who "voices" Rak Nabekasi) Dawn Moore (who "voices" June Ley Miles). No word on who did the drum and keyboard parts for real (just credited to the characters Kcool V Realy and Five Fads).

[DarkHawk]

Back to the yf-29 vs the yf-29b. Would it be a safe assumption to state that the yf-29b Percival is the nuns version of the yf-29 Durandal as opposed to an upgrade? Kind of in the same vain as NISSAN and Infinity or Toyota and Lexus are with using the same cars with different names?

[Seto Kaiba]

Back to the yf-29 vs the yf-29b. Would it be a safe assumption to state that the yf-29b Percival is the nuns version of the yf-29 Durandal as opposed to an upgrade? Kind of in the same vain as NISSAN and Infinity or Toyota and Lexus are with using the same cars with different names?

Eh... you could argue that.

The YF-29 was probably NUNS property when SMS was had it, like the VF-25s that the Frontier branch of SMS was hired to field test under combat conditions by Frontier's government.

The YF-29B is, most accurately, the improved YF-29 used by the NUNS special forces unit "Havamal". Uroboros had independent VF R&D facilities and a factory satellite, so the YF-29B may be (likely is) a local variant based on the YF-29 spec that was "made to order" for Havamal and isn't used anywhere else... or by anyone else. Though that could change.

[Cdr Fokker]

No word on who did the drum and keyboard parts for real (just credited to the characters Kcool V Realy and Five Fads).

That would be whoever did the original parts on Let's Fire!! and Second Fire!! - so far as I can tell, English Fire!! has the same instrumental parts from the original sessions, just with new vocals. As I recall, there are a few very minor instrumental differences, but likely simply an extra bit from the original work, and not anything truly new - though I don't really listen to English Fire!! much at all, so my recollection there may not be perfect).

The credits in the liner notes on English Fire!! imply this as well, given that the only artists credited are the two vocalists that have been mentioned, and the credits for mixing and such specifically note "vocals" rather than the usual general mixing/engineering/etc. lines.