spanner Posted March 23, 2017 Posted March 23, 2017 how cool would it be if they included a pull out poster of this with the master file! Quote
Seto Kaiba Posted March 23, 2017 Posted March 23, 2017 40 minutes ago, Mommar said: I normally do have Fed Ex hold at a location near my Mom's home but I've never had to for any of the Master File books before. I've bought pretty much all of them from CDJapan and this is the first time it's happened. It's no big deal, I'll grab it tomorrow afternoon, I'm more fussed over LA Customs. It's a convenient little service they offer, especially if I can nick a company car to go fetch my packages. Got mine 'round lunchtime today, but didn't get a chance to read 'em until after work hours. 4 minutes ago, spanner said: with all the great pictures jvmacross posted of the VF-31 Master File there's almost no reason to actually buy the book itself! LOL! great pics JV! thanks! I'll say this much... after a quick skim of the contents, if you don't count the pictures that might actually be the better choice. The VF-31's Master File book is not as bad as the lamentable and borderline-unreadable mess that was the VF-4 Master File, but it's not a big improvement either I'm afraid. For me, the biggest disappointment is that a fair-sized chunk of the book seems to be copied from the VF-25's Master File book and only minimally reworded. It's not entirely unreasonable, considering how much of the VF-31's hardware is newer variant versions of hardware that was in the VF-25, but it feels kind of like a copout at the same time. The rest is noticeably light on detail... very little said about the VF-31's weaponry (its distinctive built-in railguns are almost ignored), its FAST packs are glossed over, but the Variants section makes the goofiest choices in previous books look positively reasonable. Lotsa pretty pictures tho... but not nearly enough of the real VF-31. They do, at least, give an unofficial designation to the class of ships the Aether and Hemera belong to: they call it an Enterprise-class space carrier. The Master Archive Mobile Suit: MS-06 Zaku II book, on the other hand, is a treat for the eyes... Quote
jvmacross Posted March 23, 2017 Posted March 23, 2017 Love the capital ships.....guessing another Fanky: Battleships of the Galaxy book might be in the works..... Quote
jvmacross Posted March 23, 2017 Posted March 23, 2017 Maybe we'll see a strike pack version in a Macross Delta movie so Bandai can milk out another VF-31..... Quote
mickyg Posted March 23, 2017 Posted March 23, 2017 What does it say about the engine? I see they've shown it, at the very least. That has me curious. Quote
spanner Posted March 23, 2017 Posted March 23, 2017 Checked the trackong and it scanned as landed in the country about 4 hours ago! If all goes well I should have it tomorrow! Quote
seti88 Posted March 23, 2017 Posted March 23, 2017 4 hours ago, jvmacross said: Maybe we'll see a strike pack version in a Macross Delta movie so Bandai can milk out another VF-31..... How i wish bandai would release variant packs too... Long history of masterfile books for them to ctach up on tho..heheh... Quote
Seto Kaiba Posted March 23, 2017 Posted March 23, 2017 8 hours ago, mickyg said: What does it say about the engine? I see they've shown it, at the very least. That has me curious. On the subject of the engines, the book talks a fair bit... but says very little. The whole of the first two paragraphs is devoted to a rather tedious explanation of how the FF-3001/FC2 engine used in the VF-31S is a derivative of the FF-3001/FC1 engine the YF-29 used, which itself is a derivative of the FF-3001A Stage II thermonuclear reaction turbine engine used by the VF-25 and VF-31A. (They missed a step, about the FF-3001/FC2 engines Xaos uses in their custom VF-31s being detuned versions of the one installed in the YF-30 prototype that were rated for 12.5% more thrust.) The rest is a fairly wordy but otherwise non-specific comparison of the FF-3001A and FF-3001/FC2 that suggests the latter has improved power and propellant efficiency due to a refined GIC system and thermoelectric converter. (The diagram is mostly copied directly from the VF-25 book, though it looks like the FF-3001/FC2 version may have at least one system that wasn't part of the base model engine... I'm not sure if someone just labeled this wrong, but it looks like there's a second GIC system downstream of the reactor, and there's something on there that has gone totally unremarked-upon labeled "ISC Receiver" that, from its acronym, must be tied to the inertia store converter.) Quote
Mommar Posted March 23, 2017 Posted March 23, 2017 12 hours ago, Seto Kaiba said: The VF-31's Master File book is not as bad as the lamentable and borderline-unreadable mess that was the VF-4 Master File, but it's not a big improvement either I'm afraid. What was wrong with the VF-4 book? Quote
Seto Kaiba Posted March 23, 2017 Posted March 23, 2017 31 minutes ago, Mommar said: What was wrong with the VF-4 book? Well, the art was (mostly) fine... but the rest of the book was an absolute mess. There was a good-sized chunk of the development history section that had basically bugger-all to do with the development of the VF-4, being mostly a plug for Macross Delta, and the same with the service history section. The actual technical coverage sandwiched between them was a disappointing mess that had that iconic feel of a student trying to BS their way through their term paper the night before it's due without doing any research. They made up some gibberish about having a couple different aircraft all being mass produced under the designation "VF-4" (actually prototypes), they totally ignored the official variants list, made the VF-4G out to be the only one which was able to transform, and even presented the VF-4A and VF-4G as being different sizes... I could go on, but really, since the VF-4 is a personal favorite it's just making me depressed. 1 hour ago, Seto Kaiba said: (The diagram is mostly copied directly from the VF-25 book, though it looks like the FF-3001/FC2 version may have at least one system that wasn't part of the base model engine... I'm not sure if someone just labeled this wrong, but it looks like there's a second GIC system downstream of the reactor, and there's something on there that has gone totally unremarked-upon labeled "ISC Receiver" that, from its acronym, must be tied to the inertia store converter.) On checking, I was wrong about the chart appearing to have a second GIC... they relabeled part of what used to be labeled "GIC" as the "ISC Receiver". Other than that, the chart is more or less identical except for the engine nozzle at the far end. Quote
jvmacross Posted March 23, 2017 Posted March 23, 2017 (edited) Siegfried Pilot Suits.... Edited March 23, 2017 by jvmacross Quote
spanner Posted March 23, 2017 Posted March 23, 2017 YAY!! on board with driver for delivery today! Get to enjoy all the pretty pictures over the weekend! Quote
mickyg Posted March 23, 2017 Posted March 23, 2017 7 hours ago, Seto Kaiba said: On the subject of the engines, the book talks a fair bit... but says very little. The whole of the first two paragraphs is devoted to a rather tedious explanation of how the FF-3001/FC2 engine used in the VF-31S is a derivative of the FF-3001/FC1 engine the YF-29 used, which itself is a derivative of the FF-3001A Stage II thermonuclear reaction turbine engine used by the VF-25 and VF-31A. (They missed a step, about the FF-3001/FC2 engines Xaos uses in their custom VF-31s being detuned versions of the one installed in the YF-30 prototype that were rated for 12.5% more thrust.) The rest is a fairly wordy but otherwise non-specific comparison of the FF-3001A and FF-3001/FC2 that suggests the latter has improved power and propellant efficiency due to a refined GIC system and thermoelectric converter. (The diagram is mostly copied directly from the VF-25 book, though it looks like the FF-3001/FC2 version may have at least one system that wasn't part of the base model engine... I'm not sure if someone just labeled this wrong, but it looks like there's a second GIC system downstream of the reactor, and there's something on there that has gone totally unremarked-upon labeled "ISC Receiver" that, from its acronym, must be tied to the inertia store converter.) Thanks Seto. And JVM for posting the pics. I really like these tech sections that go into great detail (even if it's fanciful or downright silly). What I really found interesting is how much the engines resemble real, contemporary jet engines. Right down to the nozzles, even. I always assumed the nozzle was the foot and didn't realise there's a regular, round, adjustable one buried up inside the foot, with the foot acting as a sort of "second stage." Quote
jvmacross Posted March 23, 2017 Posted March 23, 2017 44 minutes ago, mickyg said: Thanks Seto. And JVM for posting the pics. I really like these tech sections that go into great detail (even if it's fanciful or downright silly). What I really found interesting is how much the engines resemble real, contemporary jet engines. Right down to the nozzles, even. I always assumed the nozzle was the foot and didn't realise there's a regular, round, adjustable one buried up inside the foot, with the foot acting as a sort of "second stage." Good point....are the engines basically similar in function and design as normal engines....just jacked up with Overtechnology? Quote
jvmacross Posted March 23, 2017 Posted March 23, 2017 The google text image translator is pretty handy for some things.....better than nothing Quote
spanner Posted March 23, 2017 Posted March 23, 2017 ahhh! so google can translate a language from an image too? Quote
Seto Kaiba Posted March 23, 2017 Posted March 23, 2017 1 hour ago, mickyg said: Thanks Seto. And JVM for posting the pics. I really like these tech sections that go into great detail (even if it's fanciful or downright silly). What I really found interesting is how much the engines resemble real, contemporary jet engines. Right down to the nozzles, even. I always assumed the nozzle was the foot and didn't realise there's a regular, round, adjustable one buried up inside the foot, with the foot acting as a sort of "second stage." To me, the bits that delve into the specifics of how things operate are my favorite part... the VF-0, VF-1, VF-19, and VF-25 books were this to a "T", but the VF-4, VF-22, and VF-31 books are a huge disappointment on that front. (The squadrons book is actually interesting not because it has technical material, which is mostly of the forgettable variety, but because it offers insights into the tactics used during the First Space War.) Yeah, ever since the earliest tech manual (Sky Angels) it's been pretty clear that the key difference between a thermonuclear reaction turbine engine and a normal jet engine is that they've substituted a compact thermonuclear reactor for the burner stage. Other than that, it works an awful lot like a normal turbine... in atmosphere, anyway. The "foot" is traditionally the thrust-vectoring paddle, while the actual nozzle sits on top of the back of the engine inside the foot. That's also where the thrust-reverser's intake is. (Macross Frontier: Sayonara no Tsubasa points to that interior nozzle being capable of limited thrust vectoring in its own right, esp. on the VF-171.) 22 minutes ago, jvmacross said: Good point....are the engines basically similar in function and design as normal engines....just jacked up with Overtechnology? Basically, yeah... at least, in their air-breathing mode. They're made with tougher stuff so they can endure higher temperatures and RPMs, but at the end of the day they're still heating intake air in a high-pressure environment to provide thrust. The chief difference is that, as I noted above, they've replaced the combustion stage and its very volatile liquid hydrocarbons with a compact thermonuclear reaction system that is using fold effect-based gravity manipulation to initiate and contain the reaction, and the heat from the reaction is used to both generate electrical power and conducted into the airstream to provide the engine's thrust. (The engines are actually one of the best described technologies in Macross, and ironically their implementation is mirrored by a later NASA paper on theoretical fusion turbine engines.) Quote
jvmacross Posted March 23, 2017 Posted March 23, 2017 (edited) Thanks Seto..... So is there anything written about how Zentran engines achieve similar results....or are they the same.....if they are different....I assume hybrid engines would be developed.... Edited March 24, 2017 by jvmacross Quote
spanner Posted March 24, 2017 Posted March 24, 2017 my book arrived! looking forward to reading gazing at all the yummy pictures! Quote
spanner Posted March 24, 2017 Posted March 24, 2017 Had a good look through the new book and I really like it! Some of those variants are a little wild! Great addition to the master file collection! Better than the vf4 book too. Quote
Seto Kaiba Posted March 24, 2017 Posted March 24, 2017 14 hours ago, jvmacross said: Thanks Seto..... So is there anything written about how Zentran engines achieve similar results....or are they the same.....if they are different....I assume hybrid engines would be developed.... What I've gathered from the much less detailed information available on Zentradi mechanics is that the flight engines on Zentradi mecha operate more or less identically to a thermonuclear reaction turbine's space mode... a hybrid of fusion plasma rocket and ion thruster. Their propellant efficiency is probably quite high, considering the limited space they have to store fuel. 9 hours ago, spanner said: my book arrived! looking forward to reading gazing at all the yummy pictures! The best part was definitely seeing multiple YF-30s in the book... between that and the VF-31s, who cares about the Siegfrieds? Quote
jvmacross Posted March 24, 2017 Posted March 24, 2017 (edited) 4 hours ago, Seto Kaiba said: What I've gathered from the much less detailed information available on Zentradi mechanics is that the flight engines on Zentradi mecha operate more or less identically to a thermonuclear reaction turbine's space mode... a hybrid of fusion plasma rocket and ion thruster. Their propellant efficiency is probably quite high, considering the limited space they have to store fuel. Thanks for the insight.... The only one that is, at least visually, a hybrid of sorts between Zentran and Human technology is the variable Glaug....wonder what it's guts look like....a hybrid of both or the best of each? Edit: Oh...and how can I forget the hybrids from your fave Macross II... Edited March 24, 2017 by jvmacross Quote
Seto Kaiba Posted March 24, 2017 Posted March 24, 2017 13 minutes ago, jvmacross said: The only one that is, at least visually, a hybrid of sorts between Zentran and Human technology is the variable Glaug....wonder what it's guts look like....a hybrid of both or the best of each? By all accounts, it ought to look much the same as any other VF from the 3rd or late 2nd Generation thanks to their adoption of some Zentradi overtechnology. I suppose the VF it should most closely resemble would actually be the VF-4, given that it was developed from one that was captured by Zentradi rebels in 2014. (The VF-4 predates the implementation of Zentradi OT in the design, but proves the soundness of the idea by improving the performance of an early 2nd Generation design to arguably a 3rd Generation equivalent.) Come to that, it'd have been a nice touch if they'd remembered the link between the VF-4 and Variable Glaug for the VF-4 Master File... or, if they ever pen a VF-11 Master File, if they'd recall the Feios Valkyrie (Gen 4 equiv.) was developed by applying Zentradi overtechnology to a captured VF-X-11 Thunderbolt. ('course if they had done that for the VF-4 book they'd have needed to address that Macross R accidentally conflated the Variable Glaug and Neo Glaug, and that the VBP-1 and VA-110 designations probably belong to the initial versions.) Quote
no3Ljm Posted March 24, 2017 Posted March 24, 2017 On 3/22/2017 at 8:28 PM, spanner said: how cool would it be if they included a pull out poster of this with the master file! Or it comes with code so we can download digital file. On 3/22/2017 at 9:19 PM, jvmacross said: Maybe we'll see a strike pack version in a Macross Delta movie so Bandai can milk out another VF-31..... Love the Beam Pack and the Laser Pack configurations. Mine is just sitting at HLJ's PW. Might have to ship it next month. Quote
NZEOD Posted March 24, 2017 Posted March 24, 2017 why was this book called the Seigfried though... isn't it about the VF-31? So the 31A Kairos is also a Seigfried? Quote
NZEOD Posted March 24, 2017 Posted March 24, 2017 2 hours ago, Seto Kaiba said: By all accounts, it ought to look much the same as any other VF from the 3rd or late 2nd Generation thanks to their adoption of some Zentradi overtechnology. I suppose the VF it should most closely resemble would actually be the VF-4, given that it was developed from one that was captured by Zentradi rebels in 2014. (The VF-4 predates the implementation of Zentradi OT in the design, but proves the soundness of the idea by improving the performance of an early 2nd Generation design to arguably a 3rd Generation equivalent.) Come to that, it'd have been a nice touch if they'd remembered the link between the VF-4 and Variable Glaug for the VF-4 Master File... or, if they ever pen a VF-11 Master File, if they'd recall the Feios Valkyrie (Gen 4 equiv.) was developed by applying Zentradi overtechnology to a captured VF-X-11 Thunderbolt. ('course if they had done that for the VF-4 book they'd have needed to address that Macross R accidentally conflated the Variable Glaug and Neo Glaug, and that the VBP-1 and VA-110 designations probably belong to the initial versions.) Be better served just doing a Macross The Ride Master file to cover all the freakish test beds out there Quote
Devil 505 Posted March 24, 2017 Posted March 24, 2017 4 hours ago, jvmacross said: Thanks for the insight.... The only one that is, at least visually, a hybrid of sorts between Zentran and Human technology is the variable Glaug....wonder what it's guts look like....a hybrid of both or the best of each? Edit: Oh...and how can I forget the hybrids from your fave Macross II... The YF-21/VF-22 also incorporates Zentradi technology. Quote
jvmacross Posted March 24, 2017 Posted March 24, 2017 4 minutes ago, Devil 505 said: The YF-21/VF-22 also incorporates Zentradi technology. Yes....it does look very Q-Rau in battroid mode.... Quote
Seto Kaiba Posted March 25, 2017 Posted March 25, 2017 2 hours ago, NZEOD said: why was this book called the Seigfried though... isn't it about the VF-31? So the 31A Kairos is also a Seigfried? Realistically, it's because the main characters from Macross Delta flew the customized Siegfried model rather than the model the military was going to be using the way the Macross Frontier cast did. From the book's own in-universe perspective, it's devoted to the Siegfried custom instead of the military's model because it's published by the multimedia branch of Xaos Corp., as a shameless plug for their monstrously incompetent PMC division. 2 hours ago, NZEOD said: Be better served just doing a Macross The Ride Master file to cover all the freakish test beds out there Nah, they could totally do Vol.2 versions of a bunch of different books to cover some of these bizarre custom jobs and all the official stuff they forgot. 46 minutes ago, Devil 505 said: The YF-21/VF-22 also incorporates Zentradi technology. Pretty much all VFs from 3rd Gen on do... the YF-21/VF-22 just incorporated more than is typical. Then again, it was developed at the General Galaxy-run Quimeliquola factory satellite in Eden's orbit, so... Quote
Devil 505 Posted March 25, 2017 Posted March 25, 2017 34 minutes ago, Seto Kaiba said: Pretty much all VFs from 3rd Gen on do... the YF-21/VF-22 just incorporated more than is typical. Then again, it was developed at the General Galaxy-run Quimeliquola factory satellite in Eden's orbit, so... Now I know Guld's selection as Omega One's pilot was more than a coincidence. Quote
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