Super Macross Mecha Fun Time Discussion Thread!

[Master Dex]

11 minutes ago, AN/ALQ128 said:

How do the micro missiles acquire/track targets? Are they guided by the VF that launched them, or is there some really really tiny radar unit inside the nose cone of each one?

I don't have the exact answer in canon for this.... But where I work handles stuff for systems like this so I have insight. 

It could easily be all of the above with overtechnology... That said simplicity is key and micro missiles are a bit of a low risk weapon (for the user). This is clear in that they're fired in swarms to maximize likelihood of a hit. I'd suspect the VF handles the targeting since they are also low to mid range missiles and the AI translates the eye tracking data we often see and tells the missiles to follow their arcs. For larger non cluster missiles they might use a blend of this with active missile guidance such as on board radar. This is all my best guess though. 

9 hours ago, Seto Kaiba said:

I've often wondered... high-powered searchlights like the one used for the Bat Signal can easily draw ~7kW in operation.  That could get expensive pretty fast.  Does Bruce Wayne covertly reimburse the Gotham P.D. for the cost of operating it?

LED searchlights for yours. As for GCPD, Wayne Enterprises probably holds contracts there.. 

[sketchley]

 

1 hour ago, Master Dex said:

I don't have the exact answer in canon for this.... But where I work handles stuff for systems like this so I have insight. 

 

I've done a bit of research into this.  In short: whatever is in green in the following links is part of the official setting (= canon).

http://sdfyodogawa.mywebcommunity.org/Stats/Statistics/Missiles/Missiles.php

Aside from FCS, the only other important bit is on Guidance Sensor Types (comes into play in the following links).

http://sdfyodogawa.mywebcommunity.org/Stats/Statistics/Missiles/missilesFCS00.php#micro

Some of the micro-missiles for the VF-0 have been indicated as I/IR-Guided.

http://sdfyodogawa.mywebcommunity.org/Stats/Statistics/Missiles/missilesFCS1020.php#micro

IR-guided for the "Crusher" missiles on the GBP-1S.

The AMM-1 missiles for the VF-1 have been indicated as having a "combined sensor", but that comes from a secondary source - the Variable Fighter Master File Books (so not part of the official setting).  One can presume that similar sensors are employed on later micro-missiles.

[Seto Kaiba]

4 hours ago, AN/ALQ128 said:

How do the micro missiles acquire/track targets? Are they guided by the VF that launched them, or is there some really really tiny radar unit inside the nose cone of each one?

Macross Chronicle suggests that the majority of micro missiles use imaging infrared homing and preset guidance data to independently track targets after launch.  Some may equip active laser homing or optical seekers. ("Expanded universe" sources like Variable Fighter Master File have occasionally suggested guidance systems are modular and that this is simply the most common guidance configuration.)

Radar homing is noted to be greatly diminished in overall effectiveness due to how prevalent active stealth and ECM systems are on VFs.  Consequently, practically all missiles in Macross are of the active or passive self-guided "fire and forget" variety and guidance tech like semi-active homing has fallen out of favor.  Most missiles in the Macross universe seem to use at least two guidance technologies.  The larger missile types do often use ECCM-equipped active radar homing in addition to both infrared and optical homing.

[Master Dex]

3 hours ago, sketchley said:

 

I've done a bit of research into this.  In short: whatever is in green in the following links is part of the official setting (= canon).

http://sdfyodogawa.mywebcommunity.org/Stats/Statistics/Missiles/Missiles.php

Aside from FCS, the only other important bit is on Guidance Sensor Types (comes into play in the following links).

http://sdfyodogawa.mywebcommunity.org/Stats/Statistics/Missiles/missilesFCS00.php#micro

Some of the micro-missiles for the VF-0 have been indicated as I/IR-Guided.

http://sdfyodogawa.mywebcommunity.org/Stats/Statistics/Missiles/missilesFCS1020.php#micro

IR-guided for the "Crusher" missiles on the GBP-1S.

The AMM-1 missiles for the VF-1 have been indicated as having a "combined sensor", but that comes from a secondary source - the Variable Fighter Master File Books (so not part of the official setting).  One can presume that similar sensors are employed on later micro-missiles.

I wasn't sure if any would be using IR sensing, but I suppose it would make sense with those engines being a pretty distinct heat source. That's interesting info! If overtechnology makes it easier to combine more than one sensor type in a micro missile and still make it economical, then I can see them doing just for the hell of it if anything else (it fits with their rather liberal use of reaction engines in space.. they have the power, lol).

[JB0]

1 hour ago, Master Dex said:

If overtechnology makes it easier to combine more than one sensor type in a micro missile and still make it economical, then I can see them doing just for the hell of it if anything else

I can't imagine how it wouldn't, especially with overtech being introduced to the mix in 1999. Computer hardware had a lot of room to get smaller and more efficient back then, even without overtech. You could cram a Pi3 and a camera into the head of a missile from 1998 and greatly increase the amount of processing power available as well as tracking resolution, to say nothing of a low-power x86.

(It looks like we need new materials to make things much smaller right now. WHERE'S OUR ASS-1?!)

[Graham]

I've always imagined micro-missiles in Macross to use multiple types of tracking sensor (IR/Radar/Optical), etc and employ sensor fusion.

[Seto Kaiba]

9 hours ago, Master Dex said:

I wasn't sure if any would be using IR sensing, but I suppose it would make sense with those engines being a pretty distinct heat source.

It's a factoid that makes some other details given about later-model VFs using heat-sequestration techniques to reduce their visible IR profiles during combat make a bit more sense.  The last thing you'd want to do when the standard short-range missile is an imaging infrared seeker is go about emitting heat from every bloody surface... especially since that's a technology intended to make a missile less vulnerable to flare countermeasures.

 

5 hours ago, Graham said:

I've always imagined micro-missiles in Macross to use multiple types of tracking sensor (IR/Radar/Optical), etc and employ sensor fusion.

Honestly, when I first started researching 'em I figured they were probably using a mixture of infrared and command guidance since the effective range is so short and thus the possibility of friendly fire is remote.

It was inevitable radar would be right out when Macross started making more of a meal out of active stealth technology in Plus and Zero... and, sure as sure, Macross Chronicle indicates that using active radar homing is for medium-range missiles and up since they need powerful ECCM onboard to cope with VF-mounted ECM and active stealth systems.

[Sailor Arashi]

Years later they figure out that radar guidance works just fine, it's their habit of launching them by the dozen and creating their own chaffe cloud that screws them up 

[Bolt]

So what’s the actual range or constant service distance of a newer generation Vak, such as the VF-25? 

Atmosphere would be different than vaccume, I assume.

How long before it’s “out of fuel “ ?

It would seem the endurance and needs of the pilot would dictate that more so..

I also imagine there may be slight differences in certain variations or blocks and especially with super paks and Tornado armor, etc. in the mix..

Edited October 28, 2018 by Bolt

[Master Dex]

2 hours ago, Bolt said:

So what’s the actual range or constant service distance of a newer generation Vak, such as the VF-25? 

Atmosphere would be different than vaccume, I assume.

How long before it’s “out of fuel “ ?

It would seem the endurance and needs of the pilot would dictate that more so..

I also imagine there may be slight differences in certain variations or blocks and especially with super paks and Tornado armor, etc. in the mix..

There is really only limitation in space when it comes to fuel and operating time. In atmosphere, a VF-1 can run for months without refuel since it uses it's fuel to super heat intake air for propulsion, which is all around it. So in atmosphere, it is indeed up to pilot endurance and mission time. Most VF's could circle a planet several times over in the time it would take to burn off all it's fusion fuel. It is only limited by aerodynamic drag at that point, and the fact that the pilot will need to rest (and eat and dispense as ya do).

Space is a different story though. No atmosphere means no free propellant. One might think they'd have to find an extra source beside the fuel, but it turns out Thermonuclear Reaction Engines are so stupidly powerful thanks to overtechnology that they can just run them at a high output/low efficiency mode and use the fusion plasma as propellant. This means they don't need a separate propellant to replace the air used in atmosphere. The downside is it eats up the on board fuel. Really Fast. I don't know the exact figures (that guy comes later), but the VF-1 for a baseline example with no packs has a few hours of operating time or something to that effect.. maybe less. The FAST packs exist entirely to increase operating time in space by adding more fuel and additional booster rockets (which apparently, somewhat amusingly, are OTEC hybrid rockets, not fusion engines themselves.. which explains why they get tossed away so haphazardly since they are super cheap to make being based on real world modern day rocket tech with some sci-fi improvements).

There is actually a rare mention of this in Delta episode 6 (a rare time Delta bothered with useful details) where Arad tells Hayate to be mindful of his fuel. He never mentioned it before because this was their first sortie in space. Low and behold inexperienced pilot Hayate flew about haphazardly and ran out of fuel in short order in that episode. Though at least he had a decent amount to start with, those Drakken III's barely have much at all.

Later VF models improved all of this for space, to the point where future Super parts were more for adding armament and fuel rather than extra engines since the main engines of later craft were good enough. Notably, the VF-25's packs did add extra engines though, price you pay for an all regime fighter I suppose. Note the VF-4 is a space superiority fighter, it is designed to work there, and thus doesn't really need extras to operate (it is more like it has FAST packs built into it), but it wasn't as good in atmosphere. UNS/NUNS likes to go back and forth on how they made fighters for specialized regimes or jack of all trade styles. The latter seems to be in vogue as it was for the VF-1 and VF-11 days. The VF-19 and 22 weren't so much specialized for a regime though as a mission type and since neither ever really became a main line fighter (plans aside) that's somewhat irrelevant.

[Seto Kaiba]

11 hours ago, Bolt said:

So what’s the actual range or constant service distance of a newer generation Vak, such as the VF-25? 

Effectively unlimited in atmospheric service.  They're going to consume more fuel if they're launching from the surface into satellite orbit, but in purely atmospheric flight even the VF-1 Valkyrie had sufficient onboard fuel for approximately a month (700 hours) of continuous operating time.  The pilot's going to run out of steam way before the VF runs out of fuel.

In space, "range" is expressible less in terms of distance than it is in terms of the continuous burn time of the engines at maximum thrust.  As long as you can get up to speed and don't have to change course, the cruising range of a VF is limited only by the endurance of the pilot because there's no atmospheric drag slowing the VF down in level flight.  Tens of minutes is the apparent standard if they're burning up a lot of fuel in a dogfight.

 

 

8 hours ago, Master Dex said:

This means they don't need a separate propellant to replace the air used in atmosphere. The downside is it eats up the on board fuel. Really Fast. I don't know the exact figures (that guy comes later), but the VF-1 for a baseline example with no packs has a few hours of operating time or something to that effect.. maybe less.

I AM... THAT GUY!

Dramatic entrance aside, the disparity between the VF-1 Valkyrie's fuel consumption in atmosphere and in space is 4,200x.  The fuel that would've lasted 700 hours in atmosphere is consumed in approximately 10 minutes at maximum thrust.  This, of course, is why the first-generation FAST Packs emphasized substantial conformal fuel tanks to extend the main engine fuel supply and booster rockets that would take some of the burden off the main engines.

 

8 hours ago, Master Dex said:

There is actually a rare mention of this in Delta episode 6 (a rare time Delta bothered with useful details) where Arad tells Hayate to be mindful of his fuel. He never mentioned it before because this was their first sortie in space. Low and behold inexperienced pilot Hayate flew about haphazardly and ran out of fuel in short order in that episode. Though at least he had a decent amount to start with, those Drakken III's barely have much at all.

Yeah, that was a nice moment where the VF's greater fuel consumption in space was explicitly acknowledged in unusual detail.  Especially nice was seeing Hayate's HUD displaying the fuel levels in the various verniers.  The last time fuel was really discussed in explicit terms was Macross Zero, where Edgar was busting Shin's chops about paying attention to the fuel remaining for their VF-0D trainer, which had an aggressively short sortie range of 2,400km with standard supplemental fuel tanks thanks to its design using more conventional turbofan jet engines.

 

8 hours ago, Master Dex said:

UNS/NUNS likes to go back and forth on how they made fighters for specialized regimes or jack of all trade styles. The latter seems to be in vogue as it was for the VF-1 and VF-11 days. The VF-19 and 22 weren't so much specialized for a regime though as a mission type and since neither ever really became a main line fighter (plans aside) that's somewhat irrelevant.

It is worth noting that both the VF-17 (a Gen 3.5 VF) and the VF-19's second mass production type were space-optimized, and the VF-171 is noted to have been modified from the base model in an attempt to make it more suitable for all-regime operation, suggesting it was a less extreme version of a space-optimized generation.

The 5th Generation designs we've seen so far have largely been all-regime focused, like the VF-25 and VF-31.

[sketchley]

16 hours ago, Master Dex said:

UNS/NUNS likes to go back and forth on how they made fighters for specialized regimes or jack of all trade styles. The latter seems to be in vogue as it was for the VF-1 and VF-11 days.

The reason's a little bit different then what you're suggesting.  The VF-1 is all-regime (jack-of-all-trades), but the trade off was an extremely short sortie time.  Thereafter, they didn't have the technological know-how to make an all-regime fighter with adequate range until the VF-11.  VFs like the space-optimized VF-4 or the atmosphere-optimized VF-5000 weren't optimized by choice, but by necessity.

The VFs that come after the VF-11 (E.g. the space-optimized VF-19F) were by choice.

[Master Dex]

2 hours ago, sketchley said:

The reason's a little bit different then what you're suggesting.  The VF-1 is all-regime (jack-of-all-trades), but the trade off was an extremely short sortie time.  Thereafter, they didn't have the technological know-how to make an all-regime fighter with adequate range until the VF-11.  VFs like the space-optimized VF-4 or the atmosphere-optimized VF-5000 weren't optimized by choice, but by necessity.

The VFs that come after the VF-11 (E.g. the space-optimized VF-19F) were by choice.

I didn't really give a reason actually. I was also talking in over simplistic manner. I know there are people who can better answer things and give details, like you and Seto especially.

[Seto Kaiba]

13 hours ago, sketchley said:

The reason's a little bit different then what you're suggesting.  The VF-1 is all-regime (jack-of-all-trades), but the trade off was an extremely short sortie time.  Thereafter, they didn't have the technological know-how to make an all-regime fighter with adequate range until the VF-11. 

From what I've read¹, the problem of low fuel/propellant efficiency in space flight that limited the all-regime performance of the first few generations of Variable Fighter wasn't resolved until the introduction of the more efficient and powerful thermonuclear reaction burst turbine engine technology on the VF-16 and on the VF-17 from its -D variant onwards.  That was the standard engine technology for the 4th Generation VFs (VF-19, VF-22, VF-171, Sv-154?) and was further improved by the Stage II thermonuclear reaction turbine engines that were the standard for the 5th Generation VFs.

The 3rd Generation's VF-11 and VF-14 predate that improvement in engine technology.  The VF-11 went the VF-1 route and focused on atmospheric performance while depending on conformal fuel tanks and booster rockets in its Super Pack to give it an acceptable level of endurance in space flight.  The VF-14 followed the VF-4's design philosophy and maximized its space performance at the expense of other concerns like atmospheric performance, stealthiness, and so on.

 

 

1. One of the earlier mentions I recall is on page 38 of Great Mechanics.DX 9, under the "Struggle Against the Wall of Distance and Speed" heading.  There are other, similar explanations in Macross R and elsewhere.

[Seto Kaiba]

Over two months on from the release of the Macross Delta: Passionate Walkure movie on Blu-ray along with the specs for the movie-specific Armored Pack, and I'm perplexed that the specs haven't made their way into ANY Macross sites yet...

None!  Not even the Japanese ones!  

[Bolt]

Odd and disappointing.

Have the “specs” for Walkure been published? Jk..

[Seto Kaiba]

On 11/9/2018 at 10:42 AM, Bolt said:

Have the “specs” for Walkure been published? Jk..

... amusingly, also no.

Considering Macross Delta basically sold itself entirely on Walkure, that's actually kind of surprising.  Even Frontier seemingly couldn't resist giving some measurements for a few of its female cast.

[Sildani]

Where is the info for the VF-11 written? Does it tell the number and locations of its hardpoints? Thanks!

[Seto Kaiba]

17 minutes ago, Sildani said:

Where is the info for the VF-11 written?

Barring some potential coverage in issues of B Club, Hobby Japan, or Newtype, the first detailed coverage of the VF-11 Thunderbolt was This is Animation Special: Macross Plus feature article "Variable Fighter's Aero Report".  

 

17 minutes ago, Sildani said:

Does it tell the number and locations of its hardpoints? Thanks!

Nope.  AFAIK, the VF-11 wouldn't be officially depicted with underwing pylons until 17 years after its debut in Macross Plus's first episode.  Macross 7 had dodged the question entirely by giving the VF-11Cs in Operation Stargazer an internal ordnance bay in the engine nacelle that wasn't on the production line art.  The 8th chapter of Macross the Ride, in the 2011.10 issue of Dengeki Hobby magazine, finally officially depicted a VF-11 with underwing pylons.  Anthony Clemens's VF-11C Thunderbolt Interceptor was modeled with four pylons - two per wing - carrying a pair of micro-missile pods and a pair of HMM-111CS high-maneuver missiles.

[Sildani]

In Seto we trust. Thanks!

[Master Dex]

This is probably not news beyond me but I heard recently we're getting a VF-11 master file. Now we wait to find out if it is a proper effort or a half assed version like some recent ones have been I guess. 

[Bolt]

Love the VF-11. Still amongs my coveted VF’s!

Im surprised they never bothered with a VF-11 Master file before. 

Its true , the latest Master dukes have not been very remarkable. Curious to see how this will turn out. 

[JB0]

5 hours ago, Master Dex said:

This is probably not news beyond me but I heard recently we're getting a VF-11 master file. Now we wait to find out if it is a proper effort or a half assed version like some recent ones have been I guess. 

My money's on half-assed.

[Seto Kaiba]

I'm in two minds about it...

On the one hand, the Master File series did put out three books in a row that were not at all up to the high standard set by the first five books. The VF-4 and VF-22 books were critical failures of research, so they ended up being mostly BS and ridiculous original variants. The VF-31 book is slightly more forgiveable since its lazy copy-paste of stuff from the VF-25 book is actually justified by the significant amount of shared hardware.

On the other hand, the Battroid Valkyrie book is IMO a return to form on their part and nearly as good as the original five. They clearly can do it right when they want to... the question is, does the VF-11 merit their A-game?

 

I really do love the VF-11, so I'm hoping against hope that it'll be a good one.  They've got one more book I want coming out around the same time for the Geotron M9 Gernsback from Full Metal Panic!, so I'm hoping the VF-4 and VF-22 books were just an unfortunate lapse and that they're back on form full time.

[Master Dex]

I never considered that there was master files for other mecha... Books for FMP mecha would be awesome... I mean I'm still a long way from being able to read Japanese but even so.. 

[Seto Kaiba]

47 minutes ago, Master Dex said:

I never considered that there was master files for other mecha... Books for FMP mecha would be awesome... I mean I'm still a long way from being able to read Japanese but even so.. 

SoftBank Creative has done a number of non-Macross Master File books for various titles over the years.

Naturally, Mobile Suit Gundam got its own run of tech manuals under the title Master Archive Mobile Suit.  They've currently only done Universal Century stuff though.  That series currently has ten or eleven books including:

• Master Archive Mobile Suit RX-78 Gundam (OYW models)
• Master Archive Mobile Suit RX-78GP01 Zephyranthes (GP series units)
• Master Archive Mobile Suit RGM-79 GM Vol.1
• Master Archive Mobile Suit RGM-79 GM Vol.2
• Master Archive Mobile Suit MSZ-006 Zeta Gundam
• Master Archive Mobile Suit RX-0 Unicorn Gundam
• Master Archive Mobile Suit Victory Gundam (incl. Victory 2)
• Master Archive Mobile Suit MS-06 Zaku II
• Master Archive Mobile Suit MSV Pilot Log (basically Zaku II Vol.2)
• Master Archive Mobile Suit MSN-06S Sinanju

Then they've also got one-off Master File books for the ASF-X Shinden II from Ace Combat: Assault Horizon, the Layzner from SPT Layzner, the ATM-09ST Scopedog from Armored Trooper VOTOMS, the Xabungle from Combat Mecha Xabungle, the Dragonar from Metal Armor Dragonar, the FAW-RV-S1 Vifam from Galactic Drifter Vifam, and now the M9 Gernsback from Full Metal Panic!. 

I've been collecting the Macross Master File series and Gundam Master Archive series... the only non-series ones I've spurged on are the Shinden II and Gernsback.  The quality varies a bit from book to book, though it's generally good.  Gundam had a couple of disappointing ones like the Victory Gundam, Zaku II, and MSV Pilot Log book.  

[Bolt]

The YF-19/21 were the first variable fighters to use the pin point barrier system, yes?

There’s very little technical data on the VF-31’s , but I’m assuming the pin point system is standard now, since, as far as I can tell, all other variable fighters have been using this system since the YF-19/21 generation. 

As a side note, I never realized the pin point barrier technology allowed the VF-19 Excalibur to transform much more quickly than any other variable fighter of its time..except for the VF-22, I’m assuming.

Edited January 4, 2019 by Bolt

[Seto Kaiba]

57 minutes ago, Bolt said:

The YF-19/21 were the first variable fighters to use the pin point barrier system, yes?

Yeah, the inclusion of a VF-scale pinpoint barrier system was one of the defining requirements of the 4th Generation Advanced Variable Fighter program.

The YF-19 and YF-21 prototypes were the first ones to have it, but the technology was adopted on all 4th Generation and later VFs.  It was also fitted to several custom variants of 3rd Generation VFs like Mylene F. Jenius's VF-11MAXL Custom Thunderbolt, Anthony Clemens's VF-11C Thunderbolt Interceptor, Ray Lovelock's VF-17T Custom Nightmare, and Canaria Berstein's VB-6 Konig Monster, though in the case of the VF-11MAXL an engine upgrade was needed to provide adequate power, and on the Thunderbolt Interceptor the system requires additional power from a battery pack (to such an extent that some sensor systems can't run concurrently with it).

 

Quote

There’s very little technical data on the VF-31’s , but I’m assuming the pin point system is standard now, since, as far as I can tell, all other variable fighters have been using this system since the YF-19/21 generation. 

Pinpoint barrier systems are a standard feature on all 4th Gen and later VFs, including the VF-19, VF-22, VF-171, VF-24, VF-25, VF-27, YF-29, YF-30, VF-31, and Sv-262.  We have no way to know for certain, but if the Sv-154 is 4th Gen as a contemporary of the VF-171 then it had one as well.

 

Quote

As a side note, I never realized the pin point barrier technology allowed the VF-19 Excalibur to transform much more quickly than any other variable fighter of its time..except for the VF-22, I’m assuming.

It isn't... the pinpoint barrier system pulls more than half of the VF-19's reactor output.  It's normally only active in Battroid mode.

You may be thinking of the 5th Gen linear actuator technology, which improved transformation speed and durability by keeping parts aligned during transformation using electromagnetic force instead of complex and delicate actuators.

[Bolt]

21 hours ago, Seto Kaiba said:

You may be thinking of the 5th Gen linear actuator technology, which improved transformation speed and durability by keeping parts aligned during transformation using electromagnetic force instead of complex and delicate actuators.

This makes more sense. I was quoting the  technology and combat characteristics of the VF-19 Excalibur from the Macross Wiki.

[Seto Kaiba]

31 minutes ago, Bolt said:

This makes more sense. I was quoting the  technology and combat characteristics of the VF-19 Excalibur from the Macross Wiki.

Oh... that site.

Yeah, the Macross Wikia is pretty useless as a resource.  It mostly just copies text from other, more credible resources like Egan Loo's Macross Compendium or the Macross Mecha Manual, usually introducing a few errors in the process.  There's either zero editorial oversight or so little it could be mistaken for zero, leading to a number of articles becoming infested with fan theories, unfounded rumors, and hearsay.

[Devil 505]

Does anyone know where I can find details regarding a VF's escape capsule?

[Seto Kaiba]

2 hours ago, Devil 505 said:

Does anyone know where I can find details regarding a VF's escape capsule?

Only a few VFs have ever been depicted with that capability... 

For the VF-1, the only resource I know of that talks about it in any level of detail is the old and lamentably hard to come by Sky Angels doujinshi.  

You may be in luck, though, since there's a Variable Fighter Master File volume devoted to the VF-11 Thunderbolt allegedly coming out in late February (being SoftBank, expect mid-March if not later).  The VF-11 was far and away the most prominent user of that escape capsule concept thanks to reused animation in Macross 7.

I'm not aware of any resource that talks about the Fz-109's escape pod in any detail.

[anime52k8]

there was an escape capsule on the VF-1? I thought it was just the ejection seat.

On 12/31/2018 at 8:11 AM, Seto Kaiba said:

 The VF-4 and VF-22 books were critical failures of research, so they ended up being mostly BS and ridiculous original variants.

But the -4, -22, and-31 had such pretty pictures to look at and all the crazy original variants and equipment are fun.

Edited January 27, 2019 by anime52k8

[Seto Kaiba]

5 hours ago, anime52k8 said:

there was an escape capsule on the VF-1? I thought it was just the ejection seat.

It only appeared once, but yeah... the entire cockpit block can be ejected, and it has a modest rocket engine for propulsion.  We only ever see it manually deployed on that VF-1D Hikaru borrowed early in the original series.  The Sky Angels book depicts it in use in two of the five methods of emergency escape the VF-1 had.  The other three use the ejection seat.

 

 

5 hours ago, anime52k8 said:

But the -4, -22, and-31 had such pretty pictures to look at and all the crazy original variants and equipment are fun.

But the text is useless... it feels like it was drunkenly hammered out over a long weekend spent mixing drinks.

[JB0]

3 hours ago, Seto Kaiba said:

it feels like it was drunkenly hammered out over a long weekend spent mixing drinks.

"You can still write when you're drunk!"

- Roy Focker, author