Hello everybody,
This is my first thread, but I have a question that I feel only my fellow Macross fans could help to answer.
I am an amateur 3D artist and as a hobby, I enjoy modeling Valkyries. I just started a new model of a VF-11 Thunderbolt. I want to make it as close to the line art as possible while still being able to transform it from fighter to battroid. For reference, I have Yamato's VF-11B and Hasegawa's injection kits. They look good and will work great, but I noticed when I started measuring them that the proportions don't match the specs given in all the documentation of the VF-11 series.
Macross Chronicle and the Macross Mecha Manual say the VF-11 is 15.51 meters long with a wingspan of 11.2 meters. When I measure the artwork from the Hasegawa instruction sheet and scale it up (assuming a length of 15.51 meters), I get a wingspan of 14.37 meters. The Macross Mecha Manual line art gave me a wingspan of 13.23 meters. I have yet to measure the Yamato toy, but just eyeballing it, I can tell it has an incredibly wide wingspan.
So my questions are:
1) Is the Macross Chronicle wingspan correct, or is it a known inaccuracy?
2) If it is correct, is it with the wings fully extended?
3) Is there an accurate portrayal of 15.51 x 11.2 dimensions anywhere, either in a kit, toy, or line art?
4) Did Yamato and Hasegawa make the wings too wide, or did they shorten the body?
5) Should I just ignore the specs and go with the Yamato or Hasegawa proportions?
6) Can anyone recommend an alternate resource for VF-11 schematics?
My temptation is to go with the Yamato, since it compromises nicely for transformation, while maybe scaling down the width of the wings closer to the line art. Thoughts?