halfan

Something has bothered me about Macross The First since I opened up the first issue of Macross Ace. What bothers me does not apply to Mikimoto's colorized work, only the black & white pages of MTF. The characters are less detailed than other manga he's worked on. Characters in M7 Trash, Ecole du Ciel, and other one-off manga he's produced have more detailed shading, facial expressions, hair, more folds in clothing, etc. And it's not just the progression of his work over many years. I compared later volumes of Ecole du Ciel to MTF and again, the lack of detail in the characters is noticeable. MTF does have my interest, enough to import Macross Ace and MTF manga, however I care more about the retelling of the story and changes like the VF-1D head as opposed to the art, which is what normally grabs me.

That should not be an issue in space. The fast packs and sensor equipment might be jettisoned. I would imagine a VE-1 could come back to the SDF-1 in battroid or gerwalk mode or even in fighter mode maneuvering like the space shuttle docking at the int'l space station.

No sense in reposting PVC figures that are in the other topic. I have more r/c bodies and unbuilt kits elsewhere.

Got my VE-1 and really liking it so far. I've only got two gripes about this toy so far. Following the sticker guide, it calls for #34 x7 and there are only x6 of this sticker. #35 can be used but it is white instead of gray. I remedied this by using an extra #34 from the VT-1 sticker sheet. Secondly, has anybody noticed similar damage to the camera 'eye'? The clear orange plastic is not scratched. It is most likely a metallic paint underneath that got scratched. It really detracts from the whole toy when compared to the awesome camera 'eye' of the VF-11.

I have a thing for Chun Li and Mai Shiranui and to a lesser extent Capcom/SNK gals. Medicom Snake is usually on my desk. What does occupy that space is very big, very expensive, and very NSFW. Search Daiki Kougyo Koyori if you're curious. I do not own the Atelier Sei Knight Sabers anymore. Posing toys is a sub hobby of mine. My collecting of PVC figures has slowed down tremendously in the last couple of years, however I am waiting on the Beat Choun Shiryu.

Got my book today and it is really nice. His first new artbook in almost 6 years. I was hoping for a compilation of all or most of his recent Gundam artwork, especially with Ecole du Ciel still ongoing. A 30th anniversary book for Macross would also be most welcome. Anyway, the book is just over 100 pages, printed on glossy paper. The book is organized by the Gundam timeline. Mostly color and more recent pencil sketches. There is a surprising amount of newer art and lesser known illustrations from novels. Definitely worth it for U.C. Gundam fans or Mikimoto fans.

You are incorrect about the VF-17 being 'armless' in gerwalk as you put it. True, the VF-17 gerwalk is almost always depicted w/ the arms raised/laser cannons forward, however, the arms can swing down for a more familiar pose. In the game VF-X2, the VF-17 gerwalk mode looks much like the VF-171, arms out holding a gunpod.

I got more satisfaction out of the new 1/60 VF-1 without any doubt. I bought my first Yamato 1/60 VF-1 (Hikaru VF-1S w/ super parts) along with the Bandai Ozma/Alto VF-25 valkyries. I wasn't too keen on Bandai after their Macross 7 valkyries. I gave them another shot after a decade to see if their toys had improved. I transformed the VF-25 valkyries once and put them on ebay the next day. I still have my VF-1S sitting on my desk to this day. For me, Yamato delivers on quality and accuracy. Bandai has many excellent toys, however they fall short when it's Macross.

Into The Sky comes out 9/26/09 in line w/ the Gundam 30th anniversary. The contents look to be be mostly if not all from Gundam series in the UC timeline. HLJ has it here up for preorder. Amazon also has it here. The ad page and cover:

Amazon has it in stock here with the proper title.

Any notion of a bad VF-X2 disc is a myth. I know this because I originally played the game on a US PS1 via the disc swap method and as the last mission was over, the screen would go to black. Playing the same game on a Japanese PS2, I never encountered the game freezing or going to black. Seeing the ending is dependent on playing the game on the proper hardware, a Japanese/Asian PS1/PS2. I have heard of someone getting to the ending with a mod chipped PS1, but I don't know the specifics of that instance. IIRC, the bad ending only rolls the credits (which are in English btw), but the good ending shows a static picture of Gilium's flight helmet over a gravestone. I have seen screen shots of the ending somewhere on the net but it's been so long I wouldn't know where I saw them and as I have seen the ending, I thought nothing more of it.

I've gotten proficient at transforming from fighter to battroid and back. I've only stopped at gerwalk once. Aside from the back that requires some force to extend making me wonder if I broke something, I'm quite happy with the toy. I've already disassembled over half the toy in an attempt to fix the small part by the intake that pivots inwards among other things. That part on the left side had some extra flash I trimmed and it pivots smoothly now. Other things I've encountered: the left hand will not hold the gunpod tightly like the right hand and the screws that are located underneath where the top of the legs rest in fighter mode were different lengths.

I'd like to see highly detailed dioramas for existing 1/60 or 1/48 scale toys. Ship hulls, launching bays, oceans, space battles, etc. I'd also like to see a 1/8 or larger scale of Minmay that captures her essence. All the ones I've seen to date fail to do so.

The character designer is Ebata Risa. He's listed among the staff for Macross F in the article sketchley translated.

Nice clean pictures of the battroid CAD drawing here and of fighter mode here. There's also a few pictures of Nora's SV-51 as well.

I'm very biased in favor of Mikimoto as I spend a good deal of time collecting his work and researching his career. His popularity now certainly isn't what is was in the late 80s to early 90s. With that said, I've enjoyed watching his style change over time. I prefer his watercolor and marker pieces over his more recent computer colored work. I think he has both good and bad pieces spanning his career. I don't care for most of his monsters/villians. Below are a few examples of his work: These are examples of his more realistic pieces. Eve Tokimatsuri over 20 years. An early 90s novel pen & ink illustration. A character Mikimoto designed modeled and animated in 3D. A very recent pencil illustration for the Record of Lodoss War novels. Villian from Khamrai.

I can help you there. I know of this dojinshi but I do not own it. I would highly doubt there is anything Macross related in there. More info HERE

If you buy a game console of Japanese origin, remember they were never meant for use outside Japan. They all accept 100v current and it's safest to use a step down transformer. Most people don't bother with them and report no problems. I prefer to use one to extend the life of the console considering the investment and hassle to replace it.

I fixed a droopy left wing on my YF-19. It took about 2 minutes and then everything was back together. The leg can be removed from the rest of the body and it is probably easier to work on this way. I first removed the screw behind the hip. Then folding the wing up and positioning it like it's supposed to be in battroid mode, I gently (and I mean gently) pried apart the plastic to where I could see the screw holding the wing on. I was careful not to put too much pressure on the area w/ glue. The little square plastic piece w/ the pegs doesn't need to be removed fyi. Anyway, one turn is all it takes to tighten the wing sufficiently so it doesn't flop against the leg. The turbine in the intake came loose when I pried apart the hip. It's not glued in and it just pops right back in.

There is a 3 book set novelization of the TV series and a novelization of the DYRL movie (I'm pretty sure that's what it is). And then there's also a novelization of Macross II, Macross 7 Dynamite, etc. None of these are listed under the book section of MW. Try searching Amazon Japan, many of these books are long out of print but a few are still available.

You might also want to get some screen captures of the opening movie. There were plenty of cockpit shots w/ at least the top half of the flightsuit and towards the end a brief glimpse of the entire suit. To my knowledge, there was no flightsuit lineart on the official page. The one image from the manual has already been posted and there is only a M3 soundtrack. There doesn't seem to be a player's guide for the game. Also of note, if you can find a scan of the limited trading cards that may be of help.

That made me think of the way the VFs are launched from the Macross. I wonder if a diorama of a section of the SDF-1 has been made (claw, lights, antennae, the works) showing the VF launching into space?