Valkyrie Driver

10 hours ago, eXis10z said:

Perhaps there will be a conclusive and satisfactory end to the conflict in the movie.  

One can hope...

2 hours ago, Xigfrid said:

Or they will mess things even more like what they did with the first Frontier movie, then they will need to make a second movie in a couple years to fix things a bit. 

Shhhh!!! Hope, hope is what we need! Begone with that negativity!

15 hours ago, Chronocidal said:

Probe and drogue is easier to implement, but also a bigger risk in a lot of ways.  Get the wrong oscillation in the fuel line, and the basket will whip around pretty bad.  Seen a few pictures of planes with shattered canopies from getting smacked around by baskets.

Also, what can happen if the basket jumps too much, it'll snap off the valve "knuckle" at the end of the probe, potentially FOD-ing the aircraft, and effectively ending the mission, depending on where it happens.

It's still a reliable system, just has a decent amount of associated risks that have to be prepared for.

Oh, definitely. In terms of risk management though probe and drogue is safer. I say this because, you take that oscillation that can wreck the drogue and trash the probe, or FOD the aircraft, you only lose one aircraft. With the boom, that's a midair collision, and you'll likely lose both aircraft. Either way it's on the Weather Forecaster (Aerographer or Aerographer's Mate in the Navy) to be on point with their turbulence forecasts, and vertical wind shear forecasts. There is a considerable amount of difficulty in doing that over open ocean, since there are no sensors out in international waters (Aside from whatever is on the ship, and even then that's all going to be skewed if the ship is moving). 

If they can make it work that's great, and it will give carriers greater mission capability. I just think it's going to be a bit of a trick to pull off.

No Game No Life is interesting. The Art style is disturbing though, not as in I don't like it, it just really trips me out. 

16 hours ago, no3Ljm said:

Hmmm... Salt weathering. I sense a 1/60 VF-0D weathering version coming up?  

I wish. If I could Afford a regular VF-0D, and if Arcadia release a blank version, then sure. Also, If I had the cash for something like that. Now, if there was a 1/72 transforming model kit of it, I'd do that in a heartbeat. 

But yeah, Hairspray and salt, the hairspray acts as an adhesive for the salt grains, and also prevents paint from bonding to the undercoat (so you'd base the part in a natural metal finish, or paint rust effects as the undercoat, or both) then after it dries, you hit it with the hairspray (you could just get the pump style bottle, and use your airbrush to aerosolize it, use the airbrush because it gives you more control), let it get tacky then sprinkle the salt where you want the weathering to be. Then paint the actual color over top. When that dries, you take a soft brush and warm water and go over the salted areas, and with a bit of patience the salt will dissolve and flake off, taking tiny chinks of paint with it. Use it to create splash damage, or spotty surface rust effects around paint chips. You can then use a harder bristle brush to remove some of the actual paint to reveal the undercoat.

Works really well for creating paint wear on aircraft, especially when the idea is to convey a field expedient paint job, since those don't survive multiple trips past the Mach. It's a really neat technique, and I've seen it applied to many a Warhammer 40k vehicle.

Examples:

I know it's not Gunpla, but this just shows what you could do to that Ultra realistic Universal Century Ground Mobile Suit build you might want to do (I'm of course talking about me).

*These photos are not my own work, I found these images, this is a technique I have witnessed, I've not yet tried it*

1 hour ago, jvmacross said:

QFT

3 hours ago, anubis20 said:

EMS or SAL? Ive had SAL items sit at ISC NY for a month and had one EMS item sit there for 11 days. 

Japan Post Air Small Packet, whatever that means... My Sv-262Hs and LillDraken got here yesterday, and I ordered them a couple days after my VF-31C...

This came the other day. Now all I need is to get a Gundam model. Got some new techniques for weathering that might make my project worthwhile. A little bit of salt and hairspray weathering, 

Additional information here. 

Now, normally I'm not a fan of Drones, but AR (Aerial Refueling), and ISR (Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance) are two roles I'm fine with. Air Refueling for the navy is one thing, but not for the USAF, just because probe and drogue is easier, the boom method the USAF uses would be too difficult (besides, the cost of producing a UAV of that size). 

51 minutes ago, Zx31 said:

I appreciate Seto's info dumps

So do I. Such a wealth of information. 

6 minutes ago, Zx31 said:

Nobody is distributing Macross in the US. Individuals are purchasing items from a legal retailer and importing them as personal property.

So that's the distinction then. So does that mean that customs can't seize it?

Back on topic. I'm not overly enthused at the idea of third party toys in Macross. I'm just not sure of the quality, so I'll buy Bandai and Yamato/Arcadia. I know that Yamato is defunct now, but they're still sort of available. 

1 hour ago, Chronocidal said:

I'm assuming you mean LAX customs?  They're just notoriously slow at times, and the postal service is getting worse and worse about updating tracking information.  I've had stuff appear stuck at LAX for a week before with no updates, and had it show up at my door with no tracking update at all.

Ok. I was actually referring to ISC at New York. Post office told me that it's in Customs, but the internet says different. It's been there since the 7th of October, and I was hoping that it would have been here sooner. I need my VF-31C... I need it...

1 hour ago, sumyumgoy said:

I was thinking of getting a Mirage figure...is one of the uniformed figures better than the other?

I was too... 

19 minutes ago, kajnrig said:

The pilot uniform? If so, one is the "Figuarts Zero Mirage Farina Jenius," and the other is the "Banpresto SQ Figure Mirage Farina Jenius."

---

Figuarts Zero Mirage:
pros
+ generally better workmanship
+ better sculpt
+ clear helmet visor
+ comes with additional face (blushing)
cons
- smaller than Banpresto figure
- more expensive (retailed for ~5000 yen, managed to snag mine for ~2500)
- sculpt is arguably not significantly better

---

Banpresto SQ Mirage:
pros
+ slightly larger than Figuarts
+ cheaper (got mine for ~$15)
+ "fuller" sculpt
cons
- "stylized" sculpt (not necessarily a con, but worth noting)
- skin tone is pale, doesn't feature paint (according to Saburo, anyway; my limited knowledge/collection of figures means I can't easily tell)
- opaque helmet visor
- not as expressive (IMO)

---

I'm sure there's more that can be said comparing both, but I don't have the Banpresto figure in front of me to do so. Saburo might have more insight for you; he's had more time with the figures.

So, I did. I went after the Banpresto in pilot suit, since it was inexpensive. I was just looking to Add something to my Display for my Mirage VF-31C. Until the super parts are released anyway.

Snagged it for ~$14 on Amazon...

So... Has anyone had an order from AmiAmi seized by customs? My VF-31C has been sitting there for the past 4 days, and that bothers me.

2 hours ago, Master Dex said:

What makes it a Siegfried is all of that and what it was designed like that to do (namely provide air combat support to the tactical sound unit Walkure). 

Also there is a Distinctly Norse theme there. Siegfried (or Sigurd in the Norse Legends) was a Norse Hero who killed the Dragon Fafnir, and then Meets Brynhildr (Brunhilda) who pledges herself to him. Brynhildr is implied to be a Walkure (Valkyrie). Also, the name Siegfried conjures up a heroic image, so that's a thing. 

So the Siegfried is an Ace Custom version of the Kairos, and you couldn't very well have the main fighter be the Kairos, which is a Greek word. Just a possible explanation of why the name change.

I'm also guessing that some differences between the Kairos and the Seigfried is armaments. Where the Seig has the drones, the kairos has missiles, and the drone charger is probably replaced by a missile pod on the Kairos.

On 9/15/2017 at 12:02 AM, Saburo said:

Mirage Overload.

I have so much love for Mirage. She was Best girl from Macross Delta. It's why she's the member of Delta Platoon who's fighter I bought. That and Mirage was just so adorable...

Those are some excellent shots @Saburo. Wish I had the patience and equipment for that. I'm stuck using my iPhone for my pics.

So, aren't all the Valks we import technically grey market? The goods themselves are not illegal, but since Harmony Gold claims to own the distribution rights to all of Macross in the US, there is not official legal import of Macross Toys. I mean it is kind of the same deal as the Airsoft community saw for the longest time, since Glock didn't release it's Copyright for replica pistols until very recently, you had to import from Japan or Taiwan or Hong Kong, and then you were violating copyright laws doing so. 

I mean, I've seen Russian Knock-offs, and I've seen some Chinese knock-offs, but those looked like hot garbage. Are we talking about so-called "Premium Knock-offs"?

How big do you think the gulf is between gen 4.5 fighters and gen 5 fighters? Say a VF-19EF/A against an Sv-262?

This stuff came today!

Looks like Isamu got Keith's sword, doing some halfswording goodness...

I really want a Kairos, but I can't spend any more money on Valks this month. I already have a VF-31C and an SV-262Hs w/Lil'Draken set that hopefully arrive today.

Where do you have to live to see this stuff. This never seems to happen where I live...

40 minutes ago, Zx31 said:

I've done so on a couple of occasions, but it only seems to invite responses about how I don't understand things or that I'm wrong and in the minority, so I just wanted to point out that some people actually really enjoy the show since many like to point out very frequently that they do not.

I'm actually curious. I enjoyed delta, even if it wasn't as good from a storytelling perspective as, say, Frontier. I don't know if I can actually put words to why I enjoyed it... I can say that there were a few things I didn't like, the pacing was one issue, and I didn't get enough MechaPorn. That's ok though, The movie will hopefully change that. 

@Zx31, If you want to have the discussion of why you liked Delta, we can take it to PM. I really want to know if we liked it for the same reasons, or if there's something that you saw that I didn't, or vise versa.

I know it's only been seen in animation in M7: The Galaxy is Calling Me (I think?) but I'd really like to see the VA-3 get a toy. I'd love to have one...

1 hour ago, Marzan said:

I must confess that in many years being a Macross fan, I have never been more indifferent to a new film/series coming out than in this case. I had hoped for a sequel and move away from Windermere as the antagonist, but alas, a retelling it is. At least I hope they fix the pacing/storytelling issues that plagued the second half, and maybe come up with one or two positive plot changes. I also hope they limit the number of times the Knights say the word “wind” to under 100.

 

As a positive I must say that girls (and specially Kaname) look really foxy in the new movie poster.

I find myself agreeing with this. I'm disappointed that they decided to go this route, but at the same time, it's not unexpected. 

11 hours ago, Seto Kaiba said:

The VF-19F/S has such monstrous engine output for a 4th Generation VF that I rather suspect the engines weren't derated like the ones on the VF-19P were (allegedly in the name of extending cruising range).

Well, I guess that answers that. The VF-19F/S were 2nd production types, those would have been in federal service too right? They weren't just local variants were they?

11 hours ago, Seto Kaiba said:

The VF-25 and YF-29 lack it, actually.  What they have is just an ordinary thrust reverser.

(It's labeled as "thrust reverser ring" in the diagrams.)

Huh, so that's what those are. Guess I didn't register that's what those were, since they didn't look like any thrust reversers I'd ever seen.