Graham

Here's a slightly larger scan of the mecha. Graham

Here's a page from the new October issue of Hobby Japan showing scenes and mecha from ep # 5. You can clearly see Roy gets a new VF-0S with a FAST Back booster/drone(?) attached. The drone seems to be armed with 2 rocket or micro-missile pods and the VF-0S also has 2 of the same rocket or micro-missile pods under the wings along with what are probably 2 drop tanks. It looks like Ivanov & Nora's SV-51s also have some sort of drone or booster or large missile mounted over the wing. Graham

Here's a good CG pic showing how far the sides of the cylinder at the rear of the VF-0S's head should extend and also the correct angle for the head lasers in battroid mode. Graham

I also thought that, but I doubt it on 1/100 scale. Graham

Another thing, those head lasers are going to look pretty strange in fighter mode as the angle is going to make them stick out from the sides of the plane. Graham

I'm wondering why the photos of the VF-0S battroid taken by both Matt Alt and Toy News International were taken at such an odd upwards looking angle? Did Yamato have the toy on a 7 foot high pedestal or something? Anyway, I stll think that the basic head sculpt remains unchanged, although it's somewhat difficult to be sure due to the odd angle of the photos. What does appear to have changed drastically though is the angle of the head lasers (see comparison pics below). In the original sculpt, the head lasers were only canted outwards a few degrees (in fact they were nearly parallel), but on the latest revised sculpt, they are now canted much more steeply outwards which really does not look good IMO. Graham

One thing I hate and have always hated in movies is unrealistic, exagerated, over-the-top combat scenes, whether it be hand-to-hand combat, sword fights or gunfights. Personally, I think that showing realistic skill in any of the martial arts or combat disciplines is far cooler than 'wirework' martial arts or John Woo style jumping through the air in slow motion firing two pistols at once. It's just a pity there are so few actors or directors capable of displaying/filming realistic skill at arms these days. Graham

Gotta say I don't like CM's sculpt of Milia's face. Looks nothing like her IMO. Graham

Okay, so we mostly agree that the revised 1/100 VF-0S sculpt looks better. However, a nice looking sculpt is not the only ingredient that makes a good toy. The real test of whether or not this is going to be a good toy is going to be: - Can it stand and balance easily in Battroid and Gerwalk modes without support? Does it suffer from loose joints & floppy limb syndrome? Can it stay firmly locked together in all 3 modes without parts detaching or falling off by themselves? Is it durable enough that it can be transformed and played with without fear of parts breakage? My understanding (I may be wrong) is that the 1/100 VF-0S is going to be mostly constructed of hard PVC (like the Gundam Fix Figures), with some ABS parts. If this is the case, there may be some issues with joints and locking tabs/holes loosening up after time, but we'll just have to wait and see. Graham

Wow old movie, Hero was released in HK like what about a year ago Not my type of movie, as I hate HK style Kung Fu movies where all Chinese think they can fly and leap tall buildings in a single bound, i.e. Crouching Tiger. Sorry, in all my years studying various martial arts, I've never come across a martial art that teaches flying An interesting phenomenon I've noticed is that while in the West, Crouching Tiger was a big hit, in HK, most people thought it was just barely average. Graham

In case it's not clear what I mean about the narrow section of the wing trailing edge, here's a pic which illustates better my complaint with the original sculpt. Graham

In fighter mode, we can see that Yamato has improved the appearance of the backpack hinge. In the original sculpt it had a rounded shape and seemed to be made of a different material to the rest of the VF, perhaps POM? In the revised sculpt, the backpack hinge is now flat and flush with the back and chestplates. Much better looking IMO. Also, I'm not 100% sure, but it looks like the wings may have been resculpted as well so that the narrow part of the trailing edge, where the wings meet the body has been made a bit longer. One of my biggest complaints about the original sculpt of Yamato's 1/100 VF-0S toy was that the narrow section of the wing trailing edge where it meets the body was just too short, in fact it was hardly visible. Graham

I've been comparing pictures of the earlier sculpt of Yamato's 1/100 VF-0S with these latest photos of the revised sculpt and I'm quite impressed by the changes Yamato have made. Not only have they made those fugly hip joint sockets much smaller, thus moving the hips closer to the nose, but they have also redesigned the leg pivot point located just under the intake, so that is now flush with no ugly gaps. Looks much better now. Compare pics below. Graham

Depending on what episode and which scene you watch of the Macross Zero OVA, the cannon fodder VF-0A is sort of a dirty greyish-brown, or perhaps brownish- grey See: The VF-0A in the gallery section of the Big West official Macross Zero site. And the Hasegawa VF-0A box art. My guess is that the colors of the VF-0 fighter on display is not something that is going into productions, just a color scheme that Yamato is messing around with just to see what it looks like. Or perhaps it's a varient that will appear in epsiode # 5? Perhaps Shin's new fighter? The white scheme with red trim could be a nod to Hikaru's VF-1J from the original TV series. Graham

Updated MPC Alpha Casualty List EXO = Broken hinge on the shoulder missile hatch. Opus = Broken hinge on the sensor pod door. Opus = Thumb fell off the left hand due to stress crack. Opus = Ratchet mechanism broken in left shoulder. Opus = Left hand broke at the pinky edge of the finger joint. dejr8bud = Broken hinge on the sensor pod door. Mechafactory.com = Arm fell off straight out of the box. Sam = Little hinge on bottom of hand that holds fingers to palm broke off. macu5454 = Arm broke off. eugimon = The sensor hatch broke upon first transformation. Graham

I'm guessing not. An older pic of the detachable fighter and battroid nose sections form the July hobby magazines does not show the LERX on the battroid nose. Graham

I would guess not. I think they have probably finished making all the sculpt revisions they are going to make. They can't keep constantly revising the scult, otherwise the toy will never get released. Graham

Here's the LERX on the CG art of the VF-0S. The Yamato toy does not have them in Battroid mode. Graham

LERX=Leading Edge Root Extensions. IIRC also known as LEX = Leading Edge Extensions (see pic below). These should also be partially visable in battroid mode, according to both the lineart and CG art. Graham

Bravo to Yamato for listening to the fans complaints and greatly improving the problem areas of the sculpt. Or perhaps it wasn't the fans complaints they listend to, probably both Kawamori & Big West told them how ugly the original hip joints were and to go and make the improvements. Graham

Wow, the hips look much better. I think they have corrected the wing shape as well. It's great to finally see FAST packs. And FYI, the wing hard points have always been on the wings, even from the very early sculpt, but we still haven't seen missiles. I wouldn't worry about the head too much. I think it's still the same sculpt, just the upward pointing camera angle is making it look different. Still no LERX in battroid mode though I notice they have also changed the backpack hinge, so it looks much better now. And the VF-0 in the anime also has fairly skinny arms, so the toy is pretty accurate in that regard. Definitely buying 3. And I like the color scheme on the fighter pic. Graham

Left or right arm? And where's the exact point of breakage? Details please. Graham

Left or right? And where's the exact point of breakage? Details please. Graham

Updated MPC Alpha Casualty List EXO = Broken hinge on the shoulder missile hatch. Opus = Broken hinge on the sensor pod door. Opus = Thumb fell off the left hand due to stress crack. Opus = Ratchet mechanism broken in left shoulder. Opus = Left hand broke at the pinky edge of the finger joint. dejr8bud = Broken hinge on the sensor pod door. Mechafactory.com = Arm fell off straight out of the box. Sam = Little hinge on bottom of hand that holds fingers to palm broke off. macu5454 = Arm broke off. Graham

Updated MPC Alpha Casualty List EXO = Broken hinge on the shoulder missile hatch. Opus = Broken hinge on the sensor pod door. Opus = Thumb fell off the left hand due to stress crack. Opus = Ratchet mechanism broken in left shoulder. Opus = Left hand broke at the pinky edge of the finger joint. dejr8bud = Broken hinge on the sensor pod door. Mechafactory.com = Arm fell off straight out of the box. Sam = Little hinge on bottom of hand that holds fingers to palm broke off. Graham