Graham

Well, it's still fairly easy to find the 1/48 Max & Milia VF-1J Super here in Hong Kong. The FAST Pack sets are also easy to find. I think I've seen some VF-1S Hikaru and VF-1J Hikau Super in a few shops as well, but all the other 1/48s are pretty much sold out. Graham

Given the cost of the average nuclear powered aircraft carrier, I'm sure the US Government & US Navy would rather take the heat about accidently turning a few civilians into shark food rather than losing one of their very expensive ships, not to mention all the sailors, airmen and aircraft aboard. Graham

Provided that it is indeed terrorist suicide bombers and not some poor slob who don't understand Engrish. Turning innocent folks into shark food always have reprucsussions. One would think that in this day and age, it's pretty much common sense that it's not good for ones health to approach too closely to an American warship unless you have clearance to do so. And anyway, there's such a thing as escalation of force: - Step # 1: If they're approaching slowly, hail them first. Step # 2: If hailing doesn't work fire a warning shot across the bows. Step # 3: If they're still coming, they're probably up to no good anyway and force is justified. Of course, if they are approaching at high speed on a rammming course, forget steps # 1 & 2 and go directly to step # 3 Graham

Ya know, this thread reminds me about the conversion between the US Aircraft Carrier and the Canadian authorities (actually an urban myth and untrue but still funny). Read below: - Purported transcript of a US naval ship with Canadian authorities off the coast of Newfoundland in October, 1995: Americans: "Please divert your course 15 degrees to the North to avoid a collision." Canadians: "Recommend you divert YOUR course 15 degrees to the South to avoid a collision." Americans: "This is the captain of a US Navy ship. I say again, divert YOUR course." Canadians: "No, I say again, you divert YOUR course." Americans: "THIS IS THE AIRCRAFT CARRIER USS ABRAHAM LINCOLN, THE SECOND LARGEST SHIP IN THE UNITED STATES' ATLANTIC FLEET. WE ARE ACCOMPANIED BY THREE DESTROYERS, THREE CRUISERS AND NUMEROUS SUPPORT VESSELS. I DEMAND THAT YOU CHANGE YOUR COURSE 15 DEGREES NORTH. THAT'S ONE-FIVE DEGREES NORTH, OR COUNTER MEASURES WILL BE UNDERTAKEN TO ENSURE THE SAFETY OF THIS SHIP." Canadians: "This is a lighthouse. Your call." Graham

Why evil? I'd have thought that a stream of 20mm shells at 6,000 rounds per minute, would be a pretty effective way of stopping a small craft filled with terrorist suicide bombers who were intent on blowing up your aircraft carrier from getting too close. Graham

From what I understand, Nishikawa-san was/is freelance and actually works for a company called Flex Co. He was never an actual fulltime employee of Yamato. I think he was hired specifically for the 1/48 project only. AFAIK, most Japanese toy companies, even giants like Bandai do not usually employ full time in-house sculptors. If my understanding of the situation is correct, most toy sculptors/designers in Japan are either freelance or work for smaller production companies and are hired out by the big toy companies on a per-project basis. I think the more famous designers like Nishikawa-san and the guys who do the MG/PG models and SOC toys are often booked years in advance and are in such high demand that they can to some extent pick and chose which projects they want to work on. Graham

Where is the gun supposed to go on the Shadow in fighter mode? Graham

While it's true that the overall design of the VF-0 is very similar to the VF-1 (minor cosmetic styling differences only), the same is not true of most other Macross Variable Fighters. The point I was trying to make is that 99% of most Gundams follow a very similar design philosophy, e.g. near identical looking head/face with V antenna, very similar color scheme (white body with red, yellow and blue trim) and other similar design features, e.g twin chest vents, two beam sabres on back, very similar styling on arms, legs, body, skirt etc. By comparison, the different models of variable fighter look distinctly different IMO with very few design similarities. It is hard to confuse a VF-1 with a YF-19, YF-21, SV-51, VF-17, VF-11, VF-9, VF-14, VF-4, VF-5000, VA-3 etc. At least Kawamori makes each new type of Variable fighter different enough that there is little chance of confusing them, unlike Okawara, who should be called 'the king of recycling'. Yes, you can say that in Macross within a single VF model type, for example VF-1, there are only minor differences such as the head and color variations, but the same could be said of Gundam as well. A prime example being the original RX-78, where as well as the anime colors, you also have 'Roll out' colors, G3 colors, full armor color etc. Same exact design, different coloring only. And one of the many things I find unrealistic about Gundam animes is the preponderance of new mobile suits. Given the compexity of an MS, one would think that it would take years from the design stage to production and testing to get a new MS model into service. Not to mention there is probably a very high dollar value attached to producing an MS. However in the various Gundam universes, it seems that new models of MS are introduced nearly weekly. Sometimes, to be produced only in extremely small numbers, sometime even only one unit is built and then discarded a few weeks or months later as soon as the next 'Wonder' design is ready. If real world militaries went about procurement the way the Feddies and Zions (insert equivalent SEED names here) do, they would be bankrupt very shortly. This is another area where I think Macross scores in reality terms. In the Macross universe, Kawamori has the main model of VF in service for 10-20 years (just like the real world), before a new design comes into service. Gundam is probably better if you like 'mecha of the week' shows, but I think I'll stick to Macross as a better example of a more real militay mecha show Graham

Here's a question I've always been curious about. Can the 20mm Phalanx guns track and fire at slow moving surface craft, or are the purely anti-missile? Graham

Hong Kong's Hasegawa agent is useless when it comes to Macross. It took two months after the release of the SV-51 for any kits to make it to HK. Graham

While Yamato is a hit and miss company, their recent track record has been pretty good IMO. On the hit side, the 1/48 VF-1 toys and FAST packs were amazing. I also love the Q-Rau, I think it's a beautiful sculpt. The VB-6 looks amazing so far. The display stands get a passing grade from me as well, even though you can't place an FP eqiuipped 1/48 upside down on the stand As for misses, well, the GPB armor, turned out disappointing, despite being made of sturdy plastic and the upcoming 1/100 VF-0S just looks plain wrong. IMO a lot of the problem is not so much with the factories Yamato uses or the QC (or lack of it), but rather with the choice of sculptor. Chose a good sculptor, like Nishikawa-san for the 1/48 or the unknown ex-bandai MG scuptor who did the 1/48 FPs or even the IHP guy who is doing the VB-6 and you get a good product. On the other hand, chose a crap sculptor and/or a sculptor who is not a Macross fan....cough, cough Billy Wong and you get less than satisfactory toys. Obviously, the sculptors at ateliar sai are third rate at best! Graham

The whole scene is bit of a mess. It would have been literally impossible for the YF-21 to fire that gunpod at the YF-19 as the scene was presented anyway. Yes, that scene is a little hokey, however it is probably technically feasible. We don't really know enough about the design of the YF-19's gunpod or it's feed mechanism, but it is possible that the gunpod has a selectible feed mechanism and that it's magazine is designed to hold more than one type of ammo at once, which would be selectable at the flick of a switch to enable the pilot to chose the most appropriate ammo (e.g, Armor Piercing Incendiary, High Explosive etc), against the type of threat he is facing. The YF-19's gunpod magazine appears to be quite large and seems to consist of the entire lower part of the shoulder stock (reference the scene when Isamu changes magazines), so it is conceivably big enough to allow 2 or 3 different internal ammo storage/feed paths within the magazine. In theory, given lax enough security, Guld could have loaded a quantity of live ammo into one of the magazines 2 or 3 internal feed paths and hacked into the gunpods computer, inserting a command to switch to live ammo when he sent the appropriate signal. Just my theory. Graham

The opening fight scene in episode # 1 of the OVA, with the VF-11B team/squadron against the Zentradi powered armor is one of my all time favorite fight scenes and the main reason why I prefer the OVA to the movie. Graham

IIRC, in episode # 3 of Macross Dynamite 7, Lisa folds in a captured VF-17D in battroid mode. Graham

Please don't insult the lovely VF-17 by comparing it to that Galaxy Defender! Graham

These are probably the Macross Toybooks, that were announced on the Macross Compendium updates of 2004 March 2 - 2004 May 26. The Compendium has the following information: - Macross Toybook* *Tentative title マクロス　トイブック（仮） Booklet with pre-painted vinyl figure Toybook Collection Series Volume Character 1 Lynn Minmay 2 Mylene Jenius Seika 2004 August (planned) Y1200 each (tax included) These books are to be published by Seika, who interestingly are the same company that made the Macross pencil sharperners a while ago. Note, that each of the two books is supposed to come with a pre-painted figure of Minmay and Mylene. Graham

The pic that Keith posted is from Character Model magazine. It is a VF-0 variation that will not appear in the anime. Graham

I think the majority of Macrossworld forum members would disagree with you there. Graham Really... My Father is 70 and he collects Macross toys. He is a mechanical engineer so he loves the VF-1. Is he a child? Tell your father he is a really cool guy. I hope I'm stil collecting Macross toys at 70! Graham

Here's some line-art of the upcoming Hasegawa VF-0A as shown in the new September 2004 issue of Dengeki Hobby magazine. Looks like they have gone with a low-vis grey scheme. Graham

And here's a bigger version of the same picture. Graham

Here's the cover art for episode # 5 from the new September 2004 issue of Dengeki Hobby magazine. Looks like the VF-0 has the Ghost drone as seen in episode # 2 attached to the top. Graham

Here's the page from the new September 2004 issue of Dengeki Hobby. Graham

Latest pic from the new September 2004 issue of engeki Hobby magazine. Graham

Nope, that's not a resin test shot. I've got that magazine as well as the new September Hobby Japan which has even more pics and it's the production model. Definitely Titan colors first. Anyway, it makes sense for Bandai to release the least popular color first, thus forcing the more impatient fans to buy it first rather than waiting for tthe inevitable green version which I'm sure will be released later Bandai's marketing department is very clever when it comes to taking money from Gundam fan's wallets. Luckily I'm no longer a Gundam fan Graham

Yep, I agree. Ya know once, heck even twice I can accept, but when the same thing happens in so many Gundam animes, it just stretches creadibilty to breaking point and causes me to lose all interest in Gundam. Somebody needs to hit Tomino on the head with a big hammer and tell him to have an original idea more than once a decade. Let's see how many Gundam animes have there been where a young untrained kid bumps into the Gundam and becomes the pilot: MSG, Z, ZZ, F91, V & SEED. 6 series!!! Ok, F91 was a movie not a series (although a series was planned), but they same damn thing still happens. Graham