Macross GURU

Here is an early drawing of the VF-11 (I think) that remarkably resembles the YF-24. This is scanned from Kawamori's design works book.

I was just thinking that the YF-24 looks like a VF-25 with a F/A-22 delta wing, or correctly, the VF-25 is a YF-24 with a variable geometry swing-wing (the swing-wing is so passe, but fits with the 25th anniversary looking like the VF-1).

Gawd... So much necromancy these days.

I always thought a chunk of AFOS was what lifted the Asuka group. Then again, last time I watched it, I was focused more on the mecha porn that anything else, and it's been a few years...

Did they say something about a gravity generator?...

Yeh it was an old subject that I somehow ended up casting raise undead. Bugger, a posting zombie... is there a cleric in the forum?

As requested, this is a WIP pic of the Asuka´s island. The model is not intended for CG movies, is around 30,000 polys so most modern games can load it

I would appreciate if someone tells me what are the antennas and stuff it has.

Looks to me like several Ultra High Frequency (UHF) radio antenna, Aegis radar, and a large OT radar array.

Edit:

Additionally I think the engines of the carrier are human built with pieces of OT which may also double as gravity generators, perhaps the AFOS activated the gravity generating capability of the generator. I gather the Asuka has superior maneuvering by throwing the mass of the vessel around using a form of mass effect. I recently read the tech from the game 'Mass Effect' which made me think of OverTechnology and how anti-grav drives could be used for maneuvering by allowing the ship to "fall" into the desired direction of travel.

It could be, but names are not translated. They are rendered phonetically.

Example: Hikaru Ichijo is not Mr. Brilliant Streak.

The reason I say this is because of the word Nova on Kawamori Shoji's earlier design work.

It just occurred to me that Shinsei Industries loosely translates to Nova Industries, 'shinsei' being 'new star' respectively perhaps also mean Nova. Of course this is a mere guess.

My roommate makes me wonder if anything in Macross has cannon boobs... we have laser boobs which is close but I don't know if that qualifies for a cannon. Apparently Gundam has done cannon boobs before.

This is going to be one of those infamous topics where the conversation shifted from something specific to a talk that in the end is another boob-related discussion. Macross World really is a charmed place.

The Queadluun-Rau has impact cannon boobs... Perhaps the Zentradi have beaten them to it?

Does anyone have a translation of the VF-36 Astore page?

Hey, I convert your GIFs to PNGs before I begin working on my custom colorations, most of which are in the gallery... And I do them in paint!

Guru: No disrespeck. Those are still damn good.

lol yeh!? So not bad for a guy using a 15 year old program and ms paint lol. All my good software died with my last HD crash. I have a couple color renditions coming up. Thank you March and MC. Does anyone have any pictures of the Black Rainbow VF-17S colors from VF-X2?

March, I modified three of the VF-19P pics to represent what think the colony export edition of the 19P looks like with out the Lawrence equipment.

Here they are...

What do you think?

[note: I did my best with the crummy progs I had available, there are a few lines I need to clean up ]

Why do I get this funny feeling that big west is trying to unofficially tie the Macross chronology with Macross II. Is this a retcon, or just my imagination? It appears that the U.N. Spacy has also been reorganized into the NUNS in Macross II as well as the UNS being reorganized into NUNS in Macross F, huh, how odd...

Exactly. The F-22's stealth means nothing if a fighter gets a jump on it(say, the NEW Su-35), uses an IRST sensor to track it through any clouds, then fire an uncaged heatseeking missile. And the Raptor pilot would never know what hit him. The only way top be "stealthy" in space would be to hide in the center of a huge field of debris, a la Macross Plus.

And I've always wondered how awesome it would look if the SDF-1 charged its main cannon, folded into space right in front of a line of ships, and fired as soon as it appeared. In addition to the fact that the ships even NEAR the blast would be QWTFBBQed.

Also, as an afterthought, maybe firing off a bunch of reaction missiles and Dimension Eaters would hide your EXACT location, and you could travel with the knowledge that whoever is pursuing you will get vaporized/sucked into the unknown. Another possible thing would be to use a low-vis paint scheme, shut down every single emitting system on the craft, hide in a lightless area, and hope that it'll turn back on sooner or later.

COMPLETELY unrelated, but I just realized that if you tell Google Maps to give walking instructions across an ocean, it tells you to kayak.

Even if you shut down every system there is still radiated heat because of the pilot. Any craft in space must dispose of waste heat through radiation (hence the black tiles on the Shuttle), that includes the waste heat of the pilot, batteries, basic systems of the craft and so on. Since space is a vacuum there is no way to dissipate heat by conduction because there isn't any medium to conduct the heat energy, hence the only way to dispose of heat in empty space is via radiation.

The second law of thermodynamics.

(edit) I apologize for the double post.

The problem with stealth in space is not power, it's heat. Stealth works in an atmosphere because of terrain and ambient temperature. In space there is no terrain and the temperature is incredibly low. Basically any heat source in space sticks out like a sore thumb against a surrounding environment which is both largely empty and very cold. Even the life support system of the cockpit in a variable fighter would be enough heat to see it on infrared from an extremely far distance.

Rampantly speculating as a fan, the only way OverTechnology could possibly assist stealth in space would be the use of some kind of super dimension heat sink. Basically absorbing all the heat generated in all the valkyrie's systems and dissipating it into super dimension space. But that's a huge assumption with absolutely no canon support at all and I don't even think it's possible.

Personally, I stick with the simplest explanation; the variable fighters are built for space and atmospheric operation, so they use stealth in an atmosphere but not in space. And quite simply, there has never been an animated example of stealth being used in space in Macross. The most prominent examples of stealth in Macross have all been in an atmosphere (Nora's SV-51 vs. Shin's F-14 Tomcat squadron in M0, Guld's YF-21 vs. Isamu's VF-11B Thunderbolt in M+, etc). The best stealth in space would be fold technology; you simply space fold on top of the enemy.

Oh, shoot! I neglected to think of that! Yes the fighters would have tremendous issues with being easily seen in the IR not only with thrust but the radiator alone will shine brilliantly. Yes you'd be right, that the stealth feature would be an atmosphere only feature, makes sense. Bloody Macross Magic making me forget physics. LOL So, I figure that the stealth is good for insurgent strikes on planetary installations etc.

(edit) Additionally I figure that is why the VF-1 doesn't have stealth coatings or electronic systems is because the UN figured the fighter would be used more in space. Kind of a ret-con but still it does make sense.

I wouldn't put it past the engineers of Macross to find a new radar absorbent coating in attempts to fuddle overtechnology radar systems. I doubt it would matter if it were in an atmosphere or in space, radar behaves somewhat the same in both environments except that the properties of the atmosphere create resistance thus increasing attenuation of signal. Microwaves function very well in space. They measure between 1mm to 1m, or .3Ghz to 300Ghz. Gravitational wave radar would have to measure fluctuation in the curvature of spacetime which propagates as a wave as well as the gravitational radiation which is the energy transported by these waves. (This was discovered in 1993). And I guess fold radar functions along similar a method as gravitational radar except by detecting fold waves and their distortion of space time. So, perhaps stealth systems may be somewhat ineffective.

I don't think anyone in Macross uses traditional radar. There is mention of gravity wave radar and particle system radar in SDF Macross (Quel-Quallie Theatre Scout), cross-dimensional radar in Macross 7 (episode 22), and fold wave radar in Macross Frontier (RVF-25 Messiah radome). Given the context of Frontier, the Vajra likely just naturally use fold waves while the SMS/NUNS use fold wave radar artificially.

edwin3060

I don't follow the logic. That's like saying the VF-17 is a space fighter so it's wings aren't really meant for flying in an atmosphere. They certainly aren't for decoration

It doesn't matter if the variable fighter is 50%, 75% or 90% space fighter, it's still made for all-environment operation. If that means it's stealth system is only worth it when the Nightmare finds itself rarely operating in the atmosphere, that's what multi-role is all about. Having said that, I'll grant you that in light of the inherent silliness that is Macross as a whole, it might be splitting hairs to say stealth in Macross isn't meant for space. However, if a rule hasn't been broken, there is always the possibility it was "by design". Maybe I'm just too much of a fan, but I'd rather give Macross the benefit of the doubt.

Besides, it's been my observation that we assume too much when it comes to anime. I've had fans tell me Macross isn't real because space fighters don't have wings. I kid you not. So in contrast to those that never scratch the surface of the fiction, I prefer to err on the side of detail when examining Macross. I do run a mecha website after all

Here's the best scan I can make of that tiny picture from Issue #8 of the Macross Chronicle. Sucks I know, but blame Big West

Well in the last episode Klan and Luca brought Alto's VF out as well, but that was a dotted line.

Is it a tractor beam? or an illuminated cable?

Then it must not have passive stealth, for the angular radar cross section of the -171 appears to not only confirm this but the use of external stores would cause the -171 to light up like a Christmas Tree on radar. As for the internal missiles, I don't know how I missed it during my first analysis. Oh well, I suppose I must rest as I have been up to my neck in Macross mecha and ship data for the last few days. I just re-modified my Megaroad 01 stats to reflect the data from Macross Chronicles. It is handy to have Japan Town just around the corner here in SF.

I don't believe there has been any official word on wiether the VF-171 has passive stealth (looking forward to the articles on it and the VF-27 to show up in the chronicles) but based on the look of the ship itself, I'd say it probably has passive stealth characteristics, thought the frequent use of external weapons tends to negate that.

as for the micro missile launchers, if you look at the fighter mode views side by side:

in the area on the -171 where the -17's missile ports were there is a single opening of undefined function. so if that is a missile port, then the VF-171 has fiewer missiles, or it can only launch in volleys of 2 instead of volleys of 4.

Now for something completely different... Does the VF-171 have passive stealth? Also from what I can analyze form its art it looks as if the VF-171 doesn't have the micro-missile launchers its predecessor had.

Affirmative

Macross M3 Intro

Well, that cinches it then, the Megaroad gets ARMD carriers, back to rpg stat building.

Does the Megaroad have ARMD docked to it? It appears that it does.

...moving an off-topic discussion to this thread

I can provide some black and white versions of the gun pods for your weapon needs. I'd definitely prefer you use black and white versions of the weapons if you feel the need to use my scans.

I am keeping my website as up to date as possible with the latest information released on Macross, but just so you're aware, there is unlikely to be enough complete information to create totally canon RPG versions of each valkyrie (the VF-1 Valkyire is probably the one exception). You'll have to build some stuff on your own, but you probably already knew that. If you need to guess, I'd definitely suggest using the figures for the VF-1 as a benchmark. If you have any questions, I can provide some "enthusiastic fan opinions". Also, MW member sketchley runs an extensive RPG website about Macross, so he may be able to provide some gaming advice.

The Macross Zero, Macross II and Macross Frontier sections are is still being built. If you have high resolution scans of the line art from Macross II, I'll certainly take a look at what you've got. But I should warn you, I have very high requirements for my line art. I typically work with scans that are 1,200 DPI (typical drawings are about 3,000 to 4,000 pixels in size) and I down-convert them to 800-1,000 pixels for posting on my website.

I appreciate you respecting the usage terms for my website. Your website sounds like a good fansite for Macross RPG fans and I hope it turns out well. Post a link if you have one.

Yeh, I'm not sure if my B&W Macross II images are up to your standards but you could always take a look. Yes I am aware of the 'not complete data' on the other fighters and ships. I do have high standards on my RPG statistics and tend to design things as close as I can using the VF-1 benchmark. I'm partially relying on stats by Dave Deitrich and Daniel Henwood. My stats are more of an update to the former. I have been Role Playing for over ten years, so I know my way around the formula. I will greatly appreciate any input towards my site. I would appreciate any input from 'sketchley' as well, as I have seen his site and his art on 'DA'. Sorry it took me a while to reply, I've been busy knee deep in data and RPG stats. I have just completed the updated SDF-2 Megaroad. much is still similar to Deitrich's design however it has been corrected to 1600m and I have roughly calculated its beam, and height. After getting the deluxe edition of the RT: RPG I may need to change the rules for the PPB. I may not since the original PPB works perfectly enough.

I had an interesting thought, in episode 16 two VF-25 (Alto and a CF?) are towing Vajra using some sort of, either energy based or solid illuminated, tow line.

The mystery VF in Macross Frontier does have many VF-2SS similarities. I agree that for the brief 10 seconds the ship is on screen, mistaking it for a VF-2SS is probably natural. But it's clearly some kind of new design we've never seen before. I think it likely the craft was made in homage to the Valkyrie II from Macross II, since Macross Frontier features numerous references to the all the anime productions in the 25-year history of the Macross franchise.

I'm glad you like my website. If you want to use information from my website, please make sure to credit my site and provide a link to each profile you use. For pictures, you can host the pictures yourself or link directly to my images for use. My site is low traffic, so I don't mind direct links. Always provide credit for each instance of text or colored artwork that you use.

I'd also ask that you NOT use ALL the images on my site, only the bare minimum required (use fighter, GERWALK, Battroid pictures, but DO NOT use any other pictures such as weapons, color code transformation guides, schematics, black and white line art, etc) lest my site be duplicated in full online and thus lose it's purpose for being.

And of course, under no circumstances can any of the material within the Macross Mecha Manual be used for business, commercial or personal financial purposes. Thank you.

Thank you March, I will give both credit and links to your site , A note about weapons, though, I already have a lot of line art from various other sources in the past, many are no longer in existence on the web, so I do want to have an example of the weapons or maybe just the gunpod. However, I will keep the image usage to a minimum as I want fans to visit your site for more references. I'll do the hosting for everything on my site because this will help keep our bandwidths low.

I am trying very hard to keep my data as close to the current released information yet I feel I may need to use a little conjecture for some stuff the isn't known completely as of yet. I will note these educated guesses, in my stats.

BTW Do you know what ARMD stands for? I read somewhere about 4 years ago it stood for 'All Rigged Military Deployment.'

I noticed you don't have the VF-2JA, GERWALKroid, Metal Siren, and Destroids in the Macross II section. Somewhere I have line art for them but I'm not sure which hard drive it is lol.

Have no worry, I will not use any M.M.M. data for any financial gain, as I only intend to make my site for fans who wish to run a dedicated Macross related game or at least not be limited to 'Robotech' canon with the new edition.

And the VF-1 has 5, count 'em 5 engines!

What's the big deal about odd-numbered amounts of engines?

Edit: PC Uploaded twice. Meesa muy, muy sorry! Meesa no be doin' it again. Nosa.

Actually those are only vernier rockets, not sure of the power source, maybe from the bypass off the main engines or perhaps liquid fuel, none-the-less are not main reaction turbine engines. VF-1 uses 2 FF2001 turbines.

Edit: forgot the bit about he bypass.

Throwaway design, that is NOT the VF-2SS

Yeh I figured that it wasn't a VF-2SS mainly because of the cannards and the three engine design. As you say, it my be a throwaway design. I can see why people would think it was a VF-2SS but only from the intake-manifold.

On another note: I love your site March! the MMM is beautiful. I've been using the site for practical data for conversions, from the old Palladium "Robotech" stats already on the net, to be compatible with the new "Robotech" RPG. Much has changed. I cannot put them on the web yet due to needing permission from various sources. I would be greatly honored if I could use your imagery and background information for my stat conversions. I would of course give you credit for your work.

So, has anyone figured out what this fighter is? I call it the VF-99 "Fanboy Teaser"

It appears to be a small fighter with a single 2D vectored thrust nozzle.

(Edit: I wanted to add more to my pics.)