Mr March

This is looking good so far.

Very nice! It's funny how "evil" the Battle Galaxy looks

It's not like we have a lot of people working on translations and there is so much translation work to do I figure it's better we increase the chances of getting the work done rather than double checking everything. At least if less-than-perfect translations are widely available online, fans will read them, recognize errors and corrections can be made. My website is a perfect example; I've made hundreds of corrections and dozens of pictures/profiles have been refined/revised since it's been online. But if something isn't posted online somewhere, there's no where to start. Plus we have to take into account that people have real lives. If the fans are available to translate issues of the Chronicle right now, that doesn't mean they are available indefinitely. We should take advantage of our resources while we have them.

Well, we need translations we can either give to azrael to post on the Compendium or I can post the translated portions in the For Fans Only section of the M3. I just thought it would be great for you Gubaba if we could pool efforts, so it would make the job easier. More people translating means less to translate which in turn means the project is more attractive to work on for an individual translator. It's a way to lessen the burden and get more out.

Keep working at it and don't be deterred. You'll never know if it could be something until you seen it out to the conclusion of what your creative effort can produce. That CFA-44 is a great design. Very cool.

Yeah, it makes sense. A X-36 as a VF-5000 Star Mirage style variable fighter would be good. You could fit a lot of micro-missiles into the body of a full-siozed X-36 style valkyrie. It'd also be cool to see a new Heavy Battroid design like the VF-17. I like the idea of more varied operational role in the line of variable fighters. That's another reason why I really enjoyed Frontier, because it had the Fighter-Bomber VF-171 Nightmare Plus, the main variable fighter VF-25 Messiah (with the Super and Armor variants) and the mobile artillery VB-6 Konig Monster. The more combined arms they have in a fictional military, the more real it feels to me. I like pondering the transformations. I'm currently working on some color code guides and I think they will help other fans appreciate the transformations as well. It's about time that the transformations got a little more spotlight.

Don't fret. You're skills will ensure you'll make a good wife for some lucky fella one of these days Damn, we should pool our translation efforts. Would you be interested in setting up a system to pool our translations? We could have it so one person does a section and someone else does another section, or alternating issue or something. Duplicate efforts probably don't add as much as simply getting it all done, I would think. Let me know what you think.

Yeah, I don't like you anymore I'm currently working on two size charts, color coded fighter-Battroid transformation pictures, and the SDF-1 and YF-19 animated gifs. I'm even doing one or two additions to the Game & Advanced Valkyrie section. Here, look at this and leave me alone I can see a lot of the X-36 in the Ghost X-9, aside from the obvious parallel that they are both unmanned. But you're right, it's a good candidate for different kind of variable fighter. Like a VF-5000 Star Mirage kind of design.

Are you kidding me? Macross Plus OVA versus Movie Edition has been a major debate, and still is. Trust me, MW will never be short of things to argue about

Why not just make it the VF-1? Seriously, the Battroid should be built around the type of fighter, otherwise what's the point of transforming robots? Might as well just make Gundam, Patlabor or Evangelion. Honestly, I don't think much of it. It's somewhat truncated and awkward looking. It feels more like a WIP rather than a finished design. It requires more refinement. I love the VF-11 transformation. It's such an underrated design, both as a fighter and as a Battroid. The fighter mode is so elegant and I love the football player silhouette of the Battroid mode. Plus the Protect Armor looks fantastic. Loves my Thunderbolt

I'd say that's absolutely correct. It's definitely harder to relate to anime aimed mostly at a younger audience when it's now some 25 years after one became a Macross fan. But it's just part of being a long time fan that one must accept. At least we had our Macross Plus.

That does it! I've had enough foreplay with you. I'm gonna get me some yours, you big flirt I blame the avatar. It's making me GAR for Gubaba I'm okay with a different distinct subclass of the New Macross Class. If Kawamori and Co. want to make a distinction between Island Cluster fleets and other City-like ships, it makes sense. After all, the physical distinction is rather significant. I believe it's in issue #1 of the Chronicle anyway. I'm still in the process of having them translated, so information is slow to come. When they get around to featuring the Macross Frontier as a full profile in the Chroncile, that should remove any confusion.

To my mind, the transformations have remained relatively simple in spite of the more robotic look of the final Battroid modes. They don't appear simple at first glance, but once you really take the time and effort to examine them, the process is not overly complex. Several transformations actually distribute the weight better, or more specifically, distribute more weight to more practical areas. For example, the YF-19 appears to shift nearly all it's weight into the bottom half of the mecha, including the wings. This would make the YF-19 bottom heavy with a low center of gravity for superior stability. The need for new transformation systems also makes sense from a design perspective, since a simple VF-1-style flip transformation would never work for a variable fighter like the SV-51 or the VF-25 Messiah, especially with those long noses. I have to make some color coded transformation pictures

d3v It doesn't appear the head unit would add all that much height. The rear and side views of the SV-51 Battrroid suggest the head tip barely rises above the two lift fans in Battroid mode. It may add half a meter, but I don't think much more than that. The only significant height beyond the lift fans would be the wings and the two outboard fuel tanks/missile launchers. They'd most likely add at least a meter of height. SchizophrenicMC I originally thought the same way, but after pulling the SV-51 transformation apart, it doesn't appear anything like the VF-19. The only thing they seem to share is a flip down nose, which Kawamori designed way back in the days of the aborted Advanced Valkyrie line for Bandai (see VF-3000 Crusader).

Encountered a major slow down that eventually turned into an error so that I couldn't access the forums. Occurred at roughly 9:00 AM eastern time today

LOL I like it. The UN Spacy symbols and engine markings really look good on a bike. Who knew

Wouldn't want to do that. The Yamato scaling is not exactly accurate. Nonetheless, I came up with a range of 17.5 to 18.5 meters to the top of the engine block. I used the schematic profile of the SV-51, so it would be dependent upon the accuracy of that drawing. So it turns out somewhat shorter than my initial guesstimate above, but the height doesn't include the top of the wings or the top of the head unit. Picture is attached below.

Maybe it's like Star Wars; no one can actually speaks the many languages, but they all understand what everyone else is saying

I like 'em young

Sumdumgai No worries; it's a great question. I'm not sure the VF-25 Messiah is much of a technological innovation as it is a major performance innovation. Aside from integrating the Super systems much more extensively into the design philosophy of the valkyrie, the VF-25 includes all the technologies that have become standard on the previous generation valkyries, like pin-point barriers, wrap-around imagine monitors, beam cannons, etc. I agree the major innovation in the VF-25 is the new transformation system integrating a fully variable Armor mode. d3v The SV-51 torso is actually misleading in many ways. The SV-51 dorsal fuselage actually rests at about a 45 degree angle in Battroid, while the nose seems to rest at a 75 degree angle in Battroid. The nose does collapse, but you'll notice almost the entire forward nose of the SV-51 remains a single piece in Battroid mode, angled steeply upward. Look at the SV-51 Battroid rear view and one can see the nose and ventral fuselage up to the two lift fans extends vertically almost past the tip of the head unit in Battroid mode. It looks like a good 3/4 of the nose/ventral fuselage remains a single piece that extends upward at a 75 angle from the hips/intakes. That would add a lot of height to the Battroid, even if some of that height is lost in the angle. Just guessing, I'd say the SV-51 engines/legs are around 14-16 meters long from the tip of the intake to the toe of the foot (which becomes height in Battroid mode). This leaves 7.77 meters of nose. Lose a meter of height for the folding nose cone, drop another meter of height for the position of the hips and then one last meter of height lost for the angle and you'd end up with roughly 4 or 5 meters beyond the leg height. So the SV-51 Battroid should be somewhere around 18-21 meters tall. I'll try to build a color coded comparison picture later this evening, to show you what I mean.

Yes, I think it might go either way. It's hard to say without the official numbers. Personally, I think the Crusader is taller, because the SV-51 collapses significantly in Battroid mode. But just to note, the VF-1 is not the smallest Battroid. The VF-11MAXL Custom (Mylene's valkyrie in Macross 7) in Battroid mode is smaller than the VF-1 Valkyrie Battroid. The VF-1 is 12.68 meters tall; the VF-11MAXL Custom is 11.24 meters tall. Also, the VF-5000 Star Mirage is only 14.03 meters long in Fighter mode, which is 0.20 meters shorter than the VF-1 Valkyrie Fighter at 14.23 meters. So the Star Mirage is very likely a touch shorter in Battroid mode, particularly since the VF-5000's Battroid torso is shorter than the VF-1's Battroid torso.

Depends upon what you're including in the comparison and what the official sizes are for some of the other valkyries. But based on what little we do know, the VF-3000 Crusader is the largest of the variable fighters. The VF-3000 Crusader should be somewhere around 19-21 meters tall based on the size comparison picture with the VF-1S Valkyrie. Having said that, the SV-51 could possibly challenge the Crusader for Battroid height. In Fighter mode, the SV-51 is nearly 23 meters long, so it's Battroid mode could be anywhere between 16-20 meters tall. Comparing the VF-3000 to other mecha, the VB-6 Konig Monster (roughly 30 meters tall in Destroid mode, NOT including guns) would clearly dwarf the Crusader. The Varauta's FBz-99G Saubergeran (22.95 meters tall) would also be taller than the Crusader but more importantly, the Saubergeran Battroid would be more massive in width and length.

I have no idea. Like I said, I was pleasantly surprised most Robotech fans I encountered were positive about Macross Frontier, eager to discuss it and motivated to enjoy it with other Robotech fans, Macross fans or otherwise. The RPG site I joined was actually quite proactive at disciplining the trouble makers, so the few bad apples were smacked down most efficiently allowing fan discussion to proceed unhindered. We had a great time with Frontier.

This is the VF-3000 Crusader, my choice for least innovative design.

Wouldn't that just mean other New Macross Class vessels (like Macross 7) are New Macross Class Aircraft Carriers? If they aren't, what would the "Aircraft Carrier" distinction mean? What would make the Battle Frontier an Aircraft Carrier but the Battle 7 not an Aircraft Carrier?