Mr March

As far as line art accurate sculpts, the Revoltech line definitely has that market cornered.

d3v I'm not sure how much Brera controls via virtual reality (if that's what it is) but I don't want to leap ahead yet and say for certain that it's all brain/computer driven. If nothing else, the theme of the YF-21's BDI/BDS brainwave control system is being explored again in the VF-27, but it's being done with a different twist (in much the same way as many aspects of Frontier). Heron I'm not sure if I'd say they were identical, but the similarities are very hard to ignore. Since the VF-27 is military, Brera's VR setup and his cybernetic eyes (assuming that's what they are) could be more advanced than Grace's setup.

In a discussion on another board I suggested the possibility that the VF-27 cockpit could be either a full holographic environment or a cyberspace like system for the pilot. After watching Grace working within her cyberspace vision in episode 8, I'm more and more convinced Brera Stern is doing the same thing with his VF-27. If his funky purple eyes work in ways similar the Grace's funky purple eyes then he pilots the VF-27 via his virtual reality interface. He may even use conventional controls, but he just sees everything in virtual reality. Any thoughts?

Simply brilliant! Wow! Yamato has done it again. I can't wait to get one of these babies.

Anyone can debate anything. Each example I posted could be called into question if one wanted to. It's just that those examples are generally accepted "as good or better than" more often than not. Nonetheless, I think the point is clear. I intend to see Indy 4 as well (currently planned for Saturday evening), but I'm more dreadful than I am hopeful. Which isn't so bad, it'll make me that much easier to please going in with low expectations

Sulendil Ang Yeah, I'm hoping Ranka's big smiling face through the fish eye lens will get everyone's attention. If that fails, I'm going to post a button of Sheryl's breasts or Minmay in the shower I have almost no high resolution scans of the Advanced Valkyries. They are extremely hard to come by. Plus, I don't think there are any official color schemes. Best I could do is approximations of the customized models using the magazine scans from MW. TheLoneWolf Weird. I didn't realize that was in the anime, or perhaps I forgot. I know we discussed it before but I wasn't sure what the ruling was Anyway, that'll be an easy addition. Neova Sure, if you want to make some scans that would really help ease the burden off briscojr84, who works tirelessly to provide many of the scans for books I don't have (everyone give him a well deserved thank you!). Make a scan of the Vahalla and I'll take a look at it first before we go ahead with anything else. I'm very picky about scans; I have to be to get the end result looking as good as it does on the M3 As for the rest of the Macross universe, that's out of my hands. I did the mecha and that was MORE than enough work. Time for some other brave fan to step up to the plate on that one

I agree. I was just hoping for some solid evidence from the official website to assuage the fears of some naysayers on other boards

Not sure. Maybe it just works by dumping more reactant in and firing the engines at double thrust for as long as they can withstand the temperature

Back last year there was a rumor on ANN that the series was only 13 episodes. At least I believe it was on ANN; I might be misquoting.

Nope. It was hard enough coloring just one, but there was a variant AND a poor VF-11B was struck with pink as well. Please Kawamori, have mercy on your fans, especially me!

Waiting until the weekend so I can go with friends. I'll post a review.

As much as I like Sheryl, if we are subjected to a pink VF-25, there's going to be trouble

It depends upon personal preference but generally speaking, sequels are rarely good. Most of us have lived through hundreds, perhaps thousands of Hollywood sequel abuses. More often than not, a sequel = garbage. And for a certain portion of fandom, even superior sequels cannot improve upon the original simply because the first film was original while any sequel will always be retreading old territory. Having said that, there are several examples of sequels as good or better than the original (at least in my opinon). Films like Terminator 2, Aliens, The Empire Strikes Back, The Two Towers, X-Men 2, and a few others come to mind. But as a film fan for some 20+ years now, these are all too rare exceptions.

I almost agree 100%. I think it's great to see more Macross products made by more than just one company. It's really personal preference and for me, if I'm buying a non-transformable, I want the best articulation possible which is Kaiyodo's Revoltechs. I think I'll pass on the GN-U figures and go straight for the NEW 1/60 Scale VF-1. I want that Valkyrie, bad!

Yes, that's a the pre-production colors of the VF-25, taken from the Macross Frontier trailer way back in last year. It's not an official color scheme.

Ack! Where's episode 14? Just joking, thanks kresphy. I was hoping this next set of episode titles would tell us whether the 13 episode rumor from AnimeNewsNetwork was true or false. Guess we have to wait until next week to know for sure. Still, I'm pretty sure the impending DVD release means it's 26, but I was hoping for just a little extra assurance

Thanks for visiting everyone. I'm glad you're all enjoying the site. Make sure to visit the updated art for the older profiles and be sure to share the address for the M3 with all your friends and "potential" fans. It's great way to get mecha fans interested in Macross Neova There's always something... Dante74 Yeah, I'm kinda reaching the end. Looks like this will be the last big update. I'm glad you like the color code for the MII Index Button. You're like the only person who would notice that

Sounds good. I suppose there is the possibility that Kawamori might not take into account every Valkyrie when he designs new ones, but that's not for me to say either way. On the subject of dimensions, I've always hoped that Kawamori would release some more complete figures for the Macross Zero mecha. I would have thought that a wing span would be something we'd never be without, but there currently are no such figures. Perhaps that Macross Chronicle publication that's on the horizon will help fill out some of the details.

AlphaHX Well that's all fine and dandy. I was only posting some canon figures that I thought would help. But it looks like there's baggage in this discussion that wasn't apparent to me before. I said "feelings" to avoid labeling your opinion as based on fact because you specifically didn't want your opinions described as such. Now you're not satisfied with either term, so in an attempt to accommodate you I'm now at a total loss. I will say this much on my own behalf: the official Macross statistics are not trivial. Kawamori designed the Valkyries with certain weights and dimensions for a reason. He's an engineer, so he knows what it is he's doing. It's not like some third party came along years after and pulled numbers from nowhere just so Big West could add filler text to some Macross fan book. We fans may not be privy to the reasons why Kawamori made his Valkyries a certain size or weight but that doesn't make quoting his figures meaningless just because the exposition wasn't "animated" in the SDF Macross anime.

The primary motivation behind the VB-6 sequence in Macross Frontier is to act as a visual cue for the audience, making them aware how big and heavy this massive Konig Monster is compared to the smaller and lighter mecha in the rest of the show. No better way to get that message across than to rend the hull of a battleship with the massive recoil of the Konig's four big guns

May 22, 2008 MAJOR UPDATE! This update of the Macross Mecha Manual features 33 new profiles. The focus for this update is revision to the Macross Frontier profiles, completing the profiles for large space ships and introduction of the Macross II section. The front page has been reorganized to accommodate the new Macross II Index Button and to help maintain a smooth page layout the For Fans Only section has graduated to a large Index Button. Experimenting with Photoshop, I've found a better method to color for glass. As a result, I've re-finished several large ships with domes and transparent enclosures that were initially poorly colored. The Macross 7, Macross 5, Riviera Resort Ship and the Megaroad-01 (including the Flashback 2012 Banner) have all been updated with new colors. Lastly, the Header and Footer Menu Bars have been replaced in every profile, thus creating a common button style across the whole website (thanks again to Dante74 of the Macross World forums). Refer to the list below for all the new profiles in this update. Macross 7 Section Budoukan Concert Ship Einstein Research Experimental Ship Graham's Armored Suit Hollywood Amusement Ship Mark Twain VII Resort Ship Pirate Ship Sunnyflower Agricultural Ship Three Star Factory Ship Varauta Large Battroid Transport Carrier Varauta New Giant Carrier West Point Class Macro-Training Base Ship Macross II Section Gigamesh Macross Cannon VC-079 Civilian Valkyrie (SNN Valkyrie) VF-2SS Valkyrie II VF-2SS Valkyrie II "Acrobatic Team" (Red) VF-2SS Valkyrie II "Acrobatic Team" (Orange) VF-2SS Valkyrie II "Green" VF-2SS Valkyrie II "Nexx" VF-2SS Valkyrie II "Striped" VF-2SS Valkyrie II SAP Macross Frontier Section New Macross Class Colonization Ship (Macross 25) Macross Quarter Carrier RVF-25 Messiah VF-25G Messiah Macross Game and Advanced Valkyrie Section VF-9 Cutlass VF-14 Vampire (Macross M3 Version) VF-3000 Crusader Variable Glaug Variable Glaug UNS Variable Glaug UNS "Yellow" YF-11 (VFX-11) Thunderbolt (Macross M3 Version) For Fans Only Section VF-1J "Dark Bird" Additions/Corrections Complete Revision of the Macross Frontier section Added more entries to the Macropedia section (Deculture, Galaxy Network Signal, Miclone) Added more entries to the Acknowledgements section Added more entries to the FAQ section Revised Macross Mecha Manual Index and Splash Page. Revised Macross Zero Button. Revised Navigation Buttons (to include Macross II). Revised Header and Footer Menu Bars for all profiles. Revised Macross Flashback 2012 Banner Line Art Update VF-0S Reactive Armor (color) Line Art Update VF-1A Valkyrie (all color pictures) Line Art Update VF-1A "Angel Bird" (all color pictures) Line Art Update VF-1A "Dark Bird" (all color pictures) Line Art Update VF-1A "Kakizaki" (all color pictures) Line Art Update VF-1A "Max" (all color pictures) Line Art Update VF-1A "UN Headquarters Guard" (all color pictures) Line Art Update VF-1J Fighter Mode (color), Battroid Mode (color) Line Art Update VF-1D Valkyrie (all color pictures) Line Art Update VF-171 Battroid and GERWALK (color) Line Art Update VF-25S Full Armor Battroid, GERWALK and Fighter (color) Line Art Update Megaroad-01 Class Super Long-Range Colonization Ship (color) Line Art Update New Macross Class Colonization Ship - Battle 7 docked with City 7 (color) Line Art Update New Macross Class Colonization Ship (Macross 5) - Battle 5 docked with City 5 (color) Line Art Update Riviera Class Resort Ship (color) Added two new size charts to the For Fans Only section Added VF-25F Fighter Mode rear view picture Corrected spelling in VF-171 profile Revised Stealth Frigate class name to correct the error of Bolognese as the class and to suggest the Northampton Class designation from Macross Frontier Revised VF-17D Nightmare profile to account for the eventual redesign into the VF-171 (circa 2059) Revised VF-0 entries in the Macross Zero section to include the designation "Phoenix" (including special notes about the official status of the name) Revised VF-25 entries with F and S letter designations. Revised Saratoga II CV565 Uraga Class Escort Battle Carrier with the II designation Revised Bolognese, Guantanamo and Uraga Class ships (in both Macross Plus and Macross 7 sections) to reflect the new ships in Macross Frontier Enjoy

But that's the point AlphaHX, the VF-0 never was a VF-1 prototype. It was a larger, less expensive and more inefficient variable fighter specifically created as a test bed or proof-of-concept craft. They would test various OverTechnologies in craft like the VF-0 before they were refined for inclusion into more streamlined final production models, like the VF-1. In fact, I expect the VF-0 would be larger craft particularly because it required much larger conventional engines to power it, unlike the VF-1's far more powerful and efficient reaction engines. I think I may understand your "feelings" about the Valkyries. Perhaps you just have an expectation that they grow larger over a linear progression and the VF-0 feels anachronistic to you. Or perhaps it's another reason that skews your interpretation of how the Valkyries should be. Regardless, sizes change over time, even in the real world. I don't think Macross should be any different. Look at the weight of the Valkyries. They start at 13-14 tons, then drop to 8-10 tons then go up at times to 12-13 tons again.

You don't say *chortle* Seriously, welcome to the boards J.T.! It's great to see Frontier bringing in the fans. Looking closely at the micloning process, it doesn't appear quite so slow in my opinion. In the original series, you can see the process after watching for less than a minute. When Hikaru and Misa were taking pictures of the miclone chambers, they could actually see the conversion process happening before their eyes and they were only there but for a few moments. Granted, Macross Frontier might be fudging the time frames a little, but I don't think it's as much a stretch as some think. Especially since we've never been told exactly how long it takes AND it's been over 50 years since SDF Macross; micloning technology may have come a long way I suspect that the micloning chambers probably have something to do with super dimension energy. Nearly all OverTechnology is based upon super dimension energy, from Reaction Engines and Weapons, to Space Fold drives, to energy cannons and energy barriers to fold communications and cross-dimensional radar. Nearly every aspect of OT uses super dimension energy or space, so I bet the miclone chambers do so as well. They could use super dimension energy/space to add or subtract the mass needed to grow/shrink. Like a energy converting soup that can be shaped according to whatever requirements are needed. Remember, the Protoculture was well known for really advanced biotechnology and created super dimension organs that harvested super dimension energy for their organic "Evil" series Zentradi bio-weapons. As for implants, they could be removed and replacements could be designed to suit the final size. It shouldn't be all that hard, especially since micloning is a process that I would think is far more difficult to achieve by comparison.

No, they weren't. The VF-1 Valkyries have always been taller than the average Zentradi. Only Britai and Bodolzaa matched the height of a VF. See chart: http://www.new-un-spacy.com/scalecharts/sizechart-1.gif

Not all the variable fighters are larger than the VF-1. The VF-4 Lightning III (14.92 meters) is pretty much the same size as the VF-1 (14.23 meters). The VF-5000 Star Mirage is actually smaller than both (14.03 meters long). And in Battroid mode, the VF-1 (12.68 meters tall) is almost the exact same height as the VF-11 Thunderbolt (12.92 meters tall). When you think about it, it's really only the third generation variable fighters that got really big (YF-19/VF-19 Excalibur, YF-21/VF-22 Sturmvogel II, VF-17 Nightmare).