Mr March

As for the "no one likes anything but xyz here" discussion, you have to realize how focused this forum is. We talk mostly sci-fi and fantasy films, and frankly, most films of those genres tend to be mediocre to bad. Some of you just like the spectacle and don't care about the rest, and that's fine. I'm a cinephile, and that doesn't quite do it for me. There are a great many films I could talk positively about all day long, but I doubt they'd generate much discussion here. You'd probably react to them the same way I'd react to a new Transformers movie.

This.

As much as the MW community may have it's share of those who "hate everything", it's just as infested with apologists for any mediocre film or show that has genre trappings or tropes. Virtually every awful, forgettable genre film to be released for the last 20 years has enjoyed it's own host of supportive threads/reponses here on MW...and just because it was brought up, why not paraphrase Game of Thrones just to drive home the point; "It's all the same lecture really, just with tiny, tedious variations...", a lecture to the tune of It's not great, but it's not that bad. The way MW defends the very definition of mediocrity is as bad - if not worse - than the internet's jaded and angry cadre who just crap upon everything. It seems folks have an awfuly short memory and a VERY high tolerance for disposable product that caters to their worst tastes and tendencies.

I see nothing wrong with calling out mediocrity. If the abundance of it - and the people who complain about it - is a problem, I'd say it's time turn a critical eye toward why there is so much mediocrity rather than blaming those who demand better for their ever dwindling disposable incomes.

Ah, so this is what they were really planning when they pretended to play nice a while back. I suspected something like this would happen, as an attempt to head off all the fan-built projects. I'm curious what this could mean for fan-created content going forward. Will other IP holders follow suit, or will this turn out to be a disaster for Paramount?

I honestly thought this was going to be abandoned. So glad that it's still going.

Model kit promos and manuals and whatnot for the Bandai 1/72 VF-31J kit is out. Here's their PDF promo brochure:

http://bandai-hobby.net/site/character_macrossd/72_vf31j_spec01.pdf

Since the PDF has selectable text, it's machine translatable, so I plugged in some of it into Google Translate. To wit:

? VF-31J [sPEC]

Basic design: Surya Aerospace

Renovated: Chaos Valkyrie Works

Overall length: 19.31m overall width: 14.14m

Height: 3.85m (Battroid time: 15.33m ? not included laser machine gun)

Empty weight: 8,525kg (not including multi-purpose container equipment)

Airframe design maximum load: 29.5G

(At the time of ISC operation is protected from both high-G aircraft, crew and equipment)

Engine: Shinsei Industry / P & W / RR Co., Ltd.

FF-3001 / FC2 stage IIC heat nuclear turbine engine × 2

Space maximum thrust: 1,875KN + × 2

Fold Wave system during operation is up to about 15%

Over boost is possible.

High Mobility thrusters: P & W HMM-10A

Maximum speed: M5.5 + (advanced 10,000m / However heat limit)

Thrust Ribasa, three-dimensional deflection nozzle equipment

The big gun pod is labeled "Howard Co., Ltd. LU-18A beam gun pod", and the explanation given is that previous VFs had physical gun pods, but engine output is now great enough to support a beam gun pod and so the VF-31 is now officially equipped with one.

The knives are labeled "AK / VF-M11 Assault knife", with the explanation telling where it's stored (back edge of elbow shield), that it's made of super-alloy, and how the edge can be enhanced with the use of the pin-point barrier for extra force.

The "Elbow Shield" caption states that they're made from Energy Conversion Armor, and can be improved with the pin point barrier, then something about functioning as "Uchitsubasa" which I don't know what it means.

The "Arm rail gun (mini gun pod)" caption mentions how it's stored facing forwards in fighter mode and rotates around a fulcrum to face forward in Gerwalk or battroid, near as I can tell.

The model kit instructions have bigger captions for some of the items, but the scans are small so I can't see the characters well enough to transcribe them.

This is some good trivia. It's confirmed a few things we've suspected about the VF-31 Siegfried (beam gun pod, ICS, ), but there is a few surprises in there. Overall, the statistics aren't that high performing. The weight, thrusts and capabilities seem solidly in line with the YF-24/VF-25 Messiah era of variable fighters. The VF-31 is an advancement to be sure, but not significantly outside of this generation. Certainly nothing like the leap from SDF Macross to Macross Plus or the leap from Macross Plus to Frontier. That's not bad or good, just interesting.

I must say, it's really eye-opening to read mention of "Overboost" after all these years. I've personally long suspected that all Valkyries following the VF-1 Valkyrie could achieve the thrust-doubling effect of overboost, but there's been very little trivia that I've seen translated to support that. In fact, the only other overboost mention I ever found was in the cockpit control line art for the VF-17 Nightmare, which clearly shows overboost is still a feature after the VF-1 Valkyrie. This trivia for the VF-31 Siegfried would seem to once again confirm that overboost is still used in the variable fighters even in 2067. Hence, all the thrust-to-weight ratios we have for all the valkyries post-VF-1 Valkyrie really have been low-end estimates just like I suspected. Very interesting indeed.

Hoping this is the right place to ask, but...

What is the origin of the name "Quiltra-Quelamitz" for Medium Scale Gun Destroyer? The Macross Mecha Manual claims the ship has no official name and that fans invented one for it, but it seems to have become so entrenched that his site is one of the few that doesn't use it. And it's not *Western* fan-invention, given that it pops up in Japanese fan works.

The question has mostly been answered, but just to add a bit of context to the change I made in my website regarding the "Medium-Scale Gun Destroyer", the lack of reference for this name was the primary motivator for removing the "Quiltra-Quelamitz" title. When I first built the Macross Mecha Manual (M3) the intent was to ensure as much straight Macross trivia was used as possible. Not only was this done to be accurate, but to also celebrate the Macross Compendium, that was for decades the only reliable source for English translated Macross trivia. It was also important to avoid any Harmony Gold-isms or Robotech-isms, since I wanted the M3 to be a pure Macross fansite. In the beginning, I also lacked a lot of Macross source books. So I was unable to verify the validity even of all the known Macross facts.

IInitially, gaps in the Macross Compendium would be filled using as much Babel-fish or Google Translated material I could obtain on my own. Not speaking Japanese nor able to read, some errors were bound to creep in. I believe the name "Quiltra-Quelamitz" was something I found on an English language site first, but for whatever reason I had convinced myself it was legitimate Japanese-source material. Probably because I saw it on a Japanese site during my many torublesome forays into translation via the internet. While many of these forays did lead to trivia for vehicles like the Gol Gants Charts or the SDP-1 Stampede Valkyrie long before newer translated trivia became available, it appears that "Quiltra-Quelamitz" was wrong all along.

Now, I have a much more extensive book collection and have been able to confirm all kinds of Macross trivia.It appears Egan Loo was VERY thorough when he built the Macross Compendium and I've found sources for much of his fine work. Sadly, the "Quiltra-Quelamitz" can't be found anywhere in any of the hundreds of books, magazines, liner notes, CD sleeves, video game manuals or art materials I've purchased for Macross. It may be out there somewhere, (like where the original source for the Zentradi "Enemy" Battle Suit statistics came from back in 1994) but to the best of my knowledge it's not a real thing. Hence, this "name" has been removed and a special note placed in the Gun Destroyer profile for curious fans.

Hope that helps explain why

Old indeed, but appreciated thread rebirth
Yes, that font does look quite close. Thanks for sharing!

I can't seem to find it now, but I remember reading years ago that even at low muzzle velocities, it takes a maneuver in the hundreds of gs (which would destroy any plane and turn any pilot into sauce) before a jet fighter would ever be in danger of hitting it's own fired munitions. So I don't believe that is a concern, especially in Macross where the muzzle velocities of the gun pods get ridiculously high, far more than conventional jet-mounted projectile weapons.

That being said, there is still the one-in-a-million possibility that a VF could overtake and intercept it's own munitions, like the infamous Tiger 138620 incident

I'm still calling that Mirage and Hayate form an elite duo to challenge Keith by complimenting their two styles. It also will further that leg of the triangle by getting them working together more.

I really like this idea and think it's more in line with Macross Delta's storytelling than most other theories I've read. It would also come around at an appropriate time, because Mirage hasn't been receiving any attention these last few episodes AND so far, has relied very much on co-ordination with Hayate in combat to pull her weight in the love triangle relationship. It makes sense that the two of them would come together to defeat Keith, serving both a story purpose and fulfilling a requirement of the love triangle.

Yeah, they seem to be setting up Roid for some kind of move. If not betrayal, then some kind of tenuous alliance with Xaos and Walkure. He has been setup at the beginning as one of the most rational and intelligent Windermereans and his ability to lead is constantly being undermined by the king, Keith and even Heinz to a degree (although through Heinz own innocence/ignorance). I think of all of them, Roid is the most likely candidate to break from the group.

Revoltech Deadpool.

Oh, yes please! Looks great!

I just recently purchased several new Revoltech figures, including Boba Fett. They have really improved both sculpt and articulation even beyond the insane levels of articulation they had before. I can see the Deadpool figure also features some crazy posability. The different eye pieces are a perfect touch

OMG! Gundam 0080! I love this! It's like my favorite Gundam story. You work looks amazing so far. Really looking forward to this one.

Oh yeah, Pharah has Macross written all over her. That's why I play her so much.

I like this Samus figure. Figma seems to do really well with the sculpts for these figures. I might have to grab this one too. The colors are really attractive.

I'd definitely recommend Jessica Jones if you liked Daredevil. It's a different type of show (more detective thriller than action adventure) but it's just as excellent for many of the same reasons that Daredevil is. Strong characters, good dialog, interesting villains, wonderful stylistic visuals and compelling themes.

I'm really excited for more Netflix Marvel shows. IMO, they are the only super hero shows worth watching among all the many titles currently on offer on the small screen.

Still not clear how the Windermere have come to the conclusion that they are the heirs to the PC though, even Keith expressed his doubts.

I don't think the whole "heir to the PC" thing has been said or presented as anything other than propaganda at this point in the series. Even if they do address it with some scientific basis later on, how exactly would one descendeant race of the Protoculture have any more of a direct lineage to the PC than any other? How would one prove that humans are any less heirs to the PC than Windermereans. It doesn't make any logical sense, instead it just reads like racial jingoism and cultural imperialism. Given that Windermere is fighting a war, I'm not the least surprised if their "claim to the throne" was utter BS, perpetuated just for the sake of justifying their war.

I don't have convenient screenshots of that particular scene, but I will say it is common in anime for artists to use different colors to simulate different lighting situations for character clothing and hair and also for characters/objects in the far background. The scenes you're talking about do take place in specialized lighting conditions (lit by gaslight or flashlight only), so the artists and colorists may have used different colors to visually communicate this to the audience. Perhaps this is the case for this sequence?

Well, yes, however the Elysion has a plethora of armaments that the carriers don't including a MAIN GUN!! Just saying.

I suppose you're right. Though I suspect the lack of spaceship battles or large-scale fleet engagements featured in the show thus far has limited the opportunity for the writers to arrange a sequence for a main gun attack. I wonder if that's intentional or just how the show has turned out so far. I suspect the Var Syndrome and Song of the Wind attacks aren't all that good in space, without a Protoculture ruin nearby to exploit and amplify the effect.

Hasn't the Aether and Hemera been deployed at various points in the series so far to do just that? I would think that unlike the New Unified Forces/Spacy, the Xaos folks are limited in what forces they can deploy and where. So they use the Elysion as their base of operations (with the option to move, should they need to) and deploy the carriers to fulfill any long range sorties.

Clicked and visited. Adorable picture. Fine work!

Fine work! And the colors are really vibrant. Bravo!

Not bad. I like the staging of the scenes. Very creative.

Cool your room while enjoying the Macross visual style? I'm a big fan...

LOL! I can get on board for this

I may have my favorites, but as long as Netflix continues to pump out quality Marvel character Marvel shows, I'm more than happy to go with the flow.

Damn, McCree is one of my favorite characters. I really hope they don't nerf him out of competition

http://www.polygon.com/2016/6/7/11876776/overwatch-mccree-nerfs-dva-buffs-competitive-play-mode

On the plus side, a buff to D.Va would be a VERY welcome change. I mean look at those big mecha guns; come on, make them spit some proper damage.