Mr March

The Aliens: Colonial Marines Technical Manual is indeed a fine read, especially since it's the only fictional technical manual I've ever read that was written, formatted and researched like a real analytical dossier. I can't think of another work that is it's equal, with the exception of Saxton's Star Wars Technical Commentaries. Actually, while the tech manual is indispensable, most of the details about the Aliens firearms are in the movie. Hicks shows Ripley how to aim the Pulse Rifle with the slot sight, infrared for aiming is mentioned several times by several characters and the Smart Gun is shown being disarmed when Vasquez removes the battery. The detail and thinking that went into Aliens is part of what made the film so damn good

Then with all due respect, you're not seeing very well myk. You'll want to pay attention to this post Kurisama because it answers your question. The Smartgun is designed to be utilized as mobile machine gun support. That's the whole point. It's also the whole reason why one would design such a weapon in the first place; to do something BETTER than a current weapon with a plausible method, not to build a laser gun just because it looks sci-fi-ish. The Smart Gun is not aimed like a traditional rifle, it's aimed with infrared. That's why the Xenomorph's lack of an infrared signature was so devastating. It's also why the gun is called a "SMART" gun and why removing the DV9 battery that powers the sight-to-gun link leaves the gun aimless <--- That's for you Kuri The Smart Gun: "Lightweight, rugged and reliable, the Smart Gun is carried into battle on a self-aiming stabilized mount - so negating the need to position or set up the gun for full automatic fire - and is linked to an infrared target tracking system for accurate aiming." As for the Pulse Rifle: "Sighting is made down a groove in the carrying handle, with an adjustable tangent leaf backsight positioned in the rear slot." So yes, these little babies win big points in the realism debate and deservedly sit at the top of the food chain in realistically created sci-fi firearms for a very good reason. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not saying we must all bow down to these arms for their winning personalities. Being the best creative firearms in sci-fi for the last 20 years is both good and bad. Good because it shows that a little thought goes a long way and bad because no one has even bothered to follow the same creative thinking that made these guns a reality in the first place. That they haven't been trumped in 20 years is not a good thing; it's a big ugly mark against sci-fi design for the past two decades. Mores the pity.

What movie since Aliens has even attempted to build extrapolated future firearms that is anywhere near as stylish and realistic as the weapons for the Cameron film? As far as sci-fi firearms post-Aliens, I've seen either over-the-top sci-fi pulp crap or defacto replicas of modern firearms with new paint jobs and laser pointers attached. As far as I can recall, no one's even made that much of an effort. You may see a few glimpses here and there of some gun that kinda looks alright, like Firefly or Battlestar Galactica (2004). But nothing as interesting or creatively plausible as the weapons from Aliens is coming to my mind (and that includes sound design). Perhaps I've forgotten some examples, especially if they are from lousy films.

These pictures are from VF-X2. I'm using some of these very same shots for color reference to include the Macross 13 on my website. I got all excited cause I thought we had more goodies! ARGH! EDIT LOL! A bunch of us caught it

It's great to see a 3D Macross model finally put to use. Bravo! I like the whole sequence. I agree that it's been taken from the Iron Man trailer, at least that's what it looks like to me. Well done!

Good catch! I thought I read "main line" in the VF-14 description, but it just states "main." Well, there we have it then; my theory is sound across the board, no exceptions. That's a first

Sumdumgai I find the nose color really depends upon the color scheme and what other colors/details are used. Some schemes can really look good with distinguished nose cones. The upcoming VF-11 VF-X Ravens colors cheme looks great with a beige nose and a low-vis grey hull. I also like Max and Milia's VF-1J colors with white nose cones. However, the default hull colors of the VF-4 are just ugly as hell, IMO. There's too many of them and combined with all the different colored sections (like the off-white semi-recessed missiles, the red engine flow indicators, the yellow gun/access arrows, dark grey cockpit canopy rim, et cetera) it just looks too busy and messy. It was easy to find the motivation to make some custom colored VF-4 fighters mike I'm not really sure what the fictional reason was given for the move away from the VF-4. I doubt the VF-4 was a poor atmospheric fighter, just not as optimized as it was for space. Keep in mind that the desert camo is very theatre specific. They probably dressed not just the VF-4, but all variable fighters and all military ground hardware in that same scheme for all the units that were deployed in the sandy theatre of operations. As for the VF-5000 versus the VF-4, I do know this much; there was a clear shift in UN Forces policy to move away from heavy vehicles and toward producing light weight variable fighters for all main line roles. Every main line variable fighter following the VF-4 was built under 10 tons. The VF-5000, the VF-9, the VF-11, the YF-19/VF-19 and the YF-21/VF-22 were all built under 10 tons. Those variable fighters that weren't designed in line with this policy were phased out (VF-4) or not pursued (VF-3000). Heavy variable fighters were made for specialized needs only and not as main line fighters (special operations fighters like the VF-17 Nightmare or specialized role variable vehicles like the VAB-2D Variable Fighter-Bomber/VA-3 Invader/VB-6 Konig Shuttle). The VF-14 remains one of the few exceptions to this UN Forces policy; the only heavy variable fighter that was deployed in a main line role after the VF-4. Awacs I agree. The VF-4 would have been depolyed in much the same way as the VF-1 and was in service for many years. Over 8,000 fighters were built, so that should be a big indicator how popular this fighter was. The VF-4 would have been deployed all over the UNG colonies, both in space and on planets. sketchley Indeed, very good point.

My thanks kanedaestes. I hope this works out with the new VF-0S Ghost release. I REALLY want a VF-0, especially a blue Shin VF-0D variant.

Okay, I'm a little confused here. What do we mean "No breakages reported?" Did we not just have a poll in the toys forum for the latest release of the VF-0 and the shoulder problem was at a whopping 25% failure rate based on Macross World buyers. Did they not feature the so called improved shoulder joint? Or is this something new now?

What a poor way to run this show. I'm with meh cd, I welcome the close to Battlestar Galatica (2004) if we're fortunate enough to see it finished. At this rate, anything is possible, even the worst! Perish the thought!

Sumdumgai See, I told ya it was sexy I like it because it smooths out the look of the VF-4. Fewer colors and a more complete scheme. It looks mean too Phyrox Well, to each his own. I think it's very distinctive, especially for the VF-4.

What's what? *evil grin* This is sure a weird situation. It seems Kawamori forgot the shadow too. The shadowless VF-4 is scanned from Shoji Kawamori Macross Design Works book as is (barring the modifications I had to make for the VAT-127 variant). Or at least, whoever made the shadowless VF-4 forgot the shadow. Kinda funny Regardless, I've removed it on both the VAT-127 and "Nightmare" variant. Thanks for the catch

I've been a really good little boy this past week and written about 10 pages of text description for future profiles. As a result, I slacked off yesterday and worked on some non-essential stuff. So here is another special color scheme; the VF-4 "VAT-127" Fighter Tell me it looks sexy. Doesn't it look sexy? So very sexaaahhh

Damn, he beat me. I call foul! Yeah, I know, but it's a little funny I need a Revoltech enemy labor to do some fighting with the Ingram. The Griffon is at the top of my list

Sumdumgai I agree. The two craft look very much like variants of the same basic design. It'll be great to get some high resolution scans so I can make a profile for the VF-14 (M7PLUS). I'll do some comparison pictures as well. mike The whole thing is unnecessarily confusing, so none of us can be blamed for making mistakes about it. I have to write all this down just to keep it straight When I do build profiles for the two VF-14 mecha, I'm going to add clear and concise notes in the written text descriptions to help clarify the differences for fans. Plus, the color pictures will go a LONG way to helping the fans differentiate the two fighters and visualize the design lineages. I can't wait Zinjoyable I love it! If I could get away with it, I'd go with that explanation in a second. Simple is so sexah!

No danger of that; I uploaded the picture to my webspace

I'm going to have to do a single picture comparison when I get my high resolution VF-14 (M7PLUS) scans. Just like I did with the YF-19, VF-19 Custom and VF-19F fighters. These will make great additions to the M3 I agree that the silhouettes of the Fz-109 and VF-14 (M3) are similar, but they are not identical, IMO. I think that aside from the prominent flare of the forward nose, the only thing these two share (comparitively speaking here) is a similar silhouette. The VF-14 (M7PLUS) on the other hand not only shares a similar silhouette, but far more closely shares all the proportions with the Fz-109 (ignoring the model interpretation, which while good, is not accurate to the line art). Keeping in mind this is just MY take on the similarities... The VF-14 (M7PLUS) and Fz-109 engine nacelles from front to back are definitely what I would label as nearly identical in size and shape and both with feature forward missile launchers, not like the longer narrower nacelles of the VF-14 (M3) The VF-14 (M7PLUS) and Fz-109 cockpit is forward facing only with plates, not open and bubble shaped like the VF-14 (M3) The VF-14 (M7PLUS) and Fz-109 forward nacelles tips are cone shaped and truncated, not long and narrow like the VF-14 (M3) The VF-14 (M7PLUS) and Fz-109 forward nose is angled and wide, not sloped and pointed like the VF-14 (M3) The VF-14 (M7PLUS) and Fz-109 central fuselage is nearly identical in shape and proportion attaching to the nacelles at the exact same forward and rearward points. The far more similar Battroid mode between the VF-14 (M7PLUS) and Fz-109 is obvious, especially compared to the far different VF-14 (M3). Overall (Fighter AND Battroid mode), I'd say the Fz-109 is far more VF-14 (M7PLUS) than it is VF-14 (M3). I'm very curious what the VA-14 would look like as well. It has to be a big heavy fighter like the Panzerzorene.

azrael Yes, this is as I understand it. The rough concept has been moved to the VA-14 designation by fans, but it's not official. Officially, as far as the Macross Compendium is concerned, the VA-14 is pictureless and both VERSIONS of the VF-14 remain the VF-14. It sucks, but I'm certain that's at least correct with respect to canon. wwwmwww Sorry about that. I'm in the process of obtaining high resolution scans of the VF-14 rough concept, so I haven't been posting pictures. You know me, if I had the pics, I'd post 'em For now, I'll use internet fodder to help you out visually. I'm at work so I can't uplaod them to my webspace and I don't want to hotlink images from ChrisG's excellent site (which has all of them if you want to see them at MAHQ (Macross Section)). No line art has been assigned to the VA-14 officially (at least as far as I know). VF-14 Rough Concept (animated in Macross 7 PLUS Spiritia Dreaming) VF-14 Finalized Design for Macross M3 video game sketchley I agree. I was surprised to see an actual model. The VF-14 (Macross 7 PLUS Version) is kinda obscure. But I really like it

Yeah, minor error. I figure I'm allowed, considering how lousy the whole situation is When did the rough concept VF-14 become designated as the VA-14 in any official capacity? I'm not seeing that anywhere on the Compendium. It states the exact opposite.

Welcome to Macross World James! I'm not a RPG player but it's obvious a LOT of work went into this Valkyrie. I do like the fact that you attempted a custom drawing of the new Valkyrie you created. The picture itself is quite rough, but it does give a good idea what you had in mind. It looks like an armored VF-2SS Valkyrie II from Macross II, with a pair of double strike cannons. That is a lot of heavy firepower!

Nice VF-14 model! I never knew such a model existed. Thanks for sharing. The VA-14 has no line art and never appears animated. It's basically just "there" as a plot device UN Spacy variable fighter meant to be captured and redesigned by the Varauta (Protodeviln) so they have these purple Elgerzorene valkyries. It's really rather lame the various valkyrie designations weren't cleaned up post-Macross 7. I mean, as it is now, we have two Varauta variable fighters built from the VA-14, a design which we never officially see according to Kawamori and Co. Then to further make a mess, we have two different canon designs for the VF-14, the earlier of which we the audience are supposed to be forget we saw when it was animated for Macross 7. The powers that be say that's because the early VF-14 was only a rough concept when it was used in Macross 7 and Kawamori didn't officially finalize the VF-14 until later in the Macross M3 video game. So we're left with: A finalized VF-14 from the Macross M3 video game that looks nothing like the Varauta mecha and has no connection to them... A rough concept VF-14 that we're supposed to pretend doesn't really exist because Kawamori hadn't finalized the design (despite the fact it was animated anyway)... A VA-14 written description which is not assigned any line art but would work well if assigned the rough concept VF-14 artwork, since the rough concept looks very much like the Varauta mecha that came later... It's no wonder some fans have just applied the rough concept artwork to the VA-14 profile and called it done. What a mess!

mike I use Photoshop CS V8.0. I have used other versions both older and newer, but as I'm not an advanced user, I can't really say much about the differences. I know starting with my version Photoshop was meant to merge with other creative software programs (hence the "CS") but the basic program is really good for my needs. I do coloring and I also do some digital photo editing on it. It's fantastic. The cost for software like Photoshop is really high because they are both labor intensive and take a lot of time to program. Also, these software programs are generally designed for professional applications and Photoshop is the industry standard. Most often businesses are purchasing this software, not your average end user. And quite honestly, no one really needs it unless you're in the industry or you want to build a website Nied No, I won't be adding those. The translations are also something I rarely do, since I don't speak or read japanese. I generally only attempt them myself as a last resort and rely upon bits and pieces from the internet to help. It takes a lot of work for me to translate using the internet and search for useful information on foreign language websites using translation programs. Also, my japanese speaking roomate who was assisting me has moved out Basically, it's far too much work for very little useful information. My time is better spent elsewhere working on projects I can do effectively. Exsedol Indeedy! Just like my website

Exsedol Throughout the 16 pages of color squadron colors there are numerous branches of the UN Forces shown to have variable fighters. They have branches for the UN Navy, UNS Air Force and UNS Marines. You'll note the Macross Compendium specifically designates the various variable fighters with belonging to various branches. It's a nice added touch of detail. mike Photoshop CS is expensive, but it is very powerful software. I've used both PC and Mac versions of Photoshop and aside from visual presentation (and the differences in Mac/PC interfaces) I can't tell the difference. Both appear to have identical functionality and I've never had a problem with either. If you're familiar with one and switch to the other, it's a breeze. All the work done on the Macross Mecha Manual is done with Photoshop CS on my PC (including running a scanner, yes that's right, Photoshop operates my Canoscan scanner natively with no lame-assed third party software required).

Hehehe, similar to me an Neon Genesis Evangelion. I have seen some of the show, but I purchased a Revoltech without even knowing much about it. It just looks cool!

I know what part that is as well: the foot stand and my VF-1J came with it as well. HLJ has a picture of a Patlabor Revoltech figure that I can borrow to illustrate the use of the foot stand: Plug it into the horizontal stand and then plug the VF-1J foot into the vertical block. Instant action pose