David Hingtgen

I know there's a clear Thundercracker--it may have actually been those little PVC "legends of", but it looked more like the G1 mold when I saw it. Been a while, and small blurry pic (bad catalog scan I think) Black Prime---was thinking RiD, sorry if you thought I meant MP. (So many Primes, so many repaints) Anyways, the point that Takara will do "even more than everything we've seen on-screen" for repaints is still there.

I just clayed about 1/4 of my car to prep for my scratch removal/touch-up painting. There's no question it makes a heck of a difference. Plus it's the ONLY way to get off rail dust, which I get a ton of. (Almost every car in town has it, if you look) Don't forget to clay your wheels! Still haven't found any way to get the (I think) blue paint off my car--you know when the city sprays the water lines for construction--somehow I got a glob of it on my rear bumper (the color matches at least), and NOTHING gets it off---I've gotten a small amount off by literally scraping with my thumbnail for a while, but no solvent affects it. I may literally slice it off with a razor.

I've been looking at every (AFAIK) other transforming YF-19 out there, and they all have "correct" size wings. If there's a reason why both the original and new Yamato ones have small wings, I'd love to hear it. I think we've been complaining about small-winged Yamato YF-19's for 5 years now, and there's still no known reason why Yamato makes them that way. Frankly, I don't see how wingspan could possibly affect transformation---they just sit out there. Adding an inch won't do anything other than making fighter mode look better.

Every comment from Hasbro so far has been "even if we do bring it over, it'd be late 2007 at the earliest". There is practicaly zero chance of a US release within the next 12 months. Remember that the UK waited for what, 2 years to get Masterpiece Prime? Hasbro takes their time when they want to. Takara will probably be up to "Clear Sunstorm" by then for repaints... And from the last 2 batches of "latest pics", SS looks "F-14 green-grey" again, sigh. "Gunship grey" has NO green/blue in it. If there's the slightest hint, then it's wrong. How hard is GREY to make? Black+white=grey. Not black+white+green.

1. VF-0D. Change a few parts, get a totally different-looking valk. (And going with the big YF-19 thread, I don't think those parts affect too much--I think only the v.stab area could actually need a redesign--but I don't have much VF-0D art/transformation to go by--they transform so FAST in M0 it's hard to follow, even in freeze-frame) 2. Better QC, parts-wise. WAY too many instances of missing parts, 2 left hands, no gunpod, reversed magnets etc. When we spend triple-digits for a valk, we want all the parts, and the right ones. Also, I notice a fair amount of random gouges, bends, scrapes, scratches on the parts themselves that are frankly inexcusable--it's clearly damage inflicted AFTER being molded, either while being taken out of the mold, or while the toy is being assembled--often after it's already painted. It shouldn't be too much to ask that the toy isn't damaged while in the factory. It'd be like buying a new car with a roof dent and a big scratch on the hood. Also the molds themselves aren't that crisp or smooth. The plastic itself is often quite rough, with a fair amount of flash, especially at edges/corners (related to not being crisp). 3. Tampo print the kites on the sides of the nose, even though they go ACROSS parts that split. Takara/Hasbro have been printing large complex logos across parts that split on their Transformers for years---why can't Yamato? If Takara can print a logo across two halves of the nose of a $10 transforming jet, Yamato sure should be able to for 10x the price. 4. I want a fold booster for the YF-19. Light-up green if possible.

Seriously doubt you'd get 4-channel (rudder/elevator/aileron/throttle) on something like that. You're lucky to get 2-channel (rudder/elevator) on most cheap R/C's. It goes with 4-channel not being for beginners (nor being cheap)

You honestly have to ask if Takara will repaint that? When they re-released the G1 seekers, they made clear ghost THUNDERCRACKER in addition to "ghost" Starscream. And Sunstorm. And clear Sunstorm. And black Starscream. And TV-color Starscream. And I think clear black Starscream. When they do a half-dozen non-canon repaints of a mold, you can bet they'll do the canon ones. And c'mon---they made "unarmored Ultra Magnus" from MP-01. Not making SW and TC would be like Yamato not making Max and Milia's VF-1J's once they had done Hikaru's... Also, Takara likes making black repaints of everything. Even if they do no other repaints, they'll do a black one. And Skywarp is already SUPPOSED to be black. Even if for some unfathomable reason "the king of repaints" decided not to do Skywarp, they'd probably do "Black Starscream". Which is pretty close. And considering the pinky colors used on MP-03, it'd be REALLY close to SW lavender.

I've always seen/heard numbers well above the tens of thousands for most toys/models. But I certainly don't know, so won't argue. Also would like to point out that Yamato has always had piss-poor mold alignment issues, with flash and mis-aligned parts since the beginning. I am not at all impressed by the 1/48's actual molding--not crisp, not even, not symmetrical, with poor fit. They also pay NO attention to the back/underside of parts it seems--if it's hidden in the final product it's left as rough as possible, and that sometimes interferes with fit. It's a lot better than their earlier stuff, but still not up to snuff, especially considering the price. Maybe Yamato flat-out uses cheap molds... Maybe it's that molds to my standard cost 100K...

Yet the half of Xenogears that was released is still my fave game... (Also, unlike say KOTOR2, they actually finished it up quite well, rather than flat out STOPPING the game and leaving loose ends all over the place when they ran out of time/money) And I'll second Valkyrie Profile for beating most anything. It certainly wins for "best reason to play through twice". Nothing else comes close---it's like the entire second half of the game plays out differently when you go for the alternate ending. It's not the last 5 mins that's different, it's the last 15 hours. Interestingly, my fave 2 games ever also have the best 2 soundtracks ever. Xenogears and Valkyrie Profile. Though I think I may have to give the music edge to VP. (Legend of Mana rounds out the top 3 soundtracks ever, but certainly not game) As for Zelda: Ocarina of Time had the most complex/involved dungeons. Certainly the most brain-wracking water puzzle---iron boots on, iron boots off---and you'd spend 20 mins working your way back up just to see what that OTHER switch did, to get ready to get the other ones set up. Zelda 4 is still the best IMHO--yes, "Link's Awakening" on the Gameboy. Black and white. I loved the dungeons and gadgets. Final Fantasy---4,6,7,9,10. Others are forgettable, plotwise IMHO. I think 9 is very underappreciated. It's like a modern 4, and was exactly what I wanted. Just always wish the 4 temples of the fiends were actually DONE---they did a Xenogears there---just TOLD you about what happened, you didn't actually explore them. That could have been 4 very good, important dungeons to go through.

I just find the "Isamu" scheme to be awesome, and pretty much couldn't be improved upon, so I'm happy with just that. Though as I said before--Max and Millia colors. PS--just so people know, I like the VF-19S a lot, and would buy one in Emerald Force (Mac7) colors in a second. I just don't think it'd happen, due to how much remolding some key parts involves. PPS--the YF-19 looks really good in the standard F-18 low-vis scheme, IMHO. Since the VF-1 first low-vis was F-15 style, the YF-19 could be F-18 style--which are the same colors, but a different pattern.

Remember, KC-135's were built to stick their boom into a USAF receptacle, not have a probe stuck into a basket. They have to put a basket onto the boom to refuel any non-USAF plane, and it IS that close on the F-14---the basket practically eats the probe, and it is very stiff/strong compared to most baskets---thus parts tend to break off if there's any contact or bending. F-14 pilot's nickname for the KC-135 is the "Iron Maiden"---unforgiving. Macross73--you mean Air Tran? Also, the main difference between the 777 wing and 767 wing is that the 777 wing has a much higher aspect ratio, and also has greater sweep for higher speed. 777 airfoil is generally similar to the 767. (Most of a 777 is like a 767) The 777 finally reversed a trend of ever-slower airliners. If you chart jet airliner speeds, it's gone downhill ever since the first ones, excluding a brief spike for the early widebodies. The 777's the fastest airliner in 20 years. 747 still beats them all of course (and it SHOULD be even faster, if the other airlines had gone along with Pan Am) Overall I find 777's incredibly boring and non-distinct to fly on. (Ironically I really like 767's, which are probably the most indistinct airliner of all---but I think it's just that it's so well balanced and designed the whole effect just really looks right) United is one of the few to keep the 2-5-2 777 seating, as they used that on their DC-10's (most airlines had their DC-10's like that). Most airlines have gone to 2-4-3 for 777's AFAIK. (or rarely 3-3-3 I think)

Refueling probe door is removed whenever they expect to deal with KC-135's. KC-135's have a nasty habit of breaking the refueling probe doors off of F-14's, in such a way that it's thrown right down the F-14's intake. I presume KC-10's aren't much better. (Basically anything originally designed for USAF planes). Want to see how to model paint touchups? http://s96920072.onlinehome.us/tnt1/101-20..._Gok/tnt119.htm

Wha, the original OVA is finally released on DVD in the US? I was just AT Best Buy...

The thing is, IMHO, the YF-21 has the most anime magic of all. Look at the sides of fighter mode, namely what happens to the shoulders/arms. Yamato flat-out ignored 100% of what happens, the SHE kit did SOME of what happens. I still think you could do a decent (though oversized) representation. Anything is better than "giant gaping holes you can see though". There really needs to be some flaps that fold out from the belly plates to form the sides of the fighter, or something. A new, GOOD YF-21/VF-22 will need major work on the fighter mode sides. I don't think the real issue people have with the current one is how *fat* it looks from the side, it's the fact that it's completely open with robot arms visible inside. Just cover that up and it looks "whole" like all the other valks. jenius---while a VF-19F/S/Kai may have the same transformation sequence as a YF-19, the angles/fit are all different due to differently shaped parts. In 3 dimensions. It would take many hours of work to figure out how to make it work. They'd basically have to start from scratch. Yes, the chest flips up and over the nose, but most of those parts are shaped differently and no longer fit together like they did. Also, think how little clearance there is in a 1/48 VF-1, like transforming the head through the chest plate--now imagine the head was slightly larger and the chest hole slightly smaller. Now it just plain doesn't work as there isn't room. That's the issue you run into with redesigning the YF-19. Not only would the new parts not fit together in fighter mode, they might not even be transformable. Anyone who's transformed the original Yamato YF-19 knows there's NO room to even slightly change a part, or it won't fit together nor transform at all. And even then, you still scrape paint on every transformation due to how close the tolerances are. You couldn't just put bigger legs in and expect all the parts surrounding them in fighter mode to still fit. Again--changing one part means all the parts around it has to be modified to fit---in 3D for all 3 modes. If they start with battroid and modify it to look like Basara's, it may make fighter mode look 10x worse. And vice-versa. To have a balance in all 3 modes---might as well just start from scratch, as all the hours spent tweaking the YF-19 won't matter much. Basically--you can't just "tweak" a few parts and expect them to fit. "fatter calves" will royally screw up how every other part they touch fits, as will "new wingroots". You can modify "edge" parts that don't touch anything else. Like say canards, ventral fins, or nosecone--they don't affect anything in the transformation, they just sit there only attached to one piece along one edge. Those could be easily changed. But the legs and intakes? The intake is the very core of the YF-19 transformation--changing that changes the fit/positioning of over half of the main pieces. Finally--I think the VF-19S uses a bit more "anime magic" than the standard YF-19. The overall body proportions get REALLY exaggerated on the VF-19F/S/Kai. The legs are just HUGE and incredibly rounded. YF-19 is a bit more "realistic" and squared off.

I'll say it for the fourth or fifth time: Basara's VF-19 is not a "little" different from Isamu's YF-19. It's like 70% different. And as eugimon said--you can't tweak a mold*. You have to make a new one. And they cost hundreds of thousands of dollars for a full set to make a valk. *it is possible to change a mold to make a different product. However, it is permament and rarely done. As in, if they changed the YF-19 mold to make a VF-19Kai, it could never ever make a YF-19 again. Most of the time, when people say a mold was changed, what REALLY happened is some single piece got a new mold for it. A "changed" canopy for example is almost never a re-worked canopy mold--it is a very small NEW mold just for that new canopy (or a new section added on to the original mold) , with the old canopy part of the old mold blocked off. Or, if they made new molds of just the parts needed and used YF-19 molds where possible--again, it'd cost most of what the original YF-19 cost all over again. That's a lot of money for one single color scheme. The VF-19F/S would require even more new molds/parts. If you build model kits (especially Hasegawa/Tamiya) you should be very familiar with how various combinations of sprues and parts are molded--things added and removed, etc. **Permanent changes are often done to FIX things, not make a new version. Look at all the 1/48 changes to the mold. They weren't making new variants, they actually changed the molds permanently to fix things like loose flaps and nosecones. There's no need to retain the original, and since it's not a new mold it's fairly cheap.

717's are quiet because the engines are NEW. That's the most important thing. Example: The 777-300ER has the most powerful jet engine PERIOD, and it's among the very quietest of airliners. Its 115,000lb GE90 engines are like 1/4 as loud as a 15,000lb JT8D. Anyways---comfort is determined by the airline. Good example I use: Most comfortable plane I've ever been on: Delta 767-300 Most godawful plane I've ever been on, will never fly again: United 767-300 There you go. Same configuration (2-3-2 in coach), same plane. Different seats. But in general (basically, what the airlines have to work with): 747's are generally known to be comfy, even being configured "out of design specs". The 747 is supposed to be NINE seats across (3-3-3 I think, maybe 2-4-3) but for many years it's always TEN seats across (3-4-3). But it's so big even the "cramped" 3-4-3 is better than most. The DC-10 and L-1011 are the same. Designed to be 2-4-2 eight seats across, but usually configured 2-5-2 or 2-4-3 nine seats across. If you find pics of the early 70's, you'll see the aforementioned planes actually were operated like that, and they were really comfy back then. The 767 was actually designed to be 2-3-2, and is operated as such. It is the plane most often considered the most comfortable. So I have no idea what UAL does to them to make them so godawful. On a side note, I find UAL's 735's to be very comfy, especially width-wise. A320's good, better than the 737 overall in my experience, but only flew it once, on UAL. Don't really remember my A300 flight, slept through much of it. Technically, the 707/727/737/757 should all be identical, having identical fuselages. (Well, the 707 and 757 are deeper below the floor, for more cargo--but that doesn't affect the passenger cabin in the slightest). The A300, 310, 330, and 340 also share fuselages. In a bit of irony, 757 and 767 have the same cockpit, but different noses, while the 767 and 777 have the same nose, but different cockpits. Rather ingenious how Boeing fits the cockpits into those planes... As for Boeing vs Airbus sales-wise: Well the 787 is as revolutionary a design as has ever been seen in the industry, and is promising BIG fuel gains. The A350 has been changed again and again to try to match it, but no amount of redesigning the A330 will make it come close to a 787. You'd be paying the price of a brand-new plane, for minimal improvement. The A330 wing is already about as low-drag and high-aspect-ratio as a "normal" wing can be---anything more requires a very different design, like the 787. Maybe tremendous blended, raked winglets could help the A350 but I still think sales will be poor, or heck, maybe even cancel the project. Even all-new wings (current A350 design I think) would still be attached to an A330 fuselage with A330 systems---a lot of the 787 advancements are the SYSTEMS, not aerodynamic.

Yeah, but not while operating in a C-130's massive 4-engine wake and the buffet from the open cargo door. Let's see how well hummingbirds do with a 300mph turbulent slipstream in their face. KingNor--if anything, I'd guess you're talking about this pic: http://www.navy.mil/view_single.asp?id=6869

Comment for Graham (maybe to pass to Yamato): While the YF-19 is my fave valk by far, I've never really cared for its FAST packs. They're almost an afterthought---tiny little shoulder bits, and 1" thick leg armor. No boosters=not really worth it. (YF-21 isn't much better). BUT----a fold booster would be awesome. I've wanted a fold booster for the YF-19 since I first saw the *Toycom* concept drawings. It wouldn't take much to add, and with the YF-19 distinctly lacking in accessories anyways compared to a VF-1 or VF-0 (minimal armor, no boosters, no external missiles) a fold booster could add much-needed "extra stuff" to include. Also, I've thought for years it'd be easy to add an LED/battery/switch to it to light up green. (That is not MPC-ish, we know they glow bright green when activated, unlike trying to ret-con a glowing eye). Think about it, a light-up fold booster. I'd rather have that than any other accessory for a YF-19. PS to jenius---it's not a few parts, it's almost every part. As was listed--head, shoulders, lower legs, ankles, feet, knees, shield, canopy, nose, wingroots, v.stabs, forward fuselage/upper intakes/LEX, and maybe even the thighs. And that's just for Basara's with only one possible color scheme. To get the F/S also requires ANOTHER forward fuselage variation and new wings. Also, while the YF-19 may be a one-off, the identical VF-19A is not, so you get 2 of the 3 most popular versions of the plane. Heck, I think the VF-0D requires a lot fewer parts remolded to get it made from the VF-0A. It may be entirely different wings, but it's just the wings, v.stabs, and canards---Kawamori didn't change every square inch of the plane, most of it is the same. The VF-19S/Kai are practically "alternate universe" versions of the YF-19--looks similar, but actually a different shape all over when you compare. If they're going to spend money remolding an existing valk, the VF-0D is a far better choice--fewer parts to change, but a VERY different looking valk. The VF-19S/Kai would cost a lot of money for subtle changes. PS to Phren--in addition to a new head, the VF-22 needs new "belly plates" in fighter mode. But that's easy, the outline/shape is the same, it's just the details molded on the exterior that's different. If they really needed to, they could use the YF-21 belly plates and just glue on the VF-22 bits I think. The VF-22 belly has guns built-in, kinda like if the YF-21 FAST packs were permanently attached.

Ah yes, the F-15-prototype-colors YF-19's. Those were neat. But even better was the mold they were on! If you don't know, that white/blue YF-19 is transformable! Best fighter-mode transforming YF-19 mold ever, by far, and what I pretty much begged for Yamato to copy... (note the long wings) One single, small, removable part allows a transforming YF-19 to look like THAT in fighter mode. Sure it's not "perfect" anymore (but again, only if you want the gear down--gear up requires no part swap) but it looks so good. Also it uses what looks like a variation of the SHE's leg transformation (how the calf opens up)

Staring at the intake kibble pics side-by-side, I realized that it's actually a combination of a trick of the light/shadow, a different view angle, and the piece not rotated as much. It's actually the same, it just really looks different due to shadows etc. My mistake.

Take a lot of work to turn the YF-19 into a VF-19Kai. Like new wingroots, legs, feet, ankles, head, canopy, shield, v.stabs, shoulders. And remove the ventral fins. Frankly, there's not much the same between them, besides the nose and arms. If you really compare, you'll see that almost every section is different between the YF-19/VF-19A, and the later VF-19F/S, and with Basara's being a mix of the two---it's generally like a VF-19S, but has the original YF-19 wings and canards for example. It'd be rather pointless to remold, as remolding would only get you one or two colors, as any remold couldn't be used for the other variants either. The v.stab change might even require transformation changes. (at the very least, a completely changed mount and hinge) The YF-19 is best known by far, with the VF-19A close behind, so it's likely the only version we'll see. Just make Max and Milia color YF-19's. They'd sell. (I'd buy 'em)

Quick question: the first pic of the "new" Starscream mold had a totally different type of intake kibble. Different transformation or did they actually revise the mold between then and now? Because I liked the old way a lot better. Intake kibble's bad enough, but why'd they change it? They already had the conformal tanks at that point and they surely couldn't have changed it much without affecting the wing transformation. I'd lean towards different transformation, but it's consistently been the new way ever since. Look here, the first pic of the new mold I think---it's like the intake kibble is rotated 90 degrees down and twisted 90 degrees out, so you're actually looking at the "back" of the conformal tank, and its leading edge is pointing up.

BIRDS can't hold position well enough for that. But give planes another 200 years... Hmmn, not much online about Skyhook, best reference is books of the period. But some stuff and a pic here: http://www.vectorsite.net/avav8_3.html Scroll down to section 3.5 It's actually quite Macross-esque (heck, maybe a Kawamori inspiration)---you grab a Harrier in midair, then bring it down to the deck. Or, lift it off the deck when it's too heavy to takeoff normally, then let it go and fly off---just like DYRL Strike valk launches!

LOL--I totally forgot about the Takara/Tomy merger when I wrote that. I guess it's ok now to copy each other. Can't wait for Deathsaurer Prime...

Probes don't count when measuring plane length. (unless specified).