Retracting Head Ter Ter

Indeed. That was also a factor in choosing the F-22 over the -23. People need to remember that a high performance airplane isn't all that useful when it's in a hangar for an overhaul.

But..But.. the 23 is so pretty! It'll look good and be worth the money even when its sitting in the hanger!

Basically, you're right, but some authors have criticized the Bismarck's design for the ease with which the ship's guns were put out of action. The Germans made a nearly unsinkable ship, due not only to armor but watertight subdivision--but what good is a big metal raft that can't fight?

Might have a look at this: http://www.warships1.com/index_tech/tech-070.htm

Also, to get very nitpicky, the Bismarck wasn't pumped full of 15" shells--she was hit by several of Prince of Wales' 14" shells during the initial fight that saw the sinking of the Hood, and was finished off in the final battle by a combination of 14" shells (King George V), 16" shells (Rodney), smaller caliber guns, torpedos, and ultimately the ship's own crew, who scuttled her as they abandoned ship.

I always thought that the 4 x 2 turret design is inferior to the 3 x 3 designs.

4 turrets give you 1 less gun.

And its easier to knock out 1 turret if u have 4.

Lose one turret and either way you have 6 barrels left working.

Might as well save the weight and go 3 x 3.

Its surprising how many people out there think that battleships are actually armoured all over. e.g. they think that stuff like Harpoons and Exocets and Silkworms would bounce off the Iowas no matter where it hits.

In reality, only the most important areas (magazines, machinery etc) are covered. To cover the whole ship would make the armour so thin that smaller ships stand a chance of punching thru the armour.

Look at the Bismarck. She didn't sink even when pumped full of 15inch hits since the armour at the vitals held up very well in most instances. But the rest of the ship was so wrecked that she was out of combat and service way before she sank.

Just about every large cargo ship has them nowadays. It was a novel idea back in the Yamato's time (1937) but pretty standard now.

I witnessed an r/c jet engine before. The owner had it strapped to a test bench for testing.

It was LOUD! And it really gave a sense of power. The owner said the thrust was about 40 lbs.

No way you can mistake a jet sound for a prop, the sound was pretty incredible.

It's not forget that engine Takumi has in his Corolla is not stock, it's probably a bit heavier...

Counter-balanced by that crate of Tofu in the boot...

That is one big damn ship. They still do look like human versions of that flagship class though.

Yeah, they look way too 'square'at the prow compared to the one Britai was using.

But that could be just due to animation variations rather then intent.

THat is one hell of a Bismark model...

The 1/144 Yamato won't fit into my bathtub!

Hase has a VF-0B kit shown on the hlj page (hobby show pics).

Was this seen in the M0 shows? Don't remember 2 seaters except for Shin's D.

The decal says space proving wing. Thought they cant go into space... Colours look nice. Very NASA.

It's a pirotechnic charge, fires once to throw the round out and again after it is released to pull the rod back. Rail fired missiles do the same in reverse with their hold back latch.

I see, thanks.

I've never seen a pic of a missile launch showing a small flame or whatever around the pylon representing the pyrotechnic charge. Is it visible?

By the way, anyone knows where's Noel? The last time when I visited Singapore, his shop is closed.

He is still around. His shop shifted to Excelsior Hotel.

IIRC, one of the prototype F-14s got hit by its own Sparrow which nosed up because the cartridge wasn't strong enough to push it far enough.

How does the plunger work? Is it an explosive cartridge or compressed air or just some hydraulics?

Exactly.  The upper wing surface is more important, aerodynamically.  That's why engines and weapons are generally underslung, not overslung.  If you want to see a plane with its engines mounted above the wing, see the VFW-614.

There's also a small airliner made by Fokker (is it 2 Ks or a C for the company?)that has the engines over the wings. Or is that the plane your talking about?

That's this Macross bird (the cargo jet) with the engines over the wings too.

IIRC, just about every early multiengined seaplane has the engines over the wings.

I for one liked the way they left out the Gods and Achilles being invulnerable. Basically view the movie as how a real world Troy legend would have happened before 2 millenia of poets soup up the characters to invulnerable legends.

P-61! 4 x 20mm and 4 x 12.7mm.

P-39s' had 5 guns too.

IIRC the B-25 takes up to 8 in the nose and 4 more in sidepacks. Excluding the turrets.

And that funny JV-44 Me-262 1a-U1 with the 2 x MG151, 2 x Mk108 and 2 x Mk103. Wierd combination if u ask me. But hits harder then anything else in the sky at that time. 6 x MG151 or 4 x Mk103 would have made more sense if that was possible.

Any one else notice that the 3 tallest guys were the ones that died?

Roy, Kakizaki, Guld.

If Global was a pilot, he'd be next.

Add Boldoza to the list. He is the tallest being in the universe I think.

Anyways--forgot to mention, the new Revell-Monogram 1/48 F-15E is by far the most (read: only) accurate F-15E out there. Heck, one of the best F-15's period. It's one of those "I can't believe they actually made something really good". I might snag one, because there are NO F-15E's anywhere even close to accurate in 1/72, and no aftermarket parts to make them so. Might as well have a single nice big one, if I can't do a few small ones. The F-15E is a consistent "they totally F'ed up the basic, major differences between it and a D, even though there's 150,000 pics of the thing online covering it panel by panel, rivet by rivet".

Can't believe I forgot it--don't have one myself, but have seen nothing but rave reviews. Good fit, recessed lines, FULL bombload, nice decals, best exhaust nozzles (many people buy them just for the nozzles to put on other F-15 kits), and quite cheap as large 1/48 jets go.

They got the CFT pylons spot on this time round?

We all know that many Macross characters have at least a foot of hair.

I'm most impressed by the way they never get 'hat hair' after wearing their flight helmets. The wonders of OTM hairspray I guess

Graham

I suspect that the flight helmets have a built in 'Perm' function.

They got rid of the Karaoke bit where they sing that parody of California Dreaming? That was the funniest part in the whole movie. Maybe not so funny if you can't understand mandarin/cantonese.

I watched the film in chinese. Its the funniest Stephen Chow movie ever.

Well, the $120 price is due to the RRP Yen price set by Yamato. So they have a hand in these prices.

Where's my Sazabi dammit!

Download Zoomplayer. Ends all problems. Don't use crappy windows media player (if u are using it).

Looks like the Pope in power armour.

Then I'll be more than happy to pick up my own torch and pitchfork and storm their company headquarters

You mean we don't already have enough reason to since 1991?

How about we each send a C&D letter to HG as well huh.