Vectromat

Dude, the 1/160 kit is *slightly* less good than the 1/200 one (why two kits so close in scale dammit??) in terms of detail - eg the detail under the shovel isn't as nice and and the proportions are possibly a tiny bit less pleasing, the plastic is a bit harder and more brittle (which is saying something) too. Despite all this it is really the better kit, just in terms of size alone, and has much nicer proportions than the resin one (IMHO). I gave my 1/200 one away after I got the bigger kit. You will need to treat it as what it is though; an early-80s low-tech plastic kit that'll need plenty of putty and sanding. Good purhase - enjoy!

Hi whytwolf. Yes by all means please go for your life! I'd be delighted. Please post your results as you go along, eh? BTW I am (sloooowly) working on refining these, if this thread stays alive I'll post updates from time to time. I hope to have lofts and other templates done soon. One big issue: to match the line art, the main wing root section can't end in a normal thin trailing edge. The lower surface of the wing drops so deeply, to match the deep curve of the lower fuselage, that as a result, the main wing TE has to be triangular when viewed from the rear - it can't be a 'normal' thin TE, it is thin at the engine end, but at the fuse end, it is quite deep, maybe a couple of feet. I plan on staggering the line of the upper and lower 'split' TEs, with a deep reveal containing some sort of grilles or widgets. I hope I can make this look cool... I'm doing my plans in 2d - just Corel Draw. I've made a start on a Max version also to test some of these geometrical issues, but will probably end up finishing the job in 2d. I'm realllllly slow in 3d stuff.

PS here's an example of another problem; the overall proportions just don't seem to work with the rest of the body of the plane. This is the same drawing modified hastily so that the nose matches the proportions of the Hase VF1A nose section length and outline, cockpit length, and sorta-canopy-outline (the VFX canopy *is* different). You can see how crappy this looks! To get this looking good you need to shrink the nose by 18% or so, which gives the third version. Doesn't look bad actually! But it results in a smaller aircraft, and the plan view then looks funny - the ratio of nose length to engine length in particular looks wrong. I think it may have been what Kawamori had in mind...but I don't think it really works...

Grayson72, um, it won't be my first scratchbuild by any means. 1/32 will do fine. Valkyrie and white drew carey, with respect I disagree; it is a *very similar* nose, but I don't believe it is meant to be an identical item, on 4 counts: 1) the line art all and sketches make the nose *look* a little rounder and fatter. 2) the Perfect Memory testbed was mostly VF1 and shared this layout, and I'm sure some items for the VFX may have been off-the-shelf, but I can't see the engineers then building a complete new aircraft and still using an off-the-shelf component of that magnitude; not with the overtechnology resources they command. 3) cross-sections - the fuse is much less triangular and more oval than the VF1, also the rear blends into the wing-body in a way that wouldn't allow for the VF1 nose to be used without major mods. 4) this project (officially) post-dates the VF2 and VF3 doesn't it? However I'm open to argument! Pity about your scratch, Valkyrie. And the test-bed from PM definitely rocks, by the way. I have a 1/72 Imai Super Valk that's about half-way through a conversion into that. Cheers! V

er...perhaps b'coz...it isn't a VF4? See attached pic. The VFX was a precursor prototype/testbed to the VF4, it and the VF4 share little except a more-or-less common layout. Scale's another reason; I do have a Rettpu VF4 but it's 1/72 and I really prefer larger scales - 1/32, 1/24 etc. The eventual scratch will be 1/32. I could just build a VF4 in 1/32 but it's sorta dinky and overly graceful. I like this thing more; it's just more rugged-looking. Pity it never got properly developed for the show... Cheers! V

Hi all, One of my future projects will be a VFX scratchbuild; think it's called the VFX-4 these days. I don't know of any existing plan drawings; has anyone seen any? I have the nice colour fighter and gerwalk sketches by Kawamori, and the old line art (there's nothing new in Macross Design Works unfortunately). Anyway, I'm drawing up plans first off; and will do lofts and templates to print off; I just find it makes the job easier. Before I get too far, does anyone have any info on scaling? I make the thing about 16M long, is there a canonical set of stats? Here are a couple of my drawings so far - nothing super flash, they're about 40% done. Can anyone spot any obvious errors, or have major criticisms of the proportions? I know the level of 'hump' between the canopy and the spine aren't quite right, but I can't get them looking more like the sketch without the whole side view somehow looking wrong, so that's going to be an aesthetic compromise. Thanks for any advice!

The B left me cold at first, but now all I can think of is how nice one would look done up in VF-1D or Ostrich colours.

Whoa, that's a really big amount of money. Did you really only get it for reference? If so I honestly think you'd have been better off with line art and screencaps...but to each his own!

I just knew people would go off about Stormies (great planes), A-10s, whatever. These aircraft may be relatively heavily armoured but there's no comparison to a ground vehicle. The bulk of the aircraft isn't armoured, only critical systems, especially the cockpit - the rest of the plane is made of light alloy and composites (OK, with the odd bit of steel for spars, landing gear etc). Build a Sturmovik out of Chobham armour and watch it try to get off the ground, you'll see what I mean. Tanks are actually largely made of armour and far more of the vehicle is (nominally) protected against incoming fire. There's debate in special-interest boards across the entire spectrum about how much influence they have on the relevant industry - from movies to cars to models. I think there was exaggerated regard for fora in some industries early on, but it's tapered off a lot now that most people involved are more familiar with the 'net. I'm sure any sensible company carries out better market research than relying on the chatter of us obsessive types. Hope so anyway or we really will drive up the price! Cheers, Martyn

Canonicity: don't care Scale: don't care (biiiig!) Design appeal: 99% Desirability: 100% Silliness Level: 100% (don't care!) Can't wait, gonna buy one, strip it, glue it together in Monster mode, putty the seams, detail it up, paint the sod and call it a model. Yum! The K/Monster is pretty silly - heavy armour and aircraft are two utterly separate worlds. You could either have an unarmoured robot that can fly, but is insanely vulnerable, or an armoured one that can't fly. And transformability would add ludicrous amounts of weight, development cost, maintenance costs, and per-unit price, not to mention compromising all other functions. But the same goes for *all* the transforming stuff in Macross, which after all dates from the time in early pre-production when the show was going to be a comedy. I so don't care, it's fun to look at and play around with! And for me, the Koenig Monster looks enough like a Monster MkII in Monster mode that it's well worth snapping one up. Kudos to Yamato! Thanks!!! Cheers, Martyn

Voted Monster; but got a major soft spot for the Defender/Tomahawk/Phalanx. I have the 1/72 Defender and Tomahawk; why was there never a 1/72 Phalanx, drat it?

Oh forgot to mention, Myersjessee if you mean by "appears to be extra" that there are four engine bells, don't forget one goes at the rear of the lower forward housing - there are *meant* to be four engines. Er, I know that's a pretty obvious thing to say; apologies if I'm doing the teaching/granny/eggs thing.

Hi all, been reading the boards on and off for yonks, finally pulled my finger out and joined. THAT is a really nice bit of resin! What's it weigh though?! Yikes! I'm not in the market for one of these, but only because I have the 1/72 Glaug and would prefer a pod for that. I've lost track of all the hints and winks around here; has anyone hinted at a 1/72 pod too or should I just go ahead and scratch my own? I hate scratching something and then a kit comes out five weeks later... Cheers! Martyn