IAD

Wow, that looks incredible! What sort of propulsion are you using/planning? I flew a profile -19 for a while, but your version completely blows mine out of the water! (Here it is, all the same: http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showpost.ph...mp;postcount=14 ) ~Luke

Wow, I haven't even finished this project yet..! I've been looking into a bigger, more scale (fully detailed cockpit, etc.) version of the SV, or perhaps a YF-21... But not for a while. ~Luke

Ahg! I've still got to paint it, before we do that! Right now, it looks like a post Unification War specimen, sort of battle-worn. (Various modifications have resulted in the 'patched-together' look.) ~Luke

Nope, no response from SK yet. I'm sure Graham will post if/when he hears back. ~Luke

I'm almost sure that's fanart, I came across it a couple times, while searching for YF-19 three-views. ~Luke

Nope, all's well, no cease-and-desist. Graham, I PMed you. ~Luke

Spiffy. I've always wondered this, though... Where's the magazine fit, and how large is it? It doesn't seem like there's much room to fit a suitable amount of ammo for a chain-gun... ~Luke

That is very nice! ~Luke

That's your airframe, of course! (I guess I should have included a side-by-side shot, huh?) ~Luke

If you like, I can e-mail you a set of higher-res videos... They'd look much better than the Google vids.. (They'd be the same as the original Comcast.net hosted versions.) Be sure to tell us what Kawamori thinks! ~Luke

Ok, here are a few photos... I realized I spoke too soon, I haven't covered the entire airframe, the control-run covers still need shaping/mounting/covering. But, overall, looking very good. Note the nice bolt-on thrust-vector hinge plates. (Very good for maintenance/painting.) (Edit: Sort of hard to see, actually, but those little black circles above the thrust-vector paddles are nylon bolts (two per side) that hold the mounting plates to the airframe.) ~Luke

The airframe is nose-light, currently, which results in the bobbing. The second airframe won't have this problem. ~Luke (Who is taking photos in exactly 5 minutes.)

Ok, I'll snap some pictures, and get them posted ASAP. (Lunch first.) ~Luke

Ok, here are all of the videos to date, up on Google. If anybody wants the higher-res originals, PM me, and we'll see what we can set up. Control test: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=86...28584&hl=en First flight: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4...15643&hl=en Second flight: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-9...94351&hl=en Third flight: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8...39063&hl=en "Sorta-cobra" clip: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=86...46894&hl=en ~Luke

By the way, I've started posting the SV videos on Google... Not the greatest res., but at least it's something. [see below] ~Luke

Yes, [finally] there is news! I just (literally) finished covering the entire airframe, except for the flaperons. The weight right now is 5.86 oz. for the airframe, but that's not including the 0.2 oz. I remove, when I cut out the battery bay and the lightening bay between the nacelles. Anyway, I'm right where I want to be, in terms of weight, so... I'm happy. Want pictures? ~Luke

Dunno, what's his position on unlicensed models of his designs? I'd hate to get a cease-and-desist, since after I finish the second ship, I had one last grand plan for the SV. Of course, I could always do it behind closed doors, but I do like to share these things. Then again, can they cease-and-desist on non-commercial activities? I mean, a private sale of a one-off isn't quite the same as mass producing thousands of injection-molded kits, eh? By the way, my apologies, I haven't gotten a chance to repost the videos. Soon, just hang in there. ~Luke

Sorry, I needed the webspace for 'transporting' some large files. I'll see what I can do about getting the videos up again. ~Luke

Huh, say again? How about I move the battery forwards instead? But...... Why would I want it to fly sluggishly? ~Luke

Yep, it does show up a few times for combat maneuvering, etc. Nora uses a VTOL-esque mode during the second M0 ep., for reverse thrust. Same goes for Ivanov at the very end of the 5th, as he sets up his final run on the Birdman. ~Luke

Yes, I've also thought about pilot controls, and figured that up until the arms are deployed, it would be quite helicopter-like in VTOL configuration. Once you have the arms, then what though? I'm a fighter-mode guy myself, so I'm a VF-4 fan. (Reasonably sized canards, a wing without too many bumps/discontinuities, no overly bulbous structures, that's about as good as it gets. ) ~Luke

"I always thought the VF-4 was an ugly design from the start..." Oh, that's nice. The model looks great to me! And it's nice to see the term 'VTOL' attached to a variable fighter. I never did get the whole GERWALK thing. I mean... "Ground Effective Reinforcement of Winged Armament with Locomotive Knee-joint." What in the world? Keep up the good work! ~Luke

Ok... Last week was rather lackluster, in terms of progress, but I'm back at it... I've got the right thrust-vector hinge assembly bolted (literally) into the airframe, and it's in order. I'm going to go install the other one right now. ~Luke

Looks great, but what's it from? (I'm guessing War of the Worlds?) ~Luke

Gotcha. Grey is anime-accurate, as far as I have seen, to boot. White would get dirtied up, anyhow. It's amazing how much dust this thing ingests during a flight. ~Luke