pengbuzz

Thanks for the clarification; now, would that be possible in micro-fashion for a vernier thruster then (drawing off the main reactant supply, in this instance)? And... that answers my question. Much thanks (and tacos).

So if the reactants for the main engines are going into the thermonuclear reactor and are converted to nuclear energy, then what's coming out the other end? I know in atmosphere it's most likely heating air much like a regular jet engine, but unlike a rocket in space (unless I'm missing something here), isn't it just throwing the reaction of the reactor?

I'm sorry folks, but that's not gonna cut it with this one. Instead, let me suggest something much more effective and by far a great deal more humane:

Idiots tend to be some of the least observant people (they also tend to have the least common sense and sense of self-preservation too). Interesting. That would mean "hot dogging" would be more frowned upon in space, where each move would come at a premium. It does make me wonder though, if it were possible to use an energy version that only required power from the main reactor powering an emitter that would take the place of a vernier? TOASTEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!! Smoking in Macross is usually what one side does, and usually in a crater.

THAT must have given new meaning to the term "up up and away!" lol Hmm...I wonder how long it has before the propellant runs out? That would utterly suck being in a dogfight and you lost maneuvering over that? They probably keep it topped up between battles though. As for the hot version: I almost want to draw a cartoon of two techs using a live vernier thruster to roast hot dogs :P Cool. Hmm...you'd think they would want to warn you before exposure happened! lol

Yeah... to say the least: https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/Hydrazine

I imagine they would have "assembly jigs" and specialized worktables/areas for that to hold components for work and rotate them as needed. Since I have a factory diorama with some mechs being serviced, I'll have to work that in! Yeah, I got that down after reading what they were for elsewhere; just thought it would have been a handy secondary function. On a side note: I wonder if any crew techs accidentally blew themselves across the shop floor hitting the controls for the verniers by mistake during maintenance? A manual diagnostic transformation tool to expose components and parts? interesting...even more ideas for the diorama. I remember in M+ seeing them working on the YF-19's head, with all the covers off.

UPDATE: "First colors": This first painting is just to give myself an idea of how the final colors will "play out" on it, and allow me to adjust as needed. it also gives me a "milestone" by which to judge how much work is left. Speaking of which: had to re-work the shoulder armor/missile bays: They were the wrong shape, somewhat too large, and I needed to empty them out a bit inside to put in some actual missiles as well as the mechanisms to hinge the doors on them. Stay tuned...

That's also a good point; not to mention that the Valkyries look like they are largely modular and that parts are made to be taken apart a bit more easily, due to the need for maintenance. I had noticed the vernier thrusters almost looked like "turn handles" that could rotate and unlock sections of the mech.

It makes me wonder if those parts themselves would have to "transform" on the VF-1 (i.e. the thinner legs reconfiguring into a thicker mode, small arms somehow gaining mass, etc). That's where Yamato/Arcadia gets a lot of credit for their stuff looking decent in all modes. Regarding Oiltech's renderings so far: I'll post my opinion on it just as soon as I pick my jaw up off the ground!!!

Thinking about all this (and everything all the folks here have said): I designed and built two transformable fighter models. It makes me wonder just how much hell they would be for a "real-life crew" to maintain and repair. Just the arm transform alone on the first one would probably give most crews ample reason to take early retirement!! As mentioned, making something so complex that you need to disassemble half the craft to replace a part is enough to "take years off" the life of said crew chiefs.

UPDATE: After a day and a half to let the finger heal (thought when it first happened I'd need stitches, but thankfully not; just some neosporin and a bandaid), I got some work and a bit of priming done today: Arm armor, shoulder armor and waist armor were worked on and built up. All still need more work and detailing, but they're starting to get there finally. The rear boosters on the back needed to be removed, sanded down and redone (they were angled oddly and not very convincing looking): Once I can make the square thrust vectors, they should be all set; meantime I'm working out how to make all the missiles and opening doors on the chest, shoulders and legs to house/reveal them. That's gonna take some time, so we'll leave that for a bit later on. Lastly, the head lasers kept snapping off and acting as a major pain (weren't scaling right and whatnot), so I cut a spare VF-1s laser set in half and used those for the barrels: It may need just a bit more work to resemble the set the 1J has, but at least these won't keep popping off continually. Overall, I'm making progress that while slow, is at least resulting in some satisfactory results. The real test will be the final detailing and missile load-outs; if I can pull those off (and their respective covers and hinges) successfully, then I'll have something here worthy to replace the regular VF-1J in the Armored Factory Diorama. Ultimately, the goal is to entirely replicate the Macross Armored Factory, right down to the mecha in the set (including the MBR-04-Mk VI Tomahawk), and a second Factory setup (instead of smoothing both into essentially one half of the entire setup). It will require a second build of the diorama, but with some mat board and a few other supplies, it should be feasible. (Hopefully, the detailing. scratchbuilding lessons learned here can apply to redoing a Matchbox large scale SDF-1 or Hasegawa TV transforming version, should i ever get my hands on one or the other). Stay tuned...

At the rate they're going, it may as well be the "Can you hear me now? Good." guy from Verizon...

Fully expecting Kung Fu Fighting by Carl Douglas to show up in this one

Wake me up when they decide to do a live-action Voltron movie, finally...

UPDATE: Okay, some progress and some bad news: The bad: I broke my xacto knife blade.....and put it right into my (insert scream of pain) index finger on my writing hand: The smaller piece of blade is what I pulled out of my finger. Some attention and a band-aid later, I'll live but I'll need to visit the dollar store to buy the six-blade and handle knife set to get a replacement (end of the month blues, grumble grumble, etc....). So,m writing on a keyboard is going to take me a little longer... The progress: Here's where we stand now- Got some work done on the shoulders (sorry the pics are fuzzy, camera batteries are dying and need recharging). REdid the waist, got the shoulders bulked out and the forearm armor started: So now, I need to wait a couple of days for 1) blades and 2) my finger to stop hurting. Can we just all agree that 2020 never happened? Like, burn all copies of the calendar and claim we simply firgot to have that year? Stay tuned...

ROFL!!! I wish that were true, my friend!

Something of a "bumper crop" on progress today, as I got a "free day" and essentially just relaxed and worked on my project for a good part of the day: Got more work done on the lower leg armor, the hips and waist, and the main torso. Still need to build up the arm armor, but that's just a matter of me getting to it. Planning on having this one take the place of the VF-1J that I normally have in the diorama, and bringing it that much closer to the original (I may clone the entire diorama as to complete the effect, should I find the room to do so).

Thanks MT and Thom: I really appreciate the complements and help! Since the original story for the RPG involves a contest with 22 designs, I may do a third one in the future; another project I was considering is the New Macross-class command ship for the 14th Fleet (although I may try to persuade our GM to go with the Island Cluster class instead! ) Speaking of the Sumo, I have some update pics for everyone: Started "fleshing out" more of the armor; prepping for the chest piece, just have to get the angles right on reducing the chest down to the missile bays. I'd like to do hinged covers with banks of missiles (like the Yammie and original Chunky Monkey versions). Stuff is still pretty rough at this point, but I'm working on getting shapes set up. I had to do some work on the head: I found that if you add a layer of plastic between the two halves and a layer on the back of the head, it brings it pretty much to the same dimensions as the Imai VF-1J's head. I put some thin strip styrene around the visor to create the recessed detail for it, then stuck some foil tape on the front, trimmed it and used green Sharpie for transparent green (fixed in pace with hairspray, then clearcoat). I also added the chinpiece that the Imai 1J's all seem to lack. The boosters were made from spare thigh pieces for an Imai VF-1 series; plan on covering these with matboard and refining the shape to match the schematics. I also cut the wings to look more like they do in the animation (since this won't transform). Stay tuned everyone...

Well, we found out that corporations predate humanity, now didn't we?

UPDATE: Okay, a double-shot "Friday the 13th" update for you folks! First off is the VF-1J "Sumo" special: Right now, this is still pretty rough: I used hot melt glue to fill in voids and add weight to the Battroid. Then I began filling the upper thighs out a bit more, and taping off where the arm and leg armors would go (to be added in cardboard). For parts where cardboard and tape alone would not suffice, I glued in "forms" (a typical technique I use to place central "cores" of plastic shapes to build upon) so as to have a stable foundation structure upon which to construct the final elements. I'm still trying to source a chest piece form; I'll glue that into place as soon as I get something suitable. Once everything is "roughed out", then the next layer of construction and detailing commences. Now the second project, the SVX-74R Valkren: Fighter mode Gerwalk mode: Da-na-na-na-na-na-na-na Battroid: A faceplate only a mother could love: I decided at this point not to add any ailerons to the fighter; kept looking silly with them for some odd reason. Maybe later, but for now, no. And a comparison shot of about 20-ish years between the Valkren and my first self-designed transformable fighter, the VF-113 Wraithverge: Thanks for following the project folks, see ya next time with the GBP-1 armor project!

And earth most likely would never have had the SDF-1.

So then without the incident with the Protodevlin, the Protoculture may have continued on (at least until their next doomsday weapon reared up to bite them in the unmentionables)?

That made my night!

I think that would be quite interesting; combine that with maybe a silver drybrush for the engine details and perhaps a metallic blu-egrey /gunmetal drybrush for the armor and see how that works.