twich

Mulling it over more, that new design, whether it is a drone or the new VF, it has as many engines as a YF-29 and VF-27 with super packs on. With how skinny it looks, we might have a new thrust/weight ratio queen

Twich

2 hours ago, seti88 said:

Fast pack version?

 

Looks like the 31 has some redesigns...chucks new look?

Anyone notice that it looks like mirage is using the gun pod from her custom SV-262Ba from the last movie? And she is in a VF-31A variant.

Twich

Hey, if it gets us new toys with more colors and possibly a new VF-31A variant with missiles instead of a drone charger, I am all for it......better start working on the wife now, at least 2 more Macross jet toys in the future.

Twich

It looks near enough to the tease of the new VF that has the very “Protoculture” vibes. It has wingtip engines, boosters and 32 mini missile launchers( 4 per pod).....if it is a drone, seems even more powerful than Macross Galaxy’s V-9. I dont remember Chucks fighter being destroyed, why is he in a VF-31A variant?  Very cool stuff and looks like a lot more toys to come!

Twich

So, what is said after the 2021? Is this implying that Freya and Hayate actually hook up? Also, don’t we have room for another pilot in Delta platoon? If Hayate picks a Valkyrie to fly, that leaves another expensive, extensively customized VF just sitting around.......maybe Hayate gets another one blown up under him.  Looking forward to seeing this show and the associated toys and movie release.

twich

so, it may not be the focus or the point, but what was this great cataclysm that befell the planet earth that made the air poison and killed most of the populace?  Also, did those researchers/scientists make it to whatever destination they were heading towards that was safer than freaking the artic?  I know we saw the one plane crash, but were there more?  This movie left more unanswered questions then answers.  Just some points, those clear hexagonal parts that were part of the spaceship, they sure were tough to survive impacts from asteroids/space debris.  Other than that, did they really serve any purpose?......Like I said, more questions than answers.

Twich

Got one of these for Christmas, man, am I impressed! Love the paint quality, the improvements, the fit and finish even seems more refined. Transformed it to get rid of the factory “looseness” and was just impressed, especially as I just got done transforming my YF-29 30th Anniversary edition. As Jenius noted in his review, the hatches on the fast packs for the missiles are very tight and don’t really open all the way. I wonder if this is a test bed for a new slew of DX YF-29’s and Renewal VF-25’s with the new fixes, due to how similar the parts are between the molds? New VF-25 anyone?

Twich

The thing that puzzles me about this is why they used the physical prop of a T-65B X-Wing if they were setting it after/during the sequel trilogy? Are there no more T-70’s? Aren’t they on the T-85 or something by the time of the sequel trilogy? It is the same thing with the Mandalorian, why are they using the old X-Wings? Is it lack of props to keep prices down? Don’t they have props left from Episode 9? I’m kinda confused about the mixed messages being sent.

Twich

My wife traversed the twisted world of Amazon Japan to get me a Bandai DX Chogokin YF-29 Durandal Full Set Pack for Christmas! Thanks Honey!

Twich

So, I guess  I am a bit confused...Is this an announcement that they are releasing a GBP armor set?  Is it bundled with a VF-1J?  I guess I missed a link or something....Also, are they announcing if they are doing a reissue of the VF-1S Fokker with the improvements of the VF-1J Rick Hunter custom?

Twich

Actually, as I remember, Graham, who knew the people at Yamato had some sort of thing to get replacement hip parts, but that must have been close to 13-14 years ago. I doubt he would have any now.

the best option is to loosen the screws a bit to relieve some tension, as I recall that being advice for me when I got one as it first came out.

another possibility is to see if someone has done the hips at Shapeways? I know that the hips are metal, but it might be an option. Ask around, I know there are still a few from that time one the board who can offer more advice.

hope this helps

twich

I believe it still has head/monitor turret lasers (beam Cannon?)and wing root lasers (beam cannon?), plus the internal micro missiles previously mentioned. I know Basara doesn’t want them there, but it is still equipped.

twich

I Love the Metal Gear Solid franchise, I hope that they do the material justice.  If Oscar Isaac plays a good Iroquois Pliskin, then more power to him.  I can imagine the mecha porn CGI that we would get from this movie franchise.  I heard that the people trying to make this are truly fans...we can only hope.

Twich

at least the Beskar spear that he had for a total of 35 minutes on screen was just fine, with absolutely no damage.  Good to see the metal ball that was on the handle that Grogu liked also survived.  Have to ask, why was Moff Gideon letting those Stormtroopers get the tar beat out of them by Grogu with the force. If only to test the stamina of Grogu?  I am anticipating the next couple of episodes.

Twich

I think that the real tragedy was the loss of the ship.  Why did they build so much up with that ship and then blow it up from orbit.  Also, I was not aware that an Arquitens(sp?) class light cruiser was capable of orbital bombardment, and that weapons seemed so much more powerful than I remember them being in Star Wars Rebels, unless it was plot super charged turbolaser.

Twich

is that the same principle that makes the SV-262 Draken III a good hit and run variable fighter?  I know that it has been discussed that the major weakness of the SV-262 is its lack of internal fuel storage, which is why the Lil'Drakens are necessary to extend the range in space.  (side question, do the 4 missile pod fast packs of the SV-262 hold fuel as well as Micro Missiles?)  In an atmosphere, this isn't really an issue due to the nature of Variable Fighters Thermonuclear reaction burst turbines being able to use air as a propellant in atmosphere to effectively extend the range of a VF in atmosphere.

Twich

Other than “it says it in such and such source” does anyone know the reason that the VF-4 is less maneuverable in atmosphere than the VF-1. Is it thrust to weight! It has canards that the VF-1 doesn’t, seems as though with the higher thrust it should be more maneuverable.....

twich

So, basically, it is versatility. As mentioned, base VF, super packs, full armor, etc. kinda like the VF-25.

twich

So, I have been thinking about Macross 7 lately and the absolutely enormous amount of mecha that we got out of the series.  As is told, the Nova competition was between the VF-11 and the VF-14, with the VF-11 winning out.  In Macross 7, we get the Varuta/Protodevlin mecha that were taken and reworked from the Macross 5 fleet that the protodevlin drained of spiritia and commandeered their equipment.  My question is, given the stats of the Protodevlin mecha that we see, the FZ-109A. FZ-109F, AZ-130A and the FBz-99, we have thermonuclear reaction engines that produce in the realm of 55,000 kgf x2 or greater (in FBz-99 that would be x4) while the Macross 7 fleet is stuck with the VF-11C that boasts a measly 28,500 kgf x2 of thrust as the main variable fighter for the fleet.  I know that the VF-17, VF-19 and VF-22S all have more thrust than the VF-11, but I am trying to discuss the Main Variable Fighter for the 2 fleets.  Why did the UN Spacy go with the clearly inferior Variable Fighter as the Main Variable fighter for the UN Spacy and emigrant fleets?  It is stated that the VF-14 was chosen for some emigrant fleets due to long cruising range and ease of maintenance and low cost of operation.  The fact that it might be heavier, but has way more powerful engines, many more weapons than a Gun Pod and single head laser as standard equipment.  The VF-14 has chest laser cannons, gun pod and built in missile launchers.  Then you take the modified Protodevlin/Varuta variants that have heavier weapons loadouts.  Am I missing something big here that makes the VF-14 that much less desirable than the VF-11?

Twich 

You make several very valid points. I guess that I had never thought of the YF-30 as a “contender” to the YF-29. The facts that you present lean me away from my original position. Also, looking at the SV-262, I think that it truly is an under appreciated variable fighter. Now, it was my understanding that the SV-262Ba did not have the fold quartz “boost” of 15% more thrust that the fold quartz equipped SV-262Hs did. Does that mean that the SV-262Ba had no fold quartz?

Sadly, I never played Macross 30, just have admired the mecha created for it and admired the toys that Bandai produced from it. You mention the possibility of production models of the YF-30? I knew there was the second prototype of YF-29, the YF-29B Percival, but it remains unclear if anything was changed for these craft.

The VF-27 is just a cool Variable Fighter and I wish we could see more of it, but understand the cyborg pilot necessity as being rather unsavory. Just a cool, all around Variable Fighter with a very large gun pod.

As always, I have enjoyed the information presented here in this thread, let’s keep up the discussion.

Twich

I can see your argument, I want to see if I am understanding your reasoning with a breakdown of each example you used.

YF/VF-27 Super pack-I guess that I had forgotten that the whole reason for the super pack on this Variable fighter was to try to match the YF-29.  The fuzzy part was whether it was to match the YF-29 without super parts attached, or with super parts. I don’t know which gun has the more power, I think the huge gun for the VF-27 is an earlier model, so therefore is bigger.  I do not know if the YF-29 gun has a rapid fire mode like the gun pod of the VF-27.  Micro Missles are usually spammed, and therefore the number held by the craft is subjective.  The VF-27 has the 25mm beam machine guns in the wing root, and the 35mm large bore beam guns on the wing engines.  The YF-29 has the same (as far as I can see on my toy of the YF-29) 25mm beam machine guns, some weird things that look like large bore guns on the forearms, but haven’t been identified as guns, the Tornado style twin MDE cannon, so I guess they are both very powerful, advantage to the VF-27 for not needing metric tons of fold quartz to operate though (as far as I know), the YF-29 has 2 head lasers, the VF-27 has one

YF-30-another prototype, has the same gun pod, so even-Steven there.  Has head lasers x2, so does the YF-29.  Detachable mission pack that can be swapped out for anything that can be thought out, but we only see the missile pod in the game and in the toy.  Has less weight, so has greater thrust to weight, as you mentioned, and is probably less costly to manufacture.

SV-262-this one is a bit fuzzier for me to put up against the YF-29.  I am sure it is much, much cheaper to manufacture, as the Kingdom of Windemere was able to have so many as the series starts, then supplement with even more in episode 16 or 17, where we see the airfield with at least 2 to 3 squadrons more of the SV-262Ba variant.  Gunpods, probably of similar power, although when the SV-262 takes out that carrier in the first episode of Delta, that has to have some power behind it.  The railguns of the SV-262 are a bit of an unknown.  We don’t know if they are true railguns, or just electrically assisted out of the barrel and utilize regular bullet mechanics.  Also, we don’t know how much of an ammo drum the SV-262 has to carry.  The ammo would have to be stored in the arm, and I believe that would probably limit the number of rounds it could carry, but even if there was a central feed from within the arm or main body, that would take up a lot of room.  I know in the animation that we see both the SV-262 and more so the VF-31 use their railguns during long, sustained bursts and what sounds like a rather high rate of fire, so I am sure that ammo would be used rather quickly.  The YF-29 has double thickness energy conversion armor that has 4 times the electrical power pumped through it(I believe this is right) and the YF-29 can use ECA in all modes.  Does it state that the SV-262 can do this also?  I would think not, since in the animation, a 25mm rail gun round was able to penetrate the cockpit in GERWALK mode and take out the eye of Keith.

You mention option packs, I assume you mean the VF-31 with Full Armor pack? As far as I am aware, the Full Armor has the giant Gatling/rail guns, all those missiles and the sheer thickness that the armor appears to possess.  I don’t know the cost, but i could not be that stupid expensive as the cost of the YF-29, since Xoas was able to field several, the VF-31S, VF-31E, and a few VF-31A’s.

As far as sheer thrust, I think that the YF-29 for the base Variable Fighter is top dog.  The YF-30 has better thrust to weight ratio because it is much lighter, less bulky.  I think that the SV-262 also benefits from this.  The new standard energy-based gun pods gives real power to the base Variable Fighter without getting into super/armor packs.  

I believe that some of the new mecha that we were introduced to in the Macross 30 video game and the Macross Delta series certainly benefitted from the gains made by the YF-29.  I agree, the cost and material needed to produce one would bankrupt most planets.  If these were not factors, and were are talking the base Variable Fighter, I still think that a stock YF-29 is more powerful than any other Variable Fighters that we have seen to date.

Something tells me that the new Variable Fighter for the second Macross Delta Movie is going to give the YF-29 a run for its money and may sway my opinion....but we will have to wait and see.

Sorry for my long rambling post, I just love having a discussion on the details of Variable Fighters.

Twich 

Since we have been having such good discussion and information sharing about Variable Fighters, I would argue that the YF-29 Durandal is arguably the most powerful Variable Fighter that we have seen. With raw engine power with 4 engines, armament and defensive capabilities, I think it is the most powerful. Now I know we don’t have access to the stats of the NUN Spacy VF-24 or the NUN Spacy YF-29B Percival, barring those and what we might see in the second Delta movie, who is in agreement?

Now that we have had a really good discussion of the VF-2SS from Macross 2, maybe we can talk about another unique Variable Fighter in the VF-4. This is one of the few whose design has the three hull design with the legs and arms stored away from the central body, also we have the fact that it has three types of propulsion systems on board, besides the standard RCS/Vernier thrusters for maneuvers in space.

As far as I know and have read on M3/ Macross Compendium, the VF-4 has 2 thermonuclear reaction engines in legs, thermonuclear rocket type thrusters in the shoulders(behind arms) and finally the 2 ramjets located in the rear in fighter mode/in backpack in battroid.

Does any other variable fighter have so many different propulsion systems as part of the base variable fighter? I know the VB-6 Koenig Monster has some interesting propulsion, but that thing is literally a Monster.

Also, can all of these propulsion systems be used at once? What kind of thrust are we talking about here? I know that the premise for the VF-4 was to replace the need for FAST packs while the variable fighter is in space and to have enough onboard fuel capacity to be able to sortie for extended periods of time in space, but what other purpose does all these different engines serve?

I am curious to hear what people think.

Twich

I would be interested to know the power of the rail guns. I know that the rail gun on the SAP is anti-capital ship class, but what about the head lasers/ beam cannons.

twich

I had remembered you previously equating the VF-2SS with the VF-11 as far as power and engine output. Very interesting.

twich