mechaninac

1/6 scale, 14" tall, fully articulated and detailed... I want it, but at about $212.00 (did a conversion using Malaysian Ringgits) before shipping? I don't think so.

Mmmm, maybe the OVA name Macross II had something to do with it in this case, but that does not explain the VF-XX (double experimental, VF-20 in Roman numerals?) or the Metal Siren (VF-1, 3, or 4 MS... take your pick). Besides, there is no evidence, other than the aforementioned M0, that the VF numbers have anything whatsoever to do with the program's name: SDF: Macross had the VF-1 (okay, first Macross series, first VF... but I doubt that there is any intentional correlation); the VF-4 appears in Flashback 2012, so the show should've been called Macross 4; Macross Plus should've been Macross 11, 19 or 21 since those planes appeared prominently in the OVA; Macross 7's hero plane should have been a VF-7, but it isn't... instead we get a bright red, VF-19 with a face, and the VF-11, VF-17, VF-22, etc. In the world of "official" Macross that theory does not hold water.

Even Kawamori's Macross does not always follow the incremental numbering formula; the VF-3000 and VF-5000 both predate the VF-11... if a logical numbering progression were the absolute rule, than it would follow that the VF-5000 would come into service some 200+ years in the future of chronicled events. There is absolutely nothing wrong or illogical with the VF numbering system applied to the Icarus and Valkyrie II; unorthodox maybe, but not a reason to dismiss them; after all, the VF-2 nomenclature was not taken by any previous VF placed in service. As mentioned, the second letter in the designation denotes primary operational environment... it would have made a bit more sense if the Icarus were the VF-2** and the VII a VF-3SS (the Icarus looks a bit more primitive), but since they are exclusive of each other in their intended roles, an exception could be made. The VF-XX and Metal Siren, however, are much harder to explain and correlate with any numbering system. One thing to remember is that Macross II takes place in what is an alternate future where anything after the VF-4, in SK's canon, never existed; as such, the numbering system is rather moot when applied to M2. Besides, it can be argued that M2's UN-SPACY revamped their numbering system altogether, for whatever reason, leading to the odd, confusing, state of affairs in their designations. EDIT: Damn, I love this thread... one can get so verbose and opinionated about something so incredibly trivial.

Given the SAP's booster/cannon design, I think that un-swept wings would actually interfere with the SAP's wings (the booms that support the large left and right missile/drone pods). Therefore, in the case of the VF-2SS, having the wings fully swept to battroid/deck storage mode makes sense. Besides, since the SAP is intended for space operations only, AFAIK, the wings are useless and are best kept out of the way; if, like the VF-1, the VF-2SS carried a wing mounted weapons load and had a more modestly sized, maybe without the booms, SAP, then having the wings out would definitely add to the look. And it's not as if I don't like the craft with the SAP, I just like the Valkyrie II without it a bit more.

I voted for the D, if no no other reason than that it is a departure from the VF-1 design aesthetics... a "VF-1" with delta wings ala VF-11 MAXL, but without the b@@bs and chick face wearing shades.

I agree, the Valkyrie II without the SAP looks better than with it, and I also like it's look in battroid mode too...sleek, powerful, and elegant, but like most of the other Macross VFs it's GERWALK mode is, at best, a compromise. Although the SAP is clearly meant to be the ultimate FAST Pack, it does tend to clutter the beautiful rakishness of the VF-2SS. It is a crying shame that the chances of us ever getting any toys, in any scale, from Yamato, Bandai, or whomever, of any Macross II mecha, are less than getting struck by lightning twice on the same day.

Ah yes, Sliders... really cool premise, mediocre execution and lack of imaginative possibilities for alternate realities in the first season, and did a major "jump the shark" starting the second season when it became thoroughly unmatchable.

You're right about the baby boomer pandering, but his leaping into those decades was part of the show's premise: to jump to any point in time within one's own life time; therefore, he could not leap into the middle ages for example, and he could not go beyond the point when the "accident" happened. Although, there was one episode where he leaped into his own great-great grandfather, or something, during the American Civil War, because of a extreme DNA correlation with his 1860's relative, IIRC. In any event, if Sam were, say, 35 years old when he first leaped in the mid 1990's, he'd be able to leap within a 35 year temporal span.

Ha!... candy for masochists... apple flavored.

Not Engrish, but...

SK "jock sniffing" aside, this is a beautiful design worthy of the Macross name. And the Icarus is no slouch either... And I as for the Marduk, the impression I got was that they were just another hostile alien race who happened to have enslaved a great number of Zentradi to use as cannon fodder. So the existence of the Marduk does not, in any way, contradict the Protoculture or the Supervision Army... they are just another enemy.

Well, isn't that pretty much what I said???

That's kind of stretching it... any resemblance is vague at best. I still contend that the VF-4 is the oddball or the VF family tree, but what an oddball it is. I do agree that Kawamori got most of his design inspiration from real world aircraft... at least in the most basic of proportions. One could argue that the YF-19 is based off the X-29, but aside from the FSW and canards there is almost nothing in common (I see a lot of the Berkut in the YF-19, however). And just to throw a monkey wrench into the argument: If the VF-1 borrows basic aesthetic design queues from the F-14 (it obviously does) and the VF-2JA and VF-2SS are evolutions/redesigns of the VF-1, then it follows that the VF-2JA and VF-2SS are also inspired by the F-14. See, I too can stretch things...

But so are the VF-3000 and VF-5000, and the VF-11 borrows more than a little from the VF-1. It is true, however, that Kawamori gets most of his starting points for new VFs from real world fighter aircraft, but not always...VF-4. I don't want to put words in your mouth, but I think you just prefer Kawamori's design style over the artist(s) who penned the mecha from M2. That's cool.

Regardless of how they act, UNS is still Macross' version of a military. That's mostly true, the UNS in canon Macross seem to spend most of their time as babysitters to colonizers, nutty scientists/spiritualists, and playing second banana to peacenik, environ-nut, rock star prima donnas. Technology can make extreme leaps in very short periods of time... in the span of little more than half a decade, air power went from the use of bi-planes flying at around 120-150 mph to jets flying in excess of 550 mph and rocket planes just shy of Mach 1. So, the degree of improvements in Macross do not strike me as unrealistic within the context of a transforming mecha cartoon. I did not make any tank analogies... you must be referring to someone else's comments. And you're basically restating what I said about the M2 mecha: they are evolutionary, not revolutionary. And I'm an engineer too. The "constant conflict" is implied, and the ability to dispatch some Zentradi in short order does not negate that UNS may be constantly running into them. True, it would mostly be occurring in the outward colonies and against the exploration fleets. Exactly. Every decade or so there is a Zentradi incursion that they have to beat back. You can see in the opening of M2, in the faces of the military leadership (Exxegran excluded), just how little concern they have for this latest crisis. They've beaten back the Zentradi before using the same ruse successfully every time. And the Vietnam war ended about 30 years ago, not less than 10. Even the first Gulf war, Desert Storm, clocks in at 12 years from the start of Iraqi Freedom. Like I said originally, the Icarus and Valkyrie II are the zenith of the evolution of the VF-1 design. That's why I like both so much. No sweat.

Welcome aboard! If you're smart you'll run away as fast as you can... nothing short of keeping a girlfriend happy, will separate you from your cash as fast as this obsession of ours tends to do. Run, I tell you, RUN!

@Radd. Again, it is all a matter of personal preferences, purist biases, and nitpicking of a level beyond anal. The VF-2SS is, arguably, an extremely stylized design with very sci-fi-ish lines, to borrow your words (funny that term being used to exclude one sci-fi design from another one); however it deviated from the established VF design lineage far less than the VF-4, and others... if anything, the VF-4 (leaving the VF-14 out on purpose since it harkens to the VF-4) is the biggest paradigm shift in VF design of any other variable fighter within the Macross franchises. In my opinion, all the VF designs that have appeared in Big West licensed OVAs, TV serials, movies, games, etc. are equally valid. @Phalanx. That is the bone of contention of many purists and/or M2 detractors. M2 was a sequel to DYRL? alone, that takes place 80 years after the events chronicled in the movie. Everything after M+ is a sequel to the Macross TV series, but with DYRL? design lineage. M2 is not canon in the accepted continuity but is perfectly valid as an alternate future. In Kawamori's Macross there is a rapid progression of technology brought about by the necessities of supplying all the colonization fleets, which leads to such radical designs as the VF-19 and VF-22; whereas in the Macross II time line, Earth seems to have mostly withdrawn from the cosmos and the technology progression appears to be geared towards refinements of existing designs rather than revolutionary ones, thus we see the Icarus and Valkyrie II as ultimate evolutions of the VF-1's tried and true design characteristics @Seto Kaiba. There is one overriding truth to military development... conflict against a foe of comparable capabilities will spur progress (the military advancement of WWII and the early cold war are prime examples). The "accepted" canon shows a UN SPACEY in almost constant conflict and this, above all, would explain the rapidly expanding capabilities of the VFs and the extreme experimentation with novel designs... always looking for an edge on your opponents -- and it makes for many interesting and unique designs to make into toys and models. With Macross II we have a world that has become complacent in it's approach to self defense against rogue Zentradi... the Minmay attack had always worked in creating enough confusion in the enemy that they became easy prey, until the Marduk incursion with their emulators to counteract the initial shock of human culture/music. It is entirely possible that in this reality, fighter craft evolution was stunted and the Mecha thereof less capable than their canon counterparts. Of course, none of this detracts from the validity of any of the M2 designs; they are as grounded in the design criteria as all the other variable fighters and bombers that grace the Macross franchise. My 2 1/2 cents. PS.: the F-117A predated the B2 by quite a few years. The Stealth Fighter's faceted design is a testament to the computational limitations at work during the design of the "Have Blue (aka. hopeless diamond)" technology demonstrator. The B2 owes its blended shape to work done on a demonstrator called "Tacit Blue (aka. the flying bread box)" and the advancements in computer power that allowed the engineers to calculate radar reflection/refraction on non-angular shapes.

As jenius said, they are somewhere between 1/55 and 1/48... I'd say around 1/50; the pilot, however, is 1/55. The often repeated assumption/lie that Toynami used the old Imai 1/48 kit molds is, however, absolutely preposterous; although similar in overall size, the two are completely different in several proportions, details and execution. It may be true that the kit was used as an inspiration, or even a starting point in the design process, but there is where they diverge (everything else being equal, a simple look at the plastic parts' thicknesses would be all the info you'd need to tell them apart -- kit parts are 1.0-1.2 mm, and toy parts are 1.5-1.8 mm... you can't get 1.5 mm from a mold designed for 1.0 mm).

To my understanding, the power plants in VFs may be nuclear (VF-0 and SV-51 excepted), but the engines themselves are a hybrid ramjet/ion propulsion. In order to produce thrust in an atmosphere you require air to accelerate out the feet thrusters: Air comes in through the intakes and is routed to a compression chamber where it is super heated by a heat exchanger of the nuclear reactor, and this hot gas is shot out the back as it expands to generate thrust, and combustible fuel can be added to the mix to increase thrust by means of an afterburner. In space there would be no air to compress, heat and/or combust, so you'd need to carry your own supply of reaction mass; in this case, the engine could strip the fuel of electrons to accelerate them in a EM field and push them out the exhaust at a prodigious rate of speed to generate forward thrust... you can generate quite a bit of electricity with a nuclear power plant. Or the reaction mass is simply ignited by the heat generated by power plants. Regardless of the working details, even a nuclear powered aircraft requires an air intake to feed the engine in an atmosphere... you need to push something out the back in order to move. The only way that a VF would not need air in an atmosphere is if it carried its own supply of fuel and oxidizer (self contained rocket motor).

My choices, in no particular order of preference, are as follows: 1/72 VF-9 Fighter fixed pose 1/72 Tomahawk (articulated if possible) 1/72 VF-5000 1/72 VF-2JA ... and one that I didn't see on the list: 1/72 VF-2SS I would also like the VF-11, but I'm still holding out hope that Hasegawa may come through on this one within the next couple of years.

Oven cleaners are great... stinky and messy, but great. Stuff like Easy-Off can be liberally sprayed on styrene, ABS, Vinyl, etc without any deleterious effects; just spray the part inside a plastic bag or plastic wrap and seal to let the goo do its voodoo, after about 15-30 min scrub the part with an old toothbrush under warm running water and you'll be left with a paint free part (any left over paint/residue can be easily handled with a second dunking or other cleaning methods).

Most (all?) 1/48 VF-1S Roy Valkyries have the crooked skull problem except the 2nd edition (1st re-issue), as for the Hikaru 1S... don't know since I don't own one. The only things tampo printed onto the 1/48s are the skulls on the fins and heat shield and the kite on the wing, and on the 1Js you also get the "U.N. SPACEY" printed on the legs, but that's it; everything else is on the sticker sheet, which you want to avoid. Anasazi's stickers or decals or Takatoys's stickers are the way to go. Overall, the 1/48s are well worth the money, within reason ($250+ for an original LE Low Vis.... I don't think so...). The first time you see and handle one in person you'll be glad you bought it.

So few words... so many questions...

Can someone please pick my jaw off the floor?!

I remember seeing a program on the History channel about the F-15 where they recounted an incident with an Israeli F-15 that suffered an air collision and lost most, if not all, of one of its wings. The plane was able to recover, fly back to base and successfully land using not much more than differential thrust and sheer speed (it basically flew like a missile with no aerodynamic lift coming from the damaged side), and the pilot wasn't even aware of how severe the damage was until he did a walk-around of the plane... a testament to the survivability of the F-15 and the skill of the IAF pilot. Given the over-technology used in variable fighters in the Macross universe, the resiliency and lightness of the construction material that would have to be used in order to make such machines able to cope with the enormous forces that would come to bear during transformation in atmospheres, the sophistication and redundancy that would need to be built into the avionics of such machines, and the sheer thrust capabilities of the power plants mated to the VFs, I would have to say that most damage that does not affect trust, minimal vectoring of same, and leaves a few control surfaces operable, and does not kill the pilot, could still leave the machine at least able to limp back to base.