Cyclone Trooper

I roleplayed Mekton Zeta for a few years about a decade ago...even attempted to half-ass convert it to Macross, but found it easier to go with a Gundam-style game instead. Sounds like R. Talsorian is gearing up to publish an all new MZ? Is that what I'm reading?

Well, here's my first offering...

Back in the late 80s, when I used to roleplay Macross with friends of mine, we created the U.N. Spacy's version of Diamondback Squadron. The guy in our roleplaying group who became "Diamondback Leader" insisted that our squadron be the antithesis of Skull Squadron in both appearance and demeanor. Our Valkyries were to be dark in color, as opposed to Skull's brightly-colored paint schemes. The result was a paint scheme that, amazingly, damn-near copied the Dark Birds...years before I was ever aware of that particular squadron. There are only minor differences in the paint jobs, with the nosecones being a light blue-gray color instead of dark midnight blue. When I came across a pic of the Dark Birds on Macross Mecha Manual, I was kind of shocked that I had unknowingly plagerized an existing squadron.

But here's Diamondback Leader...

The other thing about this particular squadron is that, back in 1987, no one in our roleplaying group was aware that there is a real-life Diamondback Squadron. We just thought it sounded cool back then. But several years later, I learned that the Diamondbacks have flown everything from F-18 Hornets to F-14 Tomcats. So I "borrowed" their existing logo and modified it for the world of Macross...

Here's the squadron logo as it appears in real life and as it appears aboard the SDF-1...

I've seen some amazing Photoshop work in this thread, so my work will look EXTREMELY amateurish in comparison...but it does bring back fond memories...

Awesome, Mr. March! Thank you!

I've searched through the nearly 40 pages of this thread and have found most, if not all, of the links to the clean black & white schematics for the VF-1, VF-1 Strike/Super, VF-4 VT-1 and VE-1 Elintseeker to be completely dead. If anyone still has copies of these clean schematics, please PM me! Any help in trying to procure a set of them would be greatly appreciated like you wouldn't believe!

I've caught the Photoshop bug, but alas, I can't find anything...

I'm not complaining, per se. Like Phyrox said, good sci-fi only suspends belief in one or two areas and grounds the rest firmly in the realm of reality. Macross, to me, is good sci-fi. With that in mind, I've always tried to fit some of the less fantastical aspects of the anime into "real world" perspective...and then ask myself, "Why'd they do that?" Even the less-than-realistic transformational aspects of the Valkyries were explained away as a potential defense against giant aliens. They could literally go toe-to-toe with the Zentraedi. But stuff like the submersible/semi-submersible supercarrier (I've seen both terms used) never really made sense to me from a practical point of view. Now as for storytelling purposes, having both sea-going vessels be somewhat self-contained makes it easier to believe that they could survive the lack of atmosphere in space.

This very argument against the believability behind the Prometheus/Daedalus being self-contained environments and being jury-rigged into the "arms" of the SDF-1 MAY have contributed to the decision to go with ARMD platforms as arms in DYRL instead of just updating the look of the carriers.

I just figured some more learned Macross enthusiasts would know something I didn't about the purpose behind the Prometheus...

Now the logic behind them that I've heard is as fallows: the idea was that if and when invading aliens did arrive, these ships would be able to dive under water deep enough and long enough that they could survive an initial surface bombardment. Once the aliens stop blasting the crap out of everything, the ships would resurface and deploy VF's and destroids to counter attack. This plan, like every other one the UNG came up with in SDF:M, of course when to hell in a hand basket when the Zentraid actually did show up so this capability was never put to use.

Exactly. If the opening sequence to the DYRL video game is any indicator, the semi-submersible aspect wasn't even given a chance since the Prometheus was sliced in half like a loaf of bread within seconds of Skull Squadron launching. And the diving depth info isn't canon at all...it was given in the old Palladium RPG books, so that depth was most likely just pulled out of someone's butt because it sounded feasible at the time.

The real reason though is that they needed to be able to justify how a terrestrial aircraft carrier and LST are able to function in space.

That's what I've always believed, to be honest.

Image courtesy of Macross Mecha Manual

One thing that's always bothered me about the Prometheus dating as far back as my less-enlightened Robotech RPG days is the fact that the Prometheus was designed to be a combination aircraft carrier/submarine. The logistical aspect of a vehicle of this nature is mindboggling enough, much less the design aspect. I've asked several ex-Navy personnel over the years about how "realistic" a submersible aircraft carrier would be...only to be outright laughed at for asking such an asinine question. Suffice it to say that the US Navy doesn't have such a design on the drawing boards anytime in the foreseeable future...

But that sort of reinforced my thoughts on the Prometheus...what exactly is the purpose of submerging a carrier? It's not exactly designed to be stealthy, nor is it small enough to bypass active sonar underwater. Its supposed to be the largest carrier class in existence by 2009 in the Macross universe...and just happens to have the ability to withstand a diving depth of 1.2 miles? Some will be quick to argue that this feat is accomplished by using Overtechnology, but from what I've seen, metal alloys in Macross don't seem to have any more resilience than their real-life counterparts. But that still doesn't answer the main question as to why someone even conceived of such an idea. Just because something CAN be done, doesn't necessarily mean that it SHOULD be done. Submerging would be a colossal pain in the rear to do...having to move every single aircraft belowdecks every single time before you could go underwater...

In contrast, the Daedalus being designed as a submersible beachhead landing craft makes more sense. It actually resembles a large sub in many ways and is fully designed to make shore-based infantry (if you want to consider 35-foot-tall Destroids as such) debarkations. But the underwater aircraft carrier idea has always seemed silly to me. I DO understand that the submersible idea made the whole "aircraft carrier in space" idea a bit easier for viewers to swallow...but still...

Anyone else's thoughts?

As far as Ranka's hair being anime accurate or not, you have to remember that Minmay's hair ranged from jet-black to a dark purple color, depending on the in-universe pin-up you were looking at. Her hair even appeared purple in Flashback 2012...

So I'm going to go with the "It's Artistic License" group...

I thought that the fact that the Virgin Road Valkyrie had a -1A head was an animation error?

How would a two-seat -1A work anyway considering there's only one 'head camera'?

If you REALLY want to split hairs here, ANY head unit could support a two-seater configuration. I never understood the idea that each pilot had to have a separate and dedicated sensor suit in the head when one set of sensors could have multiple input/outputs...sort of like networking two clients (each pilot) off of the same server (the head unit sensors). Look at the VE-1 and VT-1 as prime examples. The VE-1's head unit is little more than an oversized single-lens camcorder by all appearances; and the VT-1's head unit looks more like a very small ELINT dish than a head unit. Neither of these birds have dual optic/sensor systems, but feed all this data to both the pilot and copilot/intel officer.

At the risk of angering the mass of 1D lovers around here, I've always thought that the VF-1D was a tad "overdesigned" where the head unit is concerned. The dual sensor suites in the head are redundant and really not needed...at least in its current configuration. If you MUST have such a setup, a few realistic ways (and I use "realistic" loosely where giant transforming robots are concerned) is to either give a two-seater Valkyrie two heads (this would look absolutely ridiculous) or to have the VF-1D head unit's upper half rotate independently of the bottom half. While halfway practical in keeping with the dual independent sensor idea, this would look really strange in execution.

Wise policy Roy, u wont regret it

so will u have to take alot of the armour off to transform the Elint?

Nope. The Elintseeker is like any other Valkyrie with FPs. Fully transformable with no parts swapping or removal.

I had this very same model kit back in the 80s when it was released here in the US under the Revell Robotech line of models. I remember the Tomahawk was molded in dark brown and the Armored VF-1J was a light gray color. And the box was enormous, even for a 1/100 scale diorama. I can't wait to see how your take on it will look.

IT'S THE APORKALYPSE!

eyesonme78...last anyone heard, the SDF-1 was being given a 50,000 yen price tag. As of today, the exchange rate puts it at right at $520.00 US (actual current price is $519.57). And that's not even factoring in shipping on this thing.

Retracting Head Tar Tar...a few of us have been thinking the same thing:

1.) Releasing a prototype (and pics thereof) over a year before it's supposed to hit store shelves (like Yamato did with the Monster)...

2.) Giving a uber-expensive MSRP on it (again, like the Monster).

3.) After the initial buzz at a few hobby shows, its never seen nor spoken of again.

4.) Yamato slipped it under Graham's radar completely.

There are just things about this that seem to be a case of history repeating itself. Granted, in this case, not a whole lot of time has passed since its announcement, but still...there could be a good chance that this will end up being vaporware. Or it will end up being a limited-edition Japan-only exclusive...knowing our luck.

...I would shag myself until the cows come home to get the ostrich and elintseeker.

Now THAT is dedication to the hobby right there!

My wife is currently undergoing the initial phase of a surrogate pregnancy for a couple out of New York. That pays about $20,000...but you don't get the money until you "deliver the goods" so to speak. But I dunno if begging our wives or girlfriends to carry a baby for someone else to support our Valkyrie addiction would go over well! lol

*can see several MW members penciling the idea down as a last-ditch option

I know its been a while. Since this SDF-1 isn't due til sometime next year, I guess Yamato is taking its time on any other picture releases. Would be nice to see a Storm Attacker pose though!!

Oh I know. It's just that since the prototype has been making the rounds to all the hobby shows lately, I was thinking that eventually we'd get to see this gargantuan beauty in Storm Attacker mode at some point...

So...

Anything new about the SDF-1? It's been over 6 weeks since the last post...

And is it me or does Roy look like he's suited up in an olive drab flightsuit? Or is it just the lighting making it look dark green?

Those are the fast packs, in the first episode that they are seen in SDF:M they nicknamed the VF-1S with the fastpack the "Booby Duck"

...and once again, I have been enlightened in the School of Macross. Thanks, dude!

At the risk of sounding like a COMPLETE idiot...exactly what are boobie ducks? The only reason I'm even asking this is because Macross is a universe where names like "Pink Peckers" and "Double Nuts" are spoken with a straight face...and actually taken seriously.

Watch Yamato steal MechTech's sound effects idea and incorporate them into the 1/2000 SDF-1!

Well...if nothing else, I'm confident that the members of Macross World will be alive and well in the post-apocalyptic aftermath of a bioweapon-gone-awry! ...or a really bad cold & flu season.

If you review the above image of the DYRL leg layout, you'll see that the engines are housed in a large block at the rear (or foot) of the leg. The entire leg structure wasn't needed to house the main thrusters in either version of the SDF-1.

so what happened to the toy imports and swine flu pandemic?

That story was SOOOOO last week!

For the love of Minmay...DON'T encourage them! lol

As stupid as these are, I'd for sure buy a Millia one

I'm extremely surprised they haven't come out with a Klan one yet, considering she's got the most... *ahem* ergonomics... to give.

Vostok 7

Just wait...there'll be a boob-shaped wrist-rest for your keyboard featuring Klan.