Vinnie

Man...I've gotta get back on the ball. That copy of 3ds Max 2010 can't get here fast enough... Awesome stuff, Gonzo! Glad to see that you and everyone else are still working.

While the Lucy fanservice scene might have been a touch extraneous, the additional scenes of her added some dimension to her character. It made her go from being a throwaway blonde bimbo, to a somewhat interesting character that we only get a brief exposure to her thoughts and feelings.

Nothing. And generally speaking I'll dig everything or something about everything with the Macross label attached to it. I loved Macross 7 despite the low production values; the characters, story, and music were amazing. I loved Macross 2 once again despite the low production values and destruction of the Macross. I liked Macross Zero for the dogfights, mecha, and visual spectacular it was, but the story and characters were disappointing. I enjoyed Macross 7 Trash...it's Mikimoto art. Macross Plus (and SDF:M via Robotech) is the reason I'm a military pilot today. So really there's nothing they could do to Macross that would turn me away. This inlcudes the release of Macross Nyan: a 49 episode harem comedy involving singing catgirl maids piloting transforming fighters to protect some hapless 16 year old boy that just inherited the Shinsei Heavy Industries fortune.

All I've got to say about the RVF-25 is this: If anyone in the US gets a multi-colored Luca and can't stand the lack of Quality Control from Bandai and wishes they'd canceled their pre-order, please PM me. I'll be willing to take it off your hands for a fair price.

Wow. That was actually pretty good. Many props to you for having the patience to do stop motion.

Hmmm...would it be sacriligeous of me to do a custom on a 25th Anniversary model? I'm not a huge fan of the black and gold, but love the idea of a Yamato 19 that won't explode in my hands. I was thinking a nice low-viz grey or a VFX2 Ravens scheme...

Is the 25th Anniversary one any more durable than the classic YF-19? I really want a 19, but I like playing with my toys.

Hmmm...not cool to hear about the two tone Lucca. I was a little worried that I should've stayed in Japan longer so I could grab this one too. I'll have to check it out on my next trip. I'm actually super happy with the DX series so far. I actually wasn't a fan of the VF-25 until I bought my VF-25S. In fighter and Gerwalk it looks really nice, and Battroid, well turtle head aside, it still looks better than many of the other toys on the market. Aesthetics aside, it was so much fun to play with, I grabbed a 25G the day it was released. My only issue with that one, is that the hip armour is extremely loose and the fighter mode is a little too tight. The 8 year old in me has never had such a cool toy!

Yes indeed. Your DX being loaded onto a 777-300 as we speak. Attached is a picture of my 2nd Checked Bag.

I just grabbed my VF-25G at Biku? Camera in Kawasaki (by the train station) for retail. If there's anyone in Japan looking for one, they've got stacks of them. I'd love to add my two cents, but I need to leave it in the box since I'm flying back to the states tomorrow.

Joining late since I just got my VF-25S DX in Akihabara a few days ago for cheap. I really like this toy because I wanted a toy to play with (I'll get a 1/72 if I want a display model.) The proportions are better than some of the other VFs I saw and my only real gripe has been the head. Read through all the pages and saw that there was a FAST Pack addition for this toy released, but I can't seem to find it online. Is this something I have to hunt for in the shops?

Hecks yes! I was a semi-finalist. I didn't get on stage, but I was in the final 6 or 7 guys. Not sure what the winner got, but it wasn't anywhere near as good as the guy celebrating his birthday.

This post is my first in this forum. Okay, the second maybe as I asked a question previously, but the first as a Macross Toy owner. Today I went to Akihabara and I was like a kid in a candy store. Disney world and other theme parks have kind of lost their thrill after flying the Blackhawk, but if anywhere in the world could be an amusement park for me, this was it. There was so much cool stuff, but as for the relevant materials: -I am now the proud owner of a DX VF-25S. I wanted to get the Alto version, but the only one I saw was for something like 19800 yen. F that. -So much Mac F Gashapon. I've got 4 out of 6 in one series. I'll head back for the other two. Also got this weird Alto sound maker cell phone bling thing. -Saw cards, cookies, binders (for 2980 yen...um no,) and all order of model kits including some OOP stuff. -Origin of Valkyrie toys are 20% off almost everywhere as well as some older Yamatos. -RC cars with macross Decals? WTF? Althoguh if Subaru did a Ranka eddition WRX like this, I might consider trading in my Legacy GT (Okay, probably not, I wouldn't be caught dead driving that thing in the US, but it spoke to the Otaku in me.) -Almost bought the 1/100 partsformer, but decided against it since I had the DX -Macross Frontier playing on TVs in Yodabashi-Akiba and some of the singles in Various stores -As an aside, I picked up the Ranka/Bobby single with SMS Chant and Watashi no kare wa pilot at the FMV in Hokkaido, not sure how much that will be in my playlist, but the stickers were great! Um, not entirely coherent at the moment since the evening ended with Karaoke but yeah. Attached pictures. Not sure if there's any scoop in here, but I did want to share my excitment and the experience of my age being halved for a few hours with the MW community. Oh, and maid cafe...what a unique experience beyond words. As wrong as my brain told me it was (something about exploitation that would make Hooters blush,) I loved every minute of it. Not sure if my picture with Miruku (Milk?) or my new VF-25S is my favorite memento from that trip. Edit: Deleted scale on the DX, didn't realize it was a 1/60.

What we need now is Man-Sheryl in the black leather tube-top concert outfit. A great way to make you retract your statement and a counter to all the crossplay Alto and Ozma characters. (Run a google search on Man-Faye if you don't get it)

Wow...I'll never look at Gamlin the same...

As the board's resident VF-4 fanatic I rate this piece as: "Better than p0rn!" My only criticism would be the use of the hook and handle verniers on the shoulder section. Doesn't seem right, and there's speculation that the forward facing hole on the shoulders in the battroid artwork is actually another beam cannon. The side facing heavy verniers also gave it some character. However, if I were to take a departure from the original shoulder design to something new, I'd try integrating some micromissile launchers there. Final semi-unrelated note: if you goto Mr. March's Macross Mecha Manual (say that 3 times fast) and look in the VF-4 category. There's some concept art of the VF-4 that Shoji Kawamori gave to model maker Musasiya for their resin kit. It shows an idea that the forearm and shoulder are "pods" that can be removed for different configurations like light intercept and heavy attack. This was designed before he did the transformation for the VF-4 for DM:VF-X, but it's still a great concept. If you're looking for another project, I (and I imagine Che and some of the other Aria project Staff) would very much like to see how you think the "Heavy Attack VF-4" (It's obvious which one that is) would look after a transformation to Battroid.

Well, there's a number of things I could think of that would get me to finish it sooner, each more improbable than the first. Big West giving me a pile of cash, knowledge that I'd get to fly it upon completion, catgirl that finds CG VF-4s extremely sexy.

What do you take me for, a CF pilot? I've got red on my aircraft and on my uniform, so I'm good to go. I go back and forth on the model. The Aria project will probably be the thing to get me to finish it though.

Isn't that old version of mine that I posted to the board a few years ago? Old MW Post where I claimed to be giving up...LOL And Ren, I gotta say you work fast. Battle Galaxy looks nice too.

After seeing that video, I suggested we skip the Aria project and do something where the next Macross Pop Idol was actually a hip-hop artist. Update: Last day of the term. My robot does battle this afternoon. This one, sadly, does not transform...

Announcement? Curses! Looks like I'm committed now.

Well, to be fair. He is kind of on topic. I think the gist of it is "Fans working" to get a 15th Anniversary Fire Bomber concert, so literally could be thought of as "Fan Work." Anyone a little bit skippier on Nihongo than me?

Yeah, Macross Frontier had a lot of very close ones... The fight between Alto and Brera in Episode 9 was almost it, and between Alto and the Quamzin guy was almost awesome, and between Alto and Ozma towards the end was close, and Alto vs Pixie Sq in the very beginning was close too...But they never lasted for more than a few seconds, so always fell horribly short of the standards set by others in the franchise.

Isamu vs Guld. This is the definitive Macross Dogfight. It has all the key elements required to be the best. It has gorgeous aerial fights, urban combat, Itano Circus a plenty, ejecting FAST Packs, a little humor, two well matched adversaries in a battle where neither can gain the upper hand, plenty of build-up to the duel and all set to the best Kanno BGM track. Although, I think the thing that makes this the big winner over any of the others is the fight runs the length of Dogfight, so is a solid 4-5 minutes of intense mecha p0rn. The length of the sequence makes everything else a teaser by comparison.

I think you might want to try a 1980s US Navy Light Gull Grey rather than the more modern low-Viz grey it looks like you're using. The idea of what the skull squadron scheme looks like is deeply ingrained in the psyche of Macross fans. Because of that, the darker tones you've chosen create an optical illusion that makes it look like the scene isn't well lit. I think you'll notice this even more when you start including carrier deck scenes as the background. The 80s Light Gull Grey (or any lighter matte grey) should give you that balance of what looks real and what looks right. Other than that, I'll just echo my earlier statement of nice texture work. It makes a great model look amazing.