Hiriyu

Graham, I thought the same thing when I saw it. It's called the "Wise Duck". Wise Duck Page

Thanks for the great info daeudi. However, I still kind of prefer 'Lava-Moth' - I'm looking forward to July, when I can point out the 'Lava-Moths' to everyone

There's some info available on the webpage Azrael cited. It appears to be related to a 1998 Capcom title. Here's a blurb courtesy BabelFish (bracketed comments are mine): "The large hit animation "super spatial-temporal fortress マクロス [Macross]" series was managed That river Mori Siyouzi & the studio sew [studio Nue?], カプコン united the powerful tag! Now ultimate robot legend starts here! ! River Mori Siyouzi & the studio sew in plan original idea, You say to mechanical design river Mori Siyouzi and the Miyatake one your person The animation boundary highest creator is appointed, The appearance impression and the robot of animation the pleasant sensation which freely is worked was held The ultimate robot game was made to complete! " There's a page with some technical info on the mecha (which appears to be a modification of the VA-3), and lots of talk of 'Lava-Moths' and 'cancer/guns' there too. Have fun!

Count me in for both. I'd also be down for either or.

Great workmanship! Quick question: Are the kites on the sides of the fuselage painted or decalled? If those are decals, they are the kind

1:48 as a scale is also nice. Too bad the look and proportions of Yamato's 1:48 line is whack

I'd have to agree with Azrael on this one - I'd stake good money that there are no hand inked cels in the entire production of M0, and I'd go as far as saying there's probably not much that's even hand drawn. But, that seems to be the direction the whole industry is moving... Nevertheless, I'm enjoying the series, even though I'm not a big fan of the character design or character graphical execution.

You are correct that the surface temp is relatively cold on Mars. The catch is that they can't perform any of the hard work at night, as it would quickly deplete the batteries (the solar arrays supply much of the operating current). They pretty much have to run it while it's "hot" out, and let it "sleep" during Martian night. Regardless, it wouldn't matter much how well it's vented to the outside, because they are so jam-packed together inside - the transmitters/receivers/buses/CPUs likely can't be made much smaller than they already are, and their proximity limits thermal and electronic efficiency. Remember that the engineers had to adhere to a strict size/weight/mass target for everything to work as planned, and that likely rules out very complex cooling solutions (no Pelt coolers for Spirit's CPUs ). Remember that electronics need a minimum temperature to operate safely as well, and that would preempt any kind of outer surface mounting scheme or constant direct ventilation. Here's to hoping that Opportunity fares better!

Another, older picture of the stand, with a YF-21 suspended from it:

A late addition here, but... (Janis Joplin voice) Remember what the G-Man said? "REVISED: 01/22/2003 Macross Zero News 3. Update: Yamato also confirmed they have talked with Big West showing interest that they would like to make transforming 1/60 scale Macross Zero toys(nothing has been set in stone yet as I incorrectly reported before). It's not clear yet how many variants they will make of the two main mecha, but there could possibly be four releases altogether which would be: - · VF-0 Focker type. · VF-0 Shin Kudo type. · SV-51 Nora Polyansky type · SV-51 standard type. 4. The big news is that Nishikawa-san (the sculptor of the 1/48 VF-1) will not be sculpting the Macross Zero toys due to other commitments. Instead, Yamato have hired a new sculptor, who is actually one of the sculptors that Bandai uses for their Master Grade models, so he comes to the project with a good pedigree. 5. Sculpting has just started on the VF-0 and the initial; prototype sculpt is expected to be ready about two months later. Yamato will also be using CAD-CAM design in the production of the Macross Zero Toys. Expect at least 6-8 months from now before the release of the VF-0. Sculpting has not started yet on the SV-51, but should begin within the next few months. 6. Oh, and the Macross Zero toys will feature perfect transformation without having to remove the legs!"

Speaking to a friend of mine from JPL today, he mentioned that the operating temps onboard the rover have been very high, very close to the design limits - something on the order of 80C. Exacerbating this is the fact that they've been working the poor thing pretty hard with the sheer bulk of uploads (data/pictures), so they've had to scale those back a bit (even prior to the blackout period). Imagine that you were running your desktop PC in a small 100F+ degree, closed room with no ventilation, overclocked and with no cooling mods. Would you be surprised if it constantly rebooted itself? Seriously though, I hope they're able to salvage an acceptable level of functionality and continue the mission as best they can...

Wow. Quite a read there guys I'm all for scale consistency and all, but some of you guys make it seem as if Yamato owes you or something. Personally, I think that the VF-0 proto in the picture looks pretty sweet, regardless of scale. If it came to market looking much like that, and at a reasonable price, I'd buy one for sure. But that's just my opinion...

There's gotta be tons of places around Raleigh who can make these for you. Check out the yellow pages and look under sign making - most sign makers deal in vinyl graphics. Or, contact an auto racing shop - they'll have contacts for someone who makes vinyl graphics (and there are lots of race shops in NC). Last resort, pm me. I have a kite emblem vinyl sticker about the size you're looking for, and which I'm not about to put onto my car

To add to the above post, the 'floppy backpack' syndrome had also been cured on the later-release Yamato 1/60s like the 1J Supers... Though it sounds like you're on to something else anyway

I believe the VEFR-1 was originally a custom model theme that was eventually assimilated, something kind of like the 1/48 Yamato Low-Vis. It is shown in the Macross Hobby Book on page 27.

(Whistles...) Very nice, very very nice. (...resumes whistling)

Hmm, you didn't include a 'periodic refit' option in the poll... ...And tuck in that airbrake

Those look pretty nifty... They all appear to be Windows oriented too... Hmmm... (Starts searching....) I'll let you know if I find anything

Hi Anubis, I've looked into fitting the fastpacks to my 1/60 1-A, but haven't yet. I'm not aware of any recasts, though you should be able to find spares (but then need to repaint them of course). Here's a quick and dirty DIY procedure I've thought about doing: a) Ream fp mounting holes in right leg to match left leg (duh ) b) Remove/disassemble backpack - pry out screwcaps on top surface to expose the mounting screws. You may need a little glue to set them back in place later. c) Using a vernier caliper, check the relative slot sizes and positions from a comparable FP valk, then mark slot areas using indelible marker. d) Use a pointed punch in the center of your rectangular marks to impression a drill pilot hole. e) Use an undersized drill bit to start your holes. f) Finish your holes out to match your markings, using a needle file or small rotary file on a die grinder. Be careful here and check fit/alignment at every step. Voila! FP'd CF

I had asked this exact question a while back in this thread. The water landings are what made me wonder about it too. http://www.macrossworld.com/mwf/index.php?...=2&t=140&st=160 It appears that the gravity control system IS that sophisticated If you watch DYRL, it will make this very apparent (attack scene where "gravity sub-system #16" is damaged).

*Groan* *Booo........* I'd have to throw in 'The Last Starfighter', corny as all get out but great cg effects for the era. 'Tron' also comes to mind...

Excellent Idea! I propose we change the subject ...and have a very merry unbirthday!

What you guys are forgetting is that materials cost is close to nil in a product like this, particularly when made in China. What you are really paying for is all of the production work leading up to that pretty toy in your hands, and Yamato is not going to do it for free. I wouldn't either . Basic capitalism at work folks. I don't buy into the argument that it should be cheaper because it's non-transforming. As I stated previously, Yamato needs to amortize their costs for this item through what will probably be a fairly small production run (we need to think in relative terms here), and still be able to see enough profit to make it worth their while. This is not an item that is going to sell in the hundreds of thousands or even tens of thousands of units like some other toys on the market. Therefore, they will be priced so as to partially guarantee at least a break-even point should sales be below expectation.

You've got it nailed on the head. I make my living doing tool & die work (injection molds, vacuum forms, steam chests, presses, patterns, etc.) and I can verify that tooling costs for this baby are probably fairly high. Not to mention that they have tooling costs associated with the packaging as well. Sure, Yamato's per-unit cost is probably around $20-25.00 including packaging (can't forget labor and transportation costs), but they need to amortize the cost of tooling/production through a [likely] small production run, and turn a profit in the end.

I've also voted 'Others' because I tend to buy items from several categories: toys, videos, books, etc (in that order)...