Chronocidal

One can only hope.. only reason I only bought two was because I'm hoping for more later.

It's still there a bit, but they finally folded the side panels into place like they're supposed to be, and it does a better job of covering that up.

Thinking back to the stealth reveal they pulled off with the v.2 VF-1, it might be pretty far along already. I'm trying to remember how the sequence of events went, but I think the VF-1 was sprung on us in the middle of several other pretty large releases (I want to say around the same time as the SV-51 and YF-21 were close to being released?). I probably wouldn't expect it for at least another year, but I also would imagine they will definitely want to capitalize on the surge of interest in Mac7 due to the Fire Valk. On the other hand though.. the release of Emerald Force can't be far off, since all the hard work on the VF-19 is done. Replace the key parts, paint it blue, and it's done. Given the order of events in the series, I'd almost wonder if they want to sandwich the VF-17 in between the Fire Valk and Blazer releases. If they do that though, that would either mean the VF-17 is fairly close to done, or the Blazer is much farther off than we expected. I do think that the way this teaser is presented is much less mysterious than the VF-19 one though, and could mean they're much closer to finishing than when they first revealed the Fire Valk. The first CAD we got for the Fire Valk was a partial planform, and random drawings of a few segments of the fuselage. This one's a nearly complete drawing (no feet yet), showing off the proportions really well. Oh, and I'm putting my vote in for a red one now, hopefully with white stripes instead of yellow (I honestly don't recall which is canon).

YES! Weaponized subwoofers ftw! If this is packaged with the soundbooster, I just might have to get it. Heheh.. I'd probably be tempted to slap Bose or Klipsch or some other brand of audio equipment stickers on the thing though.

Well, lesee.. if I recall correctly, we've already had most other major appendages either outright snap off, or have their joints shatter. All that's left is for the head to explode. On the other hand, given the opinion some people have of the face on this one, I'd be highly suspicious of mass reports that their heads either broke off, exploded, or went missing (especially after the F or S variants are released). On yet another hand, I also would not be surprised if we see actual cases of the head on this VF-19 either exploding or being blown off by overly fanatical Basara haters.

All discussion of acting ability aside, I thought it was discovered that Keanu Reeves doesn't age to begin with. http://www.eatliver.com/i.php?n=5833

Pretty simple to me.. screw the stickers. Scan them into your computer, and reprint them on some decent decal film. Oh, you can even fix them up so they don't look like absolute crap from their idiot printing process. As for me, I don't plan on using any SMS markings anyway, so it won't be an issue. I've got the 1/72 kits to leave in the canon schemes, so the 1/100 kits are where I bust out my spare decal box and have fun with customization.

Those look.. really interesting actually. The F-23 variant is kind of obviously based on the real aircraft, but that F-21 looks like someone mixed the F-23 with the Falken/Morgan from Ace Combat... and arguably, I'd say that design looks much more feasible. Wow, know it's from the previous page, but way to bring back old memories. I had a few of those Ring Raiders planes.. If I recall correctly... An orange Harrier with red stripes, a red X-29 with yellow stripes, a red/orange F-86, and a silver F-19 (the teardrop shaped version as opposed to the droopy wing one). Don't know where these are, but I remember the little mounts for the rings tended to break very easily. On the other hand, I still have my entire set of Flying Fighters, all in really decent condition still (last I checked, the sound-effect flight sticks all still work). Stickers are wearing out, especially on the F-14 and F-18, but they're all pretty functional still. Made me really really happy when I discovered that the crazy huge missile supplies for those all worked on my GI Joe stuff from the same era, mostly the Hurricane.. I had that sucker loaded for bear with racks of bullpup and phoenix missiles.

If I recall the discussion from when the VF-25 kits came out, the only thing that wasn't tried was the kitchen sink (as in, hitting the canopy with it, in hopes it would bruise and turn a nice purple. ) That PL Refit Enterprise looks like a beauty, I'll have to pick up one or two at some point, assuming they're still available. I do have the Bandai kit already, but it'd be nice to have one that matches the TV version I've got. Also must agree on the speeder, you can never really weather those too much. Those things were really pretty filthy. I remember the old Ertl kit too, and it was actually one of the better kits they made, as far as I recall. That thing was a whole lot bigger than 1/48 though, probably a little over 1/32.

I did notice that, plus, with the multi-directional twisting those leg packs do, it's very GPB like in functionality. It's like they intend this thing to be a leaner, meaner option instead of the huge bulky armored pack VF-25. Probably doesn't hold quite as many missiles.. but.. well, that's up for debate. Looking at the size of those missiles.. either they keep getting smaller and more potent in-universe, or Bandai has a warped sense of scale. It's tough to tell from the pictures, but those missile packs look like they're full of 2-liter soda bottles.

Beautiful. So glad now I bit and preordered a pair. I can't wait to think up some good schemes for these things. You know, the thing that kind of amazes me about the VF-11 in general.. We have.. what, a total of two transforming toys, and maybe as many models? And tail issues aside, it's like the thing is almost anime-magic free. Even the tails would work, provided they used that fancy tilt/slide/rotate mechanism I made in a 3d model once. I just find it sad that for as well as this thing tends to transform, it's gotten so little attention. On the other hand, I'm looking forward to seeing what kinds of crazy customs people pull of with this kit, especially if they can make it transform.

Holy crap, that is utterly awesome. And the shade of red looks beautiful against that background. Color me drooling. Although... despite the double-bendy-ness of the arms allowing such a pose, that shoulder design is not being plentiful with the giving of the good feelings. It looks like they're reusing the YF-19's arm structure, which made for a nice transformation, but was also utterly ineffective at making an arm that can hold even its own weight. I mean, I'm buying it for fighter mode anyway, but I'd like to see some proof I'm not going to have to dunk both arms in superglue so they hold a pose.

Definitely looks like two individual kits, the fighter mode doesn't have any visible seams for the moving parts.

Well considering how simple the VF-11's packs are, I wouldn't be too concerned. The legs don't have to move to attach them, so no conversion there, you just slap the pieces on over the sides. If you wanted to make a set yourself, the pieces required would probably be on the relatively easy end of scratchbuilding. The leg plates might take a little work, but they're not very complex. The boosters though are mostly just big blocky constructs with nozzles. You could practically build them papercraft-style using sheet styrene.

I'm guessing the problems had with the Defiant were mostly with the launch complex and booster then? (I think it was a booster ). I still have my Crusader shuttle, and aside from the plastic turning a nice shade of yellow, it's still pretty much in one piece... well.. ok, a lot of pieces, but I took the entire thing apart to attempt to restore it a little. I'm kind of considering just spraying the entire thing flat white with some indoor/outdoor paint, since the body is way too huge to use any of the plastic whitening methods I've seen. Funny, the shuttle body is extremely yellowed, but the scout ship in the bay stayed nice and white.

Pretty close to the triangular tails, yep, but it's almost like a hybrid of the two styles. Nearly vertical trailing edge like the canon, with what looks like a slighty more swept overall shape, and a more pronounced angle on the rear lower section of the tail. I'm also interested to see how they shape the upper surfaces of the.. back plates I guess? The areas where the boosters attach. Yamato made them really sharply angled boxes, along with the backs of the lower legs, but the art shows them much more rounded off, like I think they were supposed to be. I think some concept art shows those big panels popping up into a dual airbrake as well, so I wonder if they'll include that feature. I'll be very interested to see the production pics on this one, and barring any complications, I'm pre-ordering two. If any delays happen though, I'll have to cancel and reorder later, since my shipping address will change in late July. If things work out according to schedule though, and they get released in June, I should have no problems.

Yeesh, fanmade or not, I love how that not-ramjet looks. Depending on how high the production values are (materials and all that) I might have to get that one, just because I've always had a softspot for that particular conehead (and delta wing designs in general). He was the ONE actual name brand transformer I had as a kid (the 1993 edition).

Considering it's marketed as a Macross Plus kit, I don't see what else they'd paint it as. But in all honesty, screw the Mac+ scheme, I want Ravens decals. And I'd love to see them milk this one like they have the VF-1 kits, especially if they start releasing more tribute scheme decals. I know I'd never have the guts to repaint a 1/60 in a VF-84 scheme, but I know the first VF-11 I build will be getting one of my spare sets of 1/72 F-14 decals. Though.. now that I think of it, a nice VF-111 sharkmouth might really go well on the VF-11's nose. For the tails, yep, the triangular ones are much closer to what is seen in Mac+, and nigh identical to what Yamato put on theirs. Not that the bigger ones don't look a bit more pleasing aesthetically, but the triangular design does lend itself more to folding into the leg. Fortunately, regardless of how Hasegawa decides to do it, it's relatively very easy to make a set of tails if you want one style over the other. As far as the MAXL goes, yes, the plane is pretty super robot-ish to begin with, but as long as we don't care about it transforming, you can tweak the design to make it into a fairly believeable aircraft (speaker bumps not withstanding). Plus, I really really want some nice VF-19 kits. Throw in the MAXL, and you're well on your way to finishing Sound Force, which would leave things wide open for a Hasegawa VF-17. Yes, that one would be a trainer, but given their history of mold milking, doing Diamond Force would probably be a bygone conclusion. Eh, it might not be likely. I kind of wonder if this VF-11 isn't meant to just test the waters on other designs. The Macross kits have tapered off considerably (except for the few 1/48 kits recently), and I'm really surprised they didn't put out the VF-11 years ago, when they could have sold it alongside the YF-19 and YF-21 kits (and by extension, the Mac7 VF-22 releases).

YES. So glad to see they're continuing to develop their 1/72 kit line. I might have to preorder a few, though I'd love to see some pictures first. My big question now though.. will Hasegawa use this to get a foot in the door for more Mac7 stuff? I mean, technically they already did with the VF-22 kits, so they obviously have (or at least had) the rights to do Mac7 stuff in 1/72. But I would LOVE to see some VF-19s in 1/72 done up Hasegawa style (especially if they tap the VF-19 Master File for schemes and variants), or even a 1/72 MAXL kit done up as a realistic aircraft. Oh, and the thought of them expanding the line further into 1/48 has me drooling profusely.

I'm not actually sure if the color is actually pinkish, or if that's a combination of the plastic's texture with the blue background. The close-up photos with less reflection seem a little less pink. Edit: On second thought, I dunno.. I still want to see it photographed against a white background, but it actually looks kind of purple.

I enjoyed the first Frontier movie plenty when I finally watched it, and the pacing didn't bother me, but I personally thought the ending didn't really didn't make any sense at all (whether that's due to pacing is up for grabs though). Not that it seemed rushed exactly, but I think the series did a much better job coming up with a justification for the singing. The movie pretty much defaulted to "I'm going to sing during battle whether it makes any sense or not!" It was cool and all, it just required me to turn off more of my brain than I'm used to in order to enjoy it. If they integrate it better in the second movie, and make the strategy make a bit more sense, I'll be happy. I'll probably enjoy it regardless because I love the music, but the ending of movie #1 really made me just wonder what they were thinking.

One of these days I need to make a fully rigged VF-1. I've never gotten around to it because I've always been absorbed in other projects, but I would love to tackle the design entirely from a realistic perspective.. ie, making everything fit, and look realistic (even if we don't have the technology to do it). I started making an X-Wing with a similar method, and the results are actually really good. It's fun throwing in all those little details you know should be there for things to work in real life.

Ok, now the big question: Will it come with actual squadrons, or just Joe themed markings? I want me some Jolly Rogers dangit! Plus.. why does the Starscream version still have the two seat cockpit?

These usually get put in the Fan Works section, and I know I've done my share of builds over the years. Just found this particular site on a random search, not in english, but the pics speak for themselves. http://macrossrobote...ules-t2501.html This made my jaw drop. There are more shots of it on the site I linked, and yes, it transforms. I'll see if I can dig up my old VF-1 pics. I started out with a massiv 1/18 scale one, but that wound up being a bit... well... HEAVY. It wouldn't hold up under its own weight (not to mention I ran out of parts ). I eventually rebuilt it to about 1/32 scale, with much better results. Edit: Bleh, I just went and made a new MOC page for it. Been meaning to for a few months now, bout time I posted the pictures there. http://www.mocpages.com/moc.php/261224

Been fiddling around with the game Vindictus recently, sort of a mashup of dynasty warriors with an mmo, built on the source engine. Mostly it's just eye candy hack and slash (plenty of fanservice items/outfits etc) but for April 1st they randomly had GlaDOS and the Companion Cube drop in and recruit you as a test subject (to collect some metal ore from somewhere, really just a hunt/fetch quest), then the heavy from TF2 showed up with a similar quest for an easily found item. The actual quest content was negligible, but the dialogue from both GlaDOS and the Heavy were absolutely hilarious. They flat out lampshaded the game's style (GlaDOS pointed out that there were far too many pointy objects and not enough clothing to protect from injury, while they Heavy just stated he would stand around and watch all the pretty girls running around in very little clothing while you found the items he needed), but they even made fun of the way the game works in general, poking fun at the token system they use in game. It was basically a string of in-jokes, but it's nice to see the people running the game have a good sense of humor about it. The quest rewards are pretty much joke items in the game, but having a knight in full plate armor running around beating things up with a crowbar is pretty awesome (even a magic crowbar staff for the mage characters). The head crab and City 17 Police gasmask helmets are pretty amusing too.