Macross Junky

Damn those went fast! Glad I got mine as soon as it came out...

Right, the nuclear reaction itself does not produce thrust. It merely generates energy to power generation of electricity and waste heat. What I figure is that that the waste heat is somehow harnessed and used to superheat propellant, which is fed into a chamber and superheated, then expelled out of the exhausts to produce thrust. I was thinking "air" being used as the reaction mass in atmosphere for the Valkyries, as the intakes for the engines seem to be open/uncovered in F and G modes, when the engines are providing thrust. The advantage being, that as long as the fusion turbines are generating heat, there is an unlimited amount of propellant available, within the confines of the atmospheric service ceiling. When I think about it, the air that's being drawn in is probably getting compressed in the process--possibly to a state that is dense enough for superheating to work efficiently... In B mode, the fusion turbines are functioning primarily to generate electricity, and the intakes get covered--unless the foot thrusters are being used. In space, there must be some sort of material that is injected into the chamber for superheating and expulsion to generate thrust... That would be the reaction mass carried in the FAST packs. I guess that the Valkyrie has an internal "fuel" supply, but that is fuel for the fusion reaction only. The FAST packs may contain their own fusion reactors and fusion fuel supplies as well (IIRC there were radiation symbols on the FAST packs during the launch scene at the start of DYRL?)... Does this make sense, or am I thinking too much about it?

Thanks guys! Yah, I hadn't pushed the panel in past those catches. Felt like I was gonna break something when I was pushing on it, though, made me very nervous. Backpack stays up great now, although I guess I'll have to not play with the Valk and transform it very often, as those catches look like they could wear out very quickly... Maybe I'll have to get busy with a pin vice drill and make some holes to put some fine brass rod into to pin the panel in place?

Just got the Hasegawa 1/72 kit, and thought that a 1/48 perfect transforming toy of this Valkyrie would be kind of cool. If Yamato has no plans to make one, maybe I'll spring for a low-vis 1/48 and start doing some serious airbrushing... B)

I'd use PVA (white glue) for the landing gear lights. Super glue, if you use too much, or it oozes out of the seam you are re-joining can "frost" the clear plastic and ruin the piece. The red landing gear door light on my Max 1/48 is doing the same thing. Gonna zap it tonight before I lose it... Super glue should work fine for the fins.

Actually I did put in the extra white piece and it didn't help. I'm going to try something else that someone pointed me to and see if that helps. Until then, I just keep my VF-1S Strike hunched over so the thing doesn't flop around too much.

Hehe... I gotta admit that Macross 7 annoyed the hell out of me at first, until Myria started kicking ass in her old school VF-1J. I also fell in love with the VF-17 and VF-22. I've watched the entire series a few times now, and must admit that it has grown on me--although the Protodevlin mostly remind me of the Robeasts from Voltron, and the performance of the Macross 7 VF-11 fleet pilots SUCKS!!! I actually liked a few of Fire Bombers songs enough (Holy Lonely Night and Try Again) that I went out and purchased the Ultimate Fire CD. It's gotten alot of play in my car stereo... BOMBAH!

Something I've always wondered about... We know that the powerplant for the VF-1 Valkyrie is the fusion turbine, and that's all well and good for generation of electrical power for the mecha. My question is what is the fuel that allows the engine to produce thrust? Theoretically in atmosphere air sucked into the intake at the front end of the turbine could be superheated by the ongoing fusion reaction and expelled from the thruster as plasma. However, transferring thermal energy to air is inefficient, and such a process would work better with a liquid--in theory even water could be used. The question of propellant is even more critical in space. Obviously some sort of mass has to be expelled to produce thrust... I guess something like liquid hydrogen or nitrogen could be used as fuel. However, this brings up the question of fuel supplies on the SDF-1. How could the SDF-1 undergo an extended journey in space without running out of reaction mass for the Valkyries to burn? Are the fuels used for air vs. space the same, or different? This leads me to another question... The SDF-1's power plant is the heat pile system, but... what does the SDF-1 use as fuel? I would think that there would have to be a significant quantity of fuel burned for the SDF-1 to undertake any kind of orbit, and this doesn't even take into question reserves for course changes etc. Anyone care to shed any insight into these mysteries?

That is freakin' badass!!! Thank you so much for posting this article!

3 X 1/48 5 X 1/60 with 2 more on the way

I suppose one could always take the nosecone off of the 1/48 before dressing it in GBP...

I love the 1/48 Yamato VF-1. It rocks. The only thing I'm disappointed with, and I have to grudgingly admit, is that Toynami did a slightly better job with their super armor. The Yamato super armor is very nice however, and it does allow you to make a strike Valkyrie... the only problem I have with it is that it causes "floppy backpack syndrome" when the 1/48 is in battroid.

Hey fellow Macross-worlders... I got into a bit of an argument with one of the "commanders" over at RT.com about the quality of the various Macross related merchandise out there. Of course, since RT.com doesn't allow mention of "competitor's" products (HG is afraid of them I 'spose) I couldn't pull out the stops and list the various pros and cons of the Yamato 1/48 VF-1 vs. Toynami's "masterpiece" VF-1. I was basically told that my statement "many of the other Valkyrie toys made are superior to the Toynami MPC" was only an opinion... Well, I figure it's only an opinion until a majority of people agree with it, and then it becomes a fact. So, what do y'all think is better? The Yamato 1/48 VF-1 or the Tonami MPC VF-1? Feel free to say why with as much or as little detail as you desire... I say the Yamato for the following reasons: Awesome scale. Great detail & extremely accurate sculpt. PERFECT transformation--with no parts requiring removal. EXTREME poseability--ball joint mounted hips blow away the 1980s swing arm style mounting that Toynami went with for the MPC legs. Greater diversity of weapon accessories (although this only applies if DYRL is considered, and since RT doesn't include DYRL...) Have at it, and thanks! BTW, I'd really like to tell the "commander" that he's a sanctimonious prick and to piss off... even better if I can do it armed with the facts.