The 2nd Coming of the YF-19

[valk1j]

Oh, my memory is vague but how long did the VF-0S took to produce from blurbs and unofficial announcements to street release dates of the product? I'm guessing that it will be the same for the YF-19.

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August 2005 to late April 2006, I hope it doesn't take that long.

[eugimon]

take a year, I don't mind at all, gives me time to save up.

[ruskiiVFaussie]

So damn excited about this baby coming out soon!

Yes, now this is fun!

But please Yamato bring out my YF-21 1/60!!

2 of each, 19, 21, 11... one with mod'd panel lines, one untouched.

then there's the variants... ohh bloody hell i'm gonna have to start making money!

[GobotFool]

take a year, I don't mind at all, gives me time to save up.

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hell take a year and a half, I need time to get money.

[ruskiiVFaussie]

hey, NOW is a good time for Yamato to figure out a new type of box display for the up'n'coming 1/60 Mac + line.

Come on Yamato, let's get bizzeyyy! Fresh start dammit!

[Graham]

Yes, I've been waiting for this. I can't wait to see some prototype pics of this baby, though I hope they make that gunpod bigger. I guess this means Yamato still has the Mac+ license.

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The CAD lineart is in the new issues of Dengeki Hobby & Hobby Japan, that were just released a couple of days ago. I'll have larger scans up in the MW magazine section on Monday.

Graham

[areaseven]

I'll be buying at least three of them when that comes out.

[Graham]

Guys, can we please have no more talk of any old 19FP prototypes and no pics of supposed prototypes, even if they just are photoshopped versions of the old IHP resin kit photos. That is a still a sore subject and a certain company still gets very steamed about seeing photos with their name on and 'Copyright, even if they are not actually their real photos. Any such posts will get deleated as soon as I see them and persistant offenders will get a a good ass whooping. Let sleeping dogs lie please.

One day, if I can get permission I would like to post the true story of the YF-19 resculpt development, which is a long and interesting tale, but until then, it must not be mentioned.

Graham

[Knight26]

that would be interesting to read someday Graham, maybe once this one is released they will let you.

[McKlown]

Holy crap, is this my karmic reward for suffering through getting my wisdom teeth pulled on Wensday? Now I'm glad I didn't buy one of those 1/72's I've been eyeing on Ebay.

[Aegis!]

Let me say this out loud : OMFG !!!! AT LAST !!!

I´m REALLY surprised by this , wasn´t expecting this so soon after the Zero being released.

It´s certainly interesting to see Yamato venturing into this kind of projects after so much time spent on the VF-1.

All of this is giving me hopes os seeing a VF-5000 someday in the future , that would complete my dreamed trio :

-VF-5000

-VF-0

-YF-19

Edited June 24, 2006 by Aegis!

[Vermillion21]

I'm in awe at the banner year that Yamato is having stealth, LV2, VF-0S, Garland .... sooo many releases .... very cool!

[HG Blows]

Whew thank god finally some glimmer of hope for Macross. I was beginning to think we'd be stuck in VF-1 hell forever.

BTW, when did Yamato start acting friendly to you again Graham? Didn't they slam the doors on you a couple months back?

[Phren]

I'm actually glad it took them so long. They needed more experience for this kind of thing. The 19 really has a lot of junk in the trunk.

I'm actually really excited right now. Not the - 'I'm really excited about this', but typing offhandedly with a straight face. I mean really, the 19, possibly for the end of the year, Godzilla quoting us a quantity of less then five, helping the availibility question, it's like Christmas! (er - the pay for it yourself kind - use your imagination)

Now we need some custom decals being cooked up.

[David Hingtgen]

Time for nitpicky comments:

1. Nosecone curves wrong in side view. Should be more shallow top to bottom, straighter.

2. Seems like all aerodynamic surfaces are small. Wings, tailfins, ventral fins, canards.

3. Don't know if it's just from the bulge underneath, but "intake to tip of nose" distance seems short.

4. Personally, as I stated years ago from the nigh-perfect one in Model Graphix based on the Hase kit, making one single small removable piece makes it 100x better--and that piece is the nosegear. Surely we can accept ONE piece that's removable if it make the entire underside of fighter mode THAT much better. C'mon, do people complain that much about the VF-1 TV-style hands? They make the arms THAT much better---otherwise you have to use tiny little fold-away DYRL hands.

YF-19 should be the same. If we can have JUST the nosegear removable to clean up the entire forward fuselage, it'd be well worth it. And technically it'd still be perfect transformation---working retractable gear isn't part of the transformation. So long as it can go from plane to battroid without removing parts, it's a perfect transformation. Sure you'd need a display stand for gear-less fighter mode, but we're all going to want one anyways.

The sculpt seems SEVERELY compromised for simply having a RETRACTABLE nosegear.

....already making plans to hack mine apart and make the nosegear removable, to clean up the underside of the fuselage--one little mod for vast appearance improvement.

[eugimon]

meh.

The TV style hands are optional... having to swap out the front landing gear is not. Yes it makes the profile look more bulky but it's not a deal breaker for me.

And yes, this is a slippery sloap arguement, but when we start with the business of swappble parts to account for anime magic, where does it end?

Should we have swappble wings so we can display the YF-19 in the wing swept back mode? Because that would be cool as well, as for me, that's one of my favorite configurations in fighter mode but I know I'll never get to see it in a toy.

For me, part of owning these high end toys, is seeing what compromises and what engineering feats the designer(s) goes through in order to make a real world representation of something so fantastical.

P.S. BTW, i noticed the fat buldge when I saw the CAD picks at 6:00 am in the morning some two or three days ago.. I was still jumping and down and telling my wife how excited I was to finally have a big and badass version of my beloved yf-19.

Edited June 24, 2006 by eugimon

[David Hingtgen]

My point was this is among the few places where ONE piece makes a HUGE difference. We saw it in the Model Grafix YF-19--it makes the whole thing way better in both modes, but especially fighter mode. It's worth it. (I've argued this for years, and still feel this way)

Removable nose gear=makes a YF-19 that looks AWESOME in fighter mode and better in bot mode.

And again, it's not even really a removable part for transformation---it's only for gear *down* in fighter mode, not needed for fighter mode itself. Nor GERWALK.

Same as the FP YF-21 FP-only gears. (bad example, but only one I can think of) Only needed for one particular set-up of fighter mode--I transformed my FP YF-21 plenty of times without dealing with the removable main gears---just did gear-up flying displays with the armor on.

[eriku]

I'm all for the removable nose gear. I'll take the 19 how it is, but David's definately got a good point.

[wolfx]

Guys, can we please have no more talk of any old 19FP prototypes and no pics of supposed prototypes, even if they just are photoshopped versions of the old IHP resin kit photos. That is a still a sore subject and a certain company still gets very steamed about seeing photos with their name on and 'Copyright, even if they are not actually their real photos. Any such posts will get deleated as soon as I see them and persistant offenders will get a a good ass whooping. Let sleeping dogs lie please.

One day, if I can get permission I would like to post the true story of the YF-19 resculpt development, which is a long and interesting tale, but until then, it must not be mentioned.

Graham

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Ok graham. Sorry bout that.

I thought the dust would've settled by now.

[TheLoneWolf]

A comparison of YF-19 lineart with the YF-19 CAD drawing.

YF-19 Lineart

YF-19 CAD Drawing

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WOW!! Great comparison pics, Mr. March. Yamato's CAD drawings differ from the lineart in several places, I take that back, it differs in a lot places. But for most part, I don't mind because the YF-19 is such a ridiculously complex design that compromises are going to have to made to maintain transformation and infrastructure. My only nitpicks are the areas that Yamato could improve without sacrificing neither. IMO, fighter mode is already looking chunky due to the fuselage bulge and legs, so raising the shoulders an extra 2cm probably wouldn't be noticable.

David, you and I are different sides of the same coin. You're concerned with fighter mode, and I'm all about battroid.

2. Seems like all aerodynamic surfaces are small. Wings, tailfins, ventral fins, canards.

Graham could probably answer these better than I, but I'm going to guess that the tailfins are small because they have to fold behind the calf in battroid mode. If they're too long, they'll jut too far past the legs in the frontal view. Sadly, this is anime magic in action. The best thing to do would be to design slip covers to elongate the tailfins in fighter mode.

As for the canards, they're most likely small because they have to fit nicely into the torso in battroid mode. If they're too long, the torso won't be able to lock together. Again, more anime magic.

3. Don't know if it's just from the bulge underneath, but "intake to tip of nose" distance seems short.

IMO, you're absolutely right, the underneath bulge gives the illusion that it's short. From my experience with the 1/72 variable models and toys, that bulge becomes the battroid "crotch" (can't think of any better term). During transformation, the bulge moves downward and becomes the crotch. I can't tell from the CAD lineart if this is the method Yamato used, but it appears so.

In retrospect, after seeing all the compromises Yamato made, I have to give them mad props for going ahead and making the toy anyways. It isn't going to be anywhere near as accurate as the VF-1 & VF-0 when it comes to the lineart, but at the end of the day I'll be glad to have a quality 1/60 YF-19 from Yamato.

[e_jacob77]

Hi all,

Graham, can you answer ANY questions about the 19? Cuz I was wondering if the legs are gonna be fully articulated like a 1/48.....?

edit: OOoops, I almost forgot to add, while in battroid mode.....

Edited June 24, 2006 by e_jacob77

[e_jacob77]

Hi all,

While I don't have any pics from the movie, that underneath bulge is supposed to be there! In the movie there is a shot of the 19 taking on a higher alltitude from the front, and you see that the whole buldge area kinda curves downward... Remember the 1/72's "crotch area" ( <-- too funny) when in fighter mode..... That solves it! Though if we wanna nitpick something, then this is 1 toy that shoulda been in 1/48th scale.... I think that with the buldging area and the length of the forward fuselage (sp) would look tons better cuz the curve wouldn't have to be as dramatic........

edit: I just checked the compedium... The length of the fighter is like 18.92 m I believe, well 18. somthing anyways.... The only thing is though, it didn't state the height of the battroid, cuz I think the cad drawings are a lil off.... The battroid looks too short compared to the fighter mode..... Or is that me, at 1:30 am with tired eyes....

Edited June 24, 2006 by e_jacob77

[kensei]

Should we have swappble wings so we can display the YF-19 in the wing swept back mode? Because that would be cool as well, as for me, that's one of my favorite configurations in fighter mode but I know I'll never get to see it in a toy.

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I think the wings already do that, you mean the Hyper Dive position right? They have to fold back to get to that particular position alongside the legs in battroid mode.

[e_jacob77]

Hi all,

NOW I know what I've been saving these pics for!!! WOOOOOOT!! Yaaaaahoooooo!! Looks like I may have to get more than 1 of these myself, cuz can you say CUSTOM?? YEAAAAAAHHHH BABY!!

[wolfx]

Ok....this is all assumptions based on the VF-1 and VF-0 sculpts.

Improvements on the YF-19

1.) Legs will be connected to the torso with ball joints with more or less ample move space to allow dynamic posing in battroid.

2.) Knee joints will be improved and can swivel to allow better poses in both battroid and Gerwalk.

3.) this may be a long shot, but from the CAD i can see that the torso could very well be made to swivel. The air intakes may get in the way though.

4.) Head should be put on a ball joint. I never understood why the VF-1 and VF-0 's heads weren't put on ball joints as it improves the head's poseability but doesn't compromise in transformation.

And as for "features":

1.) The "wings swept back" could be done if there was a cavity within the YF-19's legs that allows some clearance for the wings to fold back. This may compromise the toy's look though. But another way is to make the wings double jointed so you would have to pull out the wings 1s (still connected by the joints to allow perfect transformation), fold it, then snap it back into place.

2.) I agree totally on the shoulders looking too flat. In fact it doesn't look like it has improved over the Bandai VF-19Kai ( i don't have the 1/72 yammie so can't make the comparison) and the shoulders are more or less static. What could greatly improve the look is to put the shoulder itself on a ball joint or a 2dimensional joint, so the shoulders are more like shoulder pads instead of a whole piece by itself. This way, the shoulders can be angled upwards in battroid mode but can also be angled downwards in fighter mode for a sleek fighter.

Another way is to make the shoulder joints able to rotate up by 10 to 20 degrees. This would add an extra ratchet joint to the top of the torso though and possibly would look a tad ugly if viewed from the top.

OR they could make the top of the torso itself slightly angled so when whe shoulders move into place, it would naturally be angled upwards.

And if they could make the shoulder swivel a little to the front as opposed to stopping right at the sides, to allow the hands to reach in front of its chest, that would be added cool to poseability.

Here's my lousy photoshop of how the angled CAD would look like.

Edited June 24, 2006 by wolfx

[Graham]

Don't judge the looks of the new 19 just on those CAD drawings. She's a much prettier girl in the fleash, as it were.

Graham

[wolfx]

Gah?! In the flesh? What does that mean?! You're evil!

[David Hingtgen]

Graham IS evil. We knew that before, but not to what extent.

[Guppy]

that there's a BIG fat cat out of the bag!!

But jeez.. a prototype made out of FLESH???

[eugimon]

I wonder if yamato is using that same polymerization process that one artist from germany uses for his corpse displays?

[Crazy Canuck II]

You know the more I look at these cad images the more little things bother me. Don't get me wrong, the thing looks great, Yamato has my money and they deserve major props for breathing life back into Mac +, but hey, it wouldn't be macross world if we didn't voice our fan boy observations. My list of changes if I could make them. (in no particular order)

1. Bigger gun pod

2. longer wings and bigger rear vertical fins

3. Narrower pelvis so leg aren't so far apart

4. shoulders angled up

5. wings mounted on hips instead of on thighs

[UN Spacy]

[1 VF-1 2NV]

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[charger69]

As a newbie here's my contribution

Lineart VS. CAD

[Graham]

The YF-19 Battroid lineart which some of you have been posting (copied below) is AFAIK not by Kawamori and therefore not 100% official. It's also very obvious that the picture is optimised towards battroid mode.

For those that don't know, the origins of that picture are that it was printed on the inside of the bottom tray of the Bandai 1/100 VF-19S plastic model kit box. As to why a VF-19S model box featured detailed battroid and fighter mode lineart of the almost completely different YF-19, nobody has been able to comfim to this day. However, speculation is that it may have been lineart for a Bandai YF-19 model, which never made it in to production.

While it's a nice drawing, it's obvious that a battroid model or toy which had the same proportions as the drawing would have major prolems if it were to transform. The battroid drawing has gigantic lower legs and a big head, which would cause all sorts of havoc with fighter mode.

Graham