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VBR-2 variable reconnaissance bomber


Justiciar

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I'm sure you guys recall this guy:

avvbr2_color1.jpg

I'm starting a little project on obscure, non-canon variable fighters. This one just happened to be first in line. I commissioned someone to build a 3d mesh for me and he did a great job. Lots of ideas on how it should transform. I can see both VF-4G III and VF-14 mechanisms working. We shall see.

For now I'm calling it the Shadow Hawk, after the Robotech Research guys, but I'm using a completely different back story. Taking a queue from the NOVA written on its side, I'm putting it in the 2035 - 2060 time frame and imagine it, as a specialty role craft, having quite a long operational life.

VBR2-Shadowhawk_1_zps9bc0cc02.jpg

VBR2-Shadowhawk_2_zps788ae948.jpg

VBR2-Shadowhawk_3_zps61ba1eec.jpg

vbr-2_orthos2_zps0f70ba66.png

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Amazing!

I've pondered the transformation of this several times as well, but have never come up with anything satisfying.

Since there's no scale, I always wondered if this was a 2-seater side-by-side.

Just don't give it a Space Pope hat!

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If I were to make physical copies, I can print them at higher resolutions and cheaper costs than Shapeways. It would need more detail before is be happy doing that. We'll see if I'm up to it.

I'm not the genius that Kawamori is, so I'm sure I'll be recycling ideas. It won't be VF-25 complex. Maybe YF-19 complex, or a little less. But no Pope hats. The arms will be in the engine nacelles, just not sure if top or bottom. I think I have a fair amount of it worked out.

I'm probably going to make a few changes. More traditional exhaust bells/feet. A little wider fuselage. I figure that's prototype art, so it should be ok to change it a little for production. I can see it having an ELINT raydome on it as well. Might change the designation to VAR (armed/aggressive reconnaissance). Too many "A" and "B" craft are using the "2" or "3" designators. So maybe VAR-5.

Currently I have it scaled to ~22m long (about 2m longer than the VF-14, which is a pretty big bird). I think it should seat atleast 2, maybe 3-4, depending on arrangement. I need to put Waldo back in and check the fit.

I'll keep you posted.

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I think it would be cool if the arms where located in between the engine nacelles. For Transformation the nacelles could split in half and be re-combined when the transformation is finished.

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That's an interesting idea, thanks, I think I'll explore it.

Let's see... there's kind of a wide, raised band within the main wing. The forward most point of that band marks the top of the chest plate. Chest plate is formed by the front third of the main wing. The mid-third, the wide band, is going to swing down/back (pivot at ~ middle of front third of main wing, where the leading edge changes direction, just on the bottom) and act as a T-bar for the hips (Yamato VF-1 v2 style). It'll collapse/fold on itself so it won't be so bulky. The rear third of the main wing will fold back/down and become the back plate. The head will be nestled in there. The front of the fuselage, right behind the forewings (not the canards, but the portion they're mounted to) will fold back/up behind the fuselage, putting the cockpit between the chest and back plates. The engine nacelles will slide down so that T-bar is at/near their front inlet point. There will be a simple hinge in the front of the nacelles. They swing open to expose the arms, then, once clear, collapse to form the legs. The knee joints will be in the middle of the nacelles (they're already visible). The arms will be at the exhaust end of the nacelles, with the hands coming out between the engine bells. The shoulder joint is in the middle of the nacelles, between the knee and leg-separation hinge, and the outer wings are attached to the arms.

For GERWALK mode... When the mid-third main wing/T-bar swings down, it'll have to lock into an intermediate position, right below the front third main wing. The back third main wing will slide forward into the front third. Reasonably works as an intermediate stage...

Yeah, the description is lousy, but I think I can work with it.

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Let me experiment with it and see if I can get transforming to work.

1/72 is a pretty tall order... I usually work in gaming scale... All the details would have to be completely re-done, and many more added that I wasn't planning on. 13" long is a pretty big model for rapid prototyping.

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Well, you've definitelty created a challenge for yourself :)

I'm not sure this craft was ever created with any mode in mind other than the fighter. So like the VF-4 Lightning, there's probably going to be a lot of awkwardness and magic to make it work in a Battroid configuration. But I'm really curious to see what you come up with. This is a very ambitious project and I can't wait to see more. The model looks amazing.

I actually follow a lot of what you're saying in your current transformation description. It makes sense. Not sure about the arms section yet, but I think you've got a REALLY good idea for the fuselage-to-torso transformation. In fact, I think that it may make the Battroid torso look very v-shaped and dramatic. Even better, it sounds original compared to any other transformation.

Edited by Mr March
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Minus where the arms are stored (for the latter explanation) that transformation sounds like something in between the VF-4 transformation seen in the Macross 2 video game featuring the VF-1 style VF-4 and the VF-2SS. If I'm picturing this right.

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Well, I think I just proved that I'm not a mecha designer, lol

Some notes... Yes, it pretty much worked out the way I described. There are lot of visible holes, but that's because the mesh is hollow and I started with the jet. This was just proof of concept. Now that I know where cuts should be made, I can have the pieces/parts redesigned. There's no anime magic in there per se, but there are a couple folds that are more complex than I wanted. That said, seeing what Yamato could do with their jointing, this shouldn't have anything any worse than those. I don't have a head model handy so didn't put one in, but there's plenty of space in the fuselage to hold it. It's pretty tall... top of the shoulder wings is 18.7m, or about 3m tall than most other battroids. Didn't come out as cool as I thought it would, but they never do :)

All the fins are pointed to the rear. The feet/engine bells definitely need to be re-designed.

Never saw the Mac II video game, so can't comment. I'd be interested in seeing it.

vbr-battroid2_zps99865ce2.png

Edited by Justiciar
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Thanks, March, but I'm not sure I agree. It's... blocky... I'm not sure enough jointing can be put in to fix that. At least, I don't know if I can do it. We'll see. If anyone has any ideas for what the head should look like, I'm all ears.

*I* don't do animation, but when all is said and done, yes, it'll be fully textured and have some animations showing it transforming, hopefully from multiple angles.

I have a short attention span and tend to work on many projects at once. I have another of Kawamori's non-canon variable fighters in the works (the super-cool one, with the atrocious name). Plus I have some video game stuffs in the works. I'll share anything I think you guys will be interested in.

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Don't have too much done on the backstory yet, but I figure the manufacturer will be Loughead. I think the design is SR-71-inspired, and Macross tends to use slightly different spellings of real-world manufacturers. Loughead is Lockheed's original family spelling, and is pronounced the same way (the change was made because people kept mispronouncing it)

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Well, I think I just proved that I'm not a mecha designer, lol

Some notes... Yes, it pretty much worked out the way I described. There are lot of visible holes, but that's because the mesh is hollow and I started with the jet. This was just proof of concept. Now that I know where cuts should be made, I can have the pieces/parts redesigned. There's no anime magic in there per se, but there are a couple folds that are more complex than I wanted. That said, seeing what Yamato could do with their jointing, this shouldn't have anything any worse than those. I don't have a head model handy so didn't put one in, but there's plenty of space in the fuselage to hold it. It's pretty tall... top of the shoulder wings is 18.7m, or about 3m tall than most other battroids. Didn't come out as cool as I thought it would, but they never do :)

All the fins are pointed to the rear. The feet/engine bells definitely need to be re-designed.

Never saw the Mac II video game, so can't comment. I'd be interested in seeing it.

So the Macross II game I'm referring to is called "Eternal Love Song." It's been mentioned on the board here a few times, there aren't many pictures of the VF-4 from that game but there is a roughly accurate fan drawing.

http://s26.photobucket.com/user/ReddyRedWolf/media/VF-4GSiren.png.html

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I have. Studio Nue is one of the very few companies that I have never been able to get a response from, even when having someone do introductions.

I think we all should fly over there and BEG and I mean BEG to finish the Valkyries from "ADVANCE VALKYRIES"

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