Sunday 15 February 2009

Yamato 1/48 Macross : Do You Remember Love? ~ VF-1S (Hikaru Ichijyo version).



Ahh...the famous Valkyrie Fighter VF-1S, 1/48 scale by Yamato. I remembered when Yamato first announced the release of these lineup, I was hoping they would eventually release this version. This is largely due to nostalgic reason, Macross : DYRL was the first anime I watched and felt really drawn to its storyline. This was back in Ipoh, where VHS tapes were still the only format available and the only place they have this movie was this run down video store back then. Together with Mospeada, I remembered refusing to return the tapes I rented, resulting in the shop calling the house couple of times and negotiating to reduce the monetary penalty for missing the return date. I also used to own an earlier version, about the same size but less detail. This is back in the 80s. It is Roy's version I remember but I could not recall the name of the manufacturer.
As featured in the 1984 anime movie Macross : Do You Remember Love? (超時空要塞マクロス 愛・おぼえていますか), this version was used by Hikaru in the final showdown with Golg Boddole Zer (bulldozer?)(ボドル・ザー, Bodoru Zā) Main Fleet consisting of about 4.8 million Zentradi warships of various classes. Combined with the strength of Vrlitwhai Kridanik (ブリタイ・クリダニク, Buritai Kuridaniku), the defected Zentradi Commander, his fleet, Lynn Minmay's singing and SDF-1, Hikaru managed to fly deep into Boddole's massive combat mobile fotress. Upon confronting Boddole (who was being mesmerized by Lynn Minmay's voice), Hikaru proceeded to literally blow (Boddole was waaayyy larger than even an average Zentradi, and does not seem to possess any physical body in this movie) Boddole Zer's head away. Since he was fused with his massive combat mobile fortress that had a 120,000 cycle history of space battles as well as telephatically linked to the rest of his fleet, his death also brought about a chain reaction of explosion amongst the ships, effectively destroying the entire Fleet.
The difference between this version and the other VF-1S, flown by ace Skull Squadron Commander, Roy Fokker ( ロイ・フォッカー, Roi Fokkā), is only the color, which uses red on white (Hikaru's color) instead of yellow on white(Roy's color). In fact, in the middle of the movie, when Hikaru and Misa Hayase (早瀬未沙, Hayase Misa) were teleported to a mysterious wasteland planet (turned out to be Earth, after being destroyed by Zentradi), with Roy's death at the hand of Quamzin 03350 (a 5 minute "famous" appearance by Quamzin Kravshera), the commanding role of the Skull Squadron was briefly filled in by the ace of all aces, Maximilian Jenius (マクシミリアン・ジーナス, Makushimirian Jīnasu) who was piloting a VF-1S as well, this time in purple on white, whilst having a dog fight with ace Meltrandi (in a Quimeliquola Queadluun-Rau power armour no less) and eventual lover/wife, Milia Fallyna Jenius (ミリア・ファリーナ・ジーナス, Miria Farīna Jīnasu).
The transformation can be quite tricky but nevertheless the instruction is quite straightforward. I added the Super Strike Parts to the Battroid mode, but I was having a really tough time making it stand properly! In the end I have to temporarily stick some tapes aroung the back to keep it balance. If too much pressure is applied during transformation, certain parts may come off but luckily can be attached back without any damages, as well as the decals and labels does not seemed to be able to stick on properly. Apart from that, I reckoned Yamato did a great job in capturing all the details in its glory. Comes with a little version of Hikaru himself. Worth mentioning is one of the decals from the Super Strike parts contained the famous Budweiser and Tako Hai drinks label, which actually appeared when some of the missiles shot out were actually those canned drinks!! But you would need to slow mo it to catch it.

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Specification :
Unit type: all-environment variable fighter and tactical combat battroid
Manufacturer: Northrom
Empty mass: 13250 kg
Standard takeoff mass: 18500 kg
Maximum takeoff mass: 37000 kg
Powerplant type: Shinnakasu Heavy Industry/P&W/Roice FF-2001D thermonuclear turbine engine x 2
Vernier thruster types: Shinnakasu Heavy Industry NBS-1 x 4, P&W LHP04 x 18
Armament: Mauler ROV-20 anti-aircraft laser cannon x 4, Howard GU-11 55mm 3-barrel Gatling gun pod x 1 (200 rounds ammunition), underwing hardpoint x 4
Optional underwing hardpoint armament (per hardpoint): AMM-1 hybrid guided multi-purpose missile x 3, Mk.82 LDGB conventional bomb x 3, RMS-1 large anti-ship reaction missile x 1 on inboard hardpoint or x 2 on outboard hardpoint, UUM-7 15-tube micro-missile pod x 1 (carrying Bifors HMM-01 micro-missiles)
Optional equipment: Shinnakasu Heavy Industry GBP-1S protector weapon system, atmospheric-escape booster system, Shinnakasu Heavy Industry FAST Pack system
Crew: 1 pilot
Pilot: Hikaru Ichijyo, Maximilian Jenius, Roy Focker

Fighter mode:
Wingspan (fully extended): 14.78 meters
Wingspan (swept back 42 degrees): 12.12 meters
Wingspan (swept back 72 degrees): 8.25 meters
Wingspan (stowed position): 4.70 meters
Overall length: 14.23 meters
Overall height: 3.84 meters
Maximum level atmospheric speed at 10000 meters: Mach 2.71
Maximum level atmospheric speed at 30000+ meters: Mach 3.87Space
G-limits: +7 G

GERWALK mode:
Wingspan (fully extended): 14.78 meters
Wingspan (swept back 42 degrees): 12.12 meters
Wingspan (swept back 72 degrees): 8.25 meters
Wingspan (stowed position): 4.70 meters
Overall length: 11.3 meters
Overall height: 8.7 meters
Maximum walking speed: 100 km/h
Maximum level atmospheric flying speed: 500 km/h
Minimum level atmospheric flying speed: 0 km/h (VTOL capable)
Maximum hovering time using 13000 kg x 2 thrust: 70 seconds
Maximum hovering time using 11500 kg x 2 thrust: 420 seconds

Battroid mode:
Overall height: 12.68 meters
Overall width: 7.3 meters
Wingspan (fully extended): 14.78 meters
Overall length: 4.0 meters
Maximum walking speed: 160 km/h
Operational underwater depth: 100 meters

Transformation time:
Minimum time fighter-to-GERWALK automated: 1.5 seconds (approximate)
Minimum time GERWALK-to-battroid automated: under 2 seconds
Standard time fighter-to-battroid automated: under 5 seconds
Minimum time fighter-to-battroid manual: 0.9 seconds

Equipped with FAST Pack system:
Unofficial codenames (standard system): Super Valkyrie, Booby Duck, SSP-1, Super Ostrich
Unofficial codename (beam cannon-equipped system): Strike Valkyrie Components: NP-BP-01 dorsal/backpack pod x 2, NP-FB-01 engine/leg pod x 2, NP-AR-01 arm pod x 2
Overall length: 14.0 meters
Overall height: 5.5 meters
Empty mass: 19200 kg
Standard takeoff mass: 45000 kg
Maximum takeoff mass: 72000 kg
Maximum propellant capacity: 11000 kg
Additional engines/thrusters/systems: 120000 kg class P&W EF-2001 booster thruster x 2, CTB-04 conformal propellant tank x 2, vernier thruster x many
Additional armament: arm unit-mounted 3-tube micro-missile launcher pod x 2, dorsal/backpack pod-mounted HMMP-02 micro-missile launcher pod x 2
Optional additional armament: Mauler RO-X2A high-powered double-action beam cannon pod x 1 (replaces 1 x HMMP-02 micro-missile launcher pod)

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