YF-19 Excalibur

The YF-19 Excalibur is the prototype variable fighter Isamu Alva Dyson flies in Macross Plus, the 1994 OVA from Studio Nue and Shōji Kawamori. Shinsei Industry entered it in Project Super Nova to replace the VF-11 Thunderbolt.

What it does in the story

Super Nova ran its trials on Eden in 2040, pitting the YF-19 against General Galaxy's YF-21, with Isamu and Guld Goa Bowman as test pilots. The fly-off plays as a grudge match between former friends.

What makes it different

• Forward-swept wings. Kawamori drew on the Su-27 and the Grumman X-29, and this was the first variable fighter since the VF-9 to use a forward-swept wing, which also acts as a variable-geometry surface.
• A new way of folding up. In battroid mode the cockpit retracts into the fuselage, a mechanism the VF-1 lacked; the layout descends from Kawamori's unproduced Seiran concept.
• The first of its generation. With the VF-22 it was the first variable fighter to carry a pinpoint barrier and third-generation active stealth.

How big is it?

• Fighter mode: 18.62 m long, 14.87 m across with the wings out, 3.94 m tall, 8,750 kg empty.
• Performance: Mach 5.1+ at 10,000 m and Mach 21+ above 30,000 m.

What this collection covers

Hasegawa covers builders with 1/72 and 1/48 kits, including FAST Pack, Fold Booster and Demonstrator versions. Bandai's HG adds a 1/100 build, the DX Chogokin is the finished transforming toy, and Tiny Session pairs it with Myung Fang Lone.

Why buy from P-Rex Hobby

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