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VF-XS Valkyrie II Battroid mode
VF-XS Valkyrie II GERWALK mode
VF-XS Valkyrie II Fighter mode
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VF-XS Valkyrie II
Debut: never animated, appears within Animage 11 magazine Vol. 161 (published 1991)
Description: The VF-XS Valkyrie II is a concept variable fighter for the Macross II animated series. The VF-XS Valkyrie is NOT an official design found anywhere in the Macross II continuity. Hence, the VF-XS has no official statistics and there is no written trivia for the valkyrie. However, this concept design is popular among Macross II fans as the origin of the official VF-2SS Valkyrie II. The VF-XS is also notable for being armed with a single head cannon and a unique gun pod.
Although there is no official information about the VF-XS Valkyrie II, various aspects of the craft can be observed in the line art. As mentioned above, the VF-XS is armed with a gun pod by default in both Battroid and GERWALK mode, though there is no fighter line art showing the gun pod mounted. The gun pod is a very different design from any of the official guns seen in the Macross II series; the gun pod appears more similar to the original VF-1 Valkyrie weapon, but is notable for having a rounded cube-shaped structure as opposed to the cylindrical design of the original GU-11 gun pod. This cube-shaped gun pod may be designed as such to complement the similar style of the VF-XS valkyrie. The colored art in the Animage magazine shows the VF-XS gun pod in three different colors: a gun metal grey like the GU-11 with pale purple internals, a light-grey casing with teal-colored internals and lastly a charcoal casing also with teal-colored internals. It is also notable that the VF-XS head unit features a single cannon mounted upon the right side while the left side appears to mount an additional camera and/or sensor. The single cannon has lead many fans to designate the VF-XS as an A-type variable fighter, in the tradition of the single-cannon VF-1A Valkyrie. Another feature of note seen in the fighter mode line art is four open panels (with another two that appear capable of opening); two panels open upon the left/right dorsal/back torso section of the fighter while one panel opens per right/left sides of the rear engines/lower legs of the fighter (each engine/leg appears to have two such panels). Placement of the two dorsal panels just behind the cockpit suggests the panels may function as air brakes similar to the VF-1 Valkyrie. The function of the other two (four?) panels may be additional air brakes as they appear identical to the dorsal panels in design and are also hinged in the same manner.
The VF-XS was designed by Kazumi Fujita.
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Translated information from Animage 11 Vol. 161
Images From - Animage 11, Vol. 161 (1991)
C. Wilson - Writer, Editor and Colorist
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