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mechaninac

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  1. mechaninac
    Soooo.... Wielder's Bane?
  2. mechaninac
    SA-23E Starfury Aurora, SA-32A Starfury Thunderbolt, Narn Frazi Heavy Fighter, Minbari Nial Fighter... all would be nearly impossible to pass up, but a more manageable 1/32-1/35 would be preferable. From the B5 Tech Manual (even 1/35 would be huge): SA-23E - L 9.56m x W17.87m = 53.11cm x 99.28cm at 1/18, 27.31cm x 51.05cm at 1/35 -- 20.91" x 39.09" / 10.75" x 20.10" SA-32A - L 15.54m x W18.70 (airfoils deployed) = 86.33cm x 1.04m at 1/18, 44.40cm x 53.43cm at 1/35 -- 33.99" x 40.95" / 17.48" x 21.04" Frazi - L 15.80m x W (not given) = 87.78cm x (?) at 1/18, 45.14cm x (?) at 1/35 -- 34.56" x (?) / 17.77" x (?) Nial - L 22.00m x W (not given) = 1.22m x (?) at 1/18, 62.86cm x (?) at 1/35 -- 48.03" x (?) / 24.75" x (?)
  3. mechaninac
    At 1/18-3.75" scale?... ... THAT WOULD BE HUGE!.. I wouldn't know where to put such a monster and it would cost a lot, but I want one...
  4. mechaninac
    Methinks you read too much into what I stated. I made zero claims regarding SFX/CGI quality or any statement as to which series was superior. All I commented on was the overuse, not the overall use, of the shaky cam and rapid zooming employed by Zoic Studios, in response to @Thom; their work was outstanding but those techniques did become VERY gimmicky and would've benefitted greatly from more judicious use, in my opinion; that's all. Given the primitive state of SFX/miniature compositing at the time and all the other constraints and network shenanigans you mentioned, it is a downright miracle they were able to create and deliver what they did, when they, on time for a broadcast schedule that was far more demanding in number of episodes and release schedules than what has become the modern norm, and you can't really fault them for the heavy reuse of canned SFX footage... it was, after all, the budget-conscious SOP (from before the original Star Trek to roughly midway through Voyager) up until CGI became cost effective. To this day, I still think it was a missed opportunity on Zoic's and RDM's part not to include the Turbo Boost effect (it was visceral and visually striking) in their Vipers' bag of tricks; that the original miniature artists did it, and how they accomplished it, deserves high praise.
  5. mechaninac
    It would have been infinitely better if they had used the shaky cam and quick zoom-ins sparingly to emphasize very specific sequences in only a few episodes per season, to sell the dynamism and intense chaotic nature of certain engagements of high significance, instead of turning the techniques into overused gimmicks.
  6. mechaninac
    It did have 1 memorable episode worthy of consideration as a true classic: The Return of Starbuck.
  7. mechaninac
    Start with YouTube. There is an incredible variety of overviews, introductions for beginners and tutorials... and the best part is that it is all free.
  8. mechaninac
    Another iconic classic sci-fi design that is more than worth a mention, and has appeared in several media and iterations since its debut is Forbidden Planet's most memorable supporting actor, and coolest automaton to ever come out of Hollywood, the unique and unequalled Robby the Robot. Honorable mention to the classic B9 from Lost in Space
  9. mechaninac
    All the hardware in Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey. The designs are distilled perfection for "realistic" near future (now, laughably optimistic given that the story depicts fictional events 1/4 century in our past) technology, some of which has become reality while others remain in the realm of attainable fantasy. They are all so iconic that they inspired miniature work and film making for decades to come until the (unfortunate?) advent of CGI.
  10. mechaninac

    HMR VF-19P

    mechaninac replied to BlueMax's topic in Toys

    Still too much moolah for what it is. Personally waiting until it hits the $115-120ish range before pulling the trigger on this. If it never happens, I'll just make do with my Yamato 1/60... fomo has always taken a very distant spot compared to roi in my book.
  11. mechaninac
    The quality isn't there, yet; however, consider just how much the technology has improved in such a short period of time and extrapolate how much better they will become in 2, 5, 10 years. This IS the democratization of entertainment production, where fans with modest resources, technical know-how and authentic passion for the material will supplant any of the intentional slop that studios, regardless of the amount of money they throw at a project, decide to plop on the troughs of their ever-dwindling audiences... Disney, et al, are in trouble due to their own arrogance and disdain for the IPs they manage and the legacy fans thereof. Besides, good intentions and passion aside, the vast majority of real fan films have always been very low quality and cringe beyond description, which make the rare good ones shine like precious jewels.
  12. mechaninac
  13. mechaninac
    That's where they "learned" to write and produce such dreck...
  14. mechaninac
    Bandai's goal is to amortize as much of the VF-171 tooling as possible, which is why their VF-17 looks lanky instead of beefy as it should, so I absolutely doubt they will make any changes at all to address any of the criticisms levied on their rendition, be it for the upcoming S variant or a future D version; although, it would be funny if they did. Just consider Bandai's contemporary interpretation as a design reimagining/retcon instead of an honest attempt -- like their original chunky or Yamato's -- at a faithful representation.
  15. mechaninac
    Hobby Search https://www.1999.co.jp/eng/11282596
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