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tekering

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  1. tekering
    Wow! Congratulations on 20 years, Cap'n! I may want another Pinky myself, if only to make a blue-eyed Battler variant. 🤓 You can mount them on brackets attached to the back (as originally intended), or you can simply drill holes in the head and connect them with brass rods (as pictured above).
  2. tekering
    3199? 🤔 Kodai and Yuki look surprisingly good in that trailer, seeing as they're both over a thousand years old. 🙄
  3. tekering
    It's all "Robotech Remastered," I'm afraid. The original mono audio tracks wouldn't sync up with the re-edited episodes anyway. None of the original commercial "bumpers" are included, either. 😒 Worse yet, the new opening sequences created for the "Remastered" DVDs didn't even get recreated in HD, simply upscaled from the DVD source. The openings are therefore of substantially lower quality than the episodes themselves. 🤨
  4. tekering
    So, I was initially excited when Robotech was announced for Blu-ray, because it meant the first time Southern Cross footage would be available in HD. We'd had Macross on Blu-ray for over a decade (and Mospeada for nearly that long), but Southern Cross barely even got a DVD release in Japan... and it was shovelware at best. Of course, as soon as "The Macross Saga" BDs came out, it was clear how little Funimation cared about image quality: I mean, compared to what we'd got in Japan ten years earlier... ...Robotech looked as grainy, high-contrast, oversaturated and blown-out as ever. 😒 Comparisons with Mospeada fared no better. So, with expectations at rock-bottom, I was in no hurry to see "The Robotech Masters" in HD... but my initial curiosity never entirely faded, and I did finally acquire the Blu-rays a few months back. The masters for "Masters" are just as poor quality as the other series, of course, but are they at least better than the DVDs were? As you may be aware, the ADV discs had terrible color timing, giving the whole series a heavy blue tint across the spectrum... Surprisingly, the color timing is a major improvement on Funimation's HD masters, with more accurate blacks and distinct color definition evident in every frame. In fact, there's a whole new magenta tone introduced to the image: It doesn't replace the blue, but rather adds an additional color layer. I thought this difference was profound, and felt compelled to show other Southern Cross fans... ...although I realize very few people will actually care. I mean, they're mastered from the same ancient 16mm prints Tatsunoko provided Harmony Gold four decades ago... ...and still show all the same flaws. If anything, physical damage to the film is even more evident in HD. Still, the improvement is undeniable. I thought it was worth sharing, anyway. 🤓
  5. tekering
    That was very much my intention, thanks. ☺️ We felt a gentle sway here... and I think I saw my Hot Toys Riot Control Stormtrooper shiver a little. 😅 No, I just gently bent the belly plate into a slimmer shape, with panel lines to score where I wanted it to bend and ensure symmetry. I must strongly discourage any cutting or gluing that part. It's got to flex enough to squeeze the sides of the bike frame in robot mode: Given the pressure exerted on that piece, I doubt any glue would handle the stress. Just about any RE/100 or Master Grade MS hands should suffice. 😇
  6. tekering
    Thanks for your attention, gentlemen. Now, if I may indulge you just a little longer... I'm conscious of the anachronism, since the Atelier-Sai figures are based on the hardsuits from the last episode, and the original four moto-slaves were only featured in the first episode... 😐 Nonetheless, I think they complement each other really well. 😎 The robot proportions are still not quite what the line art depicts, but I think I've managed to improve the aesthetics... ...at least, when posed in flight. 😇 Happy New Year, everyone! 🥳
  7. tekering
    So now we come to the more problematic "slave" mode... My first issue was the recessed peg the head sits on, which allows for very limited up-and-down motion and almost nothing side-to-side. I bought these Hobby Base ball-joins to make a new articulated neck piece of my own: This double-jointed neck will allow for a much greater range of motion and allow for more dynamic poses. Furthermore, these flimsy shoulders are held together by nothing but a couple of pistons, and the gaps between them are massive. The line art fills those gaps (and any others) with equally massive cables, so I need to do the same. These ought to suffice... 😊 Yeah, that's more like it. I ensured they wrap around the back as well, and added some thinner cables around the neck, too. I quite like the look. 🤓 They'll have to be removed for transformation, of course, but the Aoshima design requires a lot of partsforming as it is. And thus I'm finished, just in time for New Year's!
  8. tekering
    Despite the missing red and black stripes on Dana's duty uniform, I'd gladly take this prototype over the "tampon mesh" bodysuit they have her in now... 😒 Those Macross stands are a testament to how Southern Cross fandom remains alive outside of Japan. 😅
  9. tekering
    Really? I got the impression Aoshima just upscaled the Yamato design, tweaked the engineering, and called it a day. It has the same "pregnant" aesthetic that bugged me about the toys... which is why I've taken matters into my own hands, cutting and bending parts to more closely match the shapes of the line art. Oh, and speaking of hands: I've modified articulated Gunpla hands to match the more feminine motoslave look, 'cause those Aoshima parts just ain't cuttin' it. 😒 I also replaced the stock kit's rubber hoses with more anime-accurate segmented armoured cables, and added additional cables where they appear in robot mode. Final assembly is already underway. 😊 I'd be done already if it weren't for all the upgrades... 😅
  10. tekering
    Depends on the episode. Everyone's motoslave sports the same cannon in the first OAV. Aoshima called this the "machine canon [sic]." In the third episode, Priss has a new gun to go along with her new motoslave: Sylia wields the same cannon in the fourth OAV. Aoshima refers to this as a "rocket cannon." There's also this cannon Linna's motoslave carries in episode 3: It's not the same cannon from the first OAV, but it's also not Aoshima's "machine gun." I'm not sure this weapon appears in the anime at all, actually, but it came in the variant "special setting" metallic red Aoshima kit I bought back when I started this project. 😅
  11. tekering
    Almost finished painting... 🤓
  12. tekering
    VERY comprehensive gallery, @jvmacross.
  13. tekering
    That's deeply ironic... and yet, this low-viz scheme is still a total success by Kitz Concept standards.
  14. tekering
    Thanks! How's this one?
  15. tekering
    Clearly, the Mortal Headd aesthetic appeals to those with expensive taste. 😋
  16. tekering
    I have that issue myself, actually... It has 24 pages devoted to Mospeada. A complete series breakdown, including information on specific concepts and setting... ...scale comparison art from the animation model sheets... ...and more full-color line art than I've seen published before.
  17. tekering
    Very impressive, @Perxion! It was over much too soon. 😔
  18. tekering
    I hope those are hand-painted prototypes. The white surfaces look particularly rough, especially on the thighs and the helmet. 🤨
  19. tekering
    Hey, are those 3D-printed parts? Bowie's helmet looks great!
  20. tekering
    Worst packaging yet. Not only is McFarlane too cheap to make individual cardbacks for the figures, they're not even putting labels on the blisters? 🤨 Is that supposed to be Jim Gordon? Alfred Pennyworth? Somebody else? It's a rare sight indeed to see action figure packaging with absolutely nothing to indicate who the character is supposed to be....!
  21. tekering
    Unquestionably, yes. 😋
  22. tekering
    Beautiful lighting -- and I love your angles -- but dust your Transformers properly before you photograph them! 😅
  23. tekering
    No, it's an awesome piece with some wonderful display options, but it's just not big enough to justify the cost. If I'm spending over $300, I expect something appropriately massive. 😋 It has inspired me to make a cape for my Mega Sofvi, however. 😇 At 53cm, it's not hard to make space for... It's got great shelf presence, but it's not nearly as big as some third-party combiners, much less my "Jumbo Grade" mobile suits... In fact, it's not even among the ten largest figures I own. I wish it was bigger, actually.
  24. tekering
    With the yen as weak as it's been in decades, $133 USD (plus shipping) will cost me a lot more than it would have when the pre-orders first went up a year ago... For that price, I could order NINE 1:72 Regults from Hasegawa, and still have change left over. Is the Zentraedi soldier figure alone worth that much to me...? 🤔
  25. tekering
    Mega Sofvi in da house! 🤗 Finally, a GunBuster big enough to display with other robot figures. ☺️ Every other GunBuster toy or model is so small, it doesn't really scale with anything... ...but at roughly 1:450 scale, the Mega Sofvi works with my smallest Mobile Suits, at least. 🤓
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