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  2. captain america
    Captain's Log: Thursday, June 12, 2025 With all the master-patterns completed, I can now turn my attention to the tedious task of prepping all those masters for the molding process. Pics 68-72 show various components in various stages of preparation: because some parts have channels and complex geometries (openings, etc.) a plastic membrane needs to be added to strategic areas to allow the parts to be demolded without destroying them. What's not apparent in the images is that I also have to vent these membranes so that air doesn't remain trapped underneath them, so very tiny, surgical punctures are made in strategic locations to allow for proper venting. Pic 70 shows one part attached to a clear acrylic base. The gates are secured to the base with hot glue. This will allow the gates to detach cleanly from the part during demold and avoid damage. The last step involves gluing a mold box around the part(s) using that same hot glue. Pic 74: I've got my trusty mold material ready, along with a gram scale to accurately measure-out the silicone and catalyst. When thoroughly mixed, it will be a bright shade of Pepto-Bismol. When the mold rubber is thoroughly mixed, it then needs to be degassed, as the mixing process introduces a lot of air into the mixture. To that end, I employ a vacuum pump (pic 75) and a vacuum chamber (pic 76) to draw all the air out. Because I use an industrial pump, the process only takes a few minutes. With the rubber thoroughly degassed, I then carefully pour the rubber over the parts and let them set. This is a long process, so I may not have an update next week as I busy myself preparing the (almost fifteen!!) molds, but rest assured I will be very busy! 70.HEIC 69.HEIC 71.HEIC 72.HEIC 73.HEIC 76.HEIC 75.HEIC 74.HEIC 77.HEIC
  3. Papa Rat
    @Big s thanks for the reference. 👍 @derex3592 😂
  4. derex3592
    Another very simple solution I've been using lately (especially on modern kits with VERY tight tolerances), use Tamiya Extra Thin cement to "soften" the peg and especially the receiving hole for a few seconds. Like old Dad told me one time ....."a little lubrication helps everything son" - He wasn't wrong....😂
  5. Tking22
    Holy mother of frakk, that is absolutely mine! I was bummed the Paul Walker Skyline was Technic, less bummed now, a brick-built Icons Cobra? Um, frakking yes please.
  6. sh9000
  7. sh9000
    Preview of wave 2.
  8. sh9000
    Marvel Legends X-Force X-23 and Warpath x2.
  9. Today
  10. sh9000
    https://www.target.com/p/marvel-legends-series-jean-grey-x-factor/-/A-92134428 Retro X-Factor Jean Grey in stock. https://www.walmart.com/ip/MVL-LEGENDS-FALL-ANV-2/14930559986 Gamerverse Captain America vs Venom. Other stores will list later today.
  11. VF25-F
    May'n sang 2 songs at IQIYI 2025 Sing Voice of Asia.
  12. M'Kyuun
    Concerning Wally supplying SWAT, I was being facetious, but you get the point; it's all a bit ludicrous in perspective. And while I think we definitely have a problem with guns in our country, somehow I think they've gone just a little overboard when it comes to regulating toy guns. At the very least, the collector's market should be something separate, as most people aren't going to go around brandishing something like MP-36 to commit their crimes. Doing so itself should be a crime in my book- awesome toy abuse- minimum 20-year sentence with hard labor- book 'em, Danno! Toys are my life, so perhaps I'm a bit biased. I never gave much thought to the variety and strictness of laws from state to state, but I can understand if places like Cali and NY have far more stringent laws as I assume they have, per capita, far more crimes committed with firearms within denser populations. Still, toys, man! Alas, I step down from my ineffectual soapbox.
  13. SebastianP
    There's a Destroid for everything. Shame we don't get to see them very often anymore.... Speaking of, I decided to rewatch Delta ep 1 to check out Hayate's dance number, and his work destroid is really interesting. It's not the same model as the one from frontier, but it looks related; it should also be decently easy to scale since the containers look like they're just 20-foot ISO containers. I'm a little irritated by the container ship though. At first glance it looks like those could be ISO containers, but when you look closer they're not as tall as they're wide, unlike the real things. So trying to scale the ship's height by the number of containers doesn't work. What I *can* tell is that there's space for at least 20 (width) by 20 (length) by 12 (height) of the small containers we see from the front, though the bigger containers in the back are harder to calculate. If those *are* supposed to be ISO 20-foot containers, were looking at 4800 TEU worth of capacity, which is mid-sized for an ocean-going ship (those go up beyond 20,000 TEU, but also down to a few hundred).
  14. JB0
    I think the US toy gun laws suck too. Particularly as it's an inconsistent patchwork and no one wants to deal with every state being different. I gather that's the biggest issue, several states have restrictions beyond the federal ones and they aren't consistent with each other. Making a single toy gun sellable in all states is very difficult, and fans won't like the results. Folks were upset enough about Classics Megatron, and I don't believe he's CA- or NY-legal these days, so they'd have to go even farther. I don't think Wal-Mart can outfit a SWAT team, though. SWAT gets the fun switch burst-fire and full-auto, and Wal-Mart can't sell that kind of rifle.
  15. Black Valkyrie
  16. JB0
    I was already thinking "a glue Valkyrie's probably canon already", but you've got the receipts.
  17. Big s
    Always gotta wonder if they’re teasing something in those backgrounds on the boxes
  18. Papa Rat
    Yeah please! I see it there in the background. ♥️
  19. Papa Rat
    Gimme gimme. Haha
  20. Big s
    I keep looking at the Max 1-A box and wondering if maybe MaxFactory will do the tv version of the Queadluun Rau
  21. Big s
    Cover for the Tekkaman Blade kit looks cool. Mercy Rabbit illustration for the fans
  22. GMK
    Kakizaki boxing appears to be out.
  23. M'Kyuun
    Makes sense. In Megatron's case, the box is excessively large for the figure and, being practical, I called it out. My criteria differs. My sole focus is always the core figure, how well each mode is executed. While there's no explicit promise of fidelity to realism, Studio Series is generally considered to be their premium retail product line, although they don't always deliver on that expectation. However, just like SS86 Prime, there's a heightened expectation for SS86 Megatron to be the 'definitive' version for lack of a more apropos descriptor. He fails that already by not turning into a pistol. I care not one whit about a small handheld version of him in gun mode when the figure itself should be the gun- it's a superfluous accessory that will remain in the box along with his energon mace and any effects parts. So, given that a gun is not an acceptable alt mode by din of US laws and child safety regs, a tank is a dismayingly acceptable substitute alt mode. The expectation then is that being Studio Series, we'll get a convincing tank with a bit more polish and refinement than the usual run-of-the-mill mainline figure with a similar alt. They did do a great job of crafting his bot mode to look like his G1 toon self without tank kibble ruining the effect. They also did a great job turning his legs and upper torso into a convincing tank base. They only needed to do something more with his scope to make it blend with the arms to affect a more convincing turret, one more bit of transformative origami but I'm guessing that's where either the budget or their supply of care simply ran out, perhaps a bit of both. To me it feels like they got to within 85% of excellence and just quit. The hard part of his design was already solved: achieving a kibble-less G1 Megatron bot mode that conceals the tank bits well. They solved the challenge of converting his gun-grip legs into tank treads convincingly. While the arms are quite a bit blockier than RW tank turrets, I think disbelief could have been better suspended if the obvious giant gun scope sandwiched between those giant grey blocks somehow transformed to blend with and compliment the rest of the turret. I'd rather the budget went to that particular bit of engineering/molding than to any accessories. Since his fusion cannon is an intrinsic part of his character, I don't consider it an accessory. I just wish they'd put forth that extra effort to make the scope form a convincing part of his turret. Hopefully, third parties will rise to the occasion with some interesting solutions. I've still never really handled the G1 Snarl or Slag toys. I believe I saw Swoop somewhere and messed about with him. I bought Sludge as a kid, and I later received my wife's brother's G2 blue Grimlock when he gave it me. Not even sure how or why that came to be. Anyway, I now have a full set of FansToys Dibots ( my first full set of Dinobots-I was so happy!), all six Combiner Wars Dinobots, all five SS86 Dinobots, and all five toy-decoed Newage Dinobots complete with chrome paint, G1 decal tampos, and the lovely clear plastic bits- pure joy and what I wish we'd gotten with the SS86 Dinos.
  24. davidwhangchoi
    snarl was cool. i used to go over a friends home that had snarl and optimus and transform them both all the time
  25. Scyla
    Thanks, totally forgot about these.
  26. Big s
    I really didn’t care a whole lot for it. It was the best of the Disney stuff though, but most of the characters were a bit easy to dislike. K2 was good though, but the main character was definitely lacking. I don’t hate the movie and maybe it will be more likeable after the Andor show
  27. Seto Kaiba
    I wouldn't call Rogue One a bad movie by any stretch of the imagination. I'd call it probably the single best movie outside of the original trilogy.
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