Vifam7

At 17cm height, that's close to 1/100 scale. Should go nicely in scale with Macross Hi-Metal Rs.

On 7/12/2023 at 8:31 PM, sh9000 said:

Hot Wheels 1/43 scale.

There seems to be a lot of controversy with Hot Wheels going into 1/43 scale. Some say it's a dead end for Hot Wheels.

I don't know. I do like that it offers a bit more detail and is true to scale.

I don't know, perhaps he's being a bit close-minded to just write-off everything recent without even looking into what's out there.  He might want to expand his horizons too?  Rather than just sticking to sci-fi/robot action anime, perhaps check out some of the sports or slice-of-life anime?  Heck, even the much (unfairly) maligned isekai stuff too.  

I'll admit that many of todays' anime are not my cup of tea. But, I've always found something worth watching across all sorts of anime genres. And some of them have been truly exceptional. I would suggest to keep looking. There's a ton of stuff out there. Not everything is the same. You never know what you'll find.

That said, of recent sci-fi animes, I think one of the better ones was the 2014 one-shot movie Expelled from Paradise. Despite the fact that the main protagonist is a walking fanservice, the story is solid and touches upon some interesting themes. And it does have an optimistic view of humanity/future. There's some good mecha action too (including Macross-style Itano circus missiles)

Will this Blu-ray release have the Chariots of Fire-like music edited out? IIRC, the DVD release here in the US had this edit.

Short interview with Kawamori and Itano on their thoughts Macross Plus and the model.  Also shows some of the gimmicks of the model.  I don't know if anyone mentioned this previously but it's a partsformer.

Sorry posted in wrong thread

4 hours ago, Big s said:

That’s just about all the decals. There’s some striping, but on a vf-1 those don’t usually follow a set panel line and in many cases will have markings along the striping. The base colors on them would be fairly simple to be molded in color, but even with the chest stripes , I’d rather have a good waterslide decal to avoid masking mistakes. The vermillion team and vf colors would be the easiest to get away with just borrowing number decals from other kits, but masking the stripes for Skull squadron would be tougher with the two tone chest colors.

my overall issue and probably many other model builders aren’t as good at paint masking for those chest markings as we wish we could be. Simple straight lines like  on the sides of legs or fuselage are pretty simple, but throw in those angles on the chest or matching the red from the kite decal to the stripe on a Hikaru 1j is another pain

In general, I prefer waterslide decals as well. Unless... it's one of those shite decals that are brittle and break apart no matter what you do. Like the ones included with the Bandai VF-1 kits...🤮  I pretty much ended up painting all the wing and leg stripes on my Bandai VF-1S.

The chest area is the biggest hurdle when it comes to the VF-1. For the most part, a waterslide decal is the way to go on that area. But still... it's always been a major pain to get the chest decal to conform over the airbrake. Both on the Hasegawa and Bandai, I had to resort to some touchup painting.

Looks OK. I'm in for one. Disappointed that it's Premium Bandai though. But I guess for lesser known properties, this is the norm.

The old 80's kit was pretty darn good for it's time.  I built one long ago...

On 7/9/2022 at 2:10 PM, Stampeed Valkyrie said:

 

Kawaii dake ja Nai Shikimori-san -  wrapped Ep 12 today.   Overall I thought it was enjoyable pretty light hearted with a twist on expected rolls in relationships.   Apparently did not fare so well with JP viewers so unlikely to see more.  

 

As a fan of the manga,  I was disappointed with the anime adaptation.

There's something really off with the anime version. Personally, I think they chose the wrong VA's for the leads and got the overall tone all wrong. In particular, the anime didn't do a good job in showing the dichotomy of Shikimori's cutesy side and her cool/edgy side, which is  the whole raison d'être of her character and relationship with Izumi. 

Read the manga, skip the anime I'd say.

On 6/29/2022 at 6:11 PM, Seto Kaiba said:

Trapped in a Dating Sim: the World of Otome Games is Tough for Mobs also stumbled to its going-nowhere conclusion that really doesn't do anything except halfheartedly reveal that Leon actually does give enough of a damn about other people to bother saving them in a terribly passive-aggressive way.  This one suffered more from terrible production values on almost every episode than anything else.  It's especially noteworthy with the Armors, which are off-model so much I'm not actually sure what on-model is supposed to look like!

I liked this series. It was kinda refreshing or different to have a character with such a jerk attitude (instead of the usual 'nice guy') as the main lead. 

I definitely agree about the terrible production values. The animation (or lack there of) of the mechs are bad enough to make one cringe.

Just came back from watching this movie at the theater.

It's a prettty good movie. It doesn't have the fun loving music video feel of the original but that's OK. I appreciated that it didn't disrespect the lore of the original movie (unlikes certain sequel movies of other franchises). In fact, I'd say it was very respectful of the original.

I particuarly liked how they handled Maverick's relation with Iceman and Rooster.

The real-life aerial footage cinematography was freaking amazing. I loved it!

There was some fakey CG stuff with the hypersonic aircraft and F-14 but it was done well enough and doesn't detract from the film.

The only negative I can think of is all the unrealistic stuff in relation to how the real US Navy operates. I mean, that was the case with original movie too but it's even more apparent in this movie. It's OK though. I realize it's a Hollywood movie and liberties have to be taken.

 Oh, and yes, the story-plot "mission" is pretty much The Dam Busters / Star Wars / Iron Eagle II.

On 1/31/2022 at 8:46 PM, Valkyrie Hunter D said:

Well shoot, that explains why I could not find it in Bricklink.  What's going on is that I am finally building a Brickmania SU-27 kit I got over a year ago, and I wanted to get more parts to change things up a bit.  Getting more of those clip arms would've been great, but I didn't know BM mixed in Mega Bloks pieces in their kits.  Eeenteresting.

Regardless, that was definitely a huge help, M'kyunn - many thanks for your input!

It's also piece made by BrickArms. It's a monopod for various minifig weapons made by BrickArms.

You can purchase them from the Brickmania webstore.

https://www.brickmania.com/brickarms-monopod/

20 hours ago, David Hingtgen said:

Bumping, wondering if there's any changes/news?  It's been a couple years, and COVID has definitely affected intl shipping----anyone have anyone to recommend, or know of anyone that now should be avoided?   

(I've recently spotted an item I've been trying to get at a decent price for YEARS, has sold well within my budget over at Yahoo Japan several times the past few months---yet it goes for 2x to 3x as much on Ebay)    I've never bid on Yahoo Japan, but I'm going to have to, as it's the only way I'll ever get it, it seems.   

I've been using White Rabbit Express to occasionally purchase doujinshi.

https://www.whiterabbitexpress.com/

Last summer, I used White Rabbit Express to buy a 1/144 scale diecast model of an AC-130U from top-gun.jp.  No issues.

1 hour ago, peter said:

That's pretty bad.  Not sure why the tail is removeable as a gimmick, it's not like there is any additional detail.  The guns, launchers and engine don't appear to be painted, just solid block of 3d print.  The way the removeable canopy comes off, you'd think for $450, the doors would open properly.  Sliding seats.....I'm out if they don't recline and aren't heated.

This thing should cost no more than $75 USD.  I'm not even sure I'd pay that much considering the gaping seam lines (which aren't even in the right places).

The comments baffle me.  I can't believe there are people that think this is awesome.

If this was being made by a bigtime company like Hasbro, I'd agree. But, since it's a fan creation (AFAIK), with a (likely) very limited run, I guess the price isn't surprising.

Given that a toy company like Hasbro or Mattel does not have an Airwolf toy in the works, I suppose there are folks out there desperate enough to want one and is willing to pay the price.

Me? No. Not my area of collecting.

4 hours ago, Hikaru Ichijo SL said:

I am glad I did too.  I found it had to much cringe at the beginning.

I highly recommend reading the manga.  Her attempts to improve herself does bear fruit. Things take a turnaround at the later end of her 2nd year  (starting around Volume 8).

The manga is currently up to Volume 20 and celebrating a 10 year anniversary. At this point, it's almost (but not quite) a yuri manga. She still has her off-kilter mindset (though to a lesser degree) but you find out that she's not the only weirdo at school. There is now a rather large cast of characters and it is currently driving the series to what I think is the ending with her graduation (although I'm hoping it continues into her college years).

Hobby Japan is an independent company. They are not directly affiliated with Bandai or any other toy manufacturer.  Frankly, there isn't really much HJ can do other than punish the employee.  They need to have a good relation with both the manufacturers and their readers. It's certainly better than looking the other way, doing nothing, or worse, actually defending the guy.

HJ mag editor created this storm in the wake of Gunpla fans exasperated by the inability to acquire the recent HGUC Nightingale. I'm pretty sure Bandai made plenty of that kit. But I think even Bandai has limits to how many they can produce. And even though overall supply is plentiful, how many a particular retailer gets or can get is limited. 

And the scalpers often get them ahead of the average buyer.  The HJ editor had the nerve to basically say - If you couldn't get it, you didn't try hard enough. If you really wanted it, get to the store first in the morning and lineup - I guess oblivious to the fact that, unlike scalpers, most people have a life - like going to school or work in the morning.

1 hour ago, sqidd said:

I would like to read the original post by the writer (I couldn't find it above). I wonder how much he was defending scalpers vs how much he was playing Devil's advocate. 

I don't necessarily trust the often hyperbolic interpretations of people trying to make headlines. It's entirely possible that what the writer wrote is not exactly what it's being presented as.

This Youtuber puts up a couple of screenshots of the HJ editor's tweets

I'm sure Macrossworld members know the frustration of acquiring DX chogokins due to scalpers. Scalpers/re-sellerrs have lately become a hot topic amongst Gunpla fans too. One would think this wouldn't be a problem with Gunpla as Bandai makes thousands of them. But, not so.

Well, it seems that a Hobby Japan employee made tweets and blog posts defending scalpers. Ofcourse, that caused a storm. Hobby Japan recently apologized for the posts by the employee and as of today, fired the guy.

Report by Hobby Watch (Google translate does an ok job): https://hobby.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/news/1339956.html

Or you can simply read the US report based on the Hobby Watch report: https://www.siliconera.com/hobby-japan-issues-apology-after-employee-defends-scalping-and-reselling-figures/

The firing (only in Japanese): http://hobbyjapan.co.jp/news_release/detail.html?id=6

Calibre Wings just posted this on their Facebook page.

36 minutes ago, Valkyrie Hunter D said:

A lockdown impulse buy finally arrived:

The kit comes from Russia and took a solid month to arrive on my porch.  It's a rather handsome looking Abrams, so I gave this company a try.  I'll post some pics upon completion.

I have this kit too.  Haven't built it yet though. Would be interesting to compare it to Brickmania's Abrams design.

So, does this agreement mean that a non-Japan based company like Kitz Concept now has access to the Macross Plus or Macross 7 property (for merchandises) by negotiating through HG? It doesn't seem like it but just wondering.

14 hours ago, Chronocidal said:

To a point, but I'd call the STOVL requirement more of the Marines saying "Give us this, or we're not buying any."  It's not that simple, obviously, and the UK is involved there too, but the base F-35 design itself is almost -purely- what I would call a very typically Air Force design, being that its capabilities essentially work out to being a less nimble stealth F-16, with all the modern bells and whistles they could cram in.

From the Navy side of things, the F-35 is a massive compromise.  They don't like single engines, full stop.  There's a reason they're buying so few.  It's a fleet stopgap to cover the retirement of legacy Hornets, and give them time to develop a design to their own specs.

On the other hand, there's also a good reason the Marines were the first to deploy: they didn't care that all the bells and whistles weren't working yet.  They were coming off of the Harrier, and a fair number of those didn't even have a radar at all.  They just needed an airframe that could land on their short-deck carriers, and they would get the job done one way or another.

I'm probably exaggerating some aspects, but what I've always felt it boils down to is that the F-35 is a plane that the Air Force really likes, the Navy can make do with, and the Marines desperately need.  It's missing a lot of what the Navy would want, and it's got a ton of things the Marines would probably never ask for.

The F-35 can trace its roots all the way back to the Common Affordable Lightweight Fighter (CALF) project whose goal from the beginning was to develop a VTOL fighter that can meet the needs of the USMC and RN.  The CALF project then merged with the Joint Advanced Strike Technology (JAST) project and then transformed to the JSF project.  Not to mention that the biggest compromise to the F-35 airframe is the need to insert the VTOL tech.  And while I think the Navy's infatuation with twin-engines is a bit ridiculous (considering they've used sngle-engine jets before without major issues and modern jet engines are more reliable than ever before), if the VTOL requirement wasn't in effect, perhaps the F-35 could've been designed with 2 engines.

On 4/1/2021 at 10:57 AM, Chronocidal said:

I think it'd be more appropriate to call the F-35 "bleeding edge technology."  It's not that its individual technological features have not been tested, but they're all being integrated and rolled out simultaneously in one giant package that's being debugged in real time.  To make a slightly hilarious gaming comparison, if the F-15 can be compared to Skyrim, the F-35 is Star Citizen.    

Hindsight is 20/20 of course, and we won't really know how this pans out for a long time.  It's a very capable jet, but it is also very much a flying pile of evolving computer code, with all the benefits and drawbacks thereof.

Historically speaking, in terms of the Navy, I've seen a few comparisons made that what the Navy is doing with the F-35C is what they should have done with the F-111B: buy a minimal amount as a stop-gap to support the fleet while they wait for an aircraft they actually want.  The last time the services cooperated to this extent was probably the F-4, but one of the big differences in that case was that the Phantom was a Navy design that the Air Force picked up.  I think the last time the Navy adopted a primarily Air Force design was the Fury, a navalized F-86 Sabre.

 

One could almost argue that the F-35 is a Marine Corps design that both the air force and navy had to adopt - since the STOVL requirement was a core element of the JSF project from the beginning.

2 minutes ago, Knight26 said:

Not so much replace but supplement with a lower cost (procurement, operation, maintenance, etc...) aircraft.  The new SeAF realizes that Stealth is pretty much a one trick pony.  It is most usable for initial strikes and operations, but once war gets into the thick, the extensive maintenance and compromised aerodynamics and carriage capacity make stealth of lower utility.  If the F-36 concept lives up to the plan, then you'll be able to buy 4-5 for the cost of a single F-35, and have each of them conduct two operations for every one the F-35 can conduct due to Mx downtime, all using the same core technology, but in a more robust, easier maintained airframe.

There's no guarantee that this so-called "F-36" is going to be lower cost or lower maintenance.  This imaginary jet looks to be an all new airframe (with only a superficial resemblance to the F-16XL) instead of being an evolution of an existing fully matured airframe like the F-15EX. Add in things like a new engine, new software, and some new tech that appears in  the future,  I can see purchase and maintenance costs ballooning.  In anycase, I don't see the rationale for spending a massive amount of money to develop and field an aircraft that in the end looks to be no better than the F-15EX or Block 60 F-16E/F of reality.

Besides, this "F-36" looks all wrong with the tail fins out there on the wings. Reminds me more of the Vought Cutlass than the F-16XL.