tekering
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While I'm doing comparisons, I thought my fellow Mospeada fans would be interested in seeing how Wave's 1:72 Legioss model compares with the old Imai release. While Imai produced kits of all three modes in this scale, Wave's Legioss is "Armo-Soldier" only. None of these kits are currently in production, and aftermarket prices are always in flux; the most readily available to me was Aoshima's release of the Imai kit from a decade ago (specifically, Houquet's "Zeta"). Wave's "Iota" was the cheapest of theirs I could find, so we're comparing a vintage red kit with a modern green one. While the Wave's only slightly taller than the Imai, individual parts and proportions vary wildly from each other. The Wave has larger shoulders, wider legs, a much larger nosecone on the back, and absurdly large hands, required to carry that massive gunpod of his: The Imai has a wider chest, very small hands, and a ridiculously tiny gunpod that can't be held properly unless it's glued into the hand... Other than a little black wash to bring out some of the sculpted detail, I haven't applied any paint to these kits yet. What you see is the color of the plastic the parts were cast in -- green, white and blue for the Wave kit, and red for the Imai -- and clearly, both will require substantial painting. There are white parts of the Wave kit that need to be painted green, and green parts that need to be painted white, so it matters little what colors the parts were cast in; everything's gonna need paint anyway. As is typical of '80s kits, the Imai is rife with unsightly seam lines and misaligned panel details, and will definitely require a lot of cleanup work before painting; the Wave does a better job of hiding most of the seams, making it easier to build and requiring less glue to assemble. Also typical of modern Japanese kits, the Wave uses plenty of PVC poly-capped joints to aid in articulation. The Imai is well-articulated for its time, but can't compare with the poseability of a modern robot kit. However, fans will notice a lot more deviation from the animation line art when it comes to sculpted detail on the Wave -- the shoulders, legs and feet in particular -- and there are a lot of recessed panel lines that don't exist in any other depiction of the Legioss. If you want your model to be anime-accurate, you'll probably want to sand off or fill in some of those egregious details with putty and paint over them. I haven't decided exactly how I want to proceed with my build from here, but I'll probably do some mixing-and-matching of parts to come up with the most accurate Armo-Soldier I can. The chest intakes and shoulder-mounted sensor array are more accurate on the Imai, but I prefer the overall proportions and the articulation of the Wave kit. Neither kit comes with adequate hands, so I'll likely use 1:144 scale Gunpla aftermarket hands instead. The feet on the Imai kit are closer to the animation model, but I prefer the aesthetics of the boots on the Wave... but those "treads" have got to go!
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What we've been watching on DVD for the past decade or so (be it Mospeada or Robotech: Remastered) turns out to be quite poor in the color department. Here's a side-by-side from the end of the aforementioned episode 8: Can you guess which image comes from the Blu-ray? (Hint: the Invid "Gurab" are supposed to be purple.) Incidentally, Ghost in the Shell 2.0 is also worth the Blu-ray upgrade.
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1/48 MOSPEADA INBIT KIT REVIVAL?
tekering replied to captain america's topic in Anime or Science Fiction
Great! I've been meaning to reproduce this shot: I'll take 'em all.
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Sure. Episode 8 opens with this striking image, a slow pan across the desert: I like the composition of this shot, which pans away from the helmet in the extreme foreground and into the deep desert beyond, eventually revealing the jeep entering frame from the opposite direction. The juxtaposition of static foreground elements and moving background elements is awesome. Here's another composite image, our first and only look at Mars Base in the series: I love the angles in this shot, the harsh vertical lines of the buildings contrasting with the sharp curve of the elevated train tracks, those huge underground structures obliquely lit with bold splashes of color, and that massive, impossibly high screen the camera tilts up to reveal. It's a spectacular setting, completely at odds with anything else seen in Mospeada, and it helps us to understand the difficultly Stig Bernard must face trying to adjust to life on an unfamiliar world. The environment where he grew up is totally different from the post-war Earth he finds himself in, and this single image expresses that concept far better than any dialogue could hope to. Oh, this episode also features Stig's first look at an Invid hive. More HD goodness to come! OMG, "extended play?" You're bringing back traumatic memories from childhood... Imma sue you for PTSD!
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The Unlicensed Third Party Transformers Thread
tekering replied to slaginpit's topic in Anime or Science Fiction
Great review, Mike! I want an IDW Optimus, but it needs to be to scale with all the other IDW figures that Mastermind Creations, MakeToys, Mega Steel, Mech Ideas, Second Chance, FansProject, Perfect Effect, Hasbro and TakaraTomy have released. Generation Toy (and GCreation) made the mistake of producing a figure too big to display with anything else IDW (except TransFormMission's Stunticons), and the decision has baffled me since the project was first announced. Thankfully, MMC's IDW Rodimus is consistent with the scale everyone else has been adhering to: ...and the likeness is spot-on. Plus, the alt. mode is drop-dead gorgeous! Couldn't recommend "Calidus" more highly! -
1/48+fp's, 1/60+fp's, 1/72, 1/2k, 1/3k,1/100 and now 1/144
tekering replied to VF-18S Hornet's topic in Toys
True dat.
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I suppose it depends on what you're looking at, Cap'n. If your focus is on the mecha or the character interaction in the foreground, there's not a lot of clarity to be gained in HD, and the story can be appreciated just as well in standard definition (with less distracting dirt and film grain). If, however, your focus is on setting, mood, or production design, the HD upgrade makes a huge difference. There's far more detail visible in the backgrounds, where the real strength of the series lies -- its rich, atmospheric post-apocalyptic setting -- and here, color and contrast play a significant role in establishing Mospeada's unique visual style. Unlike similar '80s anime series, like Fist of the North Star, Southern Cross, or the latter segments of Macross, the post-war world of Mospeada isn't just a barren, grey wasteland. I'm only six episodes in so far, but I'm amazed by the rich production design work visible in the backgrounds: VHS? In this day-and-age? Good grief, are you missing out...! To demonstrate, here's the same image from Robotech on VHS: Seriously, come join us in the 21st century. These are just a few choice screen grabs from episode 6, demonstrating the diversity of color and detail evident even within a single setting. I can't wait to see how the alien environments look in HD!
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Not unless Southern Cross gets remastered for a Japanese Blu-ray release first... which remains unlikely. Harmony Gold could always pay to have Tatsunoko's film prints remastered in HD, of course... but that's even more unlikely. Yeah, I'd hope a Blu-ray release would ditch the "Remastered" sound mix. They'd have to abandon the scale they've established for the Macross line, though... Otherwise they'd be some pretty tiny Mospeada toys!
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Yeah, ADV sure screwed up the audio adding those cheap digital sound effects. It's a shame, really, since the Robotech audio had some terrific music cues -- arguably better than the original Mospeada BGM -- and better casting, too. Annie isn't nearly as obnoxious to listen to as Mint, and Lancer has a much more appropriate voice (for a female impersonator) than the ridiculously masculine voice Yellow has. If only Macek hadn't insisted on spoiling every single moment of quiet reflection with offscreen dialogue, interior monologues, and redundant narration...
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I've finally acquired Mospeada on Blu-ray! I thought you guys might be interested in an objective* comparison to ADV's 2003 DVD release: Immediately, you will notice a substantial difference in color. The Blu-rays have a slightly greenish tint to them: ...whereas ADV's prints have a substantial blue tint to them. This is most obvious when comparing the neutral background of the eyecatch: ...which appeared powder blue on ADV's DVD release! It has a substantial effect on skin tones as well: ...and even eye color is affected. Comparing onscreen graphics reveals a slight difference in framing: You see ADV's prints favor the top of the frame, while the Blu–rays feature more image at the bottom. The difference in picture quality suggests that ADV had a lot of digital clean-up performed to remove film grain and noise. While detail is much sharper on the high-definition masters for the Blu-ray, there's a lot more dirt evident as well... and, most importantly, there are frame guides visible on the first and last frame of EVERY shot. ADV seems to have removed these entirely. For those of you not familiar with old-school anime production methods, it's important to remember that everything was shot and edited manually on film -- as quickly and cheaply as possible, I might add -- and Tatsunoko in particular was known for leaving these framing marks visible for a split-second on every cut. I first became aware of them myself when viewing Macross on Laserdisc, so I knew what Carl Macek was talking about when he mentioned them at Anime Expo '92. It seems Macek had decided to re-frame Tatsunoko's footage to remove these frame guides when creating Robotech, cropping off the edges of the frame by zooming in on the image. Here's what Robotech's original broadcast masters looked like:** While I was appalled when first hearing about this, I have gradually come to accept Macek's decision; when you start to notice them, those framing marks get REALLY distracting. Unfortunately, the Blu-rays are lousy with 'em. Furthermore, there's a lot more instability between frames as well, with flickering evident in darker scenes and a slightly shaky image throughout. The added clarity and more accurate color reproduction is a major advantage, but the lack of noise reduction results in grainy, unstable images instead. Oh, and there's no foreign-language content whatsoever, of course, which means Japanese fans are likely the only ones debating these issues anyway. * I say "objective" because all the images in this post were generated by the same software, without any compensating filters or color-correction added, so you see them exactly as VLC 2.2.5 displays them. ** Note I superimposed the analog image over ADV's Robotech Remastered DVD, to demonstrate how much of the original image was lost on TV.
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1/48 MOSPEADA INBIT KIT REVIVAL?
tekering replied to captain america's topic in Anime or Science Fiction
From a marketing perspective, this makes the most sense. First-time customers like myself will likely want a Moscato kit in-hand (for a clearer idea of the quality of the product, the time-frame involved, and the work required to construct and paint) before shelling out considerably more money for the next one... -
1/48 MOSPEADA INBIT KIT REVIVAL?
tekering replied to captain america's topic in Anime or Science Fiction
Moscato and King Crab always go well together. -
1/48 MOSPEADA INBIT KIT REVIVAL?
tekering replied to captain america's topic in Anime or Science Fiction
This is becoming a reality much faster than I was expecting! I'm very excited to be getting my own Gurab, and Eager to see what's coming next...! -
Sure, change the setting to Earth -- say, 15 years after an apocalyptic war with giant aliens has decimated the population... Turn those weird tri-petaled alien flowers into some kind of poorly-defined energy source... Make the enemy pilots "cloned androids" instead of human POWs... Heck, we could even make it a sequel to Macross!
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Having recently acquired This is Animation #10 myself, I can confirm that it isn't. I don't know who those characters are or where the images come from. There's a lot of terrific Southern Cross artwork in the book, however, much of which has never been published anywhere else. This piece is one of my favorites: The sketch in the book is rather monochromatic, so I added a lot of color overlays in Photoshop to create the image you see here. Hope you like it!
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Oh my gerd, there's a Robotech toy in there!
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I came to a similar conclusion. The Spartan's just a little too big... ...and yet, others have somehow managed to manipulate his thigh and ankle joints to make him appear shorter...
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Oh, the infamous Alaska Base shot from "Chinatown"? That was just a telecine error. The HD masters are much higher quality: The Spartan was clearly meant to be green to begin with. [ . . . ] Come to think of it, those old transfers may be responsible for the messed-up Tomahawk coloring as well...
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Where does this color scheme come from?
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No wonder you need more Regults!
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We can only hope and pray that, when Tomahawk pre-orders are finally solicited, they'll have promotional images of a properly-painted test shot to present... and the paint masters will be based on that, not this lavender-and-turquoise monstrosity!
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The infamous "egg-cracking" scene cut from Robotech due to excessively graphic violence: The articulation is top-notch, and does allow for some minor height adjustment. I agree, anyone who isn't getting the Spartan or didn't see Future Boy Conan is definitely missing out!
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Unfortunately, his gun pods were soon stolen by malcontents...
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Let's show these malcontents how we do things in MY town!
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No, wait! It's nothing a little forced perspective can't fix...! Oh, is that Robotech-specific nomenclature?
