David Hingtgen

The "S" part of the F-15's FAST pack (Fuel And Sensor Tactical) never came to be, but it was going to be for reconnaisance--cameras, IR imagery, etc. The F-14 ironically did get a special recon pod--the TARPS pod.

There's really only one person who gives out titles----"he who hates everyone".

I have a single 1/48 of my fave valk (Milia) but everything else is 1/60. I'm a huge fan of "consistent scale".

::counts the dots::

Navy modexes are traditionally thusly: 1xx---First fighter squadron VF 2xx---Second fighter squadron VF 3xx---First light attack squadron VA 4xx---Second light attack squadron VA 5xx---First heavy attack squadron VA 6xx---Second heavy attack squadron VA (And they all have assigned colors, too---1 is red, 2 is yellow, 3 is blue, 4 is green, 5 is orange) Nowadays they're all just "VFA Fighter-Attack squadrons with Hornets". The last pair of digits is the individual plane. 00 is for the CAG, 01 is for the squadron commander. 02 is the squadron XO. 03+ are for regular squadron members. 08 and 09 aren't used. "Fast Eagle 100" would (for most of the history of the F-14) be the Black Aces' CAG *plane* but doesn't mean the CAG is flying it (odds are low, with a half-dozen planes or more designated for the CAG, but there's only one CAG). PS---no Navy squadron has the radio callsign "Ghost Rider", despite Top Gun---not even the Ghost Rider squadron. Squadron name and callsign rarely agree--here's some I know: Black Aces: Fast Eagle Jolly Rogers: Victory Ghost Riders: Dakota Satan's Kittens: Hellcat Swordsmen: Gypsy Bounty Hunters: Bullet Tomcatters: Felix Tophatters: Camelot

IIRC, nearly every place taking Wii/PS3 pre-orders, pretty clearly states that a pre-order merely guarantees a system AT SOME POINT, not a launch-day one. Being #1 on the list, you should EXPECT to get one on launch day, but even that's not for sure. #12? Could be launch day, could be the next week, or next month. No different than 360 pre-orders were---they were hard to find for months, but the people who pre-ordered yet still didn't get them on launch day usually got them within 4-6 weeks of launch, vs the people who didn't pre-order and might hunt for months before finding one.

Nothing's "permanent". If it was added, it can be removed. Interesting, the law specifies the color---FS12199. That's "Coast Guard Orange".

I think people are confusing personal callsigns and radio callsigns. If someone's callsign is "Pig" (fairly common) they may be called Pig for years and years---but their radio callsign can change every flight---it may be "Fast Eagle 107" one day, and "Dakota 202" the next.

This pic: http://www2.moeyo.com/img/rev/06/11/12/r1/rl29.JPG shows a sticker for the fuselage kite. It's more subtle than the ejection triangles, but still a sticker.

Graham's back!--it's been like 3 days. He was probably playing with his new, final-version YF-19 all this time...

Having to move the legs for the FAST packs almost seems like a design error. They are supposed to be small enough to fit as-is, that's how Kawamori designed it. Did Yamato try to make them VF-1 sized for some reason, then change the YF-19 to fit?

UN Spacy---the legs twisting outwards at the hips?

Nice, I like it a lot. Some day I'll have to take mine beyond the "removed from sprue and sanded the intake halves" stage. Is that the first one we've actually seen built as a 2-seater here at MW?

I'd guess more like $100, if they're at BestBuy... Launch dates are almost as bad as the "November mass game releases" we have. Nothing for half the year, now EVERY game you want comes out in a 6 week period...

Oooh, Battle 7 would rock. And then they could release a City 7 add-on for like 100,000 Yen... Battle 7 not only looks cooler, it has MAX commanding it!

I've been holding off on buying the GBA remakes of the NES/SNES Super Mario games, hoping they'd be on the Wii. But since none are in the first batch(es), now I'm thinking they're not going to be (at least for a while) so as not to hurt sales of the GBA versions. What we really need is Mario All Stars 2-- 1 through 4, and Yoshi's Island. For GC/Wii.

The YF-19 was accepted as-is for the VF-19A, then heavily redesigned for the later VF-19F and VF-19S. Kind of like how the F-18A/B/C/D Hornet had about 90% of its structure changed to become the F-18E/F Super Hornet. Same basic name and designation, but actually only "looks similar" and doesn't share many parts.

I thought I read the PS3 is actually transparent black, but so "barely" transparent it's almost impossible to tell from opaque black.

Basically---yup. Painting is done last. Think about all the aircraft models with camoflage--the camoflage doesn't follow panel lines or subassemblies at all. Mask mask mask... And Tamiya masking tape is worth the price.

Nani--the VF-19A Excalibur is identical to the YF-19. It's the VF-19F and S Blazer valks, and VF-19Kai Fire valk that are so different.

Half of Yamato's VF-1's are non-canon repaints, do you really think they wouldn't make the best-known canon repaint? We'll probably also get low-vis, stealth, and Roy VF-19's...

"- Engadget has revealed some technical details on PlayStation 3. The PS3 BluRay drive is quieter than the DVD Drive on Xbox 360 " I should hope so!

Anyone see the additional Virtual Console games? (unconfirmed, but the ESRB just rated them, as they're too old to have been rated earlier) * Duck Hunt (E for Everyone) * Hogan’s Alley (E for Everyone) * Kid Icarus (E for Everyone) * Kirby’s Adventure (E for Everyone) * Pilot Wings (E for Everyone) * Pro Wrestling (E for Everyone) * Punch-Out (E for Everyone) * Wild Gunman (E for Everyone) * Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars (Super NES; rated E for Everyone) * Kirby’s Super Star (Super NES; rated E for Everyone) * Mario Kart 64 (Nintendo 64; rated E for Everyone) * Starfox 64 (Nintendo 64; rated E for Everyone) * Super Metroid (Super NES; rated E for Everyone) * Kirby’s Dream Land 3 (Super NES; rated E for Everyone) * The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time (Nintendo 64; rated E for Everyone) * Excitebike (NES; rated E for Everyone) * Ice Climber (NES; rated E for Everyone) * Dr. Mario (NES; rated E for Everyone) * Mario Brothers (NES; rated E for Everyone) * Ice Hockey (NES; rated E for Everyone) * Soccer (NES; rated E for Everyone)

Haven't checked ARC today, have to go see. That'd be the best thing ever---I always figured they'd might be back as a Super Hornet squadron, or even F-35.

Now to see what UPS will do. My bet is cancelling the A380 for 747AdvF's.