David Hingtgen

Dat Pinche Haro (or Druna Skass, whoever's account you're using)----

Battleships were named for states, cruisers for cities. And Chicago had 2 ships in WW2 alone, like 4 this century. Detroit---only 2 I can think of. And all were cruisers, as the naming procedure goes.

There were no "bad-a$$" states really left to use. New York was already in use, as was Texas and California.

Now, the unbuilt biggest battleships were to be Montana class. But the rest of the class were to be New Hampshire, Maine, Ohio, and Louisiana. Not the largest, most awe-inspiring states.

Or in other words--it's pretty darn random. Nowadays it's pure politics (once congressmen found out how easy it was to re-name a ship, we started getting LOTS of sucky names, and out-of sequence ones--especially the new Virginia class, which everyone agrees should have been any of the other 49 states due to the OTHER Virginia still existing and recently being a front-line very famous class of ships)

F-111 rocks at what it wasn't designed to do. (Much like the F-15E)

And don't forget, the F-14 was based (sorta) on the F-111. Same idea, same requirement, just executed differently. It's like the YF-16 vs YF-17, and A-9 vs A-10, and YF-22 vs YF-23.

Basically, the F-14 is the F-111 done right. A large, heavy, high-speed long-range swing-wing interceptor with bad TF30 engines.

It's not coincidence Grumman's listed as an F-111 designer and pretty much used the F-111B as a testbed for the F-14's design.

Finally--the F-111 can easily outrun an F-14. It might not be able to turn worth $hit, but it can go sure go fast.

Just a note---Hasbro shortened the mufflers, too, not just the stacks. (As in, the thicker, bottom part--that's the muffler). The bottom of the muffler doesn't go as low as the Takara version.

Neither has as large a muffler as a real Freightliner FL86, but the Takara one is closer, and the stacks are sufficiently tall for a good chunk of trailers. (Not tall enough for Prime though---based on what he hauls, Prime should have the tallest stacks you can buy, short of custom-order extra-extra-tall)

I really wish the muffler's grill/guard would have been a separate piece, would have looked nice. And maybe have exhaust pipes connect to them...

I'll say it again--depends how you spell it.

Die-cast: adjective, describes a process.

Diecast: noun, means zinc alloy.

I've yet to hear of anyone removing his mask since the very first time it happened. There's the one guy who did, and we all looked at the pic. And nobody's done it since AFAIK. I think nobody wants to risk ruining it, since it sure doesn't seem to want to come off.

Just a note: the black gun DOES exist, there's now pics of them in US boxes. Wait for the next production run if you want the black gun. (Stacks are still short of course)

Gotta say I agree 100% with Hurin. Plus a little note:

It can depend on how you spell it. If you separate the words: "Die-Cast" or "Die Cast" it usually means the process. But it it's one word, it means "zinc alloy". (Except in Britain, where it tends to mean high-lead pewter--which Americans call white metal, unless it has a low lead content whereupon we call it pewter and British call it Britannia metal---hah! ). But used as a compound word it means metal, regardless of where you're from.

Just FYI, the specific alloy used for toys and models is known as zamac, for it is a Zinc Aluminum Metal Alloy Casting. 95% zinc, 4% aluminum, 1% copper, 1% misc.

::Ack, wrong style::

It'd be helpful if you told us what model kit you have, what you're trying to do with it, and how you plan to paint/ink it, if at all. I'm presuming you've got a kit molded in white plastic at this point. (Which REALLY should be painted---white plastic is usually pretty darn transparent, if you put anything dark anywhere, it'll show through to the other side)

Yup. Still haven't found a good way to do it. (As in, a way which doesn't stress/bend some parts so much I fear they'll snap or deform) You either have to really bend the blueish elbow peices, or make the forearms really scrape against each other and stress the shoulders. Neither way is very good.

Graham--you must get the OVA. It's totally different. I don't like the series much either. But the OVA is like the greatest story ever, IMHO. Beats EVA, Esca, Bebop, and even my beloved Xenogears. Beats any book I've read, too. (And beats all Macross, including Plus). And it beats all of the above music-wise too, even though I have multiple copies of some of those soundtracks so I can hear it in my car, at home, and on my PC.

PS--make sure it's the 4-part OVA, and not the movie based on the TV series.

Umm, why? If you're not going to paint it, why prime it? And I've never known anyone to put clear over primer.

Alternator Smokescreen's blue plastic is exactly like G1 Tracks. Color, gloss, etc.

GreenGuy--thanks, but I've been there before, and have more useful pics than they do All the good stuff is in expensive books, like always.

PS to everybody: the all-time coolest Navy pic ever is this overhead photo of the Iowa doing a full-broadside:

http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/images/...dod/8505379.jpg

Nothing like a 500ft-long visible concussion wave...

Mo had wavy patterns---32/22D. This is 32A/1B.

Also--yup, I've removed the 40mm quad mount on the #2 turret, and have built the new tub for the 3 20mm's. Need to finish the rest of the turret before I install the 20mm stuff.

Missouri's shakedown scheme: http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/images/...4000/k04576.jpg

And here's Iowa: (yes, the edges are feathered---that's January, I'm doing the Spring repaint, with sharp edges---there's no good photos online I can link to of that variation--though I have a few in books, including one of the very few full-color pics of the Iowa in that camo)

Yes, that part of the hull is 100% Tamiya Missouri. Althought since all the Tamiya kits use the New Jersey's hull (misfit of the class, boy can I rant on that) it took a bit of shaving and sanding to get a non-NJ hull out of it. Most of the work converting it will be above decks. There's many dozens of hours already put into the superstructure and guns to make the Iowa from the Missouri. (Even had to buy new planes for the catapults).

Plus of course, expensive aftermarket resin and brass stuff. (Not super-detailing stuff, flat-out "necessary for the conversion" stuff). I am not going to go all-out and do etched brass railings, individually turned barrels, etc. I do not have that level of skill. But I am doing EVERY thing that makes the Iowa unique. Door by door, vent by vent. I'm just not applying 4 layers of screens into those vents, nor adding brass handles to said 4mm tall doors, like some people who put 10,000 hours into them do.

Optimus isn't an alternator. But knowing Takara, there'll be 5 or 6 repaints at least of him.

As for Silverstreak: I think he looks much better than Smokescreen. (I hate stickers/logos on cars--whether rally or rice)

Silverstreak car mode pic:

http://www.hasbro.com/transformers/images/..._vehicle_lg.jpg

Robot mode:

http://www.hasbro.com/transformers/images/...ws/81309_lg.jpg

Massive spoilers of course. Anyways----I'm going through again (not going for 100%, I have better things to do--but I do want like 99% to see all the stuff I missed) and either I never saw the explanation, or I totally forgot, but a big question I have while going through again is:

Why/how does the Awesome sphere show *Tidus and Yuna* getting shot in front of Vegnagun? By the end we know that that happened to Shuyin and Lenne and leads to a lot of things, but why does the the sphere play back Tidus and Yuna?

(Yes, I tried every place I could think of to look, but there's no "things you wonder about" FAQ--and gamefaqs's board has about 99,000 posts and isn't searchable)

Over on the A.T.T. newsgroup I suggested the Kiyodotai squadrons as the best real schemes possible for Decep F-15's. There's one that's half black and half grey--a good Skywarp. Just make the robot parts purple and you're set. And there's several deep blue/grey ones---Thundercracker. The only problem is Starscream. For that, it'd probably be best to "fudge" a bit and use the F-15ACTIVE scheme--white/red/blue, which is close as you'll get to grey/red/blue.

Also, the F-15 is the best choice period for a TF, due to its fuselage/intakes being a box, with wings and stabs and nose tacked on. F-14/F-16 are the worst choice due to fuselage shape. F-18 would be decent, but the F-15 is still the best. F-22 would be ok, as it is boxy, but more like a trapezoid.

I have hope this'll be the case, for they're probably the most famous planes in Japan--home of Takara.

Here--anyone else agree with these for Skywarp and Thundercracker? (At least as far as real schemes go--there are no metallic blue F-15's with red stripes and black fins)

Closeup, showing the hull better. (And apologies for overall pic conditions--midnight in winter isn't the best lighting---plus anything with a 10:1 length:width ratio is just plain hard to shoot at any angle)

And just to make it possibly somewhat on-topic, if there's ever a model of the Asuka, I think I'm one of the few here who models modern warships and can help with them.

Yes, this is the model which is 3 Yammies long and 1 Yammie tall with room for a VF-11 on the fantail.

Anyways, Well, I actually haven't progressed on it for a few months now (can't airbrush in the snow) but I figured I'd take some pics before I box it up for the winter. Just the hull's done, it'll be a while before the whole thing's done. Like, maybe in November. Will do the main deck next, then the superstructure, and finish with the guns/turrets.

So here she is at the moment. Camo scheme is MS.32a/1b, one of the rarest there is. And it changed a lot. I'm doing her as she appeared "after January but before June". Looked different from this in Jan, different in June.

Colors are 1943 version of 5L Light Grey, and pre-neutral 5B Navy Blue. (The light grey is actually quite bluish, hard to tell in the pic. And yes, that is actual Navy Blue as used by the US Navy for camo paint, not navy blue like your coat) Navy Blue is VERY grey.

I built my PG Zero, but didn't paint it. Just inked it. (Well, I painted the gold parts, as plain yellow just didn't look good). Also messily dry-brushed all the internal parts with various brass, steel, and aluminum colors. *Messily* drybrushed--I didn't highlight distinct areas or parts, merely added some "color". It's all covered up 99% of the time anyways, no point in making it look good. (Kind of along the lines of people who REALLY detail the rudder pedals in a cockpit---you can't see it without a dental mirror and a penlight)

I decided to leave the wings as-is (as opposed to my 1/100's pearlescent white wings), as I decided there'd be no way to get the effect I really wanted, without having them internally lit with electroluminescent wire... (which wasn't going to happen).

Yes, there will be repaints. They will likely have a repaint of every single mold based on what's been said. Also minor mold tweaks for the repaints. The first will be Silver(blue)streak. He will be remolded so that he's a perfectly normal Impreza, not a rally version. New spoiler, new front fascia/grill, foglights, wheels, roof, rear window defogger, side-mirrors, etc. A good dozen changes. And he'll be silver. With a new head.

None of the above. I want fighter and battroid to be as good as possible, and that usually means swapping parts. Swapping a FEW parts to get MUCH better modes is a good thing. Swapping a LOT of parts just to transform is bad, but the VF-0 isn't that.

Look at the nigh-perfect 1/72 YF-19 model featured in Modelgrafix. It transforms and is far better than any other YF-19. Why/how? Because it swaps a FEW, CRITICAL parts that just wouldn't work any other way. If it couldn't swap a part or two, one mode or the other would be quite off. But because it does, we get a perfect fighter and an awesome battroid, with only the "groin" being inaccurate. (And a larger scale could probably have enough room to fix that). Sometimes you just gotta swap a part, when Kawamori draws the fighter and battroid mode versions of that part completely different.

For a name, I vote Myung. (Because it's close to Miang).

Anyways---Graham--anything you can share with us regarding any sort of Mac+, YF-19 etc news? And I'll second (third?) a request for a VF-0D.

Finally--my guess for the reason it's 1/100 is so that it's easier to sell an upcoming 1/48. I mean, it'd be a lot easier to sell 1/48 VF-1's if there wasn't a diecast 1/60 available as well. By making a VF-0 which has swappable parts, no diecast, and is much cheaper, it's easier for Yamato to sell both. Just my guess. People would complain if they did like the VF-1 with similar 1/60 and 1/48, but this way there's a lot of difference, and everyone's happy.