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mikeszekely

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Everything posted by mikeszekely

  1. mikeszekely
    No, it's not horrific. I really don't mind stickers (my favorite kits are RGs, after all) and I've come to expect that I'll have to do a little painting. And it certainly benefits from modern HG engineering. My beefs are more that it's just kind of meh compared to other recent HGs like Turn A, Victory, F91, and Crossbone, which I've thought were pretty great. Heck, Victory I liked so much I'm probably going to get the V-Dash, and F91 I liked so much I'm toying with the idea of getting the Harrison Martin colored F91 (even though I think it's actually the Federation colors, not Martin's which has more white... I guess I could get two and paint one to be the correct Martin colors...). That and the fact that, overall, I just don't think the G-Self (the mecha, not the kit) is that great of a design.
  2. mikeszekely
    That looks a lot better than the default colors, Hikuro. I take it you're getting a good handle on that airbrush? Well, I 99.9% finished the G-Self. Everything's built, but I'm not satisfied with how the beam rifle came out yet. I need to touch up the white a little more, and figure out how to do the blue lines (seriously, they give you UV-glow blue stickers for every glow-part on the actual Gundam, including when that's blue stickers on blue plastic, but nothing for the beam rifle?). Fortunately, until I'm satisfied, I can just pose it with a beam saber instead and call it a night. In this picture, you can see a lot of the black I added to the legs, although the arms aren't really turned for you to see what I did there. Likewise, you can kind of see how I painted the shoulder thrusters and head vulcans. Sadly, you can't see how I painted the intakes and exhausts on the wings of the backpack. And that was all I painted on the backpack, aside from some panel lines. From everything I can see, the F91-style thrusters on the back and the thrusters under the white fins are all molded in gray and gray inside... which is how they're supposed to be. What bothered me more, though, is the side that plugs into the G-Self's back. There are spots that look like they're missing some kind of detail, if only the UV-glow blue spots, but I can't find a single picture of that side of a painted model, a colored line art, or an animation still for that side of the pack. Overall, I'm pretty lukewarm on the kit. It's got one of the largest sticker sheets I've seen for an HG kit, and despite that there's still so much detail that isn't stickered or painted. Like many other recent HG kits, it also has the same loose connection at the waist that makes the torso pop off when you handle it. Also, the neck armor doesn't connect to anything, really, so it can spin around the polycap independent of the head or torso, which is just irritating. And most of all, I haven't watched any G-Reco yet. I have no attachment to the G-Self that might make me overlook the design. There's things I like about the G-Self... the glowy blue bits, the kinked beam saber handles, the blue feet, the red part of the torso, and the atmospheric pack, which totally reminds me of the Aile Striker pack, if the Aile Striker pack weren't so ridiculously over-designed. I especially love the F91-style thrusters on the pack, as the F91 is one of my favorite UC designs. I don't really care for the chunky knees or the upper torso, especially the rounded chest vents, and I really dislike the G-Self's bug head. So I don't know... get it if you're into G-Reco, or if you really want the hero Gundam from every Gundam show. Otherwise maybe pass.
  3. mikeszekely
    Stopped by a TRU on the way home from lunch with the wife. I was pleased to see that they had a ton of Combiner Wars (stuff that's non-existant at the local Walmarts and Targets), but all the deluxes are wave 1, and they had no voyagers. They had both leader Megatrons, though. I grabbed the IDW/G1 version. In hand, he looks a lot better than a lot of the promo pics. Good ratcheting joints, although the legs are hindered by a crotch plate that honestly serves no purpose, and he's got next to nothing in terms of ankles. Lots of silver paint, which is nice, and head looks good, although the face is very animated G1. He's got a pretty simple transformation and he's a little large compared to other CHUGs, which makes me think I'll still use Hegemon with them. I almost think he'd have made a better voyager... at that size/price, I'd probably buy the Armada repaint, too, but not at the leader scale. Despite the simple transformation, he's pretty solid, and I think the designer did a pretty good job of making a very G1-ish Megatron that turns into one of the better tanks I've played with. The turret even rotates 360 degrees, although due to the transformation the barrel can't move up and down. At the leader scale, though, you'd think they'd have built some flaps on his arms that could cover the top of the turret. I give them credit for molding some black parts on the sides of his legs that are reminiscent of the grips on G1 Megatron's legs. It's hard for me to say if I'd recommend him or not. There are better 3rd party options if you want a voyager (Hegemon) or Masterpiece (Apollyon), but obviously this Megatron is much cheaper. And, this is probably the best "classic" Megatron that Hasbro/Takara has made, especially since almost every other release since the first Classics nerf gun has been a Deluxe. If you want a CHUG Megatron that towers over his minions, this is the one to get... as long as you don't mind him really towering. He comes up to a Combiner Wars combiner's chest or so.
  4. mikeszekely
    Looks good, David. You have me rethinking my policy of only panel lining HGs (ok, technically I panel lined the RG Zeta 3 already, but that's the only RG I've panel lined). As for the G-Self, since I breezed through the legs and hips so fast, when my pregnant wife decided to turn in early I thought I might finish tonight. Turns out, I was overly optimistic. While the legs and hips only needed minimal painting (honestly, you could pretty much get away without doing it if you didn't feel like it) the arms, head, and back needed a lot more work. Basically, several verniers (four on each side of the arms, plus another line on the back of the arms, and oddly, spots that may or may not be verniers on the sides of the head), which I expected since that's mostly what needed painting on the legs and hips, and head vulcans, which I've also come to expect on HG Gundams. More frustratingly, though, are three yellow-trimmed thrusters on each shoulder. And they're a pain, because my technique for nice neat verniers is to slap the paint on, let it dry just a little, then gently scrape off the excess with the back of my hobby knife. When the verniers are pits the paint in the pits stay and the paint above it is removed. But the edges of the shoulder thrusters aren't clearly delineated, plus if you don't do the second color neatly you can't really scrape it to get neater edges without removing the first color, too. I did the best I could, but I think it looks a little sloppy. Finally, while the instructions don't even show the G-Self's back without the atmospheric pack, a quick check online showed the G-Self's packless back to have quite a bit of black detail and even a little gray, so I painted all that. As of right now, the G-Self is done, minus the hands, wrists, weapons, shield, and atmospheric pack. Figuring that there's going to be more painting involved (the box art shows some white and gold on the gun, at least), I'm calling it a night. I can finish tomorrow sometime.
  5. mikeszekely
    I don't know about running, but the clear coat I used will thin it out or dull the metallic finish, yeah. It may be the clear coat that I used, though; maybe Nekko knows of a different kind that works better. I have Tamiya TS-13 Clear. Here's a katana I did for the HG Sengoku Astray. The entire katana was molded in white; aside from the sticker on the hilt, I did the rest of the hilt in gold sharpie and the blade in silver then clear coated. Another option it to not clear coat it (or if you're clear coating anyway, do that first). The sharpie may rub off a bit when handling, but it's easily re-applied. Here's a wheel on Combiner Wars Optimus Prime I touched up with the silver sharpie. The entire wheel was black before. This wheel isn't clear coated, and despite playing with Optimus the sharpie has stayed on pretty well. My advice is to give it a shot; they're not expensive (Staples currently has them on special, with a bronze, gold, and silver in one pack for $3). You can try them first one a piece of the leftover runner. For example, if the part you wanted to paint over was red, try the sharpie on the leftover red runner first. You see how it looks, and how well it stays on when it's dry. You can also spray over it with your clear coat to see how that affects it. If you don't like the results there, you can still use your Gundam marker, and the sharpies may be useful somewhere else.
  6. mikeszekely
    That's why I usually use the metallic Sharpies. Anyways, I started building the G-Self. I'm not following the order from the instructions, as RGs have taught me the joy of working from the feet up. It's a pretty simple kit, and I managed to built, sticker, and detail the legs and waist. When I'd finished, I thought it seemed smallish, like F91-sized, but comparing it to my other models indicates that it should be closer in size to the RX-78. I'm digging that it comes with a lot of stickers, yet I still find stuff that needs painted (black on the backs of the feet and the leg and butt verniers, white on the backs of the ankles, etc). I think Hikuro might have mentioned this before, too, but the light-effect blue parts seem too dark, especially if the parts with the blue and black stickers behind them. While the kit is failing to wow me, I do kind of dig the design of the G-Self. Not sure if I'll buy the space pack for it, though.
  7. mikeszekely
    Thanks for the heads up! I grabbed a couple PSOne games. And Katamari Damacy.
  8. mikeszekely
    Az summed it up pretty well. 250GB isn't a ton of space, especially if you're using Windows 7 (I have a 128GB, and I'm looking to upgrade because I'm nearly full). Just tell Windows when you install that it can use the whole thing for C: and it'll handle the rest. In addition to Windows, without knowing what programs you use or how many, I'll say it's generally ok to install most programs on that drive, unless they're very large. Programs that autoload in the background and programs that do a lot of read/write operations especially, as that will give you the most speed at startup, but even stuff like your web browser can launch faster. I don't recommend putting any games on that drive. Games tend to take up the most space, and you really get the most boost out of the SSD when the game launches. Once it's up and running, the benefits are negligible. You can install Steam, Origin, Uplay, or whatever on C: and still point their game folders to the other drive. (Dunno if they patched it or not, but Uplay actually wouldn't work unless it was on C:). I'm assuming you know this, but I'll repeat it anyway for anyone else reading this thread that doesn't, but in Windows 7/8/10 you can create folders in other locations for stuff like Documents, Music, and Pictures, then tell Windows that the appropriate Libraries should both include those folders and use them as the default. This will help conserve space on the SSD.
  9. mikeszekely
    I'm not going to comment much on the story, because SEED/Destiny is my absolute least favorite Gundam series, populated by emotional idiots who constantly make their situations worse by making irrational decisions. I'm not a huge fan of the mecha designs in SEED/Destiny, either. Most of them tend to be over-designed, IMHO, with the worst being Gaia Gundam (who the heck needs a mobile suit that turns into a cat?) and Raider (lemme turn my backpack into a hat!). Even some of the hero ones, like Strike and Impulse... what's the sense of making a Gundam with a modular weapon system for different missions if you're just going to combine them (Perfect Strike, Destiny, Destiny Impulse) anyway? And I'll be honest, Justice and Infinite Justice? I suppose having a backpack that can turn into a flight system isn't too bad, but why not just give it wings like Freedom or make it variable like Saviour? I guess carrying a thing you can ride on your back half the time doesn't make a lot of sense to me. But what do I know, I'm a UC purist at heart. Honestly, my favorite mobile suit from the SEED series is Freedom. I like the small tweaks from the traditional Gundam color scheme, I like that the wings serve a purpose and aren't just a ridiculous decoration, I like Gundams with big beam cannons (see also F91, one of my favorite UC designs), I like the way the cannons integrate into the wings, and I like the large railguns on the hips. Strike Freedom was an overly-blingy downgrade, if you ask me. But yeah, the RG Justice model is cool. I like that, despite the Fatum's large size, Justice doesn't need as much space to be displayed as Freedom, Strike Freedom, Aile Strike, or Destiny with their wings spread out. Another bonus for those of us who keep spending money on new model instead of action bases is that the wing tips on the Fatum can reach the ground, giving Justice a little more stability that the other SEED RGs. The UC purist in me still likes the RG Mk-II and Zakus the best, though.
  10. mikeszekely
    Yeah, that's why I tend to not do UEFI updates unless I have a problem that might be corrected with one (like last night). And I figured the outage did something like that, but I also figured that changing the hard drive priority would be enough. It's really weird that the UEFI refused to see the SSD at all, through several reboots, until I changed SATA modes. In any case, the SSD is a 128GB drive that's got under 20GB free now (it was under 5, until I realized that NVIDIA keeps copies of old drivers when it updates), so I was figuring on shopping for a new one soon anyway. I'm also getting a little leery of Asus motherboards. My previous motherboard was an Asus, and it took forever to POST. It seems like they always have some quirk that diminishes my enjoyment of them.
  11. mikeszekely
    Asus. P8Z77-V.
  12. mikeszekely
    You can still fit in, and with less effort! I don't know about the Skygrasper, since it remains the only RG I haven't bought (because I can't justify $25-$30 for a little plane and some Striker packs). But the rest of the RG kits come with pilots in a standing pose. So, while all the RGs have cockpit doors and seats, the included pilots can't sit in them. That makes them useless for more than displaying next to the model, to give a sense of scale between a human and a mobile suit. Hence why all mine get bagged and stored with the other accessories I'm not using to display the models.
  13. mikeszekely
    So the power goes out, right? I go to reboot my computer and I get a "no boot device" message. Weird, right? It's happened before, though... I don't know if the power outage trips a jumper or something, but in the past occasionally the UEFI BIOS will reset the hard drive priority. I just go into the UEFI, change the priority back to the SSD, and I'm good to go... except this time, the SSD isn't showing up as an option. I check the SATA settings, and it's reporting that there is no device in the SATA port where that drive is. Bad port? I switch it with another hard drive. The other drive still shows up, and the SSD still doesn't. SATA III trouble? I try it in a SATA II port... still nothing. Bad cables? I remove the SSD and connect a hard drive I had in an enclosure, and the UEFI sees that fine. At this point, I'm thinking maybe my SSD died. I figure I'll put it in the enclosure and see if a different computer can read it. While I'm downstairs looking for my screwdrivers to take the SSD out of the drive cage/3.5" adapter, I burn an Ubuntu disc, thinking it might be easier to boot from a live CD and see if Ubuntu can see the drive, or maybe check for a firmware update. On a whim, I change the SATA settings from AHCI to IDE before doing anything with Linux. Magically, the UEFI totally sees the SSD now. I try booting, and Windows starts to load but blue screens. The computer reboots too fast to catch any error codes. I go back into the UEFI, switch back to AHCI, and thankfully it still sees all the drives. Reboot again, and everything's back up and running like normal. So... what the heck? Why would a computer that's worked fine since fall of 2012 suddenly decide that it couldn't see my SSD? Why'd changing from ACHI to IDE get the mobo to see the SSD again, and if the problem originally occurred in AHCI mode, why'd was it cool switching back? I guess I'm not really looking for an answer. I mean, if one of you guys has one, super, but I'm venting more than anything else. Oh, and I did find a newer firmware. After the update, the UEFI still sees the SSD, but changed the hard drive priority. I changed it to the SSD, and I'm still good. I'm kind of hoping my issue was a bug in the UEFI firmware and that it was fixed between the version I had and the version I updated to, but I suspect it's a mystery that I won't solve before replacing the entire thing.
  14. mikeszekely
    I don't. For all the models I've built, I keep any extra parts that I'm not displaying (usually stuff like beam saber blades if they're posing with rifles, or rifles if they're posing with beam sabers) in labeled baggies. The RG pilots go into the same baggies. Anyway... a dark shape is buzzing around my MP shelf... It's Psyco Gundam! Since David just built one, I figured Strike would be good for scale (both 1/144). Kira's thinking he needs a bigger knife... MP-10 defends the shelf! Psyco Gundam reluctantly retreats to the detolf. All in all, this was a really fun kit. Since I do HG and RG, I'm usually used to much smaller pieces. Combine that with the fact that Psyco Gundam is still an HG, with the simplicity that entails, and the thing was pretty easy to build even with the transformation gimmicks. The completed kit is also very solid. More than any other kit I've done, I feel more like I built an action figure than a model. Unlike the RG Zeta, transforming the Psyco Gundam is quite doable, although a transformer this is not. It's hands are just tucked into the cavity that you get from opening its torso, and it's legs are mostly kept in place by the friction of the joints. I doubt too many people build this kit for the mobile fortress mode, though. If I did have one complaint, is that the black is very black, with no color separation. This makes a lot of the molded details hard to see. On the whole, though, I'd definitely recommend this kit, and I'm lamenting the fact that they haven't done an HGUC Psyco Gundam Mk-II.
  15. mikeszekely
    Hard to get too excited. Iwata says they're not going to talk about NX until next year. If they do an E3-style reveal, it'll probably be another year out after that before release. That would give the Wii U a five year life cycle, which I'd have expected even if they hadn't casually tossed this out there this morning. (Assuming it is the Wii U's replacement, which seems likely given that they just refreshed their handheld.)
  16. mikeszekely
    I really dig that Gundam bay, but I have no room in my detolfs. I really should go to Ikea and pick up a third...
  17. mikeszekely
    Well, how often do you do excessive non-normal web browsing? If we go with the high side of normal, 70% is around 4.2GB, and since that 70% also includes Windows and any other background processes you're currently running, we'll ballpark it and say that you could double the number of browser windows/tabs you have open before hitting an 8GB ceiling. This is why most people are going to tell you that you don't really need 8GB. Unless you're actually going to hit 100% of 8GB you're not going to to see an appreciable difference between 8GB and 16GB. Which brings me to your second question, and you're going to get basically the same answer. Windows isn't really able to work off of the hard drive directly; it takes what it needs from the hard drive and loads it into the RAM, then works with it there. When you start your browser, it will load faster because an SSD is faster than the ol' spinning magnetic platter, but once the browser is loaded into the RAM there basically isn't a difference. The hard drive would only come into play again if you hit 100% of your physical memory, at which point Windows would would create virtual memory space on the hard drive. That would allow Windows to take files in the RAM that it thinks it might need, but not write now, and temporarily offload them onto the hard drive. An SSD would again be faster at it than the regular drive in that case, but again, it's only going to matter if you actually hit 100% of your physical memory. If you're not doing that now with 6GB, I very much doubt that you'll do it with 8GB. All that being said, far be it from me to discourage you from getting more RAM. Get whatever you feel comfortable with and can afford. My box currently has 16GB, and I was careful to make sure that's two slots of 8GB and two empties in case I want to upgrade to 32GB (which, like three years later, I haven't felt a need to do). It is entirely possible you'll find a browser extension you love but eats up memory, or other programs you'll want running in background, or just regular browser updates cause it to eat more memory. Just be aware that going above 8GB is future-proofing, not an immediate performance booster.
  18. mikeszekely
    Sorry, AL. I haven't even turned on my 360 since around Thanksgiving, and that was just because I took Rock Band to a party. And now that they've announced a next-gen Rock Band 4 with their intention to port all my songs to the Xbox One, my 360 might be finding it's way to the Closet of Forgotten Consoles with my Wii, PS2, and Dreamcast.
  19. mikeszekely
    To each his own, and I honestly hope you guys like it, but I think the fastest way for me to lose interest in a game is to slap Final Fantasy in the title. I loved the ones on the NES and SNES, and I liked the ones on the original PlayStation, but the last one I finished was X. Every Final Fantasy I've played since (that wasn't an awesome re-release, like the Final Fantasy IV Complete Collection on PSP) has ranged from "meh" to "this game is so awful I can't fathom how it got released in the first place).
  20. mikeszekely
    I have no idea if it's still on TV in the US anywhere, because I don't have cable. I do have Netflix and Amazon Prime Instant Video. All the seasons of all the Star Trek are on both, last I checked.
  21. mikeszekely
    Some of the lines look a little thick, but overall I think your Alex came out really well. I want an Alex, as I've always liked the design, but the age of the kit is a hurdle I don't care to overcome. Really want an RG Alex.
  22. mikeszekely
    Alright, thanks. Unfortunately I went to the hardware store near my house, and the finest stuff they had was only 400 grit. I wound up ordering some 1000 grit on Amazon. The packaging said it's for automotive use, but the reviews had a number of people saying they used them with models, so I hope it works. Unfortunately I have to wait until Tuesday for it to arrive and finish my Psyco Gundam.
  23. mikeszekely
    Ok, I've officially run into a problem. I have some pieces that make up the upper arms and part of the elbow joint, and they're molded in purple. The upper arm is purple, but the elbow should be white. As I did with the knees, I decided to spray paint them. I have a roll of what I thought was masking tape. I carefully taped off the stuff that should be purple, leaving only the parts that should be white exposed. Then I sprayed them with the same white Krylon Fusion paint I used on my Crossbone Maoh. Now, either the tape wasn't proper masking tape, or you can't use that masking tape with Krylon Fusion. Either way, the paint more or less melted through the tape and mixed with the adhesive, so when I pulled the tape off the parts that should be white were nice and white all right, but the purple areas had large splotches of white paint/adhesive mixture. They look pretty trashed. I tried cleaning the parts with rubbing alcohol and q-tips, but I don't think it's helped much. Is there anything you more knowledgeable guys can suggest that might fix this? Would a fine grit (maybe something like 600) sandpaper be ok? The purple areas are supposed to be smooth, if that helps.
  24. mikeszekely
    Psyco Gundam coming along fast. It's big, but it's an HG so it's naturally not complicated. It kind of reminds me of playing with Duplos after playing with Legos. I have the head, legs, and back half of the torso (minus the backpack) done. I have some paint drying on the emitters for the scattering mega particle cannons, and I'll leave them dry while I go out to dinner with the wife, then I should be able to finish the torso when I get home. I'm thinking it should be done by tomorrow at the latest. I just wish I could find decals for it.
  25. mikeszekely
    Well, maybe the Grid does exist in a vacuum. When ISOs started to spontaneously evolve, it's likely that Flynn may have wanted to take a "wait and see what happens" approach to the Grid. Even if he was inclined to upgrade it with more modern technology, he was trapped in the Grid in 1989. I mean, I get it if you think that it was a missed opportunity to take that approach, but the approach they took is logically consistent per the story.
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