ChristopherB

First of all, just because someone says "make me an offer" does not mean that they can't be trusted. The fact is, the seller is one of two things: Honest or Dishonest The method by which he sells by is irrelevant, because you can be screwed over just as easily by someone that states a fixed selling price. We can all list plenty of examples of people that have been taken advantage of, but I submit that the majority were via set price listings. If someone is here to rip people of, that is what they will try to do. All I'm trying to say is that it doesn't make sense to automatically associate "make me an offer" with a higher probability of theft/dishonesty. I'm an "old timer" and I've sold a ton of items here on MW, primarily via set price. I recently listed several items via (1) thread and allowed people to make me an offer on the items. Guess what, the customers got a fair price, and all of my items sold for an amount I was happy with. It worked out flawlessly, there was no bidding or anything of the sort. No one was screwed over or taken advantage of. Second of all, there is a difference between "make me an offer" and eBay. Just because you say "make me an offer" doesn't mean people are going to bid against each other. I might have a certain price in mind for an item, but I'm willing to take less, but wouldn't mind more, who wouldn't mind making a profit. The person makes an offer, and we go from there. It's a win - win situation for both people. Even when I provide a set price, people still PM me with offers. That's human nature my friend. It's also called "Haggling." Honest people should have the option to decide if they want to set a price or invite offers. Don't paint "make me an offer" with such a broad brush that it is related to being ripped off, or an auction. Auction sites charge fees, MW doesn't, auction sites allow "reserves", "Buy it Now" and hundreds of other differences. I strongly disagree with the suggestion that requiring sellers to set a price is going to somehow stop or even mitigate the possibility of people being taken advantage of. It's the seller you have to worry about, not his selling method. You're going after a branch of the tree, not the root of the problem. All buyers have to do is use common sense and check references or don't buy from that person. I seem to recall that the majority of the bad sales had nothing to do with people making offers, but rather sellers taking money and not sending the item. I challenge someone to research the bad sales and back-up their assertion with some facts. Otherwise, 9 out of 10 rip-offs are related to paid items not being mailed. How do you propose to fix that, but closing the 'For Sale" section? Maybe honest people like me sometimes wan't to sell only to MW fans, maybe we don't really like eBay or feel like losing money to their fees? As an honest established seller, I have a right to sell via set price or make me an offer.

I agree with trueblueeyes & JsARCLIGHT. Just PM your nomination to one of the Mods., and they can decide if the title is warranted/appropriate. I think it's neat, because a custom member title can show you how someone else perceives you, perhaps in a way that you never really thought of. It can be fun and an eye opener at the same time.

Sounds like a cool idea to me. Max says "members that are well known..." Any one can spam or use one liners to get a high post count, and if an arbitrary "post" count level is set, then you'll encourage people to post for no other reason than to get to that level. Base it upon longevity. I would trade (20) members that post 1,000 times and then disappear from MW in (1) year, for (1) contributing MW member that sticks around through thick and thin and has intelligent things to say. It's a nice way to reward members that are true Macross fans, because we've all seen people with high post counts come and go.

I missed seeing that. Definitely convenient. If I remember correctly, the window that was broken was at the front of the bridge. I don't recall seeing that their view was blocked by any metal bulkheads. I'll just have to content myself to wait until it's released on DVD. Here in the Philippines, that only takes a few days.

Hello, I saw the movie last night and really enjoyed it. I'm confused about a scene in the beginning, and my inability to rewind so I could figure out what happened caused me to keep thinking about it for a while. When Anakin and Obi Wan are fighting against General Grievous on the bridge of his ship, he takes out a weapon and shots it through one of the main windows of the bridge. His gun has a hook which he uses to attach to the ship so he isn't sucked into space, and then he reenters the ship and exits again via a escape pod. I remember seeing Anakin, Obi Wan and even Emperor Palpatine fighting to remain on the bridge and hold on so they don't get sucked into space. (reminds me of the part in Aliens where the Queen is sucked out of the cargo hold) Next thing I know, the bridge glass is completely intact, and the are crash landing. I know about movie magic, but I've never seen a spaceship designed where a replacement piece of glass slides into place, or something like that. Once it's gone, it's gone for good. So, what happened? How did they suddenly go from fighting for their lives to remain in a ship where the artificial environment is being sucked out into the void of space, to sealing the bridge again? The extreme heat from the reentry into earth's atmosphere should have fried them. Sincerely, Christopher

Thank you very much for the information. Do you think we'll ever see a GP03 and/or a Buster Gundam?

Hello, Pardon my ignorance. I've been keeping my eye on this thread since it started, because I'm a big Gundam fan and fan of the FIX figures, but I'm confused about something. It would appear that only "good" guy Gundams fall under the FIX line, since Bandai created the separate Zenography line of figures. They are all FIX figures, but separate. I also believe that all the figures are supposed to be 1/144 scale, which is slightly bigger than the MSIA? So, the next release is the XI "Penelope" Gundam, which I thought was part of the Gundam Seed storyline. Please correct me if I'm wrong. If that is correct, it would appear Gundam Seed will be included in the FIX line. If that is the case, why has Bandai started yet another pseudo-FIX line via the "Cosmic Region Force Impulse Gundam?" I saw one of them in a store here, and it looked really similar to the FIX figures, and costs the same price. Why not give it all of the FIX figure goodies, the box, display stand and so forth, rather than start a new line? So, we have MSIA, MSIA Extended, FIX, Zenography, and now yet another line of 1/144 figures? Of course improvements to figures are great (MSIA to MSIA Extended), but FIX is supposed to be the ultimate "MSIA" line. Will Bandai release a FIX Force Impulse Gundam at a later date just to make more money? This isn't meant to be rant, I'm just trying to figure things out rather than buy a psuedo-FIX now, when I could wait for the real deal. Thank you in advance for any clarification you might provide. Christopher

Wow, definitely a nice looking kit. I really like the camouflage Hasegawa VT-1 as well.

Yes, it was a prize from the MW Con. I decided to sell it to a friend before I went overseas. It looks like he decided to sell it as well, so hopefully it has found a loving home.

I saw the Force Protection "Buffalo" when I was in Iraq, but I had no idea what it was until now. Thank you for the link. It's definitely an interesting looking vehicle.

Chad, I know it's hard to tell from the pictures, but they are lightly weathered, but certainly not battle damaged or anything like that. Something I still want to become better at. Later, Christopher

You are correct Chad, and I still do. Because of where I live, I'm not able to do any painting whatsoever. I already tried, and it wasn't practical. I have several resin kits that I've puttied, sanded and prepped, but I'll have to wait until I move to complete them. Not only that, but my shading/weathering/panel lining skills are lacking. All of the previous kits I built came out looking brand new.

As I said, the VF-1D is the best kit to use, although I personally prefer the VE-1 cockpit and noseone, which is what I would use should a conversion kit become available. The picture of the model posted above shows that it is non-transformable, and that separate battroid and valkyrie models were created. The anime magic is evident as well in that the dish shown on the valkyrie is definitely smaller than the battroid radar dish. I've exchanged several PM's with the creator of this thread based upon my experience with custom projects and as usual someone would have to commit to scratchbuilding the parts and then the casting could begin.

And this thread pertains to "model kits" in what way?

Today's Friday the 13th, so I though it might be fitting to check and see if there are any updates. I wasn't sure if any progress had been made in the last (30) or so days.

Same as Graham, except I haven't seen him post pictures of any Hasegawa's built by him or someone else. I buy at least (1) of each kit released to collect, and then as needed I buy kits to be made. Pictures of the completed kits can be seen here in the model section. The quality of the kits and the boxart are what really tempts me when it comes to Hasegawa releases.

Wow, thank you very much for posting the pictures! I would love to see the other kits in the background as well. They must be Hasegawa kits.

Cool, yet another item to look forward to. As Graham said, it will be nice to finally have the wing mounted weapons. The VF-0 looks pretty non-leathal without them.

I would definitely have to say a custom with this level of quality would not "ruin" an original, regardless of whether it is or not. In my opinion, the original isn't that great to begin with, so he has certainly improved the appearance. I would however like to add that an application of dull coat will lessen the shine and help give it a more realistic appearance.

So much animosity over opinions. What the hell is the definition of a wanker anyway? While the conotation is apparent, I think it's also a British/Australian term. By the way, if I remember correctly: Sand Pebble One = Yamato Hater = Skull-1 . You've been a member for quite a while. I recall you had a bad experience with a Yamato 1/48 (cockpit canopy/etc.) The green used on the chestplate is too light, and what makes it worse is the fact that the green used on the rest of the valkyrie doesn't match. Taking into account that a lot of the darker green used emanates from decals, the heatshield would've been repainted. As such, it makes no sense for him to have used (2) different greens. It's pretty easy to bring the decals with you to the hobby store and match the color to a specific paint.

This is definitely great news! I never imagined we would see additional 1/48 variations besides those already released or planned (GBP-1).

Vitja, You did a really good job on both customs. Thank you for making them, they are definitely appreciated, as well as all of the hardwork/dedication you put into them. Sincerely, Christopher

I have to agree that it might be easier to use a Hasegawa VF-1D kit as opposed to the VE-1, especially since no armor is needed. However, if the VEFR-1 head is similar or the same as the VE-1 head, we would then want to use a VE-1 kit since it can be built with the legs in the normal non-fastpack position. Unless of course a resin head is provided. In this case, I wonder how the radar dish attaches to the body. I remember discussing this quite a while back, but there aren't a lot of reference pictures, so some details will have to be improvised. It would be cool to have a conversion kit in 1/72 scale, and it would be a first.

Thank you Devin. Your decals are really nice, and made these customs possible. Besides the numerial difference, the customs themselves will be different. I'm referring to the blue hexagon camouflage pattern. Very difficult due to all of the paint/masking required, but Thomas has devised an ingenious method.

One of my favorites: Blue Roses VF-1S Strike (dark blue with yellow trim, the armor is a slightly lighter shade of blue to help offset the valkyrie and armor from each other.) I came up with the idea that the rose color should match the predominate color of the valkyrie. The VE-1 Elintseeker has a green rose, and this one has a blue rose. I decided to go without missiles to keep the look sleek and agile. As with the others, all standard and applicable VF-1D PE parts are used.