Jump to content

kajnrig

Members
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    4913

  • Joined

  • Last visited

 Content Type 

Everything posted by kajnrig

  1. kajnrig
    I bought this guy a couple months ago and it only just now showed up (lesson learned: never ship by boat again). In the meantime I'd forgotten what I wanted it for, so I snapped it together and quickly reminded myself of the many MANY reasons I despise the Bandai VF-25 kit. Not pictured: 1) the stupid over-engineering resulting in 2) everything misaligned with everything else and 3) the very precise position I had to put the legs in in order to get everything to finally line up (no thanks very much, instruction manual!). Kitbash with the Hasegawa kit? Fixed Battroid mode kit? What to do, what to do...
  2. kajnrig
    I actually wonder about this a lot of the time, too. The same tropes are ridiculously popular there, and it doesn't seem like "good storytelling" is anything even remotely approaching a priority for the Japanese. ...but then I have to take a step back and realize how limited my perspective on their pop culture is, and how it probably actually mirrors our own to a phenomenal degree. From what I've gleaned thanks to this show's meme-ness (Power Rangers kid here), the ratings sucked, so the producers abruptly canceled the show, giving either one season or one episode to wrap everything up. The writers, knowing that they had been given an impossible task, basically decided "frakk it" and did whatever they wanted.
  3. kajnrig
    I dunno if that's a typo or not, but I'm actually liable to agree. They're presented in the show more as really close/intimate friends even though they're ostensibly in a romantic relationship. That's not a bad idea, now I think about it... Maybe she and Makina can be backup members of Walkure, there to sing when needed. If Mirage found her way into Walkure too like I thought she would be, a reserve group wouldn't be a bad way to ease her into the role. Well, the group IS more or less just for singing. The paramilitary/covert ops missions they went on were silly and never felt fully-realized. Underdeveloped, indeed. But I was talking about their potential, not the realization of said potential. If these movies are a chance to retell the story, it's a chance to better realize what these characters could be.
  4. kajnrig
    Is your order still sitting in the Open Orders section? Likely they've been trying to get more stock to fulfill more orders, thus why they didn't contact you just yet. Once they were reasonably sure they wouldn't be able to fulfill the order, then they would let you know they have to cancel your order. It's what they did for me when a model kit I ordered was discontinued. It's a bit of a damned if you do, damned if you don't situation, I think. If they had let everyone know they were short on stock and were working on getting more, likely a lot of people would cancel their preorders and they would end up with more restock than they need to fulfill orders. At least this way they know exactly how many orders they need, though yeah it does result in some irritated customers. That said, kudos on it all working out in the end.
  5. kajnrig
    If they go this route, ie Freyja "wins" the triangle but their relationship is short-lived, I'd hate for them to then make Mirage the rebound. She has too much potential as a character to be relegated to that role, though I have a sinking feeling that that's exactly how it would play out. For "romance's" sake. I actually think she and Messer could work well, in a sort of sex-only relationship that is much more about pragmatism than romance. They both have physical urges but have distaste for the social practices that come with it. It would fit well with their existing character traits (and make for more soap opera material, of course). Then maybe as the series progresses they start to realize that maybe there's more between them than they care to admit, and Hayate only complicates things further. It would at least help to reframe Messer's dickishness toward Hayate: maybe he's jealous, or maybe he sees what Hayate's doing for Mirage and is trying, in his own way, to encourage it. And of course there's Kaname, who has less of a direct relationship to Mirage, but the Mirage/Messer ship could influence how he interacts with her and Arad, and that little triangle can get a bit more juice as well. The characters in this show really do have a lot of interesting threads. Mikumo's supreme confidence and singing power contrasted with her utter lack of understanding of anything that she does. Makina and Reina fighting to keep the two of them insulated from the drama surrounding them (and getting more substance than "be the lesbians, do the lesbian things everyone likes"). Chuck coping with his sister's death as well as being the single father figure to his four younger brothers.
  6. kajnrig
    I'm assuming this is the old 80s/90s kit, not like a P-Bandai version of their 2013 kit? I couldn't find any scans of the older Bandai instruction set, unfortunately. Hobby Search does have plenty of high-res scans of the Hasegawa manuals, though. Here's the color guide for the 1/48 Super VF-1J "Max/Miriya" kit (I don't know if the colors are different for the various TV/Movie versions of his rides): And you can find the conversion chart here: Hope that helps. It would have been nice of Bandai to include Max/Kakizaki markings on their 2013 kit along with a paint guide, but this is the best I can do. Good luck.
  7. kajnrig
    ...go destroids? please? I'm hoping for the best and expecting the worst. About the only way they can salvage this story is by scrapping it altogether and starting from scratch. Maybe go with something less epic in scale. Then at least they wouldn't try and fail miserably to out-Frontier-finale the Frontier finale.
  8. kajnrig
    I don't know if they even need new writers. That'd be preferable, for sure, but hopefully if they go with the old writers they'll have learned a thing or two or ten in the time since the show ended. IIRC, Delta didn't have nearly the same budget and/or development/production period as Frontier did, right?
  9. kajnrig
    The music was good (not great), but it really works best as standalone fare. When they tried to Nyan Nyan Service Medley it in the final battle, I cringed so much. Whoever composed the music for the show was clearly out of their depth. EDIT: That said, I'm all up for a Delta movie that hopefully corrects the many mistakes of the series.
  10. kajnrig
    Oh, okay. So the 5th-gen VFs do have sliding rails like the older-gens, just extended quite a ways. Given how far the shield has to travel (and the many twists and turns it must make along the way), I just assumed that there couldn't have been any rails involved, electromagnetic or not, and that the kits/toys were accurate in that regard. I meant like an in-cockpit view, literally from the pilot's eyes, with missile warnings circling all around the HUD while smoke trails crisscross everywhere. One extended shot. The YF-21 scene shifts between multiple perspectives, from Guld's "eyes" to directly outside the VF to a wide shot, etc.
  11. kajnrig
    From what I remember having asked this before too, none of the Delta Squadron units are "official" variants of the VF-31. Being customized units built and maintained specifically to supplement/augment/protect Walkure, I can't say for sure (and I don't believe the Master File does, either) what the minute differences are between the stock VF-31A and the Delta Squadron models. Besides the obvious head and forward-swept wing differences, the stock -31A uses fold carbon instead of fold quartz in its construction (for the clear parts behind the cockpit/on top of the chest), and I believe the front canards are slightly larger on the -31A as well, though I can't say for sure. As for between the different Delta models, the only differences seem to be head design and paint scheme (and default accessory pod, in the case of the -31C). I'm sure there are pilot-specific fine tuning tweaks as well, but otherwise they're the same. You could ostensibly turn any VF-31, even the stock -31A, into a "C variant" simply by swapping out the radome pack. Maybe the -31S has improved weapons/engines/avionics a la the VF-1S, but... eh.
  12. kajnrig
    I'm going through the Tornado Messiah kit manual, and it reminds me of a couple questions I constantly ask myself: 1) How do VFs with underslung gunpods attach said gunpods in fighter mode? Are there any demonstrations of the mechanics of it? The VF-25's gunpod especially is attached differently in every piece of merchandise I see. The DX toy use an attachment piece, as does the Bandai kit (hardly an elegant solution). The Renewal cuts out grooves in the forearms so the handle can slot in between them; the Hasegawa kit essentially does the same thing plus an extra peg towards the front of the gunpod for stability. What bothers me about those latter methods is that those grooves in the arms aren't even hinted at in the lineart/animation/etc. If there's a sliding armor panel, there certainly aren't the panel lines to go with it. (The addition of Super/Armor/Tornado parts only further complicates matters.) The VF-1 is slightly more understandable because it actually has dedicated hard points on the arms for attachments. The gunpod handle collapses into the gunpod and reveals a plug that fits onto that hard point... I can buy that. (I suppose I could ask about the leather sling while I'm here, but...) 2) How do VFs ensure that, when going from fighter to Gerwalk/Battroid (and back again), they don't lose their gunpods (and shields, in the case of the VF-24 derivatives) in the process? This was one of the things I liked most about the VF-31 design: Nothing loses direct contact with the rest of the vehicle. The railgunpod can still be hand-carried, but doing so is rarely necessary now thanks to both the arm-mounted gunpods and the maneuverable arm upon which it rests. In those instances when it DOES need to be hand-carried, reaching for it is much less risky than, say, the VF-0/-1 having to eject its gunpod off the back of its arm and catch it mid-flight. And the shields, such as they are, are permanently attached to the forearms, a major upgrade from the fifth-gen VFs (though not nearly as elegant, IMO, as the 3-4.5-gen VFs). Oh, and a few more having to do with the Tornado Pack armament: 1 - What are the things attached to the front of the engine pods? (MMM says space equipment, but I'm not sure what specifically they do. I'm guessing extra fuel tanks?) 2 - How much energy do these guns need/produce that they need so much cooling? (The fins on the back of the guns and the extendable radiator on the cooling unit.) EDIT: Unrelated question: Has Macross (or anything, really) ever depicted an Itano circus through the eyes of the one dodging it? Would be interesting to play Ace Combat 7 in VR and have to do exactly that.
  13. kajnrig
    Could be NY is just unsure how much stock they'll get and want to keep preorders to a minimum until they get word of more stock... As for alternatives, there's From Japan, USA Gundam Store, Tatsu Hobby... The last two are US stores that probably get their stuff through Bluefin; you can probably check its website (if it has one) to see other partner retailers. The first is a third party proxy service, so other proxies should provide the same service. I think Samuel Decal also sells P-Bandai kits as well.
  14. kajnrig
    I mean... it probably could be, but I just thought it was a funny response to my other post directly above it. It's hard to pick a starting point for criticism, because everything about this movie is bad in one way or another. I don't really want to give this movie much more thought. That said... EDIT: Also, the kids' (yes, kids', as in multiple) acting was terrible. EDIT 2: Also, this, since I know some folks here are a fan of his:
  15. kajnrig
    Can anyone translate this promotion campaign? It'd be interesting if one could take advantage of the free (domestic) shipping via third parties. http://p-bandai.jp/hobby/special-1000007786/ EDIT: I'm guessing it's "Buy the Sandrock + One or more of the reissues, get free shipping"?
  16. kajnrig
    Thanks again. Good to know my phone'll be able to produce some generally good photos, then. It's amazing how good lighting can improve a phone camera.
  17. kajnrig
    Yeah, I wasn't being too serious with that one. I can't imagine what any B-Club recast must be going for nowadays, to say nothing of any originals. Why Bandai did away with its resin divisions, I'll never understand.
  18. kajnrig
    This showed up in my recommended videos. It's by Nerdwriter1, the same guy who did this:
  19. kajnrig
    It was terrible.
  20. kajnrig
    Well... there's this. I'll be honest, though, the original Sandrock never did anything for me. Aside from its more reasonable shotels, it looks... bad, all around. (That goatee...) All of the Okawara Wing designs looked funky in one way or another. It's the only series where I was glad for Katoki versions. Now on the other hand, if they ever come out with 1/100s of the Maganac/Zodiac suits... And while I'm at it, a MG Serpent wouldn't be too much to ask for, would it?
  21. kajnrig
    Ooh, what's the brand and where'd you get it? And what kind of camera are you using? (And while you're at it, please answer my short list of 300 related questions about cameras and camera accessories please... )
  22. kajnrig
    Every time I see the five pre-Kai EW suits together, I get the itch to buy all of them together. They just match so well, way more than their upgraded brethren. That said, I'm tempted to get in on this reissue for all the Kai suits I missed, too... The HRM Wing Zero is based on the latest manga revision and then further "bulked up," so it'll probably clash with the EW suits it's next to. Except maybe the Tallgeese, that one has some nice thicc proportions. If you get the original Wing Zero EW, you'll have an older model but one that better matches the bishounen look of the OVA. Too good. Too good.
  23. kajnrig
    This is something of an oldie, but still more recent compared to most everyone else thus far, lol. DoCo, ie the VAs for the main female cast in Ranma 1/2 (Ranko, Akane, Nabiki, Kasumi, Shampoo), became mildly popular in the 90s. They fashioned their "band name" after an actual pop idol group at the time, Coco. If I remember correctly, some of their songs were covers of Coco's music, too. More recent-ish, Aya Hirano and Minori Chihara became pretty well-known in the 00s for their respective roles in the Haruhi series. Hirano sang a lot of the series music, and Chihara sang the end credits song for the Haruhi movie.
  24. kajnrig
    I'd just like to say how much I love the dumb nerd stuff we all regularly get into in this thread.
  25. kajnrig
    This is true, and I'm not a fan of Theron in general. I'd been on the fence because I knew it was by the same team as JW, and then a friend recommended it, so I figured $5 and 2 hours ain't much to spend on a movie.
×
×
  • Create New...