pengbuzz

2 hours ago, Seto Kaiba said:

As much as I love Gundam, I've found the writing in the last few installments of Gundam to be pretty darn underwhelming.

I'm not one of those fans who enjoys those all flash and no substance titles like Thunderbolt or SEED Freedom.  I'd rather they take a few years between titles to come up with a really compelling story to tell instead of churning out a new series every year.

Telling amazing stories is something they're eminently capable of.  They've just been green-lighting a lot of mediocre nonsense lately.

That's how I feel as well; I think they're trying to "ride a wave" as far as popularity goes, but they've put out crap for the past few series', and it's fatiguing a lot of folks who look for the story in it.

From Variety:
 

Quote

 

Thom Christopher, who portrayed the mobster Carlo Hessler in the ABC soap opera “One Life To Live,” died Thursday in New York. He was 84.

(snip)

He is also known for his role as the alien Hawk in “Buck Rogers in the 25th Century.”

 

(more):

https://variety.com/2024/tv/news/thom-christopher-dead-one-life-to-live-1236241246/

10 minutes ago, Big s said:

That definitely wouldn’t be as bad as a straight recast

Right? And it would allow for the new version to have her own persona and idiosyncrasies, so a new actress (or actor, since it may be a "son") could make that role truly their own.

39 minutes ago, TG Remix said:

You'd think they'd be mostly abandoned, but not only we have said modernizations (which seemed to be popular in their own right,) but they appear as the occasional enemies in VF-X2. Initially I thought they were only used by Vinderance, a resistance group that used what they can get their hands on, who may or may not got potential backing from Max himself (that's probably the reason why their fleet is made up of the same type of Meltran ships the UN uses in there.) But come Mission 10A, Defenders, Phalanxs, and Tomahawks acted as the main defense force of the under construction Ceres Base; and it wasn't a place in the middle of the boonies, Vinderance specifically target it as it was a front line base in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter against external threats, as its wide-range jamming capabilities can divert attention away from Earth.

 

(Granted the near identical Mission 10B where you destroy the Vinderance Base not only has the same Destroids and Annabella Lasiodora as the boss, but looks exactly the same as an incomplete Macro-Training Base Ship we see in the Macross 7 fleet, but it's Macross, you can hand wave it somehow, if not for how the Latence route almost definitively didn't happen.)

 

My guess is that Destroids would be better suited as a economic solution to base and city defense compared to the more costly VFs since Frontier and Delta have them in those roles; though then again there were the VF-1s stationed at Apollo Base in Mars and the Diamond Fleet being relocated as City 7's defense, so who's to say?

I also wonder if surplus destroids were purchased by several municipalities and modified for other purposes?

*Imagines a destroid plowing the road after a snowstorm in December*

10 hours ago, Seto Kaiba said:

Eh... whether it is or not is beyond me, and I'm not going to judge you for it regardless.

I've personally never cared for The Multiverse as a creative concept.  Too often, it's an excuse for lazy storytelling.  Creators can use The Multiverse to raise the stakes mindlessly without a care for the consequences and avoid having to properly develop new characters because they can just plug existing characters into these alternate reality stories.

I'd agree that GQuuuuuuX has not really made effective use of its Alternate Reality premise.  It feels like there wouldn't really be much to prevent this exact plot, minus the Rose of Sharon, from being ported to the main UC timeline as a post-Victory series after renaming some characters.

I think they need to give the Gundam universe a rest for a bit before embarking on another new series. Take some time to really think about characters, potential storylines and series concepts, as they seem to be "running on fumes" at this point (trying to be more charitable than just writing them off as "lazy" and such).

Your take on this, Seto?

12 hours ago, Big s said:

Nice, haven’t seen Rick in anything in years, maybe decades 

 

I hope they don’t do a recast, but a fun memorial instead 

Same; although maybe a "Dot 2.0" or something may be good if handled the right way. 

1 hour ago, Big s said:

Looks amazing.

 

Taco Bell will make anyone hit the afterburners at some point, just make sure to be prepared or those’ll be your shorts

ROFL!!

2 hours ago, Seto Kaiba said:

Depends on the model, I guess... not so much of an issue for something like the VF-1 or Regult.

 

I've got nothing for a Glue Valkyrie... but when it comes to welding, we've got you covered: https://www.macross2.net/m3/macross7/vt-1-battroidwork.htm

3 hours ago, Seto Kaiba said:

Model kits and toy companies are gonna do stuff like that as much as they can to keep costs down even if it's not necessarily screen-accurate.

A lot of 'em are probably very happy that Macross is so friendly to parts-reuse with many variants of the same model that share most of their parts in common.

Yeah... just a nightmare for accuracy's sake though. O.o

3 hours ago, Seto Kaiba said:

Her hull's modular, they likely replaced or tore down and rebuilt entire modules where necessary.

With factories in orbit producing more Macross-class parts, it probably wasn't particularly difficult... except for doing it under gravity.  (Or maybe they just hauled the whole ship up.)

*Imagines giant tube of glue being held by several valks as they position a new module in place*

1 hour ago, MechTech said:

@pengbuzz THE Masking Tape Master!!!

@Cheese3 Cool to see those ole' tiny kits being built! I like the highlighting on the Defender.

@woodsider That 1J looks beautiful! I think you'll win some medal with that one!

ALCON - Here are International Plastic Modeler's Society (IPMS) judging guidelines (there is a Gundam section): - MT

https://ipmsusa.org/about/competition-information/ipmsusa-competition-handbook-2024

Thanks MT!!

That reminds me: I need to look up the IMPS standards for real space and sci-fi modeling (for both my shuttle and TOS Enterprises).

1 hour ago, wm cheng said:

I don't get why they don't just do magnets for all these fast pack attachments.  Is there some rule against using magnets in toys?

Yeah...a rather attractive idea.

I'll see myself out now...

18 minutes ago, sketchley said:

Do you have any spudgers in your tool box?  While an Exacto blade or other thin metal tool can work in a pinch, plastic spudgers are best as they're less likely to damage plastic model kit parts.

Also, top tip: try to tease the parts apart a little bit at a time from each edge (front, back, left, right, etc.)  That should limit any stress on the part per se, as well as ease the process of separation.  While the pointy end of spudgers (or Exacto blades) are great for getting in between the parts, the more surface area you can use on the spudger, the less likely you'll damage the parts (or worse: yourself!)

That's what I was thinking with my suggestion; I just couldn't remember what those things were called!  And yeah, that's why I suggested wiggling the parts: the biggest enemy of styrene when disassembling something is stress on the plastic in a specific, concentrated area. Too much, and you just bent a part, or worse, broke it!

Often, I'll use this if I need to get things apart:

50 minutes ago, Papa Rat said:

So taking apart the MG Tallgeese after test fitting is so sketchy. The fit on everything is so precise and tight I’m thinking I’m bound to break something. Do people who build Gundam kits skip the test fits because of this or do any of you have pointers for parts separation?

I'd use the minimum force necessary to pull the pieces apart, and something to get between parts that is a little softer than the plastic so as not to bend or mar it. You can also try wiggling parts slightly to get them to come loose; just take it slowly and stop if you feel something may break.

10 hours ago, Seto Kaiba said:

GQuuuuuuX's tenth episode is probably the best episode to date, and certainly does the most to actually move the needle on the show's story.

It finally gets the main characters involved in the actual plot, brings the Zeon civil war arc into the foreground, and features the first actual battle of any consequential length in the series thus far.

That said, even with all that it's still not very good.

The writers are clearly, clearly rushing to tie up as many plot threads as they can as fast as they can.  It definitely seems like this series is ending in the next two or so episodes.

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Tomorrow is opening day for Kycilia's pet project, the Totally-Not-A-Superweapon with the name of a literal Lovecraftian horror in Earth orbit.  

Zeon's leaders are meeting for the first time in five years in preparation for the big day.  Gihren is fashionably late, so Kycilia's talking shop with one of Zeon's admirals and Gihren's secretary.  Commander-in-Chief Gihren finally shows up, and in under two minutes everyone in the room but Kycilia is dead.  Kycilia poisoned everyone with pretty much zero buildup and foreshadowing.  Gihren doesn't even get to do anything except scoff at an accusation that he assassinated their father Degwin five years ago.  Not exactly a great payoff for a conflict that they've been building up for EIGHT EPISODES to the detriment of the main characters and their story.

Kycilia's personal guard then launch a surprise attack on the Zeon National Defense Force.  The attack, led by Xavier's Gyan unit and Nyan's GFreD, wipes out all four of the mass produced Big Zams that the National Defense Force brought as well as practically all of its ships.  Acting on Kycilia's behalf, Nyan murders the team that developed Yomagn'tho (except for the mysterious man who may or may not be Char, who narrowly escapes) then uses the GFreD to seize control of the Yomagn'tho's core, which is Prime!Lalah's Elmeth.  She targets A Baoa Qu, the stronghold of Gihren's loyalist National Defense Force, and fires.  Turns out Yomagn'tho isn't a solar ray... it's actually a dimensional weapon that forcibly creates zeknovas to fold space and time.  It teleports A Baoa Qu and its fleet to Earth orbit, tearing them to pieces in the process, then vanishes the debris.

Too little too late, Challia Bull and Machu rush to try and put a stop to the war Challia was trying to prevent, with Machu going to confront Nyan in Yomagn'tho's core and Challia taking on the entire Gyan squad by himself.

There is so much happening here, and none of it is really delivered as well as it could and indeed should have been.

They could've done this justice with another 13-26 episodes.  As it is, what's left on the table in terms of unexplored character arcs and subplots is vastly more interesting than a lot of what's going on in the main story.  Particularly Challia Bull's trip to Jupiter, which he implies broke him, sent him to the depths of utter despair, and then made him the man he is.

There's like, three or four episodes worth of stuff going on here all packed as densely as possible.  As a result, none of it feels as impactful or meaningful as it should.  

Yeah; I really do think the pacing is way off here, and the story as a whole (what story there was) was not handled very well.

10 hours ago, SebastianP said:

The TV macross has next to nothing in common with the DYRL macross except for the transformation sequence itself, none of the components themselves are shared. If that's a rebuild, they tore her down to atoms and reconstituted them...

Unfortunately, no one told that to Hasegawa when they issued their TV and DYRL? versions (DYRL was issued first, then TV Version); all they did was change a few parts; aside from that, they used the same basic kit:

They also did this for the "fortress mode" versions for both.

But to the point: if the DYRL version were the "reconstructed" TV version, they would probably have to had tore her down to the framework after Kamjin's kamikaze attack at the end of the TV series (given the catastrophic damage to her starboard shoulder and the booms).

Overall though, unless it directly impacts a model I'm working on or a creation for the RPGs that I'm in, I really don't care too much about ship/ mecha scale.

10 hours ago, SebastianP said:

I am aware that later depictions, like the Delta movies, made the ship smaller, but as mentioned, at the smaller size there are problems just getting the fighters to the deck through the provided openings...

That would make for a fairly amusing cartoon: a battroid stuck in a hatch like Wile E. Coyote having fallen into one of his own traps, trying desperately to squeeze through! 

1 hour ago, MechTech said:

@pengbuzz Your Shuttle looks GREAT! I love the protective coating on the lab module. It looks realistic!

Thanks; gotta love masking tape!  

I also used it for replicating the thermal blankets elsewhere on the shuttle. 

UPDATE:

Got the shuttle model to at least where the other one was:

For display, I constructed a new stand for it; it's still a little rough (I have yet to paint the back half and clearcoat the whole thing):

This one is going to be based on a "what if" that nearly happened in real life: after the loss of Challenger, NASA almost converted Enterprise from a functional test article (built the same way as the other shuttles, just without the engines or tiles). Instead, they had enough spare parts to build a new shuttle from scratch: Endeavour.

Bottom tiles in progress (hand-carving them):

Cargo bay: I had taken the contents out when painting the first one, so these survived. I simply updated the paint a little and glued them in:

And her place (for the time being) is next to another ship with the same name (just waiting on decals for her!):

I need to finish putting decals on the shuttle, but I have to print up more paper decals at the library today.

Stay tuned...

4 hours ago, Big s said:

Perry Green

Or a certain manhunter...

On 6/5/2025 at 8:54 PM, Thom said:

Does he have to be white to be White..?

He could be green...

9 hours ago, Papa Rat said:

So yeah, this is my first go with a MG kit and I have to say they are wildly advanced. Test fit went together super fast and easy and looks great, but there was something missing. Call me crazy, but I’m not sure if I had fun building it I guess. I really appreciate it for its amazing quality, details and accessibility, but it really lacked some charm for me. I think mostly since I have never dedicated any time to the series at large. Not sure, but I hope I find some joy in removing the few seam lines present and painting it. Might do a dark, possibly black scheme or something? 🤔

I'd say: go for a high-contrast scheme like black/white/ gold. Maybe use this as inspiration for the color scheme:

32 minutes ago, Thom said:

That is really good! Really evokes the emotions of the scene.

That's what happens when you feed your valk Taco Bell...

7 hours ago, PointBlankSniper said:

The first half of that statement is true. The second half, not necessarily. You can have an entire story follow an observer or victim with no agency, just esperiencing the powers that be running their course.

The real mistake of the show is framing the main trio, with its promotions and opening theme, as a trio central to the plot, with agency in their actions. In reality, Shuji is not a character. He is a mysterious plot device. Nyan is the one with some agency, which amounts to denying Machu's ability to have any agency, while her own character is poorly explained, if at all. I suspect she will continue to derail the whole story much like how Slaine Troyad derailed Aldnoah. Machu has so far been just an observer to the cosmic powers, and I think would have been fine, if only they didn't spin her has the chosen one, as that burden comes default with a gundam protagonist. The real fatal flaw with her though, are reasons the writer gives her to subject herself to such extraordinary events, when it is all out of her depth and needs. Her setup and the world building required to make it work is entirely absurd. Then she is given the illusion of agency through excessive handholding by other actors and powers that be, and doesn't seem to acknowledge it. Intended or not, that kind of writing just makes her an insufferably entitled child. She's currently basically in the role of the annoying news host, when all we need out of her is a cameraman to watch the world to unfold through. Maybe she is a slow cooking character that will change, but that is a big maybe. The trend these days is to put those character changes in a time skip between split cours or seasons. So things don't look good for her writing regardless, but that's just my guess.

IMO good Gundam writing died after the original Build FIghters season. Everything from all the follow up Build titles, to G Reco, IBO, and WfM, has all been nonsensical slop with poorly reasoned character writing and screenplay. Even the totally-not-gundam Kyoukai Senki is just more of the same. The mega budget UC milking that comes on the side is just pretentious grandeur that often makes as little sense as the rest of the slop tbh. It's been that way since the latter half of Unicorn.

Yall are expecting too much out of the cash cow slop machine tbh.

Expected nothing, was still disappointed.

4 hours ago, MechTech said:

That's awesome she did that! I wanna say, "Sneaky wife, happy life" but that can go bad too.😁

Yup (on all accounts! )

Working on the model as we speak; at least it's keeping my mind off the diabetes diagnosis I got today (organ damage to pancreas amongst other things). Doctor put me on ozempic, so we'll see how that works.

(at this rate, I wonder how it is my body still works at all!)

16 hours ago, Seto Kaiba said:

Hm?  Well, I guess that clears her of the allegations since she didn't do either. 🤣

Lalah Sune didn't fall in love at first sight with Char, she developed feelings for him after he rescued her from her frankly horrid living conditions... which vary by story.  Her feelings for Amuro are more vague, but they seem to be generally platonic even if Amuro's aren't necessarily platonic.

To her, Amuro and Char are probably the only two people in her life she's ever had a profound connection with.  She's a powerful Newtype and pretty much THE poster girl for the aspirational idea that Newtypes are meant to be a new breed of humanity who can experience a deeper level of mutual understanding and communication rather than being the super soldiers that Zeon and the Federation believe they are.  She was able to communicate and connect with them on a level that normal humans can't comprehend, which is likely why they're both still haunted by her death years later in [i]Zeta Gundam[/i] and [i]Char's Counterattack[/i], and why even Char's echo in Full Frontal is still haunted by her in [i]Unicorn[/i].

 

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Eh... there are a lot of examples in [i]Gundam[/i], especially in the UC, of kids who manage to surprise the hell out of highly trained elite soldiers with their ingenuity and their determination while stealing a Gundam.

Kamille Bidan's probably the best example, busting his way onto a Titans base and stealing the Gundam Mk.II out from under the nose of its highly trained test pilot.

Granted, I probably should've expected an anticlimax from this series since it really hadn't delivered much in the way of excitement... 

They should have named this one:

3 hours ago, electric indigo said:

The power of the ARII Tomahawk!

 

I need to find the RT/ Exosquad large version of this to convert to a model...