pengbuzz

Thanks Thom! Well, you know me: I never do anything normal. Thanks MT! I wanted the diorama to look like an "actual photo" taken on the Prometheus flight deck. Going to be researching flight deck ops and get the appropriate deck crew figs and equipment to make it look like Roy is launching from Prometheus on "blue water ops" (conceptually, this would be several weeks before Launch Day for the SDF-1, so I want to tell a bit of a story with this one). And yeah, Carpal Tunnel just plain sucks. I decided not to get the surgery, as I didn't want the "bowstringing" effect from them cutting the tendon. I manage mine with stretches and rest.

It did shatter HG's connection to reality apparently.

Minor update: finished the leading edge slats on the wings. Just have to decide if I'm going to try to fit in the clear lights near the hinge end of the wing, or just suggest them in with paint:

Ouch, I feel for ya, Arbit! I have Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, and my hands can end up to where modeling is a no-go for a few days.

LOL! Hey, let your boss know you're trying to do your part to fight COVID-19!

Personally, this is the theory I've formulated since I had time to sit down and really think this through: This is all a feverish dream in Picard's head. He's actually back at his vineyard in France, laying in bed dying, with Dr. Crusher and whatever friends there for him in his final hours. What we're seeing is his last thoughts and wishes in a delirious state, and he's constructed one last "grand adventure" for himself. Keep in mind the symptoms of Irumodic Syndrome: (source:) https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Irumodic_Syndrome The reality probably is that between Romulus being destroyed by a supernovae and the diagnosis of his then-newly onset Irumodic Syndrome, Picard decided to resign from Starfleet. He most likely felt he had failed somehow, that he should have been able to do something to help. As the years wore on, his mind degenerated slowly, and he began to fantasize (as some who have disabling diseases and infirmities do) that he had to leave Starfleet for some grander reason than over his illness. Finally, in his dying days, Picard was confined to bed, and constructed for himself one last "mission" in his mind. One that would sing the praises of Jean Luc Picard and wrap up his life in a great adventure that would once again lead him to the stars. My clues to this? Improbable happenings with the storyline (granted, the writers are idiots, but we're making lemonade with lemon-colored somersetting or another, so bear with me here!), people just happening to be in place where he needs them and going along with his "crusade"; an admiral who at first denies him but grudgingly gives him what he asks for (symbolic of the service that Picard found himself at odds with several times); a great conspiracy that only he could solve; and living in his chateau, even though they are deep in space (requires one holodeck and a whole bunch of suspension of disbelief to work). But...that's just me and I'm probably disregarding / overlooking a bunch of stuff, got a few somethings wrong and misread/misfired/misfiled/ Miss Moneypenny/ Miss Piggy/ misunderstood something or another...

UPDATE: Got much of the main body done. I then decided to do something a tiny bit radical, seeing as this is going to be the centerpiece of a catapult launch diorama... ...I dropped the flaps and slats: Right now, I'm just waiting for the glue to dry on the leading edge of the wings before I proceed; once it's solid, I'll refine the width and shape of the front and superimpose another piece over the very front to re-create the leading edge. Then it's just sanding to shape and adjusting everything until it looks right (using pics of the VF-1 with flaps and slats open to go by): Meantime, I'll have to check my options for a pilot and ground crew. kinda wiped myself out on the factory, so I may be hosed for that for some time. We'll see. Stay tuned...

Possibility: HG's check bounced?

Re-release the TV Storm Attacker SDF-1 so I can combine it with the Cruiser-mode model and make a transforming SDF-1.

The should rename it Star Trek: Dante's Inferno. Ship's motto: "Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch'intrate"

A steaming pile of explodium wrapped in dog crap, with a timer set to near infinite capacity.

Don't be surprised if the Whale Probe from ST-IV shows up with a beef against the Federation because it used the whales Kirk brought back for sushi in Sisko's Creole Restaurant.

Well... I gotta admit when I'm wrong, and that's one of those times folks. I'd like to apologize for my negativity; no one needs it, especially right about now. I really appreciate everyone's support here, and I'm lucky to have folks online like y'all to help me keep perspective on things and focus on what's important. What's more, things are happening now in the background that are working in my family's favor, and hopefully, we'll be okay. it may take longer than I had hoped, but things have brightened up considerably since the last time I posted in here. Thank you to everyone here for your kind words and thoughtfulness towards me and my family On that note: a friend IRL has helped me out by sending mea few kits to keep me going during this time. One of these has been a kit I've been dying for years to take on: Hasegawa's VF-1!!! My progress last night: I got this one on Friday, and started it after giving the parts a good accounting and washing! I really like the build on this: very instinctual in many areas and a pleasure to build in comparison to Bandai's recent transformable blunder kit. The only thing that was a minor setback was the heavy mold parting line right down the middle of the canopy, but some ultra-fine sandpaper, steel wool and a good rubbing on my pants' leg fixed that issue. Where I am now: (Light wasn't so great, so I took some with a flash as well) Got some paintwork on the inner parts (cockpit, intakes, gunpod, engines and vector/feet); on the parts that would get ho, I went for a "burnt metal" heat-discoloration scheme I saw elsewhere online: I also did the same for the gunpod: (Okay...better like this? Or like this? lol ) Since Hasegawa is known for their aircraft models, I wanted to treat this as an aircraft model first, then as a sci-fi/anime model second. I plan on using this when completed to permanently take the place of the original Bandai VF-1S on the flight deck diorama I built some time back. That way, it can be displayed appropriately while the transformable one can stay in the factory dio safe and sound. Stay tuned folks.... the Pengbuzz is back!!

Yeah, I know; that's why I asked Old_Nash where he was getting this from:

Source of info please?

lol Sorry...late night and I was replying on two different forums. Guess someone on another site is wondering what "UN Air Force" is. O.o

Given the ship that they found, you'd think they would have had someone there who would have foreseen that possibility. And that brings up a point that continues from the first one in this post: space capability almost seems to be an afterthought with this fighter. One would think that with the intakes on the front, it would be able to pull reactants from the atmosphere in some manner. But in space, it would all depend upon whatever the mech had in its' tanks to run on. Now add in the Destroids being specifically ground-based, and that leads me to think that US Spacy believed the war to be one that would have been fought on Earth terrain and not in space with 5 million ships versus a planet, one battlefortress and whatever allies it could get via music.

But it never occurred to them that the craft the Zentraedi would be piloting would be bigger than their infantry (as we see when comparing a VF-1 Valk to a Regult). I wonder though if the later VF-1 engine upgrades eventually relieved the need for FAST packs? Admittedly, I never liked the VF-0; it never really grew on me for some reason.

The new cast may as well be rejects from BSG Reboot: gritty, but no direction. Much like dirt in a windstorm. AllIi can say is:

I'd like to see them do some more of the capital ships, like perhaps the New Macross class carriers? I'd also like to see some Zentraedi vessels as well.

So we're all doomed with the doominess of doom, eh? Well... at least the next 2 billion years won't be boring...

"Yeet"? (Sigh)...this world is doomed. No wonder Boldoza sent five million ships to glass it from space...

I wouldn't call it Masters Saga; perhaps something similar starting with "B".....

Thanks! Much appreciated!

Thank you Thom; hey, you already did me a HUGE favor a few years ago bro!