ron5864

I built the 1/160 kit a couple of years ago and it is about 12 inches long by 7 inches high. The parts did not fit well and there were lots of seams after the parts are put together. So be prepare to do lots of sanding and putty applications. I added ball joints at the hip for the legs to toe out a bit since the original fitting point for the hips is just a solid bar that did not allow any side way leg movements.

Here are some photos.

When I saw the Regult as part of the promotional banner, i was pretty excited, but turned out to be a measly 10% off...

Same thought here. I was hoping for 40% off or something close to that. That 10% does not even cover for shipping cost.

Still watching Shangri-La (up to Ep. . But I just realized that the opening song is by May'n(a.k.a singing voice of Sherly Nome from Macross Frontier).

Just started watching Shangri-La. Not sure what I am walking into here.....but I will keep watching.

That video has convinced me to pickup an 1/12 Aoshima Motoslave.

You mean this?

Complete Break Blade....just finished Episode 6. Rating 4.5/5.

It is basically mobile suit type mecha fighting in a medieval times. The story is a bit slow between the main characters and at times incomplete. The Golems they used (name of the mecha units) are powered by magic. What??? Magic?? WTF???? Getting beyond that part, the fights between the Golems are pretty good in a sort of Gundam mixed with Full Metal Panic action. Fights are mostly hand-to-hand combat with some long range arrow weapons. No beam or energy weapons. The artwork is pretty good as well.

That Magnos mecha reminds me of Gunbuster. But with crappy music and animation.

BTW, I just finished watching CANAAN. I still don't know how Canaan was able to get her special senses. Was she born that way or was she an military experiment sample? Anyhow, it had a lot of action and suspense. Rating 4/5.

Hey wow, the tolerances seems tighter with less gaps between the cockpit module and the fuselage. The landing gear is a big improvement along with the hip point location. The original hip point was too low.

From the photos, it does looks like the Ver 2.0 does have more surface details, similar to the 1/72 model kit. The 1/60 that I have lack panel lines on the wing and upper fuselage area.

Seeing it in fighter mode, the wings seem to be able to swing a little more forward than Ver. 1.

I hope the cockpit has more details with decals for the display and not a gray color block.

We all sound like Apple fans waiting for the next iPhone to come out. hehe.

This i-VF-25 2.0 looks like a big improvement in design over the original.

Toyota needs this car more than Subaru. Sure they have the Lexus LFA. But how many people have $400,000 for a car. The Scion tc is OK, but is not very sporty when compared to other cars near that price range...Civic Si, Genesis coupe, GTI, Focus ST, Mazdaspeed3 and Veloster Turbo. So this FT-86 coupe should bring more younger drivers into the showroom. Toyota better have a turbo version of this car or else the competition will kick dirt at its face.

With such a long development time and track testing, this car better handle like a Mazda RX-8.

Bandai, please put more surface details into this version, like the 1/72 model kits. And add finer tampo graphic prints as well.

Take the business model from Yamato and make special versions like a weathered version, cannon fodder version, a Ranka and Sheryl version, a cammo version and so on.

For Macross Plus fans, here's how Sharon Apple got her start.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/japan/8595770/Japans-virtual-pop-star-world.html

The 1/12 Aoshima Priss+Motoslave was shown for a couple of seconds. The rest were the Yamato 1/15 figures and a SEI Sylia figure.

This is really close to my home. Maybe I'll drop by that day to check it out.

Watching Vandread. It has a couple of good ideas plotwise, but its not really blowing me away. The 2 main characters in particular are very uninteresting. And the CGI is very distracting to say the least.

Hibiki's character develops slowly throughout the series. His character becomes more interesting in the second season. Dita is pretty much Dita, but she gets a rival in the second season which brings more drama. I like this series. I wish they had continued it beyond Second Stage. As for the CGI, it looks bland compared to today's standards.

Finished Burst Angel. It's pretty entertaining...4/5 rating.

It does have a theme similar to Bubblegum Crisis with 4 girls fighting cybog mecha and taking place in future Tokyo after a great quake. Meg shoots two pistols like Revy in Black Lagoon. The CGI graphics of the cybots are a little rough from circa 2003. But the action is good.

Just checked my 1/48 VF-1J and 1/60 VF-25F. No damage from the clear tips. I also coated the valks with Tamiya's TS-80 flat finish and it looks fine. All my mechas are kept at room temperature all year.

Maybe placing the item in a warm room or under direct sunlight can heat the silicon tips to the point of reacting with the plastic.

The price is not bad at HLJ for 15,800Yen. But shipping is not cheap, 4,880Yen for EMS.

I am still waiting for this kit. Sadly, there is no news on this from Bandai. No mention of it from the Shizuoka Hobby Show.

Just finished watching Fractale. I would recommend it, 3.5 out of 5.

It is a strange show about humans getting too caught up in an artifical digital world and a terrorist group fighting it. Somehow through the whole series, it just seems like Eureka 7 with the Lost Millenium group being like the Gekkostate. Clain = Renton. Phryne = Eureka. Sunda = Holland.

Anyways, got 2 shows(Tenjou Tenge and Fractale) out of the way. Double Tap!!

After watching Tenjou Tenge, it falls into the Ikkitousen-ish category with the martial arts and some amounts of fan service. The story goes off the tracks half way telling something that happened 2-years prior and never really finishes the original story. I would have to give it a less-than-OK rating (2 out of 5).

I thought watching High School of the Dead was a good training video for this type of situation.

Did a little marathon and finished Banner of the Stars 2 and 3. I have to say that I find this saga to be maybe one of the most underrated anime I've ever seen. Great stories, characterizations and dialogue. And a well accomplished and believable love story. One really does not see that too often.I can only imagine that had it come out a decade earlier it might have been a huge hit.

A big thanks to all the folks who recommended Crest of the Stars. Would not have watched these jewels without the positive feedback I received.

I remember there was prequel OVA to the Crest of the Stars about Lafiel's parents discovering an abandoned Earth ship. This event took place before she was born.