Jump to content

Chronocidal

Members
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    11065

  • Joined

  • Last visited

 Content Type 

Everything posted by Chronocidal

  1. Chronocidal
    Just got my invoice for Zeta Toys Flash, time to test how shipping speeds are working these days.
  2. Chronocidal
    I have to say I find it hilarious that they're speculating about replacing a plane that's literally brand new. Though, on the other hand, given the development cycle, they'll probably need to get started in a few years to be done by the time they retire the F-35 fleet.
  3. Chronocidal
    The tooling on all of the AMT Enterprise E kits should have been retired before ever being released. I got both that mold and the 1/1400 one when they were brand new, and they haven't changed. They're just disappointing kits. Incredibly mushy detail (for what they bothered to mold, anyhow), lousy accuracy, and just a general level of rubbery-looking blandness that most of the other Trek kits seemed to avoid. If we make the comparison that the details of the Polar Lights kits are crisp like Pringles, the AMT Enterprise E kits are like month-old re-microwaved crinkle fries. I would have absolutely loved to see Polar Lights tackle a new mold of the Ent E, but seems like they're just not making anything new lately? Honestly, the best option for an Enterprise E at this point is buying the Diamond Select version.
  4. Chronocidal
    I may just be missing something, but is there a setting to turn off notifications for people "liking" posts I've made? I don't mind seeing if someone's quoted a post, since that's usually related to ongoing discussion, but getting notifications about likes is generally just annoying, because it makes me think something new was posted in a topic, until I go and read the log to find out that nothing worthy of attention has actually happened. I don't know if there are separate settings for likes and quotes, because the notification settings don't seem to have them broken out.
  5. Chronocidal
    This looks really fun. Edit: Okay, I was not aware of the giant sloped panels they used on top of the wings to cover the gear. That is going to need some modding to fix, because that's just incredibly dumb looking. Why on earth couldn't they just cover that with a couple of tiles? I think I'd seriously just remove the gear before doing that. It looks like you can literally just cover that stupid hole with plates, and all it would do is push down the tires slightly. Double edit: After looking at some photos of the shuttle, I know why they did it that way. Those plates do fairly well replicate the profile curve of the wing airfoil where it joins the fuselage, because it's a big thick delta monstrosity. It really is that thick at the base. What looks so wrong about it is that it should taper smoothly toward the tip, not sink a full brick's thickness in the space of three studs horizontally. There might be a better way to taper it down, but they will probably all involve sacrificing the nice printed marking tiles on the upper surface. We'll see. Even with those in place, I think it would look better to taper gradually with several layers of plates, rather than one giant clunky sloped element. They really seem to love using those as shortcuts, and the results are not always good (looking at you, UCS Slave I ).
  6. Chronocidal
    I love that there are more of them available (especially after the initial rush), but I wonder, is this one of those things where the foreign audience really latched onto a different character than the Japanese audience did? Show-wise, Hikaru's the main character, and his 1J is probably the iconic VF-1 from the show, while Roy's 1S is a flashier callback to a 1980s US Navy squadron. Far as character traits are concerned, I can't really speak to how he's perceived in Japan, but it wouldn't surprise me if some of the things that make him such a badass with American audiences come off as serious flaws to the original viewing audience. As far as the future of the DX line is concerned though, I'll be interested to see how Bandai treats the M&M VF-1Js, if they do them at all. I know that pair has a history of being more popular outside of Japan.
  7. Chronocidal
    I've definitely transformed my model versions more than the DX, but I do pull the DX out every so often just to puzzle my way through it. I find the transformation kind of fascinating. Kind of makes me want to pull it out now and mess with it, in fact. That being said, there's a reason I own two of them. The one that had some missing paint out of the box is the one I transform, while the other stays in fighter mode.
  8. Chronocidal
    Not even a wrong move. You can break the legs off by following the instructions. Bandai screwed up horribly writing them because they didn't write separate battroid-to-fighter instructions, and the steps don't work the same in reverse.
  9. Chronocidal
    The 262 is a notoriously convoluted pile of rotating bits and bobs, and frankly, I think it needs to be redesigned. The 1/72 model did some things differently, and arguably better, in spite of having to detach the hands. It just didn't have as many moving parts... unfortunately, it also is far more fragile, and repeated transformations will cause bits to break without some structural modifications. If anything, I hope the long delay with no new 262 release is because Bandai took it back to the drawing board for a rework. One thing I've always found amusing about the DX 262 though.. for something so incredibly complex and complicated to transform, I can't actually recall anyone complaining of things breaking. It looks insanely fragile, but I don't remember hearing any wailing and moaning over it disintegrating due to ham-fisted transformation sessions. Maybe people were more careful with it because it looked fragile? Or maybe it just never sold well enough to get a proper working-over by the wider Macross Delta audience? We may never know.
  10. Chronocidal
    Honestly, I'm not expecting it at all. Series released almost five years ago now, and judging by how easy it still is to find Keith's 262 for relatively cheap, I don't think Bandai believes it's even worth the effort to produce any more of that design. The demand just isn't there. I was hoping Mirage flying one would change that, but that feeling faded fast. Also, note how the new movie promo seems to be putting one of the Windermere knights in a new VF-31. That tells me that even the writers of the show understand how unpopular the design is with fans. If they wanted to sell more, they would have kept the 262s in the movie and made them a centerpiece to get fans excited for DX versions. I'd love to be surprised later down the road and proven wrong, but I just don't think the demand is there for Bandai to see it as a viable product.
  11. Chronocidal
    Yeah, I'm not sure there are nearly enough orange elements to make a tank in that scale. I think the 9-stud diameter for the tank worked really well for the Ideas shuttle design, even if it was an odd construction, but the Saturn V proved they can do large cylinders effectively. Can kind of estimate the potential dimensions for the parts based on the orbiter, which looks about a 10 stud body width, and 44 stud wingspan. My best estimate of the shuttle's body width is 25% of the wingspan, which puts it at about 6 meters, with the tank and boosters having diameters of 8.4 m and 3.7 respectively. That would point to something like a 14-stud diameter tank, and 6-stud boosters, maybe? The tank is easier to manage, because you'd have to build it like the Saturn V, but 6-stud boosters might be ugly to make.
  12. Chronocidal
    Seriously, all I'm waiting for is someone to build up the tank and boosters for it. Then the full crawler.
  13. Chronocidal
    Honestly.. for all of the solid chunks of color on the C, it might be better to just mask it and spray it. That one doesn't even have any aztec paneling, and all of the raised segments would actually really help the masking job. I think the only parts that even have any paneling not already marked off by molded details are the nacelles.
  14. Chronocidal
    Hah.. we'll see. I've got other expenses that might take priority this year, so not sure what the picture will be, or how long I'll have to get one. I've got a chunk of VIP points to burn before June, so I'll have to grab something, but I'm thinking that Shuttle or the Batwing are more likely. Much as I'd love another pile of gray plates to facilitate military builds, I still haven't even built either of the UCS Millennium Falcons.
  15. Chronocidal
    Oh for crying out loud LEGO... make a new full stack already. You had the perfect opportunity on the Ideas site, and you ignored what might have been the fastest 10k vote in history. Still a must have, because that one looks amazing, but really. Small gripe though, those door hinges are funky massive. They couldn't do a better job hiding them? Also, I'm sorely tempted by the giant destroyer.. maybe something to do with a tax refund.
  16. Chronocidal
    I mean, Lockheed is nothing if not consistent. Remember the early concept designs for the F-16?
  17. Chronocidal
    All looking really good, and actually the blue deflector is more accurate for that rounded alley. I believe the color changed when they redesigned that area to make the full-scale set for First Contact easier to manage.
  18. Chronocidal
    Oh, yeah, the cardboard definitely didn't shield it, I'm more surprised the rest of the garage over it didn't do more. What I mean is more that I think the scout shuttle was shielded by the black and dark gray plastic of the bay.
  19. Chronocidal
    Never tried it, but it's essentially using scrap plastic to make a color-matched putty. Not sure what type of cement that one is, but I know you can use the same sort of process with acetone and ABS scraps to make a thick ABS glue. Great method to use with thin glue, but at the end of the day, it's essentially the same thing as just using thick styrene glue as a filler, and I would expect it would inherit the same sort of extensive drying time to avoid any shrinkage issues.
  20. Chronocidal
    Speaking of the E, boy I wish someone would tackle that ship with a new mold. The Polar Lights 1/1000 kits are just so much better than the old AMT/ERTL molds. I'm messing with that same kit right now, and the plastic just has this mushy, gummy look and feel to it. Molding is all soft, and despite the white stress marks I'm making all over the pylons, I cannot for the life of me get these nacelles aligned. They sit evenly for a couple hours, but the plastic just slowly drifts back into the default cockeyed position. Far as assembly goes, I'm considering clipping off the assembly tabs, and detailing the saucer, hull, and nacelles separately. I'm almost considering doing the aztec pattern using pencils like I remember seeing someone (I think it was derex?) use on one of the 2009 Trek kits, but the tiny patchwork of panels on this particular ship is just a load of chaotic nonsense. Found the box with my older version of this kit.. same nacelle alignment issues, but the saucer fit seems better somehow? Maybe the paint helped it. I think I sprayed the whole thing with a white rattle can in the mid 90s, before brushing the details on, with what I felt were pretty acceptable results for the time.
  21. Chronocidal
    I don't know if a surface coating would even stop it, some of this is just natural deterioration of the plastic. Though, I don't know of anyone who wants to cut a valk in half to find out for sure.
  22. Chronocidal
    I would never say you shouldn't take them out of the box, but just be aware of how sunlight and heat can ruin plastic. I learned that lesson hard with my old GI Joe space shuttle, which, even in complete darkness in a thick cardboard box, turned a nice shade of butter yellow from sitting in the garage for years. (Funny thing.. the white shuttlecraft in the bay? Still pristine. The dark plastic of the bay, and black bay doors absorbed all of the UV, and it's still in perfect condition.) Bottom line, if you want to protect your toys, keep them inside of something else that will absorb UV rays, and keep them in a temperature-controlled environment.
  23. Chronocidal
    Yeah, those bits do give it trouble. I think the bigger thing I noticed was that it felt like the lower half of the saucer was collapsing up into the upper half, raking the entire saucer forward, and making the nacelles even more cockeyed. If I follow the centerline profile of the main hull forward, the saucer doesn't look right. I think the lower saucer is actually warped down a bit, which is pulling the whole thing out of alignment.
  24. Chronocidal
    You don't have to even put the Bandai ones out in the sun, a lot of them will just yellow in the box. Makes me curious to dig out my old VF-25s and see how they're doing. The VF-1s though? They're not a bright white, they're a very light gray. Don't know if that will completely prevent yellowing, but it should help.
  25. Chronocidal
    Looking good, the work should be worth it when it's all done. I just cut loose the E on my set, and snapped it together for a test fit, and decided I might need to build an internal support for the saucer, because I think it's actually collapsing downward... to say nothing of the wacked out nacelle pylons. You're right though, the B, C, and E are all a much later mold that came out probably a decade or more after the TOS, A, and D, and the NX-01 is I believe the only actual new mold in this kit. Irritating or not, the detail on the C really makes it stand out from the others. Did you wind up picking up the fancier decals for the E, or just going with the kit set?
×
×
  • Create New...