Chronocidal

15 hours ago, Mommar said:

Would it, though?

I'm sure they'd sell at least a dozen or so.  

At this point, it might actually make sense to just produce the unassembled kits again, especially if they could find a way to make them in the original Yamato DYRL white, since they'd essentially be supporting the secondary market with spare parts for all of the aging original releases.

Boy they really do have no shame, and will go to ANY lengths to convince people that stupid production errors were on purpose.  

I wouldn't care nearly so much about this if they had just admitted it, because think about the collateral damage the lie caused.
- First, a high-end collectible got screwed up forever, and they have no intention of making it better.
- Second, to reinforce the lie, they screwed up Kakizaki's release in a way that makes even less sense, and looks even stupider.  They screwed up a second product on purpose in a worse way than the original mistake, just to try and convince people that someone actually wanted numbers printed backwards.
- And now, they're milking the collector market with a version that fixes the original error.

What's that thing about telling so many lies, you no longer remember what the truth looks like?

53 minutes ago, Mommar said:

I'll be the naysayer, I don't like the premise as presented here.  It looks like a force marching onto the city from an exterior location, not something manifest from within.  That changes the meaning of the hauntings and proceedings.  Obviously we don't know the whole story so there could be something someone did the city to summon this ice storm creature but it's still different philosophical concept when it is without.

Maybe someone dropped an artificial moon onto the planet.  

59 minutes ago, mechaninac said:

Did... did Netflix finally get it right???...  Not gonna lie, that looks stunning and very authentic to the cartoon, in a 'the people behind it' get the source material and took it seriously kind of way.

I think after the missteps with Cowboy Bebop and the corrections they've made with One Piece, they might actually have a clue about what makes a good adaptation.  Getting the original creators involved is only part of it, they also need to have the authority to shoot down meddling from on high.

2 hours ago, electric indigo said:

@Urashiman 3D printing surely is tedious business...😳

Quite, it's a ton of waiting on pins and needles for your parts to finish, all the while praying that your power doesn't wink out or the print come loose and fail hilariously.

Ah, thanks, I went looking at ShowZ and couldn't decipher the actual product name enough to find it.

And yeah, I'm very aware (at a professional level even) of how this aircraft came into existence.  I don't feel like contributing to it either.  It's more a pity to me that it's not an actual F-35, because I would absolutely buy multiples and display them on my desk at work.

All that aside though, the bot mode is kind of all over the place.  It's impressive that it transforms so well, but I'm really not feeling it as a figure.  The panels feel like they're just scattered all over, and the limbs are kind of just boxes floating between them, compared with something like the Zeta movie Blitzwing, which manages to rearrange the whole aircraft into a really solid figure.  I don't think anything has yet matched that one in my eyes as having pulled of a similar level of plastic origami to deliver such a solid jet-former in both modes.

Interesting concept, though I can't help but see all the potential memes and parodies they just spawned.  

12 hours ago, M'Kyuun said:

Just discovered this today. This is an excellent example of how a transforming jet should be executed. Bit involved, and the weapons bay partsforms, but otherwise, it's a brilliant bit of engineering resulting in a cool looking bot and a jet mode that looks realistic from all angles with little to give away its transformative nature.

Ok, yeah, that's insanely good for a jet.  Bit of a pity it's the knock-off F-35, or I'd put it on my desk at work.  

Is this actually available anywhere though?

Honestly, the VF-19 proportions really help the YF-19 frame, especially the lower legs.  They look a lot more natural.

Those heels are still utterly ginormous though.  

Anyone hear anything about an order with Hobby Genki on this one?  I'm not too concerned if they don't come through with it, since I got one from HLJ for cheaper, but I'm wondering if they're hurting for supply, or just forgot.   

57 minutes ago, electric indigo said:

Revell's N1 Starfighter from "The Mandalorian" hits the stores. In 1/24, it's about 45 cm long.

https://www.revell.de/en/products/licences/star-wars/star-wars-the-mandalorian/the-mandalorian-n1-starfighter.html

Sheeesh.. I mean, it's about freakin' time that ship got a model of a respectable size... but can I get the factory floor version instead of the chop job?  

53 minutes ago, Paco Grande said:

It’s a common misconception that companies are trying to save money on plastic by making hollow areas but the reality is that the molding process demands it. The plastic parts must have a mostly uniform thickness for the molten plastic to flow properly. The parts usually require raised areas for plastic flow or strength so Takara and other companies will make those raised areas look like cool mechanical details instead of just boring bumps. I also believe in some cases they just do it for fun or because it looks cool. So what I’m saying is that they are actually adding plastic to a thin sheet to give it strength and help the plastic flow.  They aren’t removing plastic to save money. 

I don't think that's quite the same thing.  The money saving in question is related to the fact that they didn't bother to make a second half to the part, and cover up the gaps.  It's really easy to close up those spaces if you make the parts out of more than one molded piece, but that adds both material cost, and assembly time.

It's why so many third-party mod kits involve covers for the hollow parts.

I can't call the complexity a benefit at this point, especially when discussing Bandai.

I had to adjust the tightness on one of my YF-19's hips recently, and the sheer number of parts involved in that hip joint hurt my brain.  The stresses involved in moving that stupid joint were enough to make me think I was going to shatter the entire hip, which has happened to people before.

They need to lay off whatever engineering related drugs they're on, because their complexity is flat out detrimental to the products at this point.  They can't even use the excuse that they're making a market for spare parts, because they don't sell any in the first place.   

It's like they're trying to drive artificial scarcity of their product by making sure a certain number just completely break apart and fail within some amount of time.

I didn't really mind the fact that the VF-4G was so plain.  I'm thrilled to finally have the Flashback 2012 version, because that's what I wanted all along, but I'm more than happy to have the original releases to repaint and decal up in other schemes.

One of these days, I want to get around to either a classic Wolfpack or Sundowners scheme.  

I've relied on FM to get several of the Calibre F-14 releases.. which they somehow shipped before an order direct from the CW site did.  

It's a short hop and a jump north of me, so they get here fast once Flying Mule gets their stock in.

Never tried the baking soda, but I can vouch for general thick CA being perfect for filling gaps and rebuilding bits of broken kit.

Lately I've been using it as a filler when my 3D printer leaves a gap, or there's a glitch in a layer.  I've also fixed broken-off corners and edges by CA-ing a scrap of plastic in place and sanding to shape.  I probably could use acetone for the same purpose, and make some ABS putty, but I don't have a good resealable container for it yet, and I'd rather not risk melting something by over-application.

Ok, the "BIC WEST" logo is just straight up trolling now. XD

I'm hoping it actually gets delayed more though, because that plops the release right in the middle of Christmas shopping.  

At this point, I'm just waiting for some proper planform views of the top and sides.  I think the reason they haven't shown anything like that yet is because they are fully aware of how awkward the proportions are going to be when seen in full.

My biggest concern is that the tails are going to literally be so far forward that they aren't physically capable of acting as rudders, because they're so close to the center of lift.

Honestly, I have no complaints about the leg, that's an ingenious mechanism to get them to fit properly.

16 hours ago, Big s said:

Oddly after looking at them side by side, I kinda wonder if the made the feet bigger so they would work on the VF-19. They look the same but chunkier 

Neither of which look anything even remotely like the heels Bandai slapped on their YF-19.  They completely misinterpreted the design, giving it VF-1-style heels.

The actual heels need to rotate a full 90 degrees to lay flat, because they're paddles like the VF-4.

1 hour ago, Graham said:

The incorrect shape of the front of the canopy on the Bandai DX really bugs me.

This has been driving me nuts since day one, along with the incorrect tail shapes.  Bandai gonna be Bandai.  

53 minutes ago, dur said:

Random thought: are the weird proportion decisions on the arms to facilitate internal gunpod storage on a future VF-22?

I honestly don't think that will even have any effect on such a feature, since the arms aren't where the gunpod cavities are anyhow.

I really wonder if they're going to do more than just the YF-21 though.  If not enough people are interested, we're probably going to wind up with another Sv-262 situation where they just never revisit it.

I think the cartoony proportions of this one will probably help it look better than the YF-19 did.

And boy oh boy do I hope they don't fubar the heels again.  

Ah, looks like he's going for the classic "billboard disguise" camo pattern.