Jump to content

Chronocidal

Members
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    10994

  • Joined

  • Last visited

 Content Type 

Everything posted by Chronocidal

  1. Chronocidal
    I mean.. you gotta admit, we've never seen whether tribbles have a molting season. Could get pretty hairy.
  2. Chronocidal
    Yep, looks about right. They're not a bad stand, considering how difficult it is to find empty space on an F-14 to mount one, and Calibre's attention to detail with the working speed brake section is appreciated, but I don't think supporting the entire model by that plastic section is a good idea. Both good ideas, but not a good structural combination. What I wish someone would do is just make the entire afterburner section removable, and make a stand that plugs deeply into the fuselage with a replacement nozzle attached. I'm slightly torn on the KC VF-1, but have to agree, I'd rather grab one of those than the CW one, so long as they fix the hardpoint issues.
  3. Chronocidal
    I still wish they had bothered to give a nod to the temporal shenanigans she may have created by joyriding into the future. Would have been funny if they got back, and suddenly a bunch of Starfleet staff were replaced by different actors, and no one had ever heard of the person we'd previously seen there. I don't believe they meant for everyone on board the ships affected by that probe to die though, since I think I recall the lights coming back on for ships in orbit as it was leaving.
  4. Chronocidal
    The Hikaru F-14D I have did come with an alternate stand, which isn't bad, but it's specifically designed for an F-14. Really though, I've never used it. I believe it's a derivative of another die-cast aircraft company's design, and while it works fine in theory, I do not believe it's the best option for the Calibre F-14s. Here's a thumbnail from Jenius's site (I can't seem to find the full-sized picture for some reason), and it illustrates why I don't trust these stands. All of Calibre's press photography blatantly photoshops out the fact that these stands clip over the speed brake section of the plane. For most die-cast F-14s, that's all well and good, but Calibre's design uses an entirely plastic speed brake section that's glued in between the engines. Maybe I'm overly cautious about structural issues, but the idea of supporting a fairly hefty metal model entirely by a glued-on plastic section doesn't sit well with me. The one 1/72 Century Wings F-14 I have also uses a stand that supports the plane with hooks around the speed brake area, but that one has the entire mid-body made of metal, and even then, it supports the plane underneath the belly with another plastic arm.
  5. Chronocidal
    I always heard the story for the 1701-A was that they rechristened the Yorktown as the next Enterprise. Don't know the original source, but that was the flavor text on all the old AMT kit instructions. The early scenes from ST:V would seem to indicate it was fresh out of the same sort of heavy refit that the original ship went through before TMP.
  6. Chronocidal
    Inflation/economy-wise, it's even harder for folks who already have a substantial collection, because they remember when $115 would have bought a super/strike-packed Yamato 1/60. Prices have gone up substantially, but I feel like KC is fighting market saturation most of all. Honestly, coming from an aircraft collector perspective, the 1/72 scale is by far the biggest draw I would have to get one of these, but the little issues have kept me from biting. I might still grab one in the future, but I definitely want to wait for the little issues to get fixed, and pick up a complete super-packed version... someday.
  7. Chronocidal
    I'm actually going to be curious to see whether the color of the plastic was changed, or if it's literally just covered in that much paint. Too rich for me though, I've got other higher priority releases to look at.. like that new F/A-18 grip for my Warthog, or the new rudder pedals...
  8. Chronocidal
    I never really questioned the longevity of crew assignments in Trek, because at least in the initial years, the premise was that you were going to be in deep space for an extended period. It never really happened that way of course, because the ships were always being ordered back and forth to deal with this or that issue back on Earth, but a "five year mission" was a nice round number to start with. By the TNG era though, think of how many "civilians" were on board the ship. They did a decent job of de-emphasizing the military aspects of Starfleet, to the point where it made sense to stay with the same crew for a longer period of time. Given the negative aspects usually associated with military families moving all over the place, it doesn't surprise me that they tried to avoid that particular trope. I can also see it a bit as an outgrowth of the idea of longer life spans, and a slower pace of life in general. Command staff aside though, the rest of the crew did seem to rotate with fair regularity, just from casting changes over the course of the series. The senior officers just seemed to enjoy a lot of freedom to pick and choose where they wanted to go, to the point where it felt purposefully contrary to actual military practice.
  9. Chronocidal

    Hi-Metal R

    Chronocidal replied to joppewo's topic in Toys

    An apple green VF-4 would make an interesting Acid Storm crossover, actually. My personal issue with the paint scheme is that it's just not very pleasing to the eye. They tried to mimic some specific elements of Roy's original paint scheme, but copied them in a way that isn't complementary to the design. The colors don't bug me, but the way the fuselage pin-striping just ends bluntly does, and the dual-level yellow cap on the tail just looks off to me. I love the black wing stripes, but wish they had continued them all the way inboard of the tails, rather than painting the entire intake section. Again, it's just me, but it just looks like they were so busy checking off boxes on the "looks like a Roy paintscheme" list that they didn't consider whether it actually looks good. Messer's VF-1 was the same way.. they hit all the design cues... on a fighter design that doesn't compliment any of them, and just looks awkward. Like, imagine buying car body art meant for a Camaro, and applying it to a Mustang. Maybe it's a cool design... but nothing fits.
  10. Chronocidal
    I'm actually somewhat comedically disappointed that they didn't work the chestplate into the dashboard somehow in vehicle mode. Still think it looks a bit too bulbous, but it is what it is. Seriously though.. it just looks good. I don't even buy transformers, and I want one for the aesthetic.
  11. Chronocidal
    Does look pretty solidly molded, and at least very close to being properly proportioned (albeit for a figure much smaller than 3.75" ). Sadly, $100 feels like the entry fee for any large scale vehicle at this point though. They drop off pretty quickly, because no one wants to pay that much, but once they hit clearance bins, the stock runs out fast. In the end, you wind up kicking yourself for balking at the retail price, when the only ones to be had are $300 on ebay. That legacy X-Wing mold just gets worse every single time I see it though. I bought the original Force FX electronic one, and even back then, I had to prop the wings open with a chunk of model sprue. It's just such a lousy mechanism design, made even worse by rubbery wings that only loosely snap in. The fender-bender nosecone is just the gasoline icing on that trashfire.
  12. Chronocidal
    So then the question becomes, is it any better than buying the old Yamato? I mean, I know the engineering and molding are probably technically superior, but it feels like the weaknesses may just be inherent to the design.
  13. Chronocidal

    Hi-Metal R

    Chronocidal replied to joppewo's topic in Toys

    They also fixed the chest stripes from their old 1/55 alignment, but that's purely a painted detail.
  14. Chronocidal
    They're not snapped down onto the mounts all the way, so I wouldn't worry. Typical BDF (Bandai Display Fail).
  15. Chronocidal
    Ok, I'm going to admit, I'm intrigued, if only because I feel like they're trying to mashup Trek with LOTR? I figure that character was a Romulan, but I'm like, "Wait, was that Space Elrond?" Like.. I don't want to get excited that it could be good, because it looks like a very gritty, almost Firefly-esque twist on the Trek universe.. but at the same time, I like Firefly, and while I doubt they're really going to adhere to anything in the established Trek canon, I'm interested to see what the premise is. In any case, I already have Prime anyway, so no reason not to check it out.
  16. Chronocidal

    Hi-Metal R

    Chronocidal replied to joppewo's topic in Toys

    I don't really need two, but I basically plan on kitbashing one with one of my Hikaru versions, and painting it in a not sucky scheme.
  17. Chronocidal

    Hi-Metal R

    Chronocidal replied to joppewo's topic in Toys

    Working now, go for it! https://hlj.com/hi-metal-r-vf-4g-lightning-iii-bans58061
  18. Chronocidal

    Hi-Metal R

    Chronocidal replied to joppewo's topic in Toys

    HLJ still doesn't load the HMR VF-4 if you search "VF-4," despite the listing being there. I think the link we have might be a preliminary listing, considering there's no image.
  19. Chronocidal

    Hi-Metal R

    Chronocidal replied to joppewo's topic in Toys

    I got one from AmiAmi, so not too worried, but HLJ is just flat broken tonight. I've loaded, added to cart, failed to check out, removed from cart, re-added, and failed again, at least 10 times across three different browsers. I think they actually broke the listing itself.
  20. Chronocidal

    Hi-Metal R

    Chronocidal replied to joppewo's topic in Toys

    So... HLJ has been sitting telling me to refresh my cart, because something about the order changed. WTF?
  21. Chronocidal

    Hi-Metal R

    Chronocidal replied to joppewo's topic in Toys

    Either that, or their search function is completely useless. Given the recent history, I'm betting that's the more likely option. It hasn't worked since they removed the advanced search option.
  22. Chronocidal

    Hi-Metal R

    Chronocidal replied to joppewo's topic in Toys

    I think I can only call this Pre-order Mild-Dysfunction. Really was easy to get through AmiAmi, even with the site crashing.
  23. Chronocidal

    Hi-Metal R

    Chronocidal replied to joppewo's topic in Toys

    Why is HLJ's search so utterly terrible now?
  24. Chronocidal
    That's kind of the one I meant, but the mechanisms in that particular X-Wing mold seemed to get sloppier and lousier with every new issue. Seriously needs a revamp using wings that aren't sloppy vinyl, an s-foil mechanism that isn't so limp that the top wings are level, properly scaled engine exhausts, and a nose that doesn't look like Luke spent an hour trying to ram through a closed hangar bay door.
  25. Chronocidal
    Fun as it would be to have one in that scale, I'd much rather they just stick to the original pseudo-studio scale mold, and refine it so the wing mechanism doesn't suck.
×
×
  • Create New...