Chronocidal

Honestly, for a self-made canopy, even the last two or three would be plenty shiny for me, that's fantastic that you can make them so clean.

My biggest concern would be how brittle they are, since my few experiences with printed resin canopies have all been extremely fragile, and would never have survived any level of polishing.

Has anything even changed on that in the past several years?  I can't read it, but I'm guessing the A-model on there was a combo space for Max and Kakizaki?

I'm hoping for more than one, they've been completely ignoring the VF-1 for a stupid long time.

Watch it just be more Delta-related merch.

Kind of.. two minds about that?

Like first.. WTF?

Second, I could see it being a hilarious pile of memery, kind of in the vein of the LEGO Batman movie.  Could be entertaining.  The art.. "style" is kind of painful though.

11 minutes ago, protostar8 said:

So the colors are identical (markings too) to the earlier releases?  For some reason I was thinking the earlier ones had extra markings b/c they were the "VF-19 Advance" movie version or something?

There have been two Bandai "YF-19" releases so far.  The first was when they used the cameo in the second Frontier movie a a licensing excuse to release the VF-19 Advance.  The second release was a minor re-tool of that release to give it the details and markings (cough) of the Macross Plus YF-19.

The VF-19 Advance had entirely different markings, because it was serving with SMS, and came with the updated boosters and add-on packs seen in the movie.

The YF-19 "Full Set" release saw them pull out all the stops, including every weapon and armor part Arcadia included in its YF-19 set, plus a fold booster and a transforming version of the heavy weapons pack seen used in Macross Plus for about ten seconds.  They also slathered it in extra tampo prints that someone (probably Tenjin) thought looked nice and realistic, but many thought went overboard.  I'm okay with most of them, but feel like the giant wing prints are just ugly and out of place.

The new release is going to be a gutted version of the "Full Set" release, with basically no weapons or armor parts added, and costing... about the same?  I don't know how that's going to work out.  Depending on exchange rates and vendor mark-ups, it may even cost more than the original.

What's actually the most interesting thing about that image is that it looks so close to the original Yamato 1/72.  That was from before I started collecting, so I never had one, but I want to say that gives me at least a little hope for the overall proportions?  I still want to see planform views of it to compare without warped perspectives playing a role, but even matching that well makes me wonder.

6 hours ago, Big s said:

I tend to start with the face in the flesh color and then use either a darker flesh or black as a wash to outline the eyes. I then just get a little bit of flat white in there and draw the pupil with a mechanical pencil or color pencil depending on eye color. After everything is basically colored in I use a gloss coat to add some shine and protect it in case I want to do a little wash for lining eyelashes. You can also do a little tiny spot dab of white on the top corner to give an anime style light glare effect.

At 1/72 scale, I think at that point you're literally working in individual molecules of paint.   

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.