Chronocidal
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STAR WARS Merchandise Episode - 2
Chronocidal replied to Black Valkyrie's topic in Anime or Science Fiction
Wait, what, hold the phone.. I can buy this with Amazon money?? Cues up a chorus of angels. I knew my habit of never spending the Amazon gift cards I get around birthdays and Christmas was going to pay off someday. I had almost $300 in unused gift cards, it brought the total to around $150! Whoooohooooo! Still, I'm astounded that Amazon is carrying this one, and it's direct from Bandai, not some Japanese third-party seller. Did they lift the embargo for this particular kit, since it's so far out of range of what Revell is offering? Far as mold quality though.. so, Fine Molds makes decent kits, but I've recognized the "mushy" look of their molds going back to their 1/48 X-Wing. They don't make very sharp details, and some of their design decisions were a bit off. They still make a nice kit, but Bandai's precision just blows them (along with nearly every other model manufacturer) out of the water. Edit: Browsing Amazon, it looks like they're officially carrying the Bandai kits now, offering Prime shipping on all of them. My previous orders were always through third-parties, with widely varying shipping estimates and costs. Looks like it's time to bulk up my squadrons of fighters, and collect a few more Death Star surface panels. -
That's pretty much the only thing those hands are good for.
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STAR WARS Merchandise Episode - 2
Chronocidal replied to Black Valkyrie's topic in Anime or Science Fiction
Wow, is there anywhere that can still be bought, or will I be dealing with the typical Bandai planned shortage issues? Fun as it would be, I think I'm more interested in the new LEGO UCS Falcon anyway, since I can build it more than once. -
If you're shipping a single item, it might not allow you to pick FedEx just for cost effectiveness? I've only ever received FedEx shipments from HLJ in two sizes of box, and both are pretty excessive for a single DX valk.
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Say what you will about the EU, at the absolute minimum, the artists involved with those stories managed to develop a decent handful of iconic designs, without even being seen on a screen.
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The basic idea made some sense, and I actually imagined it might be the case long before that novel came out. Blending organic and machine material into an organism obsessed with learning? Easy explanation. Also completely negated by the Borg existing long before that. But it was an interesting idea at least. Anyway, I thought it was more that the blending of V'Ger at the end of TMP resulted in a new organism that went back to the machine planet, and re-prioritized their existence. The Borg don't seem like the kind of species that would send V'Ger back to its home planet in the first place.
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Comparatively, using V'GER as the origin of the borg feels like a wonderful idea.
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I kind of want to say that unless someone can remember a specific time, it's really not worth sitting through the entire series to find out.
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Other issues aside, it's true, the more I think about the booster pack, the dumber it gets. I mean, besides the mechanical silliness of mounting it directly to the wing mechanism bulkhead, there's just no precedent for something so dorky. The only "custom" mods discussed in the official universe were on personally owned vessels. I will argue though, such a mod is perfectly in line with Poe's character, and everything that goes along with that, for better or worse.
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It reduces the stress, yes, but I've never gotten an HMR VF-1 transformed without the arms popping off that slider at least a dozen times. It's just much simpler to detach the arms, and put them back on for gerwalk and battroid, which, since it's not perfect transformation anyway, doesn't really bother me. It also takes up more room than the Yamato design, which actually limits how you can sweep the wings somewhat, but that's not any real issue so much as just an interesting tidbit. The Yamato design doesn't cause any stress if you loosen the screw in the backplate though.
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Yeah, I redacted that (and let my hopes be dashed on the rocks ). The angle and partial split of the wings in that shot looked like they'd changed it. One of these days I'll get up the nerve to grab a few of the Bandai kits and hack them up to use a full-sized wing, but I just don't have the motivation yet.
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Nostalgia factor is one thing, but there is something to be said for overly correlating the terms "unique" and "creative." It's entirely possible to make something unique with absolutely no creativity involved, and they have pretty much nailed that with the designs in TFA, by tweaking things just enough to distinguish them from older designs, but really attempting nothing new. There's also a big difference between being unique and being aesthetically pleasing. Given, there's a certain aesthetic to adhere to for the universe they're working in, but that doesn't mean you can't just try and make something that actually looks cool, and just run with it. That seems to be the biggest failing overall lately. Most of the designs from TFA that weren't based on existing designs were absolutely hideous. Side note: If they refer to the booster as a "SLAM" system, I'm going to crack up.
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Aircraft Super Thread Mk.VII
Chronocidal replied to David Hingtgen's topic in Anime or Science Fiction
Actually, they really are pretty close in overall dimensions, at least between the F-35A and the F-16. Think they're both nearly dead on 50 feet in length. The big difference is in weight, and thrust, since the F-35 is just a ton bulkier all around. -
I'm planning on such a massive color mashup with those kits...
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Finally built up the Saturn V last night, that is one insane piece of topsy-turvy SNOT assembly. So, looking at options for new fins. The left one is my previous design, which I think looks a little better in general, but is a little too large. The right hand design looks better scaled, but is also a little shallower slope, and might use a bunch of pieces I don't have access to. So, we'll see what happens when I dig through my boxes.
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I'm still waiting for literally anyone to make the obvious update and give the A-wing actual vents in the front prongs, like it looks like it should. I'd forgotten all about the Rebels thing though.. and that... is really really odd. Like.. squadrons equipped with P-51s flying over Afghanistan levels of weird.
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I mean.. it could be a lot worse, but it's missing the entire legitimacy that using actual aircraft parts lent the design. it just looks like another case of "We're not creative enough to make something new, so how can we tweak an old design to look updated?" Which.. can work? But it's getting old, and someone needs to call them out on it.
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So the fall 2017 review candidates have been announced, and this one sneaked right by me. https://ideas.lego.com/projects/13dbfb3c-2ba9-4bc2-b09b-37d4e3b0a2b4 Probably a slim chance of getting approved due the size and complexity, but the fact that the wing markings are made of stacked plates inflated the parts count massively. I would easily buy a couple of those if it gets done though. Aside from that, the Saturn V tower and shuttle are also on the docket, along with a couple others that I don't care much about. https://ideas.lego.com/blogs/a4ae09b6-0d4c-4307-9da8-3ee9f3d368d6/post/0d0f90c2-71d4-421e-8765-e7ea5f141f7f
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Except... those are old regular TIE fighters. Unless there's some return to the classic colors, I don't see that being an entirely new image. Also, I'm betting that's a render of the mold for the kit itself, because no self-respecting concept artist would draw cannon barrels as solid pegs with literally no detail, but Revell's kits have that in spades. The Croissant Wing design actually has a lot going for it though, and is basically everything they should have done for the pizza slice. Tiers of superstructure, layers on the hull, actual details that speak to the size of it, instead of a uniform flatness everywhere.
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I'm not counting on anything being "officially" TV really. Bandai seems to be playing coy with the variations on the designs, and making them all unique in one way or another from other versions that have been released, even if it pushes the bounds of what was seen in the shows or movies. The VE-1 really only has one way to look though, since it was such a quick one-shot scene. For the VT-1 though, I want what we never got from the Yamato: optional duty uniformed Hikaru and Misa for the cockpit (as tiny as they will be), and a survival tent to set under the valk.
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Wow, I'd never guess that was a 3D print, that's beautiful! Funny story about it being realistic though.. if you ever really want to see something bizarre, get up close and personal to a factory fresh military aircraft. It honestly throws off your senses. I got to walk around a hot-off-the-presses Superhornet once, and it was just the weirdest thing to see a perfectly matte finish on an aircraft. The paint was flawless, no wear, no stains, nothing. It actually looked like a toy. By the way, as a side note, I bet you that "Rubber Black" color would be a good match for the black nose panels on the DX VF-25s. If you've managed to chip the paint on that little point on the nose during transformation, it might be a good match to cover it up.
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I'm going to be very interested to see how the options work on this one, whether the dish/antennas/etc will be removable, and how the tail section differs from the normal HMR VF-1s. One thing I'm definitely not expecting is hardpointed wings though. Not a huge deal, but still a little sad I can't load it up with ECM pods for atmospheric operations. C'mon now Bandai, bring on the VT-1!
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Honestly, I don't think the Elintseeker commands nearly the interest among general fans that main character valks do. It's more the oddball aircraft buffs that enjoy it. Still, AmiAmi's site got absolutely hammered, I gave up. Got one at HLJ, and then was able to redeem a bunch of points on one at CDJapan, and basically got free shipping. The HLJ advanced search definitely found it for me though, I had two windows, one searching "hi metal" and the other searching "ve-1" and I think they both found it.
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Actually no, don't post links, that just sends bots where to get them! I usually just post instructions for how to find them, or clipped links that need an extra character or something. Also.. very off the subject.. but is anyone else getting the forum heading counting down to Billy Crystal's 73rd birthday?
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So, roughly 8 hours until the VE-1 goes on sale? Time to start warming up my refresh reflexes.