Chronocidal
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Everything posted by Chronocidal
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See, while I think the stories and assorted JJ-isms of the new movies are pretty terrible, I do think they've at least got a core cast of good actors for the roles. They just need some decent writers. Seriously, everything since Nemesis has played out like some kind of terrible fanfic adaptation.
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Mine's got some alignment issues with the arms as well, partly that the right arm doesn't like pushing all the way forward against the cockpit, and partly that the arms seem like they're slightly twisted, and won't line up exactly. I expect it's going to take a few transformations before everything meshes. There are so many little joints that can move in so many ways, it's really just plastic origami. On the other hand, I'm rather thrilled to say Bandai finally made a successfully functioning split-tail for a transforming aircraft. It snaps together firmly, doesn't flop open, and doesn't fall over at all once locked together.
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I can't really say for sure since I never watched the original episodes with him, so it's maybe not the same magnitude of wtf-ness, but this kinda feels like trying sell a new Star Wars show on the premise that Jar-Jar will be back.
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The VFs in the show were the best part (which we never got enough of anyway :P). Having Bandai do such a lousy job color matching makes it seem that even they didn't even care enough about watching the series they sponsored. Mostly just one more disappointment on the pile if even the toys come out wrong. Extremely baffling too, since the prototype they showed last year looked fine. Macross as a franchise is gaining the odd distinction of having every major merchandising licensee seeming to lose their ability to match a color on a screen to a color on a product.
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I'd say you're not wrong, the mechanisms in it feel quite a bit less developed than on the 31. I was surprised to see a big all-plastic joint section that the arm structure rotates around. Got mine after work, and will say phew that is a mess of little panels. I will say without a doubt that where the DX VF-31 fits together better than the 1/72 model, the reverse is true for the 262. The model has a few different joint structures that allow for some wiggle room, and everything fits nearly seamlessly, while the DX is rather gappy all over. I spent the better part of an hour going back and forth over all the joints trying to get things lined up, and the hips never really move around enough to line up nicely with the wings and intakes. Maybe after a few transformations, things will loosen up a bit. I moved the hips around back and forth a bit, and even loosened the screws on them a little to get more play, but so far, they don't want to mesh nicely. Once my second one arrives, whichever one fits better is staying in fighter mode, while the other goes on display in battroid. That transformation is intense, especially flipping the hips around past the intakes. I finally figured out a nice method to slip past them, but whew. Overall a beautiful bird though, no damage that I've seen so far. I was incredibly careful fooling with the transformation, and never really went all the way to gerwalk, but I can probably do it instructionless by now. By the way, I know the forward fist loves to pop out of its socket, but has anyone else repeatedly popped off the forearm with the guns? It's meant to slide on a track, but mine doesn't like staying on while I pull out the arm.
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The neck cover for the Arcadia YF-19 is a bit more complex I think, since it has a ridge to hook under the back of the head. And as far as making something yourself goes, no worries, I'm definitely thinking a 3D printed part would be the easiest way to go. If someone uploads a model to Shapeways.com, you can just order it directly for a few dollars. Might even be able to get it printed in black, so it doesn't need to be painted. You just might need to do a little sanding and smoothing to clean up the raw print, since the process doesn't always leave parts with the nicest finish.
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I love how USPS will offer to send you tracking updates on your packages, and then forget to update your package's status for a full week. Last update I received was that it arrived at LAX last Saturday morning, and now it's apparently out for delivery today. Guess I get to play tampo roulette when I get home. If I find out I got a bad one, I might be tempted to strip the markings entirely, and repaint them in something sturdier.
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Very unlikely you'll be able to get anywhere with trying to acquire official replacements. The Macross embargo on the US means most retailers and product companies in Japan can't do a thing for you. Fortunately, it's not what I would call a critical part to the YF-19, since it functions well enough without the piece, and it's only for aesthetics in fighter mode. Your best bet for replacing it though would probably be to make a replacement yourself, based on measurements from the actual part (which I'm sure someone here can provide). It's a very simple part, and would probably be easily reproducible by any number of methods. We've got a lot of prolific 3D modelers on this forum, so you might be able to convince someone to upload a model of the piece to Shapeways.com, and order a 3D printed replacement. If someone doesn't get to it before me, I can build up a model of the part later this afternoon.
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Kinda irritated it's still such an off color, but I can't say it's a bad color, either. Won't stop me from trying to order a pair, anyway.
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Thanks, I'm really hoping to figure out some fancy methods to get the shape of the VF-19 correct, and keep about 90% of the Yamato transformation mechanisms intact. What I do remember about what I'd finished was that the entire forward fuselage mechanism works, minus the cockpit rotation. The opening cockpit might still be possible, but I don't really like the available options for clear canopies. Aside from that, the fuselage shortening joint is built-in, the nose cone and underside flap both fold down, and the small angled plates ahead of the 2x2 black plate fold in to form the underside of the chest, just like the Yamato. The 2x2 black plates are actually pivots that allow the leading edge plates to fold back behind the hips. I was really thrilled to see that the proportions of the 1/60 VF-19 translate almost directly to whole numbers of studs when scaled up 2x to 1/30. Anyway, as far as the body shape goes, I'll admit, I don't generally like the way curved bricks and slopes work, because they rarely result in a correct shape. They can be useful, but I'm going for accurate shape over anything else, and while they work nicely for the nose sensors, layering bunches of sloped and curved panels generally winds up looking like a mess of disconnected slopes and curves. For accurate surface contours, you really can't beat layering plates of various angles. Like, I absolutely love the UCS Slave I, and the curved plates on the upper half of the body work nicely to make a smoothly contoured surface, but the lower end is a sloppy, layered mess, and I think it would have been improved greatly if they hadn't tried to half-ass the shape with so many shapes that don't form any kind of continuous surface. I think it would have been much better if they'd just built the entire lower half out of layers of curved and angled plates, or even just stacked rows of single-stud-wide slopes side by side along the curvature to get the right shape. All those quarter-round plates just stick out horribly to me.
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Honestly, the thought of HG foaming at the mouth and trying to prevent these products getting sold in the US is the best part of this situation. Best part is, they'd be fighting to defend Big West's IP. Or my personal best case scenario? HG starts importing the bootlegs to sell on Robotech.com. I don't know if the legal system works this way, but in my personal fantasy, it would be gloriously satisfying to see Big West step in and destroy HG for supporting the illegal reproduction and sale of their licensed property.
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Heh, well my workspace is fairly well taken up by other projects at the moment, but someday I hope to. The 1/18th one needed a massive rebuild to be workable, but the arms were probably my favorite mechanism I've ever built. The VF-19 might have gotten farther than this, but this is all I can find for screenshots. The digital designer wasn't meant for such complicated stuff, so testing out the transformation got really tricky.
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I'd say the Porsche is definitely a render, but they might be using a type of pearly silver color for the main body pieces. I need to get my digital designer software back running and see if I can finish my 1/32 VF-19.. I had the dimensions and such all planned out, and was basically building a direct lego copy of the Yamato 1/60, with pretty much everything working. Unfortunately, a lot of elements it would need just flat out don't exist yet, like versions of the AT-AT knee joints that have axial attachments, instead of lever arms. Would be really easy for them to make, too.
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Anyone tried the lil'draken kits? People commented on them looking too big for the 1/72, maybe they'd look better on the DX.
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Fortunately for our wallets, most of the Aerial Knights were completely inconsequential characters. I'll probably buy one or two of the green ones, but having a bunch of identical ones with different numbers is silly. I'll get the ones with the best colors, pretty much.
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Yeah, I just always find myself catching my fingers against the antenna, and wishing it laid flat like the VF-25G. I haven't installed the lasers on my models because I don't want to snap them off. The VF-19 Advance has that issue too, the laser sticks up too far to be of any use directly rearward. It's pretty much entirely because of the way Bandai redesigned the shield too. If it was the proper distance away from the head, there'd be plenty of room to lay it back further.
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Depending on how things work out with later releases, you might be able to swap parts around from the green versions, since they'll likely have all those gold bits molded in silver. Just waiting on LAX customs now.. Hopefully will arrive some time this week, but you never really know with USPS.
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Ghost in the Shell Live Action - March 31, 2017
Chronocidal replied to Mechinyun's topic in Anime or Science Fiction
I don't know if the pun was intended, but bravo either way. The thing that gets me with the whitewashing bit is that everyone assumes that the cyborg body the Major used was designed to look Asian. I don't quite recall where I remember it from, but I was under the impression that both the Major and the Puppetmaster from the original film were actually using identical cyborg bodies, and the Puppetmaster's was very distinctly blonde-haired and blue-eyed. Edit: So.. I don't know if this is diving too deep, or thinking too hard, but it kind of occurred to me, upon reading a review that highlights a few of the philosophical issues discussed in the original 1995 film. But the entire debate over the casting of the characters just seems rather oddly relevant to the film itself. I need to re-watch the original to hear it myself, but one of the issues the Major discusses is whether it even means anything to claim any identity at all, being a cybernetic being whose self isn't necessarily attached to a physical body. And by the end of the movie, I don't think she could be clearly defined as any particular nationality, race, or even species. I don't pretend to think that Hollywood would ever think that hard about such a thing, but I have to wonder if Shirow is sitting back with a box of popcorn and reveling in the fact that the movie is creating such a debate over something so directly relevant to the subject matter itself. -
Really liking the simplicity of easy pre-orders on these. Got a pair ordered.
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That is a thing of beauty. Bravo! I'm actually really wondering what Bandai could pull off with a 1/72 kit now.
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Also remember that plastic this dark is going to show stress marks like crazy, and a lot of those joints are probably undergoing minor stress just from assembly. Might not be anything you did, or anything you can prevent, and may not even be related to the motion of the hinge.
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Character Art Appreciation Thread III
Chronocidal replied to Vepariga's topic in Movies and TV Series
Not to disparage the art, because it's great otherwise, but anyone else bugged by Makina having two left hands in the middle picture? -
STAR WARS Merchandise Episode - 2
Chronocidal replied to Black Valkyrie's topic in Anime or Science Fiction
A Bandai 1/72 Falcon is fine by me, would love to get one that's not $400. Freakin Revell... But what else is there to make from the new movies? The designs in TFA were mostly incredibly boring, and the most interesting ones have already been done. What are they going to make, the dropships? Han's space barge that no one could even see? Leia's flying taco stand? I'd much rather see them churn out more Rogue One editions of stuff. And please Bandai.. give us some markings for something besides Luke's X-wing... you included all the physical parts for multiple ships, then got stupid lazy with the decals and painting guide. At least Fine Molds had the decency to get that right. -
See... LEGO stuff is a special case here... LEGO bricks have never gone out of production. Even if a particular set is gone from the market? Likelihood is that you can find the pieces for it somewhere else, and the instructions are often archived online. There are some unique elements, yes, but I don't think any pieces in any of the UCS sets I've gotten were unique (unique colors and printings notwithstanding), save for the original UCS X-Wing's canopy, and even that's been updated and replaced with a new version. People charging so much for the UCS Falcon at this point might seem ridiculous, but what's the comparative cost of buying the parts to build it yourself? I'm honestly curious what it would total up to. Anyway.. as far as why the original Hi-Metal line died, Bandai couldn't compete with the old Yamato pricing. People weren't going to buy a 1/100 VF-1 that cost as much as (or even more than) a 1/60 with more features. Yamato was underselling and overproducing compared to the competition. Arcadia's new pricing level makes the 1/100 line viable again, because you can't find 1/60s going for less anymore. It would be very funny if HG stepped in and started buying up the bootleg merchandise to sell in the US though. Maybe it would finally get BW upset enough to bring the hammer down and resolve the nonsense once and for all.
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New Macross TV Series in 20xx (sometime this decade)
Chronocidal replied to Tochiro's topic in Movies and TV Series
It did, but they just got used as plot points and set pieces. And you can't convince me that the cat-person planet was not one big setup for nekomimi merchandising. At least they went into some sort of detail with how Windermereans were different from humans, and explored their history, but there's a whole lot of history to explore for all the aliens in that sector of space, if you don't want your aliens to be written off like your typical cliché alien of the week on Star Trek. "Here's our planet of mer-people. They do ocean things, and like seafood. And here's our planet of cat-people. They're like humans... but with cat ears." Just do something with them.
