Chronocidal
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3D Model Request - Missile/Ordnance for DX toys
Chronocidal replied to chyll2's topic in The Workshop!
I should dig out the old pylon models I made for flight simming years back. I built up a few racks based on F/A-18 pylons that'd work with the YF-19's wings. On the subject of the YF-19 though, I'd personally love some Bandai adapters for the Arcadia YF-19 missiles. Though, to be honest, I almost think the existing pylons would fit, if the center post hole on the Bandai valks was drilled out a little. -
I only go for 3 of a valk if I intend to modify it. One to tweak, one to transform and pose, a third to keep pristine. Not that I necessarily keep the third one in the box, but that will be the one that stays in fighter mode semi-permanently for display.
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Just on general principle, I don't like metal body parts because they're generally not nearly as finely shaped, and touching up painted metal and getting it to match and stick isn't that simple. The hips on the VF-25s look distinctly out of place because they're relatively sloppily molded compared to the rest of the valk. That's just the limitation of making large body parts in metal. However, internal mechanisms that don't need paint? Use metal where it's useful, and strengthens things. But again, given the history of die-cast failures in some valks, I don't even trust metal parts not to break catastrophically. At least you can glue plastic back together, or replace it with 3D printed parts if necessary, but you're pretty much out of luck if a metal part bites the dust. The design of this valk though is a separate issue entirely. I think they hired the VF-171 team for this one, because it's the same sort of thing. Nonsense engineering that has no real excuse, and shouldn't be expected to hold up to any kind of normal wear and tear. The only other place I've seen plastic clips like those used on a valk is for the VF-1 and VF-0 hip bars, and those clips are easily two or three times as thick and wide as the 262's tiny little thing. And they clip around a metal bar. Between the nonsense over-engineered pivots for the wing mounts (also in plastic) and that lousy clip connection, I'm surprised there haven't been more failures reported. I wish they'd have looked at the model kit more closely. It's not perfect transformation, but the mechanisms used in it could easily have been used on the DX, and probably cut the parts count by 30% or more just from how many fewer folding segments it has. Oh, and the intakes extend out of the way of the hips, and don't collide on the model, and the shoulders lock in place in both battroid and gerwalk. It's like the teams from the VF-25 v.2 DX and models have reversed places..<_<
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Ghost in the Shell Live Action - March 31, 2017
Chronocidal replied to Mechinyun's topic in Anime or Science Fiction
What's sad is that they're just as inept at understanding how to successfully adapt an anime as they are at picking franchises that will adapt well. If they're so obsessed with the actiony popcorn flicks, they need to pick something less cerebral to begin with. There's plenty of anime like that out there. It just doesn't stand out, because that's the stuff that probably doesn't do well in Japan. -
I actually like the eyes on the 31F, just to be different than the typical visor. Lasers do look a little weird though, can agree there.
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Have to agree, that really just improves the look. I've never been a fan of the unicorn horns they seem to love giving everything as of late.
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I've been getting a complete lack of updates for anything coming out of LAX for the last month. When my 262 got here, the last update I received was the arrival at LAX customs, and then 3 days later it appeared on my doorstep. They're just not pushing updates once the packages get into the country.
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I've already got two of Keith's plane, so I'm going to wait and see if we get a final episode white version before I get another of this mold.
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I'll be honest, I wouldn't be entirely opposed to them being slightly different colors, just for variety. If they go with the colors Yamato used on the VF-22s, that might be about my limit though. And actually, I wouldn't entirely mind a set of packs in the colors Bandai is spitting out as "canon" now. Some light gray missile packs for the boosters might look really nice on a VE-1.
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Update, received my printed copy of the neck cover, and it works fine straight out of the box. Forward edge looks like it came out slightly too narrow, but it tabs in nicely under the head and fuselage, and stays put really well. Texture is quite rough, but it does the job. Total cost came out to about $8 shipped.
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Cross posting this, since it's relevant to the YF-19, but if anyone has lost a neck cover, there's one available at Shapeways now. https://www.shapeways.com/product/YF9G9K2A3/arcadia19-neck-cover?optionId=62354239 Printed one to test, and works beautifully, shouldn't give you any problems ordering.
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I'm working on the idea of a pair of Hayate and Mirage (fighters in formation, battroids with back-to-back armor poses), and a single of each of the others (maybe two 31As).
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Should be a nice kick in the pants for the market! Not sure if I'll bite or not, but I'm glad to see them being reissued finally. I might convince myself to get another set really, though I'm curious if there will be any differences between these and the old Yamatos. Would be nice getting a set without the overdone rainbow coating though, for some reason Milia's was almost too thick to see through. Bring on the VT-1 next Arcadia!
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I did have that thought myself, wouldn't be hard to imagine Batman flying a solid black one of these. looks at 1/72 kit versions Hmmmmmm...
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Considering they weren't actually called "Valkyries" until the VF-1, and the Sv-51 has the same designation, I'd doubt that's what the original stood for. On that note though, did the Sv-51 ever get an actual name?
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Not certain where the V comes from (aside from the obvious "variable"), but I think several of the Macross Zero materials translated specified that the original Sv-51 was a product of several companies including Sukhoi, which makes sense given the look of the plane. How or why this particular Anti-UN faction survived Space War I and went on to keep producing variable fighters is anyone's guess, but judging by the fact that they've appeared in Macross: The Ride with an updated Sv-51, and two new designs in Delta, they're alive and kicking. And I still want to see someone make the Sv-154. That one's got me even more intrigued about the transformation than when we first saw the Draken III.
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There haven't been any major reports of breakage or anything in Japan, have there? I know we saw a couple of mentions of the paint being fouled up, but I haven't seen or heard of any catastrophic flaws so far.
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Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, in theaters Dec. 16, 2016
Chronocidal replied to Dobber's topic in Anime or Science Fiction
It's still an interesting analysis, but if anything, I think the fact that the Rebels were able to achieve that much on such a shoddy plan only points to the fact that the Imperials were the ones who needed a wake-up call. But yeah, I'm pretty sure no one who volunteered really held any delusions that they would make it out alive. It was a suicide mission from the start. Off the subject a bit, but seriously, whatever else is said about this movie, there is precisely one concept that I hope this movie drilled home in every person who enjoys anything about Star Wars: YES, YOU CAN DEFEAT WALKERS WITHOUT TOW CABLES!!! I flat out cheered when the X-wings nailed a few of them. As amazing as the Rogue Squadron games were, I wanted to slam my head against the wall every time they forced you into a snowspeeder to trip up the walkers, instead of just outright reducing them to molten slag with bombs or torpedoes. They were always the most annoying missions too... -
Considering the sizes of the parts involved, I'm worried you'd do more damage to the piece trying to drill into it. If the piece didn't need to be U-shaped to fit around something, a better option would probably be to make a solid pin all the way across the part. Actually, if you can manage to get that folding plate out entirely, you might be better replacing it with a new part. Making it would require a lot of fine shaping and drilling though, probably some high end manufacturing.
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Suppose I'm glad I'm not a huge fan of gerwalk for the 262, since I think that's the only mode that uses it. Wonder if it would even be possible to replace that part though, the whole thing there looks like it would be nearly impossible to remove the broken one. I'm thinking it might be worth sanding down the insides of those clips to loosen the grip though, just to lessen the risk of those tabs snapping off when clipping them in or out.
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Just out of curiosity, does the toy even need that connection? I'm just wondering. I don't have access to mine at the moment, but I'm browsing through the 1/72 model instructions online, and noticing how much simpler and more straightforward the model transformation is, and it doesn't have anything even resembling those clips. Granted it's not as sturdy as the DX, but what's shocking to me is how many fewer parts the model seems to use, and how much easier it is to transform.
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That little mechanism is so stupid tiny, I can only call that an "our engineers are idiots" flaw. Could they really not come up with anything better that doesn't rely on a pair of tiny plastic clips?? Seriously... That entire structure should have been made of metal, and it should have been made with blocky pegs that fit into hollow sockets, not tiny little round plastic pegs that clip into equally tiny plastic clips. And here I thought we'd gotten past the pants-on-head designs of the 171... Edit: Oh, and joy of joys... the entire thing is riveted together. Where's the "slamming my face into a brick wall" smiley when you need it?
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Generally speaking, yes, I tend to try and seal and sand seams, but I usually don't go anywhere beyond sketchley's method above, just letting glue ooze fill the seams, and sanding it smooth. On older kits, this might not be enough, but more recent things from Hasegawa and Bandai barely need more than this. I will say though that I hesitate to use too much glue on transforming kits, or anything with lots of moving parts. Those seams may not look the best, but if they aren't horribly noticeable, they also leave more room for the kit to twist and flex as the parts move. I would hate to have a kit all sanded and sealed smooth, and then crack the surface when I try to move something.
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It really doesn't take much to make them stay in actually, I just added a single layer of scotch tape to the missile tabs, and they've remained solid ever since. If you're worried about the effect the glue might have on the plastic, you could even just use a small strip of paper. It only takes a little thickness to make them stay very well.
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Any 3D printed surface is going to need some serious cleaning and polishing if you want a smooth surface to paint on. Unless you really must have the NUNS markings on there, you're probably better off using black plastic, and just leaving the part its base color. I did have a thought for how to replace the lower triangles with something more similar to the Yamato VF-17, but I never got around to making them. It would require two parts instead of three, a new mount with a lengthwise pivot point that would screw in where the old longer pronged piece used to be, and a folding door that would rotate downward. I don't honestly know how well such a part would work. The green piece would need to pivot downward, out of the way of the arms. What I don't know is how much room it would take in gerwalk and battroid modes, and whether it would interfere with the legs, especially in gerwalk. Ideally, it might just rotate 180 degrees, and flip underneath the chest and out of the way for both modes.
