Chronocidal
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Not if you like your decals to look like they were copied from a magazine article. The printing process they used on the decals resulted in basically the worst printed decals I've ever seen in any kit I've ever built. They look like newsprint, because they didn't use true colors, and made up the decals by printing dots of varying colors. From across the room you don't see it much, but up close, you see the speckles horribly. They didn't even bother to actually print orange on the SMS logo, it's a mix of reddish and yellow speckles. Also, they're terribly transparent, because there's no ink layer underneath. The yellow stripes on Ozma come out a sickly pale greenish yellow because you're seeing the gray through them.
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If you've got something similar in terms to "Boolean Operations," that's what you want. You might have something called union, subtraction, etc. It's basically all logical operations, but in model form. With a subtraction, you're taking a solid object out of another solid, so that's what you want. You want to subtract part of the sphere from the head. By the way, I won't say that Gmax is incredibly easy to learn either, since it's based off 3DSMax. It does have some tricks to the interface, but it's also extremely capable, and you can't go wrong with free software that powerful. It just takes time to learn the tricks to it, and fortunately, Gmax is a lot more forgiving than 3DSMax, since it's got such a simplified set of options. I just hope there's a way to export from it.
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SDCC 2013 Hasbro Exclusives: Jetfire Skystriker
Chronocidal replied to Chet's topic in Anime or Science Fiction
That's... hilarious. It's like Jetfire had a baby with an F-14... which would probably be called aircraft incest to begin with. -
Not exactly. I think, in-universe, the entire reason for the crystals was that they act as Vajra jammers. They communicate through fold waves, and the crystals amplify signals to transmit on those same wavelengths (probably something resembling subspace transmissions in other universes). That's what Alto was doing during the entire scene with the YF-29. He was trying to disrupt the control over the Vajra by causing interference by way of amplifying Ranka and Sheryl's singing. Honestly, I always appreciated the slightly more scientific take Frontier took on why songs would work in battle that way. If you consider that fold waves were essentially a new communication frequency, and that Sheryl and Ranka could actually transmit white noise on those frequencies due to their infections, you essentially had a plot based on using human jammers against an enemy. Apparently though, due to the way those waves propagate through space nearly instantaneously, they're also the key to unlocking much faster space folds. Luca's family was researching how to utilize those crystals in various ways, which was where the enhanced fold booster Michael used came from.
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Oh, suppose it is, I'm just not that big a fan of Luca without the packs. The battroid is interesting though, so you're right about that. It feels a lot like displaying a VE-1 or VT-1 in battroid though.. it looks cool, but it never actually happened.
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Well, for something like Shapeways, the units can be whatever you want. It's just a proportional measurement. If you're building something that has dimensions in a particular unit (cm, in, ft, etc), you can set the units in 3DS Max to be whatever you like in the interface, but it has absolutely no effect on the model's geometry. The translation from a model to printing is the only time you actually apply real units. When you send something through Shapeways, they ask you what your units are. They offer two settings (cm, and in) and it's up to you to size your model correctly based on that. So, if you want to make a cube that's got 1 inch edges, you make a model that's one unit on an edge, and then select inches for units when you import the model into the printing software. STL files are VERY simple, and don't contain anything about what units you're using, it's just vertex data relative to whatever coordinate system you've got set up.
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If it comes through, it'll save me about $40 over NY, but NY will probably ship out before HobbyFan, so it's kind of a moot point. I can just say I got two for $160 each. Don't know if I will keep both, but given the recent tendency of Bandai stuff to have parts suddenly explode, having a spare for replacement parts is looking like a good idea. It's funny though. Despite my lack of any display space, I keep planning in my head how I'd want to display these. I definitely want a second VF-25G (with a crotch piece this time, thanks Bandai ) to pose in sniper mode, and the planets aligned somehow so I could get a re-release Alto from AmiAmi, so I can put one in armor to display next to the clean Gallia IV cruising pose. But I really have no idea how I'd display a second Luca or Ozma. A single armored Ozma battroid pose for the center of a display seems like plenty, and Luca was never that important to warrant double billing.
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I'm still trying to think of how you could go about converting Gmax exports into STL format. Last I checked, Gmax is still free, and still available from TurboSquid.com. It's possibly the most capable free 3D modeling program on the market, since it's essentially 3D Studio Max with the rendering and fancy production tools removed. The trick is finding a format you can export in. Basically, the people behind 3DSMax at the time were banking on a business model that depended on developers buying into Gmax for free-use mod developers. So, essentially, the only official export plugins you can get for it are the ones provided by companies who decided to pony up the cash to bundle Gmax with their games. For most cases, like Microsoft Flight Sim, the plugins only export in proprietary formats that were only useful in the games they were intended for. BUT. Gmax also has native support to export in Quake 3 .md3 format. It was one of the earliest formats built into Gmax, and has always been the go-to when someone needed to use Gmax to build something that needed to be converted to something else. Granted .md3 is an old format, but I think it's also very simple, and very easy to convert into other formats. People have used that format as a way to work around Gmax's export limitations, and share files between programs. Assuming Blender can import models well enough, and you can find a way to convert .md3 files into .3ds, or even directly to .stl, you might be able to bypass the interface frustration, and just use Gmax to make the models. Given the nature of game developers, it wouldn't surprise me if people have dug down into the Gmax plugin format, and learned to make their own, so you might find a ready-made .stl exporter somewhere. I think that might go against something about the original Gmax license (they only wanted game developers paying them to make any plugins), but when have software licenses stopped people from developing their own tweaks to the program? You know.. honestly. I've been dealing with a few very basic file formats lately, and I have to wonder how hard it would be to write a converter, and just take a Gmax project file, and spit out an STL. STL is literally just a list of triangle vertices with a header and footer, while md3 looks like is has a section that is exactly that. Anyone with a little experience scripting could probably do it.
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I still have my pre-order with them, but I haven't heard anything yet. I'd actually forgotten I even made that order until last week.
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Honestly, I'd kind of say to ditch both the decals and stickers entirely, and paint everything. They're terrible. They're printed like newspaper, horribly transparent, not the correct shapes, and don't conform well at all using standard decal techniques. Not a huge deal if you're just applying them for fun, and intend to strip them down later though. When you do need to use markings like text and logos, get some pure white decal film, and cut out a duplicate to put under the decals so they appear the right colors. Either that, or paint the areas white first so you don't see the plain plastic showing through the markings. If you're just decorating it to be done with it without much painting, I'd go with the stickers though, just because they'll probably work better if you aren't planning on painting.
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It's not that the crotch armor is bad exactly.. they just went el-cheapo on it, and didn't paint any of it. The outer edge is supposed to be a darker color, like the originals. It's like they flat out forgot it was actually supposed to have a color other than "plain plastic gray."
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Oh, sorry about the Rhinoceros thing, I was actually a fan of it back when it was new, and you could get a license for around $200. I'd say it's still worth looking into if you can find an old used copy or something, it's an extremely capable program, and I always loved the interface design. It's basically designed to be used for concept design work, so while you can do mathematical operations and things with it, it's meant to be very free-form, and let you design whatever you want. Really good for organic shapes. At the time I used it, I was working from a demo, and I was severely underusing it because I only needed polygon models.
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Considering the rarity, possibly, though raw-value-wise, I think the 27 is higher priced, and people may balk at that retail value difference. Throwing in the YF-29 super packs on the other hand would actually make it over-valued for a trade I think, considering how hard those are to come by now.
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Whoa, I went and checked out the site for the Up Plus 2. Not sure if those models on the site are in raw printed form, but some of them look like they'd blow the quality of the Cube 3D out of the water. I imagine a lot of it is in the software used, but the fine detail on some of those objects looks pretty impressive.
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I don't know much at all about the 3D scanner market, though I'm pretty sure I saw a reference to a simple and compact one during my browsing through 3D printers. Nice find on that new printer by the way, that looks like it would be a bit more cost effective than the Cube-3D ones, from the materials standpoint. How's the layer thickness on that one? As far as CAD programs go, I actually use 3D Studio Max, since it'll export STL files, and I'm used to the interface, but an actual mechanical CAD program might be better. Blender I hear a lot about as well, though I wonder if GMax is capable of STL file output. GMax is basically just a chopped down version of 3D Studio Max meant to be used for game mod development, and uses the same basic interface. It's mostly limited by what export plug-ins you can find for it, but someone may have made an STL one for it. If you're thinking of buying a program though, I'd look up Rhinoceros 3D. One of the cheapest full-function CAD programs I know of, and I think it has quite a few useful features for 3D printing and machining.
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Eh, it's a pretty stupid situation caused by all the pre-order nonsense. With the initial VF-25F run, I don't think anyone trusted Bandai to make a good product, and pre-orders lasted a good long time. I was able to get a one at HLJ easily a few weeks after the initial opening. By the time the pre-orders for Ozma opened, Alto hadn't even hit shelves yet, so there was still no way to tell if they weren't going to be lemons. Ozma's pre-orders picked up after Alto's came out. After they were all sold out and demand shot up, scalpers started grabbing up the pre-orders for the other releases like crazy, hoping to cash in. To a point they've been successful, only because they drove the perceived demand through the roof. At some point, the false demand created by the scalpers is going to dry up. We're getting close, and the 171CF is good evidence of how it works. If no one buys the inflated prices, all those pre-orders get cancelled, and the webshops get left with piles of stock they can't liquidate, because no one actually wanted the items, they just wanted to resell them for a mark-up profit that people are getting tired of paying. I want to say I've been pretty lucky overall, since looking back, I think the only Bandai releases I've purchased so far at any real amount of markup were the 171CF, and my upcoming Luca. I would cancel the Luca too, but that's a gamble I don't really care to take. It is irritating seeing stuff go on sale for a third less than you pre-ordered it for, but Bandai has never really worked like Yamato used to, so you really can't count on the clearance sales. They also didn't help Yamato in the end, because people started waiting for the sales before buying things.
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.... I'm not much for figures, and don't usually go for nudity... but I would almost buy that just for that one facial expression.
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Possibly in a bit, need to get the wings stiffened up so they don't sag.
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People are commenting that the entire plot looks like an allegory to a lot of scientology's backstory, and how the current earth is populated by a bunch of people who arrived on DC-8's or something like that, after it was destroyed long ago by nukes detonated in volcanoes. Then again, most of my understanding of scientology comes from South Park, so I wouldn't bet on any kind of accuracy. People did say the ship they're on looks enough like an airliner to be a reference to that though. Personally, I couldn't help shake the feeling that this was meant to actually be before our current time, which would explain the lack of any recognizable landmarks and such, but I haven't seen it myself, and will probably wait for a while anyway.
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I thought they didn't actually mark up the web releases? Well, not until after release that is. I think you could find a few places with cheaper shipping, but I don't know if their preorder prices are better or worse than anyone else.
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From what I recall, this happened a lot on the first version VF-25s. I don't know if anyone ever found a good way to fix it permanently. Making a shapeways replacement might work, but matching the colors and sanding to paint something that small might be more work than just repeatedly repairing the broken ones.
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That's my question too actually. Ideally, I'd want to apply it to the rotating shaft, but maybe the surface that rubs between the engines and wing is best? Now that I think about it, just gluing them in place doesn't sound like such a bad idea, except that I actually do like the way it looks with the packs mounted upside down and backwards. Really though, making the entire thing rotate that way made the aircraft-related portion of my brain hurt during Macross 30. As if forward swept wings aren't unstable enough already, you're literally twisting them into a shear condition on purpose? I know, overtech and all that, but it still seemed weird making the entire wing angle for maneuvering instead of just the nozzles and control surfaces.
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So, can we assume that since they're showing off the armored Alto and Ozma, they're planning on re-releasing the packs, or producing a gift set? Or are they just taking the chance to go "neener-neener-neener" at fans who couldn't get them?
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So, quick question. Is there some way to stiffen up the engine rotation joints? I mean, short of trying to squirt superglue in the joint and smearing it everywhere. The engine pivots on mine literally aren't strong enough to hold up the packs.
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Got mine in today, and gotta admit, I was really suspicious of that box. It was tiny. Parts fit nicely, and look good, though I think I actually like them better mounted upside down, and canted slightly up instead of the droopy way they're "supposed" to be. Much preferred them in Macross 30, because they were just level with the wings. You can kind of get them level if you don't snap them on all the way, but the intake covers don't fit then. Actually, if I could find a way to streamline them, I might mount them upside down, and then twist the engines around the wrong way. If you ignore the forward facing nozzles, it looks awesome.