Chronocidal

If I had the video editing skills and software, I would've already made an entire Haruhi/Fire Bomber mashup AMV series by this point. Although.. heh.. I wonder how long it'll be till we start seeing Haruhi dressing up as Sheryl (it probably already exists)... I'm not sure how they'd pull off the rest though. The characters' personalities are rather mixed up from their body types... although I can totally see Kyon and Koizumi as Alto and Michael. Leseee... going by personalities, Mikuru/Ranka might work (body type on opposite end of the spectrum though.. heh.. she'd probably make a better Nanase).. Tsuruya could make a good chibi-Klan (same length hair too, just wrong color) I don't think there even was a Yuki-type character in MacF now that I think of it. And Haruhi doesn't really have an Ozma substitute... so by default, Yuki'd have to be Ozma, just based on relative levels of kickassitude. Yeesh.. stupid imagination, now I can't get my head out of SOS-Frontier.

Cutting out filler is good... I always cracked up at the bits of "Last time on DBZ: 'KAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.....'" followed by "Next time On DBZ: '....HHMAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY.....'" Okay, so it wasn't that bad, but I never have seen the original in full. I will admit though.. while I imagine some important bits did get cut out, I thought DBZ Abridged pretty much nailed it. Part of me wonders how close the abridged series' pacing would match up to the new recut.

I'd like to know the same thing, HLJ has the strike parts set listed as discontinued , and I still want a second set. Did they just stop making them?? Do I need to get an anniversary Hikaru 1S to get a second strike pack? I really wasn't planning on it..

WIN! Although, I get the distinct feeling Haruhi and Basara would either get along realllly well, or be at each other's throats non-stop. I can't see there being any in-between.

Depending on the plastic, you might have a few tries, but using thinners to remove paint can have some nasty effects. Don't ever use it on clear plastic for instance.. the last time I did that, it crazed the plastic, leaving it with a shattered glass look. I did use thinner to remove the first metallic coat I put on the feet, and it didn't seem to hurt much, but it definitely had an effect on the plastic. After removing the paint, the plastic was very dull, almost like a cloudy texture somehow, and the surface of the pieces was definitely softer then before.. it seemed to scratch more easily, as if the plastic was breaking down. The most reliable way I know to remove paint is just scraping or sanding it off (much easier with acrylics, but a fine grained sandpaper is usually enough to strip enamels without taking off too much plastic). Takes more work, and scratches up the surface, but it's probably the safest route. And if you're planning on repainting the part anyway, it'll cover up easily enough.

I still love the old fashioned ultraviolence. For as many problems as it caused for Yamato though, I don't think it was really worth the extra effort, even if it is realistic.

Oh, please derail away, I'd like to know that as well, actually.

If I remember right, my M&Ms were a bit of an oddity for me too. Nothing horrific, but they did have a few oddball problems I haven't seen on any other v2 VF-1. Things like wheels falling off, loose leg fins, canopys coated too thickly to see through, etc. They are also the hardest ones I have to transform just due to their joints being extremely tight. Millia's tail section almost wouldn't fold properly. I kind of got the impression that the M&Ms were cast from brand new molds when they were released. They were the only 1/60 VF-1s I got right after release too, so later ones might have been not as tricky to transform. As for the shoulder light scratching, I found sanding down the little nubs on the inside of the chest piece helped quite a bit to prevent that.

I might still need to get a 0S at some point, just to see how they improved it. It's a beauty of a plane, especially when you strip off the excess baggage (fast packs and shoulder bulges). I always did like the CF better than the Shin version too, those white stripes just don't add much contrast to the paint.

Wait, what?? When was it released? I haven't heard anything.... of course.. I've been a bit busy with real life... On an unrelated note though.. I saw this on Ngee Khiong's Blog... I have no idea if it was intentional or not... but now I want SOS Gundams. And while on the subject of mecha.. I found this by accident and couldn't help cracking up at fact that this is exactly how I imagined that "End of Haruhi" bit earlier.

Makes me really glad I'm happy with my 1/60s. See, a rare variant like an Angelbird or prototype I can understand being an exclusive. Main characters? Bandai, one of my fingers has a message for you.

Ok, since the VF-0A got re-released (assuming the CF not the Shin) is there any chance of getting a spare set of parts from anywhere? We all know about how the shoulders tended to be made of some type of plastic that likes to disintegrate, but... well, that's only a small part of the problem for me. I noticed the cracking shoulders on mine long ago, and just left it in fighter mode for a long time, but I figured I might take it apart today and see if there's any way to reinforce the thing. Unfortunately.. well.. nothing has outright broken yet.. but after taking it apart, it seems like nearly all of the load bearing joints in this thing are made of the same explodium as the shoulders. On disassembling it, both shoulders, the upper arm twist joints, and both halves of both knees are getting ready to completely shatter. There are cracks running clear across both of the double knee joints (the upper part of the thigh twist joint). On top of this.. the main shoulder hinges are made of this same plastic, and they're showing some nasty stress marks. Over all, the places this plastic is used are numerous: the fast packs, the intake covers, hands, shoulders, main fuselage shoulder plates (including the clips to hold the hip bar in fighter), all three sections of the knee joints, inner section of the backpack, the head mounting plate all use it. Basically any dark grey plastic except the canopy cover seems to be the same brittle plastic. So, I guess I'm wondering two things. 1. Do the re-releases use this same crappy plastic in the same places, or is it higher quality stuff like in the newer v2 VF-1s? 2. What are the odds of being able to get a replacements for both arm and leg assemblies? Because of the way things are glued together and screws are covered, I can't really separate the individual parts that need to be fixed. It basically amounts to replacing the entire arm from the shoulder pivot down, and the entire leg starting at the thigh. My plan was to reinforce things as best I can by taking things apart and super-gluing everything.. but to get where I'd need to put the glue would absolutely destroy the parts.

The black definitely was easier.. for a while I was tempted to just leave the stripes entirely black. The red, not so much, but it worked. The best part of this was learning that it's not too difficult to mask off those individual pieces, since most of them follow natural reference points on the plane. I may sticker up one of the kits I have just to try it (probably Luca, since I really only bought his kit for the ghosts ), but I think in general I'm going to stick with painting those markings on, especially once I start learning how to use my airbrush.

Well, I did figure out what happened with the buffing.. turns out I mixed up two of my paints. The one I used wasn't for buffing after all. Oh well, I like how they turned out from the mixed color. I've gotten to the point in my kit where I need to seriously start considering whatever reinforcement tweaks I may use. I actually am considering buying a few small magnets, depending on how tiny they can get, while still remaining powerful. I've got two spots in mind. The first is a replacement for the tabs I developed on my first Michael valk, or maybe a refinement of them. I liked how well the first ones worked, but they were very rough cuts in the leg panels, and I know I could do better with a bit more planning and measuring. What I might do is try to locate magnets in the same places I added the tabs and slots. They'll have to be very small to fit though. The tabs were located directly above the tabs in the upper leg plates before, and I'm thinking if I removed those tabs entirely, the front pegs might be enough to hold those plates on, but I'm not sure yet. I know there is plenty of room inside the wing glove for a decent sized magnet, so I might just try and fill the leg plates with metal bits. If I can get a strong enough magnet for the wings, it might not actually have to touch directly on the metal. I don't know though.. it will take some testing. The second spot I'm considering is as a replacement for the tab that holds the hips in place. I pulled off the two underside plates where this connection is located, and there might be a way to do it. There are so many redundant pegs inside these plates, I might be able to remove a couple, and still leave enough to hold them on. I've got the spots circled in the pic below. The front spot is actually directly above the connection tab. If I removed the peg and socket there, there would be enough room for a small round magnet I think. I may have to drill out a little bit of the plate behind the tab. The second spot is right where the tab's slot is currently, so the two spots are perfect for locating the magnets. There is less space in the back due to the hip bar joint, but if I remove some of the reinforcement that holds the tab in place in battroid mode, there should be room to lay a magnet right against the inside of the skin. In other news, I finally got the nerve up to start painting the main markings. While the puzzle-piece pattern can be generally annoying, I actually found the panels very useful for finding solid reference points. I took a couple of small liberties with the pattern, partly to make it look a little more streamlined, and partly to simplify how the pattern lines up with the existing panel lines. What I did for the most part was simple masking with scotch tape, and it worked fine when I needed it. Most of what I did was drawn on with a pencil in straight lines, and filled in. I painted the black first, and it went on beautifully, making a very smooth coat. The red though.. frustrated me for a few days, mainly on the wing gloves. The black paint isn't really durable to mask over without peeling it off, so I had to free-hand the red over it after marking the outlines with a very fine mechanical pencil and a ruler. Overall, it came out nicely I think and the red matches the other portions I've painted with it (very dark from the black undercoat, although enough coats will make the same shade on white plastic). It's not perfectly even in some spots, especially the shoulder blocks, but it looks fine for normal viewing distances. Next step will probably be working on coating the rest of the internal structure with gunmetal, and finally assembling the legs. I've held off putting the entire thing together so far to keep from stressing the hip joints, but it will have to happen sooner or later. Edit: Oh, by the way.. after watching a couple episodes of the show for details, I redid the shoulders. Know how the shoulder decals have a red stripe between two black stripes? While the black really is just a pinstripe around the wider red band.. the inner pinstripe shouldn't be there. The inner hexagon should be indented, and that second black stripe would be a shadow. The outer black and inner red stripe should also be about the same size. Also, there is a black stripe on the underside of the wing gloves that I keep seeing, about in the same position as the black portion of the top stripe, without the red piece.

Holy poo. I live about an hour north of Edwards, and maybe 3 from LA... I might have to actually go to this now. And here I was not even knowing when it was. I might have to save a bit of vacation and take that day off... Oy. July 4th weekend too. I'll have to see if I can get my friends back home to join me, since we usually have a bbq on the 4th.

Umm... I hope that's "cm" and not "mm".... or the 1/72 pilots will need to ride on the wings. Absolutely beautiful, I must say. Makes me wish I knew more about building resin kits.

Actually, even with the busy underbelly, that NSAWC camo pattern is solid underneath, so it wouldn't matter too much, and it would make painting the arms and shoulders easy. How you'd divide up the rest of the pattern though, I have no idea. It gets complicated around the tail section and engines.

Okay, after my (very) small bit of experience taking pictures for building up a model, I've realized that my little 6MP HP point-n-shoot isn't cutting it. The macro function is okay, but when you're taking pictures of something less than an inch long, and can't get closer than a foot or more.. yeah. Not working so well. So, I'm weighing my options a bit. I honestly don't know if I would need anything as fancy as a DSLR, and even then, I don't want to spend a ton (under $500 would be great, but I might go over that for a good deal). What I use my camera for now is mainly indoor work (close-ups of models and such), some outdoor photos at things like airshows of stationary aircraft, and the occasional picture or two of the skyline out my front door (desert sunsets and cloud formations make for some great windows wallpaper). Being sealed/weather-resistant shouldn't be too much of a concern. I don't need a ton of fancy effects as long as I can get good pictures in relatively low light, but I know I'd have fun and experiment given the options. Video isn't really a must, but it would also be nice to have, since I don't have anything that will take video currently. Now, I read a review of the Canon EOS Rebel T2i 18MP that recommended it as an ideal full featured camera for a beginner, but it seems a bit fancier and pricier than I'd want to go (or even know how to use), at around $1k with a basic kit lens, plus any accessories. That review though did lead me to a few others, including a Canon XS 10MP package on Amazon for $500 that includes a basic lens, carrying case, spare battery, and memory card. It's obviously older, and not as fancy, but I still think it would have plenty of features to keep me busy. On the other hand, it also led me to a $400 bundle for a Canon Powershot 12MP that includes a case, 8gb card, set of 4 rechargeable batteries, and a mini-tripod. I'm assuming it's not a DSLR, but considering how little I know about what that means, if that camera would do what I want, it might not matter. I do also like the ability to use regular AA batteries if I run out of juice, but I don't know how they would compare to a battery pack in terms of lifetime. Oh, and it does 720p video, and it has an articulated screen as well, which might be handy for some types of aircraft pictures (reaching up for cockpit shots, into engines, etc). Anyway, that Powershot deal is looking nice, but I figured I'd ask here first to see if anyone had any horror stories. Really, I'm a fairly clueless beginner, and the thought of having multiple lenses seems like overkill for me (although it looks like the Powershot might be able to use them? I can't tell). Any recommendations anyone might have for a good beginning camera would be very much appreciated.

I did use superglue, but apparently I got some on the inside of the hole, and it shrank, meaning pushing it onto the hinge spread it again.

After a little bit of experimental paint mixing, I think I'm really happy with how the feet turned out. What I wound up doing was making a blend gunmetal and metallic gold, with a bit of flat black to darken it. The mixture went on very smooth, and gave me a nice semi-gloss metallic look, with a hint of brown to it. It kind of looks like antiqued brass in person. For the insides of the feet, I just mixed a little more flat black with gunmetal, and got a nice dull metallic black. I remember reading about various problems with the decals on the foot cuffs, and how they refused to fit correctly for some people, but I don't remember which half didn't fit. What I did realize while painting them though... Bandai got the heel cuff decals backwards. While the colors are right with the red on top, the decals bend the wrong direction. Looking at the cuffs, the stripes on the toe dip downward at the edges, but the decals for the heel bend upwards. From all the pictures of the anime I have, it looks like the heel strips should curve to match the cuff, and join up into a roughly continuous stripe when the feet are closed, so I painted them that way, except I skipped painting the small tab that overlaps since moving the feet would just rub the paint off there.

I'll have to look that up in the near future... I've got an order planned for a 1/60 TV Roy in the near future, so I'll have to check if HLJ carries that. I'm not against spending any money, but I do want to avoid the more expensive things I could use. So far, I think I've spent maybe $20 in materials that I didn't already have, mainly paints and brushes. Up to now, I've just been keeping by brush wet with water while painting, and it's allowed the paint to flow fairly evenly. My only real problem has been my own impatience, and my tendency to try and keep fiddling with things to make them better. If I just wet the paint down a lot, and let it flow into very thin coats, it comes out extremely smooth. It just takes a while to dry, and takes a lot of coats. After reading through the old kit topics for ideas and reference pictures, I came across a couple of discussions about how to paint the pilot's details since they're so tiny, so a short description of the process I used probably couldn't hurt. The real trick I found to getting the pilot done well was doing things in layers. First thing I did was paint the collar area, since it's the hardest to get to, and any attempt to paint that later would get red everywhere. Next, I think I did all the black on the uniform. If I had thought about it at the time, I would have painted black further up to the neck, but I just left the entire neck area red. Oh well, I'll have to remember that next time. Next I'm pretty sure I did the blue on the lower uniform, just to get it out of the way, including the stripes on the pants molded into the cockpit. Since those areas go under the armpits, I think I may have touched up the black afterwards to make sure I had the right areas colored. After that came the white on the helmet and shoulders, which took a couple of coats to cover the dark plastic. One thing I made sure to add was the white patches under the arms, which Bandai forgot to mold into the pilot. They're supposed to be ribbed areas I think, but I just painted a diagonal down under the arms. The last bits here were just red dots on the chest and shoulders, with small black and yellow dots in the middle for the patches. I forget what order I painted the helmet in, because I'm pretty sure I went back and forth between colors to touch up areas a few times. The order that makes sense to me now is the visor first, followed by the black strip around the back of the head, and blue on the upper front of the helmet, which actually has a thin blue strip that wraps around the head (think I used my smallest brush, but it might've been a toothpick). Final bit was the two red stripes down the front, which I only now realize aren't the right shape, but I'm not worrying about it on this one. In other news, I might have to make one of these in fighter mode only. That arm that broke glued decently enough, but split in a second spot the instant I tried to reassemble it. I've got it re-soaked in glue again, but I doubt that piece will ever be strong enough to bend much. I'm going to have to file down the inside of the hole to make sure it fits over the hinge pin in the elbow.

Well, while this is technically a non-existent aircraft, considering the era it was designed in, I'd think it would use standard military colors for that time period. I don't know the exact shades used, but there are definitely specific grays used for the interiors of navy aircraft. Considering the resemblance, you'd probably do well to look up the standard cockpit shades for things like Tomcats and Hornets. Now, if you really want to make things interesting... you could add some extra bits to the cockpit that aren't there yet... I'm thinking ejection seat handles, canopy rail seals/hooks, etc., things you'd find in an actual cockpit. I don't know how model-like you intend this to be, but it would be fun to add a few details Yamato never put in.

I'm realizing that practice with acrylic paints has been what I needed most, since while they clean up nicely, most of my previous experience was with enamels, which dry much slower. Most of my problems have been coming from trying to even out the paint after the first few brush strokes, only to find the paint had alread started to dry, and the extra brushing was causing clumps. Mostly I just had to learn to be patient, put down one even coat, and let it sit for a good few minutes. After that metallizer failed on the feet, I just stripped it off the best I could, and put them aside for a while to work on the rest of the legs. I've been trying to go as much by the anime as possible in terms of the pattern, looking up the various colored patches that bandai didn't include on the kit. I'm simplifying the colors a bit though, just sticking with a couple consistent colors that I don't have to mix. I think I might redo the kneecaps, after realizing how close the tolerances are between them and the shin plates. If I filed down the lower edges a little, or maybe the upper edges of the shin plates, there would probably be plenty of clearance to keep these from scraping. The legs have been put together and taken apart probably a half dozen times now. While those parts were drying, I decided to see about painting the wing stripes on. I took a few liberties with the stripes, and instead of the lines the decals follow, I just stuck with existing panel lines for the black stripes. Likewise with the grey strips, I pushed them back to the front edge of the control surfaces, which actually looks closer to what the anime has than the kit directions show. The underside stripes went on easily, since they have a nice dividing line marked. I discovered that my red paint sticks much better over a base coat, so I painted the entire tip black, and then added the red on the tip, just dividing the black in half at the inner edge of the light on the tip of the wing. The lights I intended to be slightly transparent over silver, but both my gloss red and the bit of greenish-blue I mixed turned out too thick. They did pick up a bit of metallic sheen to them though, so I'm happy. Again, with the red paint over black, I did the shoulder plate pinstriping, and it turned out okay, but I might redo it more evenly later, or at least even out the rough edges. The red may also need another coat or two here, it seems more dim than the wingtips turned out. The red stripe might look better a bit wider as well, so there is less black showing. Sadly, I've got to wait for one of the elbow joints to harden after gluing it.. I managed to snap one of the hinge loops while trying to move the arm earlier, since I'd forgotten to move half of the joint after painting it, and it stuck. Next up should be the foot assemblies, after I decide what type of paint to try on them.

Oh, sure Bandai.. give the SD version a thigh swivel..

Shhh, they might hear you! Actually, comparing the bit of cad we can see with the YF-19 pics, it's quite different already. And except for where the leading edge of the wing meets the fuselage, it looks extremely close to the Hi-Metal 1/100 (the bandai's leading edge has a steeper slope, and intersects the fuselage beneath the canards, instead of ahead of them).