Chronocidal

funniest topic I've read in a long time...

Hey all, sorry for not being here for a bit, school's been out, and I've been away from my computer, so I could barely even get to the internet (had to go to friends' houses, our internet wasn't quite working). I'm working on a HUGE project at the moment, and I really want this thing to be perfect before I release it, so it may be a while still. But it is almost done.. I've just been discovering the joys of XML coding for FS, and adding a few extra goodies to the plane. Hopefully I can get it up here soon.

Actually, they look to be just about 4 stories in that last one... unless the building on the corner has unusually high ceilinged floors.

Hmm, quick question.. what kind of phone/plan do you need to use these? I know my current phone won't do it, but I'm planning to get a new one soon. Which types can use mp3s for ringtones?

I usually have to say that the X-Wing takes the cake as far as my favorite ship... but it's not nearly the best designed. It just looks cool. Star Wars fighters are up on the top of my list. The gunstar is an interesting concept as well, but it's by no means sleek... kinda boxy, sorta ugly... still incredibly cool in my mind, but I tend to think of it more like a gunship than a fighter. Kind of like a flying laser tank. The vipers from both the old and new BSG are nice, wouldn't mind having a model or two of those. Some of my favorite designs come from the Wing Commander universe (games only.. stupid A-10 ripoff midget fighter ). The older games had some kinda dorky designs, but the latest games seem to be going more towards classic aircraft design principles (bubble cockpits, etc). The WCII Morningstar, WCIII Excalibur, WCIV Dragon, and WC:Prophecy Panther and Vampire all rank up among my favorites.

You know, personally, I'll be really interested in seeing how they do War of the Worlds. I read the book a long time ago, and it really seemed like most of it was more of a psychological story than anything else.. from what I remember, most of the book took place in an abandoned/half destroyed farm house, looking out of cracks in walls to see what was going on. Not much action in the latter half at all. The visuals will be incredible of course, but I'm sure I did see a ferry get toasted in the trailer. So, I'm assuming they just adapted things as best they could to include the newer technology. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory will probably be seriously weird, but it's supposed to be, definitely see it eventually. Stealth? All kinds of things wrong with it, but I'll probably see it with friends just for the pure sci-fi/aircraft cheese factor, and laugh my butt off at the Mac+ similarities. But not at full price. Batman Begins sounds very good... The Love Bug 2005? Holy crap on a stick Disney. That franchise died a LOOOONNNGGGG time ago. Died a horrible meaningless death when Herbie got stranded on some banana boat to the bahamas or something. Yeah, now Herbie looks like he got put through an episode of "pimp my ride"... all he's missing are the spinning rims (or, wait, did he have them and I blocked it out?). Let sleeping legends die in piece you unoriginal plot whores. The one thing that I'm REALLY looking forward to isn't coming till December. I was plenty excited about Star Wars already, but when I saw the four kids get off the train, I was already going "Whoa." I've always wanted to see the Chronicles of Narnia in LOTR style, and this looks like it could be it. The music in the trailer was great, and I hear they're using the same people from the WETA workshop that did LOTR... So I'm really hoping it turns out well. If it doesn't, heads will roll, but they have to know that to screw up this story would be just about as bad as if Peter Jackson had royally screwed up LOTR. Some people I know only got into LOTR after reading the CoN. Okay, I'll admit, I'm probably way over-enthusiastic about it, but I've been waiting for someone to make this ever since LOTR started. Here's hoping it'll be the perfect movie to end the year.

Well, if you made your own Graflex replica, as long as the measurements were close enough, you could probably order some of the simpler parts and blade from the Graflex Shop...Definitely be cheaper than the whole shebang. Probably wouldn't work as well either,, but you never know.

Well, that kind of depends on which saber you're making... Luke's ANH/ESB has some pretty complicated cutouts on the front, as well as all those fancy buttons and gizmos from the original Graflex. If I make a LOT of money this summer, I might consider Graflexshop's kit, but if I can find the parts to make it myself, I'll definitely go that route.

Hehe.. that's kinda what I assumed their purpose was. It does look kind o like there are cooling vents or something under those panels when they fold out.

Quick question, I don't know jack about Gundam.. but am I seeing things, or is there an XB-70 Valkyrie in the last couple of frames of the trailer? Looks like it's even in the original US markings.. Did they ever use this plane in the series, or was it just something that looked kinda like it?

Looks quite a bit short actually... Too bad they're such small scale. Btw, yes, Ertl inherited crappy SW kits from MPC.. but the MPC X-Wing STILL beats out the newer Ertl Pro-Shop X-Wing in terms of detail, if you ignore the cockpit.. It amazed me how they could make the cockpit better, but the rest of the kit got so much worse. But maybe that's just me. And I agree, the s-foils on the ARC definitely look like an afterthought.. I mean, there aren't even any visible components attached to them. At least with the X-Wing, spreading the wings gives the engines a wider base, and the guns a more spread out firing pattern. All the s-foils on the ARC do is make a bigger target.

Hehe.. going with the standard sci-fi leech missile, I'd say it drains electrical or other power.. but I think that's from the Wing Commander universe. You know what's really great though? Anyone ever played the Airwolf NES game?

Hehehe.. I see you did what I've been planning for about 5 years now.. I've got a stash of about 6 AMT X-Wings of that type in a box under my bed. I've been planning on how to remake various parts of them to be more movie accurate. Basically, from looking at the canopy of the CC X-Wing, the AMT one is way too long, low, and not angled in front. But that particular kit does seem to be the most friendly to customization. I've been collecting those kits for about 10 years now, and tried to do a similar remake of the cockpit on one, but it didn't turn out nearly as nice as the one here. I've bought just about every kit, except for the Fine Molds one.. don't get me wrong, it's beautiful... but only under a magnifying glass. Personally I prefer something a little bigger. The ~1/41st kit is a good fixer-upper for it's size, but if you want something slightly bigger, you might try looking for the Pro-Shop version AMT released later on.. it was $50 when it came out, but I've seen them on Ebay for around $20, which is where I got mine. Basically, it's around 1/32, about 16 inches long. It's also got the added bonus of a good cockpit and pilot. The only problems are that the shape of the fuselage is even stranger (they overcorrected for the area under the cockpit, and now it's sloped too far down sadly) and some details are actually worse than before (like the inner-wing greeblie spots- they're full of random junk that needs to be taken out). But it's a good sized kit, quite a bit bigger and easier to detail than the 1/41st one. I've started on remaking one of the 1/41st kits, but I think I'm probably overdoing it a little.. I basically started by filling in all the hull detail, and rescribing it. lol.. it was a lot of work, but worth it. I'm also working on remaking the intakes, and I've hollowed out the little fan-blade things that are supposed to go in the engines so they look more like the movies. Afterwards, they're going to go inside a modified set of 1/48th F-18 Hornet afterburner cans, and get stuck inside the backs of the engines. Btw, for reference, the 1/48th Monogram F-18's afterburners are kind of cone shaped, and no where near accurate.. but they're also a perfect match for the nozzles in the X-Wing kit. I've also recut the canopy area on the fuselage to more match the movie shape, and I'm working on making a new canopy. I hope to be done in about 30 years. Lastly, I don't have a CC X-Wing.. but I'm working on a poor-man's imitation. If you've ever seen the Power FX X-Wing toy, it's very nearly studio scale.. about 20 inches long, and a whole lot more accurate than any of the AMT models. It basically looks like a toy reproduction of the studio model. Recently, they re-released a toy based on that ship without all the electronics.. it was a TRU exclusive in Red Leader's markings from ANH. Well, basically, I've gutted it. I've taken the entire thing apart, and it's going to be getting the ultimate custom treatment.. I'll probably leave most of the ship alone, but I hope to remake the wings, guns, and rear engines, as well as adding a complete cockpit. When I'm done, I hope to have a studio scale replica for about $40.

Heheh.. you know what, I just found something kinda cool... one of my roommates has one of those miniature bike pumps you can latch onto your bike frame for emergencies... well.. it's PERFECT. Well, maybe not perfect, but darn near close.. nice hand grip shape on it already, and a funny kinda nozzle end on the inflator end. Get one the right size, and it'd probably be the perfect base for a custom saber.

Simple.. that would make too much sense. And actually, 3PO's personality, color, memory were all changed after leaving the homestead. The last time Owen saw him by ANH was around 25+ years ago. Heck, some people have trouble remembering people's names after that long.. imagine trying to remember their old address or phone number. But yeah, it is odd it didn't ring any bells. What I think is kinda funny/ironic is that Anakin/Vader nearly blows R2's head off in ANH. Some friend. lol...

Hmm.. you know, I wonder how hard it would be to make the shroud type seen on Vader's/Anakin's AOTC saber out of something like PVC... like indoor outdoor piping. It is a little more complex than that, but if you could cast it out of resin, or make it out of plastic, it'd probably be much easier than shaping it out of metal.

Most of the old figures truly were pathetic, but I think they're getting better.. the old ones had at most 6 points where they could twist.. waist, neck, shoulders, and hips. No posability at all. The latest ones though, they look more along the lines of the old GI Joe posability, with bending elbows, knees, etc.. maybe even waist and ankles. But really, I don't think I've ever bought a figure that didn't come with a vehicle. They just don't interest me that much. As for X-Wings, though, I'm obsessive. I think I have about 6 of the original 1978 kit (all nasty, working on hacking the kits to death to get a decent model), 1 of Ertl's snap kits (all hand painted, looks pretty good but horribly inaccurate), the later 1/32 special FX Ertl model (much better cockpit, but worse exterior detailing than before if you can believe it), two or three of the Action Fleet X-Wings, one of the Micro Machine ones, two Lego ones (first edition, and Ultimate Collector Series), plus now 3 and 1/2 of the Hasbro FX style ships. I've never gotten up the nerve to buy the Fine Molds kit because it's just so tiny. I couldn't justify the price tag when I could get the TRU Red Leader edition X-Wing for the same price. I want a Captain Cardboard like nobody's business, but, I can't afford it, and frankly, a resin kit of that magnitude frightens me when I consider I've never built one before. Now, a note about the FX X-Wing: It was a great toy, but frankly, I got a little annoyed with all the electronics. I tried to take the thing apart once so I could repaint it, and got hampered with all the crazy wiring and circuits inside. Also, the flight handle just bugged me. I left it off, but the trigger and missile launcher still were there, constantly getting set off for various reasons. I bought one of these when they went on sale for $25 way back when they couldn't sell them for $75 like they wanted to. Recently though, I bought just the fuselage of one on Ebay for $3. No wings guns or canopy, probably no missile either. But it doesn't worry me one bit, and you'll see why... More recently, different variations on the FX version X-Wing were released. One, a while back, was released with Dagobah-ish packaging, came with an R2 unit and was basically the same ship, except this time, no electronics, and no pilot figure. They essentially gutted the FX version, put in an actual cockpit and R2 socket, and remolded the fuselage without the battery box, missile mechanism, and all the buttons and stuff for the sounds. Essentially, what was left was the most accurate X-Wing toy ever produced... EXCEPT: The nice, sharp, accurate nose-cone of the FX version is no more. On these new editions, they replaced it with a REALLY blunt version. Stupid child safety limitations.. In the past year or so, they released a different version of this Non-FX-Wing, this time in the markings of Red Leader from Episode IV, with a special figure, but no R2 unit. It went exclusively to TRU for about $30. I managed to get one there, and another recently on Ebay. These most recent toys, either the Dagobah or Red Leader one, are probably the best, most accurate X-Wing toys ever made. Also, from what I can tell, it's VERY nearly a studio scale ship. Going off the published length of an actual ship of 12.5 meters, this toy comes out very close to 1/24 scale. It's close to about 20 inches long, maybe a little less. Now, for a little explanation... I'm a detail freak. Years ago, I set out on a quest of sorts to make an accurate X-Wing for display.. well, I gave up on the Ertl kits some time ago, and now my plan is to take a dremel to one of these Red Leader editions, and make myself "The Poor Man's Studio X-Wing." I'm planning a LOT of modifications. This is where that spare FX fuselage comes in.. it's spare parts, plus an accurate nosecone. I don't know how far I'll go with this, but I hope to completely remodel some parts of the ship. I'm hoping to replace the vinyl wings with scratch-built ones (ones that won't bend and warp ) and rebuild the guns mostly from scratch. I also hope to get some old J-79 engine parts to rebuild the rear engines and nozzles to look more like the movie models. Cockpit'll be completely redone too, and I'm going to cut off the fake rear windows and make a new canopy from sheet styrene and maybe some lexan sheet for windows.... Okay, I don't know if all that will really happen, but at the very least I'm going to strip the stickers off it, scribe some more detail in the hull, and paint it up to look like the movies. In the end, I'm planning to either display it, or maybe hang it from the ceiling. Dunno if I'll glue it all together and remove the screw holes, but it's a possibility. So, yeah.. My name's Steve... and I'm an X-Wing-o-holic....

Stamen, what software/hardware did you use to make that? It looks kind of like Solid Edge or Solid Works. I've got Solid Edge from an engineering class, I might have to see what I can do with it. Btw, I still have no clue why they even bother using clear plastic for the blades.. yeah, that looks good.. a big clear tube with glowing rings up and down it and a glowing tip. Why don't they at least use ridged plastic so more than the ends of the tubes catch the light? Sheesh. Honestly, I rarely buy props and replicas and stuff, but when I do I tend to go all out, and just get one of the best... ie, .. if anything, I may get the kit from the Graflex Shop. Sure, it's expensive, but if it's the only one I get, I might be able to justify it. I don't plan on getting anything without a removable blade anyway. I want to be able to clip it on my belt.

Yep, and it's the most eargasmic 13 minutes of soundtrack I've ever heard. The slipping in of the extended version of the ANH medal ceremony was a NICE touch.. that oboe/strings section practically brings tears to my eyes every time I hear it. Btw, did anyone here get the version with the dvd included with all the music videos? That seems to be the standard as far as I know.. at least, that's what Borders and Amazon are carrying. What's the extra track like?

wow. I think that says it all. I get the feeling this thing is gonna set some kind of record for number of parts in a model kit. Btw, I think those tank deck plates were also used for the back ends of the Y-Wings. Those arrangements of vents look familiar. What I really wish someone (not Ertl) would do is get up the nerve to produce a decent (read not-Ertl) 1/24 X-Wing kit, or at LEAST 1/32... I mean it's not that big a ship. I have quite a few 1/48 aircraft that are bigger than a 1/32 X-Wing would be. I was happy Fine Molds did an X-Wing, but sheesh, I think it's smaller than the SMALL Ertl kit (might be wrong, I heard 7 inches, Ertl's snap kit was about . 1/24 would only be about 20 inches long (the size of the big F/X toy). 1/32 is more practical, sure.. but Ertl managed to sink that ship before it sailed. This new Falcon is incredible, and very dance worthy.. but if someone ever released a Captain Cardboard level X-Wing as a mass produced plastic kit, 1/32 or bigger, I'd do more than dance.. I'd probably be running up and down the street randomly hugging people, while dancing.. Then, I'd buy the kit, fill the box with cement, and promptly beat the Ertl design teams over the head with it. You know, one last thought...I'm counting on the scale of this kit more than anything I've yet seen, since they actually STATED a scale, as opposed to ertl... given how much bigger the Falcon is compared to that X-Wing, how on earth did it ever fit in the DSII??? For some reason it looked MUCH smaller than that during those scenes. Did the Falcon's size change over time?

Thanks for the invite. Regrettably, I actually live in Sacramento. You're up in Sac? I grew up there, currently a couple of minutes away in Davis. Guess I know who to call next time I get a ticket. Hehe.. glad to know I'm not the only person in Davis. Are you a student at the UC, or just live in the area? Wow.. I may have to drive out to Sac to see that one. Looks like it'd be huge...

Hmm.. that kinda depends on which version you get.. I had one or two of the old flashlight ones way back when, before they bothered to make the fancy ones. My brother bought those.. got 3 I think, the Anakin AOTC model, Darth Maul with the blade locks (so they won't fall out) and lights, and a simple non-light up Qui-Gon. I've dueled with him with all three I think, and frankly, they don't hold up. The plastic is just too soft. My brother's Anakin saber is all dented, and hardly retracts anymore.. it just kinda bends in half. The non-fx Qui-Gon is better, it's much thicker plastic, but the blade is also much shorter. The deal with the fully retracting blades- you can get versions where the blade goes fully into the handle, but they don't usually light up, if ever. There has to be room for the blade in the handle. These are better just for hanging on a belt. All the sound/light fx ones have the blade partially out all the time, EXCEPT for Maul's. It's big enough they were able to cram both blades and all the electronics in the handle. But the blades are also even more flimsy than usual. Really, when you get down to it, none of the toys would hold up to a serious duel for very long. The plastic just gives too much, and since the blades are hollow, they crush in. My plan for this summer is to make an Anakin ROTS/Luke ESB (since they should be the same) from scratch using whatever I can find.. maybe an online kit... but with a removable blade, something sturdy like solid acrylic, and probably no electronics. I just want something to hang on my belt next halloween when I go for the full Anakin getup (if only my hair would grow faster dang it...). A removable blade would be cool, but it'd be cumbersome for parties. I just need to take a machine shop class so I can get access to the equipment to make the thing.

lol..pretty close match actually.. Heheh.. as long as the topic's headed down this route.... don't ask me why.. I saw this picture pop up on Yahoo once, and didn't even bother to look who it was until I'd already changed it.. something about the pic just seemed very Millia-ish... There are FAR too few Millia cosplayers.

Hmm.. personally, I think the balance of the force thing has a lot to do with the way it is used, and not so much good and bad.. more like passive and active... sure, the force is powerful, can burn things up, lift things, choke people, shoot lightning... but it doesn't have to. Tim Zahn I think put this REALLY well in his Spectre of the Past/Vision of the Future books.. It's not a big spoiler for those books if you haven't read them, but Luke realized sometime during those books that the force can work two ways.. either you control it, or it guides you. Luke had been using the force for various random tasks in everyday life to make things easier, ie, lifting R2 out of his ship, floating drinks to people, etc.. not anything that would lead to the dark-side, but still really pointless stuff. But he also realized that he was rarely getting any sort of guidance on what to do from it. It wasn't until that he kind of laid back, and cut back on his usage of the force that he was able to sense what was going on in the universe (past present and future), and what he should be doing. It's like he was using up his force-quota on meaningless junk, and not for what was needed. So, it's like you can use the force, good or evil, in two ways.. I'll just call them passive and active modes. Palpy lives in passive evil, planning ahead with the force, only pulling out his powers for special occasions. Vader's more active evil, choking people and generally using his powers whenever he feels like it. Luke was a good guy, but still uses his powers actively, ie the double torpedo hole-in-one and the lightsaber in the ice. Then, at the top of the heap is Yoda. He almost never uses his powers for anything except wisdom and foresight, and only fights when threatened. He only lifted Luke's X-Wing to teach him a lesson. If we want to hold up Yoda as the epitomy of force-wisdom, then ideally, you would use the force ONLY for foresight. The actual usage of the force for telekinesis, strength, healing, etc should be like a backup plan, since, if you were really in-tune with the force, and knew how things would turn out, you would be able to plan ahead, and not have to use it at all physically. So, the ideal setup is to use the force for guidance and knowledge, and only turn to it's actual physical power when it's unavoidable. It's like the universe is in balance when the force isn't being used selfishly to change the way the universe is spinning. That being said, the force would probably be seriously out of "balance" as long as Palpy's in power. You've got a serious force-psycho ruling the universe, using the force to bend events and people to his will. If we define "balance" as having the universe running without being unnecessarily influenced by the force, then Palpatine was tipping the scale on its side. In that light, the prophecy was true. Anakin DID bring balance to the force when he killed him. Note, I have no literature to back up what I'm saying, this is just coming out of novels I've read that do appear to agree with the movies.

Whoa.. ok.. I REALLY like what Williams did with this one.. a lot of the tracks aren't particularly memorable yet.. but they probably will get there after a while. The battle music was just awesome. What really amazed me though was the final track, with the ending credits...wow. I think he used this last movie to slip in a bunch of material that hadn't been used for the first movies... Did anyone else notice the extended throne room/medal ceremony sequence from ANH? I think that's the ORIGINAL version of that piece, as in, the way Williams composed it. A few years back, I went mp3 hunting for SW music, and thought I found the normal throne room/credits track. Well, the one I found was anything but normal. It's a good two minutes longer, and included that entire center section with the oboe and strings, as well as going right into the ANH end credits. I get the feeling that was the way that track was meant to be played, but the center section got cut in production.. maybe part of a deleted scene or something, but it didn't make it into the movie. Didn't really fit the mood of the ending anyway. But anywho, I don't know about anyone else, but that has got to be my favorite piece of orchestral music PERIOD. I can honestly say I'd go to this movie just to hear the music. Heck, I'd stand in line on opening night just to hear the end credits in the theater. Even if this one blows chips, I'll consider my money well spent to hear that piece played in the theater. If this one turns out well, it's just icing on an already sweet cake. You know what though, one thing has occurred to me as to why the new trilogy soundtracks haven't been as memorable as the originals... Williams used to write specific themes for specific events/characters, and they used to be very distinct.... You had specific songs for specific characters, and sometimes events. And, really, you could easily hum or whistle them. Not so much anymore. Now it seems as if all the music is really chaotic, with random tempos and sounds all over the place, with no actual melody. Aside from small bits, this is still a lot like the other two prequels.. one or two tracks that are memorable, and a lot of filler for the action sequences. Why didn't Jango Fett have a recognizable theme? How about Mace Windu? Palpy, sure, he's already taken care of from ROTJ. He's got a theme. But for cryin out loud, Anakin didn't even have a theme. Padme didn't either, really.. well, she did, but that scene got cut. You had the Padme/Anakin love theme from AOTC.. that was okay, but being the ONLY theme you insert into other moments has a way of getting old. It got pretty repetitive The variation for the picnic was good, but there was too much of the main theme. I think there should've been a theme for Padme based on Leia's theme, and maybe one for Anakin based off of some of Luke's, mixed with some original ANH Vader. I haven't noticed anything like that with the new movies. Mostly, it's just been random battle music, or background noise. Maybe a little mood music, but not many recognizable themes that left me humming. Even the battle fanfares in the OT had more structure somehow, and a melody all their own. I don't really get why Williams changed his style for these 3 new ones. I dunno, I'm probably ranting about something that I can't change.... But I really miss the specific themes in the OT. I think they added quite a bit to the overall impression the movie made. Course... when you have so little actual character interaction, the specific themes probably wouldn't have much of a place to go anyway. There haven't been many talking/conversation scenes in the new trilogy.