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SchizophrenicMC

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Everything posted by SchizophrenicMC

  1. SchizophrenicMC
    Fixed it for you.
  2. SchizophrenicMC
    I'm not going to hold Amazon accountable for shipping company mistakes. Of course, I haven't had that bad luck. Have you considered you may be cursed, Hikuro? Have you upset Hory Froating Head-sama lately?
  3. SchizophrenicMC
    I don't even mind that neither design fits within the bounds of real-world physics. I just think it looks bad, and you could even make the argument. This is not a minor aesthetic change, like the square rectenna on the Falcon in the trailer. It's a set of major structural changes, which completely change the design aesthetic of the X-Wing, in a way that really doesn't feel very Star Wars-y. Like the FIFA droid and the fudgesicle speeder. It looks somehow more generic sci-fi.
  4. SchizophrenicMC
    I'm super hyped for next week's episode now. I love the cameos in this franchise. If I'm not mistaken this is the first broadcast appearance of an iteration of Matsunaga. I can dig it. EDIT: I don't normally MAD, but I dig this:
  5. SchizophrenicMC
    I've always accepted the hand-wave that the wings don't generate lift, and instead it uses repulsorlifts to maintain atmospheric flight- the wings serve primarily as radiators. (which is why they open to attack position; it increases radiator surface area) There's just a certain solidity to the original X-Wing design. It feels like it's a solid piece of machinery that's weathered a galactic civil war for a couple decades, and still has life left in it. It still feels like it could take on a squadron of brand-new TIE fighters and win, because it's sturdy and chunky. This new X-Wing design changes a lot for the sake of change. It doesn't give a reason for why a given aspect is changed. And you can imagine a number of things that are technically wrong with it. Like, the engines and S-foils now present larger profiles, but the S-foils' overall surface area is considerably reduced over the original, and considering that they were radiators, how is that useful? And that's just the nerdy over-analysis. Really, I just think it looks different for no other reason than to look different. Which would be fine if it weren't something so ingrained into the sci-fi culture. Even people who haven't seen Star Wars can point out an X-Wing when they see one. I'm just not a big fan of change for the sake of change. Change something for valid reasons, don't just do it because you think you have a better sense of art direction than the well-loved original art direction. This is a problem I have with JJ Abrams in general. Also, I just want to say: The Z-95 Headhunter, which preceded both the ARC-170 and T-65 X-Wing, in the pre-Disney canon anyway, remained in use from at least 35BBY to well after the end of the Galactic Civil War. In the pre-Disney canon, the X-Wing remained one of the leading space superiority fighters for over 40 years with minimal changes. For that matter, the YT-1300 freighter was in production for over 100 years. Technology is weird in Star Wars. It's like it's so far ahead of what we know, progress has finally plateaued in a lot of areas. Which is fine by me, it allows us to keep our icons into the future.
  6. SchizophrenicMC
    You're ordering during the busiest shipping time of the year. UPS alone has hired 95,000 temporary workers. And a lot of the time, it's not even Amazon's fault stuff isn't getting shipped right. Once it leaves the warehouse, it's in the shipping company's hands. I, for one, have really enjoyed having Prime. I don't care about any of the secondary benefits, I just know that free 2-day shipping is awesome, and the $8 upgrade to next-day shipping is super cool. Plus, I signed up my account with a student email address, so I get it half-off. I've never had a miss on the 2-day shipping, or even the next-day shipping, and I've definitely used more than the subscription fee in shipping costs. Of course, I can't check my email or log into Amazon for another week or so, because my family are using my Prime account to get gifts for everyone (including me) and, you know, spoilers. But everyone's gonna get their stuff on time with free shipping, so that's pretty nice.
  7. SchizophrenicMC
  8. SchizophrenicMC
    I still hate the new X-Wing.
  9. SchizophrenicMC
    I've been pretty eager for Cerulean to release since it debuted with episode 1. I really dig BACK-ON.
  10. SchizophrenicMC
    It's probably a mix of factors. Poor surface prep will do that, and rattle cans don't make it any easier. I still say my airbrush compressor was the best investment I ever made in my modeling hobby. It's made so much possible for me. I prefer a painted build, even if it's just matching straight-build colors, just because of the results I can get from an airbrush. One of my favorite models is my MG Gundam X, which I painted nearly all-straight, except for a few areas where I added some nice color breakup. The overall finish of the kit sharpens up a lot from toylike plastic, to scale replica giant robot, and it covers up that lame whiting you get on dark colored parts when your sprue nippers aren't sharp enough. I will say, flat finish paint tends to be more brittle than gloss finish. I prefer paint that finishes gloss, and then applying flat clear coat over it. The finish is just a lot stronger that way. Crossbone The Ripper works. Maybe Crossbone Slasher or Crossbone Swordsman. Depends on what emotion you're trying to evoke with the name. I haven't done much in the way of full-custom concepts for gunpla. Just my two Unicorn customs- RX-0-4 Twilight and RX-0-7 Pegasus. If HMM Zoids count, throw in the Command Wolf Christiansen Special. For the most part, I just paint my gunpla slightly different colors than the plastic, and run with that. Like you've mentioned, sometimes the plastic is a bit weird in color, and it looks better if painted a slightly different shade.
  11. SchizophrenicMC
    In which Syd installs the LEDs into the HobbyLink Japan PG Unicorn.
  12. SchizophrenicMC
    Rebooting Star Wars would be dumb. I don't even think it needs direct sequels. There's better storywriting to do with some of the other characters in the universe. Whatever happened to the Boba Fett TV show? There's 20 years between the prequels and the originals that Disney can't will away, no matter how much EU-wiping they do. They can get rid of the Old Republic and the Yuuzhan Vong, but they're stuck with the Galactic Empire period. You'd think they'd try a bit harder to capitalize on that.
  13. SchizophrenicMC
    I don't collect a lot of Macross merch (I've only got 2 Yamato 1/48 VF-1s) but I've just found better availability and pricing from HLJ on a lot of the stuff I want. Especially since they have the whole Private Warehouse thing. I can spread purchases out over a couple months, then have one big combined shipping order, which is cheaper than shipping each item separately. Of course, Amazon is also a good source. I pay that Prime subscription for a reason. It's my understanding that Tamiya nippers (74035) are super-good, and are much better than Squadron Tools or Xuron. I've noticed the Squadron Tools nippers I've used (I've had 2 sets) just don't get as close a cut as some of the others I've used, and the nippers themselves are too big for a lot of parts. I've got some Tamiya nippers on my christmas list. And some files. And a spinning paint stand, and a new supply drawer, and a measuring scale, and paint jars, and pipettes and tweezers and an Eclipse HP-CS. I need more gunpla supplies dammit.
  14. SchizophrenicMC
    Have you tried Mobile Frame Zero? It's a mecha-based TTRPG, and while it primarily uses Lego, the creators even recommend gunpla as a way to mix it up. I think the mom-and-pop feel is why HT USA has so little corporate direction, and so much left to the stores themselves. It allows for some big corporate-style profits, but maintains some of the atmosphere that keeps hobbyists coming back to the hobby store. Of course, I still miss Phil's Hobbies in Farmer's Branch (before it went under) and I still try and get out to Wild Bill's in Irving every so often. Big-box stores like HT USA have better stock of supplies, consumables, and newer/more popular kits, to be sure. But there's something about the actual mom-and-pop hobby stores, and some of the more obscure things they carry, that they've had on their shelves for the last 30 years and nobody's bought it. For me, I'd like to, but I can't justify the markup on gunpla locally. The only time I've impulse-bought a gunpla from a HTUSA was my MG Gundam X, and that was because it'd come out just 5 days earlier and I was surprised to find it on an American store shelf so soon. Even with Japanese shipping, kits are still cheaper from HLJ. (Especially if you leverage Private Warehouse)
  15. SchizophrenicMC
    Of course Bandai won't go to the same extremes. But that doesn't mean the Bandai kits won't look good. Especially if you're just putting a snap-fit $17 kit together and doing basic panel lining and washes. A Bandai kit will always look good. A Fine Molds kit can look amazing, but the final result does depend on the skill of the builder. They're also a touch more expensive.
  16. SchizophrenicMC
    Yeah, you're kind of in a bad area for hobby supplies. I'm surrounded by HTUSAs. There's one 5 minutes up the road from me, one in Ft Worth, one in Hurst or NRH (depending on who you ask), one in North Dallas, and one in Plano. And I recall there being another one somewhere else in Dallas, but it may have been closed, and I'm too lazy to search. Fun fact: HT USA is franchised. There isn't much in the way of corporate leadership, and every store has drastically different stock. The store nearest me has a ton of model railroad, model rocket, model aircraft, and R/C stuff, but next to no paint and supply and hardly any gunpla. The Dallas store has a ton of paint and supply, a sizable selection of gunpla, and almost no aircraft, rockets, or railroad, but they have a lot of airsoft and R/C. Anyway, look to Amazon. Sometimes you can get paint shipped via domestic carrier. Sometimes. Though you can get all kinds of quality modeling supplies from them too. Prime is so worth it.
  17. SchizophrenicMC
    If you take care, as I'm sure you did, you can get good results. But if you're not careful, or if you're less careful than you ought to be, the higher pressure, wider nozzle spray, and larger atomization of a general-use spray paint can are more likely to cause runs, spatter, and overspray, than an airbrush or a hobby spray can.
  18. SchizophrenicMC
    In a vacuum, range is the difference between launch point and the closest thing along the launch vector. Not to mention, it would be heading toward a gravitational center. Though, you are right in stating that the second Death Star's design brief included a revised exhaust system that relied upon numerous millimeter-scale ports spread across the entire surface, rather than a set of two-meter-wide ports spread around the trenches.
  19. SchizophrenicMC
    I hope they make a Millennium Falcon.
  20. SchizophrenicMC
    Paint sets up and dries optimally at 70-75 degrees. 40-60 F, and it will dry slowly. 80+ and it will dry quickly. Below 40, paint may not dry and cure at all, and above 100 and you can get contact-flash, where the paint flashes dry on contact with the subject. Humidity may or may not affect paint, depending on conditions. I haven't had problems with humidity in warm weather, however if moisture is allowed to condense on a cold or cooling part, the condensate can affect the paint. If you can't paint indoors (even a garage with a space heater) you might be a touch boned. Under normal conditions, I recommend 10 or so minutes between coats. If it's cold, you may see 15 to 20 minutes before each successive coat is set-up enough. Either way you're going to have to let the paint cure indoors. For touchup, better to decant some of the spray paint into a paint jar and use that, than rough it with paint markers. Just spray the paint into a jar or a paint mixing bowl, or whatever you have available, until you have a small pool of paint, and then use a brush to touch it up. I always suggest exercising caution with full size cans of aerosol paint. Their nozzles are usually set up for a wide spray pattern, with a coarser atomization of the paint, to make painting large surfaces easier. Modeling spray cans have narrower nozzles with finer atomization, more like an airbrush. It's a lot easier to screw up with a Krylon can.
  21. SchizophrenicMC
    I know a guy who named his son Ozai. Yes, that Ozai. I also know a girl who named her son Raiden. Yes that Raiden. What happened to normal names?
  22. SchizophrenicMC
    I can stand names that are a bit off. Dameron Poe is totally a Star Wars name. But Finn? Makes me feel like I'm gonna go on a summer adventure in the woods as an 11 year old while visiting extended family or something. Not like the guy is an Imperial Stormtrooper in unusual circumstances.
  23. SchizophrenicMC
    Forget the 787, am I the only one who's still upset that we never replaced Concorde?
  24. SchizophrenicMC
    How many Beargguys would a Beargguy bear if a Beargguy could bear guys?
  25. SchizophrenicMC
    I'm fairly certain Mr. Beargguy III is a modified Beargguy II in the original series- the Beargguy II being a spinoff kit from the Beargguy from GBBG- for which the name was made up to be cutesy. (Because Beargguy-San (Mr. Beargguy III) is cuter than Beargguy-Ni) Which begs the question: if the tiny Beargguy from the Beargguy F had a Beargguy Brother, would it be Beargguy-Nii?
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