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SchizophrenicMC

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Everything posted by SchizophrenicMC

  1. SchizophrenicMC
    Damned bureaucrats Fly-by-wire has its role, sure, but with thrust vectoring, what role do those damn heavy elevators serve? And come on, Gerwalk is the whole point of VFs. Otherwise they're just Transformers.
  2. SchizophrenicMC
    It looks pretty cool in fighter mode, but god that Gerwalk Guardian mode is hideous. If they were going to claim all future Macross developments outside of Japan belonged to them they really should have stolen the VF-X too. I wonder when we're going to see aircraft that eliminate horizontal stabilizers/elevators in favor of thrust vectoring and fly-by-wire.
  3. SchizophrenicMC
    Fine Molds' release of both is excellent, though sometimes hard to find, and a tad expensive. I really want a Fine Molds Millennium Falcon- in both released scales. I do have to say, I enjoy Tamiya's consistency. I'll buy a Tamiya 1/24 car kit before I buy any other brand. The quality and detail are superb, and they build very well. Most of their newer kits even have separate engines from the rest of the car, which is fantastic for display, especially if you're like me and don't really care for a basic curbside kit. Fujimi is also pretty good, and Hasegawa's reputation precedes them. Actually, I'm very eager to see Bandai's Star Wars offerings for myself. With Bandai's technology and design ethic, they could fit into a lot of smart niches for model-builders, from people who just want a detailed toy, to novice modelers, to people just starting out with intermediate techniques that need lots of practice to get the best results out of more advanced kits. Plus, Bandai's low-waste techniques drive the cost per kit way down, which does make a hobbyist feel less bad about potentially damaging the kit during the process, or at the very least, not getting it perfect. There are a number of kits I own that I haven't built yet, because I really want to get them perfect. And there are some kits I own that I've had a lot of fun building, even after screwing something up, because they take it in stride. I do think Bandai does a good job of offering kits that give that feeling and that are conducive to practicing new techniques.
  4. SchizophrenicMC
    Eh, I'd just rather not try my luck. I have yet to end up with a Revell kit I was impressed by. Even with the Revell AG line, the majority of their kits seems to be of rather low quality, and they're not much cheaper than the competition. I still think the Bandai TIE Fighter will be better than the Revell kit, which doesn't appear to be any different today, than its 1978 release.
  5. SchizophrenicMC
    That Mustang's got some choo-choo, Martin.
  6. SchizophrenicMC
    Revell and Testor's have a cult following, even though I think their products are sub-par.
  7. SchizophrenicMC
    Go for the Bandai one. Revell's Star Wars kits are of remarkably low quality. I believe they're still making the TIE fighter kit they first sold in 1978. They're not fond of redesigning and re-releasing new kits, like the Japanese. The Bandai kit looks to be far more detailed, and probably not much more expensive. As far as Revell's scale models, they're not really made to the stated scale, they're made to so-called Box Scale, which is the closest scale to a given standard that will fit in the box. There are a good few 1:72 planes that are really 1:78 or 1:65 because they fit the box better, and that really throws off a display. It's even more noticeable with bigger scales, like 1:48 which I've seen turn out as 1:55. Again, it's a weird American thing. The way I see it, if you're going to sell scale models at a given standard scale, the kits should actually match that scale. Of course, a lot of older Japanese kits are stated as being standard scale, but they're actually metric scale. (1:72 kits can turn out to be 1:70 kits, 1:144 kits are sometimes 1:140, and 1:48 kits are often 1:50) But even that is prone to revision, as Japanese kits are often redesigned and re-released. Tamiya's 1:24 1984 300ZX kit was released originally in 1984 and has received no fewer than 4 revisions, including the option for left- and right-hand-drive interiors. And it wasn't a metro joke, it was a masturbation joke.
  8. SchizophrenicMC
    Too bad about that space treaty.
  9. SchizophrenicMC
    Transforming giant robot space ships is goofy in general. As much as I didn't dig the surfing MacQ, I can deal with it. I'm heavily conflicted by the resolution of the love triangle in the movie. On the one hand, it's good to see a break from the childhood-friend-wins-the-love thing, on the other, he and Sheryl went on a couple dates and now he's totally in love with her? This was maybe the one time the childhood friend actually had a realistic advantage, but whatever. Still, though, that Gerwalk chicken walking. So awkward, so amazing.
  10. SchizophrenicMC
    Yeah, the Galaxy subplot is kind of totally missed in both, but I think they handled a lot of things better in the movies. Alto doesn't seem as shitty throughout it all, and Grace actually has a character. Michael lives, though we do miss out on the "I'm afraid to love you" thing that really adds to his womanizer character. Luca actually has a family now, and doesn't spend every waking moment ogling Nanase and developing special bombs. I also like that they didn't bother with the vajra-adapt-to-attacks thing. The pacing is a lot better in the movies, with the proportion of time spent on each of the major plot points working out far more smoothly than how long the series spends on stuff that hardly advances the plot, while jumping right through whatever events would move it forward. I also liked a lot of the new animation for the VFs- that's probably the most chicken walker stuff we've ever seen a Gerwalk do, in that scene at the beginning of Wings of Goodbye. The reimagining of the jet-powered street ice ballet was also pretty fun, though I could go for either Ex-Gear or Gerwalk in that scene. All in all, the movies can't really stand on their own without the series, but they do handle a lot of what the series messed up a lot better. They also screw the ending up about as hard, but then Kawamori really likes to do that. I wonder if Hikaru, Shin, and Alto are having a beer in a cantina somewhere.
  11. SchizophrenicMC
    The 10v won't matter. US grids run at 110-120v with variances all over the place. I've probed sockets and gotten 110v and 120v, even within the same house. There are an absolute ton of American hobby items that haven't evolved since the 1970s. Revell's entire lineup, for example. It is not something this country does well. They should be, I haven't had any issues with any brand's pipettes. But you can drop the act about the lotion. No need to be ashamed of your lotion or your kleenex. Everyone should stay moisturized and keep their passages free and clear.
  12. SchizophrenicMC
    So I just watched False Songstress for the first time today, having watched Wings of Goodbye some time ago. Am I alone in preferring the general plot of the movies over the at-times convoluted, often-poorly-paced plot of the series? I mean there are some things I don't like about the movies- that ending was completely frustrating. (Though I can understand Alto leaving because there's no way to work out that love triangle at all, and the vajra seem pretty supportive of his acting, even if they're not huge fans of his flying hobby) I can see how somebody would be frustrated without knowing what the dialogue was, but more frustrating than that is how the dialogue doesn't really shed any more light than the animation does, which isn't much at all. But yeah, I'll definitely take the trade-off of Michael and Alto. At least Michael is likable as a character.
  13. SchizophrenicMC
    You do know there are several options on the market for step-down converters that plug into UK-style sockets and output US-style sockets at 110/120v right? They're not all that expensive, and they'll let you run any US-style device on your home power without modification. Which means Japanese market items will work because their power distribution is based on the US standards. (Thank you, MacArthur. For once) As for Aztek, I tend to avoid American products in general. It's hard to find anything designed well, and harder to find anything built well, from American product lines. I really should have kept my Pathfinder instead of that Jeep, but here I am 4 Jeeps later and looking for another Nissan. Anyway, ModelMaster stuff is okay. I like their paints and their thinners aren't bad. All way overpriced though. Tamiya paints are far cheaper per mL and I'm used to their consistency. They also thin well with pretty much anything you can thin acrylic paints with, which works great with this Aztek thinner that works out to be slightly cheaper than Tamiya thinner. Of course, for enamels, nothing I can get locally beats ModelMaster. I hear Mr.Color lacquer and enamel paints rock, but nobody sells them in Dallas, and they're restricted from shipping to the US. ModelMaster will do. With that said, I'd never touch an Aztek. Not since the Aztek my dad handed down to me. God what an awful airbrush. Single-action siphon feed plastic one-piece design from the late 1980s. Probably worth $35 on store shelves today; more expensive than this Master G23, funny as that is. The overarching point here is, I am not a huge fan of Testor's and its subsidiaries.
  14. SchizophrenicMC
    Unicorn cost a LOT of money to make. The price on a Japanese copy of the UC1 blu ray has come down to 3000JPY, or about $27.85 US, whereas UC7 still costs 6200JPY ($57.60), which is somewhat lower than US pricing, at $62.00. Blame the dollar-to-yen ratio right now. RightStuf is selling UC at a price decided by dividing the number of yen in the Japanese market price by 100, which is pretty close, but the yen is worth about 1/108th of the dollar right now, and at these prices that does stack up. With that said, the prices on Turn A and MSG should be lower, since the cost of production on those has already been paid off, so the only costs will be licensing, subtitle localization, and manufacturing. (As opposed to helping subsidize production, subtitles, two language dubs, marketing, and then licensing and manufacturing) Origin's gonna be pricy, though, and G-Reco could go either way.
  15. SchizophrenicMC
    Honest mistake. Even still.
  16. SchizophrenicMC
    If you think Unicorn was expensive in North America, you should see Japanese market pricing.
  17. SchizophrenicMC
    Well I'm intrigued.
  18. SchizophrenicMC
    What country do you live in, if you don't mind my asking? Usually wattage isn't so much a concern, as voltage is. A device will only draw as many watts and amps as it needs, but voltage can cause problems. I do strongly recommend tanked compressors, to be sure. Mine has a 1/3 gallon tank, which really helps when I'm painting, because it'll put down a steady 7-10psi all day and the compressor will never get too hot. Of course, the tank doesn't do too much if I set the regulator to like 60psi for blowing off dust or drying wet parts from the cleaning bowl, both of which it also excels at. As far as Harder Steenbeck, I don't know too much about them, except they're a small German company that may or may not still handcraft their brushes. Of course, small German manufacturing firms are known for their incredible quality, engineering, and craftsmanship, but I have too much experience with Volkswagens and BMWs to say German Engineering is amazing, full stop. It's a European thing I've noticed. Almost every package I've received from various European countries has had some piece of candy in it. I don't know if these are isolated anomalies, or some shipping culture thing in the region, but I've had German, Belgian, Czech, Danish, and Swedish candies in packages from their respective nations. I know Harder Steenbeck is a small firm- maybe that's just something they do there?
  19. SchizophrenicMC
    Sei's Mom > Murrue
  20. SchizophrenicMC
    The brush I have currently is very similar in design to the Eclipse HP-CS, but the materials and tolerances are of much lower quality. The seals in the back of the cup have worn out, so I'm getting paint into the trigger housing, more reliably than I'm getting paint out of the nozzle. The differences in design also involve the nozzle threading directly into the main body, rather than into an adapter that is held to the body via a retainer. Putting all that torque on that tiny seal several times due to multiple disassemblies is disastrous. The parts are a lot cheaper than the Iwata, but those main seals aren't available, and the needle and nozzle are only available through TCPGlobal, which does not have fast shipping. (I actually forgot I'd spent $170 buying a compressor and brush from them, by the time the items arrived) Now, my compressor is top-notch. I love this thing. It's quiet, it puts out more air than I can demand, it has no qualms with running for long periods of time. My only complaint is that it tends to shake its way toward me, but then any compressor is going to do that if it's not secured and it's on a slick surface. I would quite like to get into an Iwata Eclipse series brush though. That'd be good.
  21. SchizophrenicMC
    Fun to Build Gunpla, indeed. Nailed it My guess: in the intervening 7 years, the video game has received updates. Notice how the GP Bases now flash Yajima, rather than PPSE, and that the announcer is a lot more excited about his job. Damage Level is probably a scale that affects realism- lower damage levels might cause a limb to pop off at a polycap, or pop two pieces apart at the snap-fit joints, whereas higher levels cause actual permanent damage, through the pieces.
  22. SchizophrenicMC
    Happy birthday to Minmay indeed.
  23. SchizophrenicMC
    Paints don't come out super glossy on their own. In automotive, the paint finish hardly matters, because it's the clear coat that will ultimately determine the overall finish, and more than that, the finish work done to the clear coat. Wet-sanding and buffing are a necessity for a glossy finish. You'll find it's what car modelers do, as well as real auto painters. Though, the extra work is a big reason I do mostly gunpla and aircraft. I won't be building that Tamiya Grand Cherokee for a long time yet. As far as brushes go, my airbrush is a Master G23 series brush with either a .2mm or .3mm nozzle. The problem with these brushes is they're made of very low quality materials and to very loose tolerances. Which is why even this double-action gravity-feed brush can be purchased for something like $25 on TCP Global. It was having problems long before I started resorting to full disassembly for cleaning. And that's always included pulling the seals before soaking the main body in alcohol. Not to mention the brush is advertised as having seals that resist swelling or drying out under thinners like alcohol anyway. I'm pretty sure most of my problems are related to the exceedingly low quality of my Chinese airbrush, and I'd like to move up to an Iwata, if only because the parts are more widely available. (This Master has a nice tendency to bend the needle tip through regular use, and the only place to get new needles is TCP Global. The wait time has killed more than one project)
  24. SchizophrenicMC
    I maintain that US Navy fighter pilot is the coolest job ever.
  25. SchizophrenicMC
    Fisher's a fine comedian, but there are plenty of good comedians who aren't great actors. Now, her role as Leia in the originals was believable and good acting, so I know she had the ability at one point. My only concern is, 30 years later, has it faded with time? There's been a lot of rehab in the last few decades.
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