Amped

Your design insticts are spot on! Unless someone wants to design a whole new interface for the board, I think we need to remain cognizant of the existing theme and attempt to be harmonious. This is why I have stuck with 3D design in my day job... I look at the graphic designers seated to either side of me and I shudder when I see the hell they go thru with web and print color checks...

Just my 2 centavos... Simplicity is better, especially for a forum's graphics. The current proliferation of kites and Minmays is a bit... much, IMO. A simple black & white Skull & Crossbones for locked topics - and only locked topics - is genius tho! Someone mentioned too much visual clutter, or something to that effect earlier on in this discussion, and I tend to aggree. The kite logo is just too complex of a grahic to have repeated everywhere. Add gradiants, and shrink 'em down.. and I think it just becomes a case of '10 lbs of poo in a 5 lb bag' as my old design instructor used to say! Great efforts by everyone, btw; I'm all for constructive criticism! I think you have to look at the basic theme of the forum... a monomchrome blue and gay... and build off of that. Less is more. Add too much color or actually animation-style stuff and it will devolve into a kiddie fan site-look fast... rather than the suave and sophisticated hangout for vintage anime connoisseurs that it currently is.

Wow, its like Spiral Zone or Venus Wars, but kinda not! Here's an interesting streaming link on a local dude that has a working Monowheel Cycle Concept: http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=200660316001 Not only is it a monowheel, its a hubless design too! AFAIK, it doesn't have a gyroscope in it like the bombadier concept. I STILL wanna see him do a panic stop!!! Crazy sumb*tch even did a V8 version! http://www.diseno-art.com/encyclopedia/str..._monowheel.html

33 in April. But always gonna have a youthful outlook!

Wow, these are beautiful customs! I love the finishes... they have that brand-spankin'-new glossy look that just pops! BTW, if anyone is interested, I've got two Joke Machine recasts (done awhile back by member MW member Rohby) for sale: http://www.macrossworld.com/mwf/index.php?showtopic=18158 They include 'TanMan' style pilots as well as Strike Cannon upgrade parts in case someone is looking to do DYRL? Strike Valks. 1A/J/ & S heads are all there too so you can do whichever variant your lil' heart desires. I wish more would come of Rohby's completely 'new' Joke Machine project; however, I fear it is DOA. The world needs more Joke Machine customs! Man, I wish Bandai would reissue the lil' buggers. Alas, Bandai only has love for Gundam. I seem to recall getting my original Robotech-branded Skull Leader/ VF-1S for under 20 bucks back in the day. Ahhh thems were the days...

Coolness! Giving boomers a new lease on life... as carriers! http://www.popsci.com/popsci/aviationspace...ecbccdrcrd.html

I'm a professional 3D designer, but since I was a kid one of my hobbies has been to collect books containing concept art - movies, cars, architecture... whatever... just general inspirational coolness! Old issues of Starlog are a surprisingly good resource for neat little examples of otherwise hard-to-find concept art. They often accompany articles detailing the development of various movies. Hunt down the Sketchbooks for Star Wars, Empire Strikes Back, & Return of the Jedi; all have great examples of classic black and white/ grey marker-style concept illustrations, and exhibit a wealth of pre-production drawings and character development sketches. They're primarily B&W/ grey scale and relatively slim, but man are there some great sketches! Bonus: they can be had for pretty cheap too! (5- 20 dollars, or so, depending on condition) If you like loose stuff as opposed to finished paintings or illustrations, these books are great! (The 'Art of...' Star Wars books are better for more flashy stuff.) Joe Johnston's stuff is clean and exhibits a great balance between 'tight and loose' styles. The Illustrated Star Wars Universe has a lot of really great Ralph Mcquarrie stuff. His stuff is soooo far superior to the style of Doug Chaing (who was just basically parroting Mcquarrie's style) in the Phantom Menace concept art. You can tell Mcquarrie had a long real-world background in the aerospace industry, cause his stuff all looks plausible... yet fantastic! If you are a Star Trek fan, then The Art of Star Trek is a must-have.. lots and lots of cool stuff from the original TV series up until New Generation, if I recall correctly. Personally I think Syd Mead is overatted (perhaps thats too harsh... maybe just too dated?)... but the dude is damn prolific... and is a phenomenal conceptual visionary. Hunt out his older stuff for U.S. Steel from the 60's like Sentinel. Its kinda wild how much his stuff has been ripped off by other concept artists. He had an illustration of a quadraped walking mecha in the snow that I can only imagine inspire the walkers in Empire Strikes Back. Plus he has contributed to so many movies: Alien, Blade Runner, 2010, etc... even Gundam. Japanese designers, especially, have long worshiped Syd alongside Luigi Colani. Which reminds me: if you can hunt down any of the old Car Styling books on Colani, you'd probably dig those. He was probably one of the biggest proponents of modernist 'organic' design for products and vehicles. Quite an avant-garde dude. His books have excellent examples of scale models.. his 'concept' illustration is a bit too fine-artsy-fartsy for me.. but the dude had a singular vision, that's for sure. Speaking of Car Styling (the Japanese car design magazine), it is an excellent resource for concept art in the transportation design field. Likewise, Auto Design is a similar style magazine published in Europe (Italy in particular, I believe). As for architecture, Lebbeus Woods' conceptual illustrations are much beloved by many architect-types. They're pretty wild, kinda Escher-ish with a dash of deconstructivist post modernism. I'll haveta scan my bookcases at home to refresh my memory on any other forgotten gems...

I actually second that! Ms. hurley is scrum-diddly-icious in that! Brendan Frasier.. who normally bugs me... is actually pretty damn funny. Best 4.99 bargain DVD evaaaah!!!!

Max looks nice but updates on the status of the first run of 1Js would be nice. Been ahwile.

So does this version of F&I include the ENTIRE Frazetta documentary (which is available elsewhere) or is it a truncated version?

Let's not forget Anthrax's ode to Judge Dredd: "I AM THE LAW"

Sweet! I've been waiting for this release since I downloaded the preview trailer long ago!!! The stunts look INSANE. Esp. that big rig fall the one dude takes... that is definitely a 'one take' shot!

Gotta chime in... This series is AMAZING. My fiance and I are totally addicted to it. As a early and vocal hater of the idea of a reimagined Galactica - in particualr the 'sex change' of Starbuck - I have happily ate crow and now look forward to each new episode. I can't remember when I last looked forward to a weekly show on TV! This is great DRAMA - the SciFi element is almost incidental. (But Damn! Don't those scenes of all the AA fire look cool!!!!)

Cool! Now ya can get yer a** whipped by a robot while learning Kendo!!! http://www.technovelgy.com/ct/Science-Fict...asp?NewsNum=423

Beautiful work Rohby! Btw, I sent you the initial deposit! Can't wait!

Amazing... simply AMAZING!!! GREAT work Rohby! Your craftsmanship and attention to detail is stellar! I love the two JM recasts I purchased from you awhile back... and as a diehard JM fan, if you decide to sell these, I am SO there!

Now THIS is some freaky-deaky she-at... http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/20...0610_robot.html Replicants and Termiantors, baby, are right around the corner...

M&MS ended up being only an 'OK' film, IMO. I finally saw it last night with my fiance (after trying to see it this past Saturday... only to have the power go out at the theater 30 minutes in, due to a storm-caused downed power line). Anyhow... little did we know the best part was that first 30 or 45 minutes. Up to that point their was some pretty fun character development and worthwhile chemistry ... in an overall lightweight package. Unfortunately the second half - after the house blows up - is just one pointless extended chase/ gunfight with an abrupt and pithy end. I was nodding off near the end. Never has so much fake gunfire elicted so much utter disinterest in me. Even my finace - a pathological Angelina-phile - thought the movie was disappointing. I predict the box office drops off precipitously after the opening week...

Nuthin' special...only Satan's voice proclaiming that Jack White can't believe the adulation his band has received for being a really OK garage band.

Hm, I don't get the fascinationwith The White Stripes... IMO, its basically 'white boy & girl do the blues.' Meh. Like it hasn't been done before. I know that's heresy for A longtime Motor City resident to diss a Detroit Band (duo?) but there, I said it. I have a buddy at work who has been trying to turn me on to them for some time now and I just can't get into 'em. He put up there entire discography on our office server, so I listened to it backwards and forwardsa few times. In the end, I'd rather listen to the original Blues artists.. or bands, like Zep or The Tea Party that use the blues as a springboard to something new. I guess I am lukewarm to White Stripes for much the same reason I have NEVER dug Clapton. Which is that it never hits me as more than an homage (at best) or retread (at worst) to the Blues. As a guitarist, I have always worshiped at the altar of likes of Page and Hendrix... but Clapton... meh... Of course, that's just my opinion. They definitly don't outright suck; Jack White has the spare blues thing down, and he definitly takes it seriously - he's not a poser - so I respect that... it just... I dunno... doesn't connect with me for some reason. But then that's the beauty of music and all art: different strokes for different folks! Check 'em out tho, and make yer own judgment. I'd be curious to hear what you think of 'em. Here's a recommendation for something different to listen to: Songs: Ohia. Great spare stuff, the dude has a great/ unique voice and great guitar melodies...

Well, if talk of recasts is not heresy, I for one would be all over a recast of this kit. The original is an expensive, HTF bee-atch. And the more recent recasts aren't easy to come by either. Anyhow, based on how awesome his Joke Machne recasts were, I know Rohby would do a durn fine job recasting so I vote 'yeah'.

I know there is no chance in hell of this happening, buuuut... Make a Logan, Toynami. *in Ahnuld voice* DO IT!

Mother f... freakin' Man-Faye!!! I didn't expect THAT image to appear in this thread... serves me right for surfing the message boards while at work. Thank God its slow enough in my department that everyone is veggin' in their cubicles and no one was up and about to see that nasty bit of visual pollution appear on my monitor! Genuine porno I could explain away... but THAT...

Hm, I have Painter and it is by far the best and has the most naturalistic artist tools avialable, IMO... but... and correct me if I'm wrong... isn't Deep Paint's appeal that it has all the widgets that make it inherently more useful for creating textures for 3D models? Or have I been missing out on some 3D features on Painter that have been right under my nose all along??? Painter is my weapon of choice for 2D illustration, but - and I haven't installed it yet to noodle around with it - isn't Deep Paint supposed to have plug-in capabilities w/ Photoshop, thereby balancing it out somewhat with Painter? Just curious, as I am not all that familiar with Deep Paint... I've got too many payin' jobs goin' on at the moment to experiment with new software at the moment...

Hell yeah, I'm interested! Beautiful job thus far!!!