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mickyg

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Everything posted by mickyg

  1. Awesome shots, Saburo! Guys, if any of you have attempted to photograph the way this gentleman does, you'll know how hard it is to get anything like the quality he routinely posts. I tried this last night with nearly the same gear that Saburo used to use (exact same camera and an even higher quality lens) and my results were terrible! Too soft, not enough of the subject sharply focussed, lousy color, etc... Don't let his humility fool you, we've got some serious talent in our midst! Saburo, thanks again for sharing your craft with us.
  2. I can't even remember what it did!
  3. Yeah, but then we'd have to have some way to inflate them. And pumps that small would drive the price up to the low thousands for the toy.
  4. So back to heat for a moment - all the discussion so far seems to focus on atmospheric operation. What happens when we're dealing with space operation? Or more specifically, what happens when the valk is sporting armor parts? In the case of the VF-25 for instance, the intakes are not only closed, but completely blocked off with super/armor parts. That goes for the main intakes as well as the upper sub intakes. I guess no air, no point in having an airflow system to allow cooling to work. So how is waste heat dealt with in space? Apologies if that's already been dealt with, I must've missed it.
  5. EOD as in Explosive Ordnance Disposal?
  6. Those dark areas on the back of the legs/engines are supposed to be flexible bladders, just like the F-14 Tomcat uses (and many other swing wing aircraft, for that matter). Depending on wing position, they expand to maintain the aerodynamic profile of the wing, and/or eliminate the step that having it fully forward would create. The material is usually some sort of heavy duty fabric, which can be many different colors. It sits over the top of the actual (rubber?) bladder, which is inflated with air. I think on brand new, factory fresh birds, it was gray of some description. Over time they'd take on all sorts of colors from tan to light gray to brown. That said, I don't like black. I hope it's just a quick paint up to show some variation.
  7. But it was almost what they did with the VF-22, in a lot of ways. The VF-171 just tweaked it quite a bit more.
  8. Ha! Had to look up CWO5 as I had NO idea! Nice analogy.
  9. This may have been asked before, but what are the "true" markings of Hikaru's VF-1J in the TV series? I see a lot of toys with "VF" on the bottom of the shins, right above the feet. I have looked for images of this in the TV show but can't find it anywhere. I'd love to know where this marking came from. It sort of makes sense but I find it a bit silly - sort of how the VF-171 has it all over the place.
  10. For F-22? I'm not so sure about that. It's on the F-16, F-15, F/A-18 Hornet, F/A-18E and F Super Hornet. That much I'm sure of. There was some controversy on the Raptor though, because it didn't have a helmet mounted cueing system and should have, being it's so advanced. Maybe they've resolved that one finally? I know it's finally done an AIM-9X test and that's the missile of choice for JHMCS as far as I'm aware. Here's a recent article that mentions the F-22 milestone: http://foxtrotalpha.jalopnik.com/why-its-sad-that-the-f-22-just-fired-its-first-guided-a-1704889474
  11. I think your assumption is spot on. Some of it is brand name and some is possibly "technically" accurate. The way I get my head around some of this is in how they do the solvent part of the paint. And the smell, of course. You can usually tell a "hot" or toxic paint from the smell. Classic lacquers being the most obvious and nasty, followed by enamels and then acrylics. But it gets very confusing when looking at acrylic paints. There are some that smell like hardly anything at all (Lifecolor and Model Master Acryl, for instance - I assume Citadel and Vallejo are similar) and then others that start to smell a bit more like alcohol (Gunze and Tamiya, for instance). If I'm not mistaken, they are supposedly non-toxic. I know Gunze and Tamiya "Acrylics" can be thinned with their lacquer thinners (interchangeably) because I've had experience doing it. But try that with Lifecolor and you'll ruin the paint (and possibly the airbrush). My guess is some of the other "Acrylic" paints would be the same. Back to the Alclad topic - no doubt at all the metal paints are lacquer solvent based, as you can tell that from the smell. But I'd expect the topcoat clears to be exactly what you're seeing: Enamel or Acrylic. Another Lacquer could work but if you put it on too thick, you'll dissolve the metal coat underneath. Enamel and water based clear sounds much more logical.
  12. Looks gorgeous! I love the metallic effect to the paint as well. Really gives it a "feel" of being a real life subject. Very, very nice.
  13. Mintox, the way you did that display screen is fantastic! How many colours are there? If I had to guess, I'd say the symbology is two colours. Care to share your technique with us?
  14. It all gets very confusing. And Acrylic and lacquer aren't as far apart as you might think - take Tamiya "Acrylic" paints for instance. Apparently they're a lacquer, but can be thinned with water. Same for Gunze Aquous paints. Both can even be thinned with their lacquer thinners and even mixed with other Tamiya or Gunze "lacquers" (The Gunze "Mr Color" line, for instance). I also have a bottle of automotive type clear lacquer in a spray aerosol can, that clearly states: "Acrylic" on the outside. So Acrylic and Lacquer aren't something you should automatically assume are mutually exclusive. Like I said, confusing... My experience with the clear from Alclad is purely from others' stories. The aqua is definitely water thinnable. Like future, in many ways. The Alclad Klear Kote is not something I'm sure about at all. This looks like a good place to start though: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/61744-alclad-klear-kote-gloss-120ml/ Sounds like it's enamel.
  15. Maa-kuu-ross! Maa-kuu-ross! Maaaaaaaaaaaa-ku-rooooos!
  16. Grigolosi, have I mentioned already, how great it is to have you here? Seriously cool info you're passing on! I had no idea they opened up sonwode to keep things from getting wrecked. I always assumed it was something to do with power.
  17. Fascinating stuff. I was about to put in some sort of OT warning but then realised it's completely within the topic. Great thread! I've got a very close American friend in Tokyo, teaching English at a university. He's married to a Japanese girl. His stories of language and its many challenges always interest me. It is an amazing thing, languages. And in your above example, we're talking English (no pun intended!). It gets even more interesting when you're dealing with multiple languages. I've got another friend who speaks numerous languages and she will often talk to me, and when I look at her strangely, eventually realise she's just attempted to speak to me in a completely different language! How one would traverse those sorts of obstacles in designing an interface to talk to the brain on a lower level than language specific, well that would be very interesting.
  18. Can't see the pic. I may have to search this now. Need to see real world thrust vectoring awesomeness! This it?
  19. The "language" the human brain uses to communicate with itself... That is some awesome bit of pondering that I'll be doing on that one. Never even thought about it! Funny, since thought is part of that "language" being discussed. I'm sure it's got something to do with song though. Surely....
  20. I'm all about the looks.
  21. How does that look in fighter? Is the red visible?
  22. That's just incredible! Love watching this thing come together.
  23. That is awesome! Cracking up here!
  24. Good thing indeed! Would suck to have to miss out as your son plays with his shiny blue valk. I'm envious of that connection you have with your son and the Macross tie in. It'll be a few years before mine's old enough to really appreciate the hobby. He's into Transformers now though, so baby steps...
  25. Funny because that song was in my head after I posted. Plus the countless times it's mentioned in various series. Of course it's oss!
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