Noyhauser

I think you're right to an extent, too many models in Gundam, but in Macross, there weren't enough models. In space war one, you had essentially VF-1, with two armored variants. Then five destroid models. I don't mind it I guess with just Macross, but I thought they should've had a few more models with the rest of the Earth forces. I'd compare this to the 1980s U.S. armed forces, there were four mainstay fighters at that point. Not to mention a plethora of other bombers, support aircraft, etc. That's why I come down on not quite enough models. 351878[/snapback] I disagree. The VF-1 in Space war 1 had exactly the right amount of fighters. The destroid designs are all functional, and have commonalities that would have saved large costs on maintenence and purchaes. The VF-1 comes into service less than two years prior to the war (not knowing what sort of enemy they would face) and then in pressed into service in a wide variety of roles. In truth there are 5 Variants of the VF-1 by the end of the war, all of which based on two chassis (the VF-1A/J/S and the VF-1D) VF-1D Variants: Elintseeker Super Ostrich VF-1 A/J/D Super and Strike Variants Armored VF-1 Really most of these are stop gap measures ons that are nothing but bolton additions, that increase the endurance and firepower of the fighters. Those are realistic measures that could help increase the effectiveness of UN Spacy forces in the field, but given the short duration of the war its not suprising we don't see more designs. The VF-4 is the "known" up and coming replacement (given Hikaru's model) but its gestation is realistic and we don't see it in the series, and it doesn't enter service untill 2012. After that we see a virtual explosion of designs emerge. 2020 to 2035 seems to be the boom time for VF designs (like the 1950s and 60s in the US), as we see over a half dozen fighters emerge in that short span, (VF-9, 11, VA/F 14, 17, VAB-2, Variable/Neo Glaug), only to watch fighter development slow during the 2035~50 time frame with only two major projects (supernova and the VB-6) Thats a realistic time frame. Gundam on the other hand, specifically Zeon seem able to introduce over a dozen MSs in a space of a year. Countless Zaku Variants, Gouf, Dom/Rick Dom, Gelgoog, Gyan, Kampfer, Zeong, and Galbaldy Alpha. those are just general purpose MSs, and don't include Mobile armors (which there must be a dozen more) and special purpose MSs for underwater use (5 different ones there) and special purpose designs (Mobile suit variations). Is it really believable that a military in the space of two years can come up with over 40 designs, when they had only two designs prior to that time? I don't think so.

Most of mine are the Free Planets Alliance BBs and Command BBs from Helgensagen Vom Kosmenief aka LOGH. The Hyperion The Kulishina The Rio Grande I've got quite a few more, but I'll leave it at that.

Maybe he doesn't know what "disingenuous" means or thought that "abuse of Macross" is actually a compliment 395530[/snapback] Maybe he noticed that you're Canadian, and therefore MUST be on the wrong side of the fence on any issue.

Thread locking commencing in 5, 4, 3....

Thought you guys might find this interesting: French company in the race for selling fighter aircraft http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/arti...40&parent_id=22

All this just reminds me of Lebhead's quote from a couple of years ago... my fanbase exploitation has a first name, it's H-A-R-M-O-N-Y..."

Thanks for all the comments guys. I didn't expect so many people to retain the old art of handpainting, so its a welcome suprise. Over the week I was able to "repair" some of the damage by using 2000grit sandpaper and Tamiya polishing compound. It got rid of most of the egregious markings. Painting isn't the problem for me. And to be honest, I'd prefer if I could just leave it in the "natural" finish that I get without any topcoats, but for obvious reasons thats not feasable. I've used Tamiya exclusively for about 15 years, if not more. I've found I can get it done with one coat, with minimal amounts of streaking, and no loss of features. Whats killing me is the topcoats. I might go with the spray can, but I'd like to get away from that as well. I guess your solution is to future it, then flatcoat it. I've never had a problem with silvering. I tend to move around the decal, forcing out airbubbles while liberally apply microsol, which does the trick. I find that if I paint more than one coat, streaks start to appear as do brush strokes. Very thinned paints I find are even worse, as the thinner (Tamiya thinner) acts as a stripper while laying down paint at the same time, leaving really nasty streaks. as I noted above, painting isn't my problem, its the Topcoats which mar the final product. Thanks Penguin, I think I'm going to go with that. I initially used small brushes, but have noticed that wider ones made surfaces go on easier. I'll try those two suggestions (the camel hair brush, and the Pollyscale topcoat products) as my first solution.

I'm going to repeat this for you a second time, because you aren't getting it. Any amount of transformation MAKES it a toy for Hasegawa. I suspect that Battroid is the limit of what Hasegawa is comfortable with, and the inclusion of polycaps is probably included because its easier for the construction, rather than a fixed pose model. A model is intended to be built and never be touched again, Its a display piece, nothing more. Hasegawa as a company that is dedicated to building these and only these; Its models are not intended to be handled once you complete it. Actually Hasegawa was really the leader in the 80s for making models respectable by putting out hyper realistic models that couldn't be handled because of the level of detail. I would argue that there is a difference between the market hasegawa traditionally targets (the classic airplane enthusiast), and the anime market (which builds bandai models, resins, ect). You have to remember that the VF-1 was Hasegawa's first science fiction model, precisely because the VF-1 was so realistic that it could cater to its traditional market base. Adding transformation to a hasegawa kit makes it less than a model because it is INTENDED that a person will handle the model in its final form at some time. Why have a transformation if you're not going to ever transform the model? Maybe you don't understand, but once most expert modelers are done with a model, it can't be touched or you'll mess up the finish. Thats not what a modeler wants to do.

Interesting... I never considered using an enamel. I used acrylics primarily for ease of cleanup and work (which is why I moved away from airbrushing, because of setup and cleanup times that I don't have). The pieces I painted today were long dry, at least 2 months already. I'll take your suggestion though, thanks.

Haha, the Millenium falcon IS 1/72, that I totally forgot. DML is making good stuff now eh? I did 1/35 stuff till about 4 years ago, and back then Tamiya was vehicles, and DML was figures (unless you wanted rare stuff like E-100s and the like). I'm guessing they've solved their Quality issues.

It wasn't intended at you at all, and I don't think I've ever seen you anything but cordial on this forum. If anything my reply was condecending to his original condecending remark.

Look at this 'magic' then: http://photos.yahoo.co.jp/ph/horton1485/ls...&.src=ph&.view= at this images i lost the link: Anyway if yamato did it hasegawa can do it too 393839[/snapback] Ugh, please don't talk to us in a condecending matter. We've probably seen everything you have, most likely, alot more. In addition to the proportions issue, there are other ones about the want for transformation. Transformation ruins paintjobs. Models are models, they aren't meant to be picked up and played around with. Yamatos and Bandais (even their gundams except for some B-club stuff) are toys. Those are meant to be picked up and played around with. Hasegawa is a aircraft Modeling company, maybe the best in the business. Their products are intended to sit on a shelf and look pretty, not to be handled after they are finished. Now one could say that they bended those rules a slight bit when they made the VF-1 Battroid, but all in all its still basically a Model with some toylike posability features. Making a transformable valk in some way is the antithesis of that.

Oh, and one other thing, Is the VF-1 Strike (maybe VF-0) the most complicated 1/72 model out there? In all my time of doing 1/72 stuff I can't recall putting this much effort into a model. Even modern Jets aren't as complicated. The closest I can recall in difficulty was a B-17G I did, but even then I didn't feel that it was as difficult as this.

I've been working slowly on a Hase VF-1 Strike in Fighter mode. Its been going well, four months of slow progress usually after I get home from work. One thing I've been trying to do is paint without an airbrush... the old fashion way with brushes. While its been steep learning curve, I think I can see improvement. Consequently parts of the aircraft are of different quality, the arms the most shoddy, to the back fastpacks which I thought I did extremely well on (considering its my first hand paint in over a decade). So yesterday I decided it was time to put a semi gloss coat on the legs/engines. I used to do this by an airbrush to seal in decals and make the clear part of them less visible. It was an unmitigated disaster. One of the most difficult lessons I learned was that with hand painting you get one shot to get the paint on right, thats it. if its not on correctly the first time, you might as well strip the whole thing and do it again. Brushing paint onto a subject physically mixes it, and second coats streak appear that ruins finishes. So now I've got two semi gloss legs that look terrible. I had so few streaks up until today, and now the finish on the legs look like the rapids of a raging river. So I've got one or two questions. I'm considering scrapping using dullcoats altogether. How long can decals last for without a dullcoat? Will yellowing and peeling set in, even if I use microsol? Is that the same for custom decals as well (made by a certain MW?) I'm generally happy with my unprepared finish, so I might just lightly sand/strip the most egregious parts of the dullcoat to get it to a passable state.

mind giving some tips on chalk weathering?

You're under a slight misapprehension there, Phalanx. The early marks of Spitfire had eight .303" machine guns. Somewhat less impressive than 20mm cannon, I think you'll agree. Cannon were introduced slowly because their explosive ammunition was not reliable at first, among other reasons. Mid-mark Spitfires went to two cannon and four machine guns, then to four cannon.I'd still stick with a Mk.1a because it's so pretty! 392646[/snapback] Spits were intended quite early on to carry the Hispano II 20mm Cannon, however it was the design of the Spitfire, not the ammunition that prevented its early introduction. Apparently the weapon was inteded to be fusalage mounted, but instead came to be wing mounted, which was not stable enough and made the gun prone to jamming. There was also problems with the gun freezing over. However when it did work, the Hispano cannon did impressive damage, to the point that the War Ministry kept production lines going, even though no plane mounted the weapon. Personally I like late mark spitfires, such as the MK XIV, up to the MK XXIV and my personal favorite, the spiteful.

Funny I thought Duke Togo vs articulate constructive posting was a pretty interesting engagement, one that saw Duke Togo flee from the field of battle and take residence in a neutral third party forum. I wonder if he'll eventually tick them off too, and then be forced to scuttle himself rather than return here. Phyrox would that be considered influential or decisive? Duke, go find something else to do, rather than ruin what was a pretty interesting discussion. You're coming up pretty lame, as usual.

I'm not arguing that. I agree. It was a turning point of sorts. And it WAS decisive, although it tooks quite a long time for it to be seen that way. Decisive, important, interesting: yeah. Influential: no. My reading of the word influential in this case was that it implied a certain lasting impact (on naval or popular thinking/imagination). That I don't think is the case. If it was merely used to be interchangable with important, then I wouldn't have disagreed. Word usage in english is a subtle art, and in this case that seemed to be the meaning. I guess I must have mistook the original poster's meaning. 392101[/snapback] Oh I think its influential as well, using your terms. It convinced the German High Command of the futility of trying to stand up to the Allied naval blockade. It ended Wilhelm's aspirations of become a truly global superpower, and limited Germany to a purely Continental power, which ultimately set it on the path to WW2. After Jutland, Germany would never have its "Place in the Sun." Submarine warfare was completely different, it made the navy subservient to winning the continental war. The building of the Grand Fleet was construed by the British as the greatest threat to their State, and for that to be so completely abandoned and such a major shift in german strategic thought all because of a single battle, is extremely influential. And if you want to go on a purely technical side, it convinced the British that they had to become proficient in night engements, which they weren't. The British invested alot to become alot better in this area, and by WW2 could be said to be equally good at night engagements, even at home during them.

However, wasn't Jutland was one of the main reasons why Germany decided to go with submarine warfare, after seeing how Jutland was fought basically fought to a stalemate? Consider: if Scheer had been successful in overwhelming the Grand Fleet, then U-9's sinkings would have merely been an interesting sidenote on the utility of U-boats, and everybody would still be convinced that old battlewagons were the way to go. (Then again, everybody still thought they were the way to go, witness the Yamato, Bismark, Iowa...) 391901[/snapback] No, it wasn't really. Jutland occured nearly two years after U-9 shocked naval authorities with the submarine's ability to attack major surface warships. The Grand Fleet's actions at Jutland were heavily influenced by their fear of German submarines, and rightly so, as the German's indeed planned to use some of their submarine force in the engagement. The German's had decided to use submarines to interdict British shipping, and to give them an edge in naval encounters long before the results at Jutland largely forced the High Seas Fleet into inaction. I don't think U-9's action was decisive though. Many people already saw the promise of submarine warfare, but it did have a good deal of influence on contemporary naval leaders. Jutland on the other hand, for all that it was, wasn't really influential in any way. At least not that I have ever read, heard, or thought. 391948[/snapback] I think it was a turning point, and many others . It conclusively ended Germany's attempt to break the continental blockade that was slowly eating away at its economy. After Jutland the Grand fleet never sortied again, and production of Battleships ended with the last Seydlitz class, as it was believed hat there were greater priorities. Moreover, it ended the threat of German Raids on the east coast of England, that did far more damage than any zepplin/bomber raid ever accomplished. Although a few more raids were carried out several weeks after, Jutland really ended the end of German traditional naval warfare. It forced Germany to resort to unconventional warfare (Uboats) and a military success on the continent. It many ways Jutland ensured the ultimate victory of the Allies, even if it wasn't a conclusive battle operationally.

Uhh, some members do. Really its only France. The UK, Sweeden and Germany (other major European exporters) have serious limitations on their ability to export arms. Germany and Sweedes have serious legal limitations on their arms trade, and the UK has pretentions towards being an "ethical Arms dealer." (Robin Cook in the late 1990s and the 2002 Hawk Sale to India are good examples) Only the French can be said to be ethically challenged with their arms export

Oh, so the redesign has already been completed? I thought it would be quite some time before it is ready, and likely to be a political decision.

I wonder how much that will affect the decision to produce a new avionics set for the F-22, and what the cost will be for that (since they only have enough chips for the first set of fighters)

I doubt any country other than Japan will be able to recieve the F-22 in the forceeable future. Although Clinton Recommended that Israel get the F-22, the political climate in Washington towards Israel has soured appreciably since, especially with Israel's strenghthening links with China in defence cooperation, the AIPAC Spy scandal, and the recent paper by respected Neo-Realist John J. Mearsheimer. The only thing I see hampering Japan's F-22 bid is that it doesn't really cover its needs. As several of you pointed out, Japan needs a Fighter bomber to replace the F-4s, which the F-22 is not (yet). Is a remanufacturing of some of the F-15Js possible? (idle musings) It seems to be a developing trend these days by companies, even if the original platforms aren't their own propritary property. However I still think the Japanese would want the F-22 over the typhoon, not only to lay claim they have the best fighter in the world, but also for maintaining the strong link with the US. I can also see the politicos in the Wahsington using F-22 as a lever to get the bases issue sorted out in Japan, which has become an endless headache for them.

The perfect edition is the ONE to get. It is remastered and also comes with extra's such as trailors. The one above, settle for it if you can't get the perfect edition. 389504[/snapback] The perfect edition isn't so perfect. In fact, the other version has better subtitles. The only thing that is better on the Perfect edition is the video quality. 390178[/snapback] Who watches DYRL for the plot?

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