tekering

Yes, but before I can even start fixing them, I have to paint the knee joints and the feet; those parts will be sandwiched between the leg halves, meaning they've gotta be painted before the legs can be properly assembled. What a pain. First, choosing the right greys: The VF-11B is surprisingly tricky to paint, owing to its three-tone grey color scheme. Yamato tried (and failed) three times to get the colors right. Over a span of eight years, Yamato released a 1:72 toy (that was too light), a Battroid action figure (that was too blue), and a 1:60 toy (that was too dark)... Three distinctly different base tones, despite all being the product of the same manufacturer! So I've been spraying a lot of test coats, trying to find the right warm grey for the primary color, the right slightly-cooler grey for the FAST packs, the right dark grey for the hands, feet and joints, and the right slate blue for the highlights. Lots of trial-and-error, really. So, let's talk about the laborious process of painting resin parts. Stage 1: After washing off the mold release agent with dish soap, trim and sand the parts so they're ready for priming. Stage 2: Apply a light coat of primer, which will bring out the sculpted detail as well as reveal any surface imperfections that need to be fixed. Stage 3: Sand down the raised surfaces, to reveal how much recessed detail should be visible and to give the surface a rougher texture. This will allow the second coat of primer to adhere firmly to any raised surfaces, and avoid paint rubs wherever surfaces will be in contact with each other. Stage 4: Apply a second, more uniform coat of primer, ensuring the surface has a smooth, even finish. Stages 3 and 4 may require repetition, especially where surface imperfections like air bubbles or scratches require putty to repair; sand and prime, sand and prime again until the surface is perfect. Stage 5: Apply the base coat. I much prefer the black basing approach to pre-shading, and everything I paint starts with several coats of Mr. Finishing Surfacer 1500. Stage 6: Apply a light coat of the primary color (in this case Tamiya's AS-4, "Gray Violet"). Recessed detail should retain a little of the base black color, so it stands out. Next update will cover shading and panel-lining... if I ever get that far...!

If The Rescuers and The Great Mouse Detective live-action remakes make a profit, you can bet Sony will bring back Stuart Little... and then Spielberg will have to produce a CGI American Tail remake. The floodgates are wide open now!

It is indeed. I think you'll find "Perfect Grade" kits scale equally accurately with the Yamarcadias. The Gundam Mk.II is 19.6 meters tall, next to the 12.7 meter VF-1.

That looked uncomfortably familiar...

Not sure what "head height" refers to, but mecha scales are quite consistently depicted in both Macross and Gundam. The classic RX-78-2 Gundam stands 18 meters tall, whereas the VF-1 Valkyrie is under 13 meters tall. Later Valkyrie models were taller, of course... but later Gundams were taller, too.

Cels more than 80 years old still fetch hundreds of thousands of dollars from auction sales... If properly stored, cels will likely outlast their owners.

Had to Google that one... While "far more readily associated" is typical Seto Kaiba hyperbole, it does actually exist...! Oh, and speaking of Seto Kaiba hyperbole... This one's my new favorite. My compliments, sir.

That art is very accurate to its onscreen depiction.

It does take up a great deal of shelf space in my workroom...

You desperately need a 1:48 scale fan racer, buddy.

You never fail to impress, Cap'n.

For the box, yeah. Just toss out the toy, and replace it with an HMR instead.

I spent a year in Japan on a Working Holiday visa, teaching English while honing my Japanese communication skills. Having met Mamoru Oshii, I interviewed for a job at Production I.G. in Kokubunji. They understood my passion for anime, but thought I was crazy for wanting to work there. "But, you're an English teacher! Why would you want to be an animator?" After discussing salary, benefits, and working conditions, I had to agree with them. Despite working less than half as many hours as they do, my salary is twice what they make! Actually, there is. https://gogetfunding.com/new-anime-making-system-project/

N-scale train sets are between 1:148 and 1:160 (based on the manufacturer), and KATO claims 1:150 for all their various model train accessory sets... including these Patlabor ones. The difference is negligible, of course.

There was no powered armor, of course, but a lot of the fascist subtext from the novel survived in the film adaptation... and, despite the white American leads, they even kept the Latin names and Argentinian setting from the book. If you want examples of movies that actually have nothing to do with their namesake, take a look at Æon Flux, Catwoman, Jem & the Holograms, The Lawnmower Man, the Resident Evil films, or Super Mario Bros... ESPECIALLY Super Mario Bros.

Sure, I've built enough of these to recognize it at a glance: Originally produced by Imai, and recently re-released by Aoshima. The front tire tread is a dead giveaway.

It's a custom, and not available for purchase.

Fantastic news. I'll be all over that.

Been there, done that.

How ironic. They had the rights to an earlier dub, which they rejected due to liberties taken with the translation, instead producing an inferior dub rejected by its intended audience... ...exactly as ADV had done with Macross.

Just picked up a 1:18 scale diecast 1967 Volkswagen Beetle as an accessory...

I think you guys are ignoring a clear pattern Bandai has established here: Hikaru's VF-1J Max's VF-1A Hikaru's VF-1S Alternating Hikaru and Max, with a sequence of J-A-S releases, the next three are clearly: Max's VF-1J Hikaru's VF-1A Max's VF-1S It's a mathematical certainty.

I'd swap out the leg armor to match...

Articulation, obviously.