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David Hingtgen

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Everything posted by David Hingtgen

  1. MMC has completely re-done Tigris' beast-mode-head, and it's *way* better now. It's the best "cat-head" of all figures from all 3 companies making a Predaking---I hope they can re-tool Leo's to match it: (click for BIG version)
  2. Next "not-Stunticon" released is Down Force, not Last Chance. They DID seem to listen to fans and make a few tweaks---his face is now "properly" blue with red eyes. (original proto was silver face with blue eyes--very Autobot-esque and unlike any previous incarnation of the character) Lots of pics: http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/transformers-3rd-party-reviews/932432-fansproject-ca-11-down-force-hand-images.html A preview:
  3. My wish for a new Voltron is the same as always---NECKS. The lack of necks always make the lion modes look awful. And means you can't do the iconic poses at all. http://boonage.pjss2.net/2007/06/11/voltron-defender-of-the-universe/ It's been a quarter-century and Voltron has a simple transformation. Surely we can now engineer a good combined form while having lions that don't suck. I do NOT want "the same old thing" with ball joints and diecast. I want something like a v2 Yamato or Bandai renewal showing IMPROVED SCULPT/PROPORTIONS.
  4. Power master/Ginrai is about the only one I'd buy. I really do like RiD Fire Convoy, but his toy is already awesome, especially when combined with Magnus. An MP is kind of a waste.
  5. Fanon/canon says Red Alert is not related. He just happens to look a lot like the Lambo brothers. Thus repaints of Red Alert are also "not family". Same as the seekers----they may all look similar, but there's nothing beyond that.
  6. I would say yours yellowed---while mine does has the ABS parts "a slightly different shade of white", they are not at all yellow IMHO. The styrene is "purple-white", the ABS is "grey-white". But the overall match is quite good and only apparent if you're comparing pieces actually touching each other.
  7. Always test with watch batteries first before soldering anything. Most any LED is designed around ~3 volts, and 3 volts is very easy to get from most any assortment of watch batteries you may have laying around. With more and more "cheap LED's from China" I'm encountering more and more "non-standard" configurations---most of the "rules" for determining which is the negative end don't apply any more. Internal configuration (if visible) is about the only sure-fire way to identify---or a quick check with something supplying 3v. "Flat spot is negative"---not for some Chinese manufacturers! "Long lead is positive"---see previous remark. I had a heck of a time with the last LED I soldered due to that (re-mounting one from a model train---it was definitely non-standard, as I ended up having to wire it "backwards" from what it appeared to be, based on the "standard indicators")
  8. Gotta wonder how many people love Halo SO much they'll buy a console and game they can't resell just for it. (There are very few other exclusives anywhere near "system-seller" status) I'm a huge Panzer Dragoon fan, but I can live without the rehash.
  9. Hikuro---that was "historical" info. All that stuff already happened months ago. But it's an interesting look into what happens "behind the scenes". Some of the things he talks about we never even saw, as they were altered before MMC unveiled them or never got beyond the "shadow" stage. We've seen the first test shot for Bovis and now the second one. Next step is color then production----the mold is done. They just have to finalize colors and paint-apps.
  10. The scrubbing you give the parts before, is more important than the primer itself, when it comes to resin. STRIP those parts clean!
  11. No BIG news, but a few tidbits: 1. People who managed to order "Super Nova" Hexatron (the grey version) have already started receiving it. It was only up for 6 minutes before it sold out. But considering that there were only 120 to go around, that's a lot better odds than a renewal DX IMHO. 2. Third "not-Stunticon", "Last Chance" is said to be on its way to retailers. 3. Lastly, since it's now buried a hundred pages back at TFW2005, I am reposting the biggest/most imformative post that "Griffith76" has made---it explains some of the thinking/changes made to MMC's Feral Rex since the days of the "red renders" and goes into some things we still haven't seen. Very interesting to see explanations of why things are the way they are: <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< Bovis and Fortis They share the basic body and these two are pretty much ready. What I changed are mostly engineering stuff that none of you will be interested to hear like standard screw sizes, pin size etc. The major flaws with this design were the lack of locking of beast limbs in robot and alternate mode and the front legs of the beast were left hanging downwards in leg mode. I made some modifications to ensure that there is no loose kibble in any mode. Talon We literally got trashed on ACtoys for the design of the wings based on the silhouette and we decided that we need better ones. The new set of wings are pretty much the same length but based very closely to IDW's art and of course the feathers are made articulated for a more dramatic effect. The body proportions were changed slightly 'coz we feel that him and Tigris were too wide in arm mode. With the change in body proportions his Indian headdress had to go and I opted for a Dancougar look with a young handsome face as the older look did not suit the leaner body at all. We decided that the simple flip down foot was too simple and the lower leg was too hollow so we filled that up and gave him new feet. And talons that are more complex and articulated. Edit: and later multiple complaints on the Dancougar-styled helmet being too small (like a vulture). I modified the helmet to have a wider base similar to what it was originally and what is shown in the color render now. Tigris He had the same base body proportions as Talon but made much worse with the beast hind legs sticking out sideways in arm mode. He was made leaner as well and I redesigned his arms to have shoulders to resemble G1 more. I modified the beast legs to make them look closer to how a real tiger should but they had to be a bit skinner to keep the arm mode compact. Gave him a longer tail that points down instead of up and a neck for beast mode that he's missing. I also added a hunch to the tiger's look 'coz crouching tigers He's actually my personal favorite and I think he looks really dynamic in botmode and fun to play and fiddle around with. Leo The original finalized Leo from Cassy was good in robot mode and a nice beast mode (apart from the arm joints looking a little unorthodox). We would have kept it if not for three very fatal flaws. Let's just call him V2 I don't know if Cassy considers the earlier larger mock up to be V1 or are there more versions inbetween. 1. V2 Leo is 9" tall. Its somewhat still acceptable but we really don't want a leader size figure if possible at all. 2. We understand that Cassy had originally wanted him to be even bigger and because we asked him to shrink it down to a reasonable size to scale with his team members, the combined mode suffered and we got what you guys would call the FOC Bruticus Syndrome. It didn't help that the bot's arms/beast front legs merely hung around loosely as back kibble. 3. Lastly, the leg transformation is basically too G1. The beast legs were still acceptable and they look pretty good in bot mode with the fake knee joint in his thigh... until the knee is bent. Anyone who knows how the G1 toy works will get the idea. So basically with all these taken into consideration the only way to fix things was to redesign Leo from scratch. I loved the body so I kept it but chopped part of the sides off too and designed new arms that fold into a block that can add actual mass to the combined torso. Boss hated the heads so we got new ones. The design of the legs was one of the biggest challenges for me since G1 obviously doesnt work here and giving him beast legs like what we had for Tigris made the thighs look terrible. I came up with a new design where we still got some decent rear legs albeit a bit skinny, becomes almost unnoticeable from the front when kept in for torso mode. I'm proud of those legs. Lastly was the biggest challenge of all. Rex has no ass. I spent 2 days designing a collapsible one for him but the kibble was too huge even when folded so back to the drawing board. Finally managed to come up with a design that's simple enough and actually looks somewhat decent to be a friggin shield coz like I explained before, the shield option is a must. So the rest is history and it became the hip that a lot of folks wished was 10% smaller. Weapons Oh and there's the huge-ass sword and the arm cannon. The sword was a reconfiguration of what Cassy has already done but I felt that his original design looked more like a club so I played around with the blades and managed to form something that pays some homage to his G1 sword. It was initially smaller but bossman says its too puny so it became the monster we're gonna have now. Downside to it is that it takes 2 blades for each member to form it. There's still some hidden secrets to that thing that we won't be revealing. Cassy gave us G1 guns scaled up. They were huge and didn't go anywhere in almost any modes apart from being held in the hands of the robots. Cassy originally intended to use the sword handle as the arm cannon but we thought that's a little too cheap and it means we can't have both the sword and gun at the same time. I thought since we made the sword combine we might as well do it for the cannon as well. So I borrowed some gun models from what I did for the other toy company I worked for and made sure no one can tell where they came from after I'm done with them. That's about the gist of what happened between the receiving of the finalized models from Cassy and my contribution to the overall design. <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
  12. BestBuy will probably create their own, based on history. Many stores will likely sell $650 "PS4+2nd controller+GameA+GameB+Cleaning kit" combos as the ONLY option to get one on launch day.
  13. I really want Tigertrack's shoulder launcher and feet for my MP Sideswipe. (yes, MP Sideswipe may be toon-accurate----but that means he's friggin' BLAND in bot mode----the toy had so much more "life" to it do to the little details/accents here and there----Tigertrack has some of them, and they're exactly correct for Sideswipe too)
  14. Are image responses over-done yet? If not: Anyways, easily lost notes: PS4 comes with headset and 500GB hard drive. Hard drive is upgradeable like PS3's. Region-free. XB1 hard drive is not replaceable, but can use external flash drives etc, and uses USB 3.0 Also, MS has clarified that some games will be "non-transferable and have no resale value"
  15. Ok, Final Fantasy XV and Kingdom Hearts 3. Forget Sony, Square's had the best showing at E3.
  16. Well, more like over a grand, since you need the Xbone, tablet, and phone to call in airstrikes to get past the intro stage in Dead Rising 3...
  17. Let us know how it's doing after 3 transformations or so.
  18. Don't forget 0080 and 08th MS team! Some of the best UC there is. Much better than 0083 and CCA.
  19. That can actually be a selling point for vintage cars---if they have the original air in the tires. (some people do get that picky about it being EXACTLY how it left the factory)
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