David Hingtgen

The F-2 is overall about 25% bigger than an F-16. Fuselage stretch, bigger wings, bigger stabs.

Not enough to tell him apart from any other "dark silvery-grey Decepticon" in the movie trilogy.

Best commercial ever? Certainly "most VG references in a commercial ever". http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdWkKKSckNk

Since the armor and boosters are highly color-coordinated in Frontier, I wouldn't expect it to be available separately. They'd have to have a half-dozen different packs for Alto, Ozma, Luca, etc. With the VF-1, the only difference is a single sticker most of the time for DYRL for the 3 most popular schemes so it was sold separately---but note that you can't buy Max and Millia's highly-custom-colored TV-armor separately, only bundled. A separate armor release is only viable if it can be used with many previous valk releases--and that won't be the case with the -25 due to the many color variations.

I abandoned NOE flying in about the first 10 secs due to sight/targeting issues. I was always above the buildings. Again--I moved constantly to avoid fire, rather than ducking behind obstacles. Shin--the F-16 has always been low-tier in AC. It's often the first plane available (as it's multi-role) because they rarely give us the F-4 or F-5 as a lower-ranked option (love it when they do). Also, frankly,---they need room to make the Mitsubishi F-2 "that much better than the American F-16" while not making it top-tier.

I personally really liked the heli controls after a few minutes. In short---cross your analog sticks. That should be what you're doing 90% of the time, to really take advantage of how a heli can move. As for tail rotor hittings buildings and being fine--well, I honestly don't think I ever hit anything in the heli... Heath---yes, it does seem to be "magically regenerating". I wonder if there'll be a realism option---certainly they'll have to change it for Ace mode, or there won't even be an Ace mode if you have effectively infinite health.

Had we gotten a G1-ish, logical leader with a cool voice in the movie, I'd agree. But we got a grunting brute with no characterization. He was a cyclops, and that was about the only thing in common with the original. (and he wasn't even purple)

F-35B makes first landing on USS Wasp: (man, I just can't get over how fragile and drag-inducing the aux intake door looks, compared to the sleek folding doors on the X-35)

Leader Megs is an obviously awesome choice but Soundwave? I mean, how can he transform "more accurately/better" into a big pile of nothing than the Voyager version does?

I am, via how I linked above. When the show doesn't focus on the kids, it's pretty good IMHO. Ironically, Prime is almost a secondary character. It's the really the Arcee and Bulkhead show.

Yup. In short, the ankle joints bend much further "in" than you think, and they are STIFF. Plus the instructions are wrong, regarding hand position. Don't make a fist!

If Bandai quit using ultra-smooth-glossy plastic, they wouldn't have so many issues with paint adhesion. Painting 101: Rougher surfaces hold it better. (like Yamato's slightly-textured matte plastic)

Just over a week ago. Only for 3 days though. Air and Space Museum, Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, that was about it.

There is AFAIK no truly official VF-25 3-view lineart profiles, only CG. Any line-art is fan-made (or Hasegawa-made), no matter how good it is.

My wants are simple: I most want an awesome-looking armored Ozma. If they don't make the armor, and/or it doesn't look awesome (I still wonder if they can make big bulky armor that fits on new skinnier sculpt), I'll pass---I demand Ozma be both armored, and that the armor be awesome-looking. If I can't have an Ozma like I want, I want a super-pack Alto. Either way, I'm going to be waiting a while before buying. I do have a concern that carries over from the V.1---the neck/chest piece being the same as Alto's. Can't tell from these pics, but the "slots for the head-cannons" in the skull-logo pic do seem longer than they need to be--like if they were sized/shaped for Alto's.

Finally got around to doing the demo helicopter mission----liked it a lot. Strangely, reminded me more of "classic" AC (4/5/0 than the jet demo. Why? Because I always felt a big part of AC was being "involved" in a battle---despite all the dogfighting, you always spent more time and took out more targets on the ground. And a LOT of it was supporting allied infantry etc--you could watch all the tanks etc roll across the battle lines in direct response to your efforts. The helicopter is even more so---now it's on the person-by-person level at times. Also, I'm thinking the demo is at least a BIT un-representative, as on both levels, you cannot even do some basic things until they show you how---just try using AMRAAMs on the first few enemies. (plus, the scripted enemy kills---I followed one Flanker PEFECTLY and pumped about 8 missiles into him, plus continuous cose-range guns--but he didn't die until he got to the spot he always does) So the demo can't be exactly like most of the missions.

The short version is---he still pays the bills (which are considerable) for this site---if he stopped caring (and paying), the site would be gone quickly. (and above all else, that is why the site is moderated the way it is---it is still his place, he pays for it, so it's run the way he wants it to be)

Yup, first I'd ever seen. (the landing gear is nigh-identical to a Mirage F-1's, it's obvious the French did the gear design)

Musée de l'Air et de l'Espace, at Le Bourget. http://www.museeairespace.fr/votre-visite/collections.html

How are you posting here on MW? Hook your PS3 up to that. My PS3 is off-line 99% of the time. I just disconnect my cable modem from my PC every once in a while to hook up my PS3 and update it. Anyways---Blu-Ray's standards are constantly evolving. Same as any other software. As Thor is brand-spanking-new, it probably requires the very latest standard/software--which you'll have to download. Even if you bought a top-of-the-line brand-new standalone Blu-Ray player 3 months ago in a store--it too could need to be upgraded to play Thor. It's not a PS3 issue. It's a Blu-Ray issue.

It's about as real as an Fw190A gets. (technically, as that particular one was re-built in France from spare parts in 1944/45, it's not *truly* an Fw190A---but that's like saying a Canadian-built CF-5A isn't really an F-5A Freedom Fighter) Considering how incredibly rare Fw190A's are and this one is like 100% original parts... (though I don't agree with their claim it's an A-8---it's at least an A-5 or later, but not an A-8 or A-9. I stretched as high as I could but couldn't get high enough to look for the upper wing gun bulges---but the pitot tube position alone makes it "not an A-8"). I wonder if it could actually be an A-8 fuselage with an A-7 wing, and that would be why it's considered an A-8, based on the original Wk.nr, if it was retained through the re-build) ::edit:: Yup, found some history. It is part A-8 and part A-7. One site said "unknown what's what" but I think it's pretty clear it's an A-8 fuselage on an A-7 wing.

I still like to think that Thomas Riker is the original, and the one on the Ent-D is the "clone". (they even explicitly stated in the episode that could be so--each one is equally "the real one")

Went on a trip, visited a museum. Some highlights:

I don't think the CGI model took into account aerodynamic effects on structure. (and most of the time, there was no atmosphere) Even big-budget movies don't model this aspect and it's a key reason CG planes tend to be more obviously "fake" than CG cars or ships.

If it's just between Hikaru's, I'd go for the J. Why? Because so many other characters (especially Roy) basically share the same scheme with the S, with only the stripe accent color differing. But Hikaru's J scheme is quite unique.