David Hingtgen

Hmmn. I'll see if I can add some internal rods during assembly, to prevent breaking. (easiest way honestly is to drill a hole, then snap the bit off inside) ::edit:: Another question---has anyone cut out the printed-on vernier in the stripes? I don't plan on using decals for any of the verniers, but that one's part of the stripe decal itself, and there's NO gap between it and the surrounding stripe---very difficult to cut a perfect circle with no margin of error.

Alto's needs a second seat too, with Ranka fig.

Meh, trying even more decal set etc only succeeded in eating the white ink out of the decal, and the sticker sucked, so I just painted it---and it came out better than any decal would IMHO: (weird fact--the smaller it is, the better I am at painting it---this is why I truly suck at things like one-color 1/18 cars, but do well with 1/144 Gundam eyes)

That's the one I'm talking about. My best (only) modelling skill is decaling, and as I said--I'm *very* picky about them as it's the one thing I can do well so I do it as best as I possibly can. Honestly I've done mine better than the pic you posted--but it's still not good enough for my standards.

I was thinking about inking in most of the "small red recesses" anyways. I'll try the decals first--can always ink later. (that's kind of my plan for the whole kit--decal everything, anything that doesn't last will get replaced with a sticker and/or painted on)

I noticed quite a few variations of his plane through the eps, most of which I attribute to the animators not paying attention.

I don't get why EVERYONE feels the need to do that side-quest so fervantly. It's long, boring, and pointless. With no real reward. (I did it once quickly using an FAQ just to see what happens--nothing. No big spoiler, plot, reward, backstory, or anything else). It's a time-waster, nothing more. Skip it. My suggestion: Talk to the guy to start the quest, then IF YOU SEE ONE NEARBY WHILE WALKING AROUND, scan it--easy money when you need it early in the game. But don't spend an hour hunting down the last two, etc. They're not worth much individually, but you'll find a dozen just walking around.

Actually, I found over a dozen Graces since then, but only at "members only" sites so I could only see 80x80 pixel thumbnails.

Nah, Hasbro's just stupid. Some of the parts are actually molded in the same G1-colored sparkly amber-orange as the cannon, but PAINTED flourescent orange at extra cost...

99% of the "magic" in polishing a canopy back to crystal-clarity is in the sanding, not the actual polish/paste used. Quadruple-digit-grit. Frankly, almost any polish works well on clear model plastic, I often use mag-wheel polish personally...

I have 4 decal "fluids", in order of strength: Micro-Set Micro-Sol Solvaset Champ Champ is "the atomic bomb of decal set". It is FAR stronger than Micro-Sol when it comes to melting/conforming. Solvaset and Champ are both "1-step" solutions, that do what Micro Set and Sol do, together. But I generally only use them "if needed" as they can literally melt weaker decals into puddles of goo. And both are stronger than anything Microscale makes. If anyone has a close-up pic, I'd like to see how well they did with theirs. (I can only find close-up pics of stickers) The problem is simply the shape--no decal wants to make a 90-degree bend around a curved raised triangle. It's basically your standard "black dot on an airplane nosecone done as a circle decal" situation, just flattened out a bit.

::gasp:: Didn't finish Mass Effect?!? Go do so now! It gets better and better towards the end. The last couple hours just rock.

Easier to just not apply the clear parts, then spray. Versus masking them. The whole thing's snap-fit, so it's not a problem attaching parts later or slightly out of order. PS--I just decaled the 'red triangle on the crotch plate'---anyone gotten this to fit perfectly? I'm up to my "atomic bomb of decal set" and it's still not matching up/conforming quite right at the corners. It actually doesn't seem to be quite the right shape/size in the first place--slightly oversized, and the "curved" upper section shouldn't be IMHO. I considered inking that marking on myself, but figured I'd give the decal a try. (I doubt the sticker would work well at all really--90 degree bends only 1mm thick?) PPS to anyone decaling---the decals do seem to be "typical Japanese" in that they respond very well to hot water, and not so well to decal set. However, they do respond to decal set better than "previous generation Hasegawa" decals--anything from 2002 or earlier or so.

No, Halloween will be around, just minus the trick-or-treat part. It'll be very much like Xmas, where you give candy and presents to kids. Only the decorations are black and orange and spooks, instead of green and red and elves. Noticed how Xmas-y Halloween already is? They now have gift tags and "stocking stuffers" and gingerbread houses----and more and more toys. Easter's going that way too---Easter baskets now have enough toys to supply an average kid at Xmas and Target usually has 2 entire aisles of just TOYS for Easter. Eventually, all holidays will be like Xmas, due to commercialism. Just one long year of buying toys for kids...

Remember---it's merchandise sales that really support anime, not how many people watch it. If you want PG and non-transforming kits in the future, then buy the DVDs and kits that are out now.

The vast majority of "single-seat" fighter jets have room for a second seat inherent to their design, it's just filled with "extra" electronics in most cases. (Fuel in the case of a Hornet) Take that stuff out, put a seat in the spot and you have the trainer version. , The YF-19 is the most realistic of the "convertible" valks. The two-seat version of most real planes do NOT have a longer nose/fuselage, unlike say the VF-1 and VF-0. (the canopy is often longer, but that's simply because it needs to taper down further back to clear the 2nd person's head---the two-seat F-15 canopy is like 2 inches longer, that's it---it's mainly just "taller" for headroom) Here's a good shot of a single-seat F-15, you can see all the "extra room" behind the pilot:

Yeah, but Alto goes through several different (yet identically painted) valks in the series...

Gah, I just noticed something: Going by the pics at M3 and checking with the anime, every VF-25 has different color feet. I would take that as meaning they are PAINTED, and not merely "bare heat-burnished metal". However, they are all in the "possible jet engine exhaust hues" category. Alto's is brownish, Ozma's is dark steel grey, Michaels is medium grey, Luca's is light grey. So I'm wondering if painting the engine nozzles metallic, might actually be quite wrong. (Basic "olive drab" paint is darn close to the molded color in the Alto kit) However---the Super and Armor pack booster nozzles of all 4 valks seem to match Alto's feet. I doubt the booster nozzles are painted, but then why are the battroid feet of Ozma etc so clearly a different color than Alto's? And why don't Ozma's booster nozzles match his valk's nozzles? And of course--why have Alto's feet a "weird" color, and not red or black or something, if they're painted? But then even if they are "bare metal"--why are they so different from the other 3 -25's?

Forget stats, I want lineart, and tons of it. We REALLY need a new SK Design Works book, covering Zero and Frontier.

Honestly I've never painted a *toy* either. May want to ask the customizer guys, versus "model" guys. IMHO, grey primer is awesome stuff, it's my first/last/only coat most of the time I use it. (like my VF-25 landing gear)

The pic is DEFINITELY the Quarter's bridge/head. The question is whether it's a "random background pic" or a hint at what's coming. You're looking at it from above, it's facing right/down. The "clear orange" part would be below the E or X, probably right behind the stand.

I *rarely* airbrush--and haven't airbrushed Pollyscale. Pollyscale is the best IMHO because of how it hand-brushes. However, there's no way I'd hand-brush something THAT big. For, frankly, a big cheap toy (as opposed to a big expensive toy), I'd just get a can of generic grey spraypaint and go at it. Or, spend a bit more and get some of Tamiya's spray paint---their spray is the best by far. And they sell many "authentic US jet camo colors" in their spray line. (surprisingly, they don't have those colors in their regular line---while Testors has those colors in the regular line but not for sprays)

If you want the actual F-22 paint scheme, here's how to do it, hope you're skilled with an airbrush: http://www.aircraftresourcecenter.com/tnt1...ting/tnt151.htm For painting---my fave is Pollyscale *railroad* paints. Not only the best acrylic, but the best paint period IMHO. The military line is different though, or at least has been since Testors took it over. You won't find "F-15 grey" in the railroad line, but you will find plenty of shades of grey to choose from.

Will a normal plain inkjet work? The only decal paper I can get around here is that Testor's decal-making kit. (though I may have a sheet of Microscale white trim film---can that be printed on?)

Never done waterslide? I'd go with the stickers. And if you've NEVER done a model at all, I'd get a cheap Gundam or something first to experiment on. If nothing else, try to do a decent amount of "internal" parts first to get a feel for cutting the parts off, etc. (since the nosecone is the very first thing built, and will be fairly obvious if you do a bad job--that is NOT a piece you want for one of the first times you ever remove a part from the sprue) As for reading Japanese---can't hurt, but frankly won't help much---almost all model kit instructions are pretty much like Lego instructions----just follow the pictures. ::edit:: Well, if it's your first kit it'll help by explaining the symbols they use.