David Hingtgen

Found silver and gold sharpies, but not copper. Have to go over to the other side of town to the other store... Annoyance noted: While they gave MP TC a black nose, they left his v.stabs blue. IMHO the black stabs are more important than the nose. Both are equally "unrealistic" so there's really no point either way NOT to have as much black as possible on him. Fact: Black on TC is *just* as important as purple is on SW. Go check, there's a perfect correlation between the two (depending on your reference). SW is black with purple, TC is blue with black. They share silver in the same areas, but SW's "most important accent" color is purple, while with TC its black---but people tend to overlook the black on TC for some reason.

Here, regular vs premium is 10 cents difference. 2.5% at current prices. If 2 or 3 percent makes the difference, you can't afford the car, period. Also--for those cars which CAN use regular but "recommend" premium--the change in MPG usually MORE than offsets the price difference. I.E., buy 4% cheaper gas, but use 6% more of it...

Thanks, I actually have to go by the craft store todays anyway, will see if I can pick one up.

The poster and the actual toy don't seem to match at all. I will need much better pics before I decide if he's in G1 toy colors or not. The shade of blue is acceptable, but I can't tell if he's metallic or not.

I swear I posted a response, but it's not here. Anyways---got a link to the Grimlock repaint? I can only find BA, Prime, and Megs on his blog page. (Man, he went all-out on BA, I don't know if I can do the gold edging like that---maybe if I find a good metallic marker in coppery-gold)

Umm, just how many "Idol Master" girls are there? Will I have to wait for another dozen to be done before they do OTHER characters in the Fraulein series? Yeesh.

Sv-51 Nora

According to the model sheet, her lips are basically the same color as her face---they *are* different (darker), but it's even more subtle than the "purple plastic vs purple paint" on the toy. ::edit:: Whoops, wrong model sheet (the far more famous/common one is actually not how she looks). Hmmn, black lips, or very dark blue/purple? Might know better after the next ep airs. I may get out my acrylic paints, 25/0 brush, and see what I can do. Acrylic=easy to wipe off and try again.

Yeah, wrist articulation would be nice on BA---I don't see any reason there couldn't be a simple cut/swivel joint.

The hooded CC and masked CC's are very different shades of blue. Basically--every CC is a different shade of blue. (If they weren't, I would combine parts from different ones to make the "perfect" CC---as it is, I consider the one from the TRU 3-pack to be the best) Lightest to darkest: TRU 3-pack Comic 2-pack "Normal" masked Mass Device Masked Hooded

Ah, her "curves weirdly when viewed from the side" legs. Honestly, it's easy to get her to stand--just "go with it" with regards to her legs. Don't try to 'stand them up straight' like a human. Let them 'curve how they want'---she'll stand just fine, and still look good (since her whole design is based on her legs curving). I'll try to get a side-view pic of mine posted later. Due to her feet, she can have her legs curve WAY back under her and still not fall over, despite the bustle.

Heresy! But seriously, what's wrong? The gap below her neck? Her feet don't match the animation, but that's my only issue.

Saw a "vest" Roadblock for the first time today---it's an even brighter green than I thought it'd be.

MP-07 better be *deep* *metallic* blue. If either of those aspects are missing, it's a deal killer. Non-metallic deep blue? Pass. Metallic light blue? Pass. G1 toy colors only. Thundercracker's coloring should look like a blue sports/muscle car---a rich, deep blue (not "old-person-car" blue) that is distinctly metallic/sparkly.

BA simply rocks IMHO. Anyways---found a bunch of deep space/silver movie SS at Target, along with Lugnut and most deluxes. Which means someone already bought Grimlock there. Wal-Mart re-stocked (despite the flood) and also got in Bulkhead and Starscream for the first time, but still no Lugnut/Grimlock. I'm still holding off on Prowl, might wait for Samurai armor. Ratchet and Lockdown are still "maybe". (I'm really waiting for Soundwave).

Rubber cement is rubber cement. Named for what it's like, not what it does. "Rubbery cement"--"rubbery glue". Should be able to find it anywhere that sells common school glue/paste---grocery, hobby, general, craft, gas stations... Likely found in an amber bottle. You know the stuff that credit cards etc come attached to in the mail? That peel-able glue? It's like that.

The smaller something is in the real world, the harder (and less accurate) it is to scale. A 200ft plane scaled to 1/72? Will be quite accurate. If it's 0.5mm off? Then it's like 1/72.1 scale---darn close. A 5ft person scaled to 1/72? Even 0.5mm will make a large difference in the scale--could bump them to 1/68 or 1/75 etc.

Will be released as Prowl+sidecar from everything I've read, and normal Prowl can't use the armor. Kind of like early 1/60 VF-1's-----the armor won't fit on the ones that weren't built to take it.

In my experience, Target is the biggest "stickler" for street dates. Hasbro could take out full-page ads in every major newspaper saying its OK to sell animated toys, and Target would still keep them locked up until the 22nd.

I think it's left-side only, same as the YF-19 does.

Just tried again 30 secs ago---$19.95 on the main screen, and $19.95 when in cart. Clicking from the link in this thread.

Blade Runner's $19.95 now...

My 360 gets a "death rattle" once in a while now. I figure it's going to die with NG2, ME, or Assassin's Creed in it soon... PS--in the spirit of NG2, I present the best Penny-Arcade ever: http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2004/02/20/ (written for NG1, but just as appropriate)

Tech note: No SR-71 ever carried a drone. Those were the M-21's, which are modified A-12's.

Serial numbers only say when the money was allocated, not when built. Usually it's pretty close, especially for aircraft already in production. But for new planes and early ones---the serial is often several years "lower" than when the plane actually rolled out. Thus, the YF-23's got the money earmarked in 1987, but weren't built until 1990. Also why the first F-22's have 1991 serial numbers, despite not being built until MUCH later. 92-043----not the 43rd plane built in 1992. The 43rd plane that had money allocated for its production in fiscal year 1992 by the govt. Depending on what else was built that year, it could have been the 43rd or 764th plane built that year, chronologically... This is why planes have nice sequential numbers in groups---they all have their money allocated in chunks, not one-by-one as they roll off the line. Aircraft serial numbers have always been about when ORDERED/paid for, not built. Even civil ones. Example: United orders some 777's. They'll get serial numbers 20050 through 20060. (The 20050th plane ever ordered from Boeing, etc). But United won't get the next 10 off the line. Could be line/construction numbers 803, 805, 834, 902, etc. Planes with sequential (or very close) serials could be built months, possibly years apart. Plus, "important" planes get to have whatever serial suits them. The YF-22's were 87-700 and 87-701. YF-23's were 87-800 and 87-801. It wasn't sheer chance they got such "nice" "competitive" numbers. And various Air Force Ones are 62-6000 and 62-7000, and 92-8000 and 92-9000. The last two are 1987-built BTW.