David Hingtgen

I've wanted a Pythona figure since I was like 12... (And c'mon, Nemesis Enforcer and Lt Falcon have already had figures--Pythona has NEVER had a figure) PS--are Falcon's colors "wrong"? I recall him being much more brown, camo-wise.

Proposal---anyone want to "upgrade" their non-Premium Prime with some Premium parts? Like say the sword? One possibility is for me to buy a new Premium Prime, and just take the lower legs from it. Then I could sell off the sword, "silvery thighs", and new head to help recover the repair costs. Anyone interested in some Premium Prime parts like that to upgrade their older Prime? (Prime's very easy to take apart, so long as you avoid the electronics in the chest) Short form: a new US Prime is 40 bucks. I'd like to recover half the repair costs if possible. So I need to find a "junker" Prime for 20, or sell off 20 bucks worth of Premium parts from a new one. As it is, my Prime's leg damage is so severe he cannot stand up in robot mode at all (since his ankles have lost 50% of their plastic) and I'm not sure he can even hold together in truck mode since some of the pegs are gone now.

I just got a set of miniature symbols from Reprolabels. They are the same size as G1. The smallest is "combiner limb" symbol size, the next larger one is "small Autobot car hood symbol" size. (All Reprolabel symbols match "official" G1 sizes---the largest size on a normal Decepticon sheet is "seeker wing" size)

Update: Had a large chunk fall out as I was sitting here investigating things. I'm starting to suspect it's the paint (I just painted a few details on the ankles like many people have---the big circle at the bottom of the inner leg is just begging for some silver/bronze paint). But that would be a first, as I've painted many a silver detail on TF's with the same brand/type/color. It's my main "TF detailing" paint pen. If this particular TF doesn't like that paint, it's a first, and it reacts VERY quickly. I've had TF's painted with that paint for years without the slightest signs of a reaction. ::edit:: Yup, it's the paint. Just noticed stress marks forming on the red parts of the chest. Sigh. There's only a small amount of paint there, and it's never under stress, so hopefully it'll just be "some small stress marks". Or I'll wake up tomorrow and they'll have fallen off. I can't replace any chest pieces, that assembly is pinned and a bitch to get apart anyways. If I don't find any junked Primes, I'll probably just have to buy a new American leader Prime and use its lower legs. (And maybe arms too--they look ok, but they are the same plastic and were painted the same way). WEIRD note---the grey plastic is fine! Totally fine. Not the slightest reaction. (so far). But the red and blue? Falling apart before my eyes. Warning: Sakura "Pen-touch" silver marker/pen does NOT like the non-grey plastic parts of a leader movie Prime. Man, 40 bucks if I have to buy a Prime just for parts... (guess I'll definitely pass on Ratchet and Lockdown and Lugnut at that point)

Yeah, but it's at the opposite end of the circle--they peg at the "top" and it's the bottom that cracked. The chunk missing fits the ankle joint's shape too well though, I suspect it's that more than the peg.

Aww crap. I've just noticed my movie leader Prime (from Japan) is cracking apart at the ankles. (The chrome is fine BTW). The dark blue parts of his lower legs? One has a chunk missing, and the other has a large crack. (the very large circular detail on the inner side of the leg at the very bottom) Anyone hear of this happening to any other leader Primes?

Well, I have found out that copper Sharpies have been out of production for years, and there's no way to get one now. I did find a few "similar" items, but even the finest of them (that are the right color) are still too big---I could only do the "hip pads" on BA, and even then only by "erasing with spit" (which works well when metallic pens are used) before it dried. No way I can "outline" the chest, arms, wrists, etc though. Anyone know of some other very fine-tipped markers/paint pens? The best I found was a "Zig Painty Fine Tip" in "copper". But it's still a lot less fine than I need. Everything else finer was simply "gold" and likely too bright/yellow. (Hey, at 3-5 bucks each, it costs a lot to experiment with colors)

Looks SHE (or some other resin kit) to me---it has a bunch of pins at all the joints.

I'm waiting for the 2nd release----but NOT because of any potential issues. I just want a different scheme. I've owned two different M+ ones, I want something new. M7 CF is very bland though. VFX-2 is awesome, but licensing is an issue. Possibly M3? Then we could get Max and Milia and even Moaramia... (C'mon, you know a purple VF-11 would be awesome)

The "first run" hooded CC is actually pretty close to cartoon accurate (in idea, not shade) AFAIK---it has the "medium dark" body of the other hooded CC's, but an even darker hood. It is overall darker than the cartoon, but it does have the "mask is a BIT darker" effect. The pic of CC variants again, look at the left one: http://www.yojoe.com/action/variations/cob...mander25var.jpg See, I want either the left or right one (darker hood or better buckles---or both!) but 99.9% of hooded CC's out there are the one in the middle.

"Only" pinging? What would you consider bad? "Only" bone-jarring explosions?

Sorry, can't really help---my Grand Prix(s) simply never got very dirty inside. (I am so very strict about not allowing food etc in my car---and don't even think about getting inside with muddy shoes). I have read at the GP forum that Meguiar's (not McGuire's) Leather Wipes are pretty good/recommended. Most of the time I just like using a damp towel for most interior cleaning (basically dusting) Steering wheel and door panels sometimes gets "a tiny bit of palmolive and water" via damp towel.

Hey, if I have to paint the stabs, I might paint the stripes too---TC's are pretty simple. (Even if MP SS actually has TC's wing stripe pattern)

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.