David Hingtgen

Got the rest of the important parts. Will do some work tonight, but don't plan on getting it up and running.

IMHO the ASRAAM is kind of between the Sparrow and Sidewinder.

In the "I don't think you understand the point of buying a stealth aircraft" category: UK alters JSF weapon load, ASRAAM to be carried on underwing pylons: http://www.janes.com/news/defence/systems/...80304_1_n.shtml Also, the JSF is so far behind that it won't arrive in time to replace some squadron's Super Hornets before they get too old: http://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2008/03/...er_gap_030508w/ In other news, India itself was the source of the Kitty Hawk rumors: http://www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/cont...week+exclusives

I thought that was an awfully "generic"-looking Anubis... (I haven't played in years, and Anubis only shows up in the anime for about 5 secs) That's the "awakened" Jehuty, right?

Idolo and Anubis models: http://macrossworld.com/mwf/index.php?s=&a...st&p=567640

Not enough for some people. But having coat hangers do just as well may finally sway some of the holdouts.

That's just simply awesome. Coat hangers FTW.

Got some more parts, here's the current pile:

That pic is about identical to mine, though I use the "purple stripe" Model Master semi-gloss instead of the Tamiya. (sheer local availability)

No more than the PS2 was (and in a couple of years, we'll hear the same nonsense about the PS4)

While I've never played a "real" RPG or anything, a good chunk of the video games I own owe something(or a lot) to D&D.

I was just going to request some ZOE Revoltechs like 2 days ago as I just watched the end of Dolores, and re-watched Idolo. Idolo is my fave by far.

By a factor of about a zillion.

I find it interesting that a disproportionately high number of "wow" cross-wind landing videos are A320's. There's a *lot* of A320's out there, but not enough to explain the number of videos of them flying sideways and boltering.

It's just the angle.

The Super Hornet also brings back the dogtooth in the wing. They finally got around to "fixing" what they messed up in the first place. I've never read why the LERX *shape* was changed. I know the slots in them were shortened by like 90% to reduce drag. (And we all know how "slick" the F-18 ended up being) As for the KC-45: It will be built in Mobile, Alabama, as will be the A330F. Approximately 1/2 of the plane, cost-wise, is American. (notably, the very expensive avionics and engines). Also note that 1/2 of a 767 is not American, because most of the fuselage is built in Japan, Canada, Italy, and Ireland. (even going back to the DC-9, you'll find jet airliners are very multi-national, no matter how "American" or "British" they may seem at first) A300 wing skins are milled right here in Iowa. The 777 as a tanker will not be a possibility until the 767 is dead and buried. But that could be soon with the loss of the KC-45 contract. First 777F is due soon (way overdue, both IMHO and most cargo airlines')

I intentionally left out the YF-17, as it's complicated. FYI: You know the strakes that were added on top of the LERX's? Only the forward 2 mounts actually attach to the plane, the 3rd just floats above the fuselage. Why? Because the strake straddles the dividing line between the forward part, and the center part of the fuselage. The forward part was built by MDC, the center part by Northrop under contract. And Northrop refused to alter the center fuselage design nor pay for any modification done, since MDC "were the ones who screwed up our plane". (The YF-17 had no vortex problems with the tails due to the LERX---but the F-18 did) Thus, the strake is only attached to, and interacts with, the MDC-built parts of the F-18. Time to post the "awesome stuff that Northrop built" pic again:

Smiley, don't you mean the *McDonnellDouglas* plant in Long Beach where the *McDonnellDouglas* C-17 is built? (There was SERIOUS talk of making it available as a civil freighter, the MD-17) I wonder if the C-17's builder plates still say MDC. Late-build MD-11's were changed to say Boeing, but even the newest Super Hornets still have MDC plates. Might be a Long Beach vs St Louis thing.

Passenger A330's will be effectively dead soon, likely only freighters and tankers will be built in the future, in the US. The current A330/340 line will be making the stretch 340's and probably 350. The passenger A330 will probably straggle on to last as long as the 777 (possibly being built only as special orders in the US) but at a very limited rate, while the 777 will still be selling strong for some more years. The A300 had a similar fate---it went on for many years slowly selling as a freighter, long after passenger orders dried up. The A300 actually outlived the A310 on the production line by a good number of years. (The 727, DC-10, and MD-11 also ended the production line as freighters-only, as will the 747-400 and likely the -800) As for Northrop---Northrop ROCKS, design-wise. They just are unloved by Congress, no big lobby, etc. Hello, they designed the YF-23 and B-2. And the F-20, which was cheaper and outperformed the F-16 in the interceptor role in every possible way, including knife-range turning. They were frankly "discriminated" against when it comes to contracts over the past years. (And now we have proof with all the money greasing hands/Boeing scandal etc) If you're going for "military design history"---why would Boeing get any contracts now? Their last real fighter was the XF8. Google it. And designing the B-52 a half-century ago but nothing since doesn't count for much. Every product they currently "claim" rights to was actually designed by North American, Ryan, Rockwell, or Douglas many years ago. Boeing's last attempt at modern military hardware from scratch with their own design? The plane so fugly it lost the competition before it flew, and never could hover right, the X-32. I like Boeing airliners, but have little faith in their military stuff. Unless it's designed totally by ex-McDonnellDouglas people still working there.

Acrylic, enamel, and lacquer all have different definitions and variations within themselves. There are lacquered acrylics and enamel lacquers. Some acrylics are technically still petroleum-based enamels. Some use anti-freeze. Some use rubbing alcohol. It all depends and often to only way to really find out is to go by smell IMHO. It's all just "does it harm your brain or your lungs?" Brushing acrylics is the "safest" paint method of all. For spraying--honestly I only ever spray outdoors, which is why I can only model when the weather's nice.

F-14, XLAA, 'twas designed to take out bombers from afar...

Enamel/lacquers---it's the fumes/solvents that are bad. For acrylics, it's the actual atomized paint that's bad. (Acrylic paint spray may not smell dangerous, and chemically it's not---but it gets in your lungs and coats them like rubber)

IIRC, there was a time where Yamato basically cut off contact with Graham for quite a while, possibly because he "leaked" a little too much info. It would be sad to see that happen again. We get what we get. Ask no more.

That mold is an inherently fun toy with a unique transformation. Regardless of one's feelings of the aesthetics of the character---it's a nice "transforming jet" toy.

I need a bit of help getting started researching something: I don't do bling/case mods. But I am sick of blue lights everywhere, so I'm changing all the case lighting (what little there is) to purple. (will take me 30 secs and 4 bucks). Also bought the Akasa "All in one" card reader as it seems to be one of the few that both doesn't suck, and has a door over the slots. Now, the card reader is a "backlit" LCD but I'm pretty sure it's "backlit" in the same way that many older cell phones are---there's a few small LEDs mounted along the edges of the screen, and the light just diffuses across the screen. I know there's people/places that modify cell phone backlighting, I just need some terms/sites to search out so I can find out exactly what I need. I basically need "purple LED's that can be used to retrofit edge-lit small monochrome LCD screens". And some instruction on how to do it.