David Hingtgen

There were only 4 choices in the original version of the poll, so there's only 4 choices now.

I understand/see what Swoosh is talking about. Hurin: Swoosh has uploaded numerous pics of 712x534. Those uploaded on the old board, display full-size as-is, simply embedded in the page. They are plenty small enough to not need to be resized, and aren't. But, the newer ones, also 712x534, are resized for no apparent reason as attachments instead of being imbedded full-size within the main thread page. They won't cause horizontal scrolling or anything, because the older 712x534's don't. Why are they being resized now and stuck as attachments and require clicking on them to see them full-size, when other, older pics with the exact same dimensions aren't being resized? Also, resizing seems to be strangely scaled. All of his 712 wide pics are being resized to 512 wide, but my 800 wide pics are being super-shrunk to like 100 pixels. Why the huge difference in "amount of resizing" for pics which start out with similar sizes?

I'm wondering where the interiors go. On the Alternators it's obvious, but where's the mattress and pillows on Prime? (And how does a metal being make them, anyways---same question as how do they make rubber tires and glass windows?) Another point---I really hope they make "Bumblebee gold" available on the new Camaro, but I doubt they will. I don't like "bright" yellow cars, but Bumblebee was a really nice "golden pearl" with almost a hint of orange. Best yellow paint I've ever seen on a car.

Yup, LS4. It's basically a smaller version of the LS6 with most of the LS6's features, has LS6 heads, LS2-derived accessories, and some LS1 valve parts. Overall it's considered to be very similar to the LS1. Or, a refined, aluminum version of the Vortec 5300. There's some good info at the LS1tech forums about it: http://www.ls1tech.com/forums/showthread.php?t=556077 BTW, the LS3 is brand-new, it'll be the 08 Vette engine with 430HP, 30MPG highway. Why isn't that technology giving us 300HP 40MPG engines? The Grand Prix GXP's have a completely new front end than the standard Grand Prix, very GTO-ish IMHO, a big reason I bought it. Plus the chrome quad outlet exhaust. As for 300HP----it took some work just to surpass the 250HP mark in a FWD and not have severe torque steer (and tranny) issues, 300 took even more. Also, it is only 5.3L, not 5.7L. (And it BARELY fits, the engine bay was originally designed for a 3.1 V6, with 3.8 V6 optional) This is one of the few (only?) cars with the front wheels being bigger than the rear. 255/45/18 on 8in rims up front, 225/50/18 on 7in rims at the rear. Anyone in Iowa with a RWD V8 only has it as their summer car. If you need a year-round car, better have FWD or AWD. I've seen a V8 F-body in the snow here once, in a dozen years. Basically---I bought the fastest FWD car I could find/afford. Officially it does a 5.7 0-60, and the fastest bone stock 1/4 is 13.68@102.3 from ClubGP. (normally 13.8-13.9 is considered a good run for them) Not bad for a 4-door grocery-getter. I'm still getting used to it, I swear that the day I got it, everyone in town decided to drive as slow as possible to deprive me of checking it out. Still a bit surprised by the power at times. I had a 99 GTP before, so I'm used to a supercharged V6---far better than some ricey I4, but still not a V8. Now I have ~60 more HP and ~40 more lb/ft. It does weigh a little bit more though, but due to being an aluminum engine, the engine itself weighs less than my GTP's supercharged V6. The V8 Grand Prixs also get an aluminum subframe up front (very obvious when the car is new), so they might actually have better weight distribution than the V6's due to all the lightening up front. As for the wheels---thanks much for noticing. Pontiac changed the wheels mid-year of 07 production without telling anyone, so I had to search out every GXP within 300 miles to find that color with those wheels. But I got it! Basically---Pontiac (and most dealerships) won't acknowledge the wheel change. Not only do the new ones not look as nice shape-wise (flat, no curve at all, and thicker spokes), they're not quite as shiny. (We suspect the new ones are merely cast, while the older ones are forged). But they look fairly similar, so most people don't care. But I do! A lot. I have actually gotten cars with my second choice in both paint and interior color, to get the wheels I want---I'm a wheel guy. Having owned 2 (and now 3), I'm a long-time member of the Club Grand Prix forums, so I was PM'ing almost everyone there I knew with an 07 GXP, asking for their build dates, wheel style, and VIN. So based on the replies I got I eventually pieced together the approximate build date and VIN sequence of when the wheel change occured---and of all the cars in the Midwest, there was only one that was the right color, with the right wheels (based on VIN). So I went to my local dealer, and they got it from the dealer that had the one I wanted. I keep my cars in really nice condition, I actually got a few hundred more for my trade-in than I had hoped. PS---being such an airplane nut, I love the HUD that it has. Pontiac has had an unofficial rule the past couple years that only the highest-end version of the Grand Prix gets it, and that's no longer the supercharged ones. My 99 had a HUD, and I just loved it, so finding a new car with a HUD eliminated most other cars out there. I tried really hard to photograph the HUD indicating "stealth mode" but since it's a holographic projection, the camera really has a tough time focusing. My car is "stealth grey", and I can push a button and turn on "stealth mode". Grand Prix GXP---the only car with an active stealth system! (No battroid mode though). Also a heck of a sleeper---most people only know Grand Prixs from the ultra-common base-model rental cars, which a lot of people pick up used. Few suspect any have an LS-series V8 under the hood.

Like myk, I also recently joined the LSx club: (I drove it to the Transformers movie tonight, first time it's been to that mall) And yes, the fender vents are functional. The second pic is the best representation of the color, it's a very bluish grey, almost to the point of being a greyish shade of blue, instead of being a bluish shade of grey. It's stealth grey, the coolest grey ever IMHO. (Blue-green crystal was the coolest color ever made for cars period, but that stopped being available on these in 06)

If "Sly" (I hate the Solstice emotional color names) really is "Shadow Grey" then that's a new color for 07. It's metallic, but BARELY. It's more like just plain gloss grey, almost no flake at all. In real life, it's about the lightest grey I've ever seen on a car. It's very close to primer grey. A lot of people describe it as if you just buffed and clear-coated the primer, and I agree. It's like non-metallic pale grey. Go find an 07 Grand Prix that's "not at all bluish" grey. That'll be shadow grey. It is not on the G5 or G6. Here's a link to a Shadow grey GP for sale: http://www.autouplinkusa.com/FindVehicle1....p;DealerId=6571 Note that in real life, it's much lighter. The pic below is much more like how they look in reality, one of the few GOOD pics I have of Shadow grey:

It's still amazing that they go into space AND COME BACK.

New poll, check out the first page! (It took me 3 tries for it to allow people to re-vote, it was easy to change the questions and set results to zero, but allowing people to re-vote took some effort---as I've said, you don't get a manual for how the boards work when you become a mod, it's all trial and error) Here's the final results of the original poll: It will rock! [ 52 ] [21.85%] It'll suck! [ 76 ] [31.93%] I'm sure It'll be a good popcorn flick. [ 81 ] [34.03%] Mmmmmmm, transformers merchandise! 29 ] [12.18% As for Brawl vs Devastator---apparently the guys who subtitled it screwed up, and Bay's not happy about it. The character is Brawl, the text on-screen is wrong and is expected to be changed for the DVD etc.

It kicked ass, that's all there really is to say. Also--there are 3 clips played during the beginning parts of the credits. Just sit for like 2 mins. Once the credits switch to "white text scrolling on black" that's it.

Pre-emptive questions: I'm more interested in YF-19 v2.0 than the FP actually. Any changes to the landing gear? Gunpod? Do the wings stay in place (not oversweep forward) in fighter mode now? Lock for the torso in battroid mode? Better-fitting shoulders in fighter mode? Shoulder flaps?

Oh, I don't expect it to fly on-time at all. I wouldn't be surprised if they removed and replaced the entire h.stab before it flies. But it'll look fine for photos as-is. I believe it was the Gripen that was missing a wing at roll-out. Looked fine, they just draped a curtain over one side and used smoke machines----people thought it was for effect, not to hide that part of the plane wasn't finished.

Toy-Wave has a good reputation, and the owner posts here.

Looks like the 787 will make its 7/8/07 roll-out date: Photographed presumably heading to the paint barn.

Someone just spoiled a huge chunk (IMHO) of the Movie in the latest "Hero" thread at TFW2005. Beware.

Merged E-2 thread into this one. Anyways, the simple reason the E-2 and E-3 have circular radar dishes is because they rotate. Any other shape would constantly affect the plane's balance as it rotated. Only a narrow part of the dish is actually the radar itself, the rest is just structural/balance to complete the circle. You can easily see the radar part on an E-3--it's the black part in the middle.

The Marines found a nice way around it:

Few places have a worse reputation than Treasure Island Sports. Better known as tisinc99 on Ebay. Also, they don't seem to have the M&M ones at all. Yes, they have $130 1/48 VF-1's, but so does anywhere else if you don't care what version you get.

I have to comment again: Whoever's weathering that SS just doesn't have a clue about airplanes, especially the F-15. If there's one plane on earth that doesn't ever reveal its panel lines it's the F-15. If you want to go get mocked at an airplane modeling forum---panel line your F-15. Adding black streaks and highlighting the panel lines/joints of something which which is known for being clean and smooth and featureless does NOT make it look realistic. That's like saying toning down a red 2007 Corvette and making the paint dead flat with gigantic black exhaust stains all over the rear bumper makes it more "realistic". No, it doesn't. Corvettes are bright, shiny, glossy red and after years of operation don't get black bumper streaks AFAIK.

I liked Adm Ackbar cereal the best. "It's a trap!" is the most-quoted line of all SW in some forums--it's the ultimate response to any question anyone ever asks.

Contra+Grappling Hook=Bionic Commando 2!

That 20 plane order is about all Northrop's gotten in the past 20 years. The F-20 is probably the best example of "perfect plane but still didn't get the order". F-20 vs F-16ADF. The Tigershark wins, no contest. YF-23 vs YF-22 is heavily debatable, but F-16ADF vs F-20 isn't even close. I think the F-20 blew it away in every category but top speed. But its sheer "get up and go" capability actually allowed it to out-intercept the F-15! Raw speed doesn't matter in time-critical intercepts if you need 10 minutes on the ground to run up the engines and avionics.

"Bumblebee" just isn't extreme enough anymore, he'll be "Yellow Jacket" or "Death Hornet Mk.2" or something...

1. Vac canopies are usually thinner and more brittle. It'll work, but support the canopy from underneath so it doesn't crack--use some clay or something. 2. As in transparent orange canopies or something? Coloring future works, though most people tend to use Tamiya's clear paints, especially as they have "smoke"--which is basically clear black and very useful for many things. 3. Generally Alclad is applied over a base layer of gloss black. All metallic paints are affected by the base coat, but the polishing/buffing ones are VERY dependent on what they're applied over. Are you going for the "painted panels with chipped edges exposing bare metal" look? If so, I really think that'd be an utter waste of Alclad, as you'd be at 3+ layers and a lot of effort, with 90% of the Alclad invisible. Just use normal silver in that case, if you want to actually expose an underlaying layer. Some people use little bits of tape, masking fluid, etc to mask off the silver before painting the next layer, then pulling off the tape. Personally I'd go with applying silver to the edges afterwards by drybrushing.

Northrop always makes good designs IMHO, but always get passed over. Washington just doesn't like Northrop for some reason.

And Boeing always has massive military contracts to fall back on--Airbus doesn't. There were rumors a few years ago (after the Sonic Cruiser and 747-500/600 never being launched) that Boeing would actually leave commercial aviation and focus purely on military stuff. Boeing just got the new CSAR contract for frigging Chinooks! If that isn't the worst decision ever for "which aircraft should we give the contract to" I don't know what is. People gripe about Airbus subsidies, but Boeing gets just as many in the form of "questionable" awarding of govt contracts. I mean, if the contract up for grab is described as "we need something to replace the Blackhawk--it's too slow, big, and vulnerable by modern standards"---how the **** can Chinooks be anything but pure govt pork to Boeing? Also note that the Chinook is being expected to replace the Blackhawk on semi-covert ops where speed and stealth are critical. The Chinook is like a flying beacon. Most people were expecting the new HH-92 or US101 to be picked. Wow, going from a 1970's design to a 1950's design. That's like replacing an F-15C with an F-4F ICE. It may have upgrades, but the airframe itself is a generation older.