David Hingtgen

drifand---there are different versions depending on what country they're initially shipped to?

?? Allowed? It's your model, do what you want. There's entire boards devoted to "fictional" modeling, from USAF F-14's to Klingon Camaro Z28's...

Think of it like publisher, vs developer. Whose logo is most prominently displayed? Who actually worked on it? Who funded it, and who got interviewed about it? Then assume when it goes overseas that yet another company takes care of localization and marketing.

It's all just marketing. Monogram hasn't actually made a new kit/mold in decades AFAIK, they just use the name in the US to sell Revell's molds. And in Germany, Revell's name is often used to sell Hasegawa molds.

It's all the same mold. The Revell *Germany* one simply costs twice as much. And has Tiger Meet decals. There's no shortage of 1/48 F-15E aftermarket decals--if it existed, you can buy it. Also, the weapons included vary. The basic US release is the cheapest, but also has no bombs--I personally have it and am 3/4 done. The German release is the same as the basic US one from what I can see, just different decals. Only the Monogram Pro-Modeler one has any bombs. Here you can see the box art of the US releases: http://www.f-15estrikeeagle.com/reviews/reviews_kits.htm The one I have is the middle one of the three 1/48 kits. Main thing will be weapons--most people want to load an F-15E with as many bombs as it can physically hold---and no kit includes very many bombs. If you want a full load, you'll have to buy some. http://www.f-15estrikeeagle.com has lots of info on real loads, etc, or you can always just ask me for suggestions. If you really want to warp people's minds, load it out for pure air-to-air combat. I have a pic of one like that.

Thanks very much for the scans. Are there two different heads in the kit?

My reply must have gotten lost. Anyways--thanks for the scans, and a question: Are all the polycaps, screws etc included, or are the pics for reference as to what to buy?

Don't know, my modeling priority is the EXTERIOR of the plane, and 99% of aftermarket stuff is cockpit details.

There's plenty of pics so far, they're all in the "OVA part 2 and 3" configuration--single seater. There's actually 3 possibilities: A. Single-seat B. Two-seater C. Two-seater post-ejection, with black retractable plating covering the gap where the aft canopy was.

Yeah, 2nd release could easily be a "deluxe" one with a second seat, Yang, and FAST packs and fold booster. $275...

If you want a cheap 1/48 F-15, get either the Revell F-15E, or the Monogram kit. Yes, Monogram. Their F-15 is well known as still being the best-shaped F-15 out there, and better fit and detail than most any other Monogram kit. And the Revell F-15E is their best kit ever, and possibly the best F-15 out there period. The Academy one is decent, but nothing remarkable AFAIK. Hasegawa is a perennial choice, though difficult to get one that'll represent a post-1979 one. In 1/72, Hase is the easy choice.

I should have close up of pics of an F-14's ladder if you'd like some references.

YF-19 has the rather unique ability to be primarily a single-seater, but can accomodate two. The Hase kit does this nicely--you can't swap, but you can build it either way. I'm guessing the Yamato is a single due to being easier--otherwise the cockpit well has to be longer and deeper, and that'd probably interfere with some hinges or the nosegear. Unless being able to switch is a hidden feature Graham hasn't revealed yet. But it'd also require switching canopies, so I don't think it's likely.

Heh heh---one thing Trek purists seem to hate more than most any other revision, is how the original Enterprise was "restored" for the Smithsonian. Basically, it was panel lined and weathered. Severely. Still, I didn't think they'd match the STUTTER of the movement. That's just plain stupid. Frankly, that's in the category of error, like Soctty's missing phaser beam. It's not intentional, it's just what happened, since motion-control cameras didn't exist then.

Carriers are named after presidents only recently, because before that it was missile subs that were named for presidents. Roosevelt, Washington, Lincoln, Madison--all were missile subs in the 60's. And yes--you should certainly wait until someone's dead. And I still really don't like the idea of the next carriers being Ford class. Still a chance it won't be, but it's getting close. http://www.ussamerica.org

::edit:: Are you talking about the built-in ladder, or a separate one? F-4's used both, depending on Navy vs Air Force. I know the VF-1 canonically has a built-in one like the F-4/F-14, but can't recall if they ever used separate ones. As for hinge pics--none that I can find.

Yeah, I know they should be a bit bigger. With my meager photo-editing skills I could pretty much only do shape OR size without really screwing up the other.

One thing that's always bugged me is the quasi-canon side view of the VF-11. The tailfins are just plain wrong. I looked through every VF-11 drawing in the Design Works and M7 Animation book, and they're all quite consistent--and very different from what you normally see. It's almost as if the side view was drawn not taking into account perspective or something. Anyways, here's my re-drawn tailfins. Original on top, with "how I think it REALLY looks" on the bottom. Agree, disagree? Go look at the VF-11 drawings in Design Works or M+ TIAS or M7 Animation books and compare to the "official" sideview you find in most of those books etc.

Well it premieres this weekend most places. At least in my city it's replacing when they showed ENT.

Military fighter jets kits? I can talk a long time about those. Here are my opinions: Academy: High *quality*. Accuracy is something to watch for. Some are excellent, some good, some suck. Trumpeter. Exact same comments as Academy. Just FYI, Academy and Trumpeter are the main reason every other company is scrambling to catch up nowadays---model companies have been VERY stagnant the past 20 years. Then Trumpeter and Academy show up on the scene with high-quality kits cheaper than most everything else. Hase and Tami are still at the top for the most part, but the gap closed a lot. Revell--most of it sucks IMHO, but the new stuff is very good. The 1/48 F-15E is very, very good. Same for 1/48 F-18E. And the only actual F-15E, period. Hasegawa---even the old stuff is better than most company's new stuff. Price has exploded upwards lately, for no apparent reason. Watch for "decal" boxings---the $8 and $28 F-18 kits are EXACTLY the same. One just has VFA-195's 1998 markings, and the other has VFA-195's 2001 markings. You're paying 20 bucks for the decals alone, when after market decals are twice as good and half the price. Italeri. AKA what Testor's reboxes and sells as their own. Decent all around, though their 1/48 F-14 is to be avoided. Also makes the best YF-23. Tamiya. Best fit and quality, period. Just low selection of subjects. The thing is, a lot depends on the KIT, not the company. Even scale can make a significant difference, for the same subject from the same company. For models, accuracy outranks most everything else IMHO--that's why they're model kits and not diecast pre-painted. If it's plastic and I build it myself, I expect it to be right. FYI, no F-14B/D other than Hasegawa is correct. Revell's closer than most, but they did a "just plain stupid" mistake. Honestly it's a lot easier if you specifically say what you want a model of, and in what scale. Then I can help even more. But first, go here: http://www.modelingmadness.com/ Left column, kit previews, and kit reviews. That's most every kit out there.

The combiners were about the only Energon I bought, and were the best part of the line. Barricade is just ingenious, my fave TF in years.

I know, I always mention to people about Praxis' explosion being the first "big shockwave effect". Gritty=heresy apparently. Most people find the new CG 1701 to be too "grid lined" and varigated color-wise---they apparently want the saucer to look like it's molded from one vac-formed piece of grey plastic. I like the new CG one, better than the previous one from DS9's Trials and Tribbleations. The new one is every so slightly plated, with very faint grid lines. The DS9 one was pretty heavily paneled in comparison. My only real complaint (and many others') is the lighting. Every window GLOWS with a halo surrounding it like it was a million candle-power beam. Or the light of God. It's a WINDOW. Not a SEARCHLIGH. Nav lights have the same problem---real nav lights don't glow so bright they illuminate their surroundings. They're small pinpoints to identify attitude. Just watch the movies---1701 refit and A have tiny little lights, not blazing becons. And the windows are lit, but don't themselves emit light.

Being a big Trek fan and reading about it on a Trek forum, I gather the change is 99% only remaking exterior planet and ship shots. And there won't be any artistic/drama changes----they will try to do them exactly the same, star-by-star, only with CG. No "let's add a shockwave ring when it blows up and then have the Enterprise bank away dramatically " SW stuff. And the mirror universe ep of ENT was almost certainly their "test-run" for a Constitution class CG. Replacing other effects with new ones will be very rare. There will be a few corrections made--CORRECTIONS. Like there's a time where Scotty welds a bulkhead together with a phaser---but there's no beam coming from his phaser. They'll add the beam that was originally supposed to be there. And at least few times where the Enterprise was supposed to be firing phasers---but torpedoes came out.

Well the weird thing is---some people think Tenax has a distinct smell, some people (like me) cannot smell it at all even when trying. Basic fact: all solvents are bad.

I wasn't the one who moved it to "Other". It was like that when the board was restarted---I simply posted an explanation for why I thought it might be here instead of "Toys". My best guess was that this was one of the "lost" threads that Shawn had to restore/title/place manually. And I was reluctant to move it from where Shawn personally put it. Note that, the title is simply "1/100 Toynami valks"----if Shawn's not up on them, he most likely assumed they were Robotech toys--I know he had to re-do hundreds of threads himself and probably didn't read through them to analyze, and placed them simply by their titles. Otherwise the board probably would have taken another 5 days to repair. And that goes with my earlier explanation---if you hear "Toynami" you probably think "Robotech"----and that's probably why whoever put the thread in this forum did so, without knowing they are technically Macross toys this time around.