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David Hingtgen

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Everything posted by David Hingtgen

  1. It kinda falls along the lines of the two different styles in the MP-line: The earlier "ultra-realistic alt-mode, bot-mode being a detailed hybrid of the best aspects of the toy and toon", vs the current "toon-accurate and smooth no matter what, even if copying an animation error". Most of my MP's are from the 'realistic alt-mode' era, and alt-mode has always been more important to me than to most TF fans. So a "sudden shift" away from that will make new ones look odd in comparison, and as mentioned before---if it doesn't affect bot-mode, there's really no reason not to "copy the real thing" other than a lack of care/research.
  2. The annoying thing is that the VF-4's wing/canard/fin/ventral angles are all doubles/mirrors of each other (and thus, easy to replicate)----it's like the YF-23 does with its leading and trailing edges, only applied on a different axis. The left wing is parallel to the right canard, and vice-versa. The tailfin angle is the same as the ventral fin angle: There's really only 2 angles for the entire plane---wing/canard (10-15 degrees off horizontal?) and tailfin/ventral fin (15-20 degrees off vertical?)
  3. 26 days via SAL, but Mirage’s super parts are now in the US.
  4. Takara seems to be doing pretty well at it—-MP Sideswipe, Prowl, Wheeljack have basically perfect alt-modes, shape-wise. Their only alt-mode compromises are generally the undersides and exhaust area. Again—-some alt-modes being “off” don’t seem to be a conscious decision to go more toon-accurate or to improve bot-mode looks. Sometimes it simply seems to be lack of research/care, because for many areas “doing it right wouldn’t affect bot-mode”.
  5. I'm going to need an unboxing etc before I order the XFA-27. I'm a HUGE fan of it---but it falls under the 'aircraft done by a non-aircraft kit company' auto-suspicion, as well as being MOLDED in white with pre-painted red----that's not the same as Tomy's Ace Combat kits which are 100% pre-painted. Decal and sticker quality remains to be seen, as well as if we get the "fully detailed, crisp 2-tone red" as in the pics, or just a quick over-spray of 1 tone of red.
  6. Not for Sideswipe. It doesn't "closely resemble the animation model" at all. (Animation Sideswipe is not a Countach, it's barely even Countach-esque). They were clearly going for a real Countach, they just "didn't have enough reference of the real thing". Even their Red Alert, while the whole back end is re-done, the front end is still trying to be a real Countach, and not 100% toon-accurate. There's a clear line between "basing it on the toon" and "simply didn't get it right while basing it on the real thing". I pray we never seen a truly toon-accurate Optimus, because that's a trapezoid on wheels...
  7. It’s cleaner, but there’s a thousand little shape issues that just make it look off. It reminds me a lot of those fake Countach kit-cars. (Though admittedly, still looks more like the real thing than most of those kits do). I keep getting the impression that they mainly used a 3-view drawing for the car mode, and very few photos. So many subtle curves are lost. So many body panels and fairings have been straightened and flattened and simplified. It’s like a low-poly version of a Countach. The overall shape is right, but so many “little things” are off, that if you really know the Countach, it’s hard to shake the “something’s not right” feeling.
  8. I at first thought this mold was already molded in "retracted ventral fins" mode (or close to it). The sheer fact that it can sit on its landing gear at all, and not the fins, indicates this. Did they just "fiddle with all the angles" so that it's not really right for any configuration? The VF-4's fins don't move the ENTIRE fin, just "most" of it--the base of the fin stays at the same angle all the time, it "bends in the middle" to flatten out. Can you swap the fins, left/right? Depending on exactly how things are molded, that may change the mounting angle so they're more downwards, for an in-flight display.
  9. I am only considering seeing this in theaters because Ewan McGregor can give a good performance with garbage to work with, so if it’s even a half-way decent script then it could be good.
  10. Anyone hear of SAL being slower lately? My 31C parts shipped out of Osaka the 31st, and nothing since. 90% of the time I have SAL in-hand in 10-14 days, but these aren’t even in the US yet.
  11. I was listening to the Top Gun soundtrack in my car all week...
  12. I haven't checked into this thread for a while, but picked a good time to do so---it's done! (and in the best VF-5000 paint scheme, too)
  13. Ok, I’m embarrassed——I love the F-8, and its most distinctive feature is its unique variable incidence wing. I have no idea how it slipped my mind. My “jet enthusiast” credibility is shot.
  14. Super Hornet is 10x a better choice than the F-35 for being the new star of the film.
  15. I’ve got all my NY emails for my 31C parts—-tracking seems to be right, but hasn’t left Japan yet.
  16. The joints are compatible, so it takes 30 secs to swap arms and legs. Backpack though, would take a bit of work.
  17. For the last 2/3 of that last paragraph—-the term is “incidence”——how the wing is mounted to affect the “inherent angle of attack of leading edge vs fuselage centerline”. I know of no plane with variable incidence, but a helicopter’s collective is basically that.
  18. Yeah, I'm ok with pretty much all of those designs, except the sword. It just doesn't seem like it'd work with the whole "normally a dagger, stretches out when the Eye is activated" thing very well. (this is I believe, the original/official model sheet for it) I NEVER noticed how the grip section "accordians out" before.
  19. Even though it's not "on-screen canon" I was really hoping/waiting for movie-style super parts for the V2 Grace VF-27. All they would have had to do is inject some grey plastic into the mold, and sell them in uncolored boxes as a Tamashii exclusive again. And as mentioned----ANY of the YF-30 repaints from the game. Which would have also lead to an awesome VF-27: (and another chance to sell some more super-parts)
  20. Where is the “02” 31A from?
  21. But to make it even more complicated, while the CHARACTER premiered in Car Robots, the MOLD was from Beast Wars. The original release was the 2nd mold for a non-show character--"Cybershark". (The first Cybershark toy was pretty early in the line, and small. Then he got a Transmetal version, much larger---the one we're talking about). Then years (and 2 shows) later, the mold was brought back, recolored, and put on Car Robots/RID as a new character---thus SkyByte that we all know and love.
  22. Just checked my N-Y account, seeing if there's any activity on the Mirage Super Pack front-----nope, utterly unchanged since Dec. Seems odd that some are shipping and some seem to be waiting until the end of the month. Mine is a solo pre-order, it's not waiting on anyting else.
  23. Now, to see if they do the chest stripes... (and even if they do fix all the red/black areas, they're not likely to remove the ginormous fugly "NETFC" wing markings etc)
  24. Night? More like blink...
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