David Hingtgen

Has anyone ever stripped off all the decals of a model and nicely preserved the paint, so as to re-decal the kit? There's some new decals out for a model that I did a few years ago but it is very important to me and would love to do it with the newer, much more detailed decals. However, since it is a lit-up kit and has massive amounts of wiring and super-glue, it cannot possibly be disassembled nor repainted. If I have to, I'll just apply some of the new decals to where there's nothing currently or few paint details, but I would prefer to re-do evey square inch. (It's a HEAVILY decaled model, when you look at it it's about 40% decal and 60% paint, if not more decal) If you're curious or it'll help your advice, it's a Star Trek ship and there are now decals available to aztec the entire hull---my model is un-azteced pure white, and I want to aztec it. (I do have a few issues with the non-azteced parts of the new decal set, so I would also want to preserve a few of the original decals which I feel are superior) (would also take the opportunity to clean up some pylon seams if possible)

Is Tamiya German grey like Panzer grey? Panzer grey is ever so slightly darker than european grey, their FS numbers are about the 2 closest I know of. It's one of my fave colors to use, it's the darkest grey that's clearly "grey" and not "faded black". BTW--if you ever want a zillion shades of black/dark grey, go check out the model railroad paints. They literally have engine black, grimy black, dusty black, oily black, black, and other slightly different shades of black and very dark grey. (Because how else can you individually show grease, oil, soot, and dirt on a black locomotive--and then give it a wash to highlight panel lines!) Note that grimy black is the least black of all, it's pretty clearly grey.

Time to talk JSF again! UK's next carrier design seems finalized, and the French plan to license the design and build one of their own to complement the Charles De Gaulle, so this will be a very important class. Anyways---it seems the UK is becoming less and less enthralled with the STOVL F-35, and Australia is getting the impression that their version will NOT be the same as the USA's (less stealthy, etc) and cost more than expected. So basically the two most important buyers are decreasing orders and are unhappy. Point: What will the new carriers carry? UK seems especially interested in early warning craft, and is considering everything from helicopters to V-22's to E-2's. The French already operate E-2's from the De Gaulle, so the new carrier could certainly support them. Second point: Since nobody's liking the STOVL JSF now, why not a full-fleged multi-role Naval plane? The new carrier's quite large, and it absolutely could support a wing full of Rafales---perhaps Super Hornets. Why compromise with a heavily-restriced JSF (and the UK isn't happy in that many of the weapons they want to use won't fit internally period--they don't plan to use soley JDAM and AMRAAM) when you've got a carrier big enough to accept conventional planes? Either buy the F-35C like the US Navy will, or see if you can get Super Hornets. (While I think the Rafale would be an excellent choice, I think politics would prevent France's best plane from being the Royal Naval's main force) Check out the new carrier---65,000 tons, that's like a Midway class, which could take F-4's and F-18's (though not F-14's). A big issue is fitting catapults--either a full assortment, or maybe just one for heavily-loaded E-2's. The final fitting will be determined by what planes they use.

Is it like the DOA2:HC purple ninja outfit, or like DOA3's? (And I still want to know why there's no Ninja Gaiden outfit for her--it's her best one ever, and they gave Ryu his NG suit for Ultimate) (I'm a huge Ayane fan)

Quick DOA4 costume question: Are they 6 or 7 DIFFERENT ones, or like always, 3 different costumes plus a bunch of slight variations of the school girl outfit? "C3 but with BLACK socks" is not a new costume IMHO. I'm still disappointed Ultimate wasted so many slots on slight variations, especially when some really good ones for DOA2:HC and DOA3 were left out. (I love Ayane's *ALL* purple ninja one) (plus poor selections from XBV)

Specifically, the Geschwader Kommodore (wing commander) of JG2.

While the title may be accurate, it really sounds like a book. When I first heard of this in another forum, and also skipped over it like 3 times thinking it was a design works artbook or something.

Spatula---are you playing on hard/going for the A ending? Lezard's tower isn't even a dungeon IIRC playing "normally". I really suggest you see the regular ending first, then replay on hard, go for the A ending, and see everything else.

Well that's a first. I REALLY don't see the point of blind-packaging ships. I can at least understand (and dislike) it for figures, but for ships---nobody wants anything but a matching, complete set.

Radiant Silvergun is very pretty, but I didn't find it all that "wonderful". Ikaruga is much better (and much harder) IMHO, for recent vertical scrolling SHMUPS. I still have Thunderforce 5 as my all time fave shooter.

Though the ships usually have the parts numbered, they don't number the variants. Thus, for the Yamato-class ship I have, if you bought a box #1, #2, #3 etc, you might end up with a 1941 Yamato bow, 1945 Yamato bridge, and a 1944 Musashi's stern. You're guaranteed all the different pieces, but not from the same variant. So you still really need to buy an "opened" set, or you might end up with half the parts being the clear version, or something.

Since NOBODY wants anything less than a complete ship, most any store that sells cutaway ships opens them up and assembles complete sets, even if they won't do it for any other blind-packaged item. Also, there are generally 2 complete ships per case, so the stores don't end up with any leftover parts.

Cutaway ships have become popular in Japan lately, but this is the first anime ship AFAIK. Kind of ironic, the first one released (by Takara) was the real Yamato (I bought the Musashi). There's also going to be clear-hulled variant.

It's still available BTW.

Somewhat related: USAF experimented with zero-length-launch planes, notably the F-100 IIRC. Basically it's a JATO setup on a rail, but with a much more powerful rocket. Achieved flying speed in 5 inches I think. It's akin to launching a model rocket, with the launch rail angled about 45 degrees.

Japan launched planes from subs in WW2. They had to surface to do so, but it happened.

Well, the "standard" real-life small air-to-air missile size is a 5 inch body diameter, so a micro-missile should be smaller than that. Extrapolate from there. (Though newer small missiles have bumped up to 6 inches---that extra inch makes life a lot easier on designers)

Yes, both Luke's ANH and ESB sabers are listed for 2006 minis.

Yup, Mini Vader saber rocks. Keep it covered, the grips attract dust at a visible rate and are very hard to clean---the dust just STICKS to it. I just bought some more 1/43 model car display cases--they're the perfect size, and come in two-packs for $6. However, they won't fit all of the sabers--they're like 2mm too small for Vader and Anakin, and too short for Dooku's.

Don't worry about not getting 100% at this point---it's not really needed, and hard to do with the characters you have. Arngrim, Jelanda, and Belanus are the first 3 people I get rid of. Later, you'll have the characters and timing/tweaking to fill it to 100% multiple times per round, and combo the supers themselves. My fave characters: Yumei, Aelia, Jun. Mystina to replace Yumei if storyline allows. Note: The game will randomly pick 1 of 3 paths for you to acquire characters(regardless of which ending/path you choose for the story). Sometimes "character X" will show up in chapter 2, sometimes it'll take until chapter 5. So you can never plan exactly what your party will be, as it WILL vary from game to game. It can take a while before you get a mage you really like or a combo machine guy---or you could get them next!

Do you mean 54 hits or 54 percent? There's a difference---are you trying to get extreme combos or fill up the gauge in the corner? (They're related but the numbers aren't equal) While many people like Arngrim due to his sheer power, I alway found him worthless for filling up the guage or comboing. Aelia really rocks, BTW. I use her instead of Arngrim. Lenneth+fast comboer+heavy striker+mage is always a good mix, and my best parties are always mixes of those. (Because some enemies are killed best by breaking through their defense with heavy powerful hits, while with others it's far better to pummel with sheer number of hits) There's one enemy that had such a trick to it I could NEVER kill it, and always used my very few "instant death" gems on them. (There's only like 3 in the game, only show up if going for the "A" ending) Also---Lenneth's final attack will vary depending upon what's equipped(there's not a whole lot of difference, but you will notice it's more elaborate with really good weapons), but like all supers can only be activated once the gauge in the corner has hit 100%. I haven't played in like 18 months or more, kind of going on memory. So many little timing details and combo nuances fade...

Thanks Graham--I had checked around there a few days ago but didn't see anything.

Oooooh. My 2 fave games of all time. Any plot questions on Xenogears, PM me. (That game you have to play twice to understand, and VP needs to be played twice to see both versions of the story)

I'd love a review on the MP Voltron if you have time, I haven't seen a word about it, other than "it's out".

Ahh yes, Apoxie. Never tried it, but have read rave reviews.