David Hingtgen

I never did write the "how to make an ACCURATE Macross Zero F-14" thread due to the horrible weather this summer, which cancelled all my modeling projects...

27 Free Flight---you sure? It was really easy to do it in free flight due to lack of closing shutters. Man, it'll be a while before I can go through and get Su-37 Yellow, I don't even have the Su-35 yet.

I was about to write "take pics" but you already mentioned it. Would love pics/info of "real" AIM-9X's. JDAM paint schemes always useful, seem to vary a lot. My last suggestion/tip: How to tell most Hornet-C's from the last Hornet-C's: the really late ones have twin chaff/flare launchers, in a bulged fairing under the intake.

I just won on Hard about an hour ago. Am I the only who uses the HUD-view to do the tunnel? I tried it in free-flight in 3rd person view and was fine, but free flight doesn't have the closing shutters nor "barricades" in your way. Also tried mission 19 in free flight with F-16 (small, agile) but died pretty early in the tunnel. F-16 idle speed is 375, and it's just that much bigger than the Hawk. Certainly possible I think, but very difficult. Never found Su-37 Yellow in mission 27. I wonder if you have to bag both Su-47's in the tunnel to make it appear. Still have a lot more planes to unlock, don't know if I'll do normal or expert. Falken very soon. For the very last final mission, it's a lot more fun to attack it really slowly. You've got LOTS of time and missiles, and it's the only way you'll actually hear the coolest parts of the song. Also, it starts to break up once you get closer to the end of the stage. I killed it with like 25 secs left. Might try again to see what happens if you go all the way. Biggest change in Normal vs Hard: Mission 24. Way harder for unknown reasons. It was easy the time I beat it, but the first 6 runs I died really fast, even with F-15S/MTD. I highly suspect it moves faster, in addition to better defenses.

US version has both English and Japanese voice tracks--does the JP version have both as well? Graham--about the only control changes from AC4 are R3 to change view position, and both yaw buttons simulataneously for autopilot.

I never liked the orange-tube glue much. The liquid glue in the black plastic container (which changes shape every couple of years) is still the best all-purpose modeling cement I've found. Enamel still has the advantage of single-coat coverage when brush-painting in many circumstances.

My detailed saving Nagase mission/tips: 1. Location varies. Not a WHOLE lot (always Western half of map), but it does shift more north or south. 2. It always takes me about 2 mins to complete the "finding" part. Thus, start the mission by taking out every ground target and helicopter you can, then when you have 2 to 2.5 minutes left, start hunting for her. 3. You've probably figured out that banking seems to really mess up the indicator, thus yaw your way around. 4. Once you've found her (and of course, take out the 767 the moment it appears), go SE as fast as you can, and take out ground targets---and DO NOT MISS THE APACHE. Every time I've lost that mission that I can see what happened, it's an Apache that got the rescue heli. 5. I usually take an F-14 or F-15, for raw speed (while still having agility), to head SE as fast as possible after I've found her to help the chopper, then run NW again to fight off jets once the SE chopper's ok. PS---disperse wingmen. You want them all around, harrassing jets. Harrassing them all over is more important than killing them, as you merely need to stop them from shooting the chopper for like 2 mins.

For the past 10 years, Russia's developed more names and designations than planes.

I don't know why, but the 8492 mission--I either do well early, then bug out after the 2nd wave comes, or die in like 5 secs. Of course, I've never taken anything better than the Super Hornet against them. Actually did best with F-14B. I've yet to kill everything. I'm embarrassed actually, by not being able to do very well in a giant dogfight. BTW--anyone else think AMRAAM's suck against "good" opponents? They never hit. Sparrow's better IMHO, if the AI is better than average. And if you want to see missiles miss, end of mission 23. Yeesh.

The F-4G's HARM has a massive blast radius. 12A: actually one of my most-replayed missions, for exp pts for the planes. (that and 11A) Great for building up the Tornado. YF-23 3rd color is white. Very cool.

That's all I unlocked on my first run. F-14B seems to be the most commonly unlocked plane, for the first run-through. Though I seem to be one of the few to have had the F-20 unlocked already, the first time you could buy/select planes. Spent the last hour trying out some Free Missions, but having trouble---"normal" doesn't give much exp for kills, and early missions on Hard don't have enough targets. But trying to take on later missions with a Tornado on hard--not worth the effort. Yeah I could use the later planes, but most of them don't evolve so there's no point. Ironically, I have yet to actually USE the YF-23, since the time is better spent evolving the Rafale, etc. All in all---I do think the best way to "evolve" planes is to simply keep replaying campaign mode. Currently at mission 21 in campaign, 2nd run, Hard.

My opinions: Where possible, glue first, then paint. Paint: I like Testor's Acryl for brushing, their enamels suck for brushing IMHO. I personally don't like Tamiya much for brushing.

mike--I said earlier I got them confused--it's 11A that's fun (the airport), not 12A. But I still like 12A better than 11B and 12B. 11B's boring IMHO. 12A at least you get to fight. Yeesh, 19 already? I'm only on 17 for my second run. Though I didn't play anymore after I got my replacement PS2 yesterday. Emblems---nowhere that I know. The promo DVD only has very small pics. Best way to see Mobius emblem is to play Arcade mode in AC5, decent look at it there. MiG: Apparently, it's project 1.42, the plane is 1.44.

I like it. Looks very "Russian". IMHO, a lot of the work involved in painting is surface prep. Start with a good surface, and you'll get nice paint. Most of the work is thus the same for painted and unpainted--making the plastic/joints nice and smooth, etc. Actually painting is just 1 more step on top of all the previous work done in assembling the kit.

Debrief screen went "blurry"--like v-hold was slightly off. And it was like going at 1/2 speed. 20 secs later, froze at FMV. Then wouldn't load AC5, it went to browser screen and said no disc inserted. Wouldn't load anything. Wouldn't detect PS2 discs. Detected PSX discs, wouldn't load them (well, loaded FF Tactics, wouldn't load next 3 games). Didn't bother trying a DVD. Already returned and exchanged at Best Buy. Hope this one lasts more than a week. And it certainly wasn't an overheat issue, it'd only been on for 1 mission when it failed. Checked serial #'s, tried to get a very different one from a different batch. Mine was 144xxxx, all the others at Best Buy were 136xxxx and 166xxxx. Picked up a 136xxxx one.

Well I won't be playing AC5 for a while. My 1-week old new slim PS2 won't load anything at all, and won't even recognize PS2 discs. (will play SOME PSX discs) ****! Off to email/call Sony...

Replaying, Mission 17 is a pure dogfight. But seems less intense than "Shattered Skies". Though it really depends on what you're flying. Also had the FMV right after get stuck. Dunno why. Happened about 10 secs after I saved.

AC5 seems quite picky about OWNING planes before unlocking stuff. Unlocked Falken, need a lot more cash to buy it. Unlocked F-4X. Basically a faster F-4 with CFT's and AMRAAM's. Mission 16B is more fun than 16A. Very close to upgrading F-16 and 22.

Jolly Rogers CO plane destroyed: http://www.aircraftresourcecenter.com/foru...ST&f=15&t=35804

AC-130 is tough to kill like it should be. And they are the highest-priority targets, they can kill friendly ground troops faster than even the A-10. Some notes: X-29 ace scheme is the "real" X-29 scheme. Way too many Aces give sucky, bad schemes. F-4G scheme is so godawful it's an insult to Mr McDonnell. F-14D is kinda weird--not good, but better than the boring default NWASC style. Ever seen the F-15J cherry tree scheme? Like that, but in dark blue. Anyone know if any plane has 4 schemes, or is the 3rd scheme an either/or for Yuke/Ace? F-14D special is Phoenix, and the plane is rated higher in most every stat than the B. Nice, but got it about 20 missions after it'd been useful. Shooting planes down in free mission will count for new schemes, can also acquire "special parts" in free mission. Kills in free mission only count like 1/5 as much as campaign though, for building up the kill bar.

Keeping my tube of Tamiya putty next to my bottle of Mr Surfacer 500, I stand by my claim they are similar. (yes, I'm aware topic is for 1000, not 500)

Everyone rants about the elephants (Oliphaunts) but I just don't see the big "wow" factor. New opera house is way better/impressive. Currently have 12 Ayane costumes unlocked (I like chicks with purple hair, see avatar). In AC5 news, unlocked F-4G and X-29. Also realized it's mission 11A I love, not 12A. 11B--only got an "A", despite doing very very well. What, do you have to never miss with your bombs for an S? Shot down F-4G ace, have his color. Haven't used it yet, can't describe. Working towards F-14D now, know where the ace is. Found EA-6B ace. (It's a lot more fun to hunt them down than look it up in the guide). Anyone know where a regular enemy X-29 is? I don't ever recall seeing one, and the standard X-29 colors are boring. (Same as F-5/F-20 default) Jet acquisition: just go a LITTLE older. F-8 alone would make me happy. Also, I don't like the "bunch" method they always do--fly 3 missions, get nothing new. Fly the next mission, and now like half the planes all unlock together. I much prefer like 1 plane every mission--then you've always got something new, and can try them all out. And I want more totally air, and some totally ground missions. I mean total ground, as in I could take an A-4 and rock, not get nailed by a Super Flanker squadron at the end.

No need for pics of the X-29, I've seen the real thing. TINY little fighter in person. Which must mean the F-5 is equally tiny.

Trying fighting an Ace F-14D in an F-4E...

I was really hoping to have at least one mission involving Farbanti or North Point. What's an AC game without North Point? Sequel: Upgrade planes faster! More pure air-to-air missions. There's no "Shattered Skies" mission in this, I want a pure giant dogfight at least twice in the game. With Phoenixes, for a first-strike advantage. Also, a bigger "difference" of planes. In AC2, the 1st vs 2nd time through changed like 50% of the available planes. AC5, there's only like 2 that change for 1st vs 2nd run-though. And bring back multiple weapons per plane.