captain america

Destruction files are up!

Fixed it.

Quick Friday update. Helper Crabb kits are cast and will be shipping starting Monday. I also wanted to provide a few pictures of the sensor-eye. It's molded as all one piece, with the sensor shape molded as a cavity on the inside. I added a coat of clear red which shows the detail in a very subtle way, but you can use silver/gun metal paint on the inside if you want the sensor to be more prominent.

Isn't the Horizont supposed to be something like 50.3m long according to the stats? 160mm is way too long (or wide) for 1/400, unless I'm reading that wrong. Nice kit, but I think it needs to be bigger.

This year marks the 15th anniversary of my garage kit enterprise. So much for my aspirations of being a fly-by-night operation. I think I'll carry that box art theme throughout the rest of the year's releases. Seems only logical.

Three: the eye, and two forearm blaster covers. 505thAirborne: from the looks of it, Sentinel seems to be paying attention, as can be evidenced by the saddle-packs and Gallant weapons to be included wth their upcoming Blow Superior release. They certainly get my approval for upping their game, as well as making great products. With regards to the Malar, it's definitely sturdy by garage kit standards, but it ultimately remains a kit. It goes together very nicely though, and the ball-joint tension is easily adjustable: sand the ball very lightly to reduce tension, or add a thin bead of CA glue to the inner rim f the socket cup to increase tension. Oh, and just by-the-by I realized that this year marks the 15th anniversary of my garage kit making.

Crabby godness!! The figure holds together with no glue, just the tension of the ball-joints! Will have pics of the clear parts early next week

Casting is a go! Making a few tweaks to the molds as I begin... There are more parts than for the Gosu, so getting everything poured in one shot is proving to be a bit of a challenge.

I cut the bottom of the tupperware out so that I can pour the silicone; the rim gets glued to the plexiglass.

Correct. Tupperware containers make great mold boxes.

Hi guys! Molding process is in full swing. For those of you who aren't aware, I like to pour my molds as one piece, let harden, and then carefully extract the masters using a sharp scalpel to strategically slice the mold open. The masters themselves are first hot glued to a plexiglass base, and rudimentary scribbles are made with a sharpie to guide my cutting. I used to loathe this process, because on occasion, a stray part would detach from the base and float to the surface after I'd pour the rubber, thereby ruining the mold. I seem to have solved this problem now by pouring bigger, more complex molds in two shots: the first pour only fills a thid of the mold box, which I let harden for about 8 hours before filling the mold box with the rest of the mold material. This not only helps to seal the gap between the plexiglass base and the mold box, but also helps to anchor the parts into place, thus reducing the chance that parts might detach from the base. Just figured I'd share a helpful trick.

In fairness, there are so many animated Transformers series that all use the same basic characters, but are technically not in the same timeline/universe; I don't see why the live-action movies should be any different. Bumblebee was a fine movie, but in terms of its box-office revenue, I don't think it's strong enough a foundation (at least not yet) to carry the whole cinematic franchise. Whether you like them or loathe them, the Bayverse films (save for TLK) have been extremely successful, and it stands to reason that Hasbro & Paramount see no reason to replace someting that isn't broken.

No, it's Stormbreaker. I had to look at stills to be sure, because like you, I thought it was Mjolnir too.

Saw it over the weekend, and was gleefully impressed! I never read the manga, but saw the OVA years ago, and this runs circles around it. I'll probably go see it again this week, just to give a good movie a leg-up.

Masters are almost done; will be going into mold-prep tomorrow! First pic was crudely Photoshopped to approximate the look of the completed model. I wanted to avoid tinkering with the masters to much to avoid damaging them before everything is molded. The parts in glossy purple will be molded translucent, and those will need to be cast in order for me to better show you the inner detail of the eye, which I most certainly did not forget! The blaster and buckler can mount either on the arms or the back, just like the line-art; the little latches on the upper shoulders being quite functional. The blaster is mostly hollow and very light, but the use of the shield will require gluing/locking the joints, just because of the extra weight loading. I'm a little bit frustrated with my iPod camera, which produces a fish-eye effect and alters the look of the figure, but take my word for it, the proportions are done right IRL.

Masters should be done around the 15th, and molds maybe a week later. The first kits should be cast a couple of days after that.

Getting closer... Claws will be poseable. As you might expect, I added a double-joint to the knee, so yeah. Ankle has surprisingly good range of motion too.

It helps when you don't work in an office where your co-workers are trying to chat with you every 15 minutes. Just FYI, the ball-joints should be adequate for the figure, but if you decide to mount the shield and blaster, even if they're hollowed-out you'll have to fix the pose due to the extra weight.

Captain’s log: Tuesday, February 25th. In the previous installment, we saw some of the very preliminary steps of the scrathbuilding process. This wek, we get int the messy stuff! Pic 01: Once the general outline is achieved, the paper template can e removed and I can then use the dremel with a rough grinding wheel to begin to shape the curvature of the parts. Pic 02: it’s very easy to slip-up and remove too much material ith the Dremel, so I get reasonably close, then proceed the rest of the way with coarse (90 grit) sanding paper to achieve semi-final shaping. Pic 03: some of the more complex parts (in this case the shins) require multiple operations in varying order. The part being bench saded is actually two halves that have been temporarily glued together. I can separate them so as to check the symmetry as I go. Pic 04: the same part goes back under the mill while it’s still relatively square so that I can create the openings for the knee and foot attachments. Pic 05: the thigh parts from last week have been further refined. These seemingly simple pieces have required quite a bit of time to make, because they need to be mirror images of each other. Pic 06: the commercial ball-joints available simply aren’t large nor strong enough to support the kit, so I decided to make my own. This will also help conserve the aesthetics of the design. Pic 07: some of the finished joints. The light green units will be for the hips, while the dark blue will be used for the shoulders, knees and ankles. Pic 08: as you might expect, there are some significant gaps in the line-art from one illustration to another. Depending on how you interpret the illustrations, the main view of the Malar indicates that the collar has a seemingly triangular shape that tapers to the front, but upon watching the Anime and comparing with other views, that collar is drawn tighter to the neck. Thakfully, there’s putty for that… Pic 09: a crude assembly of the arm components. I’m trying to get the best range of motion out of the parts, but the design has its limits. Pics 10 and 11: the knee joint isn’t too bad. I’m debating on whether or not a double-joint is warranted here. Pic 12: the main body parts, now taking shape. From this int on, most of the hard work is in the rear-view mirror. Now I’ll have to do a lot of small adjustments and repairs to get the shapes just right. I’m very pleased with what I have so far, and I hope you are too!

Thanks for clearing that up.

No. What happens if you don't take action against someone infringing on your copyright/trademark is that it sets a precedent in the alleged violator's favor: you defend it or you lose it. There are procedures in place ranging from an email, to a form letter and so on, depending on the situation, but they most certainly don't just let things slide.

But have they simply gone into low-key production or dropped the line altogether? That's what I'd like to know...

Aaand we're off! https://www.facebook.com/moscatohobbymodels/posts/665743983841875?__xts__[0]=68.ARAWHT-9YRmYGdwslJVb5mta15aOy5zVf8xFGt8ZuxynwWVKHyuZFPQJuOPl0td_16ScbFidE1lGTX8CsEFWGno1jYz96JuvACt9eBrLf6XAiWUEIIFdaw9QkxDW1x-wn9fntdgIijAGPRV6DCX--JvtMwJ0J7nSn_Gm3nhKawWaIZ193lNI0lRcnrkakWi1RFj4UAlIzv9G6YBT2qiYNXDGdzoivvjDpZQWfrokQW8iUHuSAlMLluIF7lXvQfo8GOdGp6ef2AdqfrYpgcbxGuWCd_-NAI_5FOIFg_6fCoV-D-287f75UJ4SA8OKpvsVzPosauRYvjFkJC3RIlb4c5E&__tn__=K-R

If only for that one instance, I'm greatful that marketing sense kicked-in. Otherwise it would have been awkward seeing the Mars soldiers diving to earth on only their MOSPEADAs.