mechaninac
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Everything posted by mechaninac
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Wow, that really narrows it down...
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Yamato 1/60 VF-17 Nightmare Diamond Force
mechaninac replied to charger69's topic in Hall Of The Super Topics
Those are some seriously cool fast packs, but can't say I care for the color. I hope they're just test shots 'cuz ducks egg blue... -
Wow, that being the case, then whoever designed the molds at whatever tool-shop Bandai uses, and whoever at Bandai approved them, should be taken out back and given a proper beating. It's one thing to do what they're doing if there are no other molds with the proper coordinated parts, but if those exist then this is just bone headed stupid indeed... to do so much right with the renewal version only to then goof up on something so unnecessary. I still want an Ozma, Michael, Luca, and CF (if they make one), though... I guess I'm just a sucker for having glaring WTF errors/questionable decisions stare me in the face.
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Yeah, Banday likely had the tooling done so that many of the parts share a single mold, thus injected together with the same plastic at the same time. It appears that both left and right halves of the wing gloves were put on the same tool, and if this tool is also shared with a number of other parts there is next to zero chance that the factory would swap plastics just so a few components could be shot in the correct color... once a production run is started they'll run it until the quota is met with very little extra, hence why they'll continue to paint certain parts, bottom wing gloves included, to make them art work correct instead of incurring the extra cost of scrapping a lot of unused pieces just so they can have a few parts molded in the right color plastic for any particular VF-25. I'm sure this must have been a cost cutting measure as having as many parts as possible share the same injection tool saves on machine cycle times, material procurement and storage, factory floor space (one injection molding machine instead of two for any particular run -- this excludes all the dark gray parts that share their own tool, and labor (someone hired for a painting operation is cheaper to employ than a qualified injection machine operator). On the VF-25F this wasn't a problem (all white as it is), but it will be a recurring issue from the 25S onwards; we'll just have to accept this compromise or not buy the toys if this is a deal breaker, there really are no other choices... lamenting it won't change a thing.
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Star Wars: Clone Wars animated series
mechaninac replied to BoBe-Patt's topic in Anime or Science Fiction
"What're you lookin' at? It's a nice hat..." Gotta love Cad Bane -
I got the whole Vermillion Squadron about a year ago during one of HLJ's many Macross sales, 40-50% off on each Valkyrie was hard to pass up even though, like you, I had been holding off on adopting the V2s due to the fact that I already had quite a few V1s; but let me say that despite my misgivings and hesitation to take the plunge I must admit that the ones I got are awesome (elsewhere on this site you can get a break down on which editions to avoid due to QC or engineering flaws and which examples are safe). I still prefer the looks of the 1/48 in fighter mode despite the low hanging arms, but the 1/60 V2s are superior to their larger cousins in just about every other aesthetic comparison. I'd say wait for a good sales deal and/or shipping discount and get one, or two, or three, or four......
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Try out any new techniques on an old model or some scrap pieces before you tackle your intended project in order to hone in your skills and see if your choices of collors and order of application achieves the desired effect. Since dry brushing means that the paint is mostly dry at application, and deposited in such minute amounts, multiple layers will not turn into a blended muddy mess, but they may turn into a multi-layered mess. There is a cool way to get a toned down washed metallic surface using just spray cans. Spray the part(s) silver (Testors Enamel / Tamiya), alumimum (Testors Buffing Metallizer), or steel (Testors Buffing Metallizer), or Metallic Grey (Tamiya) and let dry. Next use Testors clear smoke over the base coat a little heavier than you'd normally apply a clear coat... this will cause the smoke to run and accumulate in any recessed areas (the trick here is to apply enough of a smoke coat to get it to migrate to the low spots, but not so much that it ends up dripping and causing unsightly runs) . After the part is fully dry it's ready for dry brushing to enhance high spots and make it more "metallic".
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Sure sounds like somebody is trying to make a Mint off you... A grand, really?
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Depends on the effect you're trying to achieve. You may want to give the metal areas a smooth coat of silver or steel, next give it a wash with diluted black or dark grey to grimy up and tone down the base layer, then dry brush with silver or chrome to enhance the contrast/dimensionallity of the metal; finally, dry brush on some rust (orange brown) and ghost grey. This should give you a worn metal look. However, you'll need to try many different base-wash-dry coat combinations until you hit upon the one that captures best the look you want. Try a simple flat black base coat with dry brushed steel and/or silver for a really cool looking gunmetal effect, for example.
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In my experience, when brush painting metallic colors, it's almost never a good idea to thin them (thinners tend to lift the metal particles out of solution); metallics work better when they are fairly thick, actually. Also, if you need large areas to be painted in a metallic color you're much better off spray painting with a rattle can or airbrush as metallic paints tend to show brush strokes more than nonmetallics, at least for me. When painting small details such as buttons and the like, concentrate the paint by letting only what you'll need dry a bit before applying. When dry brushing, just use a tiny bit of the metallic paint straight from the bottle and stroke against a paper towel until the brush is almost completely dry, then proceed to lightly pick out the high spots on the figure/model... the resulting effect can be quite stunning, but remember to stroke lightly and only put down the most minute amount possible, stop, step back, and examine the results -- you can always go over the area(s) repeated times to enhance the dry brushing effect until you've achieved the desired effect... overdoing it is far worse than under-doing it. And never, ever mix your brushes. It's best to have a set exclusively for enamels, another for acrylics, another for metallic enamels, and another for metallic acrylics, and a set of old beat up brushes for dry brushing... mixing mediums in this set should not be much of an issue. As others have stated, try everything out for yourself to see what works best for you, and have fun.
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The Renewal VF-25S looks kick ass, and I'm kicking myself in the ass for no preodering this Valk when I had the chance. Now one can't touch one for less than app. $220 plus shipping... Banday, please, please, please release more of these, bundled or otherwise so that those of us who procrastinated can get in on this action without having to pay inflated prices.
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Yamato 1/60 VF-17 Nightmare Diamond Force
mechaninac replied to charger69's topic in Hall Of The Super Topics
If you feel the need to justify your particular insanity, you've chosen the wrong insanity to have... -
I too would like for Yamato to include 6 ordnance hard points (just like the picture posted by CF18) of the same design used on the VF-1, that way all the missiles from the VF-1 (VF-0 and SV-51 too, maybe?) could be used on the upcoming VF-4; after all, since this is to be a fully assembled and pre-colored and painted toy of the exclusive variety, it should include as many gimmicks as possible to justify the premium MSRP they're likely to charge. And I second the notion of including, at the very least, a GU-11 compatible gun mount. And the conformal missiles should indeed be detachable with discrete tabs on the fuselage recesses and slots on the missiles themselves. I'm more than satisfied to wait for substantial sale prices on the VF-19s and VF-17s, but the VF-4 is one of those must-haves that I'll pony-up for as soon as HLJ pre-orders are announced, provided they're cleared to carry it... I hope so.
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I'm sure he's serious, but don't call him Shirley...
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No need to hope for that which has already been confirmed. The only thing I'd hope for is that Yamato would reconsider the web exclusive release and make it a regular one with higher production numbers, but I know better. Edit: SDK7 beat me to it...
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Yamato 1/60 VF-17 Nightmare Diamond Force
mechaninac replied to charger69's topic in Hall Of The Super Topics
Add me to the impatient, picture demanding, peanut gallery... -
This! Pilot size is almost never indicative of the actual scale of a Mecha model or toy; they often tend to be woefully under sized.
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Ooooh, first I've heard of this. Avatar the Last Airbender was an awesome series; in my opinion, the best animation series to come out of the US since the first two seasons of Gargoyles... even the new Thundercats, as good as it is, does not hold a candle to the epic scope, style, animation quality and choreography, coherent non-self-conflicting story telling, richness of the history and cultures depicted, and general flow of a story with a definite beginning, middle and end... and not an enticlimatic WTF ending at that! And now Nickelodeon is set to debut a sequal focusing on one of Aang's decendents?!!!... Nice bit of Thread Necromancy by the way...
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http://www.amiami.jp/shop/?set=english&vgForm=ProductInfo&sku=FIG-KAI-3236&template=default/product/e_display.html
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That would explain it, but it's a shame nevertheless. Now Max Factory, bring on ED-209 and Robot Cain in the same scale (not size/height) as the Robocop figure... I double dare ya... please...
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Regarding Figma's Robocop: The metalic finish with the varying anodized areas is absolutely stunning, and the figure is roughly in scale, give or take, with Revoltech's Iron Man and War Machine... that's always a plus for those who like size/scale consistency on a display shelf. However, I feel that Max Factory missed a chance to design Murphy's head to use a removal helmet instead of the whole upper half of the skull being removable... that way one could have had a helmet-less Robocop with Peter Weller's likeness as a display option. I also found many joints (waist, hips, etc.) to be looser than the average Figma, but not as loose as the average Revoltech. And a word of caution -- watch out for the ankle pistons as they pop out very easily and could get lost.
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Yamato 1/60 VF-17 Nightmare Diamond Force
mechaninac replied to charger69's topic in Hall Of The Super Topics
For a perfect transformation 1/60 VF-2SS including detachable SAP, squires/bits, and a stand I'd gladly fork over up to $300.00. Even though a Valkyrie II toy would pretty much fulfill my "Holy Grail" wishes, $400 would be a NO and $500 would be a HELL NO. Compared to the VF-2, or the VF-4 for that matter, the VF-17 just doesn't rank as high in my desirability scale and so I don't feel it's worth the asking price of admission, specially when you take into account that Bandai's renewal VF-25 MSRPs for little more than half the price of Yamato's latest offerings. It's a shame since I would truly like to have at least one example of it, but Yamato's high price point coupled with the atrocious Dollar-Yen exchange rate have priced me completely out of the game. -
No sir, surfing pocket battle carrier just does not work for me... it just pushes my that's-is-going-way-too-far button. It does not invalidate all the other cool stuff strewn throughout the movie, but it does diminish its overall tone in my eyes.
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Not a surprise given the E7-Kawamori connection, but that does not make it any less of a ridiculous concept and execution. It's one thing to have a small Mech surf the air and another thing entirely to have a giant transforming battle carrier do it (granted it was “falling with style”, not flying); in E7 that concept was built into that universe's “physics” and an integral part of what made that show unique... it was never a part of Macross, in any incarnation, that I can recall. The thing is that I thought the beginning of that sequence was brilliant: the Quarter using that big piece of orbital debris to use as a reentry shield equals awesome and makes sense, but then turning the remaining chunk into a surf board equals slapstick inanity. Overall, I'd say that both movies were decent in their own right (1st better than 2nd for me), with many cool visuals, battle sequences and musical choreography, but I thought the series was much better.
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The one thing I found eye rollingly tacky in Sayonara No Tsubasa was the Macross Quarter channeling the Nirvash in Gallia 4's atmosphere... totally silly!