drifand

LOL! Now that's an idea for a second career! Seriously, the stationery dept at the local bookstore has been a great place to hunt for display knicknacks. I've bought loads of clear acrylic note stands, name holders, clear CD cases etc. Just let your imagination run free and have fun. About the Doyushas, 2980 yen is definitely too ex for such a little toy even if it's sold in a nifty little jewel box. But if you manage to get them for less like when some of them they went on sale for about 1500 yen, I don't think you'll regret it. Besides, until we get revised Macross Plus toys, the Doyusha YF-19 and 21 are simply the nicest completed versions of them in fighter mode you can get for your money.

You know those slightly expensive, all-metal 1/144 scale VF-1 fighters? Since they're permanently in fighter mode, they really deserve to be seen in flight formation instead of just sitting squat on my shelves, so I plucked off the landing gears and made a little custom stand for THREE of them, the VF-1S and the M&Ms. Of the lot, Milia's VF had a bit of trouble as the nose gear was glued to the fuselage. Thankfully, HLJ had a sale on these puppies some time back and I managed to snag a couple of spares for cheap. So after several tries to pry the gear off, I finally snapped it clean off instead. As for the stand, the base is actually a translucent gray 'Page Up' document holder. It's nicely weighted down and the material is strong enough to support the 3 loops of wire I used to prop up the VFs. I also used some spare stickers of the Macross symbol and U.N. SPACY on the base. So after a bit of mecha-ikebana, here's the trio in a starburst formation! Yay! :-) As seen in front of the large SDF-1... And a close up.

Hi Shin, Sorry for the bad timing of my post - it wasn't meant to be a flame. Just wanted to be sure the problems aren't washed over by overenthusiasm for the 1/48... Cheers!

Be sure to check out the "What's wrong with my 1/48..." thread for past and current discussions of this $100+ model/toy. I am the Devil's Advocate here, yes, but you cannot ignore the potential pitfalls like the easily damaged heatshield and backpack hinges. No one knows when bad luck will strike... and you can basically forget about Yamato offering replacements for broken parts. If you do decide to take the plunge, make sure you buy from a reputable seller like Valkyrie Exchange. Good luck with your decision!

Check out my latest Rumble on TBDX... Don't forget to check out some of the other cool recent Rumbles, including some customized 1/72 Kojima Battalion Soltics and the 1/18 scale Snake Eye powered suit display model. :-)

Looking good! All it needs now is a bit of grunge like oil seepage etc to nail down the realism. And yes, the purple axe has got to go!

If you like what it offers, then you'll pay the price. Make sure you do some research and try to handle one for yourself. I did, and decided it wasn't the right toy for me at any price. Many others feel it's the best they could ever get for a VF-1 toy and worth every single penny.

NEW TYPE USA had an article on Yukikaze vs M-0 several months back. Both directors met and discussed their views on aircraft, air combat and real life war versus fictional conflicts. Since Yukikaze came out first and adopted the cell-shading look for their CG (yes, it's all 3D rendered to look 2D), Kawamori had to find a 'different' look for M-0 to make it stand out...

For a summary/translation of most of the Japanese text in the trailer(s), you can visit the Production I.G. page for Innocence. Briefly, it says: Batou is a living doll. His whole body, even his arms and legs are entirely man-made. What only remains are traces of his brain and memories of a woman named, Motoko. When the boundary between humans and machines has infinitely blurred, Humans have forgotten that they are humans. This is a promiscuous story of a lonesome "ghost" of a man, who nevertheless seeks to retain humanity. Innocence... That's what life is. The credits page lists the main voice actors: Batou :: Akio Otsuka Motoko :: Atsuko Tanaka Togusa :: Koichi Yamadera Aramaki :: Tamio Oki Ishikawa :: Yutaka Nakano Kim :: Naoto Takenaka

The trick to having a better cat mode is that the head should be sized and shaped sleeker than previous versions. The Toynami prototype shows they intend to add sideways articulation to the cat's necks, which is a good start. But the heads don't look fierce - and I think it's a combination of the relatively scrawny bodies which emphasizes the 'cartoony' head proportions, plus the lack of menacing looking EYES. Compare the shape of the eyes from the older toys and I think you'll see what I mean. Perhaps Toynami could consider swappable heads for the 2 arm-lions? Small, sleek head for the cat mode and beefier ones for the combined mode...

I'm still hoping to see some pix of these toys in poses OTHER than straight up... Fingers are crossed.

That's alright. I don't like the 1/48 either!

Those poor cats look REAL scrawny. Quick! Feed them some fan dollars!

I'd take a 1/60 anyday as long as it isn't the Super O or Elint (horribly deficient in the construction/design planning). The proportions in Battroid are simply more pleasing to my eyes. Saner pricing, better choice, more possibilities with the scale. No phatty 1/48 will ever grace my shelves. :-P

Yawn...

But isn't the back story of Binaltech about humans helping the Autobots whose bodies were wasting away from a virus planted by Decepticons? What could happen to cause the Decepticons to want Earth-type technology for their bodies too? Better styling? :-D

Hypothetical Question: If your plane has been badly shot up and you eject leaving a blazing trail of flames (as seen above), will it be hot enough to attract an IR-seeking AAM?

Hiya! That's a great looking bird - very nicely done! Just one point of critique - the pattern looks just a little bit too regular... as in symmetrical.

Question is, if they build it will anyone still buy it after investing a big chunk of their cash and emotional attachment on the 1/48s? I know I would, but I'm strictly in the minority who don't find the 1/48s all that great and want something better.

Those flames look to be from the ejection seat... Maybe he got into the wrong plane? ha ha

I recall a documentary about fighting high-rise fires and it featured a 3D mock-up of this project. The building is designed to allow wind to quickly ventilate any fire and reduce smoke inhalation casualties. The Tokyo fire dept was also featured with their helicopter mounted fire-fighting equipment...

Glad to know you folks managed to get the Kerberos version at least! I'm also hoping that Dragon will do a similar take for Jin-Roh... Maybe the licensing is an issue? I don't know about eBay listings for the Medicom Jin-Roh, but I still see one or two for sale in Singapore. Not cheap... at least S$250 or US$150, MIB. I also recall some of the earlier Medicom Kerberos figures going for really insane prices, like S$600(!) each. Competition is a Good Thing!

The Medicom 1/6 Jin-Roh is very accurate to the ANIME film, but having it pose nicely depends on a couple of factors. 1. The parts have nice molding/sculpts, but the 12" figure underneath is barebones. ie. lousy poseability. The knees and elbows can't even go beyond 90-degrees. So that leaves 'straight-up' stances only. 2. The figure includes 2 right forearms (closed fist and gun-holding) and 1 left forearm (closed fist). ie. No super 2-handed MG-42 firing action ala from the anime. Only one-handed gun-toting pose. 3. Includes a very accurate sculpt of the unmasked Fuse as well as the fully goggled head. Trick is to fully insert the selected head into the neck joint. Failure to do so means the head bobs too high - making the figure look more cartoony than menacing. The masked head has its googles painted a bright red. If you ask me, I think they look just fine and are more practical than tricky 'light up' gimmicks in the Kerberos version. The breathing hose is a piece of coiled metal spring, which flexes nicely when you position the head to the left or right. If you live in the tropics, the hose might rust! 4. If you're like me and prefer the fully masked head, be aware that the helmet is a separate piece and may sit 'too low' over the head if used 'as is'. Real-life helmets usually have some kind of padding to leave about a 1-inch gap between the inner surface and your skull. I chose to put some black electrical tape 'padding' of my own to: a) prop up the helmet above the head, and b) help keep the helmet in position with the rim just above the googles. 5. The provided MG-42 is a 3-part affair, requiring you to use your own pin & glue to join the ABS halves plus the white-metal bipod. The completed gun is actually quite heavy and the provided hand can barely hold it properly. What's really sad is the supplied 'ammo belt' which is all PVC and not even cut to shape. What I mean is the whole strip of bullets includes a thick flange of excess PVC mold all around it. Bad, bad, bad. Solution is to buy the beautifully detailed Dragon Models 1/6 MG-42 with either the nicely molded PVC ammo-belt, or the more limited version with individual diecast bullets inserted into a plastic chain-link belt. Go for the metal bullet version - you won't regret it! (It's also the same version provided in the Dragon Models Kerberos Panzer Cops figure) 6. The included backpack comes with no antenna and no way to attach to the chest armor! I had to drill corresponding holes and insert plastic pegs to attach the back pack. I also cut a piece of hobby wire and inserted it for the antenna. Also, if you want to complete the 'look' with the ammo belt coming out of the pack and clipped onto the front of the armor, you CAN'T do it with the supplied crap ammo-belt. I did a custom job with the metal-ammo from the separate MG-42... One other thing I found lacking in the figure is the 'translucency' of the PVC parts. The helmet is molded in black but if you shine a bright enough spot light on it, it is clearly not 'solid' looking enough. For this minor problem, I simply painted the inner surface with an opaque marker (black, of course). I was seriously considering removing the whole costume to replace the crap body with one of those modern ones by bbi or Dragon Models. Unfortunately, several pieces of the armor (body and legs) are superglued together as part of the assembly. I don't have the confidence to remove them cleanly without causing any damage, so I scrapped the plan and stuck with what I have. If all this sounds like too much work, it is. Medicom charged a premium price for a Japan-only mail away collector's figure, but all the 'value' goes into the detailed molding (which probably came from the older Kaiyodo vinyl kit anyway), and the 'exclusivity' of the figure. The lack of a proper supporting left-arm for the firing pose is a real let-down. Still... it's probably the largest and best looking Jin-Roh figure you could own (for now), unless you're happy with the smaller Kaiyodo action figure. Here's the Jinroh and Kerberos with my other 1/6 figures... And a pic from my old TBDX Rumble on the Kerberos...

The transformable grunt mecha for Dorvack sported smarter olive drab camo schemes. Only the heroes had bright yellows, oranges and blues. It's all about the main characters standing out from the crowd. :-)

Yeah... Wachoolookinatwillis?