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Chronocidal

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Everything posted by Chronocidal

  1. Chronocidal
    Oh, that was fast, apparently people really want that one. Will just have to wait for the release then, I've still got two more waiting in my warehouse there. Hopefully the stock isn't backordered to Bandai levels once it releases.
  2. Chronocidal
    Holy crap. That's insane and beautiful (though agreed about the dangling flap, which I hope can be folded up somehow). Yeah, I'm ordering two of those. Maybe I'll repaint one as Yellow 13. Kind of makes me a little sad that as good as it is, the Zeta Blitzwing still turns out looking like a cartoony F-4E, rather than the near-perfect Su-27 they've pulled off. I honestly wonder if anyone could do better at replicating a Phantom while keeping the bot proportions so accurate.
  3. Chronocidal
    It's irritating for those of us who appreciate the more obscure designs, but I think both Bandai and Arcadia are coming to the conclusion that the only things the vast majority of customers are interested in are the one or two iconic designs from each series (though the mentality of Bandai is forever inscrutable, because they just outright refuse to release some of the most iconic ones ). With Arcadia, it feels like all of the less well-known designs depend on sales of those cornerstones to fund them, but it also feels like the market has reached a complete saturation point where everyone who wants those few iconic valks already has them. Starting to feel like Arcadia needs to go back to the method they used for the original VF-4 sales, where I think they didn't even decide to produce it until they received enough pre-orders to fund it, almost like an in-house kickstarter.
  4. Chronocidal
    Given Bandai's history, it's evident that lots of people are working on lots of things, but that doesn't mean Bandai has any intention of actually releasing them as a product.
  5. Chronocidal
    I don't see anything by them about a Thundercracker figure, but it took me a minute to figure out that the ThreeZero MDLX figure isn't by them, since it came up on Sideshow as a "related" item, and has pretty similar styling.
  6. Chronocidal
    I might bite on that one, it's pretty slick. Have to admit, I'm mostly waiting to see if they make a Switchblade though.
  7. Chronocidal
    It did take a while for Bandai to come around to understanding how bad it is to make significant transforming chunks of a valk in metal and then expect the paint to not flake horribly. I think the VF-31 series was the first time they didn't make the hips entirely out of metal, and I know I have at least one very sad-looking Ozma renewal that is only good for display with the armor at this point, because the paint on the hips got horribly pitted somehow.
  8. Chronocidal
    This kind of thing is why I'm so happy that 3D printing exists at all, even if the results are incredibly labor intensive. I wish there were more viable business options for selling printable/printed kits for assembly, but the only real differences between printed kits and resin garage kits are trading handcrafted master molds for detailed CAD models, and trading limited use molding materials for printer hardware and maintenance costs. Still, I'm just happy that these sorts of production technologies exist, and thankful that CAD modeling is so much more accessible than carving masters for resin casts. I've got a long list of obscure designs on my print queue.
  9. Chronocidal
    As much as I wanted a PF VT-1 back then, I think the Bandai kind of blew that desire out of the water. I'd still prefer it to the DX in some ways, but the reality is that it would probably wind up more expensive at this point, for less included features. The only way I think it would make sense to release it at all was if they included a stand, the same extra figures, an actual molded plastic tent, and gave it a full weathering treatment. Heck, if they're going to be blowing the budget on it anyway, just give us a terrain base for the campsite, and then I'd probably bite, since it would be a more manageable display in 1/60 than with the DX.
  10. Chronocidal
    I think both Evolution and the HMR used flip out pegs in some cases, but the only surface that's even viable is the side of the arm, which is just another moving part, and doesn't make it stable in the least because everything just shifts on its joints. Using magnets would be great, but all of the limbs are literally floating in space with no physical contact surfaces to secure them to. The arms don't touch the underside of the backplate, the legs don't actually touch the arms, and everything is just a pile of floating limbs. I like the design well enough, but every time I pull the HMR out, I spend the overwhelming majority of the time handling it simply trying to get the parts to line up. Nothing attaches to anything.. it's not inaccurate, it's just the nature of the design.
  11. Chronocidal
    I keep hoping someone will attempt a better 1/60 version, because the design is at least interesting, and it's a very unique take on what the "standard" features of a Valkyrie are... but this one has never felt much like a coherent aircraft design so much as a bunch of aircraft components that kind of shift around to make a robot. The loose association of parts makes it a difficult design to pull off well, since whatever compact joint system is responsible for giving the joints their posability is also responsible for holding everything in place in fighter mode, since the legs really are held on by nothing but their hip sockets.
  12. Chronocidal
    Eh, I don't know if the neck would really bother me or not. Annoying, but not my biggest issue with these figures in any case (stupid elbows ). I might have to buckle down and get this pair as well. The tail issues are probably just because of how fiddly the hinges are. They're really easy to knock out of alignment, which leaves the tails cockeyed and unable to fold flat. I think this might be the best shade of red yet for Millia's 1J though. I hope Bandai takes note, and makes their DX in that same color... if they ever get around to caring enough to release it.
  13. Chronocidal
    Yeah, sadly everything they make remains one of those event exclusives that disappear as soon as they appear. Decent inspiration to try and build something yourself, but the licenses they purchase for these mean they're never seen again. I wish they'd just ditch the event exclusives and sell the designs online to print them yourselves. Would make them a lot easier for more people to enjoy.
  14. Chronocidal
    So I just realized.. he's got Optimus Prime's exhaust stacks sticking out of his arms.. but they're positioned like the arm guns on the VF-31. Would be funny if they actually rotated out that way. I still don't know what they intend to do with that giant chest block, but the more I look at it, the more I'm thinking they might at least be able to pull off a mostly decent-looking VF-19 imitation for the robot to hang underneath. The parts are looking like they're all there, they just need to get them into the right places.
  15. Chronocidal
    Kind of feels like the only one of these worth considering would be the battroid, just purely due to the unique things it does compared with previous non-transforming figures. Fighter and gerwalk are already done better by fully transforming models though, and only including one pilot with the bundle is a dirty kick to the jewels.
  16. Chronocidal
    I mean.. I can see hints that look sort of like a VF-19. I think I see a nose section dangling off his back that'll probably fold over the head and give a very rough Fire Valk shape.. I'll at least be interested to see what the other mode looks like, but that giant chest block basically tells me everything I need to know.
  17. Chronocidal
    If you consider that the Threezero VF-1 is pretty much entirely painted, it actually might not be hard to figure out. I'm betting the only POM parts are the gray plastic hinges involved in the joint mechanisms, or the back plate. Haven't tested this in any way, it's just an assumption, but these are so completely painted, I doubt any part that would need paint would be unpaintable. Maybe some of the internal parts of the hinges that show? But the only parts I can see are already either dark gray unpainted plastic, or metal, The color and finish are so consistent across the figure, I feel like any part not painted to match would stick out pretty clearly.
  18. Chronocidal
    Boy do they ever need to fix that derped up elbow joint. Still... might be tempted to grab them. Will have to wait and see.
  19. Chronocidal
    Yeah, the blue VF-31A above is a great option, either that one or the orange and tan "Skuld" variant. It's just a great design that doesn't get enough attention. If you want something fancier that transforms though, the VB-6 kit is an amazing build, and gives you a fully transforming destroid shuttle that doesn't need the figure at all to function. It's a fully functional 3-mode valk, the figure can just ride it.
  20. Chronocidal
    Ok, that is what I've been wanting to see out of the Legioss for forever: giving it proportions and styling that makes it look like it could actually operate as an aircraft. Granted, there's no way those proportions would transform into any sort of functional mech, at least not without modifying the legs into something closer to the Sentinel design, but I'd love to see how close you could get to that aircraft mode before diver and soldier began to become unrecognizable. Scale-wise, 1/100 would normally be stupidly tiny for a Legioss, but the proportions of that model are completely different. Based on the cockpit, it looks like it would be around the size of an HMR VF-1. The overall layout makes me think of a delta-winged F-18. But yeah.. being Experten means you better hope for lots of photos. Reverse-engineering that concept image into a working model is probably more likely than getting a physical copy for yourself.
  21. Chronocidal

    BANDAI DX YF-19!!

    Chronocidal replied to seti88's topic in Toys

    So, knowing Bandai's fetish for incoherently excessive mechanism designs full of self-destructive interlocking parts, I would bet something in either the knee joint or foot collapsing mechanisms (possibly both) is getting in the way of that panel shifting correctly. Make sure the feet are collapsed properly, and the knees are as aligned as they can be. Also.. I'm going to make what should be a ludicrous suggestion, but this is Bandai we're talking about, so all bets on anything actually making sense are generally off the table... Try extending the landing gear from the leg. I know it sounds crazy, but the sliding mechanism for the leg travels directly above the gear inside the bay, and if they managed to mis-cast the gear in one leg, it could be catching on the slider when you try to collapse it.
  22. Chronocidal
    Yeah, I get the frustration, it's just an "okay" tribute in a lot of ways. I'm just enjoying remembering when I got that set, which I think was the only original Blacktron set I picked up before they moved to the second generation of them. I'll have to see what my brain comes up with, I might actually pull the cargo door panels from the original Alienator to upgrade this set, if they're big enough. Probably use the yellow canopy part as well.
  23. Chronocidal
    Ok, I did not expect this. I never had the Renegade, but I did have the original Blacktron walker this was inspired by. Pretty loose inspiration, obviously, but that was one of my earliest space sets.
  24. Chronocidal

    BANDAI DX YF-19!!

    Chronocidal replied to seti88's topic in Toys

    Glad you got it, just be careful when pushing the legs in. If I remember correctly, a lot of the time the reason they didn't go in easily was due to being caught up on the tabs that lock into the torso on the inner side of the leg. Make sure those are all seated correctly, and it should go together smoothly.
  25. Chronocidal

    BANDAI DX YF-19!!

    Chronocidal replied to seti88's topic in Toys

    It's absolutely a beast to transform, and a nightmare to get massaged back into fighter mode. This might sound ridiculous.. but it's much more pleasant to transform if you just take the legs off. I took one of mine apart to loosen the hip joints, and when you don't have to wrangle the whole figure, it's easier to appreciate how much mechanical origami is going on with the torso transformation, and how well it all works. I would definitely recommend loosening the hip screws though. The entire hip section is classic Bandai mechanical nonsense, with far too many parts involved, and it's a very intricate joint. Loosening the screws to let it move easier will make it much easier to transform, and lessen the stress on the plastic parts of the hips.
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