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Pimpmust posted:Are there any FMP kits actually available aside from the Hero-suits/Gernsback? There were some Savage kits but I have no idea if it's even possible to get those anymore. The Aoshima Arbalest is so loving expensive now and i'm really bummed. I have a gernsback coming in the mail though.
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Apr 11, 2015 02:49
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muike posted:There were some Savage kits but I have no idea if it's even possible to get those anymore. The Aoshima Arbalest is so loving expensive now and i'm really bummed. I have a gernsback coming in the mail though. Were the Savages ever released in plastic? I know there are some resin kits running around but I never saw a plastic Savage.
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Apr 11, 2015 02:53
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Not official yet AFAIK, but it looks like the Action Base 1 is getting a redesign:
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Apr 11, 2015 02:53
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Oh thank god. Here's hoping this one won't require constant tightening to hold dynamic poses on anything bigger than a RX-78-2.
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Apr 11, 2015 02:56
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Midjack posted:Were the Savages ever released in plastic? I know there are some resin kits running around but I never saw a plastic Savage. Yeah you're right they never made it to plastic. Just checked AS chronicle
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Apr 11, 2015 02:57
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 Metal Build Freedom is pretty sweet. 
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Apr 11, 2015 04:21
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Tenzarin posted:Is it possible to future and flat coat the same day? I know future needs like a day to cure, just wondering what can go wrong. You can also mix Tamiya X-21 Flat Base into your Future to make Future into a flat topcoat.
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Apr 11, 2015 06:16
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BlitzBlast posted:The only needless detail is stuff on the underside of armor. Not even inner frame or anything, just detail on the bottom part of pieces that you can literally never see. I love details like this, for me they add to the illusion that what I am building is less a superficial plastic toy and more something mechanical and functional, and scratches the same itch that working on my car or building an actual robot does. For a while I think this was one of the things Bandai really focused on in designing MGs and PGs, though they seem to be slowly abandoning this in favor of cheaper costs and dumb things like their godawful modular led system (I can't believe they put light piping in the Sazabi Ka over an opening cockpit just so they could use their ridiculously bulky led puck). On the bright side at least they are able to release more kits faster. The MG Gundam 2.0 and the 3.0 show the two different philosophies pretty well, as well as the fact that they've reached a plateau in plastic injection and design technology and can no longer make better kits, just ones that are different. Hopefully 3D printing or the ilk will let them do some cool new stuff, and they start letting their etchers do more than carve out pilot figures.
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Apr 11, 2015 08:18
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Yeah, they abandoned the hidden armor detail some years back. I used to think it was a pointless waste of resources, but now that it's gone I kind of miss it. e: I think there's always going to be room for improvement in design and tech, though they've pushed the limits pretty far lately. I definitely got that "building an actual machine" feel with the Gundam 3.0, so if they can do more stuff like that with the kinks ironed out I'll be pretty happy. Also anxious to see what mature 3D printing will mean for Bandai, Gunpla and the hobby in general. Bimmi fucked around with this message at 10:36 on Apr 11, 2015 |
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Apr 11, 2015 08:27
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I actually meant the opposite in terms of the 2.0 and 3.0, though I get what you mean, the 3.0 definitely looks and behaves more like something real when fully built. I just meant that the 2.0's frame has far more mechanical detail, and is a model in and of itself; you could take all the armor off and display it as a naked robot and it would work. The 3.0's frame on the other hand is largely just that, a frame for the actual kit, and if you displayed it by itself it just looks like a bunch of plastic kibble rather than something that could come to life, with large compromises to the mechanical realism made for things like the led puck. If the 2.0 is a downgraded PG, then the 3.0 is an upgraded RG, and I just find the former more compelling. Though with PGs getting less and less impressive with each new release that doesn't mean much anymore. I think proliferation of 3D printing will go a long way to killing Bandai's gunpla division, there are a lot of talented people out there who will be able to quickly produce quality kit designs and upload them for people to print. Their only hope is to make sufficiently higher quality kits that would make buying the designs from them and the wait time worth it, and even then a lot of their sales will suffer from people who are satisfied with 'good enough' fan stuff, especially if Bandai locks their designs to be uneditable while fan designs can be modified at will. Best case scenario, they will start putting out some truly amazing kits in order to leave the fan made stuff (which I expect will be around current MG level quality, but of widely varying artistry) completely in the dust. The artistry part is a huge deal though, for me anyway. Bandai has some world class talent in that arena, and whenever I hear a kit being announced I can honestly say I am -never- worried it will look bad or wonky or whatever, whereas none of the fan made 3D models I've seen, though often technically impressive, ever look completely 'right'. edit: This basically means there is a very real possibility that while we will have more options and variety and customization all around, as well as cheaper and more accessible designs, this might also kill the current system where basically all the money and talent are funneled and focused into a single masterful gunpla making machine Xy Hapu fucked around with this message at 10:57 on Apr 11, 2015 |
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Apr 11, 2015 10:44
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The idea of 3D printed models competing with Bandai isn't something we'll have to deal with for at least a few years. Yes, 3D printing can do some impressive stuff. It's still absolutely nowhere near Bandai's injection moulding.
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Apr 11, 2015 10:58
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Yeah, until 3D printing can ensure the same level of plastic quality, engineering, and quality control as Bandai, I'm not about to jump ship anytime soon.
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Apr 11, 2015 10:59
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I wouldn't worry about Bandai Hobby. 3D printing is great and all but Bandai will always have the economy of scale behind it. You'll probably see more 3rd party stuff of increasing quality, but don't think what will still amount to garage kits will ever reach the quality, quantity, or popularity of Bandai's injection molded kits.
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Apr 11, 2015 11:04
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Games Workshop, on the other hand, are probably making GBS threads themselves at the thought of 3D Printing.
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Apr 11, 2015 11:25
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3D print chat: I had (its acting up) a ABS printer and have a resin printer I'm toying around with. That said, thinking 3D printing is going to "go a long way to killing Bandai's gunpla division" and other insane fear mongering is laughable. Its really cost prohibitive (non hobbyist printers) and production per unit is just too high to be worth while. Mecha Gojira has got the right of it, economy of scale vs. what basically would be garage kits in limited production. 3D printing hasn't killed the Lego anymore than any other lego knock offs have and they aren't terrible complex for that matter. I also am amused to think someone is going to create a Bandai quality 3D model and just upload it for everyone to use. Usually when someone makes something really worth having they aren't giving it away, they are selling the prints not the model files.
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Apr 11, 2015 11:48
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I can see 3D printing coming in handy for providing replacements for broken pieces, whether its a service run by Bandai or a third party. I don't know what their current replacement service is like though (I think they have one) and if it would be preferable to print off replacements from a slightly different material than it would be to keep a stockpile of spare runners and snip pieces off as you get customers asking for them, or however they do it now. I could see them maybe doing a batch of just the fragile parts and then keeping them on hand.
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Apr 11, 2015 12:21
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Neddy Seagoon posted:Games Workshop, on the other hand, are probably making GBS threads themselves at the thought of 3D Printing. Oh, totally. 28mm is just small enough for a hobbyist to easily print themselves, and they're completely static, so it can all just be one piece. Not to mention the obvious price difference. You'd break even surprisingly quickly on the price of a 3d printer vs the mad poo poo GW call pricing.
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Apr 11, 2015 12:25
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Red Bones posted:I can see 3D printing coming in handy for providing replacements for broken pieces, whether its a service run by Bandai or a third party. I don't know what their current replacement service is like though (I think they have one) and if it would be preferable to print off replacements from a slightly different material than it would be to keep a stockpile of spare runners and snip pieces off as you get customers asking for them, or however they do it now. I could see them maybe doing a batch of just the fragile parts and then keeping them on hand. One thing I've not thought about is the possibility the like of Bandai will switch to 3D printing their product when such a thing becomes practical on the production line. It seems like it would save material if they could output a pile of pieces instead of frames. There is the matter of identifying the parts for assembly of course.
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Apr 11, 2015 12:26
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I'm not even sure I'll live long enough to see a time when 3D printing seriously impacts Bandai's business model. I suspect the real paradigm shift is way, way down the road still. I can't see Bandai abandoning injection molding in any foreseeable future though. Right now they can press a runner of three dozen parts in mere seconds; it's going to be a long time before printers can compete on that level. I am curious, however, to see whether they will eventually incorporate some printed elements into their kits, and what those might be. Where it's going to get weird, as noted, is with small pirate producers and freely available kit patterns that Bandai may not be able to exert any real control over. That could make things very interesting, and REALLY gently caress things up. e: I would find it truly, richly satisfying to watch Games Workshop choke on their own greed, so hopefully that much will come to pass at least. Bimmi fucked around with this message at 13:44 on Apr 11, 2015 |
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Apr 11, 2015 12:51
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I think widespread, injection molding quality 3D printing is going to sneak up on us faster than we think. The technology is there, but there's no killer app to make it profitable/efficient/mainstream. But once someone does come up with the killer app, things will quickly snowball, as it has with virtually every other mainstream tech, and only thing Bandai will have going for them is their great art and design team. Let's put it another way, who would have waited two decades for Bandai to hopefully maybe one day make an MG Tallgeese when some bored Wing fan who happened to be a 3D modeller made a passable model of within say a year of it airing, some toy guy saw it a few months later and decided to copy paste some generic joints on it to make it poseable, some Tallgeese fan super anal about lineart found it and tweaked the proportions, then I decided I wanted crazy inner detail so I download it make a frame, tweak the model a bit to fit my own view of what the Tallgeese should look like, choose the color of plastic I want each piece to be in and print it out exactly how I want it. Then I put my version online for whoever wants to make their own changes and fixes. If you think this is far fetched, think of all the free work people have done and posted for anyone's use, from game models, game maps (I used to dabble in both), papercraft designs, to fansubs and scantalations. I still remember that some guy made a VF-1 Valkyrie player model for Quake 2, complete with Gerwalk and fighter modes (!) using a modeling tool which was basically a stick and a rock compared to what we have today (the modeling tool was also player made...), and there are thousands of these kinds of guys, then and now. Last year, I wanted a BMO figure from Adventure Time, but all the commercially available ones didn't suit my taste. I looked for a 3D printable one, immediately found several free ones, picked the one I liked, complete with interchangeable faceplate, and had my brother print it out on his reprap. In this scenario, it's doubtful Bandai would have made as much of a profit on their own Tallgeese twenty years later, if they decided to release it at all. In this scenario, we would have an MG Leo by now (!!!). They will face the same problem every other industry has faced with the digitalization of their intellectual property, there's really no reason they would be an exception. I don't doubt they would survive in some fashion, but MGs and above are already a fairly niche market and that will just make it worse. Yes, the economics of scale work against 3D printing at the moment, but you can say that about all sorts of technologies in their infancy . . . it's niche until suddenly, often very suddenly, it isn't. Edit: I do doubt Bandai would ever try to mass produce stuff with giant banks of 3D printers, much as how a record label would never use a wall of CD burners to make their CDs. I think the same dichotomy exists between 3D printing vs injection molding and CD burning and CD pressing, and I think the end result will be the same as well. Xy Hapu fucked around with this message at 14:30 on Apr 11, 2015 |
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Apr 11, 2015 14:22
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I imagine that the printing time for a 300-part model kit would run into multiple hours by even the most optimistic near-term projections, but I can also picture dozens of new short-run knockoff companies compounding what I suspect is already a matter of some concern for Bandai. Once the technology is truly established and household printers can spit out at least garage-kit quality parts from open-source blueprints, that's when things are going to get messy. I don't think we're especially close to that point, though.
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Apr 11, 2015 14:53
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Just so I'm not just filling this thread with possibly insane ramblings, here is what I am currently working on, the HG G-Self, which I reluctantly bought to tide me over until word of an MG. It requires a lot of tiny paint work on the head, which I thought would be annoying, but it turned out to be a nice change of pace from snapping together perfectly color separated MGs. There is also a surprising amount of detail on the eyepiece, which you just end up covering up if you use the sticker, so I recommend painting that. My only regret is that I found out the assault pack G-Self actually comes in white instead of the greenish gray the normal version comes in; if I'd known before I started I would have bought the white assault pack sprues and replaced the ugliness. EDIT: or mixed and matched for some RG style color separation! 
Xy Hapu fucked around with this message at 15:20 on Apr 11, 2015 |
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Apr 11, 2015 14:54
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I decided I wasn't getting any more kits a while ago as I don't have the room. At least unless it's an RG Heavyarms. I bought myself a Mack Knife while I was as Supanova today  .
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Apr 11, 2015 15:47
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If anyone is looking for an amazing build, get HG Kshatriya. It's a loving masterpiece. (And god-drat MASSIVE. It dwarfs a lot of MGs.)
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Apr 11, 2015 19:43
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Got started on the Stark Jegan today and man, it's like every HG kit I open is more complex than the last. Just a ton of trays for this baby. And I like the actual visor over the Marasai and Jehennams fiddly sticker poo poo for their vision sensors. Jegan fo life
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Apr 11, 2015 19:59
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Pimpmust posted:Got started on the Stark Jegan today and man, it's like every HG kit I open is more complex than the last. Just a ton of trays for this baby. And I like the actual visor over the Marasai and Jehennams fiddly sticker poo poo for their vision sensors. That's some quality timing, with me posting about Kshatriya. (Nameless Stark Jegan pilot standing up to Kshatriya is one of the best moments in Unicorn  )
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Apr 11, 2015 20:03
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Hijo Del Helmsley posted:(Nameless Stark Jegan pilot standing up to Kshatriya is one of the best moments in Unicorn Agreed, and I remain salty that the shoulder armour on the HG Stark Jegan isn't designed so you can take the launchers off and recreate that scene. I even bought an action base to do it.  Maybe on the eventual Bandai e-shop exclusive MG Stark Jegan. Unicorn as a whole is the best thing to come out of Gundam since Turn-A by a long, long shot.
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Apr 11, 2015 22:18
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It's certainly the best thing to happen to Gunpla, though I'm bummed that they decided no-one would buy a Ga-Zowmn (they're probably right)
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Apr 11, 2015 22:30
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Bimmi posted:It's certainly the best thing to happen to Gunpla Did everyone get amnesia or did I wake up to a world where Build Fighters ceases to exist?
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Apr 11, 2015 22:31
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I realize I'm in the minority here, but Build Fighters can go screw.
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Apr 11, 2015 22:44
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Unicorn was keeping gunpla going way before BF spiked interest. 
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Apr 11, 2015 22:46
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Bimmi posted:I realize I'm in the minority here, but Build Fighters can go screw. Get out of our thread you fun hater. I will not have you making GBS threads on a series that brought us Wing/ Fenice Rinascita and Tryon 3. 
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Apr 11, 2015 22:47
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Evidently a lot of people think a Gundam that looks exactly like a '70s super robot is the greatest thing ever. Not even gonna try to understand.
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Apr 11, 2015 22:51
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TaurusOxford posted:Get out of our thread you fun hater. I will not have you making GBS threads on a series that brought us Wing/ Fenice Rinascita and Tryon 3. It also brought us the Powered GM Cardigan.
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Apr 11, 2015 22:52
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Bimmi posted:Evidently a lot of people think a Gundam that looks exactly like a '70s super robot is the greatest thing ever. Not even gonna try to understand. I spent 300 dollars on Soul of Chogokin GaoGaiGar, and you're baffled as to why I would like a combiner super robot mech with a lion head on its chest?
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Apr 11, 2015 22:55
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Far be it from me to judge what other people like, especially as it pertains to cartoon robots, but BF is just not my thing at all.
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Apr 11, 2015 22:58
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Lemon Curdistan posted:Unicorn as a whole is the best thing to come out of Gundam since Turn-A by a long, long shot. TaurusOxford posted:Did everyone get amnesia or did I wake up to a world where Build Fighters ceases to exist? 
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Apr 11, 2015 23:01
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G-Reco had a smallish kit run (which may or may not be over) and it remains to be seen whether it will have any kind of lasting appeal. Depends on whether the rumored MSV series happens or not, I suppose. e: VVV Bimmi fucked around with this message at 01:54 on Apr 12, 2015 |
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Apr 11, 2015 23:07
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Bimmi posted:G-Reco had a smallish kit run (which may or may not be over) and it remains to be seen whether it will have any kind of lasting appeal. Depends on whether the rumored MSV series happens or not, I suppose. It's still got some stuff coming out, I think. EDIT: Yeah, it's got releases planned out to July as of now, and there's still a lot of suits they haven't touched yet, like the Recten, Wuxia, and Hecate. TARDISman fucked around with this message at 23:13 on Apr 11, 2015 |
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Apr 11, 2015 23:08
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Unicorn is more important because it's produced kits for MSes that I thought would never be made, like the Zogok, Juggau, GM II, GM III, Doven Wolf, Dressien, Dra-C, and Zssa. I'll take a fancy Doven Wolf over "Yet Another Spiky Gundam" any day of the week. Yeah, I dissed BF's Gundams. Fight me.
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Apr 11, 2015 23:19
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