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Mike Delano

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Posts posted by Mike Delano

  1. You can watch the current space mission by going to NASA TV . Your mileage may vary but I use Real Player....and choice under the "Other Viewing Options" label on the right.

     

    Cool stuff!

     

     

    Do any cable companies out there still carry NASA TV? I remember as a kid Comcast (or whatever it was called then) carried it, but I cant find it anywhere now...

  2. SPOILER ALERT!!!

     

     

     

    You forgot to read the four issue comic series which explains the entire story behind the story.

     

    Red Matter is Decalithium, an extremely unstable material capable of changing a supernova several light years in diameter into a black hole.

     

    Nero is the captain/owner of a small mining ship, working in whatever system when the star goes supernova, destroying the system. He reports to the Romulan Senate, and Amb Spock offers the help of the VSA & UFP. The Romulans reject his offer, he teams up with Nero, goes to Vulcan and the VSA tells him to go to hell. Picard is Amb to Vulcan, Data is captain of Enterprise F and the ship Spock flies with the Red Matter is one of Georgis creations. Spock takes the ship to stop the supernova, but it engulfs the Romulus system before they can get there, Nero blames the Federation and vows revenge. Int he meantime, he intercepts the ship carrying the evacuated Senators and Preator, but no civilians, kills them but first gets the codes to a secret area 51 type lab, con their way aboard claiming they are the successors to the Senate (they do have all the proer codes) and their ship is then transformed using Borg technology from a simple mining ship to what is seen in the movie. At the end, they find Spock about to collapse the black hole and then the events of the movie take place.

     

    Now, that would make a great post-prequel sequel to Trex XI! I guess my biggest complaint about the film is that it takes 40 years of cannon and trashes it. Alternat Relality, Changed history in a single continuity, whatever you want to call it, I still expected something more. Still a good flic though, and it wont make me turn my back on being a fan of the Frachise (exactly what Paramount wants, right?)

  3. So is the Big E going be the original version with the dish in front or a totally new one. Have yet to see the new movie.

     

    It's more of a melding of the TOS Enterprise and the Refit Enterprise / Ent A though I'd say it has more in common with the Movie / Refit Enterprises. It has an outward dish in the front like the TOS version, but blue in color like the Refit versions. It also has torpedo launchers like the Enterprise / Ent A from the movies (located on the neck that connects primary and secondary hulls). Phaser Turrets are nearly identical looking those from the Refit Enterprises as well, except you get a better picture of how they work. The nacelles are a totally different story though. Overall, the lines are very similar. The picture below is from the film

     

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  4. I saw ST11, and I really liked it. Some things I didn't agree with, going against "canon' and everything, but it was a very good movie... just too bad Winona Rider won't be coming back.

     

    Well... the good thing is, everything from 'Star Trek: Enterprise' is still canon (for the most part)... and yes, that is a hint of sarcasm you smell...

     

    I was excited about this movie. After seeing it, I'm not dissapointed, but I'm not overly excited either. The plot mechanism they used to reimagine the franchise is old and tired, I really expected more creativity in that department - especially from J.J. Abrams. And while there wasn't a lot of technobable in the movie, it seems that they went to extremes in not explaining the science behind certain aspects of the film where, at least I think it would have been appropriate. What the hell is 'Red Matter'?. Also, I thought the idea (SPOILER AHEAD) of the Big E being built on Earth's surface interesting - would liked there to have been a launch scene explaining what that would have looked like... Again, I enjoyed the movie for what it was and I'm curious to see where they take the franchise from here. I guess they could fit in the whole Temoporal Cold War arc from the 'ST: Enterprise' series into it. By the way, my favorite part of the movie has to be Karl Urban's portrayal of Bones - I felt like his portrayal most paralleled that of the original character without seeming like an obvious imitation - the whole scene where Kirk and McCoy meet for the first time was great and I think he really played it like DeForest Kelley would have.

     

    Either way, I'll still buy the model if someone makes it.

  5. This is actually the kit I started for 'National Model Day' some weeks back. I started by adding some more detail in the form of spare parts and photo etch pices from my stash of armor kits. Additionally, I drilled out all of the cannons to give a more realistic look. The base color is Floquil Lettering Gray with additional panel variances of Floquil Weathered Black and Lark Light Gray. It had been years since I did a sci fi kit and this was a nice break from 1000 + part armor kits. I must say, the Revell kit is very nice and the major sub assemblies are designed that major seams are hidden for the most part - makes the process of pre painting much easier. The color red I have used is Gunze 'Wine Red' which matches the red in the supplied decals perfectly. I still have quite a bit of work to do on this one.

     

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  6. This is actually the kit I started for 'National Model Day' some weeks back. I started by adding some more detail in the form of spare parts and photo etch pices from my stash of armor kits. Additionally, I drilled out all of the cannons to give a more realistic look. The base color is Floquil Lettering Gray with additional panel variances of Floquil Weathered Black and Lark Light Gray. It had been years since I did a sci fi kit and this was a nice break from 1000 + part armor kits. I must say, the Revell kit is very nice and the major sub assemblies are designed that major seams are hidden for the most part - makes the process of pre painting much easier. The color red I have used is Gunze 'Wine Red' which matches the red in the supplied decals perfectly. I still have quite a bit of work to do on this one.

     

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  7. Almost forgotten to metion, I believe there is one to many cleaning rods. The short barrels used only two rods, the one with the swabbing end and an extra. I spy two sets on yours.

     

    Yeah, I realized that after I got done with the major assembly - I haven't worked on this thing in a few weeks, but since the photoes were first taken, I removed the extra rods from the rear deck. I need to get back on this thing, but I started a Republic Star Destroyer kit for NMD and have been working on that one since...

  8. Just finished watching the new BSG show "Caprica" which came out today. When I first saw the previews, I thought that it was going to be like "Dallas in space" but was wrong. True, in this DVD, there isn't any fighting but it shows how the Cylons came into being. The last two minutes are WILD!! One word of warning, there is nudity in it so you might want to watch it first before the kids can see it. When the show comes out next year, I'll watch it.

     

     

    I just watched it last night (dont ask) I thought it was great - given, there's not as much of an epic space battle element to it, but it was still a great pilot. Interesting that Graystone's first name is 'Daniel' and the supposed No. 7 Cylon was also refered to as Daniel. Who knows....

  9. Thanks for the words of encouragement all - because of the obvious issues with this old Tamiya kit, I'm not aiming for 100% accuracy (or even 90% at that). This thing has turned into more of an avenue for some creative license. I'm in the process now of cleaning everything up prior to priming. Another grip about this thing - the kit-supplied roadwheels are horrible. Glad I had enough left over from the DML kit to replace them.

  10. I got bored today on my last day of vacation and decided to pull down the old Tamiya Panzer IV D kit from atop the closet. I figured it'd be a nice quick build. I was wrong. At the risk of sounding like a blasphemer, this kit has alot of problems.... I'll leave it at that (I won't say how I really feel about it). I guess I've just been spoiled with DML kits. Either way, I decided to scaveng from all of the extra unused Panzer IV parts included in the Geschutzwage IVb and the upgunned Panzer IV D kit (which is actually a review kit I'm finishing up). Either way, I decided to use the DML roadwheels. I would loved to have used the DML trucks as well, but didn't have enough in the spares box. Additionally, I'm replacing all of the OVE and spare track. Since I won't have DML inner sprocket halves or final drive housings, I'll have to somehow reconcile the difference in the offset of the Tamiya sprockets with the DML roadwheels and return rollers. This has turned out to be more of an experiment than anything else. Definitely a work (and a lot of work, at that) in progress...

     

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  11. I still haven't seen mention of Trek XI kits either. I have, however, seen mention that there will be a rerelease of the Polar Lights Enterprise A in 1/350 along with a TOS Enterprise in 1/350 as well. In addition, I read where there is a forthcoming 1/1000 Akira Class coming out too. My understanding is that R2 doesn't have licensing rights for Trek XI base merchandise, so if the models come out, I don't know who'll make them

     

    It's now March and the movie premeres in less than 8 weeks. I haven't seen any kits announced other than a toy version of the Big E and the new phaser, communicator and tricorder.

     

    Or have I just lost it and missed the email? :smiley14:

     

    Michael

  12. Yeah, Panzer IV, I meant...

     

    About the hull - I'm thinking that might be the problem. Remember how the Tiger kits had slightly inward bent hull sides (I know this is resolves itself when the rear hull is installed). I'm thinking the same might be the case with some of the Pz. IV hulls.

  13. I see where Dragon sells individual sets of DS track for the Tiger and the various Sherman track types, but I cannot seem to find a listing for the DS Track for the Panther. It's obviously already available in the Panther D and Panther G zimmerit kits - does anyone know if they have plans to sell the Panther DS Track sets as they do the others?

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