Here’s a few things I’ve found out so far:

• Many places recommend washing your runners with soap and water before you do anything. This is something I am now doing. Better safe than sorry.
• The paint order is Lacquer > Enamel > Acrylic and that you always need a gloss coat between each layer. The reason for this is because acrylic can’t hurt enamel and enamel can’t hurt lacquer. The gloss coat protects the last layer If you messed up in the current layer.
• It may just be me, but, the Gundam Markers have me worried that they will dry out very quickly. Also, the gray is almost black. Maybe I’m missing something?
• While sanding, you should always clean your pieces when switching sandpaper grit. This removes any residue from the last sanding effort that might hurt your current sanding. This is quite easy, just grab some water and a toothbrush and get in there, trying to get as much of the sanding residue as possible.
• A weak ammonia bath (think Windex) can loosen most paints. I have not tried this yet.

All of this being said, I also decided that maybe spray painting was not for me. The cans run you about $4-$5 each and there’s no flexibility in colors. There’s also the issue of space, my apartment in downtown Denver does not have a balcony or any easy place for me to paint without getting fumes inside the apartment.

Currently what I’ve ended up doing is considering going to the back alley behind my apartment and spraying there. The one time I did it I had my girlfriend as a lookout and got 3 parts in before she started thinking we should go back inside.

So I’m going to just use the cans I have on some projects and move on to airbrushing. I’ll probably take the cans to my office in Boulder. There’s a balcony there and I could theoretically get some work done there in the span of a week or so.

Every time I think I need a color I’ll put that can’s worth of money apart. I’ll be able to get a airbrush kit in no time. In the meantime I’ll research the building of a spray booth and  what compressor I need,  It needs to be super quiet.

I’m going to be documenting my Victory Gundam and Dash Pack build here. This kit is one of those that when I got I was very worried that I’d never get up the courage to build, my Unicorn Gundam is on that list too and I haven’t even dared to buy a MG Sinanju. But as I’ve grown as a modeler I’ve started to warm up to the idea. Last week I finally opened it up.

First things first. There’s a few things I decided for this build:

• I’m not going to spray paint this model. I’ll go over it with some dirty water, but no spray paint.
• I will paint details with enamels and a paintbrush.
• After the paint, I’ll hit it up with some glossy top coat before the decals. Then top coat to seal the decals. That’s it.
• I’ll display this model in a transparent Action Base with the two Core Boosters under it. Both Core Boosters will have the Hexa head. The second V-Gundam head Core-Booster will not be displayed. The Victory Gundam will have the Dash Pack on and it will be holding the Beam Smartgun.

With all of this decided I finally started it up.

The first thing they’ll ask you to build is the Core Boosters. Yes, Boosters, plural. There are actually four of them. You can have a Booster setup with each individual piece of the Victory Gundam, the Bottom Fighter, Top Fighter and Dash Pack and still have a Booster left over to display by itself.

You will get them through this phase and build the main area of the boosters first, then you’ll put together four heads. Two Hexa heads and  two normal V-Gundam heads.

A finished Core Booster with a Hexa Head. The more I look at the Hexa heads the more I like them, I might even end up going the other way and having the Hexa Head be the one I put on the Victory Gundam, and have the two Boosters around it with the normal V-Fins.

All four Boosters are now finished.

The next part of the build is the Dash Pack. Before I go into that however I’m going to pick one of the Boosters and sand it down. I’m going to make sure that its as perfect as I can get it since it’s going to be the head and chest of the Victory Gundam, the other boosters will just be for details on the side.

This build is going to be pretty slow, since I decided not to use paint I’m going to have to be extra careful with the plastic. I’m going to also try using the Tamiya Polishing Compounds, which I’ll order sometime this week.

Time elapsed: ~9 hours over 3 days

You know what the solution Netflix came up with? Pretend DVDs dont exist and hope you dont notice.

Starting October 14th, 2011 if you’re using the Netflix API to manage your queue all the responses you will get are for the streaming library. Seriously.

If you want to manage your DVDs you will have to log on to the Netflix website and manage it, completely inconvenient and just the way Netflix wants it to be.

You see, shipping physical discs is expensive. You have to have the disc put in an envelope, the disc needs to be mailed, which involves postage costs, and then once you’re done they also pay for the return postage, at which time somebody in the Netflix distribution center near you needs to open the envelope and make sure the correct disc is inside. Even while automating most of this process it still consumes power and time which Netflix’s streaming catalogue does not.

With all of this said however, its the customer’s fault. People have not seemed to be too bothered by their lack of new titles, and have also seemed to pay happily the $7 for Hulu’s library which contains way less content (although, has many TV shows the day after).

The endgame here is the following:

Feature streaming on the Netflix homepage.
Feature streaming in the packages, push for the streaming-only package.
Have all convenient ways of using Netflix only feature streaming.

The user will slowly, but surely, forget about the “DVDs by Mail” deal and keep on streaming. Which in turn:

Saves Netflix money on running distribution centers.
Saves Netflix money on phone support for scratched discs.
Saves Netflix money on replacement discs.
Saves Netflix money on less API calls for data to their servers.
Allows Netflix to spend more money to better their streaming catalogue.

This is exactly what I want Netflix to do, after most of their catalogue is streamed. It really seems premature and will just inconvenience a lot of developers because of all of the confusion that it will cause to the end users, even if they do the right thing and send out an email letting the end users know beforehand.

I wish they reconsidered, but I’m sure this was a decision they’re banking a lot of green on. It couldn’t have been a easy decision and it shows that they’re trying to be ahead of the curve in the digital revolution as well.

Open the Settings app and select iCloud. From there go down to the “Storage & Backup” button. Once you tap that you’ll see where you can enable the iCloud backup and start a manual backup.

Once you enable it and create a backup to start, you can tap on “Manage Storage” which will show you any and all device backups on your iCloud. Taping on any of those will bring you a menu where you can select individual apps that get backed up, or not.

On my iPad, I dont want to backup my pictures because I’m going to let Photo Stream do that. I also dont want to backup my comic books or my Wired magazines. I unchecked those three apps and the backup size went from 4.8GB to 873MB. That’s more like it!

Disabling images on my iPhone (for the same reasons) allowed me to go from 1.7GB to 233MB on the iPhone.

I now have two devices backing up to my iCloud and they only take around 1GB of my 5GB of storage.

I expect Apple to allow you to purchase more storage once the service actually goes live but I feel like this is the better solution either way. There are just things you dont need in the event of getting a replacement for a iCloud enabled device.

The whole premise of LittleBigPlanet is that it can be anything that you want it to be. The idea was that new features and building configurations would be added to the game as patches, never needing to buy another $60 boxed release again. Unlimited levels from the community, plus great support from the developers.
The developers kind of fumbled this one, the updates that were available were not many. They added paintballs in the Metal Gear Solid pack, they added Water in the Pirates of the Caribbean pack, but really nothing that revolutionary, just things that were really missing. Also, each pack was about $6.

All of this being said, I still bought LittleBigPlanet 2. I had countless hours of fun with the original and it was so inventive that I thought they deserved the pre-order. I honestly did not expect much from it.

LittleBigPlanet 2 is amazing.

The modifications to the game mechanics add some really interesting ways of interacting with the game. I honestly cant think of a way they could have done these changes to the core with a patch. I mean, I guess they could have made a 10GB patch and released that.

It is nothing like the money-grab that Capcom did with Super Street Fighter 4. These are serious changes, plus the levels from the original still work with the second one. Its really win/win.

The story felt very short however. I remember telling my girlfriend to give me a minute while I beat a boss which I was sure would be a story twist, only to find out it was the end. I appreciate the lack of wheel-o-death like on the first game but this was just pretty silly. I feel like there were no “worlds” that were as inventive and detailed as Frida’s Wedding on LBP, there were no real challenges like Boom Town, and the little add-ons like the hamster, bee and rabbit are overpowered.

Thats it for my complaints. The sharing aspect of the game is highly improved. Finding levels is way easier now. They have a site that you can go to (littlebigplanet.com) and queue the next levels you want to play.

Building levels seemed easier, although I have not published one yet. They have included new portals that transport you to a different level, which they use a -lot- during the storyline, and it allows you to build a world as big as you want and if you run out of space, spill into another.

Would I have liked it to be a DLC update for $30? Yes. But I also want world peace and free sushi sundays.

Actually, I guess I should start at the beginning. As I was learning to code, when I had nothing to do, I built a framework.

One was called Andr0, it was my first attempt. It was amateurish, used output buffering all over and was just plain silly. The idea was that it would take some root files and create “blog” posts out of them (they were not called blogs yet.) I still own this domain.

I abandoned all of this when I became better aquainted with MySQL. The next framework I started calling a “site engine” and called it Solution Nine. It was going to be the one framework to run all my nine site ideas. This one had everything that ran it in the database. Everything was a database call. I could create pages without touching the file system, I thought that was awesome. Thank the stars we’ve all moved on from there. I still do freelance work under the Solution Nine name.

At this point I knew better. I started working with others. The engine was now called Maquinas. It was a real modern engine. Files in the file system, youd specify blocks in the database. It was a good version of PHP Nuke. Without all the bloat and useless module blocks. My friend got called to help with a bigger project, later they brought me in. We decided to open source Maquinas, that never happened. We have since lost my friend to the Dark Side, Ruby on Rails.

Which brings me to working with James. He is always working on the latest version of his framework. It is super robust, super complex and has error reporting that will blow your mind. He uses it every day. He doesnt realize how big the learning curve is for it. In fact neither do I, since Ive used it a lot.
While he perfects his frameworks I’ve taken my favorite parts off of his and built the foundation for my own.

To be continued…

That would mean that PSN would have been down for six weeks by the time services are restored.

Every day this outtage continues I am more and more embarassed to have put my faith on Sony. A company that has proven over and over that they dont care about their customers. Promising game vouchers for PSPGo conversions and then backing out. Charging developers for bandwidth costs on PSN, which means smaller and shorter lived demos for customers.

Go to wikipedia and count how many firmware updates that fix or add nothing there are. Firmware updates that are just “security fixes.” Sony was completely on top of hacking when it came to their data and those patches came quickly.

I am not worried about my data, but at this point I’m beggining to worry about Playstation exclusive developers like Q-Games (of Pixel Junk fame.) All of their profits come from PSN sales. Sony said theyd be helping developers out, but with such an extended period of downtime I’m sure some studios will fall on hard times.

At the same time, I am worried about those who are not involved in games like I am. Those who get their news from the local NBC affiliate that dont know what is going on. Are they going to buy the NGP? What can Sony say? At this point just hold off the launch for an extra week and announce the re-launch during E3.

This outtage hurts gaming as a whole. If we are going to move to cloud gaming and cross-platform gaming, we need everything to be secure. Hackers were there before, they’ll be there after. You have to build everything with that threat in mind. I’m not excusing the hackers, but Sony was ridiculously unprepared.

Meanwhile, I’m going through my pile-of-shame, which is holding me over until L.A. Noire. I’m almost done with Arkaham Asylum and will probably go to Dead Space afterwards.

My heart goes out to those of you who bought a PSPGo.

(source: Joystiq)

Update : Sony has said that they have not released a timeline for PSN to come back online. So instead of May 31st it is indefinite. That’s better?

After the Tallgeese III fiasco, I decided to stop by Colpar to see if they had anything interesting. To my surprise, they had a relatively new kit, the Real Grade MS-06S Char Aznable’s Zaku II!

This kit was released in November 2010 and is part of the new Real Grade line of Gunpla. The Real Grade line features super-detailed 1/144 scale models. It’s what I would expect a Perfect Grade build to be, except for the part where the build difficulty is more akin to a Master Grade.

The first thing you’ll notice is the B runner that has most of the frame parts.

The runner features pieces that have molded ball/socket joints. These joints are pretty small and I found them to be quite sturdy. The only problem was that every time I started bending the pieces, I was afraid I was doing it wrong and was going to break them. All said and done, I have not broken any of them yet.

Note: I always recommend going through the manual first before you start building, though that is a bit hard to do when you don’t speak Japanese (like me). Be careful with the arm assembly; there’s a piece that looked like it could have easily have been discarded that ended up being important to the arm assembly. Be careful!

The armor goes on these frame pieces, and it’s very articulated. In fact, the RG ends up being different shades of salmon pink, while the MG Zaku II looks like a sad two-toned mobile suit in comparison.

I panel-lined the kit with a Gundam Marker and I got a pretty good result. Even if you only do this to the kit you can have this kit on display and have it look good. The RG Zaku’s panel lining details are amazing. In fact, the main failure of this piece is really the stickers. There were lots of stickers that were supposed to be foil and create the illusion of metal in certain areas of the kit and it really did not work. Even after placement of the stickers they kept separating from the piece and falling off. Like with the MG kits, Bandai did release a sheet of water decals and the metal areas can be remedied with some copper and silver metallic Gundam Markers. I plan on performing these upgrades in the coming weeks.

If you’re trying to decide between this one and the Master Grade, it just depends on what you really want out of your kit. Other than the size difference, the MG version of Char’s Zaku II has a movable chest plate that reveals the cockpit. It also has a service cart with an extendable arm that you can raise in order to have Char ‘enter’ the mobile suit. The RG offers no such gimmicks; the chest is static and there are no extra items other than the weapons.

The MG 1/100 towers over the RG 1/144. When you try and stand them up however, the 1/144 will give you more of a fight. The feet on the RG are articulated in three areas so getting the feet to stay can get a bit tricky.

Tthe Real Grade has various tones of red/pink and salmon, the Master Grade only has the two colors. The panel lines also pop out way more on the RG, not just because there are more of them, but because they’re placed in otherwise empty and boring places.

The helmet looks way more sturdy with the panel lines and it also seems to me at least a bit less round around the back. It gives it a meaner look. The bigger change comes at the tubes, which come up from the front of the helmet, I think the RG one comes up too far. Not a big problem, just different.

The MG shield doesn’t even have panel lines on it! The tubes on the back also end a bit lower on the MG, which I think looks better because it means there’s more space in the backpack.

The thrusters on the MG are missing, but they move with the whole back area on the MG. The skirt does manage to stay set on the RG a bit more easily.

The knees on the MG bend all the way back, but the knees on the RG do trigger a gimmick where the thighs separate from the top a bit, which I think is pretty interesting to look at.

The various tones and the articulation really shows the differences between the two sets clearly.

I took the time to break the fingers between the MG kit’s hands giving the hands great flexibility. The RG doesn’t give you this option; it’s hands are set as a closed fist. The RG has a gimmick on the arm that moves the back part of it when it folds, similar to the one it has on the thighs.

I think that this comparison is the better way to really show of what you’re getting with the RG kit. For the price this kit is really worth it. I don’t think it should be the first kit you pick up, but if you’ve done a few HGs or maybe even a MG or two and want a nice 1/144 scale model that really shows off a great amount of detail without having to go out of your way really modifying the kit, this RG kit does that.

If you have any questions I’d be happy to answer, just leave a message in the comments!