REIDEEN WARBIRDS

Well I think they are Warbirds.  Its Japanese Anime.  There are 5 different figures that turn into birds similar to the Micronauts Red Falcon.

The Warbirds have a great deal of chrome and are extremely detailed.  They are very nice figures...EXCEPT...

These are not toys.  They are not designed to withstand play.  Like the MP Megatron, they are top heavy and want to lean forward.  If you have new figures this is not a problem.  They are nice and tight.  I would not want to own these figures if they were played with.  Once they loosen up they become like marionettes with cut strings.  No stability. 

They are also not meant to be played with.  They are not as durable as the Micronaut Magnos.  They are sturdy, yet delicate.  They are meant to be posed and displayed.

They are roughly the same size as magno figures.  I'll take some pictures tomorrow.  I need more natural light.  With all the chrome, they reflect the flash and show up either in a different color or very dark.

All in all, I like these figures very much.  Im very glad I bought them and glad they are nice and tight.  The boxes come with display windows in them.  I may just display them like that.  You dont get to see the whole figure, but it sure looks cool.

Riley Says No

The table is finished.  It looks ok and its functional.  The only thing missing is a chair.  I made the table for a 28" height.  Your basic desk height.  I have a nice leather chair and ottoman that I sit in.  Its not made for computer desk use, but it works well and is comfortable.  The old computer chair (a basic adjustable height, swivel desk chair) gets used as a foot stool.  When I am allowed to use it that is.

Its also Riley's chair.  Its where he sits when I am on the computer.  When I finished the tabletop for the room I pulled this chair in to check how everything worked.  And it worked as I had hoped it would.  So I left the chair in my room.  The next day, I am on the computer and Riley comes to sit with me.  Except the chair is gone.  He sat where the chair was and stared at me.  I picked him up and put him on my lap.  A few minutes later he left.  The following day, Im checking emails and he comes in and goes to where the chair used to be and sits his butt down and stares at me.  I look at him.  I remember saying," You have got to be kidding."   But he wasnt.  I got up and went and got the chair.  He hadnt moved.  As soon as he saw me bring it back, he moved enough for me to set it down and hopped right into it seconds later. 

So, I cant believe Im saying this...I still need a chair for my room because my dog wont let me use the one I have.

On the room front...I have bought a set of Transformer Curtains.  I had also bought a TF Valance for it on line, but they apparently werent the same and didnt match. These curtains are too long and will need to be hemmed up, so I will use the extra material to make a valance.  I will have the curtains in a couple of weeks. 

Im hoping to pick up another wall shelf this coming weekend.  Then I can organize the rest of my magnos and bring the remaining ones out of the closet.  Then I'll know how much wall space I have for artwork.

Then all I will need is a chair. 

Custom Magnos All Done Except...

Well I made some new pewssurized Magno heads to replace the first set.  I sold those a few months back, but never got around to replacing the heads I needed.  The unpressurized Magno Heads I made were actually pretty good.  But I want it as close to crystal clear as I can get it.  So I finally finished off the Red Clear with Black set of four Magnos. 

The Red Clear with White set of four Magnos. 

The All CLear with Black Set of Four Magnos ...

and the All Clear with Red Set of four Magnos.   I need 3 white Force Commander adapters to finish off the WHite with Black Set of Four Magnos.  The White with Red Set of Four Magnos is complete.  The Blue Chrome Set of Four Magnos is completed. 

The Magnos I have yet to finish are the Purple Chrome Emperor and The Copper Chrome Emperor.  Also, thinking I wasnt going to get the Copper Chromed Magnos done at all, I wasnt prepared.  I didnt have the Magno figures to do it.  So I used my Shadow Magnos for Copper Chroming.  So I need 4 Baron Karza's to turn into a Set of Four Shadow (All Black) Magno's.

 I also need 4 Baron Karza's to make the Black with Red Set of Four Magnos.  So thats whats on the Magno front.  All I need now is a weekend to finish my Magno Leg. Its a bit more custom friendly.  :~)


Now that I have my table made, I can get another shelf like the one I already have for the other Magno Figures.  The Red Falcons, The Knock Offs, The Palisades Prototypes, The Fantanauti and the JEAG's and the few other Custom Magnos I have.  I'll get the rest of the Magnos'd I have in here so they are all in one place.

Sept 18/14 EDIT
  Officially I have completed the chromed magno figures I set out to have chromed with the exception of a similar colored steed.  The Purple Chrome and Copper Chrome magno figures were assembled and finished yesterday.  All production color schemes were made for each "set" of magno's as well as black and white.  The All Black Magno Figures are not being made.  I have completed my Magno Collection with the exception of a few more customs here and there.

They can be found under the right side Label "Chromed Magno's"

MEGO Salesman Sheets Found

Fortunately we arent dealing with a bank.  The missing sheets have been found and will soon be here.  As soon as they arrive I will be posting them.  The seller was extremely nice about it.  Im so relieved.

Im sure most of you have seen them already on ebay, but I'll give you a closer look.  There are some very ccol shots you just dont see these days.  Remember these are the salesman sets.  So there might be some photos that might vary from the actual final product.  At least thats what I am hoping. 

Just like the German Airfix Toy Brochure.  You know the one in every Micronauts Toy set.  Well I just picked up one off ebay that features a WHITE Baron Karza and a Transfer Fortress in it.  After checking around it was told to me that it was probably more a matter of parts missing for a photo shoot and so they adlibbed as opposed to a suggested alternate color scheme.

Copper Chrome Force Commander

Im still dieing to put this beside the Gold Force Commander and take some pics.  However its late and Im tired, so it will have to wait till tomorrow for the dual pic.  Plus it will be the first chance this week I will have had to take some daylight pictures.   So I will take pictures of the two of them tomorrow afternoon.  By 5pm its already dark out now. 

 But I was able to get a good picture nonetheless of the Chrome Copper Force Commander.

Now that these have been done.  I am more determined than ever to get a metalizer and do this myself.   I know the theory behind the processes and having never chromed a piece myself, it was my suggestions and recommendations that figured out for the chromer how to hold these in a manner that would allow them to be able to chrome them without damaging them.

Being a machinist for 25 years has only made me more of a perfectionist and I truly believe that I can do a better job because I am more familiar with these figures.

You'll notice the pooling of color in the eyes.  Also, the coloring is slightly inconsistent.  Its still a fantastic looking figure none the less, but it could have been better.  The reason is the chromer is after all this time and a trip down to see him,  is still unfamiliar with the figure.  He has no knowledge of the Micronauts or other figures in the line so he doesnt know what is really important and whats not.

I had hoped to have a metalizer this year, and probably would have if I had not bought this new truck.  So next year Im getting rid of the truck for a cheaper one that will allow me to be able to afford a small metalizer so that I can do this type of work myself.  All in all, I had 14 magno figures chromed plus the Palisades Baron Karza/Andromeda set.  The cost of chroming these figures alone would have bought a small metalizer.  Considering how much chroming I want to do for myself makes this a practical purchase plus I will then be able to provide this as an additional service.

It makes a huge difference when you get someone to do something and they are familiar with the pieces.  Its like asking Robert Bateman to paint a picture of a Micronaut figure.  He is unfamiliar with the line and in all likelihood wont be able to grasp the essence of the figure in the painting as say Ken Kelly would or Dave Doorman.

I can do a bit better of a job and I know it.  If my advice helped them,  then maybe I should seriously consider just doing it myself.

Copper Chrome King Atlas

The second figure of this series, The Copper Chromed King Atlas.  You can call him a Green Baron if you like, but since he isnt green, I use the more figure friendly name King Atlas. 

I have gone with a simple and common color theme for all of the chrome magnos I have made.

Baron Karza :  Black Hilights
King Atlas : Black Hilights
Force Commander : White Hilights
Emperor : Silver Chrome Hilights


I had the black hilights in my parts organizer so they were easy to get to. Tomorrow, I will go through the closet and dig out my last Red Clear Force Commander and strip the white hilights from it and use it in the Copper Force Commander. Yes, I could easily make the chest hilights by casting them. But I am sparing no expense for these chromed magnos. I want injection molded parts only for these figures. The remaining parts from the Red Clear Force Commander will be recycled into a red clear with Black hilights Force Commander. I will have 3 of these when I am finished.

The Copper Chromed Emperor and the Blue Chrome Emperor will be completed in roughly 8-10 weeks. I have yet to send the hilights for Silver chroming. So it makes no sense to assemble the figure till I need to.



You may notice that there are no back packs and rockets right now.  There was an issue with the backpacks and they have been sent back for touch up work.  I expect them back in a few weeks.

Copper Chrome Baron Karza

Well its another late night.  I had a bit of an issue when I misplaced my Purple Chrome Emperor.  I wanted to put the final purple chrome pieces with it so I wouldnt lose them, until I got the silver chrome hilights to assemble him...2 hours later he was located. 

So that delayed me.  But here he is in all his glory.  Copper Chrome BK meets Gold BK.  Im still learning how to use this camera and working with lighting after sundown.  These guys are very hard to get a good photo. This is the only photo that turned out well enough.  The others the lighting was off and the pictures were too dark to reflect the true color. 

I think the Gold BK has met his match.  But Im biased.  I still need to put his rockets on, but Im way too tired right now.

Copper Chrome

Well its all catching up with me.  I didnt get to sleep till 2 am and was back up at 6:30.  Im about ready to fall asleep and I know by 10 pm I'll be wide awake.  So I havent got a completely assembled Copper Chrome figure put together yet.

But I promised some pics today, so I took a pick of one of the chest pieces so you can see how it turned out.

I will be pulling the white hilights from a red clear Force Commander and installing them into the Copper Chrome Magno.  I bought 4 Red Clear Force Commanders when I had the chance a few years ago knowing I needed them for this project.  I would have bought 5, but YEARS ago, I bought the Palisades Red Clear FC BAG O PARTS auction.  No FC head, but everything else was there.  So I used that one to make a red clear with white Baron Karza.

Im dieing to put my Gold Force Commander up beside the Copper Chrome FC and post a pic of them together.  Expect that in the next day or two.