N-4K0

I just have to clarify that I was talking about the regular thick 2L axle/pinhole beams, not the thin ones, in case it wasn't clear I have the same experience as you with the half beams although I generally feel like the axleholes in those, of all variants, tend to crack too easily. I appreciate the stronger clutching power, but I'd rather have weaker clutch if it means the parts won't crack, though the axlehole clutch in the thick 2L beams are way too weak IMO.

I too feel the difference in grip towards the weaker side in the pins as well as pins with pinhole, especially for the pin/pinhole parts it annoys me, but I've had these and the 3L blue pins crack over time and if this softer plastic can prevent cracking, I guess it's an aceptable trade-off even though I prefer stronger grip. I also feel the difference in grip depending on the liftarm color, the same pin can have noticeable difference in grip between e.g. LBG/DBG and black liftarms. The most annoying thing to me however is the significantly weaker grip in the axle holes of parts like the 2L axle/pinhole beams and the #1 connectors. The 2L beams feel like they'll almost slide off the axle...

Really nice looking ship you got there This might seem like nitpicking, but I have to ask - is the listed number of guns correct? You say there's 52 in total which seems to match, of which 28 are 18lb longguns which I assume are the ones on the lower gun deck, but I count 13 on each side meaning it's 2 off + the list has 32 guns, so there's 20 that aren't mentioned. Only curiousity from my side + a bit OCD I'm afraid

The option to the printed parts issue is including extra parts in the box so the customers can choose themselves whether to use the printed arches or not. It is a doable option cos I can't imagine wheel arches cost that much when they're mass produced that it would increase the set price. I'm eyeing this set for the new parts, I've developed a habit of rebuilding small car sets like this into Star Wars inspired starfighters and I can imagine some design details using the new small yellow panels.

Digital alteration of actors' appearance should be limited to only necessary cases, like if they cast someone old(er) and they do a flashback to their younger self and need to make them look younger, or if they make a movie with a familiar character portrayed by an actor who has since passed away, like Tarkin in Rogue One. I'm not a fan of the thought of using CGI to recreate dead actors to fill roles in new movies. I assume you may have heard the rumors of doing this with James Dean to make his "4th movie" or whatever, which is a foolish reasoning because the actor is dead, so no matter how good the CGI would look, it's never going to be HIM in the role, just a CGI rendering that looks and sounds incredibly realistic. No, cast new actors, it's better to let new people get a chance than reusing by CGI old/dead actors just because.

Didn't they use some kind of technology to digitally alter his voice in Obi-Wan Kenobi to make it sound like the OT? They should go back and do that for his voice in Rogue One cos it's really easy to hear his older age in his voice there. Although that would mean it'd have to be re-released.

True. If nothing else, it'll surely make for a good parts pack though.

3 sets, 4 sets, no necessary quality improvement regardless. A potential secret 4th set to "please" us could end up being a rushed mess for all we know. Look at the bright side, the unfortunate delay of the Liebherr crane means one more set next year since it'll come on top of what's already in development for 2023.

Great alternate model, looks really good!

Agreed, the B-models are sometimes even better than the A-models, at least for small/medium size sets. I also agree with the focus on cars as I'm not a huge car nut, especially not for supercars. I prefer cars the likes of Land Rover Defender and Mercedes Geländewagen, SUVs and similar. I don't buy very many sets though and few of the large ones, the last large one I bought was the 42055 BWE. That said, while I agree that it's nice to build from a physical paper manual, I understand why they cut out B-model manuals for the sake of the environment, although I don't know how much that does compared to the additional power usage of having to use a pc/tablet for the instructions or if this is a lot of power in the first place.

Morbius on April 1 and Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore last night. Morbius was fairly good I think. TSOD was good. Didn't see 1, only the very last part and read the plot. Saw 2 on Monday to prepare for 3.

I watched The Batman yesterday March 4. Quite good movie, I think Robert Pattinson did a fairly good job as Bruce Wayne.

I personally dislike the use of flex axles. It's an easy way to make the shapes, yes, but it leaves too many holes in the bodywork for my taste while also making the bodywork too fragile. Panels can cover up too much, I agree, but I have always preferred a more solid building style even if it goes on the expense of details.

The Matrix Resurrections on Wednesday. Pretty okay movie. The King's Man on Friday. Haven't seen the first two, but pretty good action movie. Spider-Man: No Way Home on Saturday. Another pretty good MCU movie.

Venom: Let There Be Carnage There was carnage and there was destruction.

Astonishing model in both size and detailing

Personally I'm a combination of all things mentioned. I need to have all bush slots the same way, the bush ends (for the 1L ones) equally facing inwards/outwards and all pins orientated with the end slots parallell with the length of the beams. Do I have OCD? I don't know, but I suspect I do cos if these things are randomized, I don't like it I also tend to find that the grip of the pins feel a little stronger when they're orientated in the mentioned way with the end slots being parallell with the beams lengthwise.

On the pics we've seen recently, the LA mounts look black to me, at least on the main front box image where it's seen diagonally. I did notice it's DBG in this video, if it's really the case for the finished model, it's indeed a shame. But I haven't seen enough of the official/"official" images/box art to be 100% sure.

If the image in astyanax's post is the only one existing/available for now of this new 3L pin, it could have a hole in the stop-end allowing for bars or other tools to pass for (relatively) easy extraction. If it's just a flat end with no hole, like the 3/4/5/8L axles with stop, it should have a hole to make it removable from the stop side. It looks like an interesting and practical part though, it's easy to see its purpose, but it needs a means to be removable without the need to access the other side.

Sorry to see you leaving Sariel. I rarely comment on MOC topics or any other topics for that matter anyway, but your reviews are always interesting and informative to watch. When it comes to the "no criticism" part it seems to be a natural aspect of society today where everything will always offend someone. I don't understand this mentality, I sometimes feel offended by something, but I don't bother making a big deal out of it. Anyway, wish you all the best Sariel, and your pets as well of course.

Fast & Furious 9 for me too.

Yeah, I don't use hoses much anyway, but I usually use that pin with pinhole and lead the hose though the hole and use it that way to hold the hose, but I mostly end up using hoses as decorative parts on 6 or 8 cylinder tractor engines and such.

Typical bush part that all too often cracks on my end after some years, I'd greatly prefer a pinhole.

With a thin enough drill bit, you could probably drill a hole through it though. Tedious, but worth it to have hose extensions.

As much as I would like official images as soon as possible, I would rather see this current trend of awaiting such a release in order to delay the copycats as long as possible. Impatient as I am, this is the best strategy.