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Kanakalackin

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Blog Entries posted by Kanakalackin

  1. Kanakalackin
    I finally finished it.
     
    It took a year and four months, but it's finally been completed.
     
    Originally, my project consisted of installing ramps, platforms, tunnels, shade structures, potable water sources, planting trees, and installing new pet waste stations (courtesy of DOGIPOT). The completed project was much refined based on the amount of volunteers I could muster and the resources available. The shade structures and potable water sources were the first to go; the shade structures wouldn't be able to be delivered to the park and would be too complicated/revenue consuming to work in my project and there was no way potable water could be piped into the park. The trees didn't happen because the park is very particular about the trees planted and never gave me a list of the trees they would like in the park. In the end, the pet stations were installed, as well as the ramps, platforms, and tunnels. To make up for the trees, I refurbished the benches in the dog park. I've received an immense amount of positive feedback from the park, who's seen an increase in usage, and from the dog community here in Naples, Italy.
     
    I also had to delay my project six months for a work permit to be pushed through.
     
    Twice.
     
    That it turns out I didn't even need.
     
    Anyways here are some pictures of the completed project, to be honest I'm incredibly happy and relieved to have it finished. Now that it's out of the way, I just have to face my Board of Review (I've finished all of my paperwork, merit badges, and had my Scoutmaster Conference). Hopefully I can get this all done before the end of 2016...

  4. Kanakalackin
    So I was reading through a dinosaur book from my early childhood earlier and saw that they labeled T-Rex as the big, mean dinosaur who killed other dinosaurs. Why do we label the carnivorous dinosaurs as the bad ones? They could’ve been like “Aw man, these Apatasaurus’ are eating all of my salad. What will I eat now? You know what, screw this, I’m going to eat them."
     
    What if the vegan dinosaurs were the evil ones...
  5. Kanakalackin
    *Reads BZP Rules (Blog rules too) to make sure I'm not breaking any*
     
    Ok, I'm good.
     
    Here is the short (BZP-appropriate) version of my AMV "Smoke Masks Erreday".

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezq72KwdKVU

  6. Kanakalackin

    What if...

    By Kanakalackin,

    What if the mastermind behind the World War II Nazis wasn't actually Hitler, but Hitler's dog.
     
    What if Hitler's dog, Blondi, was manipulating Hitler into doing what he did so that Blondi could then take over the world. Once America and the rest of the allied forces were out of the picture, Blondi would take over the world, reinstate dogs as the world leaders, and make Hitler his primary butler. But America knew about this. So they sent in a black ops team to take out Blondi. Once Blondi was out of the picture, it was all downhill. Near the end of the war, when Hitler found Blondi's body. He committed suicide so that he could be with his dog forever.
     
    And then America covered everything up because 'Murica.
     
    Now I'll patiently wait for the black helicopters.
  7. Kanakalackin
    I just got the best figure from the current Minifigure series because my store FINALLY started carrying them.



    --[]--






    The Bartman



    --[]--


     




    "The hero Springfield deserves, but not the one it needs."


  8. Kanakalackin
    Yeah. I'm a boy scout. Feel free to poke fun; I know how to play with fire safely.
     
    So I really began working towards my Eagle Scout rank when I was ten and first became a boy scout. All I could really do at that point was earn merit badges (I needed to earn a minimum total of 21), so that's all I focused on towards the beginning, while my friends were all advancing in rank, I was learning new things before they were. Sure I was considered being a "lower level" scout because I didn't have a fancy badge on my pocket, but my decisions back then helped me figure out what I like to do and how I work the best.
     
    So flash forward six years and I'm finally working on what many consider the largest part of earning the Eagle rank: the project. I'm only missing three required merit badges (all of which I'm extremely close to finishing), and I've been hitting the project hard since I started it in April. I figured I should start keeping a semi-regular log of my activities and the planning process, so here we go.
     
    On April 1st (this isn't a joke), I presented my project proposal. For those of you who don't know, the proposal is the very first part of the project. This is where you have an idea, and begin refining it so you can accomplish it. My idea was refurbishing some parts of a local park (Carney Park, which is located inside of a caldera). The project consisted of refurbishing signs that had fallen into disrepair, and revamping a dog park. The approval committee liked my project, but they thought it was too large to accomplish. They said I could keep the idea, but it needed to be more refined before they gave me the final okay.
     
    So a month went by and I worked on refining it, I also met with the park director and my project counselor. The park director said that it was okay if I ditched the sign portion of the project and focused the materials, money, and work towards the dog park. My counselor agreed, and I had simplified my project enough to work out the details. Now I only had to focus on one thing: a dog park.
     
    Right now the dog park is just a huge, fenced-in, grassy area where the only thing to do is throw a ball or play tug. The dog park doesn't get a lot of usage because there's really nothing to do there if you don't bring anything and it's out in town. There's also a dog park similar to it on the main navy base where most of the Americans live, so why would anybody drive half an hour to go to a dog park that they get the same experience from near home?
     
    So I developed a plan to answer that question. Since there's nothing at the dog park right now, it gives me a lot of opportunities to make it fantastic. My final proposal said that I would install concrete tunnels (6 feet long, 3.5 feet high), ramps, platforms, a shade structure (like a gazebo), and a working water system. This proposal was approved, so I moved onto my final plan.
     
    I met with the park director again, and he said that putting in a water system wouldn't be possible. Public Works said that the only water that could be redirected into the dog park was irrigation water, and in Italy (at least in Naples), any water that isn't filtered for consumption can make you really, really sick. I also began looking at how much money I would need to raise, I proposed $7,500 (when the water system was still going to be a thing). That's a lot of money to raise. So I kept simplifying it.
     
    The dog park actually has a fence bisecting it with not one, but three separate gates for travel between the two mini-parks. My plan has one labeled as "small dog park" and the other "big dog park". This was in an effort to give the smaller breeds an opportunity to have fun safely without running the risk of a larger breed trampling them in the process. Two of the gates are going to be locked off, and the middle one will be left unlocked if an owner is confident in their dog's good behavior.
     
    My original plan had a concrete tunnel, a ramp, and a platform in each dog park. This required a lot of materials, money, and logistics (mostly for the concrete). So I began looking at alternatives. Instead of a concrete tube, I'm looking at using tractor tires. These are not only cheaper, but they require a lot less logistically. I merged the ramps and platforms together, so now there is one ramp/platform combo in each park. The small dog park is going to have a square platform with four ramps extending from it, and the large dog park will have a bigger, rectangular platform with two ramps.
     
    So now that leaves me with the shade structure. There is only one outdoor/home improvement store near enough to get stuff from, so that makes shopping a little bit easier. It also makes it harder because it all depends on what's available. Right now I'm looking at getting them to truck in a pre-built gazebo that can be installed. But again, that requires that specific store having it. I'm planning on going to check out what they've got sometime next week, so hopefully I can find something that works.
     
    These aren't the only things that would be put in the dog park. I'm going to plant some trees inside it, install coat hooks for leashes, and install a pet station so that owners don't have an excuse to not clean up after their dogs. So far I know I can get one pet station donated (a $350 value), but I'm going to try for two.
     
    The project is scheduled to start in late August/early Spetember, with fundraising beginning as early as June. I'm going to be using gofundme.com as a source of funds, so when that gets started I'll post about it.
  12. Kanakalackin
    I'm just your average teenage white boy with a love for tiny plastic toys. Mega Bloks included. I'm also into things like movies, television, and the internet. Not quite sure how much you need to know, so I'll cap this entry off with a call for questions about me and a picture that I took 5 minutes ago and uploaded to flickr while writing this.
     



  15. Kanakalackin
    Technically I never said I was going anywhere, so I'm leaving this blog entry untended for an hour.
     
    Alright, aaaaaand I'm back!
     
    This weekend I went up to Germany for an Order of the Arrow spring fellowship! I was on the ceremony team for the pre-ordeal, ordeal, and brotherhood ceremonies, I got to build two incredible fires, and I got cool patches! I also went to this cool town named Rothenburg! Lots of fun was had, but I'm not going to go into specifics. I just went out and had a great time with friends.
     
    (The reason I built two fires was because there were hot ashes underneath the first one and it literally lit itself while I wasn't around. The second one was a lot better though.)
     
    Here's a picture of the second fire, because I didn't take a photo of the first one ;-;



  16. Kanakalackin
    My store FINALLY got the Transformers Generations Combiner Wars wave 1 deluxe class figures! I'm looking forward to getting at least a few of them because they look super cool.
     
    Firefly

    Firefly is probably my favorite out of this wave He has a sleek robot mode, and a sleek jet to match. Probably his biggest drawback is the amount of robot "kibble" on the underside of his jet mode.
     
    Dragstrip

    Dragstrip looks pretty nice with the other Stunticons that are out everywhere else in the world. I love the look of his F1 racecar and how smooth he looks altogether. His biggest drawback for me is the screwholes on his robot mode's front.
     
    Alpha Bravo

    Definitely a cool looking figure, with a cool helicopter to match, but the amount of vehi-kibble on his back bugs me. :/
     
    Skydive

    I love how brawny Skydive looks. Despite having a very similar transformation process to Firefly, the robot kibble doesn't look too bad.
     
    I can't wait to get these figures (and hopefully the legends and voyagers too!). Now here's to hoping that my store will make it to wave two so I can get Dead End...
  17. Kanakalackin
    For those of you who follow me on Flickr and/or Instagram, you may be aware that I'm into taking pictures of my Halo stuff outside. I really like doing this, it gives the figures more personality in some cases. I try to do this with all of them, but sometimes other figures work better in different situations. Here are some pictures from my photoshoot with the UNSC All Terrain Mongoose set.



     



     

    The thumbnails link to larger pictures.


  18. Kanakalackin
    WARNING: The following post may induce unhappiness, rage, and slight nausea for people who hate Mega Bloks.



    Proceed with caution.


     
     

    UNSC All Terrain Mongoose





     

    The Box


     

    You can already see the box in the picture above. The left and right panels are just an inspiring picture of the Chief with the Halo logo. The top panel shows the size of the super-posable Emile figure, and the bottom panel contains legal info. The back of the box can be viewed by clicking the thumbnail below.





     

    The Contents


     

    Inside the box is the usual stuff. Instructions and parts are all here, but there's also an advertisement encouraging me to "Join the community!" whatever that means. I'm not going to go through and compare each MB part to the LEGO part that it's a clone of similar to because that takes too much effort and I'm lazy.






    Three separate bags. One for the figure (with another part for some reason), the other two don't really have any method to how they're packaged from what I can tell.


     

    The Figure


     

    So obviously the reason I bought this set was for Emile and not because I need a vehicle to take pictures of.






    Emile is a fantastic representation of how he's depicted in-game. Really glad that Mega was able to license and market the figure as Emile instead of a random Spartan (they did that with all of Noble Team in the past). He features the amazing, new-for-2014 articulation for Halo figures (my store only just stocked this set recently, so I wasn't able to obtain it until now). The new system features twelve separate points of articulation, with enhanced arm posability (using hinges instead of ball joints), and a new armor system. The armor system is 100% compatible with Spartans using the same system, so you can swap upper and lower body armor, shoulder armor, and thigh armor between other figures. Standard human figures (ODSTs and Marines) feature a similar system, but the torso mold is different. Emile's paint job is spot-on and there's a lot of detail molded onto him. I wish they made his red armor piece a bit weathered with a blackwash though. It looks too shiny and new. His helmet carving is also a bit simplified (some could say cartoonish), but it's not that big of a deal.



    In short, Emile's a fantastic figure and does his on-screen form justice.


     

    The Parts


     




    I sorted out the parts by type (kind of). The wheels come assembled, but you can take the tires off. If anybody's wondering about part quality, I can assure you that it's as strong or stronger than LEGO. All of the parts have a great amount of clutch power, even the 3mm clips and bars. The only MB parts I've had lose their clutch power or break altogether are translucent clips. The figures are made mostly of a softer plastic though, so their details may rub off from excessive use. Something I love about Mega's products is how many unique molds they have. While they have the standard selection of bricks and plates, they have a lot of highly-detailed specialized pieces for vehicle building. Also, all of the decals are printed on. While the UNSC letters on the rear fender are tiny and a little disappointing, the headlights and UNSC logo come pre-applied, so no problems with dust or being off-center. Yay!


     

    The Build


     




    The build is simple and straightforward. Nothing really interesting or mind-blowing about it. But that doesn't stop it from being fun and satisfying. You're left with
    four extra pieces when the build's completed: another wheel/axle brick in silver, a 1x1 black tile, a 1x1 silver stud, and a short 3mm connector piece.

     

    The Nitpicky Stuff


     

    Every set has its flaws. Now it's time to point them out.






    Firstly, the Mongoose is big. It looks fine when it's sitting alone, but when you pair it with a figure, it's just out of scale enough so that it looks off.



    Second, the front and back are very lackluster. I get that this is a military ATV, but that doesn't mean you can't make it look nice! The front is great until you get to the center. It just sort of cuts out. A curved slope of some sort would've been great here. The back also needs a little work, the 3mm bar plate sticks out farther than it should (and becomes detrimental to the playability), and the open stud makes it look even more out of place.



    Third, the Mongoose is skinny! I'm willing to cut a bit of slack here because it has to accommodate a figure. But the center section is still thin and hurts the standalone look.



    Fourth, the play-feature. One of the main purposes of the Mongoose is that another person can ride on the back of it and make the Mongoose a mini Warthog. The 3mm bar plate is great and all, but it's placed in the center where a figure cannot grab onto it in a way that looks good. It also juts out too far, so a figure has to lean back to be able to pose well with a weapon.



    And Fifth, it's really, really hard to get a figure in a decent position on this thing. It takes a lot of positioning and coordination to do it.


     

    Final Thoughts


     

    Overall, the Mongoose isn't a bad set. Originally it retailed at $12 USD, but I bought it for $10 USD. I'm not disappointed with my purchase, and most of its flaws are overlookable.


     

    Pros:



    Super-Posable Emile!



    Updated Mongoose!



    Kukri knife!



    Detail!


     

    Cons:



    Hard to position figures on.



    Front and Back are lackluster.



    A little out of scale.


     

    All pictures used in this review can be found in the
    Flickr Album


    (with some others too!)



    ________________________________________________________________


     

    If you liked this review, please give me a thumbs-up to help feed my puppy!


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