Monthly Archive for July, 2011

General Dynamics F-16N ‘TOPGUN Marines’

Posted on July 25, 2011 in Projects. 0 Comments Tags: .

Kit Info
Manufacturer: Tamiya
Scale: 1/48
Media: Injection Plastic

My 2nd ‘SMLJ Aggressor?’ build will be the General Dynamics F-16N in Marine Corps markings. 22 F-16Ns were acquired by the US Navy to serve in the Dissimilar Air Combat Training (DACT) role in 1987. By 1995 though they have all been retired. The F-16N is based on the Block 30 F-16C.

One particular F-16N was given a very striking green splinter camouflage and Marine Corps markings. This is the one I will be building, I hope…

By all accounts, the Tamiya F-16 kit is the best one in the market right now. It’s also supposed to be a shake and bake kit. I somewhat agree with this although there are some issues to overcome.

Firstly, the MLG bay. Pin marks are everywhere. Not sure why this is so since Hasegawa and Academy (much older vintages) don’t have this problem. I filled these up with Vallejo Liquid Putty.

The kit also has these 2 panels that are oddly separate. Luckily they fit fine.

The kit came molded as a modern version of the F-16 so some bumps and antennas need to be removed to accurize it as an F-16N. The instruction manual is pretty comprehensive though so it’s a matter of just doing the proper cutting and sanding.

First up, the scoop at the base of the tailfin needs to be removed.

Antenna bumps on each side of the topside wingroot need to be sanded down.

There are antenna bumps on each side of the bottom side wingroot that need to be removed too.

The leading edge of the wings has the RWR (called ‘beercans’) molded on. Well, parts of them anyway. These need removing and cleaning up.

This kit comes with a full length intake which conveniently has 2 seamlines running along the horizontal axis. Joy. Anyway I’m trying this out to see if I can reduce the obvious seamline running across the middle of the intake. So basically instead of a front and rear intake I’m assembling them as one long upper and lower half of the intake. This allows me to easily remove the seamline in the middle.

A quick testfit shows I can still attach the intake with no problems.

Upcoming stuff I like (and my wallet doesn’t)

Posted on July 24, 2011 in Gunpla, Hobby News and Mecha. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

Wow… haven’t had many things catching my eyes and lo and behold, they’re all coming in the next few months. My wallet is already quivering in fear.

King of Braves Gao Gai Gar is coming in August courtesy of Bandai’s Super Robot Chogokin line. 4,800 yen. I hope they release all the main Brave series heroes.

In September, the next Super Sentai robot is coming in the form of Gokai-Oh from Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger. This is also part of Bandai’s Super Robot Chogokin. 4,800 yen.

Also in September, Bandai’s HGUC RGM-96X Jesta is coming! This is from Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn. Very nice! 1,600 yen.

In October, another GM is coming! This time it’s the HGUC RGM-79R GM II. This is from Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam and will be 1,470 yen. Never thought they’d do this one to be honest. There’s hope for the other GMs like Nemo, GM Sniper Custom and the rarer variants now!

November will bring another Super Sentai robot. This time it’s Deka Robo from Tokusou Sentai Dekaranger. 4,800 yen of metal goodness. Bring on more Super Sentai robots Bandai!

Then in December another Super Robot Chogokin will be released from King of Braves Gao Gai Gar. This time it’s Choryujin. Again priced at 4,800 yen.

Lastly, Kotobukiya is going to release a D-style (what they call their SD line) ARX-7 Arbalest from Full Metal Panic! I’m a big fan of Full Metal Panic so this is a pleasant surprise. Price and release date still unknown.

General Galaxy VF-22S Sturmvogel II

Posted on July 13, 2011 in Works. 0 Comments





The Subject
The VF-22S Sturmvogel II is the mass production version of General Galaxy’s entry in Project Super Nova, the YF-21 ‘Omega One’. The YF-21′s brainwave control system was dropped and replaced with conventional controls. However, the active stealth and payload capabilites were retained. The VF-22S has been deployed by UN Spacy in limited numbers in the special operations force role.

Info from Macross Compendium

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A dearth of updates

Posted on July 11, 2011 in Musings, Real Life, Site News and The Hobby. 0 Comments

Yeah updates have fallen on the way side but it’s for good reason. For one thing, I’ve been busy at work. For another I’ve had a bout of fever that won’t go away. I’ve also gone on holiday with the kids for almost a week.

I haven’t really done much modeling either so it’s not just about not updating the site.

Anyhow, I’ll be ramping up soon again. Yes, endless WIPs will continue real soon.