Kit Info
Brand: 1/72 Bandai 0183653
Media: Styrene
Markings: Kit
The Subject
The Type-99 Cosmo Falcon (or Hayabusa in Japanese) is a trans-atmospheric space fighter aircraft used by the United Nations Cosmo Force and United Nations Ground Force in the late twenty second and third centuries.
It is heavily armed with six cannons in the main wing fairings, two machine guns on the nose and up to eight missiles (two in the fuselage missile bays and six underwing). The wing pods house vernier thrusters and RCS (Reaction Control System) and also features 2D vector-thrust, allowing for vertical take-off. The pilot is assisted by a navigation computer AI.
A total of thirty-six (equipping three squadrons) Cosmo Falcons were on board the Yamato at the time of its departure and saw significant action throughout Yamato’s journey to Iscandar.
This subject of this build is Ensign Shinohara Hiroki’s Cosmo Falcon 107 which is custom painted with a sharkmouth on its nose.
Sources
Space Battle Ship Yamato Wiki – Type 99 Cosmo Falcon
The Kit
The Cosmo Falcon depicted in this kit comes from Space Battleship Yamato 2199, the 2012 re-telling of the original 1974 TV series. It’s a modern take by Izubuchi Yutaka of the classic Black Tiger design by Tamamori Junichiro. Unlike other modern Bandai kits, it’s not 100% snapfit (details below) and options include:
- wheels-up or down option
- both seated and standing Shinohara Hiroki figures
- armaments include 6x air-to-ground missiles and 6x air-to-air missiles
- standard Bandai flight stand
- markings come in the form of decals and only for Shinohara’s Cosmo Falcon
- a sticker sheet is also provided for (I assume) the stand
- instructions is in booklet form that’s in Japanese only although the pictures are quite clear
The Build
This is my sanity build although I did have a minor disaster at the finishing stages. The kit came together quite quickly with the usual excellent snapfit quality of Bandai’s engineering. Like the Cosmo Zero build, the pylons do not snapfit into place. Also like the previous build, some of the yellow pieces were designed without enough tabs so they fit with some visible gaps.
Unlike the Cosmo Zero, there’s no ‘stowed’ configuration for this kit so the options are quite limited besides just wheels up or down and the stores.
Colors & Markings
I went with a slight variation of the default color scheme for this kit with the wings are the same color on both sides and the engine nozzles getting the metallic treatment. The painting process went very smoothly as I can paint in sub-assemblies so masking is minimal. To get the rich yellow I basecoated it with pink first.
The decals went on without a problem although the sharkmouth is large so I cut it into two pieces and applied them separately.
Finishing
Weathering was minimal with only a simple panel line wash using Tamiya Accent Black for the lighter areas and a light gray oil wash for the darker areas. These were done over a satin finish so the wash grips the surface.
Bandai plastic is notorious for breaking apart when an enamel wash is used but I’ve had good luck with them so far. Well… my luck ran out. Thankfully it’s just the nose wheel which is not a prominent part. Somewhat annoying that it happened though.
Then it’s just a matter of carefully attaching the landing gear which snapfit into place. Last on were the undernose probes and I called it done.
Build Log
Construction & Finishing
Build 3 of 2024
