tetsujin
Active Member
- Joined
- Jun 26, 2009
- Messages
- 101
I'm going to Tekkoshocon in April - so I'm trying to get a few projects ready in time for their model contest... In particular, a Hasegawa VF-0 Battroid and a Bandai Scopedog.
(Not familiar with these subjects? The VF-0 is a variable fighter from Macross Zero. The "Battroid" form is the humanoid robot which the fighter jet transforms into. The Scopedog is a four-meter-tall robot: the robot's torso contains a pilot seat and little else. In the anime the Scopedogs are formidable, but fairly vulnerable, too - and somewhat walking death traps loaded with extraordinarily volatile fuel...)
The thing about the Bandai Scopedog kit is that the basic kit is really basic in terms of what it includes: just the Scopedog, its rifle, and standing and seated pilot figures. I felt like it really needed something more. I decided to go with the parachute pack because it's fairly mundane as power-ups go: it carries a parachute to drop the Scopedog somewhere, extra fuel and ammo to allow it to operate longer, and some stowage. Basically it doesn't make the Scopedog any more powerful, it just makes it and its pilot self-sufficient for a longer period of time. Perfect for someone to be dropped into a hostile situation, left without outside support for longer than they really should be, and still expected to go and get the job done...
Anyway, it's a pretty simple shape to build: it's all boxy. I took measurements from the kit (and from a 1:35 scale version of the parachute pack) and used that to draw up plans, cut out plates, and assemble the pack over the course of a couple days. (Obviously there's still a lot more to do...)
One small problem with this thing was the ammo rack: it's supposed to carry three magazines, and occupy nearly the entire width of the pack (46mm on my design...) - but the ammo magazine that comes with the Bandai Scopedog is only 8mm wide... This is, I think, pretty accurate to the original design for the rifle, but it doesn't fit the apparent dimensions of the ammo racks on the mission packs. If each ammo magazine were nearly 1/3 of the width of the Parachute Pack, the magazines would be 14-15mm thick. In order for all these Scopedog mission packs' ammo racks to work correctly in model form, the magazine has to be a bit wider... (3 * 8mm = 24mm, just over half of the 46mm width of the pack) So I bulked up the ammo magazine to 10mm wide: wide enough to fill up a reasonable amount of space on the ammo rack (30mm, roughly 2/3 of the backpack width) but still fairly slim. It's a bit of a compromise, meant to resolve the discrepancy between the rifle line-art and the line-art for the backpacks.
I've got about 43 days at this point to finish up projects for Tekko - hopefully I can pull it off.
(Not familiar with these subjects? The VF-0 is a variable fighter from Macross Zero. The "Battroid" form is the humanoid robot which the fighter jet transforms into. The Scopedog is a four-meter-tall robot: the robot's torso contains a pilot seat and little else. In the anime the Scopedogs are formidable, but fairly vulnerable, too - and somewhat walking death traps loaded with extraordinarily volatile fuel...)
The thing about the Bandai Scopedog kit is that the basic kit is really basic in terms of what it includes: just the Scopedog, its rifle, and standing and seated pilot figures. I felt like it really needed something more. I decided to go with the parachute pack because it's fairly mundane as power-ups go: it carries a parachute to drop the Scopedog somewhere, extra fuel and ammo to allow it to operate longer, and some stowage. Basically it doesn't make the Scopedog any more powerful, it just makes it and its pilot self-sufficient for a longer period of time. Perfect for someone to be dropped into a hostile situation, left without outside support for longer than they really should be, and still expected to go and get the job done...
Anyway, it's a pretty simple shape to build: it's all boxy. I took measurements from the kit (and from a 1:35 scale version of the parachute pack) and used that to draw up plans, cut out plates, and assemble the pack over the course of a couple days. (Obviously there's still a lot more to do...)
One small problem with this thing was the ammo rack: it's supposed to carry three magazines, and occupy nearly the entire width of the pack (46mm on my design...) - but the ammo magazine that comes with the Bandai Scopedog is only 8mm wide... This is, I think, pretty accurate to the original design for the rifle, but it doesn't fit the apparent dimensions of the ammo racks on the mission packs. If each ammo magazine were nearly 1/3 of the width of the Parachute Pack, the magazines would be 14-15mm thick. In order for all these Scopedog mission packs' ammo racks to work correctly in model form, the magazine has to be a bit wider... (3 * 8mm = 24mm, just over half of the 46mm width of the pack) So I bulked up the ammo magazine to 10mm wide: wide enough to fill up a reasonable amount of space on the ammo rack (30mm, roughly 2/3 of the backpack width) but still fairly slim. It's a bit of a compromise, meant to resolve the discrepancy between the rifle line-art and the line-art for the backpacks.
I've got about 43 days at this point to finish up projects for Tekko - hopefully I can pull it off.
