Model Citizen

The Undefeated.
This refers to the Gundam in the largest scene I've ever tackled. I got the idea from an opening scene in the Anime series Full metal Panic and just thought Wow, what a cool idea for a model scene, so I thought I'd give it a shot.
I took some Work In Progress pictures along the way, so sit back and see the drama unfold LOL


Here is the beginning. I had this 1/35 Blackhawk under a desk for ages, thinking one day I'd make a Desert Storm dio, but that went out the window in favour of this idea (it also means I have a spare Abrams Tank I'll need to think of something for).


Here is the troops and the canoe (see if you can spot it later on). Also note my first mistake. The pilots don't have legs so I made them some very simple ones from Milliput, unfortunatley when I came to fit them they were too big and the heads came out the roof! So I chucked them away, you really dont notice that they have'nt got legs in the finished scene.


Here I am building the Gundam, and next mistake. In hindsight, it would have been a lot simpler building it in parts because the painting was quite tricky when complete.
Also take pity on the tiny amount of space I had to make this huge beast!


The undercoating has begun. Also notice the helicopter is on a dowel pole fixed into a base. The base was filled with cement to take the weight. Third and Fourth mistake: The base still could'nt take the finished weight so I had to add another secondry base. And also the pole was'nt strong enough to hold it all upright without bending so I had to add an anchor line to the tail.
You can also see that I've sprayed a simple chamo scheme onto the chopper, which was undercoated in the blue colour using Halfords auto spray. White and Red also used for other parts.


Here is a close up of the wire coathanger (how hard was it to find one of those!) that I will use in the hook gun assembly to help keep the robot up in the air. You can also see the troops have been added to the chopper, and the windows and doors fitted.


Here's a shot of the jetpack showing the compromise I made in weathering. I love the really clean crisp looks of Gundams and also the weathered look, so went somewhere in the middle with a super clean look only weathered where the exhaust fumes would be. The shot also shows my "good" brushes, the chunky handled Revell brand.

OK, here come the finished shots:










Here are the full shots. It's around 3' high so would'nt fit in my light tent. I had to wait for a sunny day and take some pictures by the window.








Just a quick update. I'm very proud to say this scene made Gallery Of The Day at E2046