Lt. Z0mBe

Thanks! It's my favorite design in all of sci-fi. I fell in love with it upon seeing the old Aerotech box art. I didn't know about the whole deal with that design being "borrowed" by Fasa. I had to call around to like 10 hobby shops until I found one guy who knew where I could get one. He referred me to the old GTC out in Overland Park, Kansas. That was back in 1994 and I have loved the design ever since and lusted after the 1/100 kits... Kenny

So much good work here, as always. I am getting really close on this guy. I am building it as one of the unseen from Battletech, the Samurai pictured on the front of the Aerotech game box art. It is built using the old 1/100 Takara kit. It will be finished in Wolf's Dragoons markings. It needs a Future coat, decals, washes, filtering and it should be done. I hope to have it finished by Wonderfest. Comments and criticisms welcome. Kenny

Finally finished the Battletech Longbow CB/AAD (Counter-Battery/Anti-Aircraft Defense): Comments and criticism welcome. Kenny

For your perusal I submit the Battletech Longbow CB/AAD (Counter Battery / Anti-Aircraft Defense; pronounced "See Bad"). It it a conversion of the old 1/100 Bandai Macross Destroid Phalanx kit. I figured given the wealth of technology apparently hoarded by the Kell Hounds and Wolf's Dragoons, it would make sense for us to see a procession of variants from proven designs. Presumably, this would be in the same vein as say some of the Leopard and T-80/90 tank variants of today for things like fire support and AAA. Given the clans' fielding of variants like the Vulture for fire support and heavy attack aersopace fighters, I would figure we should see some advanced countermeasures by the Inner Sphere leading mercenary outfits. The AMS (Anti Missile System): I was going for a cross between the Navy CIWS and the Macross Phalanx "alternate" head seen here. Beefing up the shoulders here. Trying to drive home the fact that the original design has been upgraded: . Right "arm" housing the Arrow IV launcher, a large pulse laser and a small pulse laser: The "laser" is a read/write head from a VCR along with some components from a Monogram P-38 20mm cannon. The launcher is spare parts from a Macross weapons set and some Bandai kit. Left arm SAM and LRM launcher. It was scratchbuilt from sheet styrene and a makeup container: The rest of the stuff is below You'll see some styrene sheet here and there as well as my having drilled out the tiedowns (also serve as verniers in the original Macross design). I also opened up the stance a bit using some brass tubing and Aves. The display base is complete. The model has also been primed, salted and pre-shaded. I just finished color coating the left arm a few minutes ago. Comments and criticisms welcome. Kenny

There's been lots of work but not so much posting from me. I am going for a blue, beat-to-hell look on this one. The flash on the camera muted these colors a bit (or maybe it's my monitor) but I think you can see where I'm going. For the uninitiated, I am putting this SW190 in the Battletech universe as an aerospace fighter of the Kell Hounds. I preshaded in dark gray and blue for a mottled effect. It still needs a little bit of work on the basecoat, with the colors for the exhaust nozzle and cannon barrels being at the top of the list. I also scratchbuilt some drop tanks but they're just primed at this point. Comments and criticisms welcome. Kenny

Now that you mention it, I think you're right about that PPC. I think the joint between the Aves and barrel jacket needs tightening up a bit with some fine sandpaper and diamond files. I think I will brush on a bit of primer over the joint before I tackle the real priming so I can clean it up nicely. Thanks for the input. I'll take it all day. Kenny

Here's a little more for you guys today. ] You'll also notice the canopy in place and masked. After an overnight of drying, the intakes and nozzles will get a Future coat. After that, there's a little more masking and then we can start priming. More to come soon. Comments and criticisms welcome. Kenny

Thanks for the kind words. I have to admit I missed that one of yours. But, I love it! I will get some more images this week with some close-ups of the PPC/ML Kenny

Here's my newest project - a Hasegawa Harlock SW-190. I started this one a few weeks ago but am just now getting around to posting these images. This design always reminded me of the "unseen" aerospace fighter designs Fasa ahem..."borrowed" from the likes of Crusher Joe. I always imagined the SW190 fighting alongside the Inner Sphere with the likes of the Samurai, for example. I am going with either Kell Hounds or Wolf's Dragoons on this one. I am also trying to give it some of that balanced asymmetry we see in the technical readouts among the other fighter designs. In the starboard wing, you'll see a medium PPC whereas in the port wing, there's a medium pulse laser housing; these are in place of the kit's small rotary cannons buried in the wing root. Here's the images I have so far: Working on the display base in the images below. It's going to be a little slice of a Confederate-class dropship exterior. They're basically spherical, erring a bit on the side of egg shaped. In these images I have worked the foam substrate of the base into a rough, scale representation of what the hull should look like. Basically, we're going for a scale spherical cross section for the ship on 1/72 scale. This rough foam substrate will get some dropshippish panels. Comments and criticisms welcome. Kenny

Thanks for the kind words, everyone. Praise from the masters, indeed. It's actually a pedometer they were giving out at work. The cylinders are makeup bottle/tube caps of some type and the piece they come out of is the shell to a generic Ipod dock. Kenny

Here's Incom T-65 Green 3 for your perusal as well. The base is just something I threw together from some foam, cardboard and junk, so don't laugh too hard. Comments and criticisms welcome. Kenny

I realized I never posted the finished shots of my Earthforce Lend-Lease Frazi. It took a Merit at Wonderfest: Comments and criticisms welcome. Kenny

Got a little more today on the Frazi. I finally finished detailing the BFG mounts. I also got a good start on the extra RCS thrusters I wanted to add. The lateral ones still need a bit of trimming. I've mostly finished the roll/pitch pairs on top of the thing, filling and sculpting as I went. RCS thrusters are going pretty fast. Hope to have them finished next week. Hope to... Kenny

Nice. Love the color choice for the aircrew helmets. Kenny

You might try sending a PM to TER-OR if you want some tips about building it. He built one as a target drone a few years ago. It uses the boosters. I am pretty sure it was the Club-M version, as it is in 1/72 scale. Kenny

Love the Airwolf. Looks like you knocked it out of the park. Am I the only one who sees it as an armed police version? I know, police helos aren't armed but still... Kenny

Good looking work all around. Small update on the Frazi today. Nearly finished with detailing the BFG mounts and the LFGs themselves: Decided it needed some more "warts" to more convey the lend-lease/late mark notion I am going for. So I added a big sensor boom under the nose: Layout thus far: Still need to finish the BFG mounts with just a few more touches, add some RCS thruster details and then I can begin scribing. Comments and criticisms welcome. Kenny

Thanks for Frazi copliments. Those Ma. K suits look awesome. I love the Melusine. Did you hairspray and salt it? Kenny

Small update for today on the Frazi project. I cleaned up the hardpoints under the fuselage and added the beginnings for the LFG's. Since I want this to look like an Earthforce lend-lease concept, I wanted the LFG's to look Starfury-ish. Comments and criticisms welcome. Kenny

Great job! That's one that never gets old. Kenny

Thanks! Humbling considering the nice work that's standard around here. A few more from this week: Cleaning up the BFG mounts was a pain: But I finally cleaned/squared them up: Made the armature/stand tube look a little neater: Cleaned up the little white pieces by fairing and sculpting them with CA and baking soda. They're going to be for more RCS thrusters (little blurry): Now the additions on the bottom hopefully make sense to you guys as hardpoints for the BFM's: Comments and criticisms welcome. Kenny

Some progress on the hypothetical Frazi build: Engines all Aves'd om and fitting complete: New BFG mounts underway: This stuff will make sense later: Also working on some BFM's: Comments and criticisms welcome. Kenny

Here's this morning's update on the Frazi. I mounted the engines and gave them each their own little laminated styrene housing, to both integrate the "new" engines and suggest that this Frazi is a later or special lend-lease mark. On the underside, I added a little bit of detail too. I just finished a round of Avesing just before snapping those to fill some of the gaps between the engines and fuselage. Comments and criticisms welcome. Kenny

FInally finished the Aves cleanup of the thing. There will be a little more later as I add subassemblies but the lion's share is complete. The mounts for the kit armament are removed. I'm going to change the armament a bit, keeping with the theme I've got going. The underside on this thing's horrible. There was no definition and the kit lines were crooked. In fairing in the widened cockpit tub, I added some symmetry and definition: Finally, the tail booms, details and their vertical stabilizers got blessed Aves-and-styrene treatment, coupled with delicate sanding work to get some definition out of the featureless blah that was each side of empennage: Next, I've got some RCS thrusters I want to add, the exhaust nozzles, some fun stuff (BFG's!) and the catharsis known as scribing panel lines. I think I am going to have a bit of fun with a base too. Comments and criticisms welcome Kenny

USe the head of a straight pin; put a bulb of paint on in and "walk" it around the tiny area. Or, use an airbrush to hit those areas with several light, misting coats. You can also hit areas like that with multiple washes. Put enough of them into a given area and you'll saturate it properly. Kenny