Latest custom 1/48 in progress

[Kurt]

Hey everyone,

I am in the process of another custom 1/48. This is going to be a plain Cannon Fodder that has seen it's share of tough battles. I wanted get your opinion on the battle damage I have done. This is just of the damage on the leg. I am also going to add some damage to the chest and back plates. I will also add plates that have been welded on to cover previous damage.

For those that are interested in how I did this. Just thin the plastic from behind with a rotary tool. For detail I used styrene structual shapes like I-beams and channels to represent inner structure. Then add any details that you think would look correct. I used photo etched model railroad items and wire. I also used braided steel line made for modeling brake lines. Once everything is in carefully melt through the thin plastic with a soldering iron. Just keep working it till it looks right.

Let me know what you think. Thanks.

Edited January 31, 2005 by Kurt

[Kurt]

Closer shot..

[Kurt]

From behind....

[Hikuro]

that poor poor 1/48! Minmay needs to give it a kiss!

Other than that, very realisitic looking compared from others i've seen...you made a real mess of it

[do not disturb]

llok pretty bad arse. can't wait to see the finished product.

[Godzilla]

Agreed. Battle damage is looking good so far.

[Montarvillois]

Boy Kurt,

I gotta say you got balls doing this to a 1/48. Nut sure if you are going to leave it like that cause I've seen your previous customs and they are flawless. I just think the effect looks a bit too much like melted plastic but once painted, It may look less transluscent and may turn out good.

my 2 cents

[Neova]

I hope thats a commission job! Looking good actually!

[Hurricane29]

Like Montarvillois said, just clean up the plastic a little. It just looks like melted plastic as oppose to metal. Other than that, another awesome job Kurt.

[Ido]

Definitely a cannon fodder.

[Dat Pinche Haro!]

so freakin' cool...more pics!

[Kurt]

Thanks for the feedback everyone. I was also a bit unsure of the look of the melted plastic. However I thought that melted metal by a laser or plasma weapon might not look that much different. Painting and weathering will help hide some of the plastic look. I have already primed and pre-shaded, it is already looking better. Keep a look out in the toy section for the completed valk. By the way, this is not a commission job. However if you are interested I may Ebay it when I am done.

[ewilen]

The inner detail looks great but like everyone else, I have trouble with the large bits of melted plastic. I'd either try to make them smaller or, instead of using a soldering iron, thin the plastic from behind and then poke holes with a pin or other appropriate tool.

[cambodian tire]

Hey I can picture it! I think it'll look great when it's all painted, looking good so far!

[promethuem5]

Oh snap! That's awesome mate. very innovative and impressive.

[jadefalconguard]

I must say it looks very good, hands down. Regarding the "melted plastic" don't worry to much just yet. Once painted and drybrushed it'll look better. I read a lot of battletech novels and the armor always gets melted away by lasers, so your cool

You would want to try to thin down the plastic before doing the damage. This will give you a better impression of scale and lets you handle the plastic easier, just a tip

Please, show the pics once you finished this.

[Kurt]

The plastic was thinned.......

[promethuem5]

It's okay Kurt. He's a Clanner (Battletech) so we don't really need to acknowledge him

[jadefalconguard]

I challenge you to a trial of grievance Inners Sphere Stravag . oops wrong forum. Sorry Kurt, you're right. I looked a bit closer and . no offence intended.

[LORD KUNGFU]

looks ok, but it does have that plastikie look to it. I think once its fully weathered, it will look better. The only problem that stands out is the metal mesh. I have worked on aircraft for years, and when the skin is pulled or punctured, there is no metal mesh at all. Its usaully hollow. This being a robot leg, it would have more rods or push pull tubes, hydraulic actuators lookng parts like gundams. Put some metal rods or something of that matter in there. Try finding pictures of damaged aircraft on the net, and mimic those. Yeah, the metal mesh make me think of a car grill or like your going to put plaster on it or something. Doing good looking battle damage is tricky. Ill see if I can find some samples of what I have doen on a 1/55.

[Knight26]

Interesting, but the blast damage looks like it is coming from the inside out to me, you really need to punch through from the outside make the material look punched inwards.

[Kurt]

A quick update. I have painted and Futured in prep for decals and weathering. I think it looks better already. I understand what you guys are saying about it looking melted, that is just my interpretation of what would happen. As far as the blast looking like it came from the inside, I wanted to represent both. I figured that being hit like that is bound to cause internal components to be forced out. That is why in some areas the damage looks like it came from the inside. Keep in mind that I still have alot of weathering to do, so this is not what the final product will look like. Thanks for the feedback.

[Kurt]

I am also going to show where old battle damage has been patched. I used lead foil for the plates and styrene strip to represent the weld beads.

[Die, Alien Scum!]

Kurt, you never fail to impress the crap outta me! I can't wait to see how this turns out!

[Opus]

You should check out this page for some real world battle damage:

http://s96920072.onlinehome.us/Stories1/00...e/story0016.htm

heres a nice pic of the VFs innards.

[rdenham]

Opus great idea posting the cut away diagram, for reference.

Kurt I can’t wait to see where you go with this project; it’s nice to see people are still coming up with new ways to make those of us with limited models making skills jealous.

Although I do appreciate your creativity with this project, I can’t resist adding my own insights to your work. I have always loved battle damaged models whether they are real world military vehicles or fantasy mecha. It’s nice to see you have taken up the daunting task of attempting a battle damaged Yamato 1/48.

Your custom dramatically illustrates that in order to depict battle damage you need to create a detailed set of internal components. Your custom also highlights the need to simulate damage to your internal structure as well as the external surface. The multilayered internal structure gives a great since of depth however painting the internal parts erodes some of the detail which you worked so hard to achieve.

Since the weapons a VF-1 Pilot would face in the Macross universe are a potent mix of particle beam cannons, particle pulse cannons, pulse lasers, & Missiles. Most Zentraedi munitions would severally damage if not completely penetrate the majority of a Valkyrie’s weaker structures.

I thought your idea of the wing patches was creative however I have to assume they were installed prior to the damage on the legs since the leg damage would have most likely been addressed at the same time the wing was repaired. I don’t mean to go over board on the details here I just like to create a since of logic behind the things I create. I also thought the dark color of the patches was to distracting. Patches are usually meant to blend in and they are commonly painted the same color as their surrounding area.

I was thinking about the issue of the damage looking as if it came from the inside out and I think I may have a good justification for the effect. Although projectiles usually create concave points of penetration; if the damage results in a detonation within the structure the secondary explosion may blow internal components outward creating the appearance of an exit point rather than a point of impact. This blow back situation would require the structure to not be fully penetrated, and although highly unlikely it could happen after all this is the Macross universe we are talking about.

Edited February 6, 2005 by rdenham

[fulcy]

adding to what rdenham said - maybe paint the patches in the wing a different shade of the brown of the wing, to simulate an area that was hastily painted, and did not exactly match the rest of the wing...

[Mechamaniac]

Going along with what Rdenham and Fulcy said...

I think one thing to take into account here is the scale of the impact points. Remember that the smallest projectile used by any of the Macross mecha is the 55MM shell fired by the GU-11.

A 55MM round is not quite the diameter of a soup can, and it would make a big ass hole in just about anything it hit.

The Zentraedi mechs are at least half again as large as the UN Spacy mecha, if not twice the size. Therefore, their lasers, micro lasers, etc etc are going to be huge, probably about the size of a healthy 155MM Howitzer round.

I think the damage you have done is awesome, but unless you plan on continuing that damage straight through the leg etc, it may not hold up. To me, the melting of the surface looks more like a glancing blow, or maybe one that just barely missed, but was still close enough to melt the skin on the Valkyrie.

Also, it is hard to imagine a weapon making that kind of footprint on the Valk. A beam hit whether direct or oblong or glancing would leave a single round hole, or a longer oval hole. Your damage looks like someone burned a rectangular hole with a soldering iron.

Awesome work either way, but maybe if you did some other battle damage around that site to imiatate a beam coming very close, but not hitting?

Edited February 6, 2005 by Mechamaniac

[Kurt]

Thanks guys for your very detailed opions on the damage. I appreciate it, I really do and if I do damage again in the future I will take your comments into account. Don't take this the wrong way, but you guys are describing your opinions like anyone really knows what this type of damage would look like. If you could show me images of a real valk damaged with real laser and beam weapons I would be very tempted to re-do my work. However since all of this is completely open to interpretation, I am happy with my results. I am not offened in anyway, just don't over analyze everything. Thanks again!

[Hurricane29]

This CF will be awesome, great job on the damage Kurt.

[do not disturb]

damn that looks really sweet now!

i really like the patches on the wings, keepin coming and i'll keep drooling.

[Vespaeda]

Wow Kurt, very impressive!! And, hell yeah...got to have big cohones to tear up a perfectly good 1/48!

One thing that comes to mind with advanced energy weapons & the kind of things one would expect to see(haven't seen if anyone has mentioned already) is extreme

heating effects.

When I think of the combat depicted in the series & moreso in DYRL, I especially remember when energy beams hole mecha & ships and they swell/blister proximal to the breach, as titanic amounts of heat are generated and the vehicle buckles, if not explodes outright. Rdenham mentioned entry & exit damage characteristics on armour and it sounds like a good depiction to pursue.

Is there any way you could depict localized surface blistering & scorching around an entry hole(like an over-cooked spot on a microwaved hotdog) and more splintering and slightly veined/ spider-webbed blowout on the exit side?

As far as 'real' examples of this kind of damage...some websites are out there that have detailed,up-close photos of burned-out armour pieces & vehicles from Gulf Wars I & II. APCs & tanks that have that rusty/burned look like a soup can the day after being tossed in a campfire. Or the "..O.k.-on-one-side except for the scortched puncture" Iraqi tanks, with discolored, buckshot riddled & slagged opposite sides from M1A discarding sabot shots.

{A picture from one of these archives that will always haunt my memories is of an Iraqi caught behind the wheel of his car during the 'Mile of Death' bombardment. He is not a blackened, "crispy critter" skeleton; he looks exactly the way he should look in life except with excruciating pain frozen on his face, eyes open(orbits in sockets) and lips curled back from over his teeth, as he grips his steering wheel in final agony. However,....he is charred just to ash, white & grey and bubbled up all over. Like the woman & li'l girl vampires in the well from "Intvw. w/the Vamp."}

But back on topic..., I'll always remember the "Jiffy-Pop/over-microwaved hot dog" death experienced by Boldoza's fortress.

One other recent cinematic depiction of air to air combat damage really comes to mind for dramatic effect. Although this movie blew chunks of cheese(and I'm not enough of a modern aviation buff to lend credence to all the SFX), "Behind Enemy Lines", w/Owen Wilson in Bosnia.

Forget the cheese & landmine/shootout fiction; the ballistic penetration damage the SAM proximity warhead did the the Shornet. That type of peppering & shredding, although probably much less on an Overtech VF, would be a nice effect,non?

Again...very stunning custom

Edited February 9, 2005 by Vespaeda

[Kurt]

I agree, there are many references for real life battle damage. But would those really apply to this? I still think it is way open for intrepretation. I had intially wanted to do the detail of the damage look more delicate, with thinner pieces of material. However I had to keep in mind that this valk still needed to handled and transformed. As for the "bubbling effect", I actually did not think of that. I will have to try that next time. It is hard to see in the images, but due to the curve in the leg and thinning the plastic behind it caused it to sink in a bit. I think this adds to effect. This valk should be finished this weekend, be on the look out.

[port]

Great great work. That kinda of stuff is what I like.

[cambodian tire]

Looks killer! never had any doubt, can't wait to see it finished! Oh BTW if the skin on the leg was metal, or if it was an area of boron fiber, or if it was carbon fiber, then if it got hit with a convetional round of amunition, if a missile hit it - maybe even a laser - possibly energy weapons it could ONLY possibly melt, explode/implode, cut/scratch, smash/dent, fragment, fall apart, vapourize/obliterate so as you you probably sadly see.... you've got it all wrong LOL

Edited February 11, 2005 by cambodian tire