Hasegawa Fast Packs

[Kelsain]

Hey fellas,

I've been working on my first Hase VF-1 for a little while now, and have really benefitted from all the wonderfully skilled modelers here. WM Cheng, GunnerX and the lot of you have really advanced my skills. I've reached the fast packs now, and was wondering if there was any prior wisdom to these.

Granted, they're pretty simple objects, they'll obviously need a little Mr Surfacer and sanding on the seams, blah, blah. But I'm trying to work out a good way of masking the thruster bells and making the back end look good. I'd love to see Master Cheng's step-by-step of the Super 1A, but that's lost to the ages.

So in short, do you guys have any special little techniques you might like to share before I dive into construction?

[Sdf-1]

I was thinking the engine bells are better modified (carved) so that they can be attached later. That's what I'll do when I start making Valks. I tried to do one once, but I hadn't enough skill and it was ruined. Years ago. Haven't started one since then. But I will in the near future. I completed the fast packs by masking the bells, no need to do it that way. You can also modify them to be in different angle horizontally, like they should actually be IIRC.

[HWR MKII]

I left my Fast pack engine bells off till last so they could be painted seperately. Actually i did this with all the thrusters on the packs. The areas the vernier thrusters sit in will need a metal color in them as well. I used testors Jet Exhaust for mine.

[Sdf-1]

Whoops, I didn't mean the bells, but the part where they are glued. I thought that would be good to modify so it can be attached later.

[Solscud007]

not to jack this thread. but what color are the fast backs main body color supposed to be?

[Kelsain]

In the TV show, they were a deep grey; in DYRL, they were darker, almost black. The notable exceptions were Max & Millia in "Love Drifts Away." They had blue and red engine housings, but the missile pods on the front were grey like everyone else.

I'm thinking of doing something similar on my Hase Super1A - a dark green housing, grey missile pods - b/c those are interchangeable - maybe some of the accent color.

[Mallet21]

not to jack this thread. but what color are the fast backs main body color supposed to be?

381247[/snapback]

According the Hase instructions they are blue/gray.

[big F]

According the Hase instructions they are blue/gray.

381429[/snapback]

There isnt an actual Tamiya colour for that but you can use XF-18 Medium Blue mixed with XF-50 Fieldblue and a slight dash X-10 Gun metal ( works for me ) I do it by eye but Im sure you could get more scientific about it with exact measurements. I tend to mix it up in a large ammount. Im paranoid about running out mid job.

[HWR MKII]

I just use gunship grey or panzer grey and call it good.

[specr0101]

In the Hasegawa VF-1S Battroid kit, the directions say 60/40 navy blue/medium blue. Or you can just use Tamiya Field Blue. Wmcheng uses 50/50 neutral grey/medium blue. Your preference

[jadefalconguard]

Or you can go with Panzer Grey and a wash with thinned Lamp Black oil paint witch works perfectly for me....in 1/48th

alternatively you can also paint them panzer grey and overspray with thinned smoke from Tamiya.

[Sdf-1]

Panzer grey would be the bluish grey seen on German tanks I believe?

[HWR MKII]

do i really need to quote my own post from above concerning panzer grey......do i?

[Noyhauser]

in my custom scheme, I went with Tamiya sea blue... I could also see it being done with dark green too.

[David Hingtgen]

Panzer grey's too dark IMHO, panzer grey is generally the darkest grey out there. Gunship grey is also a bit too dark IMHO---that's B-2/B-1B/F-15E grey. The problem is there's not many colors "near" Gunship grey---081 and 076 are a lot darker, and most of the others are in the 200+ range. Maybe 36176 or 36173, but those are harder to find.

If you want "almost black" blue, try Insignia blue, or the even darker Dark Sea Blue. Dark Sea Blue is so dark, most people would swear under oath that it was black, even in bright sun. Heck, that happens to Insignia blue too.

If you want blue-grey, I would definitely see how 35164 Intermediate Blue looks. VERY popular color used in mecha. Always mis-translated in Gundam instructions as medium blue----if you've ever wondered why a kit's instructions wanted you to paint something you know is grey as "medium blue" it's because it's basically a US to JP to US translation of "Intermediate Blue" which looks grey.

Also---look at WWII German Luftwaffe colors. They have SO many medium and dark greys with a hint of green, a hint of blue, etc.

Edited March 31, 2006 by David Hingtgen

[neptunesurvey]

I use Testors Model Masters Grauviolet. It seems to me to stand out more.