Questions about 1/60 Fan Racer

[Benson13]

So I'm about to purchase a Yamato 1/60 Fan Racer kit and I had a few questions I would like to ask the experts.

1) Does it come with a stand? Every one of them that I've seen in the forums has a stand.

2) If there isn't a stand is there one that is recommended?

3) I've read that there was a limited run that had Hikaru in his civilian flightsuit. Did anyone make any copies or have an extra?

4) For anyone that has already built it are there any tips or preparation that you would recommend?

This is my second project and any advice is always welcome. Thanks guys.

[derex3592]

PM'd you about the stand. If you can't find anything that suites you..you can always buy a "flightpose" stand. Those are cool and work well.

If anyone can help you with a pilot fig...that would be EXO...he might have something lying around from his 1:60 figure runs...it might not be a seated figure..but a standing Hickaru is better than no Hickaru.

They only thing I recommend is watch out for attaching the canopy. I tried to do it last and that was a mistake. I didn't realize it has to be "in" at an earlier stage. Mine is permanently shut because of that error.

Good Luck!

Edited April 5, 2012 by derex3592

[Penguin]

It's a pretty simple model, so there's not much too recommend. My only comments are use a good white base coat on the grey plastic, to get the red/orange to stand out, and fill the centreline seam well. It can be pretty pronounced otherwise.

[miriya]

There are fit issues with the canopy. Out of the box it does not close all the way. some sort of modification is necessary. Try to sort that out with your planning. For me I did not realize it until everything was all painted up and glued together so I just glued the canopy closed. Mine was the first run with no stand and no pilot. I thoroughly enjoyed building it though and custom fit landing gear that looks pretty decent.

[Benson13]

Derex, was there a predrilled hole for a stand or did you have to modify it yourself?

Penguin, I've never filled a seam before, is there a filler that you recommend? Any particular techniques?

Miriya, Thanks for the heads up about the windshield. I might have mongo'd it and broke something. Also, I read your best quote link, and I have to say it was 100% on point.

Thanks for all your help. I really appreciate it.

[Penguin]

If memory serves, I used Tamiya basic grey putty on the underside seam, since it was a bit more pronounced, and a pre-thinned Gunze putty on the top. The pre-thinned putty you just flow into the seam with a brush. The Tamiya putty, I take the wide end of a flat toothpick to scrape some off the end of the putty tube and apply it to the seam as smoothly as possible. Then, once the putty is dry, sand it down with wet sandpaper, starting at about a 300 or so grit, successively down to around 1000. I like to use the sanding sticks from Squadron.com for seam sanding, although they don't list a grit... just coarse to very fine.

That being said, there's a trick that often works on well-made kits, if you're careful. While the thinner brush-on glue is recommended for most fine modelling, using good-old orange tube Testors glue to join big sections can save a lot of seam-filling work. You just apply a little more glue that normal, squeeze the parts together nice and firm (not too hard, of course), and don't wipe off the extra glue that squeezes out (although do wipe it off if it flows on to adjacent areas). When it hardens, the excess glue plus the melted plastic from the welding action will pretty efficiently fill most seams. Then you just sand down the hardened glue and you're good to go. This technique is only successful on kits that don't have big seam gaps or misalignment from poor manufacturing. For that, you got no choice but to use putty and gap fillers. But, the Fan Racer falls in the category of well-designed, so this technique should work fine too.

[Benson13]

Thanks Penguin. I appreciate you taking the time to explain all that to me.

[derex3592]

I despise puttying/seam filling more than anything in the entire world and would rather be tortured Braveheart style than have to do it...there I said it. Now...I can't find any Tamiya putty anywhere but would love to try some. That being said, I tried this Squadron Green Putty that was like 8 FREAKING bucks for a tube and it sucks worse than anything. It's not workable and dries in about 2.15 seconds. Not recommended. As ghetto as it sounds, I use $1.99 spackling paste from Wal Mart or wherever. Used it for years...never done me wrong.

[Penguin]

I don't know how Squadron makes money on that junk. Hobbylink Japan has the Tamiya putty for under $3.00, I've used it for years, and never had any problems with it.

http://www.hlj.com/product/TAM87053

Edited April 6, 2012 by Penguin

[miriya]

Great tips!

[Benson13]

Alright, bought the paint, ordered the putty, found a seller with the Hikaru figure included. Things are looking pretty good. Just got to learn how to mix paint to get that reddish orange color.

[Old Man]

Does anyone know if the clear version that came with Macross Chronicles Angel Birds VF-1A includes the Hikaru figure?

[Benson13]

I wouldn't think it would. I think that was their way of getting rid of the excess stock for both items.

[Penguin]

Alright, bought the paint, ordered the putty, found a seller with the Hikaru figure included. Things are looking pretty good. Just got to learn how to mix paint to get that reddish orange color.

Paint mixing is pretty easy.

Materials: A couple empty paint bottles with lids (I don't recommend trays or palettes unless you're mixing a small quantity for a small detail), some plastic pipettes (for controlled adding), a bit of spare plastic to experiment on (the sprue of the model works well), and something to stir with (e.g. toothpicks).

Simple Rules:

• Add dark to light whenever possible (e.g. red to orange). Typically, the lighter colour will tint to the darker with less paint. Lightening a darker paint usually requires a lot more of the lighter paint, plus the addition of white or clear to keep it from becoming a muddy mess (see the next point).
  
• Keep some white or clear handy to lighten up the result. Paint mixtures sorta tend towards brown the more you mix together. Clear will thin/dilute the colour, making it generally paler. White will lighten it more dramatically and with less paint, but will also change the qualty of the colour somewhat, and tend it towards pastel shades.
  
• Mix flat with flat and gloss with gloss. Mixing them usually results in an inconsistent finish in the paint. Semi-gloss mixes best with gloss, if you have no choice.
  

And that's pretty much it.

Edited April 8, 2012 by Penguin

[Benson13]

You make it sound so easy. I can't wait to show you the awesome brown color I'm gonna get. Seriously though, thanks for the help. I really appreciate it.

I'll post the results in a few weeks, depending on when everything comes in. I still have to find a stand for this thing. Maybe I'll just glue some extra 1/48 TV missiles to it, throw it in a launch arm, and put it to work...

Edited April 8, 2012 by Benson13

[EXO]

Haha! Good one.

As for mixing jars. You can get some pretty cheap ones at Michaels. $5 for a a set with different sizes. 3 big ones and about 6 smaller ones. Or do what I do. Just get extra dipping cups with lids at a fast food restaurant everytime you go.

[Benson13]

Haha! Good one.

As for mixing jars. You can get some pretty cheap ones at Michaels. $5 for a a set with different sizes. 3 big ones and about 6 smaller ones. Or do what I do. Just get extra dipping cups with lids at a fast food restaurant everytime you go.

Thanks for the ideas Exo. Not really sure who has dippers w/lids but I'm sure I'd have no problems finding a Michael's around here.

[Penguin]

If you're looking for a base, have you checked out Bandai's "Action Base" series? If memory serves, the model has a small hole in the bottom for a stand (I think it was for Yamato's discontinued Mighty Block 1 displays), and the Action Base comes with peg-style mounts in a few sizes. Here are some examples.

http://www.hlj.com/product/BAN952159

http://www.hlj.com/product/BAN950659

Edited April 8, 2012 by Penguin

[Benson13]

Does anyone know what the size of the hole is on the underside?

[Kicker773]

Here's a picture for reference =) Enjoy the build!!!

Edited April 8, 2012 by Kicker773

[Benson13]

Here's a picture for reference =) Enjoy the build!!!

I don't suppose you could measure the hole in the bottom could ya Kicker?

[Kicker773]

couldn't measure it but i think you'll get the general idea with this:

[Benson13]

Got my Fan Racer in today. Once my supplies get in I'll start my build in a seperate thread. I may even start a noob stumbles through building models thread.

[derex3592]

I didn't mix paint for the orange on mine, Just used Tamiya orange out of a spray can,,,,didn't even airbrush it,

[Benson13]

I didn't mix paint for the orange on mine, Just used Tamiya orange out of a spray can,,,,didn't even airbrush it,

What's the number on the spray can if you still have it. I'm just curious to see if it matches the paint I have. Nevermind, I did my own homework and the numbers don't match.

Edited April 13, 2012 by Benson13

[locidm]

sorry to bump an old thread but this noob needs help. I'm planning to buildup my fan racer, and am wondering which spray cans i should buy. Tamiya has polycarbonate (PS) and lacquer (TS) spray paint, which one of these would go better with enamel (i have a bunch of testor enamel paint that i will use for cockpit and fans and detailing/touchups)?

I see from another thread ppl use white gloss and orange gloss tamiya spray paint, but can't seem to find these colors in gloss.

[derex3592]

I would love to help broh, but it's been tooooo long since I did mine! I can't remember what I used!

[derex3592]

CORRECTION! It's coming back to me now... I used Tamiya TS-12 Orange. Spray can. White I think I just used some Model Master enamel white spray paint maybe? Might have been generic Home Depot Gloss White. Sometimes I swear the cheap spray paints go down better! I used model master Steel for one fan blade and testor's aluminium for the other just for fun.

Hope this helps!

Edited May 22, 2013 by derex3592

[locidm]

Great thanks! Lacquer it is! I hope my fan racer comes out half as nice as yours. It's so stupid that the first version (what i have) doesn't come with a pilot nor the landing gear. I guess that would put my 1D in battroid mode and then I still need to somehow find a stand for this thing.

[derex3592]

Glad I could help! Good luck!

[Benson13]

Great thanks! Lacquer it is! I hope my fan racer comes out half as nice as yours. It's so stupid that the first version (what i have) doesn't come with a pilot nor the landing gear. I guess that would put my 1D in battroid mode and then I still need to somehow find a stand for this thing.

I followed Derex's example and made a stand out of the Arii VF-1 1/00 stands.

[locidm]

Almost done with mine, just waiting for the paint to dry before final coat.

I'm still trying to decide between gloss or dull coating, or go in between with semi-gloss.

What do you guys think? Should fan racer have a gloss coat? Or should I apply a dull coat to match my VF-1 collection?

[ivorysniper]

Almost done with mine, just waiting for the paint to dry before final coat.

I'm still trying to decide between gloss or dull coating, or go in between with semi-gloss.

What do you guys think? Should fan racer have a gloss coat? Or should I apply a dull coat to match my VF-1 collection?

Definitely a gloss coat for the fan racer, imho. It's a sport aircraft, meant to be colorful and shiny, like an exotic car.

[Benson13]

Almost done with mine, just waiting for the paint to dry before final coat.

I'm still trying to decide between gloss or dull coating, or go in between with semi-gloss.

What do you guys think? Should fan racer have a gloss coat? Or should I apply a dull coat to match my VF-1 collection?

Or you could weather the hell out of it and hang it upside down in a bunch of cables in a diorama.

[locidm]

Haha thanks guys for your input. gloss coat it is!!

I'd love to have the hanged upside down diorama, unfortunately I ain't got the skill, time, an space for it.