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Patlabor 1/60 Brocken - Custom Flight Variant


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Right pulled this kit out of the stash last week with a burning desire to build it! Initially I'd bought this on a whim to modify as some sore of giant knight with some filis gris armor and a 15mm knight character charging at him.

 

46464935484_72369f5525_c.jpgIMG_20190221_134313 by Nick Frost, on Flickr

 

But I am a big patlabor fan so I just want to stick to the instructions, whcih after all the modifying and kitbashing I usually do is such a massive relief and makes such a nice change! Good being back on a good old styrene kit too, my tamiya thin has gathered some serious dust!

 

Its a pretty simple kit with not many parts, has some nice weapons but not sure if I'll use them

 

46464924194_b398182389_c.jpgIMG_20190221_134351 by Nick Frost, on Flickr

 

33313137218_afdec407a8_c.jpgIMG_20190221_134416 by Nick Frost, on Flickr

 

The mech designs in Patlabor have material join covers, which in all honesty on this kit are pretty bloody atrocious, there is a styrene frame for the joins which slip inside these soft vinyl parts

 

46274264625_45cb1f8fcb_c.jpgIMG_20190221_134356 by Nick Frost, on Flickr

 

So the mod I will doing for this is not using them and creating a fixed more action/extreme pose using greenstuff to sculpt joint covers.

 

The vinyl makes the Brocken look really bulky and makes for some pretty clunky poses, so doing the covers with greenstuff instead means I can slim the waist and raise the shoulders a bit and give more of a wide footed action pose brandishing some sort of weapon.

 

For now I haven't done much, just a tentative start on the torso, with the joint connector bits slipped inside and then glued together with tamiya thin.

 

40223759523_a2ab26c3f8_c.jpgIMG_20190222_134639 by Nick Frost, on Flickr

 

47188478541_5747e8cb6d_c.jpgIMG_20190222_134705 by Nick Frost, on Flickr

 

33313121208_1017dd4d44_c.jpgIMG_20190222_134824 by Nick Frost, on Flickr

 

46274202905_2e271f603f_c.jpgIMG_20190223_132740 by Nick Frost, on Flickr

 

Next up I'll just continue getting the bits together, I'll be adding the internal frame for all the joints but I may end up having to break some of them to get the pose I want but we'll see.

 

Thanks for looking, more soon :)

 

 

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13 hours ago, Hunter Rose said:

stick to the instructions,

 

13 hours ago, Hunter Rose said:

So the mod I will doing for this is not using them and creating a fixed more action/extreme pose using greenstuff to sculpt joint covers.

 

The vinyl makes the Brocken look really bulky and makes for some pretty clunky poses, so doing the covers with greenstuff instead means I can slim the waist and raise the shoulders a bit and give more of a wide footed action pose brandishing some sort of weapon.

 

Next up I'll just continue getting the bits together, I'll be adding the internal frame for all the joints but I may end up having to break some of them to get the pose I want but we'll see.

:doh:

Well, that lasted a long time....

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  • 2 weeks later...

Update time! Just been stuck at the construction stage so far, nipping off the bits and getting the limbes together

 

46376665455_d0c589ff36_c.jpgIMG_20190227_132059 by Nick Frost, on Flickr

 

32349590717_9161d5efdc_c.jpgIMG_20190227_133401 by Nick Frost, on Flickr

 

40326712493_883f325750_c.jpgIMG_20190301_133738 by Nick Frost, on Flickr

 

I'm just getting the limbs all together and I'm going to scrape down the connectors where they attach to the body as I'm going to have to do a dry fit and figure out the pose, which is going to be quite extreme and actiony so I want to see what modifications I'll need to make (if any) to the joints to aid poseability.

 

46376656895_711edd22c7_c.jpgIMG_20190301_135102 by Nick Frost, on Flickr

 

32349552527_9522e66ea3_c.jpgIMG_20190305_133331 by Nick Frost, on Flickr

 

The lower body section is a bit weird, not in a bad way, it all connects to a central moveable piece that makes the crotch armor and thighs one bit. All of this would usually be covered in the horrible rubber sleeve but as I said earlier, I'm not using it and sculpting my own joint covers.

 

33415731978_78492328fb_c.jpgIMG_20190305_134544 by Nick Frost, on Flickr

 

33415731638_49d12272c4_c.jpgIMG_20190305_135048 by Nick Frost, on Flickr

 

So thats where he's at for now, once the glue is dry I can make a start on working out the pose and seeing if I need to trim/shave/cut any plastic to increase the poseable range of the joints.

 

Thanks for looking, more soon :)

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Okay, now all his limbs are dry, I've started fooling around with poses, and nothing says big robot like a POWER STANCE!

 

47311286221_c92236f88e_c.jpgIMG_20190306_133908 by Nick Frost, on Flickr

 

A wide legged pose was what I was thinking originaly, only thing I dont like about this kit though is the shoulder placement is a bit odd, this is how they fit on as standard

 

46587997574_33e828d122_c.jpgIMG_20190306_132558 by Nick Frost, on Flickr

 

So the tops of the shoulder armor is level with his actual shoulder rather then being above which I thnk looks much better, so when they were in the joint connectors they look like this

 

47258905002_bb306bc739_c.jpgIMG_20190306_134111 by Nick Frost, on Flickr

 

Rather than sitting slightly above it which gives a more aggressive look and more natural posture in my opinion. which is what I've done here

 

40346353923_6abdbbcc54_c.jpgIMG_20190306_134537 by Nick Frost, on Flickr

 

Its just held in with white tack, below is him standing more upright which helps give a better impression of what I mean about the shoulders. First pic is shoulders as per the kit and the second pic is how I'm going to do them which brings the arms up and in a bit.

 

47311258911_135954e8a1_c.jpgIMG_20190307_132400 by Nick Frost, on Flickr

 

40346346103_7e3778843d_c.jpgIMG_20190307_132048 by Nick Frost, on Flickr

 

I do actually like him standing like that, I'm thinking I may just go with that pose, hmm, we'll see. For now I'm at the really fun sanding stage, going over all the joins with rough sandpaper and then polishing out the rough marks with some fine grit wet dry.

 

47311259831_f09814d475_c.jpgIMG_20190307_133928 by Nick Frost, on Flickr

 

47311262191_b447642493_c.jpgIMG_20190307_134634 by Nick Frost, on Flickr

 

So thats what I'm up to, lots and lots of sanding! And next up, more sanding, then priming checking and probably more sanding! :lol:

 

Thanks for looking, more soon :)

 

 

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Cheers Pete, think when I pose him I'll not put his feet quite so wide apart. 

I can't rest his feet on anything though as I'm doing him as a free standing figure with no base, trying to keep him as simple as I can

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21 hours ago, Hunter Rose said:

Okay, now all his limbs are dry, I've started fooling around with poses, and nothing says big robot like a POWER STANCE!

Are you going to make him into a giant blue Gundam Sumo wrestler ? 😉 Sorry but that first pose made me think that. 

Edited by Corsairfoxfouruncle
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  • 2 weeks later...

Right not a whole lot of exciting stuff going on with this guy, I've still been sanding down all the joins, dealing with a house sale/purchase which has been sucking up my time and most of my patience lately!

 

Just have the arms and one shoulder to do and I'll get the primer on to check them over and see where I need a second pass, the joins haven't actually seemed that bad so fingers crossed its not looking like I'll need to do any filling (he says!!)

 

46713567044_cd1043ae2f_c.jpgIMG_20190321_134813 by Nick Frost, on Flickr

 

So next up will be priming after just a little more sanding

 

Thanks for looking, more soon :)

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  • 2 weeks later...

Just a small update, we have primer!

 

I loosley put some of the boddy bits and upper limbs together just to make it easier to prime by cutting down the number of bits

 

32599618507_ed08dfd326_c.jpgIMG_20190326_133338 by Nick Frost, on Flickr

 

33665430388_bf9bf8acde_c.jpgIMG_20190403_133038 by Nick Frost, on Flickr

 

33665430598_35023df364_c.jpgIMG_20190403_133043 by Nick Frost, on Flickr

 

And its all looking good except for the horrendous gaps on the arm bits that will need filling, so much for thinking it was okay (should have kept my mouth shut!)

 

33665430238_d69de264e3_c.jpgIMG_20190403_132319 by Nick Frost, on Flickr

 

So next up will be filling and then more sanding, yay!

 

Thanks for looking, more soon :)

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On 2/23/2019 at 11:58 AM, Hunter Rose said:

The mech designs in Patlabor have material join covers, which in all honesty on this kit are pretty bloody atrocious, there is a styrene frame for the joins which slip inside these soft vinyl parts

 

So the mod I will doing for this is not using them and creating a fixed more action/extreme pose using greenstuff to sculpt joint covers

That was actually smart. That vinyl part isn't compatible with styrene and will eventually cause it to go soft and deform. It's hard to find a paint that will stick to it too.

 

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Looking beefy, all those curves are interesting. Maybe adding some Ma.K/helicopter-style lumps and bumps would be good?

 

I look forward to seeing how you approach the joints. There's some interesting stuff in the recent Thunderbolt kits where Bandai provide thin plastic sleeves that you wrinkle up and slide over the relevant internals. They also don't look like cloth, but they do look a bit like those mylar insulating blankets so quite appropriate for space.

 

Cheers,

 

Will

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On 4/11/2019 at 1:33 AM, Will Vale said:

Looking beefy, all those curves are interesting. Maybe adding some Ma.K/helicopter-style lumps and bumps would be good?

 

I look forward to seeing how you approach the joints. There's some interesting stuff in the recent Thunderbolt kits where Bandai provide thin plastic sleeves that you wrinkle up and slide over the relevant internals. They also don't look like cloth, but they do look a bit like those mylar insulating blankets so quite appropriate for space.

 

Cheers,

 

Will

 

Yeah its funny you should mention Ma.k as I'm dealing with the joints in the same way as one of there power suits, pin the joints and then cover with greenstuff and use that to create my joint covers, though I'll have to be careful as these are quite large in comparison and it may be tricky to keep it smooth with no join lines where its smooshed together.

And as for mods and things I had said this will be OOB but screw it, just you talking about things I can add has got me thinking Will!

I have some paint for my wing zero kit called mr crystal amethyst which when sprayed over gloss white gives a very cool pearlescent effect, which is now how I'm going to paint this guy paired with black joint covers stormtrooper style!

Also the chunky back aerials are out, I will replace them with some Ma.k Fliege type wings/fins and add some engine bells so he will be a flying mech now.

 

At the minute with the build still need to smooth out those joints with some squadron white, but just wanted to spell out the new direction I'm taking him in, so he'll still be a Brocken Labour, but a Schaft Enterprises experimental flight version.

 

Thanks for looking, more soon :)

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Well my word its about time I did an update!!!

 

I've been procrastinating as I have a persistent gap on the arm that is defying my filling! But I'm now just ignoring it and cracking on as yet again this guy has a slightly different direction, as you can see by the title change I'm now going for a "Prototype" flight look.

So hes going to have a bare metal finish all over with alclad paint, and also my wing zero I'm doing with wings means I have a couple of the cool jet pods going spare so he is now having them for his booster!

 

I have successfully filled all limbs and bits except for his lower arms, so they were all then given a gloss black undercoat ready for the metal paint.

 

47924196986_fcdb075e94_c.jpgIMG_20190416_131415 by Nick Frost, on Flickr

 

47924190252_ee7005cd2b_c.jpgIMG_20190521_134626 by Nick Frost, on Flickr

 

And these are the boosters from the wing zero

 

47924190868_6cebc298bb_c.jpgIMG_20190523_131326 by Nick Frost, on Flickr

 

I'm planning on just slotting them into the holes where the thick aerial bits go on his back, but in order to make them fit, I have to make the pegs smaller and trim a bit off. Also in the below photo you can see the little engine bit that fits inside the boosters, there are some joins that I'm just going to cover with bits of styrene (had enough of filling!)

 

47924184576_b9567bbd1c_c.jpgIMG_20190523_131609 by Nick Frost, on Flickr

 

And below is a comparison shot between the sanded and untouched peg.

 

47924173112_fe4c1fc7a0_c.jpgIMG_20190524_133318 by Nick Frost, on Flickr

 

Then I just checked the fit and put them in place to see how they look

 

47924179127_d8563fd2cc_c.jpgIMG_20190524_134012 by Nick Frost, on Flickr

 

47924183191_de24224d44_c.jpgIMG_20190524_134023 by Nick Frost, on Flickr

 

Annoyingly my alclad aluminium has gone funny so I'm waiting on more to arrive, in the meantime I'll neaten up the boosters and get them primed and ready for some metallic paint action and sort out that damn arm.

 

Thanks for looking, more soon :)

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  • 4 years later...

Well well well, look at the pile of bits I just exhumed from a drawer!

 

53037194013_e32817581d_c.jpgIMG_20230709_150310962 by Nick Frost, on Flickr

 

Excuse the topic necromancy but I have a burning desire to get this one finished, I just need a bit of a break from sculpting my jet bike rider and after finding all the bits for this (except his hands!) I jumped at the chance to get stuck into it.

 

Its been about 4 years since I did anything on this so just to get my brain back in the game even though its a mix of primer, black undercoat and alclad coats I got it all together to get my pose sorted.

This is also mostly because one of the reasons that I got in a funk with this one was the prospect of using a crazy amount of greenstuff to replace the god awful and massive joint cover for the waist/crotch/upper legs area but now considering it was just stuck in a drawer anyway I've just though the hell and got on with it!

 

So this is how hes going to be posed.

 

53036709796_8684f2d39c_c.jpgIMG_20230709_151623026 by Nick Frost, on Flickr

 

the poseabitlity of this guy without the rubber pants joint cover on is actually pretty good, which is a problem because I need all the joints in a very specific position as I have him in a much more dynamic stance that is right on the edge of what this vintage kit is capable of.

So I mixed up a big strip of greenstuff (5"!) which was enough to fill the waist gap to the point it needs to be so thats pretty much sorted but there was only enough to just cover the inner hip joints and lock the pose of the upper legs.

 

53037193793_07c2b41e5f_c.jpgIMG_20230709_152701092 by Nick Frost, on Flickr

 

53036128292_f046ecc606_c.jpgIMG_20230709_152714236 by Nick Frost, on Flickr

 

Just needed a refresh on how the whole thing is looking too so I just got the engine pods together from the old gundam zero kit I had and got them in place for a test fit.

 

53037099875_664acf70e0_c.jpgIMG_20230710_195207465 by Nick Frost, on Flickr

 

So thats his flight pods that makes him the "Adler" a flight variant of the Brocken combat Labor.

Now as I said I've lost his hands, but thats a happy accident as I have some spare hands from the 1/144 Hi Mock gundam build I did which also had some extra weapon parts, so I've given him the hi mock hands and the big axe from that set!

 

53036891514_f500fef4db_c.jpgIMG_20230710_195145837 by Nick Frost, on Flickr

 

Only other thing I've done for now is while the greenstuff dries I have put some more filler over the annoying arm from 4 years ago that STILL needs a bit of filler!

 

53036128012_2f1b2f5d7e_c.jpgIMG_20230710_195457202 by Nick Frost, on Flickr

 

Once thats dry I'll get that sanded down and reprimed, I still need more greenstuff to do the legs and I'll need more for the shoulder arms so just to be on the safe side I ordered a 48cm strip!

 

So plenty to do and I want to get this guy sorted asap, and the good thing is all the bits are mostly together and apart from that one seam pretty much sorted to the point where its just getting him together and paint.

 

Thanks for looking, more soon :)

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Right been in the shed again and got the arm sanded down, really pleased because after priming I can now see the 2 stubborn bits have finally gone!

 

53042956245_ecb6bdf265_c.jpgIMG_20230712_190602840 by Nick Frost, on Flickr

 

And my huge strip of greenstuff arrived way earlier than I thought it would so I started packing out the waits and lower legs again, which I then sculpted into shape and added creases.

 

53042571616_51931b4d04_c.jpgIMG_20230712_190810008 by Nick Frost, on Flickr

 

53042749539_7270deb4ed_c.jpgIMG_20230712_191744311 by Nick Frost, on Flickr

 

53042956160_36f6010aa2_c.jpgIMG_20230712_191828233 by Nick Frost, on Flickr

 

53042749444_c0c7815a29_c.jpgIMG_20230712_192200070 by Nick Frost, on Flickr

 

53043057333_87aff0eb7a_c.jpgIMG_20230712_193351971~2 by Nick Frost, on Flickr

 

53043057353_7d4aa0c693_c.jpgIMG_20230712_194026783 by Nick Frost, on Flickr

 

So now that bits done next I'll get the bits around the upper arms sorted out.

 

Had a bit of a rethink of the colour too, I'm going to go a bit darker with the metallic finish to give him a more sinister look, so he'll be painted in Alclad steel and I'm going to use some of the cool decals I bought for the jet bike on him!

 

So next up its more greenstuff which shouldn't take long and then its prime and paint time.

 

Thanks for looking, more soon :)

 

 

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Just a quick update, I got the rest of the greenstuff putty in around the arms and sculpted with the creases.

For the arms where they connect I just shoved them on and made sure that 1 the position for the shoulders was good for the arm positioning and 2 that the greenstuff fit right into the upper arm collar to enable me to have it separate for painting for placement later.

 

53045351004_35be548055_c.jpgIMG_20230713_195008927 by Nick Frost, on Flickr

 

53045665213_ef027abf24_c.jpgIMG_20230713_195152777 by Nick Frost, on Flickr

 

53045560645_ea2473c82b_c.jpgIMG_20230713_195733418 by Nick Frost, on Flickr

 

53045348569_858496064c_c.jpgIMG_20230713_200049699~2 by Nick Frost, on Flickr

 

53045170721_ce8d709811_c.jpgIMG_20230713_200914851~2 by Nick Frost, on Flickr

 

53045348594_e67727aac2_c.jpgIMG_20230713_200943648 by Nick Frost, on Flickr

 

So now that job is totally finished, I can get it all sprayed over in some gloss black as a base coat for the steel.

 

Thanks for looking, more soon :)

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