Kallisti Posted January 15, 2023 Share Posted January 15, 2023 (edited) I've had this kit in the stash for many many years and every so often I take it out, look at it, shake my head and put it back. This time I nodded my head... Its not a complex kit but it does come with the usual toy-like features such as spring loaded missiles which I will of course be leaving off. The instructions are in Japanese of course but an extra page has been included with English translations of SOME of the text Progress so far has been pretty much sanding mould lines and flash! More to come! Edited February 10, 2023 by Kallisti 16 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Galligraphics Posted January 15, 2023 Share Posted January 15, 2023 ooh this looks interesting… I shall pull up a seat and watch. I’ve got Dinky, Konami, and Vivid Imaginations diecast versions but have never managed to get my hands on a (reasonably priced) one of these. I’ve also never quite understood why Imai always seemed to sacrifice accuracy for some rather lame play features… 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete in Lincs Posted January 15, 2023 Share Posted January 15, 2023 I'll hang around too if you don't mind. I remember watching Joe 90 back in the day, but I can't remember seeing this car. I must have missed that episode. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psdavidson Posted January 15, 2023 Share Posted January 15, 2023 I got an F-Toys (may have been Konami) ready-made model on Ebay shipped from Japan a long time back. Watching with interest /P 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theb Posted January 15, 2023 Share Posted January 15, 2023 My only problem with the show is that Joe’s Dad should’ve been banged up for child exploitation. I’m guessing that Mac got away with that by crediting himself as Joe’s manager so was Joe paid for risking life and limb or was he not of an age to be paid a wage. Also and this is the biggie. What happened to the other 89 Joes? I smell a rat! 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Laidlaw Posted January 15, 2023 Share Posted January 15, 2023 Oooh! Following this one! 3 minutes ago, Theb said: I smell a rat! 🤣 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrahamS Posted January 16, 2023 Share Posted January 16, 2023 15 hours ago, Theb said: I smell a rat! And a big one too…. Graham 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kallisti Posted January 22, 2023 Author Share Posted January 22, 2023 The build has been progressing but this is not an easy kit! Bad moulding, poor fit, sink marks, the usual problems with old kits. One of the major issues is the front wheels. The axles are composed of a complex structure but the joint surfaces are really bad This next pic shows what I mean, the top one is assembled OOB and you can see the ill fitting joint. The lower one is after the first round of sanding... and then this final one is after filling, more sanding and attaching the extra details. The legs are supposed to be foldable, but as far as I can see this won't work. I tried a test fit of the legs onto the body and founda major problem - to fit it as described in the instructions and the body does not sit level The reason being their is this tall pillar that the axle is supposed to attach to via a screw to provide a 'steering' mechanism. Well since this is not going to be a toy, I don't need steering so this has been removed as it will be glued when attached. The legs are also too legs so they will get glued at the correct angles when the wheels are on and the paint is done. In other news, the cockpit and engine have had some work You can see on the engine, the awful joint line, this needed a LOT of sanding and filling, and the trickiest bits where around the ribbing... but it eventually got done and then primed with Alclad gloss black ready for a metallic finish The figures for Joe and Mac are basic but at least Mac has his glasses! It all painted up pretty well, the faces are not works of art though Since this pic was taken, the steering wheel and arms have been repositioned to fit better. The upper body has had more work and the transparencies glued in place. These did not fit well so a lot of Glue n Glaze was used to fill gaps and make sure they are firmly attached. What you can also see here at the front behind the headlights which have had filler applied to smooth the joint, is the place where brackets were located to support the sprint loaded missiles which have been removed. You can also see in the middle the lever merchanism that is used to release the spring loaded wings and also raise the back legs. I am putting this in even if its is a bit toy-like... Since these pics were taken, the two halves have been joined which needed an enormous sanding job to clean up the joint. The cockpit has been inserted and the windows masked in preparation for priming. I've also managed to get a nice colour mix for the body which is a bluey green colour as far as I can tell from screenshots of the original model, so I mixed up some Tamiya XF-5 with about 20% XF-8 blue which gives what to my eye looks to be a good colour. I'll probably be wrong and have to correct it later, thats what usually happens 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kallisti Posted January 29, 2023 Author Share Posted January 29, 2023 So paint has gone on and here are the results - the green is a mix of Tamiya XF-5 and about 10% XF-8 to give it a blue tinge Silver is Mr Metal Color Aluminum. The green has some variation but I will even that up later with a coat of Klear and matt varnish. I'm hoping the window masking holds up well! Some other bits that will be attached later The engine has been sprayed with Alclad Aluminium. Finally the lat major piece of work, the front axles ready for Alclad top coat Being able to give this a matt varnish without messing up the aluminium will be a bit of a challenge I think! 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HL-10 Posted January 30, 2023 Share Posted January 30, 2023 Looking good! I have been after one these for ages. Great to see one being built, and so well Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aku Posted January 30, 2023 Share Posted January 30, 2023 (edited) On 1/15/2023 at 10:28 PM, Theb said: What happened to the other 89 Joes? I smell a rat! A B.I.G R.A.T ??? (I'll see myself out) There weren't 89 Joes, there were 89 WIN Secret Agents. Joe was the 90th Secret Agent based in London to join the agency Edited January 30, 2023 by Aku 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kallisti Posted February 9, 2023 Author Share Posted February 9, 2023 Well its finished and its turned out reasonably well. For such an old and frankly rubbish kit, the end result looks okay: I'm pleased to say the window masking worked and you can see Joe and Mac inside the cockpit reasonably well. There is a major problem with this model as illustrated in the next pic That lever at the back of the car is supposed to be the release mechanism for the wings and when you push it foward it releases the wings that spring out. At the same time there is a little hook underneatht hat is supposed to rotate the rear wheels into the retracted position. Sadly when you put the car down, the weight of the car tries to push the rear wheel backward and the lever at the back just lifts up a bit, allowing the legs to slump a little. Ideally, this level needs something to restrain its vertical movement but I'm wary of trying to modify it now its all painted up Never mind eh? More pics Almost forgot to put that white node detail on until right at the end! There is no guidance in the instructions on what the exact shape and size should be and very poor references out there. Looking at it front on like this shows its a little crooked even though I tried to mirror the masking tape on either side - sigh. The front legs are now glues in place even though they are designed to fold up, but the mechanism is so bad and so loose it won't support the weight of the car on its own. I haven't weathered it at all since I wasn't sure how best to do it and there model on the TV never seemed to be very dirty. Wings out next! And here we see the major problem with the front wheels - because they are glued they don't fold away when in flight mode So thats it! This model isn't going to win any competitions, but I'm glad I finally got round to building it! 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Galligraphics Posted February 9, 2023 Share Posted February 9, 2023 Lovely job of a fairly simplistic old kit 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HL-10 Posted February 9, 2023 Share Posted February 9, 2023 Very nice! Great job on this oldie, it has come out really well 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete in Lincs Posted February 9, 2023 Share Posted February 9, 2023 That looks the business. As with the Shadomobile, entry and exit looks a little awkward. But we'll not mention that, eh? It's Anderson. And that's what counts. What's up next then? Something Scarlet perhaps? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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