1/100 Bandai SBY Black Tiger EX Model

[BloorwestSiR]

"We're off to outer space!..."

 

I decided to pull a kit out of the stash and give it a go. JohnnyCrash said I should get something sci-fi built so I picked this one:

 

 

It's the primary space fighter for the Earth Defence Force from the original Space Battleship Yamato anime.  The EX series was launched by Bandai as their advanced series of kits in terms of details and assembly. That being said, it's still a press fit kit but at least it comes with decals instead of stickers. 

 

Upon opening the kit, I  noticed that some parts had been painted with primer but that was all.

 

 

I have a feeling that I shelved it based on the complicated paint scheme. The instructions include templates for the big arrow markings so I think I'm up to the challenge now.

 

Here are some of the locating pins. Even though the fit is very precise, I still used some cement. It's the only way to be sure.

 

 

The fuselage and wings together. The cockpit goes in after. Hey, an aircraft model where you don't build the cockpit as the first step

 

 

Carl

[Nessus]

Nice start. If you can find some older Hobby Japan magazines there are some really nice build ups of these EX kits

[BloorwestSiR]

Thanks Nessus and Maru!

 

I`ve cleaned up the seam and re-primed the fuselage but that`s as far as I`ve gotten in the last couple of days. Hopefully I will make some more progress this week.

 

Carl

[BloorwestSiR]

Carl,

 

Thank you for the update..

 

Looking forward to pictures when you post them , in the meantime GOOD LUCK.

 

HAPPY EASTER ...and happy modelling.

Thanks Maru. I hope you had a happy Easter too. I spent mine with family so it was great.

 

Unfortunately that meant I had little time at the workbench and what I did have, was not productive. I started masking the kit but the primer started to lift when I had to make adjustments to the tape. As a result, I have to find a way to strip the model and start over with a new coat of primer. I can't seem to get the Vallejo primer to adhere properly. It would be great if I was going for a chipped finish but not here.

Carl

[BloorwestSiR]

So bad news on the build.

 

In trying to strip the primer, I sort of dissolved the model. I was using Q-tips dipped in Tamiya lacquer thinner which if what I've used in the past. I guess Bandai plastic is softer than I expected because the colour on the Q-tips changed from white to yellow as the primer came off.

 

The wings are pretty much a write off. They now have a pebbly finish and much of the fine detail is gone.I guess I'll have to chalk this one up as a learning experience.

 

In the meantime, I've ordered a new kit to replace it but it's a different plane from the same series.

 

I'll update this one it arrives.

 

Carl

[LSP_Kevin]

Ah, that's a real bummer Carl. It's the kind of thing I find myself doing all the time, so don't be offended if I find some consolation in your post! Hope to see you back with a replacement soon.

 

Kev

[SciFi58]

I messed mine up too.  I had a bad finish with the first coat of yellow and tried to carefully (translated hopefully stupid) clean it up with a smidge of lacquer thinner and a cotton swab.  I'll pull it out again when I ready to sand and polish 'till my arms fall off.

[BloorwestSiR]

Ah, that's a real bummer Carl. It's the kind of thing I find myself doing all the time, so don't be offended if I find some consolation in your post! Hope to see you back with a replacement soon.

 

Kev

 

Definitely no offence taken. What I should have done is tested the thinner first to see if it was cool enough to use on the Bandai plastic. Since it's just the wings that are damaged, maybe I can bid a shot down version in the future.

 

I messed mine up too.  I had a bad finish with the first coat of yellow and tried to carefully (translated hopefully stupid) clean it up with a smidge of lacquer thinner and a cotton swab.  I'll pull it out again when I ready to sand and polish 'till my arms fall off.

 

 

Sounds like you had a similar problem as me.  You figure something is safe on one type of plastic, it's safe on all of them.

 

Carl,

 

Sorry to hear of your woes....

 

will you be doing another WIP for the new kit that you have ordered...

 

looking forward to that one too ..

Thanks Maru, I will definitely be doing a WIP for the new kit once it arrives.

 

Carl

[BloorwestSiR]

So i received the "replacement" kit for this build. It's from the more recent 2012 re-make called Space Battleship Yamato 2199.

 

 

I figure the slightly larger scale might make it an easier build. Anyone heard that before?

 

I won't be able to start anything for a couple of days as my sister and sister-in-law are arriving tonight for a couple months stay while they prepare to move from Barcelona to Santiago.

 

Carl

 

[BloorwestSiR]

I finally got a chance to get some time at the workbench. So after some thought and some staring at the stash pile, I decided to try something a bit, different. For the Cosmo Zero, I have the kit in three different scales:

 

 

The smallest one is box scale and is part of Bandai's Mecha Colle series of SBY kits. I've built a couple others on here already and they are a quick and fun change of pace. The EX kit is from the same series as my ill fated Black Tiger. It's based on the original series so is slightly different in design from the other two.

 

Here is the EX kit from where I left it:

 

 

 

 

I think I stopped working on after looking at all the masking required for the paint scheme. That and Bandai don't really give you a paint guide.

 

I removed and cleaned up all the main fuselage components and prepped them for a coat Light Gull Grey.

 

 

Here they are with the LGG sprayed on although you can't see much of a difference from the colour of the bare plastic.

 

 

[LSP_Kevin]

What a cool design!

 

Kev

[BloorwestSiR]

The Mecha Colle kit follows their usual process of having the instructions printed on the inside of the box lid.

 

 

And the contents of this kit:

 

 

As you can see, the kit is in two colours and is broken down along the colour demarcations too. 

 

One thing I love that Bandai does is the way they identify the sprue trees. They do them as cut outs so they stand out very clearly. I wish other manufacturers would do that.

 

This the two parts that make up the nose section of the plane.

 

 

And assembled:

 

 

This gives you a zsze comparison between the two kits:

 

 

Time to open up the big boy:

 

 

Yup, more moulded in colour parts. 

 

 

How they get four different colours of plastic onto one sprue is pretty clever.

 

 

With the parts breakdown, I should have a much easier time with the masking.

[BloorwestSiR]

What a cool design!

 

Kev

Thanks Kev! Not sure if you noticed but they've even named it after the WW2 Zero by calling it a Type 52.

 

Carl

[BloorwestSiR]

On the topic of masking, here's the EX kit ready for the yellow trim to be added:

 

 

 

 

 

This is probably the hardest part of the build.

 

Back to the Mecha Colle kit, the colour for the fuselage changed from grey to silver. So I removed all the fuselage parts there and prepped them for paint.

 

 

I was fortunate enough to get a set of the Mr Color paints that were released for the kit so no guess work here

 

 

 

Since I had to spray the silver, I decided to paint the 72nd Cosmo Zero at the same time. Here is another size comparision. This is the fuselage from the canopy back compared to the Mecha Colle kit.

 

 

With the silver on:

 

 

[spacewolf]

Oh this is so cool ! I've been looking at picking up the new Zero ever sense I started the Yamato... Seeing you building it is a great start ! Actually the main reason I want the kit is to use it as a ref/ base for scratch building a 1/32 version..

 

Cheers

 

Vaughn