Regult Battle Pod, Bandai 1/72

Toadmeister

Sr Member
Every decade or so I get nastalgia for Robotech /Macross again. This time I'm watching the original Macross series in Japanese, subtitled in English. My kids watch a lot of Anime and this has become our preferred way if watching them as you tend to loose something in the voice-acted translations. In the case of Robotech/Macross there's actually a bit if narrative differences, so watching the original Macross has been refreshing. It's available on Amazon Prime for streaming.

Enter the Zentradi Battle Pod! I built the 1/100 scale kit way back as a kid in the 80s and have been itching to revisit this in plastic kit form. Found the 1/72 kit re-isued and in stock at Hobbylink Japan, so I jumped on it.

Usually had Macross on in the background at my workbench while I worked.



IMG_20191126_103553.jpg
 
Looking forward to it

I am not really familiar with any of the Robotech/Macross stuff. I keep meaning to check it out

I've been looking for some decent sci-fi anime after Star Blazers/Space Battleship Yamato
 
What can I say about the kit itself? Although it's an old kit design, the parts were crisp and flash free on this re-issue. I read somewhere Bandai updated or refreshed the original tools, it's not a new tool. The original kit design is pretty good but certainly not as great as modern Bandai designs like their Star Wars kits.

Part fit is where the kit suffers, there's a lot of prominent seams and my compulsive-obsessiveness required I address most all of them. Lots of filling and sanding, I used a little Superglur here and there and a LOT of Mr Surfacer. Lots of wet-sanding while watching the TV show.

I didn't take a lot of build pics up to being ready for paint. See some test fitting per below. I did everything in subs and left a lot off for ease of painting. I used some Elmer's white glue to help add some more stiffness to joints, the completed pod can stand on its own but I'll probably use a foot peg to a base once I figure out a final pose.
IMG_20191124_201053.jpg
 
The primary cannons have large slots for posing them, but the gaps for the slots will be quite noticeable on display, so I spent some time filling half or more of the slots in with Styrene strip, superglue and putty.

There's a inset surface near the pods chin that just looked awful to me because of how the kit is split down the half making seam cleanup here almost impossible. I cut the recess out and replaced the inner surface with some sheet styrene punched with a paper-cutter, almost the right size, I just had to trim it down a little.
IMG_20191126_102914.jpg
 
Going to clean up all the sanding residue by scrubbing parts with a toothbrush and some soapy water today. Will let these dry thoughroly and prime with Tamiya light grey primer.

Going to look at my paint inventory and figure out what colors to use. I'll use an off-white like insignia White for those areas, a medium blue for the body (USN intermediate blue comes to mind) and a light grey for the appropriate areas. There's some dark grey/black/gunmetal areas too like the gun barrels.

I got lots of Tamiya acrylics so will probably be mostly using those.
 
Looking forward to it

I am not really familiar with any of the Robotech/Macross stuff. I keep meaning to check it out

I've been looking for some decent sci-fi anime after Star Blazers/Space Battleship Yamato

There is a spectacular Yamato kit, I think by Bandai. I've seen one built at a show once. I too watched Star Blazers decades ago as a kid and might need to revisit myself.

Seing 2D anime space ships in 3D models is a real fresh look at things. Obviously a lot of Gundam models out there. I bought a 1/48 Macross Valkaryie kit too I'll be building later this winter. Should look great side-by-side with one of my 1/48 F-14 Tomcat kits.

I also want to do a kit of the Macross (SDF-1). I was in Japan 2 years ago and wish I had picked it up at one of the Tokyo hobby shops while I was there but didn't have room in my luggage...
 
I have just about every Space Battleship Yamato kit from the modern 2199 remake (excellent remake, same story line, but a bit more fleshed out with some of the ancillary stuff and way better visuals than the original 1974 series)

I have some of the older Bandai kits, and as you mention, they can be a challenge fit wise and detail wise. It's amazing how much better they have gotten

I love the designs I have seen for the Macross stuff
 
I was/am a fan of the Robotech t.v. series. It was the first anime show that got me hooked onto ‘anime’ in a big way back then.
I’d built the ARII 1/100 kits as a teen ( still have some packed away somewhere ) , but just recently purchased this along with the Tactical Pod Glaug and Destroid Monster from Hobbysearch (1999.co ). The Hasegawa 1/4000 SDF-1 Movie Ed., SDF-1 with Prometheus & Daedalus & a 1/48 VF-1J/A are also in the stash.
So, I’ll be following your build avidly for any insight, info and inspiration.

Cheers. Ged
 
I have just about every Space Battleship Yamato kit from the modern 2199 remake (excellent remake, same story line, but a bit more fleshed out with some of the ancillary stuff and way better visuals than the original 1974 series)

I have some of the older Bandai kits, and as you mention, they can be a challenge fit wise and detail wise. It's amazing how much better they have gotten

I love the designs I have seen for the Macross stuff

I didn’t know about the Star Blazers remake, I’ll check that out for sure.
 
Got home from feasting and napping at the in-laws for Thanksgiving a little early and decided to start some paint.

The XF-12 J.N. grey I really liked, it has a slight greenish tint to the grey.

I used XF-63 German grey for the dark areas, I"LL be doing both a black wash and dry-brush to bring out more range.
IMG_20191128_203327.jpg
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Can I ask what the mix ratio of the paints to thinner were ( if any ) you used please ?
The pics ^ look very smooth - something I have trouble with using Tamiya paint.

Ged
 
I use only Tamiya (well, next to ..... but the Gunze i use don´t really count, seems to be the same stuff from the same factory), and i mix them 50/50 with isopropyl alc for my airbrushes.
 
Can I ask what the mix ratio of the paints to thinner were ( if any ) you used please ?
The pics ^ look very smooth - something I have trouble with using Tamiya paint.

Ged

I use about 50-60 % paint to thinner ratio. The choice of thinner is the secret sauce however. Well, not so secret: I use high concentration ISO alcohol (like 97%) with Liquitex Flow Aid as an additive. You can get this at craft stores like Michaels and Hobby Lobby. This will lay down the paint smoother and help keep it from drying on your airbrush tips and needles.

I should also mention that in some of the photos I have brushed on a protective gloss coat of Future floor wax (Pledge with a Future shine), this acts as a protective barrier over the paint prior to masking for other colors and perfect smooth gloss surface for applying decals.
 
Thanks , and thanks for the tip regarding the floor wax protective coat too.
That’ll be logged away for future reference. :)
 
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