Tau XV8 Crisis Battlesuit

Hi everyone, this is a bit different. For those of you that don't know, i'm Rebelsatcloudnine's little brother, Das Wolfgarde or simply Wolfgarde. He's been asking me to post pictures of my models on his blog for a while now and well here they are, well at least one of them.

Unlike my brother, I prefer to paint more fantasy and sci-fi based miniatures compared to his more historical or modern models. I mostly prefer to build models form Games Workshops Warhammer 40000 and Warhammer fantasy, and a few others, but I mostly build Warhammer 40000 or Warhammer 40k miniatures. And this is one of them.

This is the Tau XV8 Crisis Battlesuit. (older edition.) I built this one years ago, only it had a different paint scheme, red, an off black and a light grey colour scheme. I was never fully happy with it and my skills weren't at the level there are at now. So years later I took it apart and and decided to repaint it. And i'm very pleased with the redesign, I was able to add more detail and highlights then I was able to do with the original paint scheme. I went with a dark green, almost a dark grey base coat, then added a light grey highlight to that. For the green I used a an almost olive green base coat, then used a light green as a highlight. For the orange markings I used a bright orange  as the base coat and then a light yellow/orange for the highlights. As for the metallic parts I just used a silver base coat and added a black wash on top of that. Added a pale blue for the sensors and lights. And after that I added some brown paint on the base and some grass and called it done.

I am really pleased that my skills have developed to the point I can make my oldest models look better. Hope you enjoy. 

Paints Used: 

Formula P3: 

Quick Silver. 

Meredius Blue.

Cryx Bane Base. 

Cryx Bane Highlight. 

Ordic Olive. Wurm Green. 

Khador Red Highlight. 

Heartfire.

Citadel:

Shade: Nuln Oil

Airfix 1:72 Nakajima B5N2 "Kate"

I was thrilled when late 2014, Airifx announced a new Japanese model kit to their 2015 line. I was even more thrilled when at long last I finally had one in my hands. I was less than thrilled when the project went south and botched up.......

I admit the face that my model was ruined left me quite upset, and I decided to place it back in the box until a time when I felt like restoring it again. I have a Revell 1:25 1968 Bullitt Mustang, and several years a go I tried to paint it, without the correct shade of green. A few years later I got the exact color (Highland Green) and decided to try using oven cleaner with the kit, sealed in a bag for a few weeks. This method worked perfectly! And I was able to save the kit, for a later date.

I decided after this success that I would try it out on this kit too. And it didn't work out as well... I partially blame it on the Humbrol plastic being quite soft, especially compared to the Revell sytrene. However after a day of mulling over the kit I decided to try sanding it down, and I was thrilled to get it back to basically it's original format. I rescribed some of the main panel lines and began the restoration process.

I decided this time to build the Pearl Harbour attack version, and at this point I had a new detailing airbrush and thought it would be a fun challenge. I also decided on using a lighter green for the splotches Tamiya Nato Green, which I think worked really well.

I'm really thrilled again, that I was able to save this kit. And I'm really happy with how it turned out. I wasn't however able to completely restore the canopy, some of the paint from the previous work slipped through the tape, and it's on there pretty tight. I really enjoy looking at this kit as I walk by, a wonderful kit from Airifx, I'm definitely going to be ordering a second on and soon.

Fine Molds 1:72 A6M3a Zero

OK, first off this is a kit I NEVER thought I'd own. This kit is quite hard to come by, especially if you don't live in Japan. This Zero has been rumored to be the best 1:72 Zero kit of all time. A short while later Tamiya released their new tooled  A6M5, which I have built and can say out of all the Zero's I've built that one is by far the best I've built thus far. 

These Zero kits were originally released with the Japanese magazine "Model Grapfix". The A6M5 and A6M2b were each released in 2 parts. The A6M3 "Hamp" and A6M3a appear to be the ones sold as a complete kit. 

There is a top and bottom section to the box. The top contains the engine & cowling parts as well as the clear parts to the canopy. The Canopy is crystal clear and has 2 options and opened and closed set.

The Sakae engine has some incredible detail for the scale and feels a shame to cover it up with the cowling.

The bottom section of the box includes most of the fuselage pieces and decals. The instructions were featured in the magazine, thankfully the seller was kind enough to scan these for me.

I really like the option of the lowered landing flaps, and the 2 options for the ailerons. 

The interior of the cockpit is exquisitely detailed, and molded in a light green plastic. 

Decals for 3 options. All beautifully printed, and the stencils are nice to read and appreciate in this small a scale.

So is this kit better than the Tamiya? I've been wondering this myself, not to boast one above the other but out of honest curiosity. Fine Molds Zero is supposed to be a wonderful kit that surpasses the engineering of the Tamiya kit.

But then why haven't they ever released it again?

I even wrote to Fine Molds in Japan last year and asked them, I never got a straight answer. I don't know if that's in part to a language barrier.

When I get around to building this kit I'm going to build the Tamiya 1:72 A6M3a at the same time. I really want to see how they both compare. I see some things that the Tamiya kit does better. Like the Panel lines, they are smaller on the Tamiya kit and more defined. The Tamiya kit also looks like a small Zero, everything about it looks perfect.

I thought the Tamiya kit went a bit too far in being over engineered, but the FM kit looks like is has more detail to it. It looks like the kit will fit/go together much better than the Tamiya kit. It also has a few sharper details that the Tamiya kits lack. Like posing the wing tips folded, they give you a small section of the interior frame for the wing tips.

Like I said I'm not betting one above the other, but this Fine Molds Zero certainly lives up to it's hype, this is an amazing kit and I'm beyond thrilled and with a bit if disbelief that I actually own one. Not the bigger task, is to try and not screw it up!

AMT 1:85 Slave 1

I gotta admit I was really surprised when I opened this kit, how nice the model really was. I think just building this kit straight out of the box you'd have yourself a fantastic looking model. I'm pretty excited about adding on more detail, especially to the back of the ship. 

You get a seated Boba Fett miniature, and a Han Solo in Carbonate. The Han Solo pice looks too big compared to the  Boba Fett. The feature I think I like the most is the display stand, it looks pretty sturdy. 

As with most AMT kits each comes with their own little snags. And the biggest weird one for this kit, has got to be the huge seam line down the face of the kit. But that's about it everything else thus far (without actually building it) looks great. I'm excited to build it and really excited that it already has an owner once it's done.