MADOX-01 poster that came with my Animeigo Blu-Ray (art by Mercy Rabbit). Signature & ST-00 (Ellie's "Hammerhead" suit) sketch by the designer/director Shinji Aramaki when I met him at Otakon 2023!
Initial primer coating & sanding
Seems to be a snap kit (no mention of glue/cement) that I can find in the instructions. Some of the parts take some "oomph" to assemble and leave some gaps.
Using 3 Mission Models metallic paints (cold-rolled steel, burnt iron & white aluminum), I bought for my VF-1S Strike Valkyrie build, to give some detail & interest to the armature/equipment pieces.
Tried brush painting this piece with the Mission Models Cold-Rolled Steel, but even with the polyurethane additive (as directed) it went on thin and streaked horribly! Here I've gone back and sprayed it - MUCH better results!
Attempting to faithfully replicate colors based on screencaps from the feature.
The pilot is not the protagonist from the feature nor the woman heading the MADOX project. It's a test pilot that has about 1-second of screen time during the title sequence?! LOL
Quick painting of his "body" because it appears that, aside from his backside (which has equipment on it) and his head, you only get peeks of him through all of the equipment and armor.
Still, I tried to replicate his appearance given how much detail that was molded.
Used 3 fleshy colors for his face and a fine point Gundam marker (GM01) to do his eye and eyebrow.
Will need some touch-up and clear-coat to lock down the paint - it chips off quite easily even on primed parts?!
Finally ready to assemble the backpack and... Here we go again. This kit has some really tight fitting parts, but these would just not meet up!
Disassembled and tried to trim back posts and widen the peg holes...
But after repeated attempts it gets closer but never wants to get flush. :[
The instructions want you to assemble the arm this late in the game. Trying to push that ball joint into the pilot's shoulder under all that armor (and after painting LOL) was not fun.
Wing joint/mount pegs were too tight as well.
Forcing myself to move ahead. Fairly happy with the body after adding some detail paint and some top coat.
The kit only comes with the "01" unit number decal, so I'm going to rummage through leftovers from other kits to see if I can slightly mimic labels like the fire extinguisher, shoulder armor plaques, etc.
Settei and translated notes from AnimEigo's "Unobtanium" blu-ray release. These notes were to alert animators regarding details when a scene called for a close-up. Mesh was not included in the kit, so the hunt was on for this "finishing detail." 😉
Hasegawa modeling mesh 42, onion skin (tracing paper) and a set of small, sharp Fiskars scissors. The cutout on the desk is actually a throwaway - I had the mesh pattern oriented incorrectly. LOL
Mesh in place and correctly oriented. Calling it done now...
I'd wrung my hands over the correct paint color quite a bit - taking eyedropper codes from various scene screenshots and comparing the values. I'm now happy with my choice (Mission Models MMP 051 Lichtblau) given how this color appears under different lighting.
See the remainder of the photos for examples as well as my attempts to capture details and with backgrounds from the film.
I liked how the under-armor mechanisms looked here.
The Lichtblau teal with armor warm golden light glow
Lichtblau finish in diffused, natural lighting.
Fairly pleased with the pilot and cockpit, especially in the natural lighting.
That said, I'm amazed to see how the panel-lining/weathering I did is obliterated in the natural lighting. LOL
Time to have some fun with backgrounds from the actual film (thanks to a screencap site that also aided me with detailing). 🙂
May be the best lighting arrangement for this Tokyo night shot.
Profiles "in the subway."
Comments
5 16 January, 15:02
Jennifer Franklin I can't believe that even primed your paint is chipping, that must be incredibly frustrating. It's looking really good though. Very nice detail work on the face.
26 January, 01:42
CaptGPF This is going to be an interesting build on an Anime classic. Watching to see how this turns out. 😀.
12 March, 17:15
CaptGPF Absolutely beautiful result! Thanks for sharing!
8 July, 14:31
Album info
A kit I never expected to ever see!
The kit comes molded in color (but I will be painting for detail) and includes a number of weapon options. 🙂
That said, I was a bit disappointed that:
A) The pilot is not Ellie Kusumoto nor Kouji. It's the test pilot seen during the title sequence that has about 1-second of screen time!?! LOL
B) The armor suit's toes are not articulated - they are perpendicular for "flat-footed" stance, only. 🙁
C) The instruction booklet is missing information regarding some pieces! 😮
If you want to replicate Kouji's unit, you need to replace the right arm forearm cap with the one different from the one indicated (the one you want isn't mentioned!) and the related arm-mounted mini-gatling for that is shown only to show the 2 pieces required to assemble it. There's no mention of where to mount it nor that 1 of the rubber ammo belts gets attached (or where to attach the other end of that to the suit)! :[
N.B. This appears to be a 'snap-fit' kit and some parts actually take a little muscling to get them together. That said, I used CA glue on much of the armor, particularly the half-pieces just to prevent seam gaps.
Jennifer Franklin
CaptGPF
