Gelf from Dragonar

Modeling Subjects Science Fiction
1

Rcently I have not been particularly active model-wise (actually pretty much zero), so an online contest inspired me to get off of my fat, lazy heinie. The theme of the contest is old mecha kits from 1996 and before, and a deep dive into the stash easily produced some viable candidates.

Hailing from 1987, the YAMA-08 Gelf from the Japanese TV show “Metal Armor Dragonar” was selected, mainly because it already had polycaps for the joints. The contest deadline is only 2 months away and for me this is an extremely short fuse, so no time for diddling around trying to re-engineer the joints for polycaps. A friend and I once did a full polycap retrofit in one night, but as they say in the movie cliches “That was a long time ago Colonel…”

So here is the kit box and contents.

For those familiar with modern Gunpla kits, this one is a far cry from what we take for granted these days. But back in 1987 we had to take whatever we could get and be happy about it! So while the kit is fitted with polycaps for the joints, proportions are kinda dumpy, detail is shallow, there are no clear parts, color separation is mostly via those sucky stickers that Bandai continues to use to this day, and articulation is limited. But as Phoenix G amply demonstrated with his Imai Destroid Spartan of similar vintage, these older kits can be made to look nice with some strategically placed TLC.

The Gelf is a 3-in-1 kit, which allows the builder to make either a close combat, heavy weapons, or electronic warfare variant. This kit was probably the best value among the Dragonar series.

Since I like heavily armed anime mecha, the choice was simple.

I had built the Falguen, the “boss” of the Gelf team many years ago when the kits were still fresh, and it was my first attempt at a major retrofit/modification to a mecha kit.

I scratchbuilt the wings (called a “lifter unit” in-universe), did a bit of detailing, and reworked the head and hips. While I liked what I ended up with, there were a number of shortfalls that I hope to overcome with the current build.

The last couple of weeks have been maddeningly busy with all manner of things, from a shower renovation to funerals to my sisters’ car going kaput. I am really feeling like building something now!

2

I love kits like this. I’m usually torn between wanting it to look like it does on TV versus what it would look like in real life, metal colored etc.

Nice job.

3

That’s so cool Real G!!! Great to see you back to working on something. The previous model looks good, so what are the improvements you’re making on this one???

4

Gamera,

The game plan is as follows:

  • Add clear parts to visor and sensors

  • Add a proper neck and cut out in body to accomodate the head

  • Redo hip joints to allow leg rotation and maybe add ab crunch

  • Rework wrist and elbow joints to enhance posing

  • Rework knee and ankle joints to enhance posing

  • Correct the contour of the foot armor

  • Paint on all markings. No sucky Bandai stickers, bleah!

And that, Ripley, is the plan. Not to open box/close box. Not to just sit around and study. But to finish this thing in 2 months.

BTW I dove into the kit last night and began modifications. I had originally wanted to build a lifter unit for the Gelf, but will have to defer it due to the time constraint. But I did mod the backpack guns with polycaps so that the lifter unit can be added later on.

Pics to follow!

5

Rob,

There are several ways to finish these types of models, but I think the old classical “anime color” style has fallen out of favor. The armor guys brought their brand of weathering to anime kits and transformed their look. Other guys do the candy coat metallics which can look astonishgly good, but are fiendishly difficult to execute. And then there is the “cel shaded” style, where the models are painted to look like 2-D images that leapt out of the TV. It’s all about the paint these days!

6

Some progress pics:

A quick test fit to have a look at the overall model, and to identify areas that will need work.

Dragonar kits were kind of made on the cheap. I guess to be fair, they WERE cheap to buy. Anyway, it was common to have moveable parts without the benefit of polycaps, but the main guns on the Gelf HAD to have polycap action:

No need for Model Viagra!

The mod was also to accomodate a possible lifter unit in the future. It was always my intent to make wings for this guy, but under the time constraints of the contest, they will have to wait.

Next up was separation of the skirt armor from the body. I saw this neat trick on Youtube, where the guy scribed lines where he wanted to cut parts away then carefully applied Mr Color Thinner. He then initiated a small cut to start the separation. The Bandai plastic, notorious for cracking from thinner, neatly parted!

And it worked!

Now to clean up the cut area and extend the skirts up.

Reworking of the hip joint and neck area to follow.

7

Thanks for the info G! Nice work, he’s coming along well!

8

Wow that Falguen with your scratch built lifter unit is kick a**!

The Gelf looks like a perfect entry for the contest and you can’t go wrong with heavy weapons!

That’s a neat trick with the thinner to create a clean break where the plastic has been scored. The separation was so clean that one would be hard pressed to say it wasn’t designed that way.

[Y] I’m rooting for you on the contest. [Y]

9

Okay guys, reinforcements have arrived.

I am trying out some different polycaps, which will hopefully prove more useful than the ones I already have.

The Gelf’s waist armor has been cut apart, so no going back now! I need to get serious and start the high precision part of the build.

10

I agree that armor modelers’ methods have taken over many sci-fi model maker’s genre. Once they started making military style kits like the Gundam HC series kits in 1/35 scale, they got a whole new group of modelers interested and they brought their own techniques.

But I still like the cartoon colors on many of the kits.

11

Cool, looking forward to seeing how the additions go.

12

Gaaaah, getting onto the forum has been so slow! Those burito eating, toilet clogging spambots are maddening.

Things have been kinda hectic over here; I had to go for a biopsy this week, my first time having a procedure that required anesthetic. But things went smoothly and my lab test came up negative. 2 hours of prep, being wheeled into the OR, staring up at the ceiling wondering if the AC diffusers were backed with HEPA filters, then boop, then waking up in post recovery. Now I know what many others have gone through.

But I have not been idle and the clock continues to tick. Since Flickr made it impossible to post photos from my phone, I’ll do an update Monday. The arm mods will have been completed and the leg mods will be underway.

Hurry Star Force, there are only 4 weeks left…

Oh, and the new aftermarket joints are proving to be less useful than hoped. No school like the old school, when you got to get something done right.

13

Well, Well, Well!

Just when I thought those things were Boring ,you come along and maybe change my mind. Note: I said Maybe!

14

Ha ha TB! Thanks for checking in! It’s less boring for me because of the time limit. I’m lousy at keeping to a schedule, but once I get in the groove I should be able to push it through.

So far so good though. I have to finish all construction in about two weeks to have enough time to paint.

15

See!

What I said, and now you’ve got me looking for MachinenKreiger again!

16

Heh-heh. I’m the Modeling devil. It’s what I do. [6]

OK some updates on the state of play:

Modifications are primarily to improve posing of the model. The visor and sensors will have clear covers with detail inserts.

More to follow.

17

Coming along well G! [Y]

18

Thanks Gamera!

Here’s an old hack that was commonly used back in the 1980-1990 era.

By adding a pull-out secondary joint at the knee, the legs no longer interfere with one another when bent. I’m not going to make the Gelf do squats or anything like that, but the modification will allow for better posing.

And we all know that anime-pose is what robot kits are about! [;)]

19

Cool, I wanna see the Mech Ballet now G!!!

20

What? O~hhhhhh.

Yeah… you got me. Ballet plie (plee-ay). I don’t know why I didn’t see that in the photos that I took. But no ballet for the Gelf! It’s a manly-man metal armor! It’s a super masculine… robot model kit from a 1987 children’s TV show. [:P]

But seriously, the knee bend is kinda overkill but will be useful for heroic flying poses. I guess I DO play with my models after they are finished. But I do not make “pew-pew” laser beam noises while running around the living room with my towel cape and Star Patrol helmet…

Argh, busted again.