This is my Super Armored Fighting Suit in 1/20 scale, from Nitto. It’s kit # 4 from the Maschinen Krieger / Ma.K. ZbV3000 series.
It’s mostly straight from the box. I swapped out some of the joint armor w/ an SAFS Fireball kit, added a white metal replacement hand from Modeling Support Goods/Kotobukia, some Waldron instruments and bezels in the drivers compartment, and various minor improvements using brass rod and tubing.
It was painted w/ Model Master enamels, and weathered using a salt mask over a base coat of burnt umber. Markings are a combination of kit decals and dry transfers by Verlinden and Archer.
The model won a Silver award at Wonderfest USA in 2005, and a Silver at the IPMS region IV show that same year.
It’s not just kindness Cosmic, your work speaks for itself. Can’t wait to see more. I’m willing to share some web space if you need a place to host your pictures.
I like this man, its really cool. MaK isn’t my cup of tea, probably because I doubt I could do it, and I know I would need a ton more experience before I would even know what to do with it, but they sure are fun to look at when you want to see great work. Good job. It deserves those awards.
I feel exactly that way about Gundams. With the Ma.K.s, if you make a mistake, well, they’re supposed to be a little beat up: mistakes are easy to forgive. Gundams are really clean; even the detail on the battle damaged ones is very sharp. The slightest mistakes are usually obvious.
Construction is another thing. Ma.K.s have very few parts compared to the Gundams, and construction is fairly straight forward. With Gundams, I have trouble visualising the entire painting and construction sequence, so I wind up building them piecemeal, which takes forever.
Well I agree, although on the damage part I must say I’ve never seen a mangled MaK that looked like the builder just screwed up. And I think the construction challenges for me are fun. I’m still learning how to do it in the right order and every suit I’ve built has some problem Like parts of 2 halfs of an arm being painted different colors or forgetting to do any panel lines on the Gouf till after it was painted. But I think the one reason Gundams are easier for me is they are familiar. I built Gundams before I ever knew people painted them, so this new world of modeling is just one more step but with MaK or something else I’d be in the dark to start. But if I ever decide to branch out I at least know I have a few people to go to for advice.
Had a guy, didn’t get his name[:(] Du’oh, display about six Gundams at our last IPMS show.
Not my cup o’tea, but WOW! the workmanship was superb. listening to him describe the construction sequence made me crosseyed. Also increased my respect for his skill 10x more than I already had.
Heh! I hear ya. I guess what I meant to say is that if I accidentally scratch the finish on a MaK during final construction, no one will think it’s a mistake. They might even give me props for it (are the kids still saying that?)
I really agree w/ this. I know the things I like to build are those things that I became familiar w/ when I was young: MaKs, Star Wars, BSG…I never even heard of Gundams until I was in my mid 20’s, so they are kind of terra incognita to me. I see their potential though, so I’m trying some out.
agentg:
Oh yeah, absolutely. I used to think they were glorified toys, until I actually tried to build one. Serves me right for pre-judging them.
Oh, and thanks for the compliments guys. I really appreciate it.
They did just release a new one, but I haven’t got one of those yet. Too many in the stash already. [:D]
This is an old thread from about a year and a half ago, resurrected by the (now deleted) previous respondent. Not that I mind, its nice to dust it off and look at it again. I’m pleased w/ how the photos came out.
I was first exposed to the MaK stuff a while back thru Squadrons mail order fliers. It looked interesting, but I was much too interested in Trek to seriously consider buying any. Kinda kewel, but a bit too World War II-like for my tastes.
Fast Forward to now.
The first time I actually laid eyes on a complete kit was a model contest in El Paso, TX. Someone there did the Neurospotter (I think it’s called?) Drone. Pretty kewel. And now after seeing these at WonderFests over the last several years, I’m even more amazed. I have a real appreciation for these kits and those who build them.
So, thanks for sharing the pics of the builds, John. It’s greatly appreciated. [#toast]
I’m being drawn more and more to builds like this one. And I especially like this particular model.
I’ve looked on ebay, but they are all $50-60. Where’s the best place to get these?
Lastly, when I was deployed, if we were on down time on the tracks we were always siding outside … too dang hot inside! … do these kits come with a full figure? And if not, where would you find 1/20 figures?
