Continuing my UFO theme in the build up to SHADO Con ,
here’s the SKYDIVER kit from Bandai.
I’ve had this for quite a while, and when I originally got
it someone had already started to make a pig’s ear of assembling it.
Thankfully, they hadn’t gone too far so the first thing I had to do was
carefully take it apart and re-assemble it so it looked a bit more presentable
ready for painting.
Like many Japanese kits it’s a cross between a nicely detailed
model kit and a gimmicky toy. It was also released as a straightforward toy in
light blue plastic, possibly prior to becoming a kit, and possibly around 1971.
The date for the kit release is unclear to me, although what appears to be a
date, 1985 can be seen on the instructions’.
The remarkably accurate looking hull has two large wheels
underneath and contains a wind up motor with a separate key. A balancing
smaller third wheel is toward the front.
The detachable Sky 1 has a couple of spring loaded missiles
on each side, and runs on a single middle wheel fixed under the fuselage and supported
by two fixed stabilises on the exhausts.
The Diver part of the kit would have originally had a pair
of shafts set on a cam fixed to the large drive wheels with a flame effect
protruding out of each of the rear engine exhausts. Those were missing from my kit, not that I’d
have probably fitted them.
I did briefly consider altering it to do away with the
wheels, but decided to keep its unique look as that was how it was originally
intended.
The overall look of the hull is pretty good, however the
position of the cockpit windows on SKY 1 are slightly different to what we’re
used to, and give a bird-like look. I
quite like it.
It’s a relatively easy kit to build. Painting is a little fiddly, especially
around the rear exhausts. The overall
colour is Ford Oyster Gold, then I used black, white and various silvers. The
water slide decals help enhance the detail, although as there’s a few contours
and raised detail on the hull it’s best to use a decal softener.
That's nice, I've never seen one built before. Looks good.
ReplyDeleteThanks Kev. Yeah, I've seen photos of only one other built. As I've said its a fun build, and looks a lot more interesting assembled than as a pile of parts in a box.
DeleteI'll probably tackle the Bandai Interceptor at some point, as I've seen plenty of those built and apart from the missile, that doesn't look a bad build too.
That, sir is a beauty! One of my last favorite C21 designs, and you did a smashing job on painting it. I love those Japan SF kits which are half-scale model, and half-play toy, and I am happy to see you lovingly kept the toy part in there! Bravo!
ReplyDeleteWell, thank you kindly, Ziggurats. It certainly is a great design. I don't mind leaving in the toy aspects, as for reason I feel much more nostalgic leaving them in, even though I never owned them as a kid. Plus, as a collectable It's retaining its original look, or most of it at least.
DeleteYep, I for some reason was lucky enough to stumble onto some of these Japan SF toy-models in the late 1960s here in the US, and have a real fondness for them. While they can be frustrating to the serious modeler, who consider them "garbage," I always thought they were a very interesting missing link between scale models and the notion of "build your own toy!" But you really bring 'em to life!
ReplyDelete