This is Modelkasten's 1/20 Oskar, from Kow Yokoyama's MaK series. The Oskar is a Strahl Demokratisch Republik (SDR) reconnaissance drone. The kit is a combination of Modelkasten vac-formed and resin parts along with a couple of sprues from Nitto's Neuspotter kit. (Another SDR drone which looks like a flying telephone pole!)
While the resin parts were of excellent quality, a lot of customers had problems with the large vac-formed hull. The two bulges on the backside were very thin, which often meant that the kit came with dented bulges. I got lucky as my kit arrived without any damage. Nevertheless the hull was still very flimsy, so it was reinforced from the insides using thin strips of paper towels soaked in CA glue. This really worked a treat, as the finished hull is remarkably rigid. The vac-form experts probably already know this trick, but as always I constantly waste time reinventing the wheel.
The other problem was that Modelkasten did not provide any sort of detail to go under the hull. The instructions simply said to cut a flat plate of sheet plastic and glue it to the hull bottom. This would not do, so a blanking plate was vac-formed to fit slightly inside the hull. This also increased the visible thickness of the bottom edge of the hull, which is what I wanted. At this point, my mind went blank (a frequent occurrence!) so I just faked in some lift fans and other miscellaneous details, all made from sheet plastic and Bondo. Note that the fans are just flat discs with scribed lines. I used an index card mask and shaded the edges with a darker color to suggest a 3-D effect. The fan hubs were road wheels stolen off an old Tamiya Panther. I have to go back and finish weathering the kit, as the undersides look way too pristine for what is essentially a mobile sand blaster.
The rest of the kit built up okay. The Nitto Neuspotter parts provided the "head"and those wonderful wires and coiled springs that make MaK models so much fun. I did notice that the Neuspotter's parts looked a little dull, as if the parts were injected at a lower pressure than designed. I compared the sprues to an original Neuspotter kit, and confirmed my suspicions. In the above photo, note the missing horizontal panel line on the head, between the two round sticky-out things. (I missed that one during construction.)
For paint, I used Model Master enamels applied with my ancient but highly reliable Badger 200 single-action airbrush. I tried to emulate the box art camouflage, but I don't think I nailed it. I will have to try the "Yoshiki" style of painting on my next MaK model. (That's where the camouflage pattern is brushed on with highly thinned paint, then an airbrush is used to fill the insides. I was just too chicken to try it on this model, as I really stink at brush painting.)
Hopefully Hasegawa will eventually produce an all plastic kit of the Oskar, as the Modelkasten kit is OOP. (And stupid expensive, not that a Hasegawa kit would be much cheaper!)
Anyway thanks for looking, and have a great weekend!