Yep, already there!
I was bidding on Cheif Tyrols vest gak until it got too high for me. I could only do a Raptor suit --but as a line guy, I will always wear my orange, debuted it at D*C last year with utility belt and helmet. Getting the helmet together turned out to be a challenge, i used my skills to create the HaG-11 headset from scratch. Nicky Cline signed it for me last month at CoastCon and told me her own stories about the helmet she wore. I tracked down the ironclad gloves localy for my knuckledragger, not eactly the cheapest things but very comfortable compared to my other cotume gloves.
From what you can see of the seated pilot the viewer will get a good look at the helmet and vest. Now, should the helmet be pure silver, or silver green metallic? that looks like a hard color to pin down as it appears to change depending on light. The vest is well represented as is the pistol belt. Feet dissappear under the panel into troughs like the Corair had. The pilot is cast in a hard smooth resin, and is well repreesnted even with the armadillo plating on the back. The clamshell hande looks a bit long but that wil lbe hardto see anyway. Cuffs are present and will be easy to do but the neckseal is not visible. JT Graphics looks to offer patches for the suit with his decal sheet.
The troughs in the cockpit wil lmake it easy to backlight the (clear) Dradis screen. You have enough room to run F/O , but I wouldnt run LED on this due to gaps. Sidewalls....well they have visible sink marks and the part number on them when viewed, so that is a big boo boo on thier part. No detail, so they will get covered with detail. Panel is ok but should have more on it in this scale.
The kit is cast in very thick plastic. Heavy plastic. And it has very long alignment pins on the nose so dont ccut those off. The upper edge of the nose has a long chafe on it to help alignment. The cockpit is literally trapped by four huge pegs and will not shift, but you will need to seal it against light leakage if you do any lighting.
Breakdown is pretty stadnard but how this kit goes together is odd. Not hard, just odd. The wings are solidly locked into place prior to trapping them with the upper engine nacelle halve. But, making a way to have the wings removable and or added last is as easy as snipping of fthe J hook and sliding their mounts in the big slot when done, and the tab slips intoa positive locking channel. Good show!
The fiddly bit comes with the upper engine nacelle. I didnt read the diretions but I looked at the photos and thougtht about it. The whole model is keyed like a puzzle, one part making the next part stronger and locking it into place. You begin at the nose and work to the tail, literaly. So, adding the upper engine insert into the previously glued upper nacelle, knowing that it can only possibly fit one way and lock into the exhaust can, slip that whole engine nacelle assembly with trapped tail on, and then slip on the e-cans to lock it all togheter. Simple, effective and smart!
This will also let me pre-paint and pre weather a lot of this model before I get too far ahead and get something trapped behind something else.
I spent all of fifteen minutes slamming it together here at my work desk. Three rubber bands and one small piece of tape at the top of the upper nacelle. i can wave it around and it will not fall apart due to how it is all locked together (no glue of any kind at this point). Parting lines look good as long as care is taken to line things up, and fall on the ships maintenance panel lines. A touch of Mr. Surfacer wil close those lines up nicely. The only real seams will be the top and bottom nose and engine seams, and the engine parting lateral seams. Plus you wil need to fill the wings but we expect that anyway. Guns look fine, detailing will bring them to life. The side of the nose detail is adequate given what is seen on screen but fine details will always add life.
55 days to get this thing built and marked up in Kat's markings! on day 56 I will get Lucianna Carro to sign the mounting plaque.