Robotech Defenders Condar
This model is another model from my childhood, the Robotech Defenders Condar. I had built the 1/72 scale version that came with the helicopter to carry it, but I never managed to get this one. Of coures, this model is just a rebox of the Fang of the Sun Dougram - Soltic H-102 'Bushman' Combat Armor that was produced by Takara back in the 1980s. When the transformable robot crazy hit America, Revel got the license to sell these models as part of the Robotech Defenders line. They reboxed several models from a few different lines, and this was one of them.
The reboxed version had a very 1980's desert camo paint scheme, which looks pretty good, but I wanted to make it a little more modern. I like the digital camo designs that are coming out now, and I thought it would be a nice look for an older model. I figured a urban color scheme would work well, so I went with various shades of gray. Of course, I didn't realize how complicated a digital camo pattern would actually be. The base coat was pretty easy, but after that it was lots and lots (and lots) of little squares and rectangles of slightly different sizes.
I had thought about making a decal sheet that I could just cut up and layer it up, but I had a hard time coming up with a good pattern that I could print out to use. SO I just went with the masking tape plan. I think it turned out pretty well, but what a pain it was! If I could do it again, I'd come up with another paint scheme. Maybe a tiger strip deal that I could just use strips of paper to make the faded lines with.
Details
I also wanted to change the gun some. It looked a little too short and stocky for my taste, so I added some to it. I think it makes it look a little more robust and more appropriate for a large robot to be carrying around. I just used some spare parts to lengthen the barrel, removed the 'clip,' and added some other small details.
I had wanted to make some custom decals to make it look futuristic for today's look. The decals that it came with are for a 1980's future, which looks a little old now. I think a digital camo with some more updated markings would have worked great. However, I was out of ink for my printer. So I went with the kit decals. They ended up looking pretty good after all, but I would have liked to add some other markings. I have another Robotech Defenders model, so maybe I'll work something out for that one.
This model also had a cockpit that can open, which gave me a chance to make the insides look decent. The down side was that it was pretty sparse and didn't give a lot of space to make it look nice. So I just painted the pilot up to make him decent looking and dropped him in. I might have been able to do some stuff with the sides, but since I'll leave the canopy closed for display it won't really matter.
Overall, this model turned out pretty well. I think the digital urban camo added a nice look and the spruced up gun looks much better than the kit gun. It's always fun to build models from yur childhood, and this was no exception.
Building Pictures
Since I had several in-progress pictures, I thought I'd include them here. Enjoy!
