Gans Step by Step video on Youtube

Now for the video which started the Gans craze as far as I know... Ma.K and Gans fans probably know this video either thru youtube or the RMVB version...

1/6

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6/6

Gans Kit Review coming up!

Next up, WAVE Gans! This is the kit which EVERYONE and his dog seems to love, and me too!!!
Keep checking back!

Nitto SF3D Krachenvogel FNS465 Review

Introduction
I actually bought this kit in order to kitbash with a Krote to make a Gans. This is because Gans is very hard to find, even on Yahoo Auctions Japan. The only other place is ebay, where the prices go ridiculously high and is next to impossible to win stuff for me. Its basically a Neuspotter, sans the arms, and plus 6 missile launchers, to take on an offensive role against Mercenaries armoured suits. A sexy kit if you ask me...

Now on with the review...

Description
(found at the back of the box)
Neuspotter, NS465 having the fine scouting system showed its superiority in the field. The Shutoral Forces tried to use it for surprise attacks. Neuspotter that mounted six semi-homing missile launchers. the high ability scouting radar and the large jamming plate instead of the MAST(?) and the scissors unit was best and mass-produced. Later many other equipment were tried for it and FNS-465B-Us having four large launchers and NS465B-U3 having eight Neupanzerfasts were produced.
Chassis Nos................6001-
Crew....................................0
Weight (tons).................1.02
Length (metres).............1.65
Width (metres)...............2.04
Height (metres)................4.5
Engine.........................Dora NS465 b
Speed(km/hr).................210
Range(km)....................1,200
Radio............................FuG43 n
Armament....................Pf293 6
Armor(mm)..............20-50 Tungsten+10-20Special Heatproof Ceramic Armor

Details
Scale: 1/20
Type of material : injection molded, multi-media
Number of parts: ?
Decals: yes
Instructions: yes
Overall quality: Very good, little to no flash, although I find the head unit details a bit soft, but that's me... Multimedia is impressive! Etched radar part and brass tubes, no sanding required!
Overall accuracy: Accurate
Date of release: unknown
Release price: unknown

Pictures

Box front

Box back

Neuspotter sprue A and B

Neuspotter sprue D

Neuspotter sprue C and Krachenvogel sprue containing Krachenvogel-specific parts

Decals

Box (I love the pose!)

the multimedia (bulb, wires, etched radar!, and 6 brass tubes!!!)

Smoked lens cover for the head and the base
(different from the clear version shipped with Neuspotter)

camo card front

camo card back

instruction page 1

instruction page 2 & 3

instruction page 4 & 5

instruction page 6 & 7

instruction page 8

Thoughts and Comments
After getting this kit, I find that its much too expensive (2 to 3 times the price of a Neuspotter). Granted that its rarity makes it a collector's item, I am a modeler, which means that I will build it, eventually :). To kitbash with a Krote would be crazy considering the prices of these two kits. I also managed to successfully bid for a WAVE Gans (actually now I have two :)) so that makes it unnecessary. I love this kit, its a what a Neuspotter should have been, armed with weapons to take on the Merc forces. Now if only I have an Oskar .... :)

Ma.K I bought today

Just won the following at YAJ today:
1/20 Nitto Fireball
1/20 Nitto Prowler
1/20 Wave Gans

Here we go again...
:)

Krachenvogel Kit Review coming up next!

Stay tuned for the next kit review!
Any comments so far with the kit reviews?
Let me know via comments!

Nitto SF3D Neuspotter NS465 Review

Introduction
The Neuspotter is my all time favourite Ma.K kit. I don't know why, but I dig any Ma.K kit that uses the Neuspotter head unit (Krachenvogel, Oskar, Gans, THAT A, THAT B). That's a bad thing, because all of them are very expensive! :)
Anyway this kit which I won over at Yahoo Auctions Japan is an S.F.3.D original kit, old and opened. Its missing the camo card, which made me very angry. Even though I am not a camo card collector per se, I had expected the full kit considering the price I paid for it. Guess I need to be more careful next time when bidding.
The box is old and very brown, lots of character, with a little bit of stain (coffee?) here and there.

Now with the review...

Description
In March 2883, the Shutoral National Defense Force ordered the Weapon Development Service to produce a high power driverless reconnaissance weapon. However, development and production were far behind time owing to a change for the worse of output of antigravity equipment. It was at the end of September, 2884 that the Shutoral forces actually began to produce the driverless reconnaissance weapon with fine computer, seeker, and senor for reconnaissance capacity and silence in moving by the front, and each forces demanded to arrange the new weapon. However, the number of production of P.K.A. was prior to that of Neuspotter. Therefore the actual arrangement of Neuspotters was limited to a few superior forces. (H. Ichimura)
Chassis Nos................4001-
Crew....................................0
Weight (tons).................0.89
Length (metres).............1.65
Width (metres)...............2.04
Height (metres)................4.5
Engine.........................Dora NS465 a
Speed(km/hr).................230
Range(km)....................2,300
Radio............................FuG43 n
No armament
Armor(mm)..............20-50 Tungsten+10-20Special Heatproof Ceramic Armor

Details
Scale: 1/20
Type of material : injection molded, multi-media
Number of parts: ?
Decals: yes
Instructions: yes
Overall quality: Very good, little to no flash, although I find the head unit details a bit soft, but that's me...
Overall accuracy: Accurate
Date of release: unknown
Release price: unknown

Pictures
box front

box back

Neuspotter boxbox opened and contents

Neuspotter sprue A (head unit and 'urgent' boosters)Neuspotter sprue B (anti-gravity units which are actually 2 Star Wars AT-AT necks, and air filter)

Neuspotter sprue C (communication pipe, cylinder and misc parts)

Neuspotter sprue D (base memory unit)
and Figure sprue (Eddy Amsel, his stick is in 2 seperate parts, I don't understand why)

multimedia (wires, springs, light bulb, battery attachment), water slide decals and clear base

instruction page 1

instruction pages 2 & 3

instruction pages 4 & 5

instruction pages 6 & 7

instruction page 8

Thoughts & Comments
Before having this kit, I had always thought that thing poking out of the head unit is a machine gun or laser, but from the box back, its a 'Biovital Research'. So other than the scissors unit on one arm, this unit is basically unarmed. Such is Ma.K, units are under-armed.
Love this kit, I just wish it wasn't so expensive so that I can build a dozen of them and place them everywhere in my house... Its quite humorous looking, especially with the kid Eddy Amsel poking a stick at it. I don't know the story behind it, but the picture on the front of the box brings a smile to my face. :)

Nitto SF3D Raccoon SAFSR Review

Here's my first review of a Nitto kit, the Raccoon.
This is an old package, the S.F.3.D Original boxing.

Its basically a recon version of the SAFS. It uses the same SAFS sprues, with an additional Raccoon sprue C, which contains the sensor pod mounted on the right, the IR seeker, exhaust , cooler and the left hand(manipulator). This kit has no left arm weapon.
The cockpit hatch is the same as the SAFS kit, which allows the modeler build the kit either with the hatch opened, or closed.
Included are rubber covers for the arms although there's no instruction as to how to use it on the kit at all!
For some reason its selling at a much higher price than SAFS on Yahoo Japan, about 3000yen and above. Probably due to its increased parts..

Description
(found at the back of the box)

The SAFS Raccoon was the scouting type which had scouting equipments such as the large-sized sensor pod and the I.R. seeker optical unit, and that arms of the SAFS having high mobile fighting capacity were removed. Moreover this Raccoon was armed with the ECM, the radiation prevention cover, and the silencer for exhaust noise as the defense against the enemy's electric wave weapon heat sensor, and voice sensor. The Raccoon strengthened communication capacity besides the said equipments was armed as a command type at the SAFS platoon of 2885 type standard organization and the headquarters detachment.
Chassis Nos................25621-
Crew......................................1
Weight (tons).................0.49
Length (metres).............1.44
Width (metres)...............0.98
Height (metres)..............2.52
Sight.....................TZF(sd.)46
I.R.Seeker Optical Unit
Radio...........................FuG43
Engine.....................HL375-H
Speed(km/hr)....................52
Range(km)........................205
Armor(mm).....7mm Tungsten
Super Ceramics

Details

Scale: 1/20
Type of material : injection molded, multi-media
Number of parts: 100+
Decals: yes
Instructions: yes
Overall quality: Very good, little to no flash
Overall accuracy: Accurate
Date of release: unknown
Release price: unknown

Pictures

box front (For some reason there's smearing in the printing) box back

Raccoon box

box opened

Contents

• a bag of 3 sprues: A,B and C.
• 1 bag containing the pilot figure sprue and a transparent bit
  
• 1 bag of springs, rubber covers, brass wires and PE parts
• 1 decal sheet (water slide)
• 1 instruction sheet
• 1 camo card

sprues, wires, decal sheet

camo card and instruction sheet (the camo card was printed quite dark...)

SAFS sprue A and B (Raccoon uses SAFS parts)

Raccoon sprue C

camo card front

camo card back

instruction sheet page 1

instruction sheet page 2

instruction sheet page 3

instruction sheet page 4

Thoughts & Comments

Before having this kit, I had always thought that the sensor unit mounted on top was actually a fixed laser cannon, therefore removing the need for the left arm laser pod. Kind of like the predator shoulder cannon. Maybe one day I will build an SAFS unit with such a laser cannon.
Anyway this kit is going out to a friend of mine who gave me a Fledermaus... He builds Ma.K which are very inspiring! :)

PS: The box art and instructions are copyrighted Nitto material and I've used them as resources to share with my fellow modelers and as an online resource.

Plans for this blog

When I started this blog, one of the aims is also to post kit reviews of Ma.K kits/prepainted toys as Ma.K kit reviews and information is sparse on the web. My main source was, and still is Ma.K in Action and also www.maschinenkrueger.com. Here's what I have in store for this blog:

• WAVE Gans review
• Nitto Krachenvogel review
• Nitto Neuspotter review
• Krachenvogel vs Neuspotter kit differences
• Hobbybase SAFS tropical colors review
• Hobbybase Gladiator review

So Stay tuned! :)

Hobbyfanatics Prizes in!

On a side note, a few months back I took part in the HobbyFanatics' Fanatic Fest '07. I entered the Sci Fi & Creatures category with my Ma.K Fireball, and the Anime Mecha Newbie category with my 1/100 No-Grade Nu Gundam. Both won something at the competition! :)
Today the prizes came in and they are resin casts of the HobbyFanatics logo made by cwmodels himself! Very light resin and the casts had very little flash. The pins were even casted and this enabled me to put together the model in less than a minute (see picture below)
I am very very happy! Now the thing is few people took part in the competition and I won mainly due to the fact I participated. I entered the competition with the attitude that I should support the forum's activities seeing how much time and effort the moderators had put in, as well as to get some feedback on my model making skills. My fireball isn't great, in fact if there were more entries I probably wouldn't have won anything, but that doesn't bother me. I had 'won' the LAST place in other competitions as well, but I enjoyed the build, the group effort, and the interaction, everyone inspiring each other's build and giving suggestions and urging one another... THAT's the fun!

I prefer meeting up with people like in m.con, where I met up with KGM2, Max and Bernard, and talking with them got me SOOO excited about modelling and especially with Bernard, his passion with modeling inspired me even though it was the first time I talked to him... Also introduced me the Ma.K modeling book and now I am poisoned :)

Ya, and that time the SD Gundam show at United Square where I met up with Salmonjim and finally got to meet Pazu face to face... They all all very nice, sharing tips and I also get to see their SDs which are waayyy better and uber cool!

Ok ok, I am being lorsoh (long-winded) already..

Winning is a bonus to me, the more important thing is that I participate... And what a bonus it turned out to be!

Thanks CHI!
Fanatics Fest 08 I will be participating again!

Ma.K shipment delivered today!

20 Ma.K kits at one go...

My shipment of Ma.K got delivered today! I combined a few purchases from Yahoo Auctions thru Shopping Mall Japan in order to save shipping costs, but the shipping still cost alot of money... oh well, haven't been so excited for a long time! :)

• 1 Nutrocker
• 1 AFS MkI
• 1 AFS
• 2 PKA
• 3 SAFS
• 2 Gustav
• 1 Fireball
• 1 Fliege
• 1 Raccoon
• 1 Konrad
• 1 Gustav clear
• 1 Fireball clear
• 1 Hornise
• 1 Krachenvogel
• 1 Neuspotter
• 1 Gans (Woot!)
  
  

I will keep what I want, and sell off the rest to my fellow modellers hungry for Ma.K!!!

Fledermaus Update 6.5

Since the last update, I've added details to the missile tubes, 'stinger' anti-air missiles, and scratch built the anti-tank missiles:

Being an attack-helicopter lover, I researched into the shape of the missiles and finally gave in to a 'hellfire' like anti-tank missile although a TOW would be slightly more suitable(but not as nice looking)

Decided to have a diorama by adding a Krote mechanic to the mix:

Only thing is I have to give him a tool to replace the cigarette he was originally supposed to be holding. No smoking in my house! :)

Scratch-built the ammo and ammo belt:


Finally, I've thinned the wing-extensions on the trailing edge suggested by a fellow modeller also doing the Fledermaus for the competition.

I just need to add a wire-cutter to my Fled, and its ready to prime!

Comments/suggestions welcomed!

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Ma.K I bought in March 2008

Here's some Ma.K I bought at Yahoo Auctions Japan through Shopping Mall Japan. A 1/35 Gladiator (Hobbybase), 5 1/35 SAFS Tropical Colors (Hobbybase), 1/20 Nitto Jerry, 1/20 Nitto Gustav and a 1/20 Nitto Krote! Bidding at YAJ is fun, though sometimes frustrating to lose out at Auctions. I love to 'snipe' Auctions in at the last minute to grab what I want! :)Stay tuned for reviews to the Hobbybase prepainted Ma.K...