Genesis Climber

MOSPEADA

1/48 Inbit Gurab

Production Model Diary

John Moscato

( November 11, 2013 - December 31, 2013 )

Originally Posted On

The Macross World Forum

November 15 2013

Captain's log, Friday!!

The first update of the Mo-Suu-Pii-Dah Inbitoh begins now. In my

usual fashion, I have elected to catalog the building process as

closely as I can without getting putty on my camera lens Which

almost happened a couple of times

I feel that I need to preface this first update by saying that of all

the Anime mecha subjects I've tackled, this one is perhaps the

most inconsistent in terms of line art. To further compound

matters, I don't think that the designers really gave much thought

to the joints on Inbits in general: more often than not, the joints,

particularly in the legs, just look like a series of blob-shapes that

are somehow supposed to move and allow for articulation. Alas,

have no fear, I'm an expert in the interpretation of Anime magic!

Since the line art is so variable from one view to the next, I

decided to focus on the principal beauty shot for this mecha and

simply try to harmonize all the other views with this one. With

that said, the journey begins!

These are the blocks of modeling board and basic tools that I use when commencing a build.

I also print-out some same-size line-art, which comes in very handy for reference.

I first begin by chopping my larger modeling board blocks into smaller, more manageable pieces.

Next, I take my line-art and carefully cut-out certain key parts to maintain a really tight build spec.

Since certain components appear only in perspective, I use my compass to measure and then draw certain other

components if I feel I need to. For more mechanical components, I will draft on the computer, but due to the very

organic nature of this subject, I have elected to render free-hand.

My smaller blocks were insufficient, so here I am prepping another block on the mill. It's important

to maintain perfectly right angles: this helps make the transfer of proportions much more exact.

I stick my paper cut-outs directly to the modeling board to make the sculpting of parts easier.

Using the band saw, excess material is removed, but I'm mindful not to

cut too close, since it's much more work to add material than to remove it.

I use a grinding bit on a drill press to remove as much excess material as possible, all while maintaining a right angle

on the part. I try to keep parts square for as long as possible, so as to make the verification of dimensions much easier.

The upper crab armor goes under the mill. I use my machine to remove material incrementally in complex, curved areas:

it becomes a kind of manual CNC job where I remove material in tiny steps forming a curve, which I can then sans smooth later.

Here are the main components, still in their crude, blocky form.

This is the "calf" armor. I'm machining out the openings for the joints

while the parts still have square angles. Makes machining much easier.

Now comes the fun (and dusty) part: using my Dremel, I now begin to carefully

round-out the given shapes. This particular piece will become the forearm.

A cluster of very carefully-crafted "blob" joint parts. This is a particularly tedious step, as the parts have to look

convincingly blobby, but still be identical left to right. A considerable amount of time and effort was expended

to get them all just right, and then somehow fit together.

The lower leg calf component, now adequately rounded is used to fit the shin armor. I use a

kind of "putty smash" technique to ensure that these very organic parts all fit like a glove.

The toe/foot claws were too short, so here I am widening them.

Don't worry about that blob of putty, it will all be cleaned up.

A very quick and crude test-fit, courtesy of some plasticine to hold the parts together. Not too shabby if I do say so myself.

That's pretty much it for this week's update. Next week comes the fun of adding all those wonderful details And beam guns!

Stay tuned

Tamiya Acrylic X-16 Purple Model Master Plum Crazy Enamel

I wouldn't worry too much about colors: between original Vs. Re-mastered footage, lighting conditions, printing color variations, it's pretty much impossible

to get a spot-on match. Just mix and match based on what you like and be happy!

"Depending on what pictures/scenes/re-master you look at, as the Captain said, the colors vary greatly. One of those purples should work for the main

color, the secondary color looks either to be a very light grey, or a very light lavender color. Haven't made up my mind on that yet. I'm going to do the

feet/claws in a graphite metallic, and then the semi gloss black for the black detail areas." Derex3592

Captain's log: Friday, November 22nd. The beast takes shape, I shall name it Crabulon!Maybe.

It has been a fairly slow week, and I wasn't able to put in as many hours as I would have liked, but she's very close to being finished: it's mostly down the

small bits and details now.

One of many balls being machined for the Inbit's joints. While I do use the lathe's knife,

I mostly use a combination of sandpaper grits to "grind" the balls round as they turn.

The previously neglected beam gun gets a bit more attention this time.

Rough parts are hand-shaped, scored, and then putty is used to ensure a good fit of the kit's many blobby parts.

The Inbit's backside is being prepped for its thrusters: an excruciatingly long and

frustrating process that will end up looking rather superb Assuming my nerves hold out.

The forearm claw, in all its glory!

To ensure perfect symmetry, the claw opening was sculpted and polished as

a positive buck and was puttied into the rough openings I'd Dremeled by hand.

Oh, so much putty! Yet more parts are puttied into place, while

you can see a more refined version of the forearm in the back.

Some people have asked me how I scribe my panel lines, and it's really quite simple:

using a ruler, French curves and masking tape, I cut the desired shapes into tape

and apply it to the part. Then, I simply take a fine razor saw and very lightly drag

it along the taped line several times. It really IS that simple!

Beauty pics of King Crabulon. I must apologize for the very improvised posing.

It's a bit tedious when the kit has no complete joints. In spite of that minor setback, it really is

coming along nicely, even the beam cannon.

I use automotive Bondo primarily, and

a Mori-Mori type putty for finer work.

Anyways, I'm tired and off for some much-needed rest!

King Crabulon is in the primer stage. Pics of finished masters

tonight before I dump the parts in rubber

Captain's Log: Friday, November 29, A.K.A.: "Black Friday."

King Crabulon's masters... Are done!

This update will mostly consist of beauty pics.

I did want to get into one little build detail, and that's the eye.

I do like the idea of having a little red LED in there Just wanted to underline that point.

for special effects...

Also, kindly forgive the rough texture on some parts: that's just the primer and the wet-sanding before the molding process will do away with

it in a heartbeat. I didn't try to mount the beam cannon to avoid damaging the kit, but I think that based on previous pics, we get the idea.

Anyways, enough yapping, enjoy the photos!

The resin bar I used to make the master from just happened to be blue.

The kit part will be clear and so you'll be able to make it any color you like.

I'm glad that you guys really like King Crabulon. Ever since I was a boy I wanted Inbit kits, but as you know, there weren't

even crappy Imai kits to choose from and so now I'm over-compensating for all these years of Inbit deficiency!

The point where the beam gun mates to the body is ball-jointed, so the cannons actually have quite a range of motion. You can

even position them such that the beam gun muzzle is almost parallel with the eye. I did have to cheat a little bit though,

because the line art isn't consistent and fails to account for the upper shell humps interfering with the beam guns. Will take

better pics once the parts are cast.

Well if you REALLY want to see...

I have a couple of pictures of the parts being prepped for molding.

I just pour the rubber and then slice it to extract the parts.

Gravity pouring, nothing fancy, but it works.

There's a significant amount of thought and preparation that goes into the placement and grouping of parts, positioning of

pour spouts, chimneys. It's a very intuitive process, but it can make or break the final product. The parts aren't just

encapsulated willy-nilly in the silicone, otherwise you will end up destroying the masters upon extraction. Judging by the

results I've been able to get over the last decade with my molding/casting procedures, I dare think that my parts quality is

respectable. There are plenty of people here who can

give you objective opinions of my kits, gotta remember that I'm biased

Yes yes, I didn't forget

I spent much of the week finishing up the molds and

juuuuust barely got a couple of test-shots out earlier.

The verdict?

It's uh. Umm...

...

...

...

It's pink!

I decided that my Inbittoh kits need to be pink, and this

will be reflected in the packaging as well. I was just so tired

of seeing green molds with light grey parts, so I got a bit

nuts with color. The molds are naturally pink though, I had

nothing to do with that.

I'll be starting to clean one of the kits up for pics and

destructions over the weekend, so more pics on the way,

and less blurry this time, I promise.

I used [ball-joints] for the hips, elbows and lower shoulder

joints: allows for a broader range of poses. To be fair, the

toes and particularly the knees, in order to keep them

anime-accurate, are somewhat limited in the range of

motion department. No lunges for this crabby space

monster

...Aaaand it's Friday, again!!

Have a gander at the finished Inbiitoh. I just put him

together with hot glue yet he holds together surprisingly

well. I managed to cast a whopping 25 kits this week, still

waiting on the shipping boxes...

Hopefully I get those before Christmas.

SmoothCast 310. More than strong enough for a kit of this

size.

I have breaking news: I'm almost done casting!!!... And I

decided to rename

the kit "Pinky Space Crab."

I've got all the kits cast and bagged, just waiting on the

boxes which are late (what a surprise!).

Hopefully I'll get those this week so that I can begin

shipping.

Still waiting on boxes. Shipping labels and customs forms

are also done... I've got all these crabs and nowhere to go.

Now to work on the destructions...

Completed !

Soooooo... Are you guys ready for a Gamo?