Beyond The Sprues
Current and Finished Projects => Physical Models => Scifi and Fantasy => Topic started by: Dr. YoKai on May 21, 2026, 12:23:56 AM
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Two quick end-of-winter builds to clear the palate and refresh my spirit. Winter was pretty rough here, and the temps kept me out of the workshop save for brief intervals, even parking my aging carcass next to the space heater. I took the Drcoon (I think it's supposed to be "Dragoon", but Japanese transliteration can be a little weird.) out of a box it had been languishing in for at least two decades, finished the seams, and took the one day it warmed into the teens (Celsius) and primered this and the subsequent build.
Dracoon is a screen filler/target ship from the 80's anime film Crusher Joe. It's Space cops versus Space Pirates, and is a lot of fun if you like that sort of thing. Nitto produced scads of kits for this film, and while they are neat little kits for the most part, they did not do terribly well commercially, which resulted in a lot of them being available even to day. (Albeit at rather increased prices. But I digress.)
Aminga is a bad guy mech from the early 80's anime Acrobunch, which poses the question "What if Indiana Jones was a widowed father of four who built giant transforming robots on the side?" The series is avaiable on youtube, and is really for the younger set, though some of the designs are kinda neat. I've had two of these, and mined the first for parts for this, that, and the other thing for years, but I took a look at this one day in late February, and decided I just needed to slap something together. So, no real WIP shots, but I think they came out okay.
Aminga in Primer
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55105914187_9e8fbd651b.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2rXwdqK)DSCF1286 (https://flic.kr/p/2rXwdqK) by VileDr.Yo (https://www.flickr.com/photos/46965833@N07/), on Flickr
and finished
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55151589106_3380ef2701.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2s2yiZm)DSCF1292 (https://flic.kr/p/2s2yiZm) by VileDr.Yo (https://www.flickr.com/photos/46965833@N07/), on Flickr
And the Dracoon
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55151589026_7cd3fb05dd.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2s2yiXY)DSCF1302 (https://flic.kr/p/2s2yiXY) by VileDr.Yo (https://www.flickr.com/photos/46965833@N07/), on Flickr
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55150694772_965c0c4ba6.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2s2tJ8N)DSCF1303 (https://flic.kr/p/2s2tJ8N) by VileDr.Yo (https://www.flickr.com/photos/46965833@N07/), on Flickr
All that was done a month or so back, and this has been on the bench since-
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55220146941_caff752510.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2s8BFQZ)DSCF1313 (https://flic.kr/p/2s8BFQZ) by VileDr.Yo (https://www.flickr.com/photos/46965833@N07/), on Flickr
Though the original Mobile Suit Gundam series has some fairly goofy designs, this "Mobile Armor", the Zakurello, must rank near the top.
My goal is to make it even goofier. Build thread in a day or two.
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Goofy is GREAT :smiley: Get on with it, Doc !
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You are on a roll here! I love the lobster claws! The second guy looks very good too. I’m looking forward to the progress!
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They both look great. The Aminga looks like it walks around looking for trouble. The name reminds me of the Amiga, which would have been popular in the 1980s. I love the Dracoon (Dragon Racoon?) looks like it belongs in the SSC universe, either as an adversary or as another country's spaceship. How big is it compared to the Leif Ericson?
The "Zakurello" reminds me of Zontar:
(https://comicvine.gamespot.com/a/uploads/original/11111/111114304/5432594-itconquered1.jpg)
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Thanks, Colleagues!
The Aminga was a fun quick build, and just what I needed to get rolling again. I have not actually seen it in the anime yet-there seem to be a number of 'bad guy' mechs in the show, but so far, none of them have actually appeared on screen!
The Dracoon would fit nicely into the SSC, Frank. It look like a transport/Landing craft, but the box art shows it as more of a missile boat-
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55284868955_09b9f00c56.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2sekprM)CrusherJoeDracoonBoxArt 2 (https://flic.kr/p/2sekprM) by VileDr.Yo (https://www.flickr.com/photos/46965833@N07/), on Flickr
I do have another one in the stash, and hope to work on an SSC space station in the near future. (Got some advice on lighting from our comrade from the old SSM forum days, Umi Ryuzuki-now if I can just summon the patience for wiring...) The ship is about 1/3 to 1/4 the size of the Leif, so it would work nicely as a support craft.
I have a model of "Beulah" as the thing from Venus was referred to on set-one the great suits from Paul Blaisdell. True, sad story: Blaisdell has built the suit with articulated claws, which he demonstrated before filming began by plucking a handkerchielf from Corman' pants pocket. First day of filming, the crew setting up lights and set dressing repeatedly walked over the arms of the suit, completely wrecking the mechanism.