SSC Deep Recon ship

[Frank3k]

I saw Dr. Yo's build of the Dracoon/Aminga and it looked like it would fit well into the Strategic Space Command universe, which includes the Leif Ericson. I'm the guy who calculated that the original LE was around 1/500 scale (and that's what Round 2 put on the box) so now it's cannon. However since the deck spacing and hatches (both in and outside of the ship) vary widely in size, anything from around 1/300 to 1/700 would work for the scale.

For the Dracoon (which I keep thinking of as "Racoon") I imagine it is an older vehicle than the LE, primarily used for solar system exploration and cargo transport.

In any case, I found that the Dracoon was quite cheap on Ebay. I bought two of the Takara/Nitto boxing of the Dracoon (listed as 1/1600 on the box). It's a fairly simple kit, but the fit is not great; hats off to the evil Dr. Yo for making the kit plastic yield to his will. I struggled (and am still struggling) with mine.

I'm building two versions: one landed, with the rear cargo hatch open and landing gears deployed and another in flight. The in-flight version is almost ready for paint. I printed larger vertical fins in ASA (Acrylonitrile Styrene Acrylate - basically, styrene) to make it closer to the Leif Ericson design style. I also used the exhaust from an old Testors 1/72 F-19 as the "impulse" engines:



The neck joint required extensive trimming and sanding to prevent a noticeable step. The engine pods have a gap between them and the main body that is just wide enough to call a feature, rather than poor fit:



Throughout this build, the shape of the Dracoon has reminded me of the Terran Trade Authority "Interstellar Queen" and of the "Hooded Swan" from the series by by Brian Stableford:


(artwork for both is by Angus McKie)

I added two doors for the forward landing pads (as seen on some "Interstellar Queen"/"Hooded Swan" images). Some 1/700 railing on the forward stepped area under the nose acts as a sort of intake. I filled in the step behind them to streamline the lower front fuselage. A frame from a 1/350 scale hatch on the lower rear body acts as a crew hatch. Finally, I made landing gear doors out of styrene to replace the lumps that acted as missile bays :



I have some LE engines I printed a few years ago so I placed one set (and the resin "engine inter-adapters" that I cast more than 20 years ago) on the Dracoon,; maybe it's being used as a testbed for the new LE engines:



Here's a 1/350 scale astronaut standing over the cockpit area. At this scale, the cockpit area is roughly about the size of a modern airliner's cockpit. In 1/500 it would be roomier and in 1/700 it would be a ballroom:



Here's where I am with the landed version and mocked up cargo hold:

[Dr. YoKai]

...In 1/500 it would be roomier and in 1/700 it would be a ballroom...

And in the stated scale of 1/1600, it would be a hanger deck
I think scale in most Japanese sf kits from that era is more "something like that" than a direct correspondence.

This is coming along nicely-I hear you about the fit issues, though-my build has the same gaps between the engines and hull, and I do remember
a fair amount of filling and sanding. Our minds do move in similar tracks, though-the other partially constructed Dracoon in my stash is half way to being a landed transport with a open cargo bay as well-I have a set of wings from an old 1/100  Ilyushin Il-28 (Tamiya kit, I think?) to turn it into a Gundam style mega plane. (It's also getting scale=o-rama'd to 1/550. I'll have to dig it out soon.)

[Frank3k]

The old Tamiya 1/100 Il-28 is a pretty nice kit, despite its age.

[Kerick]

Nice color on a nice build!

[raafif]

I'm diggin' those engines   The fuselage body molding looks very "soft", rather like some resin stuff I've got.

[Jeffry Fontaine]

Clandestine Intergalactic Cartage Services LLC? 

Amazing work so far on the modifications for the cargo bay on the "landed" version.  Will you be filling the bay with cargo and material handling equipment? 

[Frank3k]

The base color was black primer with some aluminum - It's going to end up with a light blue metallic finish, like the original Leif Ericson, but with some variations on aluminum and steel in spots and some color decals. So far, the names I've picked are SSC Procyon (raccoons are part of the Procyon genus) and S.C.C Esiban, the Ojibwe name for raccoons.

The plastic has some soft molding in spots and very sharp molding in others. Not bad for 1980s Japanese SF kits.

Jeff, I'll add a few vehicles and cargo. I have some resin vehicles that Jay Curtiss made for the original Leif Ericson, that should fit. I was tempted to light the cargo bay, but I want to finish these kits this month or next... not next year.

[Buzzbomb]

Nifty build

[Frank3k]

Almost done - just needs shading. I'm not 100% sold on the colors, but I'm not going to repaint it. The nosecone on the right engine is loose; I'm going to glue it in. S.S.C. Procyon is in Impact font; the original Leif Ericson used a goofy 60's "computer" font that I didn't want to recreate or look up. The rest of the text was in Impact:





The grainy surfaces are from the clear coat I applied to protect the decals. The bright sunlight and angles bring them out:



For years, I've been mixing inks with Vallejo Metallic acrylics to tint them. Most of the paint is Vallejo Aluminum or a base of Vallejo White Aluminum and blue ink, in various intensities. I think the ink is going off, because it started to clump in the airbrush cup. Another weird effect of the ink is that is started to leach out from the paint, but only under the decals. It's noticeable in the background of the half arrow decal near the front lower body. It looks OK, but it's not what I expected:



It's particularly noticeable in this fuzzy image of the rear cargo hatch. It looks OK, but I didn't intend to give it a fluorescent green shade:

[Buzzbomb]

Nicely done.

A lot smaller than I first thought as well.

[raafif]

The metallics go together nicely

[Frank3k]

Thanks!

I'm calling this one done, before I screw it up with too much shading.

I put a dot of red paint on the cone tips in the engine nacelles:



The right engine is sill loose, but I like the little spots of color on the domes on the ship's back. The domes in a different metallic shade; it;s just not apparent in these photos:



I still need to remove the acrylic wash around the rear cargo hatch. The green is from the blue ink reacting with the decal setting solution:



Now it's on to the landed version. The cargo bay area is smaller than I expected.

[finsrin]

Excellent build and with personal touches.  Immediately recognized the F-19 exhaust from working with it on SR-90.
Particularly like engines and fins. 

[Dr. YoKai]

That came out beautifully, Frank! I look forward to seeing the landed and loading version. 

[Frank3k]

Thanks, Craig!

Here's what I have so far:

The cargo area (or at least the vehicle airlock area) is pretty small - it can fit one vehicle and some cargo boxes. An MRC/Gallery Models 1/350 LAV-25 fits fine, but I modified it by increasing its height with a slab of styrene and removing items like the turret ring and the muffler. I added a couple of domes from a Gundam add-ons package and got this:



Not a big vehicle, but OK for a quick exploration. The "elephant trunk" in front is for sensors, or a remote arm or whatever.

Not much room:



I painted the vehicle red to highlight any spots that still need filing or sanding. I may leave it red (or some variation). The boxes and tanks in the vehicle airlock are spares from another project:



This is what I got done today:

[Kerick]

That’s cool!

[Old Wombat]

Nice!