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Modified Destroid Defender


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Defender1.jpg

I am modifying this away from the kit. Never built a mecha model before, but even with this old kit, I am impressed. I'm guessing that Imai billed it as more of a glue-it-together-toy than simply a static model, because it's rugged, as much or more than Tamiya's old motorized tank kits. The plastic is thick, especially around the working joints. Underneath my added mods and details, this pig will be a hefty chunk of plastic when it's finished.

Edited by Fishwelding
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  • 3 weeks later...

I'm making up modifications as I go along, but plan on leaning a little harder in the science fiction, that is, making something that is more plausible to me, projecting from existing technology and military practice. With that subjectivity in mind, I'm dipping into my spares box, some neglected model kits, and some really neat detail parts that the Japanese kit makers have available for "Gunpla" and other mecha models.

Defender2.jpg

I'm adding plates to the mech to cover up things I don't like, or just make things a bit busier. No, I don't think a combat mech from the 21st century should be sporting headlights from a 1978 Chevy Malibu--so they were plated over. The giant transparency running up the center protrusion on the torsoe, which reminded me of floor-length 1980s stereo/hi fi units, was also canned in favor of a smoother armor, as if to suggest a cast unit.

Defender5.jpg

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Defender4.jpg

The four cannon on the original kit struck me as spurious. I suppose they're supposed to be some sort of laser or particle ray guns. The kit suggests two ammunition drums or hoppers atop the torso. How they would feed to those guns in various regimes, or carry much ammunition of that bore, is a mystery to me. Well, hey, it was a cartoon, anyway.

I cut away one of the kit's gun barrels from its...receiver?...and mated it to a 1/48th scale Otaki Allison V-1710 engine block (from their P-40E kit). I sleeved tubing into the muzzle, to drop the caliber down. I'm thinking some sort of electromagnetic rail artillery, throwing a simple slug at some obscene speed, and probably rendering it glowing hot in the process. That way, the hinge between the gun-arm and the torso need only contain A> ammunition feed for simple, caseless, and entirely inert oblong metal slugs (a sabot/flichette package?) B> cable(s) hauling a breathtaking amount of electricity to power the gun and its herculean cooling system and C> structural integrity to hold the whole thing together. The thickness of the bore is explained by a substantial cooling jacket to keep the gun from suffering some sort of self-inflicted heat trauma.

Edited by Fishwelding
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Defender3.jpg

I'm adding some details to the legs. In this case, I added the pioneering tools rack from a Revell Tauchpanzer Fuchs. It seems liked a good spot, as it'll be within plausible reach of a dismounted crewman, but somewhat protected from catching on ground clutter as the legs move.

Defender1-1.jpg

For the opposite armature, I'm adding a set of missile boxes from Hasegawa's Macross weapons set. I found they're about the perfect size, and it's my nod to the Kawamori engineering style, which I assume made it into the Destroids as well as the Valkyries. I haven't yet worked out the details of the mount.

Edited by Fishwelding
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This is really cool! I like the direction you're going. One day I'd like to try some sort of mech suit and/or robot. I can see where it would be not only fun but a good exercise in scratch building and paint weathering.

Bill

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Some nice ideas there.

If you didn't know, Wave have recently released a much more expensive version of this subject at 1/72.

However, I look forward to seeing what else you're going to do with yours - a nice start here. That revised 'arm' is certainly going to look different!

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  • 4 months later...

Defender6_zpsf684c2e6.jpg

Work continues. Nothing terribly exciting. Added detail to the right rear leg. I speculate that you'd want to have some sort of movement indicator "tail lights" for non-combat movements, and that these would be located relatively low, for all vehicles to see. The back of the crew "torso" compartment has an escape hatch (from a DML Panzer), and a plate that will eventually hold the on-board maintenance/reload crane. The front will be armored over, with the addition of a close-defense machine gun mount (modded from a Tamiya Bradley).

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