Another Kitbash : Viper n°7, Dolphin.

[YOULI]

Another Kitbash. Another Viper-like project... Made from a 1/72 scale model kit, YF-16 from Hasegawa. A real simple process, using almost only the parts from the kit (Sprues included) and building it with a simple image in mind : 3 big engines, two little wings and a big nose.

I just have to find the courage to finish painting the pilot, bring details in the cockpit (decals actually), and then decide if I keep only this super blue color, or add some color strips... Maybe white strips ?



More photos



With more Kitbashes sibelings...



Can post the WIP if you're interested in the making process.

 

[roflmaoist]

Really cool stuff, Youli!

You're making me want to have a go at some kitbashing myself. Do you end up using a lot of resin/filler to make all the parts fit together? I don't see how you manage to stick together bits from different model kits and make them look like they're supposed to go together like that without having to deal with huge gaps...

Seriously nice work! (and btw, definitely add stripes!)

 

[YOULI]

Good question !

Actually my goal is NOT to use resin or putty, at least not that much. If you use plastic parts, they can blend together using the right cement (made for model kits). As a matter of fact number of plastic materials can be used and glued together, that's why I love to use plastic spoons and forks and such... That's what I've done with the Wraith Dart, made entirely with plastic parts from... The kitchen !

Here it is : http://www.scalemodeladdict.com/index.php/topic,4446.msg63561.html#msg63561
I think I'll complete this post with a WIP in order to explain how I proceeded.

So, after all it's a fashion way to gather some parts together. I've tried to do two different design of a Viper Kitbash with the very same model kit, a F-16, and it ends up with very different designs and patterns. I opened a Post for you to see what I mean
http://www.scalemodeladdict.com/index.php/topic,6905.0.html

Ultimately what is my way on doing things with kitbashes ? Here are some general ideas and guidelines :
- try to use ONE main donor kit (I've done something very different, I love the result, but it's not do-able again, too many kit parts sources), sprues included. Use only plastic parts, for the main structure.
- You can use sprues as a structure, to glue on parts, complete a surface, once glued (sometime heavily) it can be sanded and it's useful not to use too much putty.
- try to visualize your kitbash, in your head, with a drawing, to give it rapidly a general design, a line you'll only have to "dress" and complete with mechanical details.
- especially for one man fighters, a good idea is to make a cockpit first, even though you're not in any obligations to have a canopy... Try to respect a sens of scale too.

For the "Dolphin Viper" my decisions were made with the parts i've got in hand. The air entry was a 3 parts thing, so it was easy to obtain the right and left air entry of the viper and the up was the F-16 very recognizable front part.

 

[roflmaoist]

Hey Youli,

This is really interesting stuff. I've had a look at your other post and I've just bought two cheap kits in 1/144th scale (i wanted to start small and cheap for my first attempt) - an F/A 18D hornet and an F-14D Super Tomcat. I'm going to have a go putting these two kits together and see what I can come up with. They may not be as detailed or good-looking as yours but I'll have a go anyway!

I'll post some progress pics once i've got going. Maybe you can offer some more tips it progresses?

Thanks for the inspiration and tips mate!

 

[YOULI]

If you find my posts inspirationnal, I'm the happiest man on earth

Yeah, let's see what you can do with this 1/144 kits but don't forget that the "kit parts talk", some impressive kits can't do anything good as kitbashes since they are but in one piece. You need parts, even the two parts pipes that are a nightmare to glue and sand, are really interesting for this kind of projet.
Even more important, the plastic trees, or sprues, can be used, MUST be used may I say !

The WIP will be posted this week but will need more time to be written. English is not my first language, as you'll already noticed, but more importantly I moved out for several weeks in the countryside, and still have work to do (some interview about Robot Toys ).

Patience, my friends, you'll know soon enough everything you need to know about my kitbashes...

 

[YOULI]

First there was a kit...



Then, you had the sprues... And kit parts talked "let's the game begin !".



All this is a matter of how to deal with the various kit parts. You need in general plan, an idea, a concept. Here, what you want to do is obtain a Starship with a long nose, a single man cockpit, small wings and a big rear parts, 3 engines at least, that will give it a dynamic look. To obtain that, it could be better to cut (I love to use my photo-etched saw, it's better than a dremel, more precise, it's a fast process...) the bigger parts here, and use some glue (I try to do all my kitbashes with the same kind of platic so I'll need only modeler cement).



You can see here that my first objective is to obtain a long nose. The cockpit is used as is, the rear section has been cut with the right length and the nose is done with sprues, and some gears parts.



Adding the wings, you already have a general pattern here...



Adding the engine section, you can see the almost final look of your starship. The engine is formed with the cut section of the YF-16 hull. I used also the parts of the air entry of the F-16. The kit parts presents several segments, very useful here. There's some option parts, some kit parts from other models but essentially you have the 1/72 YF-16 from hasegawa here. All in white it's already a beauty. This work was done in one night. First steps can be a quick process...



The very next day some sprues parts were added to give it a Viper look, plus some wiresfrom an old race car model kit (from the 70's). The thrusters are kinda identical, can't remember if there was optionnal thrusters, but that's sometime a good way to have various parts to use on a kitbash project. All in all, I've got several options for thrusters, a lot of donor kits, some bottle caps... The upper wing is from another kit, allright, but really can't tell you from what. The Viper Dolphin is almost done here. The next phase will be the detailing.



The nose had received very little amount of putty (white, the best, fine and easy to use with a wood spoon, you can save a lot of matter, of sanding... Time and money guys !). The edge is a detail from a Gundam kit, most certainly the Strike Gundam no grade 1/100. Up is a part from a gun-rifle form a 1/72 Valkyrie, chromed for the 15th anniversary, from Bandai. The parts merged perfectly. It seems



The air entry are done, as I said, with only the YF-16 kit parts. The interior though are option parts (Kotobukiya, Wave, can't really tell you what...), very useful for this kind of detailing.



Paint it black, it's a primer color, not a definitive one. But going from white to black is kinda stranger.



Here the model is placed in the original model kit box, you can judge for yourself the scale, and proportion of this humble kitbash.



I masked the Canopy to paint and paint the hull a beautiful blue color... Kinda like the color of the Viper Mk VII don't you think ? The result is shown on the top subject. Nothing has evolved so far since I used this model for various exhibitions, with a WIP logic in it... I really have "only" some decision to make concerning the final color or markings...