Imai 1/48 SKY 1 from UFO

[SJPONeill]

I know that I wander across a range of builds and slowly progress them in my Workbench Window but I think that gets a little wearisome for people just interest in some builds and notr the full rnage of my wandering mind. As I'm not restricting my building to a specific group of models, I'm going to try running some specific threads for each build...

I scored this and the same scale SHADO Interceptor off Trademe (the NZ equivaklent of ebay) for a very good price in 2003. It doesn't say anywhere that the kit is 1/48 but loo9king at the series DVDs that apears about right which is good enough for me and government work...

At the time I was pretty flush with cash and sought out after-market accessories for many of the acquisitions. Obviously there are not many sets for this kit (none to the best of my knowledge!) but I got good deals on resins sets for a MiG-29 cockpit and avionics bays, and F-8 Crusader gun and landing gear bays...

Since 2003, I have been slowly sanding back the resin parts to fit and dallied with using the rocket pods from the Revell 1/32 Mirage V instead of the average 'working' pods in teh kit but I decided a couple of monthys back that the combioned rocket pod, fuel tank, bomb racks would look better on their parent kit so back they went...

So here's some pics of as far as I have got so far:


Nose, wing and rocket pod parts just sitting not glued yet...


F-8 nose gear bay and the newly cut-out whole in the original fuselage...


MiG-29 cockpit and avionics bays - the hatches for the avionics bays haven't been cut out yet...I'm not sure whther to just cut squarish wholes in the fuselage sides or use the more interestingly shaped hatches that come with the detail set...


F-8 main gear bays with doors cut out of the original kit part - all the detail parts will be painted before final fitting...


Fuselage halves with F-8 cannon bays and cannon, just after cutting out the openings for the cannon bays...the cannon barrels will project quite a ways forward of the bays...

In case it wasn't ovbious, this will be my 'close enough' version of Sky 1 and not a fully accurised, 'as per the series', rivet-counted build...

[BWP]

Nice.

I don't know if you would have seen, there was a recent build of this kit over on Britmodeller that was very well done.

I believe that with all of the IMAI "Gerry Anderson" kits you have to proceed on the assumption that the best you're going to get is something that looks kinda-sorta correct, unless you're prepared to put in extraordinary amounts of effort. If you want accurate representations of the television models you need to look elsewhere (usually resin kits).

[SJPONeill]

Thanks for that tip, Bruce.

I had seen a pic of the finished model posted someplace else but the build is interesting - I judged the scale to be 1/48 based on the external shots in the series but looking at the internal cockpit shot it certainly seems a lot bigger on the inside - possibly some of the Tardis technology being shared around...?

I didn't like the too pointy look of the Matra pods which is one reason that I swapped the original rounded tip rocket pods back into the kit - I may yet drill them out and add some pointy rod to simulate the rockets...I will however steal the mesh over the ventral intake idea as that looks quite good...

I can live with "...kinda-sorta correct..." as I still see all the Gerry Anderson shows with the eyes of a nine year old - I actually don't think that it is possible to build an 'accurate' version of any of the Anderson vehicles becasue the shooting minatures are all different in some way...

I have the SHADOmobile somewhere as well, pretty much complete, i think, except for paint - it too is about 1/48 based on the 'head and shoulders' drivers that come with it and is not as bad as one of the comments ont eh Britmodeller thread makes out; I also have Joe's Car stashed somewhere and it is a real beast, both in modelling terms and also it's size in 1/48 (based on the figures supplied) as it dwarves the SHDAOmobile, Sky 1 and the Interceptor...

Stay tuned...next update at the end of the week as I am on the road poisoning young minds about unmanned aircraft this week...

[Dazzled]

A nice trip down memory lane. I loved the original series when I was a young child ( I must emphasise the YOUNG- I'm not really that old ). Really looking forward to seeing how this turns out.

[SJPONeill]

I was just at the right age that I was able to enjoy them all from Stingray through to Space:1999 although I kinda grew out of the second series of Space:1999 as the teens hit me...my strongest TV memories are of the Anderson Century 21 logo with the arrow through it; and the Dr Who theme. I haven't really gotten into the new franchise Dr Who models but I have a real soft spot for the Imai Anderson models, as clunky and toylike as they may be...I think that it is an everlasting shame that the Imai Angel Interceptor is not in the same 1/48(ish) as most of the other models in the series...

More chipping away at resin bits tonight while watching the Wiseguy series on DVD...

[SJPONeill]

Would have some pics to show but can't find the camera...have now ground out enough resin that both cannon bays and the cockpit plug will co-exist in the same section of the fuselage...hopefully pics tomorrow...

[SJPONeill]

After much agonising, I have decided to go with the accepted thinking on the scale of the Imai Sky 1 and make it 1/72 instead of my planned 1/48. All this really means is that I have razor-sawn the 1/48 Mig-29 cockpit off the avionics pays that are molded into the same resin block, and will replace this with a 1/72 True Details cockpit for the Tamiya F-84. Although the cockpit area no longer looks as 'busy' as it does with the 1/48 cockpit, but it provides more 'logical' space for the mechanism by which the pilots gets from the Diver part of the Skydiver combination to the cockpit for an underwater launch...

All the other 1/48 detail will remain (cannon, gear bays, etc) as this is all imagineered as I don't think that there were any shots in the series of Sky 1 on a ground base although ot was implied that it had this capability in some episodes..

Pics to follow tonight...

[SJPONeill]

I also have Joe's Car stashed somewhere and it is a real beast, both in modelling terms and also it's size in 1/48 (based on the figures supplied) as it dwarves the SHADOmobile, Sky 1 and the Interceptor...
.

I've been rewatching the Joe 90 series while working on models after night because summer TV here has just been rubbish so far this year and have come to the conclusion that Joe's Car is probably closer to 1/32 or 1/35: in side-on shots, Mac fills almost the whole cockpit area vertically i.e. the top of his head is level with the top of the windscreen. Time for a scaling rethink on this one as well...

[DavidWomby]

Is that the late issue version by Aoshima with a resin nose or is that the Imai nose?

David

[SJPONeill]

The original Imai budget no-frill plastic nose...

[DavidWomby]

Thanks. I have one in the stash and have to admit it always looked 1/72 to me. I was planning to just stick a pilot in the cockpit. Yours looks like it will be terrific with the added detail. Have you decided what paint to use to match the famed Ford Oyster Gold (I think that's right)?

David

PS - the summer I spent in NZ wasn't fantastic weather but you're blessed with a fantastic country there!

[SJPONeill]

My recollection from both the original screening and the DVD set is that the base color was much more a green than a gold although I haven't really thought too much into the final colors yet - not until the heavy construction work is done...

Don't get me going about the weather!! I'm working this 'summer' at the visitor center on Mt Ruapehu and The best advice we can give at the moment is "...wake up early and see what sort of day it is..if it's horrible go back to sleep...if it looks ok then make the most of it in case it packs up later..." We even had snow down to 1600 meters forecast a couple of weeks ago and there is still enough snow and ice around the crater rim to warrant guides for those wanting to go up and see the lake. Hopefully it will get more summery next month!

[SJPONeill]

This is the new 1/72 cockpit just tacked into place so that I can get a feel for the new geography...

The new geography with the Mig-29 avionics bay sitting in approximate place...I will probably paint the empty area behind the cockpit black or dark grey to imply the greeble mechanism by which the pilot gets from the sub to the plane...

The 1/48 F-8 cannon bay - the see thru effect is where I originally trimemd away the back of the part to allow the Mig-29 cockpit resin slab to fit...

Post side cannon bay...I can now plate over that see-thru effect and install a base on which the new cockpit can sit...

[DavidWomby]

>
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I'm working this 'summer' at the visitor center on Mt Ruapehu
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Ah, Mordor at its worst

David

[beany]

Love your work on this - I didn't put anywhere near that effort onto mine. I believe you can still get the Ford Oyster Brown paint but have never been able to find it myself. It may be worth dropping Studio2 an email (address on their sign in the 2nd photo) and asking what they use on theirs:



I seem to remember most of their models are about the £500 mark. Compare to many of the newer 1/32 and 1/24 kits coming out in the £120-£150 range that may look quite reasonable. Here are a few others they had on display at Telford in November.







If you like Gerry Anderson and especially UFO you must visit their website - there are some excellent videos of their SHADO Mobile being driven around a park (radio-controlled obviously) and likewise the Skydiver being tested in the local duck pond - on the surface only unfortunately!!.

Cheers
Al.