Kit Information :
Scale : 1/24
Grade : N/A
Made by : WAVE
Completed : August 2007
Box Art :
1/24 Tachikoma
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The 1/24 scale Tachikoma from WAVE was my first non-Gundam mecha build and it was a one that was refreshing to do. The kit itself is almost flawless in design and construction with the only problem areas being the rear 'pod' which was a pain to get right.
This kit was also used as a test bed for my first attempt at using Alclad II paints. I had planned to have a high shine, blue finish like most of these models are made with but it didn't all go to plan. I used a semi-gloss black as the base layer where the Alclad requires a black gloss base. I thought I could get away with it but alas no. The paint ended up the color you see in the pictures, which, while not what I wanted, still turned out pretty good.
For the base, I used a cheap picture frame which I replaced the glass with clear perspex and covered with steel mesh to give a 'tech' sort of style to it. I had originally planned to light up the base with LEDs and carefully cut shapes into the perspex but that didn't happen so I came up with the logo idea. I grabbed the logo from the interweb and got the size right in Photoshop. I printed it out and fixed it to the underside of the perspex.
I still wanted some sort of lighting, so I came up with the 'spotlight' idea. Basically, I cut four pieces of tubing to 2cm each then cut one end of each to the correct angle. I then drilled out the holes in the frame to accomodate them then glued them in place. I used some pastels to darken around the base at little too. The wiring was simple too. I used an LED/resistor calculator on the web to work out the resistor values and then wired them as 2 white LEDs + 1 150ohm resistor in two series circuits which were attached to each other in a parallel circuit. All of this runs from a 9v battery (stuck underneath with some double sided tape) and activated by a toggle switch on the front left hand side of the frame.
More information can be found in the detailed progress page here.
UPDATE 29th June 2008 :
This kit was entered into the 2008 Australian Plastic and Scale Model Championships and I am proud to annouce that it won 1st place in the Science Fiction Category!
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