Armored fighting suits

This catagory is a particular favorite of mine, as you'll see when I get more pictures up.First though, a brief word about some of these models. In the early '80's Nitto of Japan released a line of sci fi models called S.F. 3D Original. The line consisted mostly of 1/20 scale armored fighting suits with a hover tank and a couple of rocket propelled ground attack aircraft thrown in to round things off.The quality of these kits had never been seen before in the sci fi line, and they became a huge hit with modelers. Beautifully, molded, with no flash on any of the parts, and with many metal parts, ie: springs, screens, wires, rods, etc., these suits built up into fantastic pieces. All of the suits are articulated at the shoulders, elbows, wrists, hips, knees, and ankles. And many have opening hatches, some hinged, to reveal detailed interiors. Of course, being the kind of modeler I am, I couldn't leave well enough alone even on these kits. Since 1/32 is my favorite scale, I decided to kit bash these armored suits to that scale. Generally, this only involed minor changes to the interiors, although I did also make external changes, mainly to weapons, flight power sources and antennas. Sadly, Nitto stopped production of these kits in the late '80's because of legal problems steming from the copyrights. However, a new company, Maschinen Krieger, is reproducing some of these kits in their ZbV3000 series. If you can find one, buy it, and build it! I think you'll be pleasantly surpised with the results.

P.K.A. Space Commander Type, Kauz:


(This picture and the one above). Other than modifying the interior to hold a 1/32 scale fiqure, I didn't do many modifications to this one. I replaced the "wings" on top with wire antennas, and added an extra rocket launch tube on the left arm. This is one of the few fighting suits in this series with a hinged hatch. It also can with very nice flexible rubber covers for the arm and leg joints.


P.K.A. Ausf G "Gustav"


This is my favorite in the series. As a result I did many more modifications to this kit than I did to any of the others. I am working on showing you pictures of all the different modifications I did to this kit. Check back soon and they will be here.


P.K.H. 103 1a Nutrocker Hovertank


This one was only available in 1/72 scale because in 1/20 scale it would have been around 2 to 3 feet long! The turret swivels and I replaced the tiny laser gun with a MUCH larger one which elevates and depresses. I also added extra wires, boxes and equipment, and camouflage netting on the rear deck.


Macross Fighting Suits
These two are from the Japanese animated series "Macross". Videos of this series are still available, check your local video store.