Ma.K Raccoon |
| By Collin Davis |
|
|
The RACCOON is from the Maschinen Krieger (Ma.K.) series of kits made popular by Kow Yokoyama in the 1980s. It is the reconnaissance version of the Super Armored Fighting Suit or S.A.F.S. This is a combination kit that is about 80% composed of WAVE's new (released in 2010) S.A.F.S kit. The other 20% is specialty parts from an old NITTO kit from the 1980s. I wanted to see how well the two kits corresponded in terms of size and proportion. Also, I wanted a Raccoon and WAVE does not yet make one. Even though the WAVE kits are a totally new tooling they are almost completely interchangeable with the older NITTO kits. It was as if the engineers at WAVE had been expecting builders to do this sort of thing. They designed many critical parts in such a way that they could be used directly with the old NITTO tooling. This opens up an exciting new universe of already available S.A.F.S. variants. Building the WAVE kit was effortless. These kits are so well engineered that you hardly need any putty at all. They are thoroughly modern; all the joints are ball and socket PE. Wherever it would be beneficial they employ slide molding to render complex shapes. The kit is snap fit, though I did use glue. This is a tremendous help as you can build the kit in sub assemblies (feet, legs, arms, torso, ect.) paint and weather them prior to final assembly. The NITTO parts are the classic glue together type. They were state of the art in 1984 and the detail is still excellent but compared to the WAVE product they require a lot of clean-up, putty, and sanding. I added black 26-gauge solid core wire for the flexible power conduits on the arms feet and sensor array. As for painting, I used Finishers Moon Green Grey; it's a lacquer-based acrylic that is just like Mr. Color. It's close to RLM2 but a bit lighter. The paint is a licensed Ma.K. product. The color is a Pantone match for the color of the kits plastic. The camouflage is Mr. Color RLM75. The joints are all MR. Color RLM 74. Inside the shield plates are MR. Color RLM66. I used Gunze Aqueous H75 Dark See Gray for interior. The face was done with four colors of Vallejo Acrylics. Many other Gunze Aqueous and Tamiya colors were also used in the interior and for weathering. I put down a clear coat of Future, and proceeded to affix the decals. The decals are all from the WAVE kit and they are outstanding. They are strong thin and pliable. The old NITTO decals were low resolution and crude looking. I examined them with a loop and the text was just squiggly lines. However, the WAVE decals are smaller and finer and clearly legible with a loop. The text even makes sense, it is not just gibberish. I affixed the decals on a coat of Future floor wax. I used Micro Set to soften them. They adhered perfectly. On a couple of the larger decals I also used Micro Sol to force the decal to conform to the shape of the part. I sealed the decals with a second coat of Future.I flattened the kit with Testors 4636 Flat Clear Acryl. The Acryl worked adequately well but I recommend Gunze or Tamiya. I did an oil wash with a mixture of Winsor & Newton's Ivory Black and Burnt Umber oil paints thinned with odorless mineral spirits. After the oil wash dried I did pin washes with Testors Flat Black and Flat Rust thinned with Testors thinner. I used a silver art pencil to create chipping and scuffing effects. |
