Your impressions of Atelier Sai's Vic Viper II model kit?

[PC Engine Fan X!]

What are your impressions of Atelier Sai's 1/100th scale model kit of the Vic Viper II (as featured in Gradius II Go Fer game)?

NCSX has it up for sale on their site:

http://www.ncsx.com/2008/060908/gradius_2_vic_viper.htm

Is it put together like that of a Bandai produced Gundam model kit, meaning requiring no glue and paint or is glue + paint required from the get-go?

I see that stickers are used for some detailing of this particular shmup model kit. More experienced model kit builder might digress that it would be better to paint such details instead for more realism, I agree. And there is the cool side of scratch building such shmup model kits -- lots of work, time and effort for them to be the best that they can be -- that isn't my cup of tea and leave it up to the professional modelling scratch builders to do so. ^_~

And is 18 to 36 hours a pretty good estimate of the time to carefully put this model kit to together from start to finish?

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[Sandlegs]

This kit looks like a snap together without glue kind. But usually some pieces don't exactly snap together so snugly, so they might require a bit of glue. With the stickers in the picture they look to be, well, just stickers. I would throw those out and paint the details. If they are waterslide decals they are good to go. The finished model of the vic in the pictures is completely painted. You can paint it or not, it just depends how much time you want to put into it. The more time the better the model looks. Take a look at this link http://fichtenfoo.com/02GiantRobots/02c-MGHowTo.html for some awesome tips you wouldn't think about usually. It helped my general modeling skills quite a bit. The tutorial is for gundams but can be used for any type of model really.

[Minzoku]

The only kit I ever put together, I applied the decals, but that's it. Artist though I am, I'm so bad at 3D that I just went with a stripped-down DeLorean, as it were [doesn't look bad that way, either!]


Actually, no, I had a Gundam, too, for laughs Haven't seen it in years, tho--wonder what I did with it?

[hermosaguy]

Mine is chillin' in the box still. I'm hoping to get to it this weekend!

[Sly Cherry Chunks]

Mines lost in the fucking post DDDDDD:

[greg]

Resurrecting this old topic. PC Engine Fan X, have you built any of the Viper models yet? I own the Sky Girls and the Gradius III models, but I have yet to build them. The plastic surface of both models feel course, and they will take a bit of sanding to make them feel smooth. Atelier Sai's Viper models are rather amateur.

On the HobbyFanatics forum, this guy gave some great tips on building it in a way to make a paint job work.

[Skykid]

And is 18 to 36 hours a pretty good estimate of the time to carefully put this model kit to together from start to finish?

I can't see any reason why it would take that long to finish.

[greg]

And is 18 to 36 hours a pretty good estimate of the time to carefully put this model kit to together from start to finish?

I can't see any reason why it would take that long to finish.

You don't build models, do you?

[Casey120]

I build my first resin kit not long ago with super glue , it was hell and took forever .

The end result was nice though !

[Skykid]

And is 18 to 36 hours a pretty good estimate of the time to carefully put this model kit to together from start to finish?

I can't see any reason why it would take that long to finish.

You don't build models, do you?

I built loads of Japanese models (some enormous) in the past (although it's not something I'm into anymore.) Looking at the instructions and considering it has sticker decals and no paint, I can't see why this would take up to 18+ hours to assemble unless you're damn slow.

[ancestral-knowledge]

skykid is right,

18h is just stupid ...normally painting would be the time sinker but well if you do it with one hand maybe....
I'm able to assemble whole warhammer armies in 18h let alone one model...

[greg]

I've never really timed myself while building a model. Some require using putty to fill seams and some working of the plastic to make it work right (and the Vic Viper models are certainly the type to require re-work, from what I'm told). Some models can demand intricate painting and such. If you want to weather the model with drybrushing, smoke streaks, damage, etc, then that's something else to take into consideration.

[Sly Cherry Chunks]

Here's my unfinished effort:

http://slycherrychunks.deviantart.com/a ... -110453288

I don't really like this kit. The nose prongs flat out just don't go together properly.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

Resurrecting this old topic. PC Engine Fan X, have you built any of the Viper models yet? I own the Sky Girls and the Gradius III models, but I have yet to build them. The plastic surface of both models feel course, and they will take a bit of sanding to make them feel smooth. Atelier Sai's Viper models are rather amateur.

On the HobbyFanatics forum, this guy gave some great tips on building it in a way to make a paint job work.

For Greg,

TBH, I don't have those shmup model kits that you mention of. I'd imagine if the Viper models were built by another model kit company, say like Kotobukiya, then the intial craftmanship would be even better.

It could the master molds used to create the model kits by Atelier Sai might have a bit of imperfections that would result in the rough surfaces of their model kits. Perhaps another master model mold would be needed to be made to get rid of the "roughness" of the plastic parts surface areas. It can't hurt for Atelier Sai to listen to helpful suggestions and comments from their customers/modellers to further improve thier future model kit offerings of higher quality. Whatever it takes to retain and/or attract new modellers to the cool world of shmup model kits genre.

Yeah, I ended buying a cool motorized Tamiya produced "Turntable Stand" in all-black colored variant at my local hobby shop very recently. This piece de resistance will slowly rotate said completed/painted shmup model when finished. The stand itself can hold up to 2kg max...anything more heavier than that suggested weight limit could cause gear and/or motor damage. Gearing can be adjusted to have the stand rotate at the default setting of 1.4 revolutions per minute or at a faster & more robust 3 revolutions per minute. You can even use it for displaying your favorite action figure(s) for greater versatility if desired.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[AuraDRGN]

Here's my unfinished effort:

http://slycherrychunks.deviantart.com/a ... -110453288

I don't really like this kit. The nose prongs flat out just don't go together properly.

Looks like its finished.

[greg]

I will start working on this model myself, at last. I have a couple other models in my queue, but I intend to start building this. I've already started sanding it and I have the paint I will be using for this model. I don't intend to use the same color scheme and instead I will do it in a light gray with navy blue trim. I will record a bit of this build and post a series on YouTube as I go along, for the sake of shmup fans who don't have much experience with building models.

[burgerkingdiamond]

my work filter is blocking the site. How much is this kit?

[greg]

my work filter is blocking the site. How much is this kit?

It says US$46.90 from NCS.

[greg]

Hello, darlings. As promised, I'm finally getting around to building this model. Vic Viper plamo build video series part 1 is now up on my Youtube channel, yay:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NcBg3bO_GLk
I'm building the Sky Girls version, but the paint scheme is light gray, navy blue, and intermediate blue. I'm using Tamiya spray cans to paint the kit. Hopefully for those who don't have a lot of plastic model experience, this video series will be beneficial.

[greg]

Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2v51UIjz87w
Part 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tb4rpTuEOQc
Part 4: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZtTDC2-grA

[Sly Cherry Chunks]

^didnt have 2 hours to watch the whole thing so skipped through each vid (only the first link works btw). Whats going on with the blue trim? Is that the old Battlestar Galactica paint-chipping trick?

[greg]

It is a paint chipping trick, but I don't know about it being specific to Battlestar. I'm nearly done with the model and should have the final video uploaded soon. The videos are intended for those who want to build these Gradius kits, but do not have much experience with building models.

[greg]

Part 5: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-rNTDOIKzY
Complete!

[Pyongyang]

I've been watching your 5 part build saga and have to commend you on an excellent job on that ship. The weathering effects look great, wish I had the skill, time and patience to build these kits!

[Klatrymadon]

The videos are intended for those who want to build these Gradius kits, but do not have much experience with building models.

That's awesome. I've always been interested in getting a nice Viper kit, but thought I'd surely mess something up or lose/break important small pieces, so it's great to know there's help at hand.

Looks amazing, too. Excellent work, sir!

[greg]

Actually I lost two pieces while building this. There are two small fins that stick out right behind the cockpit, and I must've left them on the runner that I threw out. But, their absence is hardly noticeable.

I tried to keep the building of this kit fairly low-key, as I figure that using spray cans will make the painting more accessible than an airbrush that will cost a lot of money. And it works out that I am without an airbrush actually, since I sold my American airbrush and compressor set before moving to Japan. I plan to get a nice Japanese-brand airbrush and compressor, perhaps by the end of the month. Anyhow, thanks for the feedback, everyone. This isn't an easy kit to deal with for beginners, that's for sure.

There weren't any decent videos about these Vic Viper kits on YouTube. All I saw were these worthless "unboxing" videos with these guys opening it up, saying, "Oh gee, this looks like a real nice kit," when in fact it can be a hassle to work on. I wanted to show people what a PITA this kit can be, but also show how to work around it. I'm really not a highly skilled modeler.

So again, this was the "Sky Girls" version of the Vic Viper, but I painted it to make it look more like the video games. I also have the Viper from Gradius 3, but I think it may be a while before I get around to it. I'm currently going back to work on my Aoshima's Knight Rider car for now. The local mall in my town has a hobby shop, and they have the R-Gray 1 from Layer Section/Rayforce/Galactic Attack. I think that will be my next shmup ship to build. It's made by Kotobukiya, so it should be great fun to build.