Science Fiction Modellbau > Anime und Mecha

Macross 1:100 Macross - ADR-05-Mk.II Destroid "Manticore" (Kit bashing/scratch-built)

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dizzyfugu:
This post will be kept in Englisch, since it is a kind of "reply" to renax's anti aircraft mecha project in the "traumer" thread. As promised, I'd start a separate thread in roder to keep renax' project thread clean  ;)

Wenn jemand aber sonstwie Fragen oderKommentare hat, natürlich gerne auf Deutsch! :angel:

Anyway, renax' CG illustrations reminded me that I once had the plan to convert a Destroid Defender (a.k.a. as Rifleman under FASA's sway) into a lighter aerial defense robot with a gatling gun armament - I had a kit for that purpose stashed away years ago and a found this reference somewhere in Macross source material.

But then, I had another, weird idea: I also had a leftover "chassis" from a Tomahawk, and two sets of impressive double gatling hand guns from Gundam kits (two 1:144 "Serpent Customs" from Endless Waltz, actually part donation kits for other projects). This basis, combined with a new torso and some radar equipment...



Looking for a torso option (and a dramatic radar equipment in the correct size), I came across a 1:72 kit of the Russian S6R "Tunguska" anti-aircraft tank (a limited edition kit from Military Wheels, a Polish company) - and the rest is glue and putty!



The kit arrived (and it is of so-so quality, pretty crude...) :( ), and immediately after a short holiday trip I started to make progress:



Pieces are just stuck together to check proportions, and it looks IMHO good. The legs are just buried under tons of old paint - I even found matte white, and I have NO idea how it came there... The lower torso comes from the Gundam kit, the upper "box" is actually the central turret piece from the Tunguska tank - you can see the massive putty use to make the parts fit somwhow.. Not a recommendable kit, even for a mod like this.
The guns hold vinyl caps which fit perfectly to the arm connectors in the torso and allow not only full 360° rotation, but also side movement of maybe 20° left and right - good for a "natural" pose later.

More to come...

dizzyfugu:
More progress from a Sunday afternoon:



The hull/torso has been built further, e. g. with another piece under the "chin" (actually a person cage from a crane!) and the ammunition container on the hull's sides - these are shortened halves from a F-14 camera pod from a 1:72 Italeri kit ;) Looks good so far, very compact and plausible. But needs LOTS of putty and sanding work...

As mentioned in the traumer thread, the jury is still undecided about the livery. I want this to look "authentic" for a Macross Destroid, which will mean a single overall color, maybe some darker panels, and white deco "trim". Currently, I have three favorites (pics taken from Testors' website for reference):

a) German WWII Afrikakorps (RAL 8000, Grünbraun)


b) Skin tone "Warm Tint" from Testors' Figure Series - a weird color between sand, orange, pink and reddish brown.


c) Modern Israel Armor Sand Grey


Secret favorite is the Israeli color, because it is murky and hard to define. The German RAL 8000 is interesting, but... boring, and rather light. And the skin tone - it is SO weird and crazy, hard to discard. But I think it will become the Israel color ;)

dizzyfugu:
ADR-05-Mk.II Destroid "Manticore"

Equipment Type: anti-aircraft robot, series 05
Government: U.N. Spacy
Manufacturer: Viggers/Chrauler
Introduction: August 2012
Unofficial codename: Whistler, Lawn Mower
Accommodation: 1 pilot and 1 radar operator
Dimensions: height 10.7 meters (hull only), 12.4 meters (incl. surveillance antenna); length 5,6 meters; width 6,8 meters
Mass: 29.8 metric tons
Power Plant: Kranss-Maffai MT830 thermonuclear reactor developing 2750 shp; auxillary fuel generator AOS-895-3 rated at 810 kW.
Propulsion: many x low-thrust vernier thrusters beneath multipurpose hook/handles.
Design Features: 'Nimrod' Mk. III tracking radar with dish antenna, MPDR 'Argus' range setting and surveillance radar, starlight scope; fully enclosed cockpit.
Armament: 4 x 37 mm air-cooled 6-barrel gatling guns, Type Bofors KDF-11B (firing at 2.000 or 4.000 RPM, standard 1.550 rounds each).
Optional Equipment:  2 x large capacity ammunition drums.



dizzyfugu:
Description and History
The ADR-05 series was immediately developed after the ADR-04 Defender proved a successful and powerful anti aircraft weapon at medium to long ranges. Even though earlier ADR-04 marks with gun armament did not advance into service, the lack of a close range support vehicle with a high rate of fire against smaller and highly manouverable targets like drones, missiles or even small ground vehicles was detected - even though no official Operative Requirement was published.

From the successful joint development of Viggers-Chrauler which would, besides the ADR-04 also yield MBR designs like the Tomahawk, a prototype of the ADR-05 was build as a private initiative. Utilizing the destroid ambulatory system of the proven ADR-04, the new design featured a new torso which housed, beyond the main armament and its ammunition load, a crew of two plus a sophsticated radar system, specifically designed to track and fight multiple, quick and small target at lower height. The whole system offered the option to link up with other sources like the long range radar from the Defender, so that the "Manticore", as the prototype was called, could support aerial defense at close range. The design was presented and approved, and a small batch of 10 pre-production Manticores was converted from the still running ADR-04 production line and introduced for field tests in late 2012.

The fire power of the Manticore proved to be impressive: its four 37mm gatling guns would theoretically allow a total output of a (theoretical) maximum of 16.000 rounds per minute, with a velocity of 1.450m/s, with an maximum range of 7.600m horizontally. Tactically, the Manticore weapon system is able to put up and maintain a 2.000m wide and 1.000m high, 180° aerial  barrier. In reality, though, only short, short, controlled bursts would be fired at selected targets. The two pairs of guns and the weapon system would allow the attack of two separate target "clouds" at a time, and the system proved to be very effective against mass attacks with missiles even at close range.
Switching from HE to AP ammunition through separate round feeds allowed the Manticore to work effectively even against lightly armored targets and to switch between air and ground targets within seconds, strafing large areas with deadly fire. As standard, 1.300 HE rounds and 250 AP rounds would be carried per gun - HE ammunition stored in alcoves at the main hull sides, and the AP ammunition stored in boxes on the weapons themselves. This limited internal ammuntion capacity could, similar to the ADR-04, be extended through external magazines on the back. For static defense, the four guns could even be fed by external belts, ROF just limited by the heat generated through constant firing!

After first trials of the 11 Mk.I pre-production Manticores, the Mk.II version, with improved radar, more passive sensors and a stronger auxillary fuel generator, was introduced in January 2013, and a second series of another 40 of this destroid series in the updated version were built at slow pace in parallel to the Defender.
Production of the Manticore already stopped in 2014, though. Being very specialized and limited, and only a supportive unit, the ADR-05 never saw much action in the open field, just as an addendum to the more versatile ADR-04-Mk.X. Like its long range counterpart, the few Manticores were mainly used as point defense unit for selected, vital potential enemy targets. They fulfilled their intended role well, esp. against missiles and Fighter Pods, but had only limited success against Zentraedi Tactical Pods: even a simple Regult was hard to crack. Hence, the Manticores remained in the background. Since the Manticore Destroids proved to be very vulnerable to close range attacks, more than 30 were lost in open field battles before they were retired into pomit defense roles and consequently already taken out of active service in 2021.</


And now with radar fitted, various added details all over the hull, and flexible pieces missing:

dizzyfugu:
...and here we are, finished last week and already through photo shooting.

On duty in a hilly landscape:


Check the Defender in the background ;)






Alternatively, for better detail view, on black:















...and some "nose art" detail  ;D in bigger:




Putting the things together went pretty straightforward. The legs were already complete, but hidden under lots of old paint (I counted four layers...). These old parts consequently needed some cosmetic surgery. The material was already quite brittle, so I did not dare a brake fluid bath and tried my best with sand paper. Results are so so, so that many details were later added with small polystyrene strips. But at least, the spare parts found new and good use!

The gatling gun arms were 100% taken from the Gundam kits, just minor things added. With internal vinyl caps they'd fit onto the original breast part and allow free rotation as well as side movement of about 20° to the left and right - good for a &quot;natural&quot; pose.

Most attention went into the crew compartment and upper torso, which was placed on top of one Serpent Custom's shoulder pieces. It consists mainly of the Tunguska's box-shaped central turret section, with added pieces on the hull's sides/shoulders which are supposed to be ammunition storage containers for a quick change. These parts, which blend very well into the overall design, are actually shortened halves of a camera pod from a 1:72 scale F-14 kit from Italeri!

The radar equipment was taken from the Tunguska tank, too, only the rear antenna had to be modified because the original parts were so crude that I did not want to use them. Finally, flexible hydraulic hoses and ammunition belts were added between mecha hull and arms, as well as small details like the hydraulic telescopes at the hips, searchlights, vents, handles, etc.

The result looks very compact, functional and plausible. I wanted to stay true to the Destroids' design as grunty, tank-like vehicles with massive firepower and a menacing look, and that's what I think I achieved pretty well.

For the mecha's livery, I also wanted to stay true to the Destroid look: only a single overall ground color (brown or green, even though I have seen dark blue Phalanx') and some white 'decoration stripes'. Additionally, some 'nose art' swas to be added, because it is a frequent sight on these mecha.
To set it apart from the Defender in my collection (olive drab), I went for a brown tone. After long search, the Manticore's basic paint became 'Israel Armor Sand/Grey' (Testors 2138), a murky, almost undefineable tone. Some details were painted in a dark brown (Burnt Umber, Testors 2005), the stripes were painted by hand in flat white.

Then, standard weathering was done with a black ink wash and dry painting with lighter tones like Humbrol 83 (Ochre), 140 (Gull Gray), 84 (Mid Stone) and 121 (Pale Stone). Decals came from the scrap box and are only few, the 'nose art' piece is a donation of a friend of mine (many thanks, André!) and actually belongs to a Czech MiG-21(!). Finally, everything was sealed under matte varnish.

All in all, this build-up was rather simple, since I had most components at hand and the paint job did not require much effort. But I like the simple look, and this fictional Manticore Destroids blends well into the line of the official Macross mecha. And finally, the leftover Tomahawk chassis has found a good use after waiting for resurrection for more than 15 years.

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