History:
Original rear box art text as follows, all typos are as original text.
Neuspotter, NS465 having the fine scouting system showed its superiority in the field. The Shutoral Forces tried to use it for surprise attacks. Neuspotter that mounted six semihoming missle launchers, the high ability scouting radar and the large jamming plate instead of the MAST and the scissors unit was best and mass-produced. Later many other equipments were tried for it, and FNS465B-U2 having four large launchers and NS465B-U3 having eight Neupanzerfausts were produced.
Kit Build:
Construction was almost right out of the box. This is one of those kits I wish I had several of. Assembly was very straight forward except for the brass plate for the solar panel - that's what it's called on the back of the box. The plastic ends which fit the brass part did not fit very well and split when fitted. The shoulder pin also broke from the excess weight of the brass piece which weighs almost as much as the rest of the model. I replaced the rocket nozzles with turned aluminum F Thrusters from MechaSkunk.com
Painting:
The model is painted entirely with Tamiya Acrylics. I tried for a subtle Color Modulation effect with the paint, but most of it was lost with weathering. Decals are a mix and match from the spares bag as the originals are a bit old and prone to cracking.
Finishing:
The model was first weathered with several filters to help unify the colors. Something was lost when these were done because the finish was very dull. To help give the colors some pop, I applied MIG Productions SIN Filters Blue for Panzer Gray and Green for Dark Green over the appropriate areas. This helped give the colors some life and I was happy again. I was ready to repaint if this didn't work. After this I replicated small paint chips and scratches and rusted bare metal by applying custom mixed Vallejo Acrylics with a 3/0 brush.
I then used oils straight from the tube to accent panel lines or further highlight details. These oils were applied with a small brush and faded out with a larger brush just damp with thinner. To do this I first dip the brush in thinner and then brush it across a paper towel to remove most of the thinner. There is still enough in the bristles to blend the oils.
To replicate dust that has settled in corners, I applied thinned Grumbacher Unbleached Titanium oil paint with a small brush and worked and blended it in as needed. The final dust layer is MIG Pigments Dried Mud, Light Dust and Beach Sand applied dry and set with thinner.
As a note, I did not apply a Matt Coat or Flat Finish at any point. All weathering was applied over a Satin finish. The finished model has a varied gloss level which creates subtle differences and adds variety.
Display:
The base is a brushed cast aluminum candle holder. A hole was drilled all the way through for a piece of tube to support the model through a hole in the sensor ball. The groundwork is Matt Gel Medium mixed with MIG Pigments, sand, dirt small rocks, and root and leaf debris. Woodland Scenics Medium Green Field Grass, natural grass and small pieces of roots were pressed into the still wet gel to concele the tube which was painted black to hopefully hide in the shadows. The grass needed an extra application of thinned matt gel medium to hold the fibers in place, otherwise they fell out. The grass was airbrushed with Tamiya acrylics to add some variety and get rid of the unrealistic sheen from the WS grass.
