I found this original 1984 vintage kit at my local hobby shop. However, it (and most of the other VOTOM kits) has recently been re-released by Takara. For being 24-years-old, the kit is still an excellent build. It is molded in bright blue, all the parts were crisp, the detail was sharp, and there was no flash. Detail is great for an anime kit of this era. I got lucky and found the 1/24th scale version. It's a nice size, and has more articulation and detail than the 1/35th scale versions. Fit and finish of the parts were good even by today's standards.

Having never seen the Japanese anime that this kit is based upon, I had no interest in following the suggested paint scheme of blue and white. I decided that if it were a real-world vehicle it would probably be used for urban combat. So, I started looking at urban camouflage patterns. I wanted to do a digital cammo, so I visited the HyperStealth website where I found an urban block pattern that I felt I could emulate with my airbrush. I used Tamiya acrylics. There are 8 different shades of gray used to accomplish the urban block pattern. Once I got going I totally abandoned any hope of trying to replicate that digital cammo look, and just shot the camo freehand.

I used almost all of Takara's water slide decals that (after more than 20 years) were in remarkably good shape. I dispensed with the alien alphabet and markings from the anime, and instead used numbers and markings leftover from German tanks that I had built. I also dumped the well-sculpted but silly looking pilot figure.

Overall, I feel that it came out pretty good and would highly recommend the kit.

Image: Left side

Image: Rear

Image: Right side

Image: Front/left