Maschinen Krieger Kröte
This model was actually something like six years in the making. I believe I bought this kit back when I was living in San Francisco, in the early 2000’s. I has started the kit just a little, cleaning up and gluing a few pieces, but then, for whatever reason, had packed it up and put it away. Just recently, I decided I should actually complete it.
A few things that made this a different sort of kit for me were that it was a sci-fi themed kit and that it came with a figure. While sci-fi kits are not terribly unusual, I have found that finding a quality sci-fi kit can be tough, as many seem to just be cranked out as quickly as possible in order to capitalize on whatever the popular sci-fi TV show may be. Also, I don’t think I’ve ever done more than one or two figures in plastic.
While I was working on this kit, I decided I should go a little further and attempt a little diorama for final display. Since the figure looked to be wearing a mechanics coverall and taking a break, I got the idea to stage the model as though it was undergoing some repairs. With this in mind, I opened up the side of the model (the directions wanted me to glue the side panels closed) and added some detail to the interior, using some spare parts that were handy.
The ladder and table were scratch built and the flooring was a diamond plate sheet, cut to shape, sprayed with Testors Metallizer paint, a few thick coats of Tamiya clear, a treatment of water and table salt, and then various shades of Tamiya gray. Finally, a light sanding scraped off the salt, adding chips, and wore through to the metal on the raised diamond plating.
The model itself was painted mostly with Tamiya acrylics, and weathered with MIG pigments and a bit of Abteilung oils.
Build progress blog posts can be found here:
Kröte Blog Post 1
Kröte Blog Post 2