This is another authentic conversion of an Aoshima kit - based on a 90sec. promo clip I found on YouTube. It shows the fight between a small alien space ship and three PA-36 - lots of mess and mecha action, and the design of the three PA-36s inspired me to build one of them: Louise Oberon's personal Nove Armor. What made the PA stand out is its antennae array - I assume that it is unarmed and either equipped for electronic reconnaissance or a kind of ECM warfare vehicle. Undoubtly a PA-36, this specific Nove suit sports a huge antenna on its "roof" which almost looks like a helicopter rotor, two huge, asymmetricalcontainers/bulges on its shoulders and a box-like sensor or maybe EMP weapon instead of a left manipulator hand. Other standard enhancements include opened air intakes for the jet pack on both shoulders (instead of painting them just black)and a fine grate which covers the ugly jet exhaust at the PA's back. Beyond that, markings and livery are also unique - enough reason to build it and add it to the collection ;) The PA-36 basis remained untouched. Modifications only include the aforementioned extra equipment. The radar was built from scartch - the "wings" actually come from a 1:100 scale VF-1 Valkyrie from Arii, parts on an EVA-05 were used, as well as an engine cowling from a Messerschmidt Bf 110 from Matchbox. The chararteristic bulges were sculpted from 1:72 scale bomb container halves (from a Matchbox Vickers Wellesley kit) and epoxy putty. The hand "thing" was built from three original Dorvack pieces: a lower arm from a PA-36K conversion kit, the central body of a HR-58M "Thunder Crush" rocket launcher (from a PA-58 conversion kit) and a piece from a HD-R6 hand gun, all melted into one, plus some additional pieces from the scrap box. Building went on pretty straightforward. Painting was done with reference to (poor quality) screenshots of the promo video clip. Based on printouts I settled on two grayish blue tone sfor the main body: main color is Humbrol 230 (PRU Blue), and some contrast areas like the feet, knee protectors or the lower right arm were painted in Humbrol 77 (Navy Blue). What appears white in the video (the bulges, antenna array, hand "thing" and chest box) were painted in Humbrol 196 (RAL 7035, Lichtgrau/Light Grey) to avoid a harsh color contrast, and bright red highlights were added. The "helmet" section was finally painted with a mix of black, dark blue and a hint of red - it is actually a very dark violet. A black ink wash followed, and with dry painting in lighter shades of the basic colors a weathered look was achieved - with the starnge side effect that the contrast between the two basic blue tones almost disappeared! Decals came from a stock PA-36 kit, most numbers from the scrap box - the red "07" on the PA's knees comes, for instance, from a 1:72 scale Hasegawa MiG-25... Finally, the whole kit received a matte finish - except for the silver joints and the upper arms and legs, which were coated with semi-matte varnish to enhance the metallic look. Metallic foil in mid blue was glued into the visor slit instead of using paint. As a last step, the PA was carefully weathered with silver and grinded soft pencil mine, and it also received some dirt and dust weathering with acryllic paint in sienna brown, black and ochre. The result is interesting: The antennae and the "box thing" look strange, and the weathered livery give this PA a beaten look of hard duty.

January 27, 2011 It is mid-winter already. Seasonal Affective Disorder (otherwise known as winter blues) is setting in. To accommodate the constant urge to complain about things I have decided to create a new weekly theme for my 365 project. Currently, two things top my list: First come kitchen measurement conversions - there are just too many of them, and every new recipe book seems to create new ones. Thanks to our friendly neighbourhood real estate agent, I have finally solved this problem for at least 90% of the recipes. At least until the time this helpful sticker mysteriously disappears from the fridge door (just like the previous one did). Close second come electricity time-of-use rates because they seem to be created to punish you for every attempt to serve your family a healthy, freshly cooked meal (they peak just in time for breakfast and do not let go until very late supper). Since I've already used energy saving light bulbs, did laundry on weekends and turned off lights when leaving the room long before these rates were created, I fail to understand how they are supposed to "encourage" me to save. Give up eating? End of the rant. Thanks for listening. Feel better already :)