I wanted the Falke to have some kind of an AWACS system. However, looking all over the place for a 5-inch curved dish/saucer was not as easy as I thought. Fortunately, an opportunity presented itself in the form of a transforming toy from Mr. DIY called Strong Force. And so, the Third-eye was born. It would be the Falke’s long range Radar plus jammer and also, enemy sensor/detector which calculates and sends back coordinates to the Base or nearby SAFS for further action.
The toy in question is on the left, called Blasting Destroyer which can transform between a robot and some kind of weapon.
2022 Update: If you’re looking for this toy, it only exist for a few months and after that, I could not find it anywhere else, even from other Mr. DIY outlets.This is how Blasting Destroyer looked in its weapon form without much attachment and luckily, it reacted well with thin cement. Not 100% but it will have to do. Look on the bottom right of the toy which has a curved surface. It will be used to attach to the Falke’s surface.
This is how it looked in its weapon form without much attachment and luckily, it reacted well with thin cement. Not 100% but it will have to do. Look on the bottom right of the toy which has a curved surface. It will be used to attach to the Falke’s surface.
The idea is to backlight a white plastic teaspoon, showing how the dangerous/powerful the radar/sensor technology works. The excess emitted radiation is so hot, the sensor dish glowed…After I removed the robot’s head, there is some space in the front where I drilled through with a 3mm drill bit for the LED. I am using a 3mm flat-top warm white LED which has a wide-angle light spread and a soft hotspot. I chose this LED because I wanted a wide light spread within a very confined space of less than 1.5cm. A normal 3mm LED might have very sharp hotspot and this destroys the illusion.
Tin the LED, solder a 68 Ohm resistor to it and a pair of wires 6 inches long and then twist the wire.For this purpose, I chose a white teaspoon as its opaqueness is ideal for back lighting. Although the light is very bright at this point, it will be less so once I have painted and weathered it.
The Third Eye idea was inspired from the glow of Star Treks’ blue Deflector Dish of the Enterprise NCC-1701A. However, giving it a blue light would look very out of place since I wanted the Falke to look the part as if the technology used were evolved from World War II. Which means they’re still using analogs and bulbs.
After removing the teaspoon’s handle, I used an oval template to scribe some lines on the spoon to make the radar dome look more interesting.The arm for the sensor dome is made from a square styrene with the end knob of a ball-point pen glued in.I added some details inside the sensor dome as well.This is how the sensor dome’s arm is mounted to the main body. The arm was drilled through into the toy, with the holes matching the diameter of the spare orange sprue as taken from the transforming toy. It was friction force inserted and cemented, pinning the arm to the toy. The excess plastic was then shaved off.The Third-eye (except the sensor dome!) was then primed with Mr. Surfacer 1000. The primer also helps to block out any potential light leaks.To make the sensor dome look more interesting, I added some plastic strips or ‘eyelashes’. These will create some very interesting shadows on the other side of the dome.The subtle pattern created by the ‘eyelashes’. Effectively, this is a rear projection screen. I like how the excess light bleeds out into the newspaper. This will make quite an effect when mounted on the Falke later.
It is a little too bright but once painted, the glow of the Third Eye would be dim.
THIRD-EYE SENSOR: THE PAINTING
Regardless of the Falke’s colour scheme later on, the Third-eye will have its own set of colours. This is to show that the device is an add-on and not a standard accessory as if it was made straight from the factory. I was looking for a ‘painted-on’ eye decal for the sensor dome since the shape of the teaspoon was oval, like an eye. The decal that came with the model could not be used as it’s of a different design. Rather than risk it with a hands-free result, I decided to just keep it bare and weather the heck out of it.
After priming the Third-Eye (But not the spoon) with Mr. Surfacer 1000, I gave it a coat of Mr. Color #28 Steel. Once it has dried, I sprayed Mr. Color #116 RLM66 Dark Gray to remove the glossy sheen and make it look darker. So now, only the spoonios the brighter part.
THIRD-EYE SENSOR: THE WEATHERING
The Third-Eye is an external unit which, like the Falke, is exposed to the harsh weather and so, I will weather it as best as I can to show it. Mainly, just like the Falke, it must rust.
For the spoon/dome, I gave it a very light coat of gray and with a little more of Mr. Color #116 to define the ring’s edges and also at the outer edge. Then, using a mix of clear and flat gloss, the dome now looks weathered. For the oval rings, I used Tamiya Panel Line Brown.
For the spoon/dome, I gave it a very light coat of gray and with a little more of Mr. Color #116 to define the ring’s edges and also at the outer edge. Then, using a mix of clear and flat gloss, the dome now looks weathered. For the oval rings, I used Tamiya Panel Line Brown.
I dabbed some Abteilung 502 ABT160 Engine Grease onto the rings. Using a brush soaked with Wayne & Newton’s White Spirit, I dragged the brush downwards. This created streaks and because of the matte surface, the oil gets absorbed instead.Using a sharp skewer, I dipped into the Oil paint again and this time, I left it to ‘settle’ for at least 1 minute before I go over them with the brush. This time, I used less white spirit as well. This is because Tamiya Panel Line is enamel too and so, the white spirit did not spare any casualties.
The result is much nicer but since it is oil paint, it took a long time to dry. Do note that although the ABT160 Engine Grease is a sticky liquid, it still does flow out from the tube if you just leave it uncapped.
The insides of the dome has 8 partially drilled holes and was weathered the same way too but with a much drier brush.This is what happens when I mixed the Abteilung Oils with Zippo lighter fluid. The oil spreads nicely over the matt surface but it is hard to control. You will have to go over it again and again as sometimes when the oils dried too fast, it leaves a watermark such as the ones you see on the upper right. But then, is that not the signs of acid rain? You can see the watermark on the right, and after this was taken, I removed it with more passes of the brush.Continuing with the weathering, this time it’s for rust, using Abteilung 502’s ABT060 Light Rust mixed with Abteilung’s Fast Dry Thinner. Surprisingly, the rust dried very fast and even more so if I used Zippo lighter fluid. Once the wet brush has no more white spirit/fast dry thinner, I dry-brushed the rust onto the model.I should have clear coated and added the Gundam decals before weathering. This way, the decals would stick better to a smooth surface. Or maybe, I should have used more Mr. Mark Setter instead because later on, some decals actually looked good even on a matte surface. Good as in I do not notice much of the carrier film. At first these two bottles were very confusing but after getting the hang of it, the sequence is as follows:
1. Apply Mr Mark Setter on where the decal will be placed 2. Soak and apply decal. 3. Use Mr Mark Softer for curved or weird surface area 4. Then use Mr Mark Setter again and don’t touch the decal for awhile 5. Make a nice cup of coffee or hot chocolate and wait for it to cool down before drinking. 6. Your decal is now more or less dry but you still do not touch it for a few more hours.There was some minor rusting and decals on the insides of the dome too.So, the Third Eye is more or less complete.See what I mean? If you look closely, some of these decals looked as if it was stenciled on.After I am satisfied with the Third-eye’s weathering, I sealed the part with a 40:60 clear and matte gloss.
In the next page, I will be showing you how I created the Falke’s new Engine from a water tap adaptor.
