Area 88 1/144: The Upside Down Bomb (DC-10-30 + Kfir)

[strobez]

The second project I've stared since I got back is the one depicting the "Upside Down Bomb" scene from the Area 88 manga.

When assassins target Asran Crown Prince Saki Vashtahl, they don't care who gets in there way - including a plane full of innocent people. With bombs placed strategically under each wing of the DC-10-30, and set to detonate in 2 hours or if the plane drops in altitude, Saki isn't left with much choice. He calls on his two ace pilots, Shin and Micky to attempt to shoot the bombs off. The only problem is that the KFIRs' tails are getting in the way. The solution? Shoot them off while flying inverted.



I got my hands on this Revell boxing thanks to the efforts of our own resident scholar and gentleman, Kit.  The package arrived spectacularly quickly and I took it as a sign that I should begin working on this project without delay.  Wouldn't want to upset the modelling gods, right?

The box might have a few scuffs on it after spending the last several years in the outer reaches of Kit's stash... but it's currently enjoying pride of place in mine.  Whatta beauty!


I didn't have enough table to lay out and photograph the sprues, so I just cut out the major fuselage bits for a dry test run.  Looks a lot like a DC-10-30 to me!


The kit seems a bit light on the details, so I decided to mark out some new panel lines for scribing.  Somehow I knew that thin black tape I stumbled across would come in handy.  After I got most of the lines of tape on, I started reapplying them to make sure they were as straight and properly spaced out as I could manage.


Using a sharp needle point tool, I gently ran the point alongside the appropriate bit of tape.  Usually three passes were enough to leave a guide scratch.  Then I took out the photoetch saw and started scraping out some very light panel lines.  Slow work, but it seems to be paying off. Perhaps not 100% accurate, but good enough for me.

[PR19_Kit]

Looking at the pic of the DC10 box gave me a very weird feeling.

The box was so familiar, having been located about 10 ft above my head right now, in The Loft, for the last 25 odd years, and seeing the same box about half way round the world now feels very strange.

I'm pleased it got there OK Greg, but I can't understand how it was so quick being as it was meant to go surface mail. 

[strobez]

I can imagine.  I think I had a bit of a similar feeling when it showed up.  Knowing that it had come from a good home made it feel somehow more important than a nameless second-hand purchase off eBay.

The fact that it arrived so quickly is a real mystery considering the order I placed earlier from Japan seems to be travelling by little red wagon and row boat to get here.  Like I said, it was a sign.

I just hope I can do it justice after having robbed it of whatever superior fate you had in store for it. 

[TheChronicOne]

I get stuff from Japan and Europe faster than stuff from Canada and we're attached at the hip!!

Anyway... lol   

Looks good!!  Should be a nifty project along with the other.

[Spey_Phantom]

i remember this this scene from the OVA movie, although it was with a Yamato Airlines Boeing 747-100 
looking forward to see this one finished!

[zenrat]

Speaking in my capacity as a conscientious employee of a national postal organisation it would not be beyond the bounds of possibility that fellow conscientious employee of a different national postal organisation didn't bother reading the label properly and miss-sorted the parcel.
That, or there were so few sea mail parcels that day they chucked them in with the air mail.

[NARSES2]

Speaking in my capacity as a conscientious employee of a national postal organisation it would not be beyond the bounds of possibility that fellow conscientious employee of a different national postal organisation didn't bother reading the label properly and miss-sorted the parcel.
That, or there were so few sea mail parcels that day they chucked them in with the air mail.

That happened with something I sent you, didn't it ?

[zenrat]

TBH I think the second thing happens a lot as in these times of instant gratification there is little demand for sea mail with it's quoted 30 to 90 day delivery window.  I've certainly never managed to persuade a customer to use it.
You don't want trolleys loaded with surface parcels sitting around waiting until there are enough to fill a container so instead you send them with the cheapest air parcels.

[strobez]

I've certainly never managed to persuade a customer to use it.

You've obviously never run across someone ho needs to send their neices/nephews a box of December Birthday and Christmas presents from Seoul to Boston... I shop in August and send the box in September... 

Regardless, in this case I can totally see situation two manifesting. One box of sprue doesn't weigh very much, so it was probably an easy toss into the airmail bag.  My box of coal on the other hand never makes that jump. 

[Snowtrooper]

When a parcel from US was a wee bit late a couple of years ago I queried the local post, they said that "surface" mail as in crossing the oceans literally on a ship has not existed for decades. It will only end up in surface travel at the customs office in the destination country (which, depending on the airport the parcel container arrives to, might have been the endpoint of the last airborne leg anyway).

Some courier companies in Europe do send things (at least part of the way) on trucks instead of planes depending on the parcel and distance, but even on the way to Finland they either cross the Baltic from Sweden on an overnight ferry (no extra delay as courier flights usually arrive here dead in the night due to lower airport charges and the parcel would not be processed before morning anyway) or from Estonia on a quick day ferry (just a couple of hours of delay).

[PR19_Kit]

The UK Post Office lists an 'Economy International' rate which Strobez and I agreed to use as he wasn't in a hurry for the Ten. The woman at the PO said that meant it went 'surface mail' and I asked if that was true even to Korea and she said yes.

I can only assume they use Bugatti Veyrons as post vans across Europe and Asia to get there as fast as it did.............

[Snowtrooper]

UK to Korea would in all likelihood be by plane too, and the "surface" part would only occur either within the UK or within ROK.

[zenrat]

Snowie - You could be correct about no surface although Australia Post offers surface mail for items weighing over 2kg.  I have been assured they do go in ships but the service is not available to all destinations.
If the cheap s**t I occasionally buy on evil-bay from china with free postage isn't traveling by sea then they either sit on it for a very long time before posting it or it is travelling on a Wright Flyer or a human powered aircraft.
USPS used to offer a surface service but stopped it about 10 years ago which annoyed me no end as it was nicely affordable compared to what they extort now.  Judging by the time it took to arrive they were doing the same as the chinese evil-bayers.
But why offer a cheaper "surface" option if it always really goes by air and is therefore quicker?  Word would soon get out and money would be lost as people used it instead of the more expensive but only slightly quicker (or the same speed) option?
Mind you, that is ascribing a level of logical thought and planning to a postal organisation which IME is rarely demonstrated.

[Old Wombat]

Mind you, that is ascribing a level of logical thought and planning to a postal organisation which IME is rarely demonstrated.

Try replacing "postal organisation" with "government department"!

[PR19_Kit]

But why offer a cheaper "surface" option if it always really goes by air and is therefore quicker?  Word would soon get out and money would be lost as people used it instead of the more expensive but only slightly quicker (or the same speed) option?

And that's EXACTLY what I'm going to do in future of course.