MK44 SaturnKnight

[maschinenkrueger]

Hey all,

This is a recently finished scratch build conversion of the Hasegawa MK44 AmmoKnight.










Additional images can be found here: MK44 SaturnKnight

Cheers!

BK

[jsteinman]

Kewl!

[dupes]

Dang, BK. Another awesome finish!

Do you have a pic of your built collection anywhere?

[wbill76]

Always cool to see what you come up with next Brian and this one doesn't disappoint.

[Leon]

That is really cool looking!

[Steve Zuleski]

An incredible amount of attention to detail!

[joelsmith]

BK, I have a question, please do not take this as a criticism. Why do Sci-Fi modelers use WWII Luftwaffe numbers, insignia, etc., for their models? Is it due to the Japanese fixation on German WWII machinery? Thanks in advance for your insights!

[moramarth]

Why do Sci-Fi modelers use WWII Luftwaffe numbers, insignia, etc., for their models?

Basically, the Third Reich was well sexy: cool uniforms, cool cars, aircraft, ships, tanks, whatever. And Leni Riefenstahl. German WW2 stuff has always sold well, so manufacturers produce endless variations of Messerschmitts, Panthers, Tigers, and anything Porsche or Tank once drew on the back of a napkin. It's only recently that injection-moulded kits of, say, Early WW2 British cruiser tanks have become available. So when Kow Yokoyama came to scratchbuild models as drawing references for his SF3D cartoon series of the early 1980s most of the bits came from kits of German WW2 stuff. As Japan has collective selective amnesia about what went down in the 1930s and '40s, the cool factor extended to the abbreviations in the descriptions on the box the bits came from. Nitto started producing some of the most prominent items in kit form, but this stopped when Yokoyama and the publishers fell out. After a hiatus of around a decade Yokoyama established in court he had full copyright and the series was reborn as Maschinen Krieger ZbV3000 (a.k.a Ma.K.). Nitto re-released some of their stuff under the new brand, and Hasegawa obtained a license and started their own line about a decade ago. The original publishers smelled the money and kissed and made up with Yokoyama, and toy and other merchandising was licensed. Still being a modeller at heart Yokoyama co-operated on some "How To" modelling manuals and has given personal authorisation to several small "garage" manufacturers to produce aftermarket accessories without going through the full licensing process.

Regards,

M

[maschinenkrueger]

Sorry for the late reply.

John - Thank you!
Dupes - Thanks! Here is just the ground units. The rest can be found on my site.


Bill - Thanks. Good to see you spending your summer break building again.
Leon - Thank you! :-)
Steve - Appreciate it man!
Joel - I can't speak for all modelers, only my own preference. Because they look cool and fit the overall aesthetic for MaK. I could not imagine using some ST Federation type font. Having little bit of reality or historical reference on a sci-fi build makes them more believable.

The artist behind the MK44 and SF3D/MaK genre is a huge Luftwaffen fan and artist. Many of the donor kits he used for his original scratch builds were German armor and aircraft kits. They weren't the only source but a large part. When he needed markings for his builds and fictional color profiles, he used decals from the kits. You need remember back when he was showing the first builds in Hobby Japan in the early/mid 80s, there wasn't this kind of grimy/grungy sci-fi, especially in model kits. Most of it was glossy Gundam/Voltron type stuff so he was popularizing a new aesthetic that inspired other creators over the years.