BanDai 1/72 Cosmo Zero and Hangar Diorama Part One

I started working on my BanDai 1/72 Cosmo Zero fighter from Space Battleship Yamato 2199. It's a really nice kit as all Ban Dai kits are.

Initial stages went well. I did some pre-shading on the nose section and painted it a custom orange mix that was to my liking. The camera doesn't really pick up the subtlety of the pre-shading, but it's there to the eye.

I decided to tackle the teeny-tiny pilot figure and instrument panel next. Not too shabby as it will be hardly visible in the cockpit through the canopy.

















At this stage I decided to try my hand at a diorama! I wanted to do something that would show part of the outside of the ship (the Yamato) so I chose to build Hangar 3 seen the 2199 series:

I know that I don't have the skill to do an exact replica of it as it appears on screen so I'm just going for the general shape and feel of the space. This is also my first try at scratch building anything. I used some heavy cardboard as the base to build upon and then bought some styrene and started adding details.

The next part is a lesson in what NOT to do when building a model. I had the flu for about two weeks, but I still wanted to build. Big Mistake. A whole slew of bad decision making ensued. I prepped the body for application of Aclad II Chrome but when it came time to actually do it I, in my sickly stupor, decided that I didn't need the gloss black base coat. SHIT. STRIKE ONE!

So, off it all comes. after much sanding and re-priming I applied the gloss black base. But it had humidity issues and there were some grainy areas. Should I fix it and do it again? Sick brain says, "Naw! It'll be fine!" STRIKE TWO! It was not fine. I didn't take pictures because it was very bad.


So, I soak the whole goddamn thing in Castrol Super Clean (Purple Pond). This was not good for the plastic. Some chunks came off. STRIKE THREE! You're OUT! Long story short, I screwed up this kit so bad that I do not think that it can be salvaged. I have never, ever screwed up a kit this bad in my whole United States life.

I was very bummed. I set it all aside and locked up the garage. I didn't have the desire to return to it for almost two weeks. After that time, I went down to survey the damage and got depressed all over again. Didn't go back down for another two weeks. I was seriously pissed off at myself for such a disaster. I am going to have to get ahold of another kit for $36. Lovely.
This one may end up in the lower section of the diorama as a bird that just returned from combat with some battle damage. We shall see.
In the meantime, I am still working on the Hangar diorama. I masked off the inside and painted the red hull color. The pre-shading is still a bit dark so I will have to go over it again.

I also started working on the second floor. Pics to follow in Part Two.