dilaton's Jigabachi

壽屋 (Kotobukiya) 1:72 JigabachiCompleted in 1993

當壽屋宣佈會推出這部【攻殼機動隊】中出現的直昇機時，我已經對之非常有興趣。但無奈自己事忙，到推出時卻沒有買入。直至到在渥太華的模型比賽中見到其他參賽者造出了這模型後，我忙不迭回家訂購了。當十月中收到了這盒模型後，已經愛不釋手地立刻開始認真製作。故此這盒模型是我的完成品中少數快速完成的例子。說回這盒模型，雖然定價￥2600 略嫌稍貴一點，但作為小眾的模型，萬代有 EX 系列為先例，故此這部 Jigabachi 的價位也可以接受。（據日文的 Wikipedia 所講，Jigabachi 的漢字是「似我蜂」，英文是 "digger wasp" 或 "sphecidae"，中文學名不詳，只知是黃蜂的一種。）

Ghost in the Shell is perhaps THE anime that introduced many people to the world of Japanese cartoon. The series came to North America in the late 90's in the form of a feature film. So far it has 3 movies, 2 seasons of TV episodes and one TV special (Solid State Society). This helicopter comes from the second season TV series Ghost in the Shell S.A.C. 2nd GIG. Although the helicopter does not play an important role in the series, it is a nice and interesting design. The model is made by Kotobukiya, and is released in its RMC (Real Mechanical Collection) series. The model costs ￥2600, a little bit pricey but the quality is quite good. By the way, the word Jigabachi is the Japanese world of "digger wasp" or "sphecidae".

這部 Jigabachi 雖然整體不俗，但小毛病還是有的。例如所有飛行翼都相對厚和刻線太粗。飛行翼之厚包括八枚飛彈上的六十四片小翼，結果我需要重造那些飛彈身軀和那六十四片小翼。（飛彈的身軀也一併重造是因為每一枚都有兩處很深的接口，但彈頭是移花接木從那八枚原本的飛彈上切出接在新的膠管上。）另外機尾兩塊垂直尾翼也從中鋸成四薄片，以便令它們變得更薄與及可以保留大部份表面雕刻和與橫翼連接的荀口位。

It is undeniable that Kotobukiya does not specialize in aircraft model kits. As a relatively new manufacturer, it does not have much experience in making models with wings. I meant it literally! Except for the big rotary blades, all the wings, big and small, are relatively thick. This includes the 64 small "wings" (fins) on the eight missiles. Thus it took me quite some time to rebuild these missiles. The two vertical stabilizers are so thick that I can slice each in two halves as shown below!

對我來說，這模型最重要的改動不是改了那八枚飛彈，也不是鋸薄了機尾兩塊垂直尾翼，而是改了配色。原本模型的顏色是淺灰色，因為在動畫內這直昇機是屬於日本海上自衛隊。問題是為什麼海軍會配備攻擊直昇機？這機的設計明顯是攻擊直昇機，就算美國海軍也沒有這機種，只有陸軍和海軍陸戰隊才需要 Apache 或 Cobra 這種直昇機作地面搜尋攻擊。故此這次的配色模仿了日本陸上自衛隊的攻擊直昇機，以顯示其陸軍的特色。另外上面提到刻線過粗的問題，在迷彩的「掩護」下這個問題則淡化了不少。

In my opinion, the most important modification is the colour scheme. On the TV, the Jigabachi is in light grey because it belongs to the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSF). However it came to my attention that it is inappropriate for the JMSF (or for any navy) to have attack helicopters. As a result, I employed the colour scheme of the attack helicopters from the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force.

在塗裝上今次犯了一個大錯。那迷彩色是用了田宮的 XF-52（泥色），XF-27（黑綠）和 XF-1（黑色），而另一個綠色則是 XF-58（橄欖綠）。顏色是沒有問題，但在水性油上加郡氏的遮蓋液就難免有問題出現，因為太厚的遮蓋液會溶掉下面的水性底色，結果需要重油部份地方。

I have to admit that I made a mistake. I used Tamiya's acrylic XF-52 (flat earth), XF-27 (black green) and XF-1 (black) for the camouflage pattern, and XF-58 (olive green) for an auxiliary green. This combination is alright by itself but using with GSI Mr. Masking Sol neo is a bad idea. Overdose of the masking fluid dissolves the acrylic paint, and this caused me some extra effort to rectify the problem.

- The End -

Previous Work

Next Work