AREA 88: "The Escape Killers"

1
March 5, 2025
I've had this box on the shelf for years... the day's finally here! Hooray!
2
March 5, 2025
Very typical Platz sprue from an F-Toys kit. These are usually sold as pre-painted snap-tite capsule toys. That's why the sprue connecting points are so thick. Still it's got nice details and should go together nicely.
3
March 5, 2025
The wheels wells are easy peasy to close up Great fit. It looks like there will be room to drill out the engines as well.
4
March 5, 2025
Yes indeed. Just enough room to drill holes for two LED bulbs to fit.
5
March 5, 2025
Did I mention there will be three almost identical planes here?
6
March 5, 2025
LEDs wired up with resistors and ready to take their seats. Luckily there's plenty of room to maneuver with.
7
March 5, 2025
Half the wings in place and a bit of hot glue holding the wires snug in a few spots. Before we can close it up though, we'll need to give the cockpit a bit of a spray.
8
March 5, 2025
Test fit complete. Pilots... to your seats!
9
March 6, 2025
The instructions call for a matte black interior. Who am I to argue. The escape killers are seated with their blue jump suits, yellow helmets and brown faces.
10
March 8, 2025
Pilots seated. It's a snug fit, but they're ready for the canopies.
11
March 8, 2025
Canopies on... and a dry fit of the nose cones and the afterburners. Such a nice fit.
12
September 8, 2025
Underside is bare metal alluminium. Nose cones painted a lovely shade of yellow... using my patented "pink undercoat" technology.
13
September 10, 2025
Upper side a nice shade of blue. The manga, being in black and white, doesn't say what colour these are supposed to be, so I took some inspiration from the Area 88 anime... besides, blue and yellow are always a good fit.
14
September 12, 2025
Some deep panel washing. Always looks like such a mess... but it really brings out the character of the models. For me, this is what separates the men from the toys... 😉
15
September 12, 2025
Homemade decals ON! and everything mounted and in place... except the pitot tubes. Experience tells me they will break off if I try to attach them before I finish the wiring underneath.
16
October 9, 2025
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October 9, 2025
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October 9, 2025
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October 9, 2025
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October 9, 2025

Comments

21 5 March, 07:24

Greg Baker Author
This project has been in the works for a long time, so happy to get started on it. I can't shake the feeling that the Lightning looks like a pregnant MiG-21 though… 😉

5 March, 14:40

Cosiek
Now I see it too, and I can't unsee it.

2 6 March, 00:14

Greg Baker Author
I know! Right!

6 March, 00:20

Greg Baker Author
Got the interior cockpit painted (black) and added some pilots. Coming along now.

6 March, 17:01

Spanjaard
i am in 🙂

7 March, 14:27

Greg Baker Author
As always, there's a seat reserved for you in the VIP section. 🙂

7 March, 16:21

Spanjaard
thanks!

7 March, 20:29

Mr D
You been busy wiring 👍 l purchased an Led kit that is designed to complement Lego builds, they seem very handy for modeling too.....the wiring , battery and Led,s are plg-n-play .purchased it from AliExpress hopefully to use on an MI-8 Dio build this year.
I don't know much about escape killers??
Good luck on build 👍👍

7 March, 21:47

Greg Baker Author
Most of the wiring is pretty simple. I usually just use USB power plugs as an adaptor - basically your phone's 5V USB can power them. It's just LEDs, DC motors and a few resistors to make sure nothing blows up. The plug and play packs are a good way to get started though.

The "Escape Killers" are basically the "internal affairs" division of the mercenary troops at Area 88 in the manga story. They chase and shoot down deserters. Once I'm finished the project, you'll be able to read the chapter that inspired this build on my blog. 🙂

2 7 March, 23:14

Greg Baker Author
Bringing this one back off the shelf as well...

1 5 September, 03:21

Greg Baker Author
Urm... does anyone know where one of the nose cones went? I'm sure it was here in the box when I left it... Luckily the Platz kits come two to a box, and I only needed 3... so there is an extra nose cone... but that will pretty much kill that remaining kit then... sigh...

1 5 September, 15:49

Spanjaard
can you not 3D print it?

5 September, 17:34

Greg Baker Author
That thought had crossed my mind...

5 September, 18:29

Greg Baker Author
Finally got the canopies masked and some paint on. It will be bare metal on the underside and blue on top. The nose cones are yellow, so, of course, I primed then with pink first. 😉

Also I decided to raid the spare kit for it's nose cone. I wanted them all to look the same, but I did take down measurements for a replacement to be 3D printed. 😉

8 September, 13:12

Spanjaard
good idea

8 September, 14:26

Greg Baker Author
Got the top side painted and most of the parts on. Into the home stretch now.

10 September, 13:56

Greg Baker Author
Of course I managed to break all three pitot tubes off while cleaning up the panel wash/applying decals. Luckily I have some spares for just such an emergency. Other than hooking up the electronics, we're more or less done.

1 12 September, 15:34

Nils Steyaert
wow, those look really great, nice work 👍

12 September, 19:37

Greg Baker Author
Thanks Nils! All done and the final pictures are up.

1 29 September, 13:55

Greg Baker Author
I've now updated my blog. So, if you want to see a short video of this model, or want to read the manga chapter that this project is based on... check it out - strobez.ca/wp/index...ape-killers-area-88/

30 September, 02:45

Project info

AREA 88: "The Escape Killers"

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