Patlabor +++ 1:60 Shinohara Heavy Industries ASV-99 ‘Boxer’, Tokyo, 2002 (What-if/modified Good Smile Factory kit)

Some background:

The ASV-99 Boxer was a third-generation construction labor manufactured by Shinohara Heavy Industries, being manufactured and rolled out in March of 1999. It was one of the most advanced construction labors of the time. Shinohara Heavy Industries, a leader in the industry, opened the door to the third generation of Labor with the AV-98 “Ingram”. The ASV-99 "Boxer" was Shinohara's long-awaited civil market machine, using the police Labor’s systems and state-of-the-art technology. It had been hailed as the "highest performance'' model for a long time and was the standard-bearer of a new era of labor.

 

However, the secret that made users say it has the highest performance could be said to lie in the "Shinohara Precision'' inherited from the “Ingram”. This was an innovative joint mechanism that connected a spherical joint to three cylinder-type actuators. By providing a wide range of motion for the hip joints, ankle joints, and shoulder joints, and the actuator itself also functioning as a shock damper, the vehicle's "holding" had been significantly improved, making it possible to maneuver the vehicle closer to human movements than previous models, what highly improved the ASV-99’s effectiveness.

 

Like other labors of the same generation the ASV-99 was equipped with a VVVF-controlled PMS actuator with excellent controllability and a lightweight, high-output lithium-ion battery. Furthermore, the impact energy absorbed by the actuator was returned to the battery via a regeneration system after being converted into heat, slightly extending operating time.

Since advanced VR projection for the pilot was not standard yet and quite costly, so that this feature was limited to military Labor models, the ASV-99 still featured transparent cockpit windows to allow the driver a good field of view, augmented by small cameras that added side and back views. Climate control and a pressurized cabin that prevented water, dust, or even gas from entering the pilot’s cabin was a standard feature. A LIDAR system controlled the Labor’s close-range environment, preventing crashes and even making it possible to maneuver the Labor in total darkness.

Several interchangeable manipulators and construction tools were available, so that the ASV-99 was easily adaptable to a wide range of tasks, including a drill, a mechanical chisel, and a number of graspers/pincers, tailored to specific loads.

 

Due to its high visibility and frequent use in construction projects, the Boxer was frequently abused for labor crime. In 1999, many Boxer units were upgraded with Shinohara’s new hyper operating system. When the Tokyo police’s SV2 labor unit deployed to the Ark factory to thwart a plan to cause all the city’s labors to go berserk, many Boxer units activated on their own and attacked the police.

 

 

Specifications:

Accommodation: pilot only, in canopy style cockpit in torso with front access

Overall height 7.19 meters

Overall width 4.12 meters

Minimum revolving radius: 5.0 meters

Standard weight: 8.25 tons

Full equipment weight: 9.0 tons

Maximum weight lifting capacity: 3.1 tons

Armor materials: None, hull consists of fiber-reinforced plastic and aluminum

Armament: none

 

The kit and its assembly:

Some time ago I got my hands on a “reasonably priced” Patlabor IP kit set from Good Smile Company/Moderoid. The company recently created molds/kits for a wide range of Labors that appear in the original TV series and the movies, thankfully in the old Bandai kits’ rather esoteric 1:60 scale.

 

This range also included a lot of civil Labors, which were formerly only available as dubious vinyl kits, if at all, so that modelers would have to scratch any model of them. The kit set I got was the HL-98 “Hercules” and ASV 99 “Boxer” combo, two civil construction Labors that shortly appear in supporting roles in the early Nineties movies. I did not have concrete plans for the kits upon purchase, but the Hercules eventually became a JGSDF military variant, but the remaining Boxer was intended to remain a commercial/civil vehicle, due to its glazed cockpit.

 

Basically, the Boxer was built OOB, but as with the Hercules before, this also had inherent reasons. After initial enthusiasm I was a bit disappointed by both kits. While they look flashy and crisp in the box, molded in color and with some dark grey details on alternative sprues (that are partly shared by BOTH kits, beware not to throw them away!), the kits revealed the designers’ niggardliness. First of all the kits had been designed to be a rather simple snap-fit models. This is per se not a bad thing, many recent Bandai mecha kits are designed this way to appeal to newbie modelers who can put the model together, put stickers on it, and have a functional action figure within 15 minutes. However, Bandai’s designers still have the advanced modeler in mind and typically offer an alternative water slide decal sheet, and the kit is designed in segments that can be built and painted separately, to be assembled in a final step, e. g. thanks to vinyl caps and clever detail solutions that might require one or two parts more, but that pays out elsewhere.

 

The Good Smile Company kits lack this thought altogether. The number of pieces has been reduced to a point that some parts, which would normally require 2 halves, have been molded and cast with “holes” or as a single piece only, in the Boxer’s case, for instance, some joint parts of the arms which I filled with putty. This might not be an issue, if this would remain invisible – but it isn’t, and that’s really disappointing for such a “modern” and not truly cheap kit!

Additionally, where a Bandai kit would offer a separate flexible vinyl cap in a joint, half of that joint is in the Good Smile Company kits’ case completely molded in an ABS-esque material that is quite soft and poorly accepts any paint – the toy aspect seemed to have priority during the molds’ design process! Sure, you can work with this basis, but I feel painfully reminded of the early IP robot kits from the Eighties which did not offer ANY vinyl caps at all and a very cumbersome, not well thought-through matryoshka layout for arms, legs, and torso, so that building separate modules and assembling them as a final step would be impossible or require thorough mods. IMHO not really convincing and the material thickness as well as some details are rather “chunky” and toy-like.

 

However, I tried to do my best and made some small mods and upgrades. What’s nice about the Boxer is the glazed cockpit which even comes with a decent interior – even though the clear part that covers both cockpit windows as well as the searchlight at the top of the hull is very thick and, due to its curved shape, blurry, so that you cannot tell any details. To make the whole thing a bit more interesting I procured a suitable driver figure – not an easy task in the exotic 1:60 scale! I was eventually lucky to find a provider for 3D-printed civil figures in various scales, and they were so kind to print a suitable seating figure in the kit’s exact scale. To make it fit into the seat, however, I had to chop the lower legs off and modify the clear part for enough head space. But I think the effort was worth it.

 

The searchlights were changed, too. The original set has a round shape and reminded me so much of Mickey Mouse ears that OI had to do something about them, even more so because they lack IMHO depth and are clumsily molded into the hull. I simply cut them off and instead scratched new searchlights from 1:72 AH-1 exhaust diffusors, now bigger, deeper and with an oval shape, and mounted on styrene holders so that they stand off from the hull.

 

A final mod concerns the hands/manipulators: OOB the Boxer comes with two different “hands”, or rather claws, one with three and the other with four “fingers”, arranged in a circle. I really wonder how and what should be grasped by these? I rather went for pincer-style manipulators, transplanted from a tabletop figure of a Power Loader from the Aliens movie (32mm/1:50 scale, made by Prodos Games). They look a bit delicate for the chunky Boxer, but I found their shape to be much more practical for delicate and secure handling work, and they are nicely detailed, too.

 

Painting and markings:

I stuck to the bright blue OOB livery. First, the blue plastic in which the kit is molded makes it easy, I like the color, and it’s also a frequent color of Japanese construction vehicles. I used Revell 50 (RAL 5012 “Lichtblau”) as basic color, a tone which comes close to the IP material, but is a bit less bright. The joints and some other parts are molded in a very dark brown, and I repainted these with a very dark grey (Revell 6, Anthracite) instead – what was also necessary to cover up the many filled “holes” (see above).

 

The cockpit interior was painted in a greyish green, with brown seat upholstery. The operating levers became white with black tips – gleaned from a close-up screenshot of a Boxer cockpit from the Patlabor TV series. The pilot was secured in the seat with grey safety belts, made from adhesive tape. The driver himself received a white t-shirt and jeans, for a “mundane” look.

 

After separate assembly of arms, legs, torso and waist and their basic painting the parts received a black ink washing to work out the few details like air intakes and louvres, and then everything received an overall dry-brushing treatment with slightly more greyish blue tones to make the Boxer look worn and a bit sun-bleached, and then another dry-brushing turn with light grey to emphasize edges.

The new headlights were “filled” with chrome silver, and their covers were created with ClearFix – which was a bit messy, because the openings are probably at the limit of what you can cover with the gooey stuff.

 

The kit (unfortunately) only comes with stickers, and not decals, so I had to improvise a little – even though OOB there are only small emblems and yellow-and-black warning stripes on the lower arms to be applied. The stripes were replaced with decal alternatives from the scrap box, and I added some suitable stencils from an Ma.K. aftermarket sheet. To break up the uniform blue livery I gave the vehicle an individual number, taken from leftover Macross Destroid sheets (IIRC from Spartans). Additionally, I printed authentic medium-sized Japanese license plates for commercial vehicles from the Tokyo area (green with white letters) and mounted them to the front and rear of the mecha.

Finally, the model was sealed with matt acrylic varnish (from the rattle can) and some mineral pigments were dusted onto the feet for a more realistic look.

 

 

For presentation I also created a small base, using a 4x4” medium-density fiberboard and creating some construction site rubble with plaster/putty, some shell shards, a few brush hair bushels and green tuft fibers as dry grass, plus some leftover 1:35 resin bricks from another project. Not a diorama, but something that supports the overall mood and purpose of this mecha.

 

 

Compared with the Hercules Labor from the kit set, the Boxer is simpler in construction, and it’s also smaller. Both share the same weaknesses, but it’s still nice to have an IP kit of this obscure Patlabor mecha at all. It builds – with some extra effort – into a neat model, even though it rather looks and feels like an action figure. Leaving it in a bright blue civil livery was the right move, I think, also because of the glazed cockpit, even though the interior is, due to the material’s thick- und blurriness, hard to see. Therefore, the simple, improvised pilot figure does its intended job well and adds to a lively look.

Done