Scitex?

[Lidier]

So randomly bumming around my favorite Hard-Off store I came across, amazingly, a Tomy Scitex set:



I have to say, I have absolutely no customizing experience.  The best I can manage with my Zoids is a little color alteration with some spray paints and panel lining >_<

But...I have heard tell that some people have used Scitex sets to make some interesting custom grade ups for their Grade Up Zoids.  Does anyone have any experience with this that could give a few suggestions or pointers?  I figure, just from some of the threads I've seen on Zoidspoison, that the trick is making things that actually look like weapons or don't unbalance the Zoid. 

Thanks in advance for any advice; if nothing else its nice to see some of these old things still exist.

[Snowflake]

I'm not familiar enough with scitex to know how that's done
I just know that someone took four of these little drillermabobs and put them on Gilvader and they looked great. Their ports were in the exact right place to make them activate

this thing appears to be a set of caterpillar treads, a cannon, and some indistinct body piece.. so i'm thinking... hang one of the treads like an 'ammo belt' and stash others nearby as if they were spares.... and.. then.. make the body into some kind of body for the cannon.. yeah. Possibly using the wheels.... as.. kind of barrel-base? I don't..

[Lidier]

I like the ammo belt idea . The kits that were used as an upgrade to the Gilvader were the "Drillgan" kits which are pretty scarce at this point, I wish I could get a couple for my gilvader. It's funny, in the catalog the Drillgan set cost only 1000 yen. If I had a time machine, I tell you...

[Maethius]

I've never had the pleasure of obtaining any of the Scitex kits, but there are some incredible ones. If you want to look at the easiest ways to customize using this kit (with a minimum of cutting, gluing, shaping...) the ammo belt idea is a great start. The simplest way to modify Zoid kits are adding weapons or armor bits; those tracks could also be used to create a form of armor hanging about a Zoid, too. Take a look at each individual piece from the Scitex kit and see where it can be affixed to hard points or pegs, or glued onto larger Zoid pieces that lack detail, like armor bits or long limbs.

One thing I like to do is take my stock Zoid kit and some extra bits and hold there here or there, flip them around, see if there are places the look really appealing. Sometimes you will find a piece that fits so perfectly it ends up being the foundation for an entire build, leaving people asking, "how did you even think of that?!"

[Lidier]

Thanks for the insight Maethius! I do have to say its nice that most stock zoids have extra pegs anyway that would make good starting points for adding more weapons/armor. With the Scitex line, I guess I should pick a Grade Up zoid that hasn't gotten much love and see where I can go from there. I think the Battle Cougar might be a good place to start?

[Maethius]

Battle cougar is a pretty good one, though it is already quite well armed. I tend to look for those that are pretty clearly in need of weapons or armor... Salamander, Gojulas, or even Iron Kong for the big guys. Most little Zoids have some decent weapons, but Aerosaurer, Command Wolf, and a lot of the Hi-1000 series were really low on the offensive side. Reddler, despite being a cool design, is frickin' naked in the guns department, as is Snipe Master, etc.

Actually, I'm looking at this Scitex kit and it would be really great at converting combat units into engineering units! It would also be cool to use this parts to upgrade a Gustav.

[zoidpilot]

was able to get 2 sets of Scitex Drillgan bout 2 years ago, with differing price tags: the Drillgan unit only at $200, and the other costs roughly $150, includes a separate box of adapters. The drillgan unit comes in a prebuilt main body, and several sprues, wheels and adapters for mounting. To make that Gilvader with drillgan unit, you will need 4 boxes of drillgan sets (though 1 or 2 boxes will suffice) and atleast an adapter box (though you'll only need a few adapters for it).

[Lidier]

Wow... My mind is reeling at how expensive that would be at this point.