The L.E.D. Mirage: Complete Disassembly

I finally found my old L.E.D. Mirage 1:100 scale model kit! The box was still in relatively good condition. The inside, however, as I soon discovered was in much worse condition...

The cover art on the box of the L.E.D. Mirage kit is a coloured illustration of a scene from the first chapter of the original Five Star Stories manga. The scene depicts the opening battle between the two Mortar Headds (MHs); Vatshu, The Black Knight (back facing) and an L.E.D. Mirage (forward facing) piloted by their headliners 'Grard Sydmian' and 'Karrer Crytharis' respectively.

L.E.D. Mirage 1:100 Styrene Scale Model

Apparently, I really did leave the "completed" model in a terrible state 10 years ago... One of my biggest mistakes was to actually take a short-cut and spray the model parts while they were still attached on the sprue. Terrible amateur mistake! As a result, the parts looked horrible post-assembly as the paint job was terribly damaged during the cutting and assembly process.

10 year old L.E.D

The cheap lacquer spray paint that I used also cured horribly. After 5 days of waiting I assumed that the paint had completely dried and cured. Big mistake number 2! The paint had not cured sufficiently and as a result, the paper lining on which I left the model parts got stuck to the uncured paint! (x_x)

Separated: Parts of the L.E.D.

After evaluating the damage, I finally decided on a complete overhaul of the model from scratch. Fortunately, the super glue that I used 10 years ago was of the "cheap" variety and the bonded parts could be carefully pried apart rather easily using a sharp blade. The problem was actually the lacquer paint that had cured and bonded the parts at the seams! Nothing a little careful blade work wouldn't solve...

Dismantling the L.E.D.

I was rather pleased with the dismantling process as all parts were still fully intact. However, one problem that I realised was that the black poly caps which connect most of the parts had been damaged over the years. I tried looking for replacements parts at my local hobby stores and over the internet but to no avail. Luckily, there were a few extra poly caps left in the kit from before. Hopefully they will suffice...

L.E.D. Mirage: Complete Disassembly

The next step would probably involve the stripping of the old paint and cleaning of the individual parts.

(-_-)...zzZ