Gunpla

First off, let me state that I received all of my information about this series from Gundam Guy. Many props to the man for his excellent coverage of the announcement, leaks, and subsequent releases by Bandai. If you haven't already please check out his extensive post on AGE. In fact, I'd prefer you do that ahead of time so you can form an opinion (if you haven't already) without my corrupting influence.

 

So, anyhow...

Ah, it's that time of month again. Gunpla Review is an attempt to share some projects, finished in the past month, which have caught my eye. I also wanted to highlight some ongoing WIPs worth following. If I missed any of your favorites please share them via comments below! And no, these are not in any particular order.

 

Featured Kits

Vandalier's MG Blue Frame w/ Lohengrin Launcher - The first time I've seen anyone take on the launcher

 

This is a participating project in GAF's Grunt MS Group Build

 

Here are some photos of my (most likely) last MG Nemo build. It's for the Grunt MS Group Build over at the Gundam Australia Forums.

 

The intent is simple, a clean build featuring sparky purple, pure white, and silver details. As always I will be trying something new, mainly a painted silver frame and metal decals. In addition it will be my first attempt with a acrylic gloss topcoat.

Here's a look at the frame...

Generally, I'm not one to buy 1/144 scale kits. However I've had a project floating around in my head for a long time and the Real Grade Strike seemed to fit the bill. It's the perfect scale and I love the Strike Gundam's design. Plus it would give me an excuse to pick up and mess around with a RG level kit.

But wait, perfect scale for what you might ask? Well a kit bash with my ancient 1/550 scale Dendrobium of course! I've had one sitting around for over a decade, back from the days before I knew better and ripped pieces from the runners. When I pulled it apart I realized how great the cannon was and that it would look great by itself. Slowly the idea developed into a full scale kit bash. My first kit bash actually. And thus far, things are going great.

 

 

After four months of paint, tears, and more paint... my black Perfect Grade Strike Freedom is complete. For those of us with ADHD I'm going to kick things off by posting all the pictures. From a technical prospective they're rather 'blah' due to the small size of my studio and the humongous span of this kit's wings, among other reasons. You can read more about that, along with very little detail about the build, after all the pretty pictures.

 

The Pictures

 

Click to Enlarge | On Flickr

 

I've decided to start up a new series, Gunpla Review, a look back at the past month of gunpla. I suppose I'll need to craft a fancy header image before May is up. It's an attempt to share some projects, finished in the past month, which have caught my eye. I also wanted to highlight some ongoing WIPs worth following. If I missed any of your favorites please share them via comments below! And no, these are not in any particular order.

 

Finished Kits

Freya's SD Nightingale - I love the color scheme and the LED really sets it off.

 

So at long last the body of my PG Strike Freedom is complete...

 

Click to Enlarge | On Flickr

 

Can you spot the issues? The silvering on some of the decals is painfully evident in this shot. I can also spot at least three areas of unfortunate paint transfer via parts rubbing. The clear pieces on the wings, which normally would have had a sticker applied to them, got a coat of clear red followed by some dull coat for frosting. Probably the only aspect of the kit that turned out better than expected. Though it does clash with the rest of the design. Sadness.

 

It's been awhile since I updated with my progress on this guy...

 

Click to Enlarge | On Flickr

 

She's certainly been giving me some heart burn for a while. What's been killing me mostly are the decals and the dull top coat.

 

The kit is slowly moving along. Following the issues chronicled in my last update a lot of pieces have now been repainted and received new decals. Now I await some 60 degree days to give them a good top coat. I do have some some other pieces finished though. Unfortunately there's some silvering/air bubble issues on the shoulder armor. Oh well. Not much I can really do about it without delaying the whole project yet again to order more decals.
Click to Enlarge | On Flickr

It's been a while since I updated the progress on this kit. I ran into issues last week during an unexpected temperature drop. I didn't notice that the temperature had dropped ten degrees from the previous day to the high 40's. That difference in temperature was just enough to ruin the dull coat on a dozen or more pieces that I had spend the previous weekend applying decals on. An example below. The blotchy piece on the left was coated in the colder weather, the piece on the right the day before.
Click to Enlarge | On Flickr