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Inspired by some great looking projects out there (such as Khai62‘s) I decided to dust off my kit and snap fit the parts. My first impression is that the kit was huge! Before opening the box (which I’ve had since Decmeber 2011 – I likely opened it up once back then said "woah it’s huge" only to forget until now) I expected it to be about the size of my 1/144 Hildolfr. Guess I missed the part about this kit being 1/35 scale.
Recently I acquired a second-hand PG 00 Gundam from a modeler in Australia. In my haste to get it up on it’s stand and take a look at it I accidentally broke the little piece of plastic that’s supposed to connect the huge kit to the stand (smooth thinking there, Bandai). Early attempts to fix it were less than successful, so, to the internet I turned. Turns out you can buy display stand purposely built for the PG 00 Gundam… for only 90-fucking-dollars. $90, for just an oversize d action base? I really hope that’s just inflated due to demand and not a serious price tag from Bandai. Not willing to dump so much on so little I kept looking and found one of these…
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For me, and I imagine many other model collectors, the biggest enemy of a completed project is dust. Nothing like checking out your collection to find everything is coated in a nice layer of grey. THis is why for the longest time I’ve been thinking about getting a glass enclosure for my Gunpla models. Something nice to display them in while protecting them from the unavoidable everyday dust. Living in an apartment and putting together a full blown, wall long, built in display cabinet is out of the question (someday I will have one, damn it!).
Instead I started looking at curio cabinets, Pulaski being one of the largest and most respected manufactures. They make some great cabinets but there were two issues, the size and the cost. A good sized cabinet would not only take up too much wall space for me but cost me upwards of $1600. They’re also a lot more showy then I prefer. I tend to prefer clean lines and many Pulaski curio cabinets are better suited to stand alone in the middle of a classic dining room then a simple/mish-mashed place such as my own. Though well designed they also feature unnecessary additions (which also raise the price) such as specialized doors and a mirror back. All around they’re fantastic but more than I need and more than I want to spend right now.
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Ah, here it is. My latest Gundam Unicorn creation, a Banshee more specifically, themed in the lovable Titan’s colour scheme. Blue and gold has always been one of my favorite schemes, well before I saw Zeta Gundam ages ago. To see this kit come together and look pretty damn amazing, with the yellow details here and there, is a long time coming. The project was envisioned months ago before I convinced PatrickGrade (of GundamGuy fame) to part with his Banshee.
Time to share some more WIP shots of my latest MG Unicorn project, more specifically, a MG Banshee painted in Titans colours. For the most part things have been going well and a majority of the kit has been painted. That’s saying a lot since I counted 5 pieces in the entire thing that aren’t getting one colour or another. Good news aside, I have had some major problems with my top coat though.
For whatever reason, I think because I laid to heavy of a coat, Testors’ Dull Cote actually managed to make many of the pieces more lustrous. Frustrating on it’s own, horrible when in contact with the decals. This issue doesn’t seem to have occurred on the decals themselves, just the paint. Thus the decals are duller than the pieces around them and their lines show up really easy with the right lighting. It’s almost like reverse silvering.
After a bit of a Gunpla break I’ve returned to get started on my next MG Unicorn, this time a MG Banshee, painted in a Titans colour scheme. Instead of black for the torso and feet I’m going to go a navy blue then use a lighter blue on the rest of the kit. The frame, where I originally planned to use yellow, is going to silver. Yellow details will go here and there, as with the Titans theme, and red where appropriate. This guy is also going to have two claws, with the angry claw bits painted a metalic red (like it’s heating up). Here’s the current mockup…
Holy shit, this thing is pure sex…
December release I believe (based on the large 12 and lack of Japanese reading skills). $93 dollars though? Eh, screw it, I’m still in!
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With her completion she’s been officially designated the NUnicorn. A silly, yet endearing name. It’s okay, because I prefer the nickname ‘Noon.’
This is fouth MG Unicorn kit I’ve completed (one, two, three) and it’s clear to see the improvements over each one. There’s so many opportunities to design new schemes that I’m looking forward to painting the other two I have in my possession.
For Noon roughly 90% of the kit has been painted or at the least received a top coat. Only a few pieces of the internal frame, those not visible, remained untouched. Excluding the orange psycho frame of course. For some reason I like how it looks with the white armor and wanted to keep that aesthetic. The rest of the kit is fairly true to the Nu Gundam colour scheme aside from a few tweaks here and there. Most of the paints are Tamiya; Bright Mica Red, regular & Matt Black, various shades of silver, and a light gray (inner shield & under some of the thruster flaps). Parts of the frame received my favorite Krylon gray primer while white primer was used as a base for Tamiya’s white on the stomach/hip parts.
Last WIP shots for this project. In fact, most of it is almost done, just a key few pieces currently baking. I just wanted to snap a few shots now. For whtaever reason, when this kit is sans arms, you can really see Katoki’s love of long legs.
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Things are slowly coming along. I’ve been having some trouble painting key orange pieces yellow. I’m probably going to have to prime all of them on my Titans Unicorn. :/
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