Gunpla

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Kotobukiya 1/100 Knights of Sidonia – Ichinanashiki Morito Tsugumori Hakugetsu Kai – Review

Damn, that’s a long ass title.

The "Ichinanashiki Morito Tsugumori Hakugetsu Kai" is the lead Guardian (mecha) from Tsutomu Nihei’s popular Knights of Sidonia manga (soon to be CGIhorific anime) piloted by lead character Nagate Tanikaze. It’s the first model from the series, is made by Kotobukiya, and retails for about $50 USD + S&H. At 1/100 scale she is anywhere from 8 to 11 inches tall depending on the positioning of the backpack.

I’ve read a bit of Knights of Sidonia, mainly to help support Vertical Publishing, so bear with me if I don’t have all of my terminology in order. read more

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MG RX-78-2 Gundam Ver. 3.0 – Review – Updated 5/16

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Welcome to my review of Bandai’s latest Master Grade Gundam model, the RX-78-2 Gundam Version 3.0. The redesigned kit takes after Bandai’s new and improved vision of the original Gundam, matching the giant statue in Tokyo and the previous Real Grade release. While it features a more traditional frame than the RG, the MG is, for better or worse, simply a scaled up version of its little brother.

I should point out that I don’t have a RG RX-78-2 so I can’t compare the two directly. While I could compare the RG and MG based on other RG kits I figure it be best to make most of my comparisons within the same product line. Though I will reiterate that the MG and RG look exactly alike (other than the size and some panel gap issues, more on that later), even down to the included markings. Between the Mega Size, Real Grade, and Master Grade it wouldn’t surprise me if Bandai re-released the Perfect Grade in this scheme as well… anyhow, I digress… read more

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Pre-Shading Experimentation

I haven’t been taking a break from modeling as much as slowly destroying one of the best kits Bandai has ever released, the Master Grade Zaku II 2.0. This one, specifically, is a Johnny Ridden version that’s been in various stages of completion since at least 2010. Just recently I decided it would be the perfect sacrifice for practicing new techniques and generating new tutorials. It was recently the testbed for The Army Painter primers, pla plating, option parts, and now, pre-shading. read more

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Metal Gear REX – Finished

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After about two weeks of painting and delays my Metal Gear REX from Kotobukiya is finally finished. It was certainly a nice change of pace from working on Gunpla and I’m really glad how things turned out. REX really is a fine kit and I feel like I treated him well. For those interested in a full review of the kit, or to see the before photos, click here.

When it came to the colours I wanted to go with something realistic and fitting for REX but outside the normal gray & green. I started with four types of Tamiya grey. The blueish tone of one I didn’t fully realize until after I did some painting. At first it looked a bit bright but after lining and top coat it calmed down and thing looks great. The full list is XF-20 Medium Gray for the camouflage pattern, XF-66 Light Gray for the colour, XF-19 Sky Gray for the lighter parts of the inner frame, and XF-63 German Gray for the dark parts of the frame. For the details I used some X-11 Chrome Silver and X-12 Gold Leaf. A bit of red was used for the launchers and the yellow lines are a random mixture of yellow and gray. The lenses were coloured with Tamiya’s TS-72 Clear Blue spray can but backed with silver to give them that reflective nature. read more

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Nu Gundam Ver. Ka

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Yay, another project complete! As usual, a bunch of text on the build here, all the fun photos after. Jump down if you’re wise enough to skip my yammering.

So, aside from some issues here and there, the Nu ver. Ka is an amazing kit. Fantastic design, strong engineering, and a transformation gimmick that doesn’t impact the kit’s general functionality. One of the things that bugs me the most is the new hands. Woe is me that Bandai is going to be rolling them out full force. They’re too fragile and I’ve lost a few finger tips. I miss the hands that came with the Sinanju ver. Ka. read more

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Kotobukiya’s Metal Gear REX – Review

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I’m a bit late to the party but nonetheless decided that Kotobukiya’s Metal Gear REX needed a proper review. Just released toward the end of December this 1/100 scale kit retails for $87. It’s smaller than I thought it would be for that price tag, coming in at about 7-8 inches tall. It’s also incredibly smaller than Three A’s 1/48 scale release but a much better prospect for many considering Three A REXs retailed for $470 (most on eBay are now going for $700-800). read more

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M61A5 Semovente MBT – Complete

2012 may not be over but my latest project, the 1/35 Hard Graph Semovente tank from Gundam’s Universal Century’s, has been wrapped up.

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As usual, my blabbering about the project first and the rest of the pictures are down below.

Overall she was fairly quick build, the first coat of paint went on Nov 30th/Dec 1st sometime. The tank is a huge beauty featuring sturdy construction and a ton of detail. There’s so much detail on this that it puts a lot of normal gunpla kits to shame. Welds, stippled areas, and hatch hinges and clasps galore. I understand why folks love to build model tanks. For me, however, it was bit detour from what I generally do. At first it was odd working with such large and small pieces but it’s easy to get a hand of. Unfortunately it’s a lot easier to apply too thick a coat at a one time so I had some bleeding around parts of my camo masking. I didn’t want to do anything too traditional whether it be the desert tans colour is designed in or forest greens. At first I thought of doing a dark grey theme styled after some German WWII tanks but instead went with a custom blue grey colour, imagining a tank sneaking around in a foggy British winter. I left a bunch of tools off the kit, along with the scale figures. Maybe one day I’ll have the room to build a diorama so they’ll be stashed away until then. read more

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M61A5 Semovente MBT – WIP 2 – Ready for Weathering

After about 20 days of work my Semovente is ready for weathering. For the most part things went well. The colour scheme looks okay and aside from a few areas where my paint coats were too thick the digital camo looks pretty good. Paint went well on everything else. I did lose a few pieces somehow, including a bit of handle bar that goes on the rear of the kit. I may try to recreate it if I can find some piping thin enough but I’ll likely just pretend it never existed in the first place 😉 read more

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M61A5 Semovente MBT – WIP 1

Wooh, how about some WIP shots of my Semovente MBT? (How do you pronounce Semovente anyway?) But first, commentary!

Thus far things have been moving pretty quickly. Aside from a couple of days when I lost an integral part of my airbrush that is. As you can see I’m moving forward with my grey and grey-blue gray colour scheme. It’s certainly different which is think is great. Lots of little detail parts need to be done here and there. At some point I’m going to start weathering as well. There’s a possibility I’m going to overdo it so appreciate these clean shots while they last. Also, you may notice that I’m doing digital camo again. This time only two colours under the main colour and at an angle. I hope it comes out okay, placement of the first layer went well but I wasn’t fond of how the second went on. The first coat of the top colour is currently drying. read more

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