Yep, time to giddiyap! The weekend was a bust as I was too busy with other things around the house, and it was super humid last night so I was concerned the tape would not stick properly. Work will resume tonight!
I was feeling blown out last night, so instead of masking and painting the model, I made the little clear red crystals at the end of the scythe,
I dug out an egg-shaped hole in an old block of epoxy putty and pressed a heated clear red sprue to get the shape. A bit of cutting and sanding, and all done.
Sorry to hear the weekend was a bust for modeling. Hopefully the household obligations were at least successful.
That method for forming your own colored lenses just looks like magic. They all look like they were from the manufacturer.
What tools did you use to shape the resin? I can’t imagine you used a hobby knife to make that egg shaped recess. Was it files and drills? Be interested to know more about how you shaped it if you’re willing to share.
Yep, I just drilled 3 holes in a line, the center one being larger than the outer two, then followed up with a knife, a small ball cutter and cylindrical grinding bit. I was agonizing over how to form the crystals, trying to come up with the solution with the least amount of tooling and steps. The nice thing is that the epoxy block is durable, so I can use it over and over again as needed.
I have been negligent in updating this thread, my apologies. 
So anyway, I had to finish the model by last week Wednesday, as I was flying out to Las Vegas at 8:00 that morning. So, cue the “Mission: Impossible” music and light the fuse! I worked through Tuesday night and finally finished the model at 4:00 am on Wednesday.
I really have to stop this crazy crash-and-burn, mad dash to the finish line. I’m getting too old for the stress, and my models end up being not completely finished.
But the Jashinhei did surprisingly did well at the contest, earning me a first place. I was not expecting to even be in the running, as the Gundam/mecha category is now quite heavily represented, and a lot of really big and impressive kits frequently show up.
And now I can throw away the box and move on to the next project!
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Spectacular finish on the Jashinhei and congrats on taking a first place! 
First, Congrats on finishing the fantastic Jashinhei build! It looks AWESOME! Second, congrats on the first place award, it’s well deserved. Third, I’ve got to know how you packed and traveled to Las Vegas with this delicate looking model. It looks very fragile.
Thank you, Tom and PhoenixG, much appreciated!
I stuck some neodymium magnets inside to allow the model to be separated at the torso.
This really helped reduce the overall size of the model to fit in a cardboard box. I put each half of the model in large resealable bags, then dropped scraps of foam rubber into the bags before sealing them.
This worked better than I thought, as I had a misadventure leaving Las Vegas courtesy of the TSA. The box somehow got pulled out of the plastic tray while going through the x-ray machine, fell off the conveyor belt, was manhandled and twirled around by the TSA staff, the tape sealing the box was torn open, and the wonderful agent tried to roughly yank out the bags. At this point I was not feeling it and even though I was not supposed to touch my belongings while they were “inspecting” it, I just reached over and removed the bags myself. I was at that point “Mr. Furious” level angry and didn’t really care if I was going to be sent to El Salvador.
Fortunately, the model emerged intact. I think the magnets made the TSA staff suspicious, plus I was clearly aggravated when I saw them “handling” the box. But the takeaway is to make sure no part of your model touches the container. And if you have magnets inside your model, maybe a transparent container would be best.
Nice RealG and congrats on the award, well deserved. I like the use of magnets for ease of transport, great idea.
WOW! So sorry that happened to you and your model. I’ve heard numerous “horror” stories on the modeling podcasts of traveling to contests with your models. Glad that nothing was broken on yours.
Thanks NucMedTech and Tom!
I really should have used a larger box, but packing the model was so last minute, I didn’t have the time to look for one. Lesson learned, I’ll be better prepared next time.