Looking good so far!
Used to build a lot of Gundam kits around 2005-2009. Haven’t really touched any of the kits expect for the Leo that came out last year. There’s a lot of new kits out I’d like to get expect being P-Bandai they are a lot more expensive.
Here is my first Gundam kit, the 1/550 Mobile Armor Grablo, basically a Zeon submarine with arms!
I thought it looked like a robot monster from the Super Robot TV show “Raideen”.
My second Gundam kit was the old 1/100 Zaku II, which kind of cemented my affection for the Zeon grunt Mobile Suit.
Many years later, I built the 1/144 HGUC Zaku II and Gouf, as well as the 1/100 Zaku I Ramba Ral Custom.
The Zaku I was my second Master Grade kit. I tried out the Max Watanabe pre-shading (black basing) technique on this guy after it became all the rage in the model mags.
I also build the occasional “good guys”, i.e. Earth Federation, but I like the Zeon machines a lot better. I think the Feddie suits just look kind of boring, although I find the designs by Yutaka Izubuchi, Hajime Katoki and Kazuhisa Kondoh to be pretty good. I built the 1/100 GM Kai Custom from “Gundam 0083: Stardust Memories”, which was my first Master Grade kit.
It has been a little hectic over here, so I haven’t been able to get to the bench. But I’ll definitely make an effort this weekend!
BTW, everyone please feel free to post your Gundam stuff here too - the more the merrier!
Oh those are awesome G! Love the dirt on the feet!
Those are really good looking G! The Zaku I is my favorite.
Here’s my 1/144 Leo that came out last year. Nothing special just built it for a different change of pace. At the time I was rebuilding my modeling supplies and paint. So it was just painted with what I had on hand.
I do have a MG Epyon that a friend bought at a convention for me in the closet. The only problem is its missing two complete sprues. Doesn’t look like Bandai offers replacement sprues just parts and even then it’s only a maximum of six parts. I might pick up another one eventually as it’s my favorite mobile suit.
That’s cool Greysnake!
I’d love to try one but I need to add a new genre to the stash like I need another hole in the head…
Greysnake, right on with the Leo - long live the mass production grunt suits! [Y]
Gamera, you NEED more holes in the head, to see all the stuff that’s out there. They also keep your mind from being blown. Just a little grey matter is lost, that’s all. [:P]
Not sure I have the grey matter to lose though!
After all the glue we sniff none of us do…
I really like your style. It’s dusty but not really, hard to explain it but I appreciate it. Nice to see someone who isn’t doing the harsh pre shading which make everything look out of scale (and is usually poorly done if we’re honest).
That original 1:100 Zaku is awesome. Would be fun to do an old kit group build at some point. Something pre-HGUC era where not everything fit so smoothly and you have to put some real effort into parts alignment. The Zanscare suits from victory are prime candidates in my book. Such nice designs but so damn old.
Did you do any other Mobile armours or just that one? Did you see the new Haro Zakrello? Holding out hope for a HGUC one… I waited decades for the Barzam so now I need another miracle release.
Ya know I don’t have any Gundam kits but this is a mech so it sorta counts right? Right???
I’m putting the black primer coat on right now for the Alclad II metal coat. Hopefully I’ll finish him by the end of the year.
Thanks Robotism! Actually I want to dial up the weathering on new builds. I have a MG RX-79G Gundam from “The 08th MS Team”, and since the action takes place in what looked like SE Asian jungle, I want to reflect that on the model. Lots of mud around the feet, scratches from contact with the jungle, and faded upper surfaces from sunlight.
Bsyamato did a great job hosted a One Year War GB, but another Gundam GB would be welcome. A pre-HGUC/MG build would be fun - the apperance of the later generations of Gundam kits made me all flabby and lazy.
A friend and I once rejointed a Zaku with polycaps in one evening. He wanted to learn how, so I did one side and he did the other. We added a fore/aft swing to the hip joint, which had the unexpected benefit of allowing the legs to bend more forward. The ankles had ”L” joints for expanded movement. That was one poseable Zaku!
While I have most of the small MA kits, the Grablo is the only one I finished. I bought another one to try to see how far I could take it. I thought the Zakrello from the book “MS Era” was pretty cool. I think out of all the original MA kits, I like the Vigro best, another crabby design. I did build the newer 1/400 Big Zam, but didn’t paint it since a lot of parts were made of vinyl.
Haro Zakrello? OMG. I stay away from the Haropla and Bear Guy stuff! I did build the Acguy, which the Bear Guy is based on. That was an amazing HGUC kit.
Cool beans Gamera! Isn’t it incredible how the Japanese are rebooting old shows and updating them? And more so that model manufacturers are doing modern kits of them!
I built the original Bearguy which is mostly the Acguy. Absolutely loved the kit. I hope we get Thunderbolt Acguys since those little suits were cool as hell.
The 1/400 Gundam stuff is neat. I’ve considered doing a large scale diorama with them but I don’t have anything in mind yet. They would be more like my usual miniatures than my model kits.
The 1/400 series was more for the toy market, though they strangely made a number of assembly kits like the Big Zam. The level of detail was really quite good, so it’s sad they didn’t make it a regular all plastic kit. I wanted the Alpha Aziel, but again, high pre-painted vinyl content discouraged me. I did get the Musai cruiser, which was an all-ABS plastic kit but included vinyl Zakus.
It still sits in the closet, waiting for paint. Good God, I’ve had it for 8 years like that! But if Bandai dusted this series off and did a Feddie Salamis Class cruiser, I’d bite so long as vinyl material stays only with the GMs.
I’ve been considering building some Gundam ships. I built a chrome plated aghama but never took it past snap fitting. Couldn’t strip the chrome and I wasn’t going to chase it too hard. I did pick up Mwu’s mobile armour from SEED to do in the near future, was one of those rainy day kits I wanted for a long time and finally saw a good deal on. Can’t decide if I want to do it solo or recreate the opening scene from SEED where a Ginn is shot down by it.
Most 1/400 stuff is candy toys isn’t it? I don’t mind working with vinyl as long as the paint isn’t caked on and I can clear up the mold lines. For years I’ve been looking for a suitable way to strip chinese paint and glues from these sort of things. A lot of board games come pre-glued and I want to take them apart to clean the figures up nicely. I have a decent size 1/400 collection rattling around some where to work with but they’re hard to source outside of Japan. I usually keep my eye on ebay for thrift shops in Japan selling them in bulk. There’s probably a better way to get them but they’re old and pretty niche now.
Speaking of Vinyl painting. How do you handle polycaps which repel paint?
It seems Bandai has cooled off doing their EX series of 1/1700 ships. Too bad, as I wanted the Graf Zeppelin and Grey Phantom from 0080, and the Leoloola from Char’s Counterattack.
I’ve not found any paint that can stick to polyethylene, so I just pray they don’t show in the finished model.
The commercial vinyl toys get painted with some toxic concoction that is not available to the general public, and the paint is hard to remove.
When you need to strip chrome, Easy Lift Off (ELO) works best. Purple Power works too, to dissolve the clear coat under the chrome. Oven cleaners and bleach only strip the chrome, leaving the gooey clear undercoat intact.
Things are busy at the Krab Kave (my place), so no model action till later on this week.
I’ve wondered how viable it would be to make casts of the polycap sprue and then recast them in a resin material. I’m surprized no one makes plastic polycap replacements. Most the parts are universal and you could get away with a few of the weirder shape ones hidden away.
You would lose the ability to pose the model if the polycaps were replaced with rigid resin.
Bandai’s attempt to solve the issue was using ABS, but the material was susceptible to splitting when exposed to solvent paints. Although I have to really wonder, as I have had that problem with their styrene parts, never the ABS ones.
I don’t value being able to repose a model. I would rather have a fixed position for a diorama or a display piece. If I’ve invested so much time into a piece I can’t see why I would want to repose it and play with it. It’s become a display object not a play object.
Hows the Dom’s little bro coming along?
Heh heh, I’m just the opposite. I like to play with my models! Well, I like to repose them. I don’t really fly them around the room and make “pew-pew” noises. Honest.
Besides, in Gundam shows the beam weapons don’t go “pew-pew”. They make more of a “bee-yoo bee-yoo” sound. [:P]
I haven’t been able to work on anything this past week due to all kinds of stuff going on at the office and home. My sister is staying at the house with her visiting friend, so I’m in the living room away from my work table. But they all go home at the end of the week, and the boys are coming over this weekend for our monthly model build.