Took a break from building armor models after hitting a burnout and tried my hand at Gundam kits again. I can say for certain that I don’t have the love for them like I once did in my teenage years. But they did the purpose and I’m no longer burned out on armor. Anyway here’s my completed builds.
1/144 Geara Zulu, This was the first one I finished it took a lot of painting.
1/144 Gelgoog Marine, This one was easy to paint but it had a lot of seams that needed to be filled.
1/144 GM Cold Districts, This one had a lot of seams that needed to be filled but otherwise it was an easy build.
So with that I believe my Gundam adventure is done for right now. I admire those who mainly build Gundam kits as you can turn out some amazing work.
Nice selection! I have those kits, but only finished the Gelgoog Marine. The Geara Zulu has that German-looking gas mask that makes it look so distinctive.
Gamera, thank you! Being able to give the colors a muted look was the reason I went for those three. Not a big fan of the flashier looking Gundam kits.
Not sure if I’ll be doing anymore Gundam kits for a longtime. Bandai seems to have changed the plastic formula in some kits and it’s irritating to work with. Kind of like working with old Eastern European kits from the early 2000’s. Not to mention some of the newer kits have corners cut for whatever reason. Such as a magazine for a machine gun being hollow in the back or another kit that cost around the price of a newer Tamiya armor kit having hollow ankles on the back. While the issues aren’t deal breakers I just don’t have enough love for Gundam as I once did to put in a lot of effort. That and a lot of kits now are getting expensive to the point where some of the smaller ones are running around the same or more than a new Tamiya armor kit!
Ted, thanks!
Real G, thank you! The Geara Zulu is the most German looking mobile suit I think Bandai has done. STG-44 rifle, the magazines for the rifle just like the infantry version, Stielhandgranate (stick grenades) and course the Stahlehelm (helmet). It makes me wonder why they gave it an RPG-7 and not a Panzerfaust?
What made you fall out of favour with Gunpla? These are some nicely done kits and I’ve found it can be difficult to accept some other companies lack of locating pegs to make sure parts go together well.
Over the holidays we were visiting relatives in the OC where all 4 adult brothers build Gundam. I got a huge kick out of them sharing their finished builds and letting me forage thru the sprues of some of the in-process ones.
Robotism: One of the big factors is Bandai moving more towards their premium line of kits (P-Bandai). I understand it’s a business model that works very well in Japan; it just makes the kits awfully expensive stateside. Another factor is I’ve guess Gundam doesn’t capture my attention like it once did in my teenage years when I was heavily into building them. So that’s probably my main reason the models just aren’t my cup of tea any longer. The newer kits are beautifully engineered they are just not for me. The kits did fix my armor burnout so I’d call that a success.
Yeah, the P-Bandai product line seems to be growing faster than the standard lines these days. And as Greysnake said, they must have hit on a profitable angle, but it leaves those outside of Japan to pay sometimes unreasonable markups. Add the limited production nature of the P-Bandai kits, and it is quite frustrating to get them. That being said, I have obtained P-Bandai kits via several sources, including a US based online shop, a Japan third party seller, and friends with connections.
But I think the P-Bandai program is now out of control, as they have made some kits which don’t really belong in the series. The original intent was to kit obscure variants that might have only limited appeal to completists and die hard fans. But now they do inexplicable things like the 1/144 MSZ-006 Zeta Plus C Type, which is a bog-standard MS from Gundam Sentinel. And then they issue the Gundam Unicorn version as a standard kit. [*-)] OK yeah it is a recent show, but still.
And Bandai seems to be exploring ways to make their kits less costly (to them not us) by doing things like eliminating polycaps. To be fair, Gundam kits have been really cheap in the past compared to other genres, but their prices are moving up to parity. And I view their recent attempts to engineer greater flexibility in posing with mixed feelings, as some of the choices like separating left/right torsos are frankly just ugly. To top it all off, Bandai uses some kind of plastic that is not compatible with solvent based paint washes. So far, I have not come across an official explanation from Bandai as to why their plastic is like that, and why they continue to use it. And stickers. I hate their stickers. [8o|]
For me, the upside to all this is that I buy less Gundam. [:D]
The P-Bandai line does seem to be a growing and worrying trend. It’s starting to look like now they are releasing the base variant of a kit I.E Leo and Maganac. Of course this comes with a price jump where the base Leo from a U.S retailer is $10 and then $35 for the space version. Or for a more extreme example the Master Grade Tallgeese II; a kit I really want. The regular Tallgeese is around $40 and the Tallgeese II is $90 or so due to being P-Bandai. I’m not sure its worth that much considering it’s mostly $50 more for a recolor, decals and a different head crest.
I agree the line is out of control. I know a few people were not very happy when Bandai announced the Real Grade Tallgeese III was going to be P-Bandai. Gundam Wing is still very popular in the US and Bandai decided to make the kit harder to get. Sure they actually released in the US and you can order it from them but that really should have been a normal release.
One of the big reasons I liked Gundam kits back in mid 2000 it they were reasonably priced. I’d usually make a rather big order from a Japanese retailer and get a bunch of $7-$15 kits. I mean they are still reissuing the older kits at that price range and some newer kits but it’s starting to become fewer and fewer. I’m wondering how my nearest hobby shop is doing as they pretty much depend on Gundam kits to stay afloat. With Bandai moving more towards P-Bandai they have less of a kit selection to order now it seems as Bandai isn’t reissuing as many kits and so many being P-Bandai now.
