FAQ updated again.

Added a small section on aftermarket thrusters to the FAQ at the very end. This month is going to be a slow one, as I’m moving in January. However things will pick back up in January/February once I settle in to the new house.

Also entered PG Strike Freedom in to Gundam Guy’s G-Shot contest in the best paintjob category, so wish me luck folks!

Since when was I this active?

Just the yellows left to paint on Shenlong! I’m soldering Wing Zero’s wires up tomorrow to ensure they work all the time every time as well, in addition to re-touching the blacks! I’m a fan of having the gunpla fire lit up and burning bright again.

I really want to have all of the Wing ‘Early Type’ Endless Waltz suits. I like the designs in the movies, sure…but since I have a lot of love for the TV series I want to work with these instead.

Quick update to the FAQ.

Brief addition to the 2011 FAQ with pictures showing exactly why it is important to prime and closely inspect your own work.

More exciting pictures of this guy coming down the pipe too once I find time to fix his beam sabers and give it a proper flat coat.

Here’s something neat.

                           

Really pleased with how this number turned out so far. Still wondering if I want to change the white to grey, but then I’d have to paint the frame a darker grey. I kind of like this in it’s stock colors as-is. Even the aftermarket thrusters went on smoothly! I need to order waterslide decals still though, because I’m not trying to apply that XXXG-01D decal to the shoulder with a dry-transfer.

            

This kit has me itching to get to work on Shenlong and get together the cash to get the other EW Gundams. But I’ve got something special in mind for the leader of the bunch. Also as a result of using the aftermarket thusters I have pictures for an FAQ section on them. However, I’d like to keep things as in-sequence as possible so for now it won’t be added in.

Little stuff.

The priming section of the new tutorial is up!

I also finished this thing, finally. I need to sand off the overspray on the bottom area since I forgot to mask that area off properly when I sprayed the chest area.

It begins.

The It’s A Gundaaaam! 2011 FAQ/How-To page is now officially underway. For now I’ll be leaving the old page up as well but it’s days are now numbered.

As for this guy, I’m feeling a more traditional color scheme. The yellow has been painted on and the difference is minor, but it’s there. I think I’ll be painting the black flat black and then figuring out what to do with the white.

MC Hi-Nu Gundoom isn’t just for show…

If third party kits make you seethe with anger, you might as well stop reading now.

I’ve been working on this kit for awhile now (since the damn thing came out) and I’ve finally managed to get to the point where I want to show it off a little. It’s for another person, but regardless of that I’m really digging how well it all came together (on top of teaching me the values of masking and waiting for the paint to fully cure before removing the tape). The final kit will have a flat finish, and I’ll be sure to toss up pictures of it rocking the ‘Soul Cleaver’ once I touch up the beam sabers to match the Nu Gundam (pink instead of blue).

Given the bootleg nature of the kit, this thing really comes very close to hitting Bandai’s level of quality in general and I’m of the mindset it far surpasses their own 1/144 version of the Hi-Nu. The extra detail is excellent to see at this level and considering the price (33USD) I wish Bandai went to this sort of extent with their own kits. The wings of light on top of coming with waterslide decals is outright awesome and makes it something unique. The color separation leaves a little to be desired but since MC doesn’t have the luxury of Bandai’s injection molding it’s expected to have to deal with some areas needing a little work. In any case, if you can enjoy a kit for what it is I would say check it out and you likely won’t be disappointed.

In unrelated news, the FAQ/How-To page is finally really undergoing revision. Updates on general assembly, tools and painting will all be included, so you can look for most if not all of the current stuff there to be replaced.

Oops, I did it again…

Another month+ without an update. At least I return with pictures! Thanks to Gaijin Gunpla, PG Wing Zero’s wings now attach to the glow in the dark behemoth! Behold!

And that’s not all: Crossbone only has his torso and shoulder touchups before it’s on to the core booster! I’m trying to work a little bit at a time on kits when I find time now between work and school, it’s a total downer than I don’t have the luxury of a lot of free time+disposable income like I used to. Such is life. Some more basic stuff coming down the pip after that, I’m heavily considering painted the Gundam Wing Endless Waltz in their default colors but practicing preshading on them. There’s still plenty of other stuff as well that I can work on, but I’m going to try not to get too far ahead of myself.

Borrowing a page from Gaijin Gunpla’s book.

Let’s take a look at what’s on the work bench (see, I changed a word) for this month. Most of these are very close to being finished, it’s just a matter of having nice weather last long enough on top of finding the free time while handling school and work pretty much full time on top of other social obligations. More hours in the day would be nice please okay thanks!

Anyway!

First up, for Reddit’s r/gunpla groupbuild I broke out the Real Grade Zaku II I’ve had sitting around for a really long time and got to work on that:

I think I have too much white, so I’ll probably be taking it apart to change the top white on the chest, the back of the shield, the front skirts and the bits on the forearms. Also, I’ve managed to misplace two parts ALREADY…how does this happen even when I work quickly on a kit? I really need to fix this issue before I get in to building more things, I think it’s easily become my biggest issue.

PG Strike is still undergoing work…

Priming all of the white parts for their coat of pure white followed by pearl clear to really make them shine with the metallics, but this is still shaping up to be a nice little build. It’s for a friend, but I’m sure an Aile kit is somewhere down the line as well.

PG Wing Zero Custom has been in limbo for a bit now.

This is due to money, as things go sometimes. 30$ for LEDs for the wings alone, and I need more paint to match it (this is the last project I use Mr.Color paints on, more on that when I have money to dump in to refreshing my supplies) which adds more to it…plus I need to order 4 more microswitches for the rifle halves+wings. Luckily those are only 1.50USD each. At least all the time spent not working on it has led to me having a maybe perfect plan of attack for how I’m going to handle the wings!

The Crossbone Brothers have a new toy each.

Both work splendidly and will certainly look better once they’re painted up to match their respective suits as well as the Black/Red Crossbone getting touches up proper and whatnot. Also, the ol’ Crossbone XM-X7 got his rifle touched up to match the shine.

I still love how well that weapon turned out. I’ve managed to get a friend to at least give gunpla a shot as well, despite them not knowing anything about the universe and all that jazz- with none other than the MG Red Frame Kai.

Mine isn’t exactly stock at this point and I think I’ve finally come up with a decent plan of attack for it. Ideally I’ll be done with the other things that have paint on them before I go and start hammering this out though. You can see I kind of forgot about a few parts on the feet as well, which I’ll have to take care of.

These are just the tip of the iceberg, too. Those of you who have been around for awhile will probably remember the MG Shenlong, MG Deathscythe (and the HELL conversion project), the Vicious Project Hi-Nu, PG Red Frame, MG Wing TV Ver…the only kits of my list of things to get eventually is the HGUC Jesta, MG Epyon, the MG 00 Seven Swords and the sexy sexy sexy MG Unicorn Full Armor Ver. Ka…I’ve got more than enough stuff to keep me occupied for quite some time for the foreseeable future!

PG Strike WiP

Boy, it’s been a long time since anyone saw a trace of this model, huh? Here’s a reminder of how it used to look:

After finishing Strike Freedom, we all know I’ve been on a serious perfect grade kick. Mostly Wing Zero Custom, but while I wait for money to get started on the huge undertaking that is the wings I figured I might as well try to grind out a few kits that I’ve been working on. So Strike there who has been langusihing away in the closet for so long has gone from the above form to the now-glorious…

and it looks even better with it’s little brother, Strike Freedom!

I still need to build the weapons but I don’t have anything terribly fancy in mind for them so you might be able to look for this being done some time in the near future.