Still alive.

Things have been quiet for a minute as I’ve been waiting for replacement parts for Pride’s wings. After trying four times to sand them down smoothly and repaint them and getting nowhere on them, I threw in the towel and decided to start from scratch. All the Dragoon units have been painted white and I just need to apply the stickers to them before they’re done, so one of these days off I’ll just sit down and slam them out.

I finished snapping together my MG Red Frame which completely blows the PG out of the water in terms of goodies, price and articulation. The PG is still impressive in it’s own right thanks to it’s massive size but if you’re looking for THE Red Frame kit to have I think the MG is it unless you hate the Tactical Arms. Admittedly, I’m not a fan of the crossbow/blowtorch thing but luckily it comes with the needed parts to build Blue Frame’s TA instead, making it look that much better as a giant sword. I have some ideas in mind for this later down the line which should wind up making this a fun kit to paint and work with.

Also, I took a trip to Gundam Store and More (based in scenic Michigan) Wednesday and picked up the MG Shenlong since Epyon isn’t arriving until later this month as well as the old 1/100 HG Deathscythe Hell kit. Why such an old kit? It only took me about an hour to get things put together on it and I had to laugh as I remembered how simple things were back in the day. But simple won’t do for this, Deathscythe Hell is my favorite TV Gundam next to Wing Zero.

This is a big undertaking, but with this as inspiration I feel like I need to do this. I just need to figure out how to sharpen up the edges on most of the surfaces and rig some parts up so they fit with the MG Freedom frame.

Stuff and things.

Let’s get some discussion going while I tackle menial things on various kits which aren’t in depth enough to get a whole post.

First up, Samus is aaaaalmost done. I need to touch up the purple in a few spots, glue the cannon together and then give it the metallic blue wash on the purple and red on the cannon. I plan on fixing those chest bits with some fancy sanding even (already done in the picture) though it means I’ll have to mask the entire chest up to redo them. The photoshoot for this won’t be too big since the joints can be sort of frustrating to work with and I absolutely do not want to run the risk of damaging anything but I can try to promise some good shots since it still manages to be fairly dynamic.

Blade Liger Mirage is still only partially done. One of the tiny clear orange parts flew off the runner when I snipped it and despite having relatively thin white carpet, I can’t find it anywhere. It’s a small part but combine that with everything else going on with that kit and it’s pretty irritating. I love Zoids but I really want this thing to shine.

Kshatriya’s test build it done. Still have to go over all the rough parts that will be showing with 1200 grit sandpaper and get my option parts around.I’m not sure if I’m going to get to this next or perhaps touch on a certain few larger kits…More on that in a second.

PG Strike Freedom is looking better and better. I think busterbeam is definitely right and thusfar Bandai has managed to keep me on board for this thing. The price tag, while huge, feels a lot more justified than the 00′s. Not to mention the design overall is just looking so much better! That’s what happens when you get Katoki in on something, I guess. Say what you will about how well his kits do poses and whatnot, but they consistently look damn good. I may not be a huge fan of Seed Destiny or Kira Yamato (I’ve only seen 19 episodes of the original Seed and absolutely none of Destiny), but damned if the design on this and gimmicks are enough to warrant my checking in to this. All of the details revealed about this thing so far have me excited for it. Provided things work out, I’ll definitely mount up and preorder it for it’s eventual December release.

This of course means I really want to start working seriously on my various PG kits. I’ve gotten plenty of ideas for all of them by now and it’s just a matter of finding the time and drive to work on them. Can I finish all 3 of these things before December comes and the Strike Freedom rolls out? With the Deathscythe MG coming up (ideas: half finished) and the other kits I have sitting half done, I’m not sure. Ideally I would like to at least finish the Wing Zero since that’s my oldest PG and I’ve only recently even figured out Red Frame’s theme.

This leads us to another issue: if I’m going to finally get finishing/buying all these big kits, where on earth am I going to put them? My storage space has always been on the small side, limited to one four level glass shelf (three really, since the bottom shelf gets so dusty that I don’t like to use it for anything) due to the fact that my room really isn’t the biggest thing on the planet. It looks like I might have to finally pony up and buy myself one of the very-celebrated Ikea Detolfs. What do you guys do when you start to run out of space? As you can see, there really isn’t much room for boxing stuff up! My collection has scaled down since way back when. How about yours?

Hey, how about a Gunpla post?

Started back on prepping the MG Wing Gundam, even though that one is on the backburner until I hunt down a G-temple chisel set and have money to spare for it.

It’s definitely a well-designed kit and the fact that we’re getting the other early-type ver. ka kits based on this frame is quite pleasing. It’s got a nice range of articulation everywhere that matters and is sturdy enough that it can support it’s buster rifle. Not to mention it’s just sleek!

I started looking through Kshatriya’s runners as well. I already have most of what I want to do mapped out in my head but I don’t know when I’ll be able to get to it to actually work on it. I don’t have my airbrush yet so I’m having a hard time finding the motivation to do anything gunpla-related for the time being. In the meantime, Figuarts and other things eat at my money, which just means we’ve got a nasty cycle going on here.

PG Strike is almost done- It’s sitting in the same state it was when everyone last saw it. I’m changing the color of the feet to black and adjusting the torso colors to have more white on the lower torso, and unifying the white/grey of the whole kit to be the off-white, even though I abhor working with that particular color. Still waiting on the Aile pack but with a little paint and a 7$ decal set, at least the base strike will be done.

PG Red Frame is stripped down to it’s frame- I finally got a good idea for what I want to do with it (over a year later), so that’s sitting around waiting for it’s time to shine. PG Wing Zero is in a similar state of limbo, with the ideas and everything else fully formed for it, I just don’t have the means to implement anything. It’s a rather frustrating thing to have all of these things thought out and lack the means to follow through on it, but for the time being there’s not much to be done. For any ZOIDS fans out there, you can look forward to the eventual review of the 1/72 HMM Blade Liger Mirage kit some time within the next few weeks, along with a more traditional F-14D model (with a bit of a twist). In the mean time, thanks for sticking around through the gundam drought.

Photodump: Perfrect Grade Astray Red Frame

In lieu of not having a proper page for this, below is a gallery of the PG Red Frame I built…not sure what the exact date was, but I preordered this kit so it couldn’t have been more than two or three days past when it came out. Enjoy! For the record…I didn’t bother with the shield or rifle. Let’s face it, they don’t matter.

Group photo now!

Due to the marked lack of action around here, Here’s a picture of the ever reliable gunpla shelf (click for high resolution). I think the majority them have a post about them and if they don’t it’s something I’m working on fixing. You can also see that Nu is close to being finished! Then it’s just a matter of time until Sword Impulse. Will probably make a WIP post for Nu tomorrow to show most of the construction.

Perfect Grade Astray Red Frame!

It’s about time I got around to this, huh?

Sadly, I didn’t take many pictures while building each individual part like I did with Unicorn and Sinanju. Regardless, everything was pretty straightforward. Build the frame, put armor over it. As you’ll see, I did use some of the clear parts from the special pre-order gift set but only in places where it would by symmetrical with the other side.

Being that the frame is based off the PG Strike you’ll be bound to have some parts leftover on your runners from things like the back, legs, waist and some other parts I can’t really pick out. This isn’t really anything resembling a big deal but it’s something worth mentioning. I’m sure those of you who’ve assembled the Strike will see plenty of similarities while putting the frame together.

Of course, the outermost parts of the armor are really what we’re all here for. Despite being so new there aren’t really any annoying gimmicks here to deal  with and the lights for the head are a piece of cake to take care of (Remember your CR1220 batteries, everyone!) compared to something like the Wing Zero’s. Pictures after the jump!

Teaser…

It’s finished!! I’ll try to make a post about it sometime this week, but work is busy busy…This is the only picture you get until then.

Introductions and Updates

Added a new user to the blog, Mmy (a local friend) who will also be doing updates to the site from here on.

In other news, I finished the PG Wing Zero and weathered my Zaku II! On the downside, while wiring up the battery pack for the Zero one of the wires must have been damaged as none of the lights would work when I tested them after wiring everything up. Regardless, the finished kit is still a sight to behold. Pictures after the jump!

Wing Zero…

Wing Zero is confused by this quarter…

I’m just about done, sorry for the lack of WIP updates. I’m only two days in but I only have the battery/switch compartment, the armor for the left arm, wings and the weapons left to build. Thankfully, all the lights are working properly. I’m a bit confused as far as setting the switch up goes, if anyone is out there (Rob) I’d love an explaination and how the hell I tell one side from the other on the switch itself. I’m also pleased to note that the 8mm action base thing sits nicely on the bottom of the PG Zero, so I can play around with it and get it in most of it’s signature poses! Of course, I’ll probably use some blue-tac or something else to give it a little extra stick, just to be sure it stays put.

Paid for PG Red Frame (hello bonus parts!) today, so that might ship out and be here by the middle of next week. If not, end of next week. Either way, I’ll be done with Zero by then!

Oh no!

I think we have a bit of a backlog now. Not as huge as some, but still.

• HD Hyaku -Shiki
• MSZ-006-3 Zeta Gundam
• Black Trinity Zaku II Ver. 2.0
• GF13-017JPII God Gundam
• Astray Red Frame (I’m counting it since I’ve preordered it, okay?)

whoops!