Interruption- Aerosol Cans?

Just got an email from HLJ.

“Thank you for your recent order with HobbyLink Japan.

We noticed that your order included one or more products that are packaged as aerosol spray cans. Unfortunately, we were recently informed by the Japanese post office that our packaging for shipping spray cans did not meet the necessary marking and packaging regulations involved in shipping products of this type. After a review, we’ve determined that taking the proper steps to meet those guidelines will be economically impractical given the value of the merchandise. As such, we regret to inform you that we will no longer be able to ship products packaged as aerosol sprays, and have removed this item
or items from your order.As your order had already been processed for payment and shipping, we’ll be refunding your credit card or PayPal account for the portion of your order represented by the spray products, and the shipping costs related to them.

Because so many of our customers hope to purchase these otherwise hard-to-find, high-quality sprays, we’re currently exploring other options (such as bulk or ocean cargo shipping) that may make it possible to order them again in the future. But for now, we’ve had to drop them from our catalog.
We’re quite disappointed that we’ve had to take this step, and we’re sure you are, too. Nevertheless, as always, we thank you very much for your support of HLJ and request your understanding on this matter.
HobbyLink Japan”

Looks like I’ll be using Tamiya’s clear flat/gloss finishes from here on! So much for it being a complete myth, huh?

Japan aerosol can export ban: Myth BUSTED

A few months ago I read word at various blogs that japan had imposed a full ban on the exportation of spray cans from japan which meant most of us modelers who preferred to use Mr. Hobby brand topcoat were going to have a problem real soon.

Or not. I ordered these FOREVER ago, but after the supposed ban had been put in place. No issues here, so feel free to continue to order topcoat my friends! For the record, I got mine from HLJ, I don’t know if other online stores will still sell it or not.

Also, you can see that Sinanju’s decals have finally arrived…right in the middle of a nice humid stretch here in the states. I’ll be finishing up with my painting and clear coating as soon as the temperature returns to normal, but for now I’ve got to wait.

In somewhat related news, I’m thinking about what to do for my next gunplas. I know MG Exia Ignition mode will be one of them, but other blogs have me thinking about what to do after that- F91 isn’t a bad looking piece, and the X-1 Crossbone Full Cloth is looking pretty good as well…or will I go back and shower my PG Red Frame with some extra attention? Oh, choices choices…

Oh yeaaaaah!

After ENTIRELY too much time, I’m finally finished with my biggest battle to date. May I present…

The RX-0 Absolution! I started this big recolor project back in APRIL, meaning this model definitely took me the longest to finish. Considering all the work I had to do, it’s no real surprise…

Anyway, while this picture is a distant shot I wanted to showcase everything. Aside from the inner frame of the model the vast majority of this model was meticulously painted and decaled though some parts turned out better than others…overall I’m still very proud of it.

The main body, unequipped. That’s the stand from the Gundam Mk2 (which has yet to even be started), I thought it would look nice for the pictures. I really need to make myself a nice lightbox.

Closer shot of the chest. Yeah, I missed a corner. Fixed it later but I’m out of topcoat and HLJ has it on backorder. ((( You can also see I didn’t have a decal pushed down all the way, which resulted in that ugly white spot on the arm. I’m not sure what to do about that but I’m sure I’ll think of something.

Boosters! The NT-D mode has plenty of them and loves to show ‘em off. Chrome/metallic red. The brightness serves as a nice contrast.

I am now convinced I need a better way to shave down nubs than a hobby knife because I hate hate HATE looking at those ugly ass marks on the gatling guns. Anyway,  these are the primary weapons for this particular mobile suit. There’s another set on the other arm. What can I say, I was always a Heavyarms fan.

The shield clips on to the bit that connects the gatling to the arm, so there was no reason to not put it together. The topcoat betrays me again and I don’t know why. I’m sure it’s my fault, but I think the black/blue/grey come together very well on it.

Full load. I had ‘All-Out Offensive’ in mind with this project. I had originally planned on rigging up a second shoulder mounted bazooka but couldn’t find a suitable epoxy.  It doesn’t matter too much since the arms have so much weight on the already adding more would be a bad idea…it can barely hold the arms up!

Pew pew pew beam magnum. The body is done with flat black, with gunmetal for the ammo pack and chrome for the barrel and rail that slides to drop out the ammo.

Bazooka! Not something you want to be on the recieving end of. You can’t see it, but I painted the missiles flat red and the ammo pack in gunmetal, just like the beam magnum’s.

“Absolution…launch!”

So, there you have it. My biggest gunpla project to date (and probably ever- I’m not sure if there’s another suit out there that I want to put this much effort in to again), and it’s one I wanted to do since my original Unicorn Gundam. It feels nice to finally do it and get mostly good results out of it! The deals look much better than the stickers and where a lot less of a pain to put on but they did require additional patience since I had to keep getting warm water over and over. Every little bit of extra works just makes the model that much better though, and I’ve always been a believer in that you get out of it what you put in to it. I came away with some good experience from this model and while I’m not sure if I’ll be going this in depth any more I’m sure that painting my kits to cover clip marks (something I never was originally concerned with) is now going to be commonplace.

I’ll probably make an update before I start working on the Gundam Mk2 since I’m trying to avoid getting burnt out but we’ll see what the topic will be! ‘Till next time!

Obligatory Introduction.

After a long running love of Gundam and other Giant Robots I got excited about the idea of being involved with Gunpla when I was introduced to Lupes about a month ago. His already bolstering collection had enthralled and excited me. I had pieced together a couple non-grade kits in my childhood; Wing Zero, Epyon, and Deathscythe Hell Custom. All very weak kits with little appeal now, but then I was in love. A love I didn’t feel again until I gazed upon this holy fortification, a Dark Tower of mobile suits.

Weathering+Topcoat

I used my Ez8 model as a testing ground for these two things since it was only a 30$ model and could only benefit from being finished better. I’m pleased with how it turned out, though I know I can improve my weathering technique by a lot right now. I certainly have the tools do so with Tamiya’s weathering sets (A/B/C/D), so it’s just a matter of refining my work. The topcoat on Unicorn is currently drying, so if it makes things look that much better you can expect to see a few more shots of it as well (limited as it’s posing ability is).

I went with a heavily worn look, considering by the end of the 8th MS Team the Ez8 has seen quite a bit of action in a short period of time. Soot from fighting in the city and mud/dirt from the mountain bits. I tried to weather the booster pack but you really can’t see any of the work I did there (aside from the little bit of burnt orange and blue around the booster edges). While it looks dirty as all-get-out compared to the rest of the unweathered models it sits next to, I think that the dirty look suits the Ez8 very well and gives the kit an neat level of personality that the other kits don’t have.

WIP – Black Tri-Stars Zaku II

Planning on taking my time on this one since I think I’ll be getting some topcoat and giving it a go (currently looking at this kind, but what’s the difference because that and this? And what about this other stuff?) Please give me some feedback on topcoats that haven’t ruined your models. I was going to paint it to hide the clipmarks and swirl but couldn’t find any particluar sets that were exactly the right colors.