A Little RX-78-2 Rework

Core Booster Victory!

Still alive in Japan! Picked this up today from the big department store, Yodobashi Camera, in Akihabara. Decided to get this (and probably RG RX-78-2) because I'm fairly sure I can fit them in my carry-on when I fly home next week. That was my main concern, just not having enough space in my luggage to bring stuff back, but hopefully those two boxes are thin enough. The price was really good too, 1610 yen, almost 30% off. No shipping fee either!

Hopefully I'll get some other things tomorrow as well (they were sold out of the RG RX-78-2 today).

Gunpla in Akiba

Leaving for Japan!

Wow, I really did mean to update my blog before I left, but I guess that won't happen... Where did all the time go?  So yeah, I'm leaving for Tokyo tomorrow, going to be staying there for 6 weeks!  Not sure what I'm going to be doing there exactly, aside from seeing a friend who lives there... but it should be good!  Maybe I'll get to see the 1/1 Gundam at Fuji.

The things that I would have like to have posted would be:  MG Wing Gundam which is all constructed and requiring decals, and MG Shin Musha Gundam which is almost entirely constructed.  Maybe I can get that done when I get back, or maybe Gunpla will sort of phase out of my life a little bit... seems like it already has in the past couple months.  I might not really get a chance to do any more this next year.  So, who knows, maybe I'll come back in full force in a couple years!  Or sooner!  That's a long time, I know, but I still have lots of kits left to do!

To my small reader base, thank you for all the comments and support.  I started this blog with no intention of anyone reading it, something of a hobby journal I suppose, so I was surprised and grateful when people began to comment.  I know readers have probably dropped off by now because of my inactivity over the last month or so, but I hope this message gets to you.  I suppose this may be bye for now, however I may update with little things I see in Japan.  I hope I can at least!  Definitely if I see the 1/1 RG Gundam.

GN-X Awaits Decals

NG Hail Buster Gundam

3D Dot Game Heroes

So I just got this game for PS3, 3d Dot Game Heroes. As all the playable characters (and entire world) are made of pixel blocks, they let you make your own character. So of course, I just had to make a little SD RX-78-2. On the back, which you can't see, I have the beam sabers and the backpack. Since they give you some choices for attack animations, I put one of beam sabers in the hand when it attacks. Too bad I can't make the shield too!

Anyone else have this game? It's obviously not too original (except for the art style), but it's pretty fun (cheaper than most games too!)

Crossbone XM-X1 Ver. Ka Complete

GN-X Upper Half Done

Just finished the waist and arms/shoulders, which leaves only the legs and equipment left to build, so I'd say I'm about half done. These components were pretty straight forward to build, nothing complicated or special (as there aren't many gimmicks to this kit).

GN-X Gets Ahead

Finished the head! To keep up my trend of trying not to use the foil stickers, I painted the eyes as well as the surfaces below the purple sensor. The purple I had was a little to dark (it didn't contrast much with the black) so I mixed it with silver. I like the results for now, but I can always touch it more up later. Painted the vulcans titanium gold.

GN-X Start!

Well, I never did finish up painting Sinanju's shield (I still plan to though), but I thought starting a new kit might get me out of my Gunpla slump. So here we have a MG GN-X torso! I thought about starting MG Zeta 2.0 but I thought the kit might be a little large to ease back into Gunpla (it's been a month after all) and plus, GN-X was the most popular on the poll!

Twitter Feed Added (Welcome to Web 2.0)

Well, I'm still pretty much dead, but I thought I should add some sort of update feature since I'm still technically alive (just haven't been doing any Gunpla lately). I've added a little twitter feed on the side just to display smaller updates, updates that don't require a full blog post.

I suppose I should also address my last post. It was an April Fools joke! I guess I can't expect everyone to read the first letter of every sentence (now in bold). Actually it probably just wasn't obvious/funny enough since many of you thought it was real and liked the idea. Sorry! I'll think of a better idea for next year.

Also, pic somewhat related. It's a bird about to tweet (taken at the SF Zoo last weekend)

New Paint Job for Sinanju!

As I was looking at other Sinanjus on other blogs, I felt like my Sinanju should be a little more unique, so I decided a color change was in order. Painting it wasn't too bad, I just removed all the armor pieces and laid on a couple coats on gloss pink. Really like the new color, just feels right to me, and I haven't seen it been done before. I know some of you probably preferred the original red, but that was too boring! Look at that hot pink, not girly at all!

Fortunately I decided to leave the other colors alone, I thought about metallic purple instead of gold though. Of course, that would have taken a lot longer. Or maybe I could have switched the black to white, hmm, no I think the black still contrasts nicely with the pink. Luckily, I didn't mess up any parts with the paint (this was my first time spray painting a kit). Sorry I don't have any WIP photos, this whole thing was kind of spur of the moment, tell me what you think!

EDIT: It's not actually pink now.  Behold, the wonders of Photoshop!

Sinanju's Beam Rifle

Sinanju Build Complete!

Dynasty Warriors Gundam 2

I always read that this was a pretty bad game: repetitive (as all Dynasty Warrior games are), bad presentation (graphics and voice actors), and just not a whole lot of unique content. Well, I was too curious to just try it out so I found a cheap PS3 copy on Ebay. If I didn't love Gundam, then yeah, this game would kind of suck. But, since I do, it's amazing to see 60+ different mobile suits in action with lot's of different special attacks/animations. The gameplay is pretty grindy, just keep on attacking hordes of Zakus or other grunt mobile suits until you win. There's a pretty wide range of mobile suits, ending at the Seed Destiny series (really hope they make a third game just to have Unicorn mobile suits). Haven't tried too many different characters yet, but Nu Gundam is my favorite so far (might just have to get the MG, bad proportions and all!) as it has crazy funnel attacks, i.e. funnel pyramid. I can see this game getting old quickly, but it was definitely worth the $20. Anyone else play it? Seems like a perfect game for a Gundam fan (except for the horrible English voice acting)

Sinanju Stands on its Own

Sinanju Backpack and Shoulders

New Page: Ma Tools

Haven't updated in a while! Well, I've been working on a "My Tools" page (which you can now check out from the row of links up there). Occasionally people have asked about some of the paints or methods I use, so I thought I would just dedicate a page to that stuff. Probably went overboard, not sure if anyones quite interested in it, but check it out if you'd like! I put a table of contents with links to jump down to their respective parts for easy access.

I also updated my Future Projects page with a couple of photos, nothing big. Sinanju's still coming along, but I might take a break to finish up decals on my Stamen kit, we'll see! Haven't done much Gunpla in the past couple of days as I've been playing Heavy Rain (on PS3). Highly recommended, play it if you have a chance! It's probably one of my favorite games (although I suppose it's actually an interactive drama).

Sinanju is Armed

Finished the arms (but still working on the shoulders) and the waist. I feel like the gold trimming on these pieces aren't as clean as on the torso, so I might have to clean it up more later. I don't quite understand how the arms open up to reveal the beam saber, the black part sort of gets in the way (hopefully not too much that it rubs gold paint off). Apart from that, the arms are really nice. They feel sturdy and the joints are good. The Gundam 2.0 hands are nice as always (with moving individual fingers).

Sinanju: Head and Waist Progress

Got the head completed yesterday. Thankfully there was no gold to paint (just the gun metal on the vulcans) so it was relatively quick. I must say, I really like the design for this head, it combines neat curves on the sides of the head with the angular front mask and horn. Like others have said, can't really see the eye if you don't specifically look upwards. No matter, still looks awesome.

Sinanju Chest Complete

Quick Update

Well, the poll I started several days ago showed Sinanju as the reader's choice. I admit, I'm also excited about this kit (love the design), but it's also a little intimidating (so much gold painting to do!). I was going to wait a little, maybe build the GN-X first, but I'm waiting on some purple paint. So, what the hell, I'll start on Sinanju.


As you can see, I'm not done painting these pieces yet. It seems painting gold takes a while since each part needs multiple layers. I thought I might just use the gold decals that came with the kit, but then it wouldn't match the yellow parts that I'm also painting gold. I can already tell, painting these tiny gold lines is going to get old fast (especially with the complex designs on the chest and shield). So far, so good though! Hopefully I'll get better at it as I go along.

RX-78-2 Decals and Topcoat

RX-0 Unicorn Display Base

Crossbone XM-X1 Ver. Ka

Mass Effect 2

Been playing ME2 a lot since it came out, thus not many Gundam updates from me (although they were slow before anyways). Above is my Commander Shepard, imported from ME1. Notice the subtle Gundam reference, the name Amuro (not quite sure why I chose it, maybe because he was a space colonist). I'm playing through with a Soldier class (think guns, lots of guns) and mostly paragon, as you can see. Great game so far, highly recommended (especially if you've played the first)

Anyone else playing ME2? Not sure if anyone in my reader base plays games or not. If you do though, share your Shepard! For inspiration, see this Kotaku thread:

http://kotaku.com/5459307/here-are-your-commander-shepards/gallery/

Go Obama Shepard!

Crossbone Update (Finally!)

Crossbone X-1

Last Stamen WIP, Build Complete

Stamen Arms Complete

Stamen Update

Stamen WIP: Torso

Unicorn Head Display Base

This was addition with the January issue of Dengeki Hobby. It's a lot smaller than I thought it was going to be... It's probably only for the HG kit, but I hope I can still use it as a stand for the MG. Neat that they included clear parts, I thought I would have to paint the whole thing.

Here's the connection to the model. Can anyone think of a way to connect this in any way to the MG Unicorn kit? That's what I got it for!

Surplus

Two more kits were waiting for me at home... Might have went a little overboard stocking up, but I think I've acquired all the previous kits I want now. Well, maybe after a couple more get here... Didn't think I was going to get the Victory when it was first announced, but I've grown to like all the Ver. Ka releases, how the manuals and proportions are done and such. Still hate my Ver. Ka Wing Gundam though... It's dead to me.