NG Hail Buster Gundam

Blue Frame Complete

Finished the build for my Astray Blue Frame. I tried out the clear green eyes with a silver backing method, which didn't work out the best. The green was still too dark (maybe it's the paint: Tamiya X-25) and maybe the silver wasn't reflective enough. Painted over with another green (not clear) and it turned out well. Painting the fingers white was annoying, wish Bandai had engineered multiple parts for each finger. I know the action base included is meant just for sword, but I figured I could just use it for the whole model. It's a little wobbly and it can't do many poses, but it beats just standing there.



Painted the pilot inside as well, turned out alright (not like it's ever seen anyways). Picture is a little out of focus...



Posing with Tactical Arms II in massive sword mode (It's basically impossible to pose it correctly, the thing is so heavy). Gatling mode is also hard to pull off, just too awkward to hold...

Out of the Blue...

Started work on the Blue Frame Astray. Have the torso, waist, both arms and shoulders done. Working on the legs now. Waiting to do the head and the hands as I'm waiting on some paints. I need a better white paint for the bits on the fingers and I need a lighter clear green paint and a metallic silver paint for the eyes and sensors (as recommended by readers gppf and chubbybots). Thanks again for the tip! Not sure how it'll turn out, but I thought I would try. Might end up just using the sticker if I mess it up though ^^;

Kits Acquired: The New and The Old

Got my MG Gundam Astray Blue Frame a couple days ago. First impression: very large box (about the same for Unicorn I believe) and there aren't really enough runners to fill the entire box, there's a lot of extra space. Not quite sure it needed such a big box, but hey, more impressive to look at. Looks like a very nice kit.

Also received another kit cheap-ish (or so I thought) off of ebay, an MG RGM-79Q GM Quel from Zeta Gundam. It's a very old kit (from 10 years ago). Because I'm used to new kits where Bandai has made many improvements on their production values and engineering, this kit is... disappointing. Shown in the photo is one of the two purplish runners. No where on the actual kit is it supposed to have this color. Instead the purple parts correspond to different color areas on the model (black shield, dark blue outer armor). So... I suppose I have to paint the pieces on those 2 runners, unless I don't have the right colors, then I paint ALL the runners. Also the clear visor piece wasn't even orange, just clear... Now I need to get clear orange paint. Never again old kits, never again...

Between Blue Astray, God Gundam, and the fail kit Quel, not sure which is next. Probably God. Also, still working on RGM-79 decals and topcoating.