Gundam in all guises

[Mechbiter]

Hey Stompy, those Dynasty Gundam Musha Gundams look fantastic. I'm thinking of getting them both myself. Did you by them in OZ or did you import them? On that note, where did you get them?

[Stompy]

Mechbiter:
A bit of both, I usually just buy them locally at a few specialty shops in Melbourne. Imported a few times, but it ends up being just 10% cheaper. Shipping can kill you on volume. They take up a lot of space eventhough they don't weigh much. Nowadays it might end up cheaper to import, due to our great dollar.

In Melbourne there's a few places to go:
- One Stop Anime (Tivoli Arcade, Bourke St CBD, opposite Target, my personal favorite and is always first with the latest kits)
- Animasia (Grattan St Carlton, just off Lygon St, biggest range as is an official supplier)
- OzAnimart (Level 7 corner Lt. Bourke & Swanston CBD)

Online I'd reccomend:
- Hobbyco (Based in Sydney and is an official supplier of gunpla)
- iShop2Go (Hong Kong site with a good range and excellent prices)
- AmiAmi (Japanese site, with excellent range, ok prices)
- GG Infinite (US Based with some very hard to get kits [ANA stuff] but the prices are ouch)

As for The DW Musha Gundams, they are excellent. They are modified MG's. Shin Musha is based off the MG One Year War RX782 and Musha Mk.2 is based off The MG Mk.2 v2.0. The new armor are excellent although the gold plated parts jacks up the price. You have to get the special "Sengoku No Jin" edition of Shin Musha (Red) in order to get the gold plated parts, otherwise you get an ugly orangey plastic with the regular edition. Just look at the side of the box and it should have the stand with background included.

Availability of the two... Mk.2 is easier to find as it was released in the past year. I got mine from One Stop. As for the Special Edition Shin Musha, that comes and goes. The three bricks & mortar shops I listed above don't have any at the moment as that goes quickly. Probably best to order online.

[Mechbiter]

Wow Stompy, thanks for the informative and helpful reply. You told me exactly what I was hoping to find out. Cheers.

[Vector Prime]

And so it begins... entered the world of Gunpla today.

Whilst out shopping, walked into Hobbyco, spent half an hour looking over the Gundam kits and ended up walking out with a 1/144 HG Gundam Astray Red Frame kit.

Spent 2 hours putting it together and I must say that I am very impressed with these Gundam kits - the quality is awesome, the bot looks sensational and it's so super poseable.

After I finished building it, I had a great feeling of accomplishment and had the urge to go out and buy another one (but sadly the store would have been closed).

I think I'm hooked - IMO (for someone that only displays their TFs) Gundam kits represent better value for money than a TF toy any day.

I normally buy a TF, open it (that's if I don't leave it MISB/MOSC), spend half hour max fiddling with it and then put it on a display shelf - half an hour's entertainment.

Gundam - a couple of hours building it, half hour or so fiddling and posing it = better value for money.

Anyways, will be purchasing and putting together a few more when I get a chance.

Pics of the finished kit in the photography thread

[Stompy]

Good to hear that you are enjoying the gunpla. I pretty much mirror your sentiments in regards to "value".

Make a few more High Grades and then go for a new Master Grade (2005 onwards, look on bottom left corner of box.) Then try a Real Grade and maybe a Perfect Grade somewhere down the track.

Red Frame Astray is great. In fact I'd recommend the MG Astray Red Frame as your first. You'll be floored.

[Vector Prime]

Yeah, I think I'll get a few more HGs and then perhaps move to the MG Musha.

[Stompy]

A few of my favorite High Grades:

00 Movie 3rd Evolution Mechs:


RAPHAEL Gundam:


HARUTE Gundam:


ZABANYA Gundam:


00 Qan[T]:


00 Qan[T] with Limited GN Sword IV:




AVALANCHE EXIA Gundam:




Gunpla Builders G - BEGGINING GUNDAM 30 version:






I'll post some of my Master Grades next time.

[Vector Prime]

I see what you mean by the quality of the later HG's Stompy... I may revisit them later on, but for now, MG's are the way to go for me (prefer the scale and the detail).

Avalanche Exia and Harute look nice - like the styling and look of them.

So I attempted to tackle MG Sinanju last night - spent 2+ hours and only managed to build his torso, head and one arm.

Love the intricate detailing and all the bits and pieces so far, but will take my time building this one since I want him to look as awesome as he does on the box.

MG's of Strike Freedom & Astray Red Frame are on order, so would like to finish Sinanju before they arrive - I've got at least a week I think.

Will probably tackle Strike Freedom next (when it arrives).

What's Deathscythe like? I like the look of him and may order him when I order Musha Mk-2

[Stompy]

Oh wow. Straight into the deep end of MG's for you huh? Enjoy Sinanju. It's one of the, if not the best MG's out. You will notice a bit of a dip in intircacy with Strike Freedom after Sinanju but you will adore Red Frame Astray.

If you are gonna go for Deathscythe make sure you go for the EW version with the wings. The wings actually hold up and is supported well. Regular Deathscythe doesn't have the wings and is white. It's from the Gundam Wing series and they are getting a lot of love the past year with MG releases for nearly all the lead mechs. Their engineering is ok. Nothing like Sinanju, but its all very clean and lean and satisfying.



MG is the bread and butter of Gunpla. There's no going back. Although, you do crave some quick builds every now and then. So a HG taking 2-4 hours compared to 6-9 hours of an MG. Plus the MG range is limited in mechs available. HG's have range 30x bigger than MG's.

Also don't forget Real Grade. MG detail in 1/144 scale. Worth checking out. Only 4 out at the moment: RX782, Char's Zaku 2, Zaku 2, Aile Strike & coming soon Freedom Gundam. Ace series.

[Fungal Infection]

I like MG too but because most of the lesser known Gundams tend to come out in 1/144 HG scale, HG kits tend to be the ones I get more often than not. Of course, thete are some kits that aren't available in HG (Shin Musha for one), but those ones deserve to be done in MG. I only get MG kits of the ones I really like (Deathscythe is one) and even then I'm hesitant because of their size (and my lack of space). Welcome to the club by the way!