Gundam in all guises

[gamblor916]

Light up action? I'm there! I'm not feeling the head sculpt with the extra bits on it but this would look awesome in gunmetal with blue lighting.

Gamblor's probably the better one to shed light on this as he has greater model building and water decal experience.

Quoting myself:
I found that dry transfers while looking good are harder to apply because there's no margin for error. Though the thing is waterslides definitely go better over paint. It sticks a lot better and air bubbles are easier to get rid of.

Anyway here's how I apply waterslides. You need:
small brush
small dish of water
sheet of plastic
tweezers (Tamiya black coated)
decal solution (I use Mr Mark Softer)
scissors (I used Tamiya decal scissors)
soft cloth

Cut out decal close to design. Dip in water and set on plastic.
When decal is loose use tweezers to slide into place. Use cloth to blot excess water without moving decal.
Brush on decal solution making sure to get rid of air bubbles. You only have a very short period to do this, any more and it will destroy the decal.
Leave to dry, preferably overnight.

[Vector Prime]

Built this guy for the gf - Ltd Ed Japanese 7/11 Exclusive, 1/144 HG Beargguy

[Stompy]

I might invest in this Mark Softer thing as I bought a water slide decals for some kits but didn't want to use them yet since my limited experience post application were horrid. My UC Hardgraph 1/32 Core Fighter lost many of its decals already. Now I just have to use the Softer. Thanks for the tips VP and especially gamblor.

I've researched a bit more in this light up business for MG Unicorn Banshee's. Alas, it DOES NOT have an electronic lighting kit inside at all. As VP mentioned, the clear parts have been treated so that under black/UV light they glow. Otherwise it's a massive conversion job to incorporate a battery compartment, lights and all those wires through the inner frame of a dense Master Grade. Not to mention it would have bumped the price up by 20-30%

Raptor, post pics when you are done. Even if they are crappy quality like mine. It's always nice to see and also prevents this thread from becoming the VP and Stompy gunpla show.

[gamblor916]

Ah shame, blacklight is hardly the same. More like glow in the dark effect.
VP that Bearguy is awesome

[Vector Prime]

Raptor, post pics when you are done. Even if they are crappy quality like mine. It's always nice to see and also prevents this thread from becoming the VP and Stompy gunpla show.

Yes, please do Raptor - the more Gunpla, the better.

Speaking of which, what the hell happened to the other OTCA Gunpla builders?

VP that Bearguy is awesome

Indeed.

I thought it was the most lamest thing ever when I first saw it, but then the gf saw it and wanted it, so I bought one and built it for her - turned out to be quite cool and endearing.

You should see some of the custom Beargguys - totally awesome!

I especially love the Iron Man and War Machine ones.

[Stompy]

Dunno where the other builders are. There wasn't much to begin with. I know blackie builds and afew others.

Bearguy's are great, I've seen those customs and almost made me want to custom one. Then reality set in and realised 2 things. 1. I'll end up terrible at customizing and it will just look wrong. Or 2. I'll end up doing a great job and love the process that I'll end up making every gunpla I make painted up and customized. I don't want to take either route because time is a commodity and I'll never get through my backlog if I have to spend 10 times the time to paint etc. So no custom Bearguy for me. Just regular brown.

Speaking of backlog. A couple of chips at the towers of kits. Two HG's:

HG Buster Gundam (HD version)



HG Age-1 Normal Gundam



And here is the HG next to the AG (Advance Grade, it's really just First Grade).



The Buster Gundam is just a repaint with a new piece for a stand and came with a bonus effect part that is way too heavy for the kit. It's meant to be a smoke trail coming out of the tip but it doesn't stay on and if it does it will just tip the mech over.

Buster did show how far HG kits have come though. This was one of the first SEED HG's which was when HG's started to really become more sophisticated and intricate, but still shows some age with simpler sculpted detail, easy build and parts that should have used coloured parts instead of a decal. In this instance the cheeks have orange decals. Compared to newer HG's like the 00 and Unicorn line, these kits have come a long way in engineering.

HG Age-1 was ok. It felt similar to the 00 HG engineering with a couple of new surprises here and there but nothing to make you go WOW like some of the Unicorn HG's do. What's even more impressive is how good the First Grade (or AG as they call it for this series) Age-1 Normal is. In case you are wondering, it's the one on the right in my pic above. The kit looks that good for a 5 minute build with many colours and no decals. I did cheat and used a marker to paint the knees black. Although, note that the legs are static. The only articulation is the pivot on the shoulders and head. Still, it's great that they can achieve that look in one standard HG size plate.

[Vector Prime]

Nice work Stompy! Good job chipping away at that backlog.

Speaking of LED lit Unicorn Gundams, anyone want to attempt this?

http://youtu.be/AWZnQR2mIsA

BTW, any of your backlog that you've lost interest in and thinking of selling?

I've got a few that I've purchased and have lost the desire to build, so might be willing to sell or trade them.

[Fungal Infection]

Speaking of which, what the hell happened to the other OTCA Gunpla builders?

Ask and you will receive:



Psycho Gundam (Base Mode)



Psycho Gundam (Base Mode next to 1/144 HG Seven Swords Gundam)



Psycho Gundam (Gundam mode next to 1/144 HG Seven Swords Gundam)



MG Crossbone Gundam



1/100 HG 00 Gundam with O Raiser



HGUC 1/144 HG Sazabi and Nu Gundam



HGFC 1/144 HG Master Gundam and Fuunsaiki and G Gundam



HGUC 1/144 HG ZZ Gundam, Unicorn Gundam and GP01 Fb01 Gundam



HGUC 1/144 HG Hi-NU Gundam



Group shot (10 points to anyone who can guess what all those Gundams have in common)



The display shelf

I was actually disappointed with the MG Crossbone which was one of my Gundam grails for a while. It looks great but the build was unsatisfying. There were pieces which were not cut properly so I had to trim them, pieces didn't fit together as securely as other kits I've put together and the crossbow itself is too heavy to be held in the hand for posing. But as a display piece, its certainly unique in he collection.

[Vector Prime]

OMG! Fungal, where have you been hiding?

Nice collection there.

As for what those Gundams have in common, well, they're all 1/144 scale Gundams - that's my guess.

[Stompy]

HG PSYCO GUNDAM!!!

I NEED to get that kit.

Totally agree with MG Crossbone full cloth. Weapons too heavy, pieces falling off everywhere but dang does it look good. If you can get it on a base with a good pose and use a second stand for the weapon, it can look really nice. Otherwise it is a very nice mech wasted on a "broken" kit. Sometimes Katoki is just way too ambitious. This is a prime example and also the MG V Gundam. HG size with the detail of a MG and also transforms! Peices were so small that it's easy to break. Although it has the best engineering I've seen in a gunpla kit so far. The transformation almost has the mech invert itself and fold out into a flat piece. Then there's that arm and legs. I need to build the V-Dash version just thinking about it! Eeee.

Anyway, I totally geeked out then. Nice collection Fungal.

Cat, build that Astraea!!!

As for that light up HG Unicorn Destroy Mode. The lighting work is phenomenal! The shoulder lights and thrusters on the back and, as gamblor said, the filtering to avoid light bleed would have been some meticulous work. All in a size of a HG! I'm not too fond of the paint scheme though. It's a little over the top and over worked with the intense amount of weathering. Just not to my tastes.