Seeing double

Recently an acquaintance of mine inquired about the differences between the P-Bandai MG Banshee and MG Banshee Final Battle Ver. When my answer of  "nothing" failed to suffice I promised a picture show to validate my somber confession. If you number amongst the curious click the break and dive into a bit of deja vu!

The Build that Never Ends.

Geara Doga...

Stop being so difficult, please. Admittedly a lot of this is my fault for choosing such a complicated kit as my inaugural airbrush project but you haven't helped things either. You could've told me brown wasn't your color. You could've told me you were tired instead of falling over and ruining my hours of hard work, I would've listened I swear...

Damn you gravity!

Insane pleas aside, MG Geara Doga is coming along slowly. Someday it might even come so far as to be complete - hopefully doing so before I loose my mind. The switch to orange armor from a lighter brown seems a brilliant choice, I'm going to have to repaint that leg armor but for the most part the orange armor parts are done. Unfortunately that means it's time for masking as I've chosen (perhaps fooleshly) to employ a duel color scheme on certain parts. 

Goodbye Tan, perhaps next time.

Gundam chocolate? If only!

While the majority of it will be concealed by the armor, I'm really digging the sexy brown used for the frame. It almost looks like the frame is made of chocolate - but don't eat it or you'll die. This ain't my first paint job, nor is it my first brush with mistakes, what it has been however is deeply frustrating. However I can live with freshly painted parts randomly falling over, when the progress promises such a right sexy model kit.

Well that dear readers is all for now, till next time peeps. eL out!

Red's the new Meh... Pt. II

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote here about how underwhelmed I was with the MG Red Warrior going so far as to question the kits unimpressive coloration and ability to stand on what seemed to be tiny baby feet. Well thanks to the great folks over at Gundam Kits Collection we now know that the latest Build Fighters kit can at least assume a standing pose, even if they aren't the most exciting.

Still got nothing good to say about the coloration of this kit, probably going to need to refer to my Sazabi ver Ka color guide whenever this kit ends up in my hands. Anyways that's enough on this topic for this guy, click the link above and check out the rest of the magazine scans.

Red's the new Meh...

Thanks to Gundam Guy blog - love those guys/gals/robots/space aliens - the Gunpla-sphere now knows Bandai will be blessing us with a new Master Grade from the extremely rare Build Fighters line (sarcasm). All chiding aside I'm not against BF kits, but I am against underwhelming kits and based on the images presented to the world the Amazing Red Warrior is angling to be a major disappointment. Seriously have a look at that pose and tell me this kit isn't asking, "well whaddya want from me?"

My what small feet you have? The better to float here confusedly my dear!

Looking over this kit a couple of things immediately jump out at me, 1) why isn't this kit in any standing poses and 2) is this really the same company that produced the wondrous Sazabi Ver Ka? Those feet seem disproportionately small and I can't help but wonder if they'll be up to the challenge of supporting interesting action poses?

Regarding that color separation, I'm hoping the lights at Shazuka are to blame for what can only be described as an unimpressive color scheme. You see a suit such as the Amazing Red Warrior, comprised of geometric shapes cannot survive being painted in one solid color unless those colors reduce the impact of it's rectangular form - think black, white or pink. The reason why the red of the Sinanju works is because of the various curves that create natural shadows and contrast. This particular kit needs a Sazabi Ver Ka style paint job, a tomato red complemented by a strategically placed burgundy or wine, in the above image it looks like that may be the case but one cannot be sure just yet.

One final complaint that has nothing at all to do with the look of the suit itself, but probably speaks more to the popularity of a largely unimpressive show, is of all the designs in your stable dear Bandai why in the hell is it the Red Warrior? Why not a Rozen Zula, Gerbera Tetra, Gundam Kyrios, Gundam Virtue, Leo, Taurus, Jegan, Bawoo, Juaggu, Palace Athene, hell even Ms. Sazabi would've made for a more interesting release? Is this suit really that popular in Asia? Somebody tell me I genuinely want to know.

Before I go let me just say this, I've seen enough HG's done up in various magazines to know that this kit can shine in the right hands, my problem lies with the potential that modelers will be required to bring out the shine which is not the Master Grade way. In any case this kit will still - in some far flung future - find it's way into my collection, maybe by then I'll understand why the Meijin chose this kit over the far superior Amazing versions of the Zaku, Kampfer and Exia?

eL Out

Double X Orchid Divider

Halt and bask in my glory fiend!

Back when GunplAfrica came quietly screaming into the world one of the first posts was a custom kit from modeler Chris Mitchell - which you can see here. Now he hath returned to us with a lovely custom MG Gundam X. For those of you with an appreciation for beauty there are an abundance of pictures for your eyes and some words from the modeler that can be read by clicking the jump.

Sinanju Revisited

With the Type C reviewed and MG Geara Doga not eligible for painting until the sun comes back up, now seems like the perfect time to clean up Sinanju Ver. Decal err Ver Ka. Jokes aside. Built waaay back in the days when I thought nub marks were okay (last year). The Sinaju is plagued with unsightly blemishes.

As you can see in the early days of my building life, I completely neglected proper nub trimming etiquette and instead engaged in haphazard trimming. Little did I know that in less than a years time I'd be thoroughly disgusted by the sight of nub marks. Admittedly some of these marks look rather grotesque and may prove impossible impossible to clean up through sanding alone, if so this Ver Ka will probably experience a change of color - I'd always wanted to custom paint a Sinanju. Well that's enough rambling its off to work with this guy. 

Eye Spy the Fourth

Eye Spy peers at... Master Chief errr. Master Grade RGM-79C GM Type C!

Cheers for: 

• Inadvertantly unique color scheme
• Excellent details
• Waterslide decals
• Cool accessories

Jeers for: 

• Blocky feet
• Limited poseability

Details in the form of praises and criticisms can be found after the break.

Eye Spy the Third

Eye Spy peers at... Tomato Samurai errr... Master Grade Marasai

Cheers for:

• Awesome Samurai reminiscent design.
• Sweet poseability
• Vibrant colors

Jeers for:

• Over-sized Bell Bottoms
• Boring weapons
• Missing accessories

Details in the form of praise and criticisms can be found after the break.

MG Geara Doga W.I.P.

Full disclosure, I'm not a big fan of W.I.P. posts, however since I've been highly inconsistent with blog content I've decided to begin the practice in hopes that it'll lead to more regular posts. I don't intend to post every bit of progress, rather I'll post milestones leading up to the Geara Doga's completion. After that it's review time!

While it's no Sazabi Ver. Ka the Geara Doga has a good number of parts and unlike my previous painted build - MG GN-X - there are very few pieces that can be put together and painted as a whole. This is owed to the orange energy cables that are integrated into nearly every limb. 

The energy cables are rubber as opposed to plastic, so I'm not sure how they'll take to my Tamiya Acrylics. To find out I've snipped part of the runner and primed it in preparation for test painting, which won't be happening for at least a week.

You may have notices all the bags in the previous picture and wondered what was going on? Well that's my method for organizing my parts. I use cheap sandwich bags and label them according to what's inside and what color they'll be painted. This one says "Waist Parts Thrusters Flat Earth II, this means this bag contains two waist thruster parts that will be painted with Tamiya's Flat Earth. Another example would be the shoulder armor (not pictured) which is labeled, "Shoulder Armor Parts White & Orange I". 

Frosted glass looking decidedly defrosted.

And here is the first batch of primer blasted parts. Technically this is the second batch of primered parts however, this is my first crack at applying primer via the airbrush and as is my habit this first attempt hasn't gone perfectly. My disappointment is tempered by the reality that I've already begun improving and expect my technique will become more refined as I continue along. 

Tsk! Tsk! Tsk! That shield is going to need a bit more work.

Alright so that's all for this W.I.P., unless something dramatic occurs the next installment likely won't come until the colors get applied. Till then keep them sprue bits flying folk!

Who Knew Ugly Could be so Beautiful

Usually a broken, scratched, incomplete thing is utterly abominable but this battle damaged MG Hyaku Shiki by Dunpeel is absolutely masterful. I mean look at it, that battle damage is something wonderful. I'm going to put it out there right now, this is beyond my current skill level and wll worth a looksee. Also that LED enabled I has quite the sinister air to it if I do say so myself.

Shout out to Gundam Guy blog for shining their light on this amazing peace, head over to the artists page for the full gallery of excellent images.

Model Kit Musings - Fenice Rinascita

Not Ricardo Fenice sold separately.

5184 yen. 5,184 yen. Five Thousand One Hundred and Eighty Four Yen!

Wing Gundam is my favorite mobile suit of them all and anything resembling it is right up my alley, so it goes without saying the Fenice Rinascita is definitely on my radar but what's up with that price! There's no way translucent plastic costs that much, right? I doubt it true but perhaps this price means the inclusion of the Meteor Hopper (which actually belongs to the Wing Gundam Fenice). I'd pay 5,184 yen for  an MG version of the Honoo any day but I'm going to have to wait on a sale for this kit, I simply don't see the value for what's largely little more than a re-skin.

Surely these aren't worth the extra yen?

I know times are hard at Bandai (not really) with the taxation increase and whatnot but is this kit really worth more than the Exia Dark Matter (5,000 yen), Wing Zero Proto Zero (4,800) or the Astray Blue Frames (4,800 and 5,000 yen respectively)? I can't help but think this is a by-product of the popularity of Build Fighters, the cost of these kits has risen with each release from the 4,200 yen of the Build Strike Full Package to 5,000 yen for Sengoku Astray and Exia Dark Matter. Regardless of the reason I'm not pleased with this price, that said it's still possible there's more material not being shown that more than makes up for the price. Here's hoping, till next time peeps.

All images courtesy of Gundam Guy Blogspot.

Shout Out to Hype.Tokyo!

I don't know about you all, but one of my greatest moments of consternation comes shortly after opening a new kit. Once the box opens my initial excitement is always replaced by worry there will be missing runners and delay my building.

Well that worry was finally realized about 11 or so days ago, when I received a MG Crossbone Gundam Full Cloth from (what I think is) a relatively new retailer by the name of Hype.Tokyo. This kit dashed my excitement by arriving sans the F runners. As you can imagine I was quite unhappy with this predicament, especially since the Crossbone wasn't purchased through an approved western distributor, which meant I couldn't simply order replacement parts.

After taking a minute (it was actually a couple of hours) to scour the internet for backup plans I finally sent an email to Hype.Tokyo and explained the situation. I'm going to be honest I was surprised by their response, I expected a bit of XBox style customer support run around but there was none to be found. Instead they immediately offered to provide the missing parts, asking only that I verify my mailing address! Retailers (not named Amazon) aren't usually so trusting or accommodating, I'd actually expected them to suggest I ship the product back on my dime for a refund.

Oh but it gets better, no only did they ship my replacement parts for free at a faster rate than the original model was shipped, but they also included a free Action Base! I had no idea the Action Base would be included and even though it's a 1/144 scale base - y'all know HG's ain't my jam - it's a very nice gesture that has earned Hype.Tokyo a shout out from this builder.

About Hype.Tokyo

• Numerous sale item
• Free shipping on orders over $35 - includes tracking
• Large selection of Gunpla.
• Additional anime related products on offer.

Also there are pictures: 

Highball

I'm sure I missed it because there's absolutely no way this mock up hasn' been a part of the Build Fighters series. Awesome in its simplicity this kitbash by Yamoto 24 would make for a great grunt suit in that universe, wonder how I could pull this off with a couple of MG's...

Shout out to Master File for giving this kit a landing pad.

Oh So Much Better

The G Lucifer is a fine suit any way you slice it but Sukesuke 72 has applied a custom paint job and taken that to an entirely different level. I'm really hoping we start seeing Master Grade kits from Reconguista in G soon, there are some awesome designs in that series.

Hop on over to Master File and take in the full gallery at your leisure.

Eye Spy the Second

Eye Spy peers at... Master Grade Rick Dias Quattro Bajeena Custom.

Cheers for:

• Cool weapons
• Great feel (I'll explain)
• Unique design
• Competent hands
• Options 
• Awesome engineering
• Sweet color scheme

Jeers for:

• Wonky shoulder armor
• Limited leg pose-ability

A in-depth review can be found after the break.

Kaisuke Jr. rushing to the battlefield!

First post in a long time and its not Gundam related? Madness!

Okay so maybe it's not as mad as it seems, you see I simply love Aldnoah Zero and it's main character Inaho Kaisuke. The show has a coherent and nuanced story that provides sufficient intrigue to make it a compelling aside to the awesome action sequences. Perhaps most importantly Aldnoah Zero doesn't make me wonder why the characters choose certain actions, and in so doing avoids straining its credibility. Within the show and it's universe there is a reason for everything and rarely is that reason, "because it looks cool". Anyhow I'll leave my analysis of the show at that since this post is about Plamo!

A while back Collection DX outed an action figure version of this mobile suit known as the KG-6 Sleipnir. Given my adulation for the source material my interest was naturally piqued. However, when it comes to robots I for some reason - perhaps it's their mechanical nature - prefer to build them, so such action figures hold no real appeal for me. 

This however (potentially) changes the game, Collection DX has returned to out a Kotobukiya produced model kit! Perhaps model kit is too shallow a term for this Plamo that is many things? More than a model kit the Sleipnir is a mobile suit from a series I love. The suit of my favorite character from that series. A uniquely mobile suit design and a 200 (7000 vs. 6800) bargain over the action figure. 

Now it should be pointed out that all this excitement could just as soon shrivel into revulsion if the color prototype is the wrong shade of orange or has ugly nub marks. It's always a bit reckless to be enthused about grey scale marketing pieces such as this, that said it's almost certain that I'll be buying this kit and experiencing firsthand any joy or disappointment. Anyone else among the reading populous interested in this kit or am I alone in my bubbling excitement? Sound off below. 

Alright I'm Joining the Dark Side

Back when Gundam Build Fighters was nearing the end of it's run the Exia Dark Matter made it's appearance and I found myself quite underwhelmed (by the design not the action). Then the first prototypes surfaced and I became slightly interested. Then the colored version surfaced and I raised an eyebrow (the left one) slightly.

Over the weeks leading up to the release of this kit folks like Gundam Guy have bombarded my eye-holes with images and gradually caused my interest to percolate more severely. Well folks, thanks to Syd at HobbyLink TV I'm all! Straight up this thing is bad@ss! It looks menacing and strangely heavy, which is appropriate since the kit is loaded with sharp pointy weapons! Of course you don't have to take my word for it, have a look at the shiny video below and become a believer.

So yeah I'll soon be buying yet another kit I don't have the time to build, oh well Dark Matter will have plenty of company in the Gundam closet while it waits for me to complete my Geara Doga painted build. 

Kawaii! Pt.2

While most SD/BB kits elicit little more than a "meh" from this blogger, there's something about those kits with the extra big heads that speaks to me. I'm reminded of children who decided their Halloween costume was semi-regular attire, those kids who wore their Superman, Football player or Cowboy costumes as often and as long as possible. This big-headed Guncannon has all the charms of a costumed child lost in backyard glory and mischief! Shout out to Ymsc66 and Modelers-g for triggering some nostalgia!

GN-X

While my Master Grade Sazabi is unquestionably my most enjoyed build to date, many of you may be surprised to learn that my MG GN-X was my second most enjoyed build. It was also the first MG kit I painted and the only kit I lust to paint a second time. While the 00 anime consigned the GN-X to the role of punching bag, I simply love this model kit, as it is a blank canvas simply begging to have it's drab grey paint job spruced up by a custom paint job. Apparently Danny de Ocampo thought the same and posted these lovely pics of his multi-colored grunt suit on Gundam Kits Collection.

More Grunt suits please!

As is my want I've posted but a few pictures, so click the link above to check out the full gallery. Till next post peeps!

Sometimes I Worry About Japan

Perhaps I'm missing something but isn't Fumina Hoshino a high-school aged student, under the care of her mother and still harboring childish crushes? She is right? I knew it! Surely I am not the only one who finds it odd that this PVC statue of high school aged Fumina features a more seductive pose than that of old enough to be married with kid, Rinko Iori?

SMDH

I rather like this statue.

Megahouse is on one here. I mean wouldn't it be infinitely more appropriate for the sexy mother of one to be thrusting forth her lady bits, while the child observes the more chaste pose? Oh and for those wondering if this post is sarcasm, no. No it is not.

The full Gundam Guy galleries can be found here and here. Also here's a bikini shot of the lady Iori to help wash the pedophilia from your eyes.

Early Returns Are...

Very good in my humble opinion. Thanks to Gundam Guy we now know what Master Grade Hyaku Shiki ver. 2.0 is going to look like on our collective shelves. I'm simply loving this color choice! While the gold of the original Hyaku Shiki was lovely, it was also a bit too flamboyant and its magnetic attraction to finger prints quickly ruined it's luminscence. Meanwhile the Ballute System version was a spoiled mustard eye-sore. Here Bandai has found a successful middle-ground and remedied both of these shortcomings by adorning this version of Quattro Bajeena's Mobile Suit with a lovely soft gold that should prove finger print resistant.

Read more.

By the Brightest Moon Doth Come Thine Doom!

We got box art people! MG Gundam Double X box art to be specific. I think I like it but I'd have liked something more dynamic. Given the spectacular design of the DX there was real opportunity to create some classic box art. As such, simply having the DX centered on the tiny box in what is essentially the same pose from the promo material just seems lazy. This is made all the worse when you consider that this same image is going to be plastered not only on the side of the box, but most likely on the manual as well. Why not adorn the box with a more dynamic scene, something worthy of the excitement that greeted this unexpected gunpla? Where are the explosions and particle effects you love so much, Bandai? Sigh I guess that horse is sufficiently dead now so I'll leave my rant at that and let you, dear readers, enjoy the pretty picture.

Follow the break for my plastic sexy courtesy of Hobby Search

Bare-chested Bad@ssery

Now here's something you don't see everyday, the Gundam Maxter in model kit form. Anyone putting together a kit this obscure must have a love of the source material and predictably this kit rocks. G-Gundam is the second Gundam anime I ever watched (right after Gundam Wing, my all time favorite) and while the show is notorious for it's creative laziness and cultural ignorance it holds a special place in my heart. To that end I'd really like to see a little more love shown to the less offensive mobile suits regardless of line. Anyways that's enough banter outta me, I'll leave you to the pretty now and for those of you who'd like a bit more info on G-Gundam's nonsense check the YouTube video after the break.