Perfectly Purple MG Quan[T]

It's like a flower, a deadly metallic flower.

Shout out to Gundam Family for posting this masterful work! 

Purple Dabbed Death Dealer

Purple is among my favorite colors - yellow, orange and salmon are the others - so naturally my eye was drawn to this custom version of the granddaddy of all Gundams.

Find more eye candy at Gundam Guy and Sabotenkun's blog. 

Kawaii!

Yeah I said it, D-Spec's Variable Action Alexander Akito Custom Knight Mare Frame is simply adorable with it's childish proportions. I'm mean look at that head it just screams, "I'm four and rambunctous!"

Further cuteness can be found at Supreme Mecha. 

Cautiously Optimistic

I'm really impressed by the design of the Gaeon and although I'm looking forward to its HG release, I still have my reservations.

Purdy right?! Here's the rub despite my excitement over the awesome spectacle of beam saber spider limbs, there remain concerns about the sturdiness of those arms. I don't have a lot of confidence this suit will be able to support those arms in any suspended poses. There's also the question of how back heavy this kit is going to be, that's a lot of plastic built into that backpack. I guess we'll just have to wait and see how it all plays out when this kit releases in February 2015?  Until then Gundam Guy and Master File have plenty of images to tide you (and me) over.

Painted Build - HG 1/144 Wing Zero

How superb is the paint job? Paint is a wondrous thing - as is sanding - minus the disclaimer I would've thought this little fella was a MG.

Check out the full gallery at Gundam Guy or at Modelers Gallery. 

A box cometh!

I got a package today, rather a box and this box was chocked full of mobile suits and dirt.

First up are two HG kits, the Hi-Mock (which will probably be built by one of my sons) and the Space Jahannam (which will probably be on standby indefinitely).

Next up are two 1/100 scale kits, the RE/100 Gundam Mk-III, which I'm eager to build and the MG Hi-Zack.

Following those two are the rarest of all parcels, sealed Gunpla! Might be hard to see but hiding beneath that shrink wrapping are MG Exia and Deathsythe, the latter absolutely has to be painted.

Finally, a kit I feel I've been waiting an eternity for has finally arrived... The MG Sinaju Stein ver. Ka.

And that concludes the very first installment of "A Box Cometh!" Got your own box full of Gunpla joy you like to share? Well shoot us an email and we'll give your box it's moment in the sun!

Till next time. 

Taking the Banshee by the horn!

"I shall not wait for your officially licensed PG Banshee!" I like to imagine that hf_clam2005 who created a custom version of the awesome Banshee, shouted this towards the heavens before running off to create this masterful mock-up. 

There's a whole heap of additional images on Supreme Mecha, also have a gander at hf_clam2005's website for the modelers other works.

MG MSZ-006 Zeta Gundam

I'm sooo conflicted I feel like i shouldn't like this all black MG Zeta Gundam but I simply love what modeler Toya has done here.

Nifty Diorama Tutorial For Beginners

Found this nifty little tutorial on Gundam Info for creating your first diorama. Don't know that I'll be trying this anytime soon with all that I have going on at present, but I'd love to hear from anyone who does.

You can check out the shebang here.

Uhh...

I don't usually comment on Gunpla box art, I typically admire the more beautiful boxes and grant the others a fleeting glance. This box art for the forthcoming MG Exia Dark Matter is uninspiring to be kind. Rather than the focus being mobile suit, my eyes are constantly drawn to the floating rocks which seem to be CG rather than illustrations and much worse for the choice. When my eyes do stray they are drawn to the ice sword which looks like it's misting and nothing like it's emanating deadly frost. Where are the ice particles to convey it's purpose? Another problem I have is with the pink text on the box, yuck. I have not seen many cases where the HG box art was superior to the MG box art but this is one of those cases.

It's a slight win but a win all the same.

If I'm going to be honest this mobile suit design never really spoke to me, not even in the anime. I liked the concept of the Amazing Exia, as that suit seemed perfect for the concept of build fighters. When Dark Matter appeared if felt like Bandai/Sunrise were mailing it in on the design. With all that said I do intend to grab this kit eventually but there is no chance it maintains it's original colors. What do you guys think of the box art, leave your feedback in the comments below. You can also see further images here and here.

Oh really?!

Not all the tutorials on this blog will come from me, in fact this one comes from Facebook user Child of Mecha who suggested using 91% Isopropyl Alcohol to strip paint from Gundam model kits. It just so happens that I need to strip some parts, so I'll be grabbing myself some 91% and giving this technique a whirl. If this works I can abandon the effective but toxic brake fluid! Check out the video below for a demonstration.

Post by Child of Mecha.

Zero System Online

Atmospheric re-entry like birth is hard work that leaves a genuine impression on all involved, this Wing Gundam Proto Zero EW captures that impression (re-entry not birth, silly reader) perfectly.

The scorch marks and general wear and tear details transform Paul Velando's gunpla from a just a simple model kit into something more, something unarguably awe-inspiring.

MG FA-78-1 Full Armor Gundam - Custom

Ah the Full-Armor Gundam, perhaps no Gunpla benefits more greatly from a bit of love (paint) and care (sanding) than this kit. Every single time I've ever seen this kit fresh out the box I immediately wonder, "Why do I want this thing?!" Then I see it painted and suddenly words are replaced with Oohs and Ahhs,

The color scheme on this kit is very underrated, it applies universally to every Gundam out there - don't believe me check out the video below. You can see more images of this kit modeled by courogi83 here and here (translation required).