Tag: Gunpla (page 4 of 4)

Last week in Flushing I picked up a couple of MG Gundams with the kids. Both kids know I will build models for them so the boy picked the HG Justice Gundam and the girl picked the HG Shiranui Akatsuki Gundam. I built his model first last time, so this time she gets her model before he does.

I should have learned from the last time I did a Gundam with shiny gloss finishing. I usually cut the parts from the spruce tree, trim the parts with a jewelers file and maybe sand the nub off.

Not with shiny gold colored pieces. The file and sand paper leave scars. I have to cut off each piece with room to spare, trim the excess carefully with the side clippers, and then use an exacto knife to shave off what little is left. Without taking too much off or scratching the finish. I’m almost half way through and it is really tedious.

I’ll post finished pictures once it is done. The model is shiny and it has seams everywhere. A “serious” Gunpla modeler would soak the model in a bleach and water mixture to remove the paint. Then you glue the seams together, mask it and re-paint.

Lucky for me I’m not that serious.

Here is the fully assembled MG F91.

The model breaks up into pieces very nicely and should be straight forward to paint.

I definitely want to paint it but lately I am having problems with that. I had the HG Bawoo all primed up for a long time. I dusted it off and started with a light coat of Tamiya bright orange spray paint. The paint went on and pooled.

Lucky I have another Bawoo. The primer always goes on smoothly but I either am not shaking the can enough or it gets too humid and I get bubbles. I need to try using an airbrush and see if mixing the paint my self makes a difference.

Here is the latest picture of the MG Gundam F91:

The F91 is on the right. I put it next to a 1/100 MG RX-178 Mk-II Gundam v2.0 and a 1/144 HG Bawoo for size purposes. The F91 is a little taller than the Bawoo.

The lack of polycaps makes it difficult to pose the model including the ankles and feet. It makes it a little difficult to place the feet flat on the table. Including a display stand for posing makes sense since once I add the back mounted weapons, this model will be a good candidate for an easy shelf dive.

Here is another shot of the F91 next to the Bawoo.

So I completed the arms and shoulder covers for the F91. I was working on the right leg when I made a mistake.

The scanned image from the instructions came from the Hobby Search website. See the part in the diagram labeled E22? When you assemble the frame for the right leg, you are supposed to slide the E22 cover over the joints.

I lined it up and slid the piece down and it got stuck before it reached final position. I did not want to scrap the leg (or the model) so I ended up soaping up the leg and pulling the part off careful with my hands pulling the part and a plier holding the joint piece.

Once that was off and I dried the leg and used a file to trim down the inside part the the cover slides down over. The cover still is a snug fit but does move up and down as needed.

I’ll do the left leg tomorrow. This model is well thought out but not having any polycaps has introduced some interesting changes to the normal design. The plastic pieces that form the joints are slightly softer that say the white plastic outer pieces. Theses joints work well for a model: you pose the model, admire it, and leave it alone. “Playing” with the model would just mean broken parts.

Today I started on the MG Gundam F91. This one is different; it’s 1/100 scale but the size of the model is tiny. Also the model has no polycaps do deal with.

According to the story line, the F91 was the result of a plan “to develop a smaller, lightweight, high-performance mobile suit.” The parts are small and hard to work with but the assembled head and torso have a lot a good detail.

Here’s a side shot. Once the model is complete I’ll put it next to a MG RX-78–2 for size comparison.

Today I went back to work after a week of vacation. It was a bit surreal; during my time off I was not tempted to check e-mail once. A whole week with the family, chasing the kids, assembling models and playing games. Ah, life was good!

Speaking of models here are the last two I finished.

The first one was a HGUC Xekueins. As HG goes it was okay. It assembled really well and looks like with a little glue on a couple of seams and it should be good to paint. The only parts that really need glue were the shoulder covers and tanks. It’s an awkward model and does not pose very well.

The other model I completed was a MG Wing Gundam ver Ka. This was a fairly recent model and was fun to assemble. It’s a bright model that shouts “No really, shoot ME down”. The decals look like death to apply and many parts on the wings need to be painted separately then glued into place.

I’ll probably paint my HGUC Bawoo first (I primed it months ago). The newer master grades usually disassemble into parts that are the same color. This appeals to me since I am not really good at painting them.

The hi-res pictures really shows off all the plastic dust and flash that I missed.

So I am talking to my soon to be 5 year old son about my latest model. It’s the MG Aile Strike Gundam.

“Be very careful that you don’t press too hard or a piece will break.” I should know; right after I had that little speech with him I adjusted the right ankle cover and neatly broke it in the middle. It actually broke with a crisp *snap* sound.

…RRR…

The web site Rainbow 10 is where I get loose pieces. Or it was. Now the page clearly says “Notice: Bandai parts order is suspended at this moment.” The break was clean and little thin Tamiya glue and the piece is fixed. On pieces that don’t have any stress that works.

Good thing I did not tell him “be careful not to drop it”.

I build plastic models, particularly I build from the Gundam animation series. The way I usually work I start and put down the model I was working on for a couple of months. Out of the bunch that I have done, I usually only paint a few.

Last week I completed the OYW 0079 version RX-78–2 model. This was followed up quickly with the HGUC Rick Dom and then the MG Aile Strike Gundam. I must be on a roll, normally I don’t complete any of them that quickly.

The RX-78–2 was the best. If Bandai would make a MG model that combines the arms of thr RX-78–2 OYW 0079 version with the legs from the version 2 of the Mark II RX-178 then that would be very cool.

The Rick Dom was fun while the MG Strike was okay but tedious. The Aile Strike Gundam has a back pack that makes it very difficult to stand the model up on the shelf. To compensate for that the model comes with a stand to pose the model. Compared to many earlier MG models the Strike was very good. Compared to the recent batch of MG models from Bandai, it was a little bit of a let down.

Next up is a HGUC Xekueins. I let the kids pick the next one I do from the pile; I got to make that one as long as I promised to do the Wing Gundam ver. Ka next.