MG Aile Strike Gundam #05

When my paint and mini-drill set finally arrived, I've been able to apply the plamo-plus parts on the MG Aile Strike. It was quite a hassle, because the tubes are 1.7 mm while my range of drills goes from 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, 2.5 and 3.0. So I had to be careful not to force the remaining 0.2 mm by squeezing the tube in the plastic. I might end up in cracks and tears...

For the tight fit problem, I drilled the holes in all radial directions while the drill was in the hole and praying that I could smuggle 0.1 mm. Sometimes I drilled a few times diagonally to widen the 1.5 mm to the desired 1.7 mm. Guess what, it works perfectly. You would think that the exterior of the hole would look a bit messy by this, but the reamer will finalize it into a clean symmetric whole. One down, another 24 to go....

Source: Tamiya, Plamo-plus

RGM-79FP GM Striker Custom

More customizing on gunpla kits. I realized I have to build a kit between my multiple projects. The reason I choose for this kit is, because my supplier recommended this and I didn't feel like finding a decent-looking kit for myself (lazy bastard am I?).
One of the forsaken projects that I have to do with fellow modelers. This one is going to be a quicky. No physical modifications but rather a custom paintjob to an extent. I hereby present the RGM-79FP GM Striker Custom (working title).

MG Aile Strike Gundam #04

The parts depicted below are going to be upgraded with the plamo-plus parts (PP-parts hereafter). There is more for the Aile pack, but that will be constructed later on. Good, I'll keep you posted on this. First, I'm going to sand all the parts before I drill the holes...or was it the other way around, haha!

MG Aile Strike Gundam #03

Plamo-plus parts are precisely engineered and the tiny reamer tools - which are not bigger than a average tooth pick - are really sublime. I'm not joking, this guy knows what he's selling. Can you see how small the parts are. I bought silver and black tubes to compare each other how it would look like on a white-ish gunpla kit. The silver is timeless, but the black has something special. However on darker colors such as blue (chest) and black (Aile pack), black tubes won't be able to 'shine' so to speak.

Mochizuki san thanked me by adding a Lipton black tea bag and put a 'thank you' note on it. Funny guy, isn't he? I appreciate that, but I would be happier if he sold me parts with its Japanese Yen price instead of US Dollars! No, I shouldn't complain...

MG Aile Strike Gundam #02

I made some drawings of the parts that should give the kit a distingtive touch by adding custom gunpla parts. Raker's blog shared some links on Mochizuki-san's magnificent gunpla accessories. This inspired me to make my very own MG Strike Gundam even more beautiful than it already is.
Fortunately, I haven't unlearn my long forgotten hobby (in my childhood) drawing pictures and comics. I realized how difficult it could be drawing pictures by heart. No fancy drawing, I know, but you get the point. Anyway, the part that I've drawn are the shield, Armor Schneider pockets, beam rifle, skirt, chest and ankle + foot. The idea is to create a visual on where the gunpla accessories should be placed and make sense at the same time.

MG Aile Strike Gundam #01

There you go, a pile of colorful plastic. It's doesn't look much without the runners (such a waste isn't it?). I'll paint the launch platform well as, while I'm at it. As you can see, I've already assembled the frame to get idea what size it is going to. It is a quite slim MS.
The next step is to sculpture a tiny part of the front 'skirts' in order to give it more bite. I'm also going to carve extra grooves on several armor parts and on the shield. I think I have to make some drawings first before I ruin the kit...

Does anyone have tips for me on what tools I can use for carving (straight) shallow grooves?

Master Grade GAT-X105 Aile Strike Gundam

The next gunpla kit will be the MG Aile Strike Gundam. Unlike my Gundam RX78-2 OYW and MS-06J Zaku II, this kit will undergo a full-fledged paint job 'by the book'. This means no washing and no battle damages. Instead, it will look as if it's straight from the GAT-X assembly line of Morgenroete Inc.
Building MG's is always something special and it amazes me with its accurate parts of the inner skeleton/frame. The nearly seamless composite components is a feast for my eyes.

Let's make the best of this kit. I'll improve it by customizing some parts slightly, give it a professional paint job and add some modest 'bling' to it. I can't wait...

This might take a small eternity, but patience my son!

Exia & OO progress #03

The Gundam OO SD is also built to have a sneak preview on what is yet to come. Again, without a proper paint job, the SD kit is rather a disappointing pile of plastic in red, white, blue, gray (grey) and little bit of transparant flourecent yellow. Despite of the bulky Twin Drives on the shoulders, the kit is very stable, because of the large feet. More 'critical' poses can be performed as well.