MG 1/100 - RX-178 A.E.U.G. Gundam Mk.II part #04

There it is: A.E.U.G Prototype Mobile Suit

RX-178  A.E.U.G. Gundam Mk-II

Take a look at the mini-parts and the subtle pre-shading is truly an eye-candy.

The RX-178 Mk-II Titans version

The 2.0 frame enables the kit to pose with maximum bend limbs without looking awkward. Nice isn't it.

MG 1/100 - RX-178 A.E.U.G. Gundam Mk.II part #03

Pre-shading check, topcoat check, mini-parts check. The assembly of the main parts i.e. limbs, gear, head the RX-178 A.E.U.G. Gundam is ready for shipping. To where?!

I build Gundam with my brother for years, so it is going to his place and finish it the kit. This kits will unite with the Titans version which was already build a long time ago. That was also the reason to open this 2.0 frame gunpla.

Till next time...

MG 1/100 - RX-178 A.E.U.G. Gundam Mk.II part #01

I'm back with a truly amazing kit that has open for years. It is always daunting to start cutting and sanding the parts from the runners. Covered with under a pile of papers and magazine I saw a slightly damaged kit: hey, is that my RX-178 Mk-II? The AEUG?


I immediately opened it and all the parts were cut out and NOT sorted. The idea behind it is to 'know' the kit by searching for the parts with reading the instructions. Never again.
I managed to resupply the enamel paints and thinners for the airbrushing. I have to say, airbrush makes the difference.

The mini parts were added after the paintings and topcoat (flat) and the results are really cool. After applying the deals I just kept watching and watching the details. Thinned yellow acrylic paint were applied as panel lines on the dark parts. A trick I learned on YouTube...

MG 1/100 - RX-178 A.E.U.G. Gundam Mk.II part #02

Applying details is challenging because one have imagine what state the Gundam needs to have. Has it been returned from battle? Is it freshly build? Or is it battered up and shot in battle?
Well I choose for the 'used' model which means that the RX-178 has been to many scouting missions and shows show marks and dirt on its gear. Not fancy, quite conservative yes.

Tamiya weathering master is good for making dirt on the shield and feet. It's just like make-up...for gunplay....

MG Aile Strike Gundam #08

Finally, the building proces comes to an end. It took me a lot of time to make it worth to publish. Every single piece of plastic has been painted, tweaked, etc. The enclosed decals are applied. The water-bases decals gave me a hard time, because it is quite difficult get it fixed properly without sliding them back and forth. Enjoy!

MG 1/100 Strike Gundam (v1.0)

I did some research on the web on which decals are applied on the PG and I wanted to repliciate the edgy look on my MG Strike. With an extra decals sheet for the Strike Gundam in particular, I have been able to boost up the MG a little bit more...on top of the mini parts. The results are beyond expectations, because I am just an amateur, really I am...

Use Mr. Hobby Decal Marker for extra adhesive power and protect it with Top Coat. It will last (almost) forever. One of the most important issues I've learned is to be patient in the process. Even though this is just my third MG kit, I can't deny the amount of parts are substantially more detailed (duh!) than a HG and RG. One needs to taken time of taking the part from the runners, snap, cut, file, sand the sprues. Then sand and wash all whole parts prior to the actual painting. My advice: take your time if you have the time, do not rush...
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Exia & OO progress #05

Finally, the photoshoot is done, but I totally forgot to post it (!). The Exia and OO Gundam turned out well on the pictures despite of some painting/lining flaws.

Used colors:
X-28 Park Green
XF-1 Flat Black
XF-2 Flat White
XF-6 Flat Red
XF-3 Flat Yellow
XF-63 German Grey
Mr. Color (blue??)
Gundam Marker Black

Camera: Sony DSC P-100

MG Aile Strike Gundam #07

After a long pause, I've found some spare time to continue the MG Aile Strike project I started than four years (!) ago. While my stock of PG's, MG's, RG's and SD are piling up, I've been on smaller Gunpla projects in the mean time...
Well, this is the story. I graduated, found work, have been working, still working and the passion for modeling is still here. I even started Tamiya Model kits which involves glue, e.g. the epic Japanse Super GT and  the original Le Mans winner Mazda 787B.

Let's resume where I left with Morgeroete's (Aile) Strike Gundam Master Grade kit. The was a lot of rework in the leg-parts after some of my airbrush-n00b-actions. We're all learning right!
The project is 'online' again, fueled with a fresh mind and inspirations of Gunpla works from all of you.

Mini parts added on shoulder

See photo above. The added mini parts are put into place, which was quite hard if you don't have the proper tools such as (bend) tweezers and thin Tamiya glue if applicable. The results are astonishing; amazing what a few shiny parts can do to Gunpla kit. Post if you have questions on tooling... I'm wondering where I can find more of these reasonal-priced mini-parts for my Japanese plastic. Thank you in advance.

 

GAT-X103AP Verde Buster

The Verde Buster SD is a quite challenging kit. It has loads of weapons compared to the original Buster Gundam. This is a marvelous kit for SD fans and excellent for side-projects. The inside of some parts are finished with black.

Used colors (Tamiya Acrylic Paint)

X-6 Orange
X-28 Park Green
XF-1 Flat Black
XF-2 Flat White
XF-5 Flat Green
XF-7 Flat Red
XF-15 Flat Flesh
XF-21 Flat Base
XF-62 Olive Drab
XF-63 German Grey
Gundam Marker Black

ZGMF-X19A Justice SD and ZGMF-X10A Freedom SD

While my MG Strike project is still frozen due to many (in)valid excuses, I've been filling my time with minor projects. I present the raw Freedom and Justice Gundam SD. Always a hilarious sight and daunting at the same time. Wait untill I get my hands on these two...

GAT-X102 Blu Duel Gundam SD

After a long pause, I've been building the Blu Duel Gundam SD which was a pending project. I had to get used to the old-school handpainting. That was difficult. I have to apologize for my lack of precision, which resulted in a sloppy job here and there.

Pause?!

I realized that I haven't blogged for long time. There are millions things I had to take care of since my graduation. Even the GM Striker Custom is untouched. So I will keep on building Gunpla, but in a much slower pace. The good news is that a several MG's are opened instead.

Check for the links of partners/followers on the right for up-to-date Gunpla news...

Happy building!

Poll: My collection consists mostly of...

23% of all respondents has most Master grade kits, 17% has mostly HG 1/100 kits and 23% has mostly HG 1/144 kits. The majority of this mini-poll has most SD's (!) with 35%... Hmmm, SD's are also popular in my collection...

Participated respondents: 17

New poll is available about what gunpla builders add to their kits...

Exia & OO progress #04

Parts sprayed with the new airbrush and it looks good. I did not put more effort in applying a primer on it first, because...eh well...it's 'just' a SD-project. Nevertheless, I'm happy with the result. Tiny paintjobs by hand and loads of markings to do and it is ready.

The marking is bit messy, because I was really tired of this kit. It is a lot of work for a SD, almost not worth the effort. On the other hand. it looks so much better with paint...

MG Aile Strike Gundam #06

Yes, my holiday to Asia ended a month ago, graduated thereafter; it's all good. I can spend more time on Gunpla and job applications...first things first... My brother and I started to do some Gunpla building together once in a year due to lack of time and mostly summers. Neither time nor money is saved to build one kit after another, varying from SD to MG's kits or UC to CE models. It's a building-madness.


This summer we started to use airbrush for the Gundam kits. Just one decent compressor and one airbrush from the Japanese manufacturer Iwata (Revolution HP-BR). The first thing I brushed was Strike's Frame, have a look. Tamiya enamel Gunmetal grey was used. Not too bad, is it?

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?