Just another Gunpla Page! But I make other plastic scale models for fun as well!
Bandai 1/144 HG GSX-401FW Stargazer Gundam
The Stargazer Gundam, I bought it from Armourofgod in UK maninly because it has a different head design compared to other Gundams and it is a realtively cheap kit which includes a plastic stand and some green decorative rings. I have not watched the Gundam Seed anime series and hence I have no idea what is the history behind the big ring and the mobile suit background story.
But from a quick wiki serach and googling, I found out it is more of a exploration mobile suit instead of combat use. Which is like a Star Trek “Boldly goes where no Mobile suits has gone before” type story. Hence, I was quite keen on painting this in metallic steel or grey to pay tribute to Star Trek Starship type colours.
The kit is basically very simple and straight forward, adequate parts separation for painting and I tend to use a bit more artistic license and change up new colour scheme with masking and kit bashing. But I wasn’t really inspired by this kit so I kept the “re-design” relatively “out-of-box” and simple. The paint finish wasn’t as well done as I hope because I keep having mixed feelings on the metallic colour scheme hence I didn’t really prime the surface hoping that I would paint it over later.
I always wanted to try Vallejo Clour Shift paints which can be air brushed on easily. Hence I thought I would try it on the big ring to makes it stand out. It is recommended to use a black glossy base to bring out the shifting paint.After assembling it, I am slightly surprise that the Stargazer is slightly shorter than a regualr HG Rx-78 Origin.
I also have the Strike Rogue from the SEED series, but Stargazer is a very different design and shorter even though it is from the same series. The Stargazer is probably around the similar height to the smaller Gundams such as Victory and F91. The Altron and Sandrock is only used as a reference, but please take a look at my other projects if you are interested in my builds.
“Set your phaser to stun!” I know it is an exploration Gundam, but I just thought you also need guns just in case! The metallic steel colour came out a lot darker than I had planned, but that is a good mistake because the dark colour helps bring out the yellow reflective stickers than comes with Stargazer. It makes the Stargazer looks like it is also it is ready for a bicycle ride at night to gaze at the stars.
The additional weapons are a beam rifle from AGE and hands cannons from Jupitive. I am quite pleased with the colour shift paint, the Big Ring colour changes at different angles and also in different part of the day. I also mixed the shifting colours by painting a different colour over the first coat when it is still wet. I was hoping it will give it a strange blend of colours.
There are not much of a surface details for this simple kit, which is not a problem because most of the empty spaces are taken up by the reflective yellow stickers. There are 2 sticker colours options Black and Reflective yellow; I would suggest using a light white base finish if you are using the black stickers and if you are using the reflective yellow a dark colour based will suit better.
My metallic dark steel with the reflective yellow scheme makes this Gundam stands out on the shelf and the colour shifting ring changes colour throughout the day and it makes me want to look at it to see what colour has it shifted too. I like what I did, but I don’t like it enough to buy another one.
![Bandai 1/144 HG MS-04 Bugu [Ramba Ral]](https://itisagunpla.files.wordpress.com/2021/03/p3280272.jpg?w=220)
It is a Gunpla! 