HG Gundam Astaroth

Presenting my customised Astaroth “Akimbo” Lupus! Standing next to him is my customised Astaroth Rinascimento which was completed 2 years ago.

This is my 2nd Astaroth in my collection. I think Bandai has made 3 variants of this kit but this is not saying I am getting all 3 versions of it.

What I like about this kit is that the design reminds me of the RX-78 Grand-daddy look-alike for the IBO series.

Also the backstory of this mobile suit is basically an assembled mobile suits using different junk parts from different suits. This kind of how I imagine how I put my kits together.

I am also interested in the asymmetrical design which give it a unique take on whatever is available in the “box of chocolate”.

Disclaimer: I am informed that mine blog http://www.itisagunpla.com could potentially be mistaken to be linked to a Youtube channel ItsAGunpla. This blog is not affiliated or claimed to be linked to the Youtube channel. If you like proper advise and resources please visit ItsAGunpla Youtube channel (its in the spelling). I really enjoyed his work, but if you just some watered down personal opinion please continue reading this tongue in cheek blog.

I tend to prime my kit with Tamiya Flat colours, I usually use a slightly thicker mixture just to give a strong coat and finish with a gloss black as pre-shade. I use mainly Vallejo Air as a base colours because they comes pre-thinned for airbrush and it is an easier way to control the amount of shade you like to show by adding multiple coats of base colour. The mecha bits of the IBO inner frame are typically hand painted with metallic colours, I tend to use Vallejo Model colours for the strong colours.
Since I already have Rinascimento which is an asymmetrical design; I bought this Astaroth kit mainly because I want to explore what it looks like in a symmetrical design. I was also fortunate enough to purchase a box of 2nd hand random HG scale bits from eBay; and in the box was another Astaroth and Barbatos Lupus!
I painted my Astaroth “Akimbo” Lupus with Vallejo Medium Blue and G-Studio White to give it a non-aggressor colour. Somehow it also looked like a UN Peacekeeper for space (another space police)!
One of the reason for inspiring to go towards a goodie, is because every good police tends to have a “gangster” bad brother (I watched too many HK Police movies growing up). So since I have customised my 1st Astaroth Rinascimento as a asymmetrical junkyard thrown together mobile suit I thought this is a plausible backstory. The akimbo is also a tribute to Chow Yun-Fat double gunning in old HK movies.
This is just a side-by-side comparison to the Barbatos Lupus which my Astaroth “Akimbo” shared many parts with.