Tag: mecha

Bandai 1/144 HG RX-79 [G] Gundam Ground Type

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Bandai 1/144 HG RX-79［G] Gundam Ground Type

Bandai 1/144 HG RGM-79 [G] GM Ground Type

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Bandai 1/144 HG RGM-79［G] GM Ground Type
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Bandai 1/144 HG GSX-401FW Stargazer Gundam

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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 Alus Earthree Gundam

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Bandai 1/144 HG Alus Earthree Gundam #Bandai #Gundam #builddiver #builddivers #builddiversrerise #gundambuilddivers #gundambuilddivers_rerise

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I wasn’t keen on this kit until Bandai released the “Fake Nu Unit and Wepaons”pack. This additional add-on set makes the Alus looks like a re-imagined verison of the RX-93 Nu Gundam. I don’t own a HG or RG version of a RX-93, hence I thought this and my customised Captain Zeon will be a great modern and unique tribute to the classic mobile suit.
Bandai recently announced that they will be releasing a new RG Zeong, I never liked that huge design, but I just thought it would be great to use that colour scheme on my Fake Nu Alus! The colour scheme was pretty simple with 3 main colours Purple, Blue, and Red. I tried a heavier preshading and 2 tone shade on some parts to give it a dark vide. The parts separation on this kit is not too bad, which helps with the “creative” painting.
The completed Alus Earthree with the Fake Nu Unit stands almost as tall as the HG Rx-78 Gundam Origin. The Core Gundam is almost up to chest height. I actually bought the Jupitive Gundam to be used with the Fake Nu Unit, but after test fitting, I prefer the curved edges of the Alus, which kind of suited the Fake Nu Unit better.
I actually enjoyed this built. The parts separation allows me to be creative with the colours. The sniper beam rifle allows you to configure it in both open or closed mode which is a nice touch by Bandai. I just don’t have much neagtive thing to say about the kit.
But there is just one minor thing, the purple chest piece in the middle is a sticker, this piece is curve hence hand painting will be difficult and sticker will be quite nasty if not stick on correctly. So it would be easier if Bandai does mould this as a separate piece.
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Bandai 1/144 HG UGY-R41 (Land) Man Rodi

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Bandai 1/144 HG UGY-R41 (Land) Man Rodi #bandai #ibo #ironbloodedorphans #gundam #mecha

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The Man Rodi kit was released by Bandai in 2015. Althought it is considered a recent kit but I struggle to find any in stock from my regular online seller shops. I saw it by chance on eBay for a decent price and went for it. Initially I wasn’t keen on the Man Rodi just because I did not like the design of its “space”legs. Hence when I saw the IBO Mobile Suit Option Set 9, I started to have some ideas.
  • Not many people are interested in getting an Option Set because they are going at crazy prices online. But the Option Set 9 is really good as it gives you 2 machine guns which can be used on the Gusion Rebake Full City, some accessories for Graze and parts to make Geirail!
  • Parts separation are not bad for a simple kit, but I have to do some masking bring out the details.
  • Overall, it is a very simple HG kit, but there are good surface details. Some panel lines are quite shallow but that is possibly due to the curved shape of the mobile suit.
I am warming up to the design especially the curves. I assume the Man Rodi was inspired by the Gusion which I have built previosuly and also the Gusion Rebake Full City.

Usually I would tend to customise my kits to make it uniquely mine. But in this case, after converting it to a Landman Rodi and repainting the colour change to suit the anime. I just thought by adding a shield which has almost similar surface details would make this suit looks more like a “Security Guard!”

The Rodi and the Gusion looks really similar which is no surprise as the Rodi is designed to act as a “Wingman” for the Gusion. With them side-by side the Gusion looks more like a big brother to the Rodi.

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Bandai 1/144 HG XXXG-01SR Sandrock

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I wasn’t keen on the Wing Gundam anime when it first air in Japan. Hence I wasn’t interested in the original release of the 1/144 model kits. It is only when I recently watched Build Divers, I saw how they were able to customise the Wing Zero and the Altron I started to get some inspiration.
It is not until I realised Bandai have released the “revive”Sandrock. Maganac and Heavyarms and in 2021 Deathscythe, I started to get serious and planned to collect and build the Wing Gundam Suits.
I wasn’t keen on the original white base and blackish scheme, which I thought it wasn’t really “Sandrock”looking and it is too different to the Maganac. I decided to give it a sandy beige base with a dark brown tone to give it a desert scheme. Sandrock is also a leader to the Maganac so the desert theme is much more suitable.
I read that the pilot of the Sandrock comes from a rich family and hence I thought a bit of yellowy god will be just right to show his family wealth. I have also kit bashed the wings of the Jiyan Altron to made 2 huge fangs to the cobra shield.
I actually quite pleased with the design of Sandrock as I think it gives a Roman Centurion vibe, hence I coloured the fangs red since I have always remembered Roman Centurion Officers wear a red cape in the history books.
The Wind Gundam kits are usually a bit smaller in scale to the UC design, which you can see side by side with R-78 Origin.
So far I only have 3 Wing Gundams kit; I have preordered Heavyarms so I am hoping it will arrive before Christmas 2020.
You can’t have Sandrock without the Maganac and the Leos! I have customised one of my Leo to look like a “Tallgeese“! If you enjoy my work please feel free to browse my other other previous work to help keep this project going.

Bandai 1/144 RG MS-06F Zaku 2

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Bandai Real Grade Zaku 2 at 1/144 scale is a marvel of Bandai innovative manufacturing process to mould moveable joints and hinges together as a single plastic piece.

I had so much hope and so excited when I bought this as my first RG kit from eBay. But boy, this is no ordinary Zaku 2 when compared to the standard HG kit. This is much more complex and has many small parts, which is actually very good in terms of parts separations. However, I did not enjoyed one bit of this build. I struggled to understand the instrucitons even though I read basic japanese and I review technical/construction drawings for a living.

Some of the parts are so small that I am not able to use either clips or double sided tape to hold it down for painting. Espeically the hose armours, they are just small loose rings that i have to individually string it up and spray them one by one. Also the internal frame has build in joints and hinges that if you painted them over, they will pracitcally fused together and stopped moving.

Super glue and cement are your friend when putting this together. Some of the external armour is just a push fit onto the inner frame, and these are to allow movement to simulate “Real” world movement of the joints, and these are so loose and keeps popping out.

I have used a sinper rifle and bazooka magazines from my other HG Zaku kits. The parts are not really interchangeable so I have to modify and glue them on.

Proportion wise, it looks good when compared to the HG Zaku 2. But the head sculpt just look slightly weird, it is although the hose pipe on the RG head is slightly higher and makes it look dis-jointed from the chest.

My RG Zaku 2 side-by-side with HG Rx-78 Origin. I painted my RG Zaku 2 based on the colour scheme I saw in Stardust Memories. There is a scene where GP01 is tasked to find GP02 and a remants of Zeon troops with Zakus mashed up from old parts.

I am not sayng not to buy a Real Grade kit, but I have to honestly say I am not keen on getting another unless it is on special offer (I heard the Sazabi is the best RG though). What I am trying to say is that if you are just starting off and like a quick build this is not the kit for you. You will probably have more fun buying a cheaper HG and experiement with painting scheme. But if you like a challenge like I did, buy a RG but know what you are getting yourself into. You have been forewarned, this is no ordinary Zaku!