Joe's Gunpla World

2013-07-16T17:37:00.001-05:00

So simply re-coating with topcoat in less humid conditions helps get rid of the frost.

Here, Have a Gundam #1 - YouTube

2012-09-11T20:19:00.001-05:00

Here, Have a Gundam #1 - YouTube:

This is my version of "I got a package today" or "Something Special"

Basically, I got some stuff.

BIG SALE!

2012-08-23T17:53:00.001-05:00

http://www.gundamforums.com/showthread.php/7073-Joe-s-Desperate-for-money-this-weekend-only-sale!!!

Okay, so times are tough. Unemployed and when I decided to go back to school, they withheld my unemployment money! So I need to make rent and I am desperate! I have some MG kits I am willing to part with to make some quick cash.

THIS SALE WILL END AT 11:59PM SUNDAY NIGHT! Because after that it won't matter...

Prices are as is, no bargaining. Prices include Shipping and Handling. Paypal only, payments must be received this weekend. I will get everything shipped out by the end of next week. I have placed price comparisons in parenthesis next to my price. Please remember I am including shipping, the comparison is not and would be extra.

U.S.A. Residents only, sorry.

Items for sale (all brand new, unopened):

MG Zeong - $80 ($90 at R4L)
MG Char's Rick Dom - $60 ($68 at R4L)
MG Char's Z'gock - $40 ($45 at R4L)
MG Freedom Gundam - $50 ($57 at R4L)
MG Black TriStar Zaku II High Mobility Type Version 2.0 $60 ($68 at R4L)
SOLD! MG MS-06F Zaku II Ver. 2.0 $48 ($53 at R4L) SOLD!
MG Johnny Ridden's Zaku II High Mobility Type Version 2.0 $60 ($68 at R4L)
MG Victory Gundam With Dash Pack $77 ($87 at R4L)
MG ReZEL $65 ($72 at R4L)
MG Gundam 00 Raiser $88 ($98 at R4L)

AND...

MG Bandai-Hobby Webshop Limited Banshee Final Battle Ver $210

I know that last on is a long shot. I desperately don't want to sell it... but some things are more important than Gunpla.

Builder's Block

2012-08-20T21:34:00.002-05:00

Help me out here, guys.

Also: Go buy stuff at R4L

Joe's Gunpla - A Brief Tour - YouTube

2012-08-16T18:10:00.001-05:00

Second YouTube Video Up.

As I said, I've got some pictures to go with this video, so you can actually see things :-P

Joe's Gunpla now on YouTube!

2012-08-14T23:36:00.003-05:00

Like, Comment, Subscribe, What-Have-You!

I have started a YouTube channel. Just and intro for now. My plan is to use both this blog and YouTube to give you a glimpse into my Gunpla hobby. The Blog I will continue to update with higher quality photos than my videos can provide, and the videos will be where I blabber on about kits and maybe talk about gimmicks and articulation and such.

Enjoy!

Until Next Time: Happy Building!

Proud to be Affiliated!

2012-07-12T22:58:00.003-05:00

I am proud to say that as of this week, Joe's Gunpla World is affiliated with North America's largest supplier of Gunpla goods! That's right Robot4Less is now helping me help them which ultimately helps me!

Here's how it works: You're in the mood to buy some Gunpla and you're going to buy it from Robot4Less (because come one, they are awesome). Well stop by my blog first and click on their icon in the upper-middle-left side of my blog and shop away! Every time you buy something and go through that link, you're helping me continue this blog.

Now, I'm not just going to pander to you and hope you come here every time to shop. I'm committing myself to weekly updates on all of my modeling and I'm going to try to show you new tricks along the way.

I hope you guys who visit my blog continue to enjoy the content I provide and hopefully learn some stuff and find some inspiration.

Until Next Time: Happy Building!

R03 Remastered 1/144 HG Buster Gundam Review - Part 1

2012-06-12T19:29:00.001-05:00

Buster's Box

Sorry for the wait on these reviews, ladies and gents. I've been busy with life and the Gundam Wing Revival Project. So, I will begin getting back onto Gunpla with the long awaited review of the R03 Remastered HG Buster Gundam. Does anybody know if the Remastered SEED kits are replacing the old ones, around for a limited time, or just recolors that will forever share the shelves with their previously released counterparts?

Anyway, let's get a good look at Buster's box and the contents before moving on to the model itself.

The front cover art is lookin' great!

All the kit's gimmicks are explained on the bottom side. Here it shows off the combined cannons.

A bit of info on the MS and pilot. And a shot of the left end of the box (same as the right).

Some details about the details :-P.

BUY THE OTHER KITS TOO! This kit has a MSRP of 1000 yen (pretty cheap).

Opening the box, we are greeted with Runner A, which has some of the beige, orange, dark green and the metallic grey.

Another small runner of metallic grey, poly-caps, stickers, and a runner of that beige.

Finally, the manual.

Which likes to be photographed sideways apparently...

The painting guide. By the way, there's a good chunk of painting needed as will all the SEED kits so far...

MS details, model poses, and a bit of plot.

Coming up soon, the MS review!

Until Next Time: Happy Building!

Gundam Wing Revival Project: Competitions!

2012-05-28T23:02:00.001-05:00

I have made permanent a list of links to the Facebook event pages for the Competitions! They are to the right of this posting.

The rules are there on the event page, please read them.

Prizes will be announced shortly!!! And yes, THEY WILL BE WORTH IT!
Have fun, good luck!

Competition 1 Rules posted

2012-05-22T22:00:00.003-05:00

www.facebook.com/gundamrevivalproject

Go there! Like the page! Go to the events! Rules for the first competition are posted there.

Rules for Competitions 2 and 3 will be posted soon!

Gundam Wing Revival Project: Group Build and Competitions!

2012-05-02T16:25:00.001-05:00

Attention! Attention! May I have your attention, please.

Squeam from ShelfLife.tk (aka TimberNewtype on YouTube) and I have been working on a BIG undertaking of a project. Over the course of the last year with the release of many Master Grades related to Gundam Wing and Endless Waltz along with the continued releases of the hit manga series Glory of Losers and the novel series Frozen Tear Drop, the universe of Gundam Wing has experienced a resurgence in popularity! We wish to celebrate this reaffirmation of the Gundam series that started off a good portion of American interest in the Gundam franchise with a Group Build and a series of Competitions! Please like and follow our Facebook page for further details after this posting.

The competitions have not had all of their details hammered out quite yet, but I wanted to get the ball rolling so everyone can start thinking and acquiring necessary kits and supplies.

Here are the details we have worked out so far for the competitions:

-Any Bandai original PLASTIC kit regardless of grade and scale will be accepted so long as it is from either Gundam Wing or Endless Waltz. A complete list of accepted kit will be generated within the next few days.

-There will be three categories for the competitions which will be judged and presented separately.

-Competition 1: Build a Bandai original Gundam Wing plastic kit of any scale or grade straight out of the box. Panel lining, seam removal, and top coats are accepted. Judging will be based on clean builds, sticker/marking placement, and over all appearance of the kit. Painting isn't aloud in this competition so as to open it up to beginners and lazy modelers alike. No decals other than what is provided in the original contents of the kit will be aloud.

-Competition 2: Build a Bandai original Gundam Wing plastic kit of any scale or grade. This is for everyone else. Build it, paint it, mark it, line it, then top coat it however you wish. The only limitations for this competition will be physical modification and kit bashing. We are celebrating Gundam Wing and the awesome designs from that series. So no mods, guys, just make the kit look the best it can. Custom paint schemes are accepted.

Competition 3: Pose your completed Bandai original Gundam Wing plastic kit or kits in an iconic or memorable pose from the anime TV/OAV series. This competition will be strictly judged on the power of the pose. We will take the limitations of SD's and older Wing kits into consideration when judging. Also, if a pose needs to be modified slightly due to the use of a MG EW kit in place of a TV version (seeing as all but the Wing Gundam have yet to be released) we will accept it so long as you explain the changes and why they are needed.

-Each of these competitions will eventually have their own Event Page on our Facebook Page

-The Group Build will also have it's own Event Page on Facebook. The Group build will be on going even after the competitions are over. The group build will be for those wanting to participate but not compete and it gives the judges a place when they can show their love for Gundam Wing without entering the competition.

None of this is fully set in stone yet, so please bare in mind that there will be changes and added details in the week or so to come!

Thank for reading, and I hope to see you ALL on Facebook joining the Gundam Wing Revival Project!

1/144 GM - Gundam Forums GM Group Build! Part - 4

2012-05-01T13:21:00.000-05:00

"Ode to CoM"

About a decade ago I joined a message board called "Child of Mecha" The website itself had a few tutorials, some guest galleries, and a ton of links to sites with much more content... But that message board was where I met a lot of good people. Sadly, the website and message board shut down about 5 years ago and I lost track of most of the members. I kind of hope that maybe one or two of them see this post and remember the good times and Jester's Noob Stick...

Anyway, for the Gundam Forums GM Group Build, or GFGMGB, I had an old 1/144 GM kit from First Gundam and I decided I was going to give it a custom color scheme. Well, what start out as a mess of undefined color coordination turned out pretty good after I added a light gray to the mix of black, dark blue, and medium gray. The colors reminded me of the colors of the Child of Mecha web page and message boards, so I dub this GM "An Ode to CoM". Enjoy!

I used Gunmetal for the joints, backpack, and gun.

I wanted the visor to really pop, so silver with clear red.

I think any other color would just be too in place...

EXAM System? Sure, why not?

Not much for articulation on these old kits.

This is about as dynamic as it gets.

Switch out the gun hand for the normal fist.

Beam Saber Action!

I found a set of Painters brand florescent paint markers at Wal*Mart for around $10.

They work pretty well, I'm happy to report. I used the pink one for this blade.

Not bad.

Not sure what happened with the lighting here, I didn't change anything...

But it's WAY too blue!

Shield and gun

Biimu Saiburu!

The short one got scratched up when I put it into the backpack... oh well.

So, that's my custom GM. Maybe someday I'll do a MG version of this guy! Let me know what you guys think. I read every comment (not that I get very many) and respond to most.

Until Next Time: Happy Building!

1/144 GM - Gundam Forums GM Group Build! Part - 3

2012-04-30T12:57:00.000-05:00

Paint

I have only ever done a custom paint scheme one time before. That was my Zulu-Goog. I've done complete re-paints, like painting a HGUC RX-78-2 Gundam in Real-Type colors or Char's colors, sure, but I've never really done my own thing... Let's see what I can come up with.

All the parts sanded and prepped for hand painting.

I promise it's still green, the lighting in this shot and the next is wierd.

The accessories.

I had to really think of what colors I wanted. I like red, but the GM is already red... I like greens, but that's Zeon colors and I didn't want to make a Zeon captured GM, I wanted something originalish. Blues, I like blues, but a darker blue, not Gundam blue. Okay, what else? Well, some black would be good, but not overly so, just a couple places... Alright and a third color to round things out... Let's just keep it simple: Gray. Now let's break out some paint and get started!

This is what I had so far...

Idk... it's okay... I'll keep going with it and see how it looks, I guess

The shield after just one thin coat of the dark blue... Needs more layers, obviously.

Well, I don't know if I like it at this point. But never fear, I worked it out.

Until Next Time: Happy Building!

1/144 GM - Gundam Forums GM Group Build! Part - 2

2012-04-29T12:40:00.000-05:00

Old Kits Need Glue!

As stated in a previous posting, the GM I'm building is OLD! It's older than I am, it's older than a lot of the American Gundam fanbase! It's nearly ancient! And thusly, needs adhesive to stay together. I use liquid cement from Testors, and that stuff melts plastic and ruins paint, so I have to assemble the kit before I can paint it. This can be tricky. But here it goes.

Just two runners for this kit. All one color.

Thighs, backpack, head, and forearms

Shoulders, upper arms and lower legs

Hip joint, beam saber, thrusters for the backpack, hands and the entire body.
That's right, no waste articulation!

Feet with ankle armor attached, shield and the Beam Spray Gun

Parts for the hands.

Leg assembly. The thigh is glued together first, then the lower leg is put on over that to form the knee joint.
The foot is then glue on over the ankle joint.

Completed leg.

The shield is just two parts.

The handle is cemented in like so.

Parts for the head.

Cemented together.

Backpack and thrusters.

They fit in nearly perfectly.

The backpack is then placed on the back of the body.

There we go.

Assembly for the arm and a completed arm.

Okay let all those parts cure before sanding. I'll sand all of those before I sandwich all the parts in between the halves of the body, which will have to be sanded as well.

While I wait for those to dry, I HAVE TO FIX THIS THING!

It's a stick!

Now it's a pointy stick!

Much better than the flat top!

Final assembly, and sanding next. Then I have to decide on a paint scheme!

Until Next Time: Happy Building!

SEED Remastered High Grades!

2012-04-28T12:14:00.000-05:00

I'm getting review posts ready for these three guys right now!

The Destiny Plan - Part 11

2012-04-18T17:45:00.000-05:00

TEASER!

It all comes down to this! This final verdict! You've seen parts. You've seen bits. You've seen pieces. Now, you will see everything come together! This is the final count down to the end-all-be-all debate!

Who will win?!

Price point!?

Or Quality?!

Check back soon for a full head to head, toe to toe, Wings of Light to Wings of Light all out knock off authentic brawl!

Until Next Time: Happy Building!

What's Going on, Joe? #11

2012-04-17T17:35:00.001-05:00

A First!

I got a package a couple days ago! This is a first for me. I've never gotten my hands on truely limited Gunpla before....

*Drum Roll*

MASTER GRADE UNICORN GUNDAM 02 BANSHEE VER KA FINAL BATTLE VERSION!

Sexy black and white box art!

There she is, so pretty, all ready for me to dive in, cut her up, and but her together!

Gold.... decals.... *drool*

Unfortunately, I won't get to her for a while... Big things happening soon!

Lelouch likes it when I get packages too.

Until Next Time: Happy Building!

Up-coming Reviews and a Fond Hello

2012-04-16T17:35:00.000-05:00

Been Lazy

I've been feeling kinda lazy towards the blog as of late. I'm working on something big in tandem with Squeam/TimberNewtype and building a lot of Gunpla...

Sadly, I've been forgetting to take pictures of the build process for many of them. Oh well, reviews are coming for this batch very soon:

The next HG Remastered kits; Buster, Blitz, and Aegis.

And a final look at Bandai's vs TT's MG Destiny Gundam Extreme Blast Mode!

One of the many reasons I have been negating the blog besides my laziness is my fiance and I got a new cat! He's really a pretty cat and he's of course very clever and is sneaky and hides and always seems to have a trick up his sleeve (were he to wear them)... We have named him...

Lelouch!

See how proud he sits.

Until Next Time: Happy Building!

Something BIG is About to Happen!!!

2012-04-05T22:13:00.000-05:00

Tease!

You know I'm planning something big! This is just a taste!
Hold on to ALL of you Wing Kits! Something EPIC is about to be announced!

Built 1/144 Nataku a ways back.

Love the grunts!

The rise of the Tallgooses!

YES! YES! YES! YES! YES!

All will be revealed soon!

Oh and to quote Jabman025... One more thing...

Epic Epyon!

2nd Place in HobbyLink Japan's Sci-Fi Modeling Competition Beginner Level!

2012-03-28T22:52:00.000-05:00

I won second place in the beginner category!

I've never won anything for modeling before. I am quite pleased with myself.

What's Going on, Joe? #10

2012-03-23T22:03:00.000-05:00

A MONUMENTAL announcement will be made by the end of the month! I can't give any real details yet... but I will say this:

If you have ANY UNBUILT/UNASSEMBLED Gundam Model kit related to Gundam Wing... save it!
Don't touch that model at all until you hear the upcoming announcement.

This is going to be BIG.

1/144 GM - Gundam Forums GM Group Build! Part - 1

2012-03-04T20:49:00.001-06:00

Damn it, GM! I'm a Model Not a Toy, Man!

When Squeam, a moderator at Gundam Forums, announced a group build all about GM's and their variants I wanted to get in the game right away. I wracked my brain for a bit trying to think if I had any suitable GM kits. While going through my inventory in my head I was thinking for sure that out of all of the 150+ kits I have yet to be assembled there wasn't a single GM in the bunch!

Then I remembered back in 2003, I was planning on making a stop motion animated movie that involved a lot of GM's getting blown up. I remembered then I had bought six 1/144 GM kits from the original model line from the early 80's. One had been assembled for a test build and another had been partially assembled and mapped out for where to put the explosives and later was blown up. The other four kits have to this day stayed in their boxes awaiting some attention. The movie never happened; however, because of that dream of a film one lucky GM kit is going to get some extra special attention!

Look at that OLD SCHOOL AWESOME!

This bad boy sold for and still sells for a WHOPPING 300 YEN!
300! This is SPARTA!

Don't forget to buy all of his Zeon buddies!

It has a GUN! and a BEAM SABER!

IT CAN SORT OF LOOK LIKE IT'S TRYING TO WALK! Awesome articulation!
It even has... A BACK!

I'm so excited after all of that 80's Japanese model advertising, I just have to get in there and see what kind of kit this is! I hope it looks as cool as it does on the box without any extra work from the modeler!

It's...

It's all one color... Maybe there are decals under the instruction!

Nope...

The instructions...

Why do they show all the parts pre-colored on the runner?

This is going to be a challenge...

R02 Remastered 1/144 HG Duel Gundam Assault Shroud - Part 5

2012-02-16T01:25:00.001-06:00

Armor UP!

I apologize for the delay! This will be the final part of the review. Here are the rest:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4

Let's get some armor on on the duel and salt it up a little! (Haha! A salt shroud...)

Ready, Duel Gundam?

Arms get a nice block of armor.

Same on each side, just mirrored. The part is attached from the bottom.

Left Shoulder gets a missile pod (that does not open).

The left side...

Gets a giant blaster!

The front armor is all one piece. Good thing he never had very much waist articulation to begin with...

The back armor part just plugs into the hips.

The backpack plugs into... the backpack...

Each leg gets a two part deal.

Armored up!

Just letting the pictures do the talking.

As you can imagine, the armor really hinders the articulation.

Except that gun! It can spin around anywhere you want!

The shield...

Uses a different connector now. It has a slot connection instead of a peg.

Airborne!

Pose stolen from Strike...

Just can't do much with that armor on...

Yup, he's been turned into a brick... Not a bad kit, looks good anyway. I like the looks of this kit, he looks very ANIME. Not necessarily Anime accurate, but he just has that drawn look. He does need a lot of painting, but I like that sort of thing.

Until Next Time: Happy Building!

R02 Remastered 1/144 HG Duel Gundam Assault Shroud - Part 4

2012-01-31T21:59:00.001-06:00

Remaster 1/144 HG Duel Gundam

The Remastered 1/144 HG Duel Gundam Assault Shroud is a really good kit for the age of the mold. There's so much going on with this kit I think it will be best if I split the review between the Duel and the Assault Shroud. So here is the review of Duel Gundam. Assault Shroud review will come soon.

DUEL GUNDAM

Front

Side

Back

Top

Bottom

ARTICULATION

Kneeling

Pretty good kneeling pose; although, I think Strike's was a bit more natural looking.
Duel's thighs are a little short, I think.

Head can go up a little and not very far down.

Head can rotate 360 degrees.

Arms can rotate at the shoulders all the way around.

Elbows bend 90 degrees. The blue armor bit can swivel up.

Which allows the arm to raise up almost 90 degrees.

Here it is! The most EPIC waist articulation you've ever seen!

It can rotate from left to right a total of... what... 8 degrees?

The leg rotates forward really high and backward even higher.

Pretty decent bend out of the knee. 120 degrees?

Left is the widest the legs will go, right is the widest flat footed stance possible.

ACCESSORIES

The shield

Attaches at the back of the arm and has two attachment points.

The shield can be mounted on the back of the arm...

... yay... so cool... I don't understand mounting a shield on the back of a Gunpla's arm unless it can bend at the elbow nearly 180... It just never looks right.

Much better mounted on the side of the arm.

BAMF

The beam rifle just slips into the hand and you don't even have to take the hand apart.

The Duel and reach it's beam saber pretty well.

And...

Duel comes with Beam Saber BLADES!

CLEAR BLADES!

That's it for Duel Gundam for now. Assault Shroud will make a showing in the next posting.

Until Next Time: Happy Building!

The Destiny Plan - Part 10

2012-01-28T12:00:00.000-06:00

The Bodies of Destiny

There are some pretty significant differences in detail on the internals of the TT Hongli and Bandai MG Destiny Gundams. This is especially apparent on the chest.

All the parts laid out. I'm pretty much going to just let the pictures do the talking for this post.
The Bandai parts will be first, then the TT Hongli.

On these parts for the shoulder blocks, I had to sand down the pegs to make them thinner.
The coating that TT Hongli uses is just too thick.

Here's a direct comparison of the chest blocks for the inner frame.

The round screw/bold/gear on the Bandai (left) is gone from the TT Hongli (right).

Up next for the Destiny Plan will be the completed chest. After that I'm going right into the completed MG kits. But I've got other projects going on before I get to all of that.

Until Next Time: Happy Building!