Kumansenu Builds Things

Do The Thing: Potatoes, Lemons, and Motivation

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 23 May 2015 01:26:00 +0000

It's been a while since I've put up any updates. Since my last post I've been able to build up quite a backlog. I'm currently sitting at around 20 kits, with one more on the way (HGBF Crossbone Gundam). That will probably be my last kit for a while, as I've committed to a "no buying of new kits until I build one from the stock" policy.

I logged in today just to check on my older posts and look at pictures, and to my surprise the old gunpla posts are still receiving hits. Hello, fellow gunpla builders. Hopefully my posts have been helpful.

Gunpla has taken a bit of a backseat, but I will be starting again soon, along with a bunch of other things I've put on hold for too long.

"Do the thing!" has been my go to "catch-phrase" for a while, and it's ironic how rarely I've actually done.. anything. Life has gotten in the way, but it's not like it hasn't done that before. The only difference between then and now is that I've let it give me shitty lemons for too long.

You can't keep waiting for time to fix things. You can't rely on people to fix things for you. If you want to get it done, and get it done how you want it - best do it yourself.

Bandai HG 1/144 GN Arms Type E + Gundam Exia - Transam Mode

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 22 Sep 2013 10:21:00 +0000

For the next kit showcase, we have the GN Arms Type E and the Exia in TransAm mode. Now this kit isn't mine so I can't do any crazy poses; I borrowed it over the weekend from a friend from work. I actually had to transport the assembled kit in a box lined with bubble wrap.

Please bear in mind that this is a straight up snap-build so excuse the nubs.

The GN Arms Type E

First up, we have the actual GN Arms, a mobile armor and weapons platform for the Gundams of Celestial Being. This is the Type E as it was designed to go with the Exia. Another version exists, the Type D, which was designed for the Dynames.

Here we have photos showing off how it looks in mobile armor mode which I am a big fan off. It may look pretty bulky, but it manages to give off that feeling of still being fast and highly maneuverable - having seven boosters pushing probably helps.

Here we get a shot of the GN Claws on stand-by, and a peek at the GN Cannons stored underneath the unit's top armor.

Those GN Cannons are massive; I actually thought I was looking at the kit wrong and was looking at the boosters. We'll get to see the GN Claws in action later.

A shot of the front of the unit showcasing its bulk; another shot of the rear showcasing the booster system -two of the seven are concealed close to massive boosters on top.

I missed the the middle and biggest booster on the previous photos but here it is. Unlike the other, it is able to move independently - contributing to the units maneuverability.

A close up shot of the middle booster, and a shot of the GN Arms switching from mobile armor to weapons platform mode.

Gundam Exia TransAm Mode

This unit needs no introduction. It's the main unit from the series. In TransAm mode. Watch Gundam 00. Highly recommend it. I am 50/50 on the movie.

If you purchase the GN Arms Type E, you also get this version of the Exia. It is pretty much identical with the High Grade, with the exception of the stickers and decals that come with the unit.

You may also notice that it is different from the normal TransAm version as it is not pink which is a big plus for me. I've never been a fan of the TransAm versions.

As I said, the only difference between the normal high grade and this one are the stickers. Lots of red instead of the normal pink and grey.

We get a very nice black and red sticker instead of the normal green. The text is too small to read given the scale but its a nice touch.

Instead of the normal green sticker at the back of the clear piece on the chest, we get a sticker that reads GN-001 Celesital Being. I wish they sold this sticker sheet separately so I can do this to my Exia.

The stickers for the rest of the clear pieces which are normally green have been replaced with black and red with text that reads 00 (and others which should be text but are unreadable - because scale).

The 'wires' that go from the shoulders to arms which are originally a light shade of blue have also been replaced with red pieces.

GN Arms Type E + Exia

Finally, we have the GN Arms in weapons platform mode. I'm a big fan of the Dendrobium, and the Meteor units from SEED. I must say the GN Arms is definitely up there with them in sheer badassery.

This post sure has a lot of text for a showcase, from this point on I'll let the pictures do (most) of the talking. If you haven't already, do check it out in action.

The Exia combined with GN Arms. The unit attaches to the platform through the hole underneath the kit normally used for action stands.

The feet also docks on to footholds on the platform, but these are mostly for effect only.

The GN Cannons. These things supposedly pack as much kick as the GN Bazooka used by the Virtue - and this unit has two of them.

The GN Claws. Following the Exia's theme, they provide the unit with close-quarter combat capabilities, but are also capable of mid to long range combat thanks to the beam guns behind each arm.

While this is no review, if you're thinking about picking up this kit, I say go ahead and buy it. Hopefully these pictures can help you decide.

If I didn't already have an Exia or Dynames, I'd probably pick one up for myself - the GN Arms is a pretty impressive kit.

TT Hongli MG 1/100 Shin Musha Build - Part 1

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 15 Sep 2013 13:36:00 +0000

Finally got a chance to work on the Shin Musha this weekend, and here are the pictures I've taken before the build. Master grades are definitely a world apart from my usual High Grades; I am 8 hours in as I write this and I've only built the upper body.

The Manual

First up, we have some shots of the inside of the manual. Similar to the Masurao, there's plenty of poorly translated English all over.

I don't really care much for the manual as long as the instructions are clear, but you have to give TT Hongli some points for effort.

Origin of the Shin Musha

16 runners; this is definitely going to take a while.

The Runners

I've decided to take photos of the runners before building to show off the plastic. I was expecting the plastic to be so-so going into this build, but I was pleasantly surprised that they do look quite good for bootlegs.

In terms of the material itself, it definitely feels more fragile compared to the original - at least it would look good on my shelf. I hope.

Shiny

Here we have a shot of the polycaps. Compared to original Bandai kits, the polycaps for bootlegs are usually shiny and smooth as you can see here. I was expecting a lot more polycaps for a master grade but this isn't really a bad thing.

Another runner. In all the bootleg kits I've assembled, I find that they grey pieces are almost always the best quality. Color could be compared to an original kit, and the plastic feels sturdy. If they could do this for the rest of the runners..

"Gold pieces"

I had to rethink this purchase multiple times because of this. I've seen enough reviews of TT Hongli kits with gold plating to know that these have always disappointed.

Removing these pieces from the runner are usually problematic. Instead of one have solid gold-plated piece, you'd have one with tiny discolorations where it was connected to the tree.

The 'gold' pieces for the Shin Musha are more of a shiny brown/bronze than gold. Hopefully they won't look that bad when they're off the runner and buffed.

We get very nice matte white and red colors for the suit's armor which is a plus - I never liked shiny plastic for gunpla.

However, unlike the grey pieces, quality drops here. The pieces are very thin so be very careful when working with your hobby knife when trimming down nubs as it is very easy to shave off the plastic.

Shots of the black pieces. Sadly, we get shiny pieces here. Most of these will be covered up by the armor when it's done though so it's no big deal. Same with the previous runner, be very careful when working on these due to plastic quality.

More of the red parts of the kit used for armor. The Shin Musha's skirt armor is very detailed. In the upper right of the second photo above, we can see that the front skirt is actually made up for 4 pieces allowing it to wave. Once the kit is built, it'll make sense.

More gold pieces. I've already broken my no glue rule when I build the Masurao; hopefully I won't have to learn painting kits once I complete this kit.

More grey pieces used for the inner frame. If only the rest of the runners had the same quality as they grey ones.

The Actual Build - The Torso

I really wanted to build the inner-frame first and showcase the quality of the material and the articulation. However, this being my first master grade, I decided to do things by the book and follow the manual.

The runners we will be using for the torso. A master grade's torso uses more runners than a complete High Grade.

The main torso and the pegs that would eventually connect the shoulders to the body.

A photo of the interior of the torso with the shoulder pegs in place. The pegs provide more than 90 degree upward movement at the shoulders.

The assembled torso demonstrating shoulder movement. Of course, this will be limited once we build the surrounding armor.

Adding more detail and covering up the inner frame for the torso. Preparing the neck piece for the head unit.

Put them all together. Looking quite good.

A view from the back.

A better shot of the front of the torso showcasing more entry points for additional armor pieces.

A view from the top.

First set of gold parts that will go on the kit. As expected, there will be discoloration at the points where you remove them from the runners.

First set of gold pieces in place. Not too bad.

Parts for the waist assembly and additional pieces for detail - gold plates pipes, and front vents.

Looking good.

The Head

From the reviews I've seen, the biggest difference between bootlegs and the original (other than the quality of course) can be seen in the quality of the head. While the reviews of this bootleg Musha have been positive, I worry.

Source: I have a high grade TT Hongli Strike Noir that looks... Chinese. The kit's body is perfectly fine, but I can't take it seriously because of the head unit. Expect a post on this.

A dedicated runner just for the head unit.

First set of pieces for the head and the tiny sticker sheet that comes with the kit. Very happy about that; less stickers, more color separation.

Applying the eye and front camera stickers. Quality of bootleg stickers have always been bad, but the Musha's turned out to be quite good.. as they actually stick.

Another shot of the partially completed head with stickers. Showing a bit of goofiness here. The red under the eyes seems a bit to big giving it a 'surprised look'. Hopefully this will change once completed.

Here we go. Definitely looking better than before - at least from this angle.

Another angle. The sticker for the head was one big piece, I had to cut it manually before applying as you can see here. I'm really put off by that orange. It should be red.

A shot from the back; a view at the rear camera sticker. Had some trouble getting it in there.

Head unit looking good.

Samurai armor for the back and side of the head

Another shot of the head armor pieces.

Rear view of the head unit with the armor pieces in place.

The additional armor really gives it that samurai-look. Though I never did get the point of those ear-armor things on samurai armor.

Another shot of the head unit from a different angle. With the top visor, it definitely reduces the head's surprised look.

Then I had to apply the rest of the stickers and ruin it. Why is it orange and gold?

I am definitely going to remove these. The Gundam's signature V-fin was also added.

The completed head unit.

The Arms

I was really excited to finally start working on sections of the kit that actually move. Will it deliver in terms of articulation?

Again, more runners than a high grade.

Arm pieces.

First signs of movement. Definitely beats out any of the kits I've assembled in terms of articulation. Look at that bend. Articulation delivered.

Hopefully it'll be able to still do this once all that samurai armor is installed.

Hand assembly. Separate thumb and pointing finger. The other three are molded together but you can separate them.

The assembled arm. There's a peg on the arm to help in holding its weapons. I find that the thumb tends to fall off too easily but it's not that bad.

Outside of the hand. I still think the Masurao's hands are better at giving off samurai-esque feel, but it's just the way the kit is designed.

Bang!

Wrist and elbow armor/details.

Base arm completed.

A shot of the elbow detail. Pretty good. This shot also reveals the problem with the gold pieces. See they grey smudge? That's where the runner used to be.

Left and right base arms completed.

The Shoulders

We've got the torso and arms, obviously we need the parts to make come together. Here, we'll also be seeing some of the samurai armor pieces go into place.

Shoulder parts.

Assembled shoulder skeleton.

Went ahead and built one of the shoulders first. Here we have a shot of the various parts that go into the shoulder.

The completed shoulder pieces. Gold and red make for a good combination.

Upper Body - Putting it all together!

We have the torso, head unit, and arms. I will be closing part 1 of this build with the completed photos of the base body (no samurai armor). So far, really loving the kit, and enjoying working on this scale. I may have to graduate to working purely on master grades sooner than I thought.

Up next, the lower body, armor, and hopefully the completed kit!

For a bootleg kit, even with just the upper body and no samurai armor, this thing looks amazing. Those head unit stickers really have to go though, but overall not too bad.

Looks really good from this angle. Check out that 'shine' on the gold pieces.

Head looks kinda goofy from this angle. It's the red highlight underneath the eyes.

A shot from the back; no backpack for now.

See you in part 2!

Bandai HG 1/144 RX-78GP02A Physalis Type MLRS

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 09 Sep 2013 15:17:00 +0000

In almost all the reviews I've seen of gunpla kits, a lot of focus is placed on articulation. I really didn't appreciate it before, but I certainly do now - you really don't want your kit to just stand there.

However, there are times when we have to disregard such things when choosing a kit to build; there are times when sheer badassery of the kit is enough to justify the purchase. Internet, say hello to the Physalis.

Excluding the photos in my panel lining practice post, I still haven't been able to post any of my Bandai kits. Even though the trend suggests otherwise, yes, I own and very much love my original kits. In addition to the previews, builds, and reviews I would also like to showcase my humble kits.

This one in particular is still in progress as I have yet to put in the decals, but even without them I still think it deserves to be on here first. These types of posts are going to be very picture heavy, so hang in there.

Massive.

Stored behind the unit's massive shield is its main weapon - the Atomic Bazooka. You read that right. A-t-o-m-i-c. The shield itself is also designed to protect the unit against nuclear explosions.

When not stored behind it's shield, the Atomic Bazooka attaches to an over-the-shoulder mount.

In its stock form, other than its bazooka, the only other weapons on the unit are its dual beam sabers shown here mounted at the hips.

Despite its size, the Physalis is surprisingly agile. Each binder attached to its shoulder holds 3 high power thrusters that provide exceptional maneuverability.

A shot of the back of the unit. Here we see the rest of the thrusters as well as its backpack. More on this later.

Massive unit; massive leg units. Obviously designed to support the unit's mass and handle recoil when operating the Atomic Bazooka.

These are probably my favorite part of this Gundam as it is very unique.

Again, this really isn't a review, but let's go ahead and zoom into the kit and take a look at the details. For the sake of post length, I'll be reducing the size of some of the images from this point as even more pictures follow!

Even from a far, we can see that for a high grade there is a lot of detail on this kit. There are plenty of areas we can enhance by applying panel lines. I'll start applying decals once those are done.

Really good detailing on the upper body; the edges of each panel are really defined. All over the kit we can see tick marks and indents that add detail.

I was actually expecting the 02 designation on the shoulder of the unit to be a decal, it's really cool that it's isn't. On the arms of the unit, we can see some piston action (though I still can't help but wish that they would be a different color).

A close up of the head unit and a shot of the right shoulder. Much like the left shoulder of the unit with the 02 designation, I like that the right one isn't just a flat piece; that one indented line contributes a lot to overall detail in my book.

There's also some very nice detailing on the head which sports a gray v-fin. Yep, gray. The only yellow on this kit will be on the binders which need stickers, but that's alright.

Another angle of the upper body of the kit. More tick marks and indentations which are simply asking to be panel lined (or painted to improve the color separation!). On the second picture we have a peek at the mechanism underneath the binders for moving the thrusters together. Say what?

Check this out. That's right; the thrusters in the binder move in sync. For some of you who have experience with Master Grades, this may not seem very special, but this is my first time seeing anything like this. Blows my mind (okay I'm exaggerating - but this also makes me pretty excited for the Shin Musha).

More shots of the legs and feet of the kit. More places asking to be panel lined. I also like the indentations on the back of the unit's knees, as well as the 'screw' on the side.

Shots of the rear thrusters on the shoulder binders. Nothing special (took a lot of pictures, can't let those go to waste!).

Photos of the shoulder mounted bazooka without the long barrel. I haven't seen the series where the Physalis was featured so I am unsure if it works just like a regular bazooka when in this mode (my first encounter with the Physalis was in the PS1 game - Gundam The Battle Master).

Photos of the shield. Kind of looks dull without decals but still looks quite detailed because of the very defined panel edges. The second and third picture demonstrate how the handle opens up to make way for storing the bazooka.

Related: Just before this shoot, I actually thought I had lost the bazooka but decided to proceed with the shoot anyway. A few minutes into the shoot, where do I find the thing? Behind the shield.

Here we have the dual beam sabers. Nice green color on the beams. In the first photo, you'd probably think the beams attach to the wide end of the hilt (at least I did).

Nope - they go on the other end which makes having the unit hold them a pain. To equip them, you have to insert the hilt into the hand first, then place the beam so the hilt doesn't fall. Minor but annoying.

The assembled Atomic Bazooka. I have no words. A Gundam that acts as is a nuclear armament delivery platform; and it has a massive shield so it can just stand there and take the resulting explosion (albeit from afar).

Weapon of Mass Destruction

Don't mind the angle; the Atomic Bazooka is taller than the Physalis itself.

How the shoulder mount supports this thing is nothing short of a miracle. The arm that allows you to move the bazooka is very stable.

Macro

There are two high grade variants of the Physalis - your basic GP02A which is armed with what I've shown you so far, and the GP02A Type MLRS. As the title suggests, what we have here is the latter. MLRS stands for Multiple Launch Rocket System.

Dude

When the Atomic Bazooka is not needed in battle, the Physalis can be equipped with the Multiple Launch Rocky System to provide mid-range support in the field. The system is made up of 6-tubes, with 3 on each side of the unit's backpack.

While an ammo capacity of 6 isn't really that impressive in combat, I think just the sight of this thing would be enough to make your enemy think twice before they attack. Or crap their pants.

Shots of the MLRS option for the backpack. I really like how the tube seals actually open to reveal the missiles inside. I was kind of hoping that the kit would come with actual missiles which you can stick into the tubes but I'm probably asking for too much from a high grade.

Very good detail; I would suggest painting the warheads to make them stand out more.

The tubes connect to the unit via polycaps hidden inside the backpack; 3 tubes on each side.

You can can 'conceal' the system by pushing down on the tubes. They fit perfectly between the backpack and shoulder binders of the unit.

"Macross Missile Massacre" - okay maybe not a massacre since it only has 6 missiles but still..

I think I've pretty much gone through the entire 'tour' of this kit at this point. It's a little long and heavy on the images but hopefully it was informative, I guess? I intend to do more of these type of posts featuring my other kits.

In closing, I just want to reiterate that there are two high grade variants of this kit. The only real difference between the two in terms of features is the MLRS. If you do not own the stock GP02A, I highly suggest grabbing the Type MLRS instead; with a little parts swapping, you already technically own both!

And have I mentioned that this kit can equip/store its weapons at the same time? Yeah.

Dual wielding; Atomic Bazooka on standby.

Physalis - ready.

TT Hongli HG 1/144 Masurao Review

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 08 Sep 2013 15:10:00 +0000

After 4 hours of building here are the completed pictures of my snap-build of the Masurao by TT Hongli. This is going to be a picture heavy post but I will be writing some of my thoughts about the kit.

Here's a view of the entire kit. It kit only comes with two beam katanas, which I must say are very impressive. I wish there were more accessories, but it only really had these two in the series.

The Masurao is a very thin mobile suit, and is a nice departure from the usual design of mobile suits in the Gundam universe. Do not let its flimsy appearance fool you, this is kit is equipped with its own version of the Trans-Am system and is able to hold its own versus the 00.

The suit has a very fitting name. The overall design and color scheme of the kit gives off a very bad-ass, samurai-esque feel.

Staying true to the samurai theme of the suit, the hands of the Masurao are definite my favorite from any of the kits I own so far. While they're not Real Grade quality, they are still quite detailed - and you get 5 of them! I probably should have taken pictures of those.

The design of the backpack is also quite nice. If you take a closer look you may notice that the black part resembles a kunai/throwing dagger.

On to the articulation of the kit. The arms bend at the shoulders just a little over 90 degrees; rotates 360 at the shoulders. The hands of the kit rotate 360 degrees; there is some wiggle but you risk the hands popping out.

I originally thought I could get a lot of upper-body articulation from this guy with it being so thin, it's better than most High Grades but not by much. The kit also relies on a lot of pegs to connect the different limbs which loosened pretty quickly on mine. Then again this is a knockoff so I'm not sure about the original (hmm..).

The main body of the kit also has some articulation. The chest piece goes down to reveal a bit of the inner 'frame'; the shoulders are also on pegs attached to a ball joint allowing some circular movement. In the second photo above, I moved the chest down and shoulders out and I think it gives it a tougher look. I like to imagine its a super mode like the God Gundam's.

The Masurao's side-skirts are unlike anything I've seen before in the Gundam series as they are quite prominent. I initially thought they were the GN boosters but from the videos the suit only has one mounted on the back. It does do a good job in offsetting the flimsiness of the unit's lower body by providing additional overall mass.

The side-skirts are able to move from the back and to the front of the kit until it hits the front 'Y skirt'; you could probably get it all the way to the front if you removed it. I haven't tried to do it on mine as they do come off rather easily (simple peg connection to the leg). As you can see in the second photo, the skirts do move independently and can rotate until you bump into something.

Some (weird) poses. The legs are connected to the hip via a ball joint. The first picture demonstrates the split you can achieve before one of the legs pops off.

The second picture looks a little goofy, but it does show that you can achieve a very good front split with this kit; mainly due to the fact that it has no front or back skirt to get in the way.

The legs of the kit bend at the knees at roughly 90 degrees. You can get a lot more movement at this joint, but the additional leg armor gets in the way.

The foot is very weird, but in a good way; again, very unique to the Masurao and the 00 units. At first I doubted if it would be able to hold up the kit, but it does so quite well. You can move the 'heel' (pictured) down for additional support. As the kit has no foot guard to speak of it does have good articulation.

As we've gone over the upper and lower body of the kit, the pictures above highlight the most annoying parts of each:

For the lower body, the legs do tend to pop off too easily which could limit the poses you can achieve on this guy. As I mentioned in the preview post, the kit does come with its own stand which can help with that.

For the upper body, the connection at the upper and lower limbs is quite flimsy and do come off when you bend the arm at the elbow. I would never use super-glue in any of my kits but I may have to do it for this one. :(

Almost forgot about the head unit, which I am totally digging. I think it's pretty much the unit's head that establishes the samurai theme. If take a look at the close-up of the head unit, you can see the mono-eye, which I believe was taken from the Union Flag. You do end up covering it with a red visor, but having that small detail is definitely a plus.

The head moves forwards and back; side to side a little. It cannot do a full 360, but can turn left and right fully. The horns of the kit also move forwards and back, just be careful as plastic feels like it's going to snap on mine.

I think I've pretty much covered the basics of your typical gunpla review - look, design, articulation, accessories, and any highlights - the only missing now is the answer to the question: do I recommend this kit?

Short answer - yes; long answer - still a yes, but allow be to explain in part 2. This build/review has ended up a lot longer than I had originally intended so for now, I'll be closing this entry with a few more pictures of the built kit.

TT Hongli HG 1/144 Masurao Preview

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 07 Sep 2013 13:49:00 +0000

My TT Hongli MG Shin Musha build is going to be delayed, and another bootleg kit is to blame: the Masurao, also from TT Hongli.

I really like samurai-themed mobile suits.

I got this kit from RNC Hobbies & Collectibles in Market!Market! for 250 PHP; and that pretty much explains why I got it. They sell a lot of model cars and figures but do have a few gunpla kits laying around - mostly bootlegs. I did spot a few Bandai kits that, judging from their packaging, have been there for a while. Anyway, on to the contents of the kit.

Manual with English translations. I think it's adorable.

Here's something new. I have never seen a Bandai kit with manuals translated into English. Granted, the instructions are pretty much self explanatory, making it unnecessary, but for a Chinese knockoff to go the extra step and provide a (poorly) translated manual? That's just adorable.

A shot of the manual showing the runners. Note the included action stand (which this kit will probably need judging from how flimsy it looks).

Oh, China, you crack me up.

Here are more shots of the manual. The kit is made up of 7 runners of varying sizes; two of which are for the polycaps. Included in the runners are parts to build the included action base which, while far from Bandai quality, is definitely a plus. It also comes with one tiny sticker sheet with two stickers, and a piece of wire for the Masurao's pony tail which I will not be using.

Do check out the included 'Notice while Assembling' section in the screenshots above and do not forget to 'Please use the safe aqueous coating while painting' when building your gunpla.

Masurao. Masirao. Potato. Pot-ah-to. Shots of the unit action.

Some background on the units weapons.

Screenshots of what the kit will look like once built. More translated text and back story for the kit, again, which is nice to have. If you also haven't noticed, the kit's name is misspelled in the manual while they got it right in the box-art and manual cover.

Unlike my MG Shin Musha preview, I decided to open the plastic separators for the runners in this one to display the actual runners/trees:

Top right: as I've mentioned above, this kit comes with two poly-cap runners. Top left: parts for the included actions base; it comes with two arm types - one for standing poses and the other for more action type poses.

Left runner: the kit comes with clear orange plastic for the suit's beam katanas which are of very good quality. I can see myself using them for my other kits. Tiny sticker sheet and wire: I did say the sticker sheet was tiny; it only has two stickers on it.

The complexity of the runners is pretty much standard for a Gundam 00 High Grade, but what stands out is the general color scheme of the suit. That's a lot of black. I've never been that good with eliminating nubs on non-white pieces, I'm not so sure how this will turn out.

While the MG Shin Musha is the first bootleg kit I've ever bought, this is the first one I will build. I just want to work on something I can finish over the afternoon for now. I will be posting the build and review for this kit soon.

TT Hongli MG 1/100 Shin Musha Preview

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 03 Sep 2013 13:34:00 +0000

After weeks of waiting, I finally got my hands on the Master Grade 1/100 Shin Musha Gundam by TT Hongli! I got this from a seller over at Sulit.com.ph and it is my first Master Grade and first bootleg gunpla kit.

MG Shin Musha by TT Hongli. Check out that box-art.

This purchase was pretty much inspired by this review by Prime92. I've been exclusively building High Grade kits and have always wanted to try my hand at a Master Grade. The entry cost for building original Bandai MG kits is a little steep, and I was afraid was messing one up.

I saw the review and did some research on prices (it ranges from 800 - 1000 PHP) - this is going to be my test-entry into Master Grades.

In the pictures above, it simply dwarfs the box for the 1/144 High Grade RX-78GP02A Type MLRS which is my biggest kit (and box) to date; the MG boxes are massive.

As soon as the seller handed me the box, the only thing I can think of is: "This is going to be glorious (or the worst purchase I've made.. so far)".

Runners jam-packed in plastic. I see black, gray, and.. a dull golden color. Thankfully they're not gold plated/shiny; getting those clean off the runners is a pain.

TT Hongli sure likes to skimp on the plastic for their kits. High grade runners are usually packed into one plastic; for this MG, they packed all 16 runners into 4.

Lots of red pieces, and some white. The Shin Musha is a predominantly red mobile suit after all. Closer inspection of the runner shows that the color is more or less accurate with the original.

It will be my first time working with chrome pieces!

Opening the massive box reveals 4 sealed plastic containers (bags?); inspection of the included manual tells me there are 16 trees/runners all in all. That's at least 3 time more than what's included for High Grade kits.

There's also one tiny sticker sheet; and based on other TT Hongli reviews, this is a good thing. Bootleg stickers hardly ever 'work' and tend to peel off rather easily anyway. This also confirms what other reviews mention - the color separation for this kit is crazy good.

I won't be able to build the kit until the weekend, and from the looks of things I won't be able to finish it in one either. This kit is definitely a big jump from what I'm used to, and I am both excited terrified.

As the title reads, this is only a preview; but I am looking forward to writing my review of the finished kit here.

Build Progress:

Part 1 - Manual, Runners, and Building the Upper Body

How to get into the Gundam anime

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 26 Aug 2013 15:00:00 +0000

Here's a little something I stumbled upon while browsing /r/gundam and it is a must-read for anyone who wants to get into the Gundam series but have no idea where to start (as there are a lot of timelines/series). I actually just started watching Mobile Suit Gundam 0079 and will be following the suggested list below.

Mobile Suit Gundam 0079
Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team
Mobile Suit Gundam: MS IGLOO - The Hidden One Year War (PART 1)
Mobile Suit Gundam: MS IGLOO 2 - The Gravity Front (PART 2)
Mobile Suit Gundam: MS IGLOO - Apocalypse 0079 (PART 3)
Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War In The Pocket
Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory
Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam
Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ (NOTE: Start on Episode 2 / Skip Moon-Moon Story Arc)
Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Counterattack
Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn
Mobile Suit Gundam F91
Mobile Suit Victory Gundam
Others (X, Wing, G, your choice)

To view the full write-up by WackyModder84, click here.

Gunpla Panel Lining Practice

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 20 Aug 2013 14:34:00 +0000

I've been collecting Gundam model kits for only a few months now (starting with a First Grade Red Zaku from SEED Destiny) and I've just reached kit number 5. I'm mostly in it for the building process; collecting next. So far, I've avoided doing any sort of polishing after I've completed the kit.

However, a friend has successfully nagged me into at least panel lining my kits and during one of my trip to GreenHills (surprise, surprise), I got me one of these bad boys:

GM01 200 Gundam Marker

A fine tip Gundam Marker for panel lining. I actually got two. One black (GM01 200) and one grey (GM02 200) marker. I got them from Wasabi Toys for 125 PHP each.. along with a 1/144 HG Gundam GP02A Type MLR-S. :)

I've done my homework and have been reading/watching tutorials on panel lining online. It seemed simple enough; fill in the panel lines using the marker. On to my first victim:

A 1/144 HG Gundam HeavyArms (Endless Waltz Edition). It's a really old High Grade released around 1998. I got it for cheap at Best Toys in GreenHills (supplies, supplies) for 650 PHP.

I've always wanted a HeavyArms kit, and I really did want to do more than just assemble kits. I was just afraid of ruining them. However, at the price I got this kit for, it was the perfect practice platform along with my Red Zaku.

I won't go into the details of panel lining as there are plenty of resources available online to get you started. Here are the results of my first attempt:

The only thing I could panel line..

Not much going on up top.

More places to panel line in compared o the upper body, but not by much.

White everywhere; decided to panel line out of the grooves as well to add more definition.

There aren't that many panel lines to fill in this kit. Most of the lines are in the legs which really needed additional detail as they were predominantly white. For the upper body, I only had to line the inner elbow of each arm. I initially used the GM02, but would apply a second coat using the GM01 so the lines would stand out.

A shot of the panel lined HeavyArms. Again, there isn't much to work with.

Posing with quad Gatling guns.. which will probably make their way to a kit-bash at some point.

Gatling guns in action.

Being a really old it, it doesn't offer much in terms of detail specially when compared to the newer Gundam 00 kits. Even additional panel lining, it really didn't change that much but I do think it definitely looks better than it did stock (specially around the legs which previously looked like one massive chunk of plastic).

Overall good practice. Definitely went better than I thought it would. For anyone reading this who would like to give panel lining a shot - go ahead. My only tip is to start out with a kit you wouldn't mind messing up a bit.

Bootleg Bom Bom Star Wars Walker Review

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 18 Aug 2013 12:25:00 +0000

Finally a got a chance to work on this kit. It's a Chinese knock-off which I got from one of my trips to GreenHills.

BOM BOM Star War

8712

8202-6A

The kit itself is pretty simple and is made up of around 62 pieces. Once completed, you should have one walker, one mini figure, and some pieces to build a stand. Unboxing to completion took around 10 minutes.

As you would expect from a Chinese knock-off kit, the plastic is nowhere near Lego quality. At 150 PHP (that's around 3 US dollars), you do get what you pay for.

Some parts either fit too tightly or not at all. Luckily enough the legs of the walker are tight enough to actually allow the thing to stand on its own.

As you can see from the pictures above, some of the pieces also have excess plastic sticking out of them. They can get in the way when you're putting pieces together but they do help out at spots where pieces are too loose; I didn't bother sanding them out.

There's also some discrepancy between the box art/manual and the actual pieces included which can be a bit confusing when you're putting it together. I was promised different shades of gray (not 50) dammit!

It may seem like I'm nitpicking on knock-off kit but to be completely honest, I actually like this kit. It's actually an okay kit. I went in expecting it to suck and was pleasantly surprised.

The parts are complete. It doesn't quite match the advertised color scheme on the box but it's not atrocious - at least it didn't come in neon orange. The fitting can use some work but you can pose it for photos (just be careful with the legs).

It was a fun build and it does look good once put together.

I'm actually looking for other 'Star War' kits as a type this so this review probably won't be my last bootleg kit build.