MG Nu-Gundam Photos

So as all now know, I’ve been somewhat busy with family things lately, but while spending a week in the hospital while my wife recovered from her c-section, I found the time to do a simple snap build of the MG Nu Gundam.  I actually went out and did the decals, panel lining, and top coating.  The results came out quite nice as you’ll see in the pictures below.  Now there aren’t any action poses, which might not make some people happy, but I think the Nu Gundam looks best and imposing just standing there.  Also, unlike the MG Hi-Nu Gundam, this kit doesn’t come with a stand for the fin funnels, which limits what you can do with them unless you utilize your own solution with stands.  Pros for the kit is it is quite stable, thanks to the usage of die cast parts in the waist and legs, and for the most part handles the top heaviness fairly well.  With the fin funnels attached, the height of the kit reaches nearly pg size which was quite impressive as well.

Comparison shot

Anyways, while no action poses, here are some pictures for you to check out anyways.

The State of the Gunpla Union – 022811

So nearly four weeks since the last post, has it been that long?  I was reading Z’s blog the other day and he mentioned that when he gets away from blogging, it gets harder to come back.  Talk about being in the same boat there.  Anyways, any way you put it, another month has gone by, so let’s catch up.

First off, the obvious four week gap in posts probably equates to two or three things.  First up, the inevitable life.  Work is ramping up into full gear and I’m heading (or juggling you could say) a few big projects that is taking up quite a bit of my time.  Add in that I spent nearly a week out of town at various locations in Japan means that there is less time to Gunpla.  The good point is I did get to meet up with GaiGun for our usual get together in Akihabara (which is pretty much still month despite the fact I live half the country over?), and catch up on all things life and Gunpla.  But yeah, work has kept me busy to a point that when I come home, the last thing I want to do is look at the computer, which of course keeps me from actually writing blog posts.

Something we saw in Akiba – A red Hi~nu

The other big factor in lack of posts is that it took honestly longer than I expected it would to get everything needed for the PGSF wing joint fix.  While I was able to get the pipe, glue, and putty no problem, the actual 3 or 4 dollar pipe cutter needed to make nice uniform rings, was out of stock literally everywhere in Osaka.  I was a bit dumbfounded because I didn’t think that many people needed to cut pipes at the same time to warrant it being sold out everywhere!   However, I managed to locate the needed cutter while on my business trip in Yokohama (a lot of them too, go figure) so everything is finally ready to go.  But now that I have the goods, I’m finally getting back to the PGSF, and that should be my next WiP before finishing up the initial build of the kit.  You should see the wing fix in action first on Gunpla TV as I’ve provided GaiGun with a few to give the wing fix a try on video.  Fingers crossed that it’ll work out good.

The goods for the fix

For those following my facebook page though, you’ll notice that while the PG SF was on pause, I did go ahead and start cleaning out some of the back log, and knocked out four HG kits over the last couple of weeks.  The Qubeley Mk-II, the Qubeley (Pearl Coating Version), the Gundam Mk-II (Ecopla version), and the Extreme Gundam.  In fact, I actually started and did most of the Extreme Gundam at the hotel while on my trip.  Gaigun and I joked a bit about this, but now I think I may have to start carrying nippers in my bag when I travel in case I get the Gunpla bug.  HG’s really are great kits for those quick and simple builds that don’t take up weeks of your time.  The downside is you need to do a little extra work to get the truly awesome full effect.   Still, the important thing is I’m still knocking out stuff, I just need to blog about it more…

Knocking out those HG kits

But anyways, another month has passed, and that brings with it some more gunpla news.  First up on the MG side, we have upcoming releases for a retooled Wing Gundam, Gundam Epyon, and 00 Raiser.  First off, the 00 Raiser was simply a matter of time, and is a pass on my part.  I wasn’t impressed with the kit overall in PG size, which means I’m not going to be impressed with it in MG size.  Especially considering you need a full five led sets to get the full effect.  I guess we should be grateful that Bandai is being generous and giving us at least on with the kit, considering they didn’t do that for the Quan[T].  The retooled Wing Gundam does look fairly appealing, but it’s still likely a pass for me at this time, since I already made a Wing Gundam I’m happy with.  This leaves Epyon on my list of a big yes.  Simply because it feels like we’re finally moving towards some of the kits people have been want to seeing in MG form in a long time.  Fingers crossed still for an MG Kapool someday though…

On the HG, SD, and RG side, there is a bit of excitement as the next RG is the Aile Strike.  While I’m somewhat not surprised that they went this way, and had actually hoped for something a little more… different than the usual pattern, I am looking forward to seeing how well the RG quality and what not translates to the Aile Strike.  On the other hand, the upcoming SD Sinanju is definitely on my list. HG’s that have me interested are the upcoming ECOAS Jegen and Dreissen, but I still want to see finalized pictures for them before I make any other decisions.

RG Aile Strike

SD Sinanju

But like I said, I’m looking more at working through the backlog, then increasing it, and so my goal is to actually knock out quite a few kits.  Initially I may just just snap builds to get the boxes and plastic out of the way, and then go back once we hit spring to start doing painting or mods to models that I want to do so for.  But in general, the next things to knock off on my HG/RG list is the D-Mode Unicorn, and the RG Zaku-II.  I’m also looking at doing the PG GP01 just because that box takes up a lot of space.  Anyways though, things blog-wise and actual build-wise will continue to be affected by my work load, so we’ll see how March goes.  What’s on peoples upcoming want lists or to build list for March?

Oh, and while I say I don’t want to increase my backlog, I couldn’t help but jumping on ANA yesterday to fly to Tokyo on business, and grabbing a couple of special order cards while I was at it….

The State of the Gunpla Union – 013111

Welcome to the first SOTGU of 2011.  It has been a busy month and and before you know it, 1/12 of 2011 is already done.  Also, technically the 2^nd anniversary of ASM has come and gone as well.  I don’t really go out of my way to celebrate or anything, I’m just happy to be going along at my own pace, with those who like to tag along.  But still, it’s always nice to have more people tag along, and so I’ve linked to my facebook ASM on the left side of the main page.  Feel free to stop by, favorite it, and make new friends.  In fact, due to me figuring out how to post from the iPhone, the facebook page will likely be updated with various picture updates and tidbits faster than the blog.  So, consider it more of a real time tool to catch up with what I’m doing.  There may be other slight updates around the site going forward depending on the time.

As for current Gunpla, I continue on with the PG Strike Freedom, and I’ve finished the wings and dragoons… finally.  It seems that most kits must have some area of tedium, be it weapons block, decal block, or in Strike Freedoms case, 8 wings and dragoons to build.  Still, that next WiP will be up sometime this week so look forward to it.  After I finish up the wing joint fix, it’ll be time for initial photos、followed by planning on how to finish up the frame and all that, with decals and finishing up with top coat.  If anything, I see the final touch ups taking up quite a bit of time, but we’ll see.

People may also not that the MG ReZel is finished, but I’ve held off on it because I accidently lost the tiniest part of them all, the V part for the waist.  A replacement part will be heading my way shortly, which means I can finally finish off this kit.

So going forward, what’s on the Gunpla forefront for me?  Well, I’d like to knock out the RG Zaku II, but I have an idea kicking around for the long overdue Musha Mk. II.  Of course, I’m also on a bit of a PG kick too, and after seeing the latest Dengeki Hobby homage to 0083, I think I might need to go ahead and knock out the GP01 that is sitting up high on my backlog.  There are also rumblings for a 2011 GaiGun/ASM Collaboration, but nothing certain just yet, we’re both juggling quite a bit as is between work, family, and CoD.  Thankfully, there really isn’t much coming out that I’m interested in at this point that should distract me.  Or at least  so I thought!  On my current interest lists:

Gundam Deathscythe Hell – I’m glad that I waited.  While the wings at full extension look a bit odd, it looks good when closed up tighter.  The darker color scheme is also great as well.

Extreme Gundam – This one kind of came out of the blue for me.  I was interested in the design when I saw the first prototype, but the combination of blue and white, with the clear metallic blue highlights have made this a definite pick up.

I will also say I’m intriqued by the upcoming HGUC kits for Gundam UC as well.  In particular the ECOAS Jegen and the Dreissen, but other than those two, there is nothing on my radar for a while.  In regards to Wing Gundam MG kits, I’ll be waiting for Heavy Arms, but the rest of the lineup is a pass at this point.  What with the next episode of Gundam Unicorn out in less than 2 months, I would hope for another MG follow-up, but Bandai is laying low and going the HG route by the looks of it.

Somewhat of a shorter SOTGU this month, but the PG Strike Freedom has dominated most of my Gunpla time, and the upcoming spring kits look to be so so at this point for me.  I guess with 2010 wrapping up Gunpla’s 30^th year anniversary, 2011 will be quite a ho-hum year perhaps.

Any thoughts on how this year will go for Gunpla, and what are you all looking forward too?

The State of the Gunpla Union – 113110

Before you know it, it’s the end of the month again (give or take a few days….^_^:;) November ended up being quite a bit busier than I expected on the real life end and quite a few factors kept me from the website and Gunpla.  But let’s get on with the how things are in the state of the Gunpla Union.

First up, as I mentioned last month, my PS3 bit the dust and I sent it off for repairs in hopes that they wouldn’t have to do anything that would involve wiping my hard drive and nearly 4 years of saves.  Unfortunately, that was not the case, so rather than having them fix it, I opted to have it returned and will attempt a fix myself in order to try and save my data.  But considering there is a chance that I’ll screw it up, I went ahead and picked up a new PS3slim, and have immediately been sucked into Black Ops, especially now that GaiGun himself is playing.  Nightly matches of domination and Zombies means less time for website, gunplay, or sleep at this point.  Of course, add in my back log of Assassin’s Creed, Castlevania, Medal of Honor, DJ Hero 2, and the upcoming Gundam Musou 3, and I start debating skipping sleep all together…

Our new (blue) son

Other than that, I’ve also been shuttling back and forth to Tokyo for projects and work on a weekly basis, and that has actually been cutting into my weekends.  Again I’ll be in Tokyo for this week and next weekend for work, but I’ve secured time to meet up with my drinking partner, Gaigun, in Akiba.  Now that I think about it, we’ll be meeting up on the day of the PG Strike Freedom drop, so we’ll be able to see firsthand how popular it is.

It’s definitely looking good! 

So unfortunately, it looks like things are going to be a bit busy for me in December as well, between work, gaming, and the Japanese penchant for end of the year parties (I’ve already got 5 on my list..)  So I guess I need to forgo not only sleep, but my liver as well….  But, onto the Gunpla stuff!! I actually did manage to finish a few kits in the first part of November, so all that’s left is photos.  I also did manage to get some new kits so I guess that puts me at plus/minus zero for the month…  First up, some completed things (and upcoming (truly, yes, I will do this) photo shoots) include the following kits.

More Eco-pla HG kits!

And a bit of orange to go with that black 

Yeah, I jumped on that bandwagon too (and hand painted the gold at that) 

While I finished the above, I still have the MG ReZel that I’m working on with the folks at the GAF GBP thread.  Currently I’m exactly where I was last time, with the legs finished, and all the other pieces snipped out.  I just need to paint, and do so light after market parts work.   The goal is to get this done in the next couple of weeks if possible.

MG ReZel

So why do I want to get this done?  Well, the major reason is that the PG Strike is dropping in less than two weeks, and I’m ready to jump on it.  PG’s definitely take time though, so I want to clear off my work table of all current kits before I dive into that monster.  Of course, there is a couple of other small kits I want to try and squeeze in there if possible.

Selling like hotcakes, and for some reason, I want to build this more than the RG Gundam…

More (or is it less since it’s Mini?) Hoi-hoi

And yeah, I went there. 

Honestely, I like the box art for the Linkin Park HG kit.  I think because it’s more of the realistic portrayal of the members more than anything else.  But that’s my current gunpla status.  The main goal in December though is to get the photo shoots for all the done kits out of the way, finish the ReZel, and jump into a WiP for the PG Strike.  What’s on everyone else’s plates this holiday season?

MG Char Use Z’Gok (EXF Version) Photo Gallery

Continuing with my slow pace of knocking things out, here are the photos for the MG Char Z’Gok.  While I like the Z’Gok in general, I can’t really place why.  While imposing, the Z’Gok is unfortunately limited by… well it’s form I guess. While the waist is movable, you really can’t twist it around and have realistic (at least realistic for the Z’Gok) poses.  And of course a lack of neck doesn’t help.  Still, I love the color scheme, as this was a rare extra finish version kit in which that gate damage doesn’t stand out too much.   If you can find it, worthy of a pick up, in my opinion.

WiP – MG Char Use Z’Gok (EXF Version) Part 2

Continuing on with the WiP for the Z’Gok, we left with the upper body and arms finished as seen here.

Crabwalking

Honestly, going on from here I’m already over halfway done, with only the waist, legs and feet to go.  Jumping into the waist we find an abundance of rubber parts for where the legs and upper waist connect.  This gives it more of a rubbery, seal kind of look, which I guess fits considering the amphibian nature of the Z’Gok.

Waist parts

Next up we move onto the legs, which is pretty much the exact same as the arms.  These also have the gimmick of being able to extend and shrink slightly.

Leg pieces

We follow that with the pretty large feet and lower leg parts.  Honestly, the Z’Gok has huge feet, and that gives it quite a bit of stability.  While the feet have good left/right move ability, front/back is pretty much out of the picture.

I wish I had Shin guards like this for soccer.

Flat footed?

Connect the pieces and…

And that’s it, a rather fast build considering the unique build of this mobile suit.  Put together we get the following.

Here comes Z’Gok

Overall, the colors look excellent in extra finish style, and the gate damage isn’t as noticeable as it is on Gundam-types.  The only thing is that you can only do so much with the Z’Gok when it comes to posing, giving its rather wide feet, and a torso that can’t twist around.  Still, I’ve been taking some shots with my new set up, and hey, it looks good enough just standing around.  So, next up, photo gallery!