Introduction

Today I decided to start a blog to share my experience with model building. Why? Well I've discovered there's not much on the experiences of someone learning the basics. I envision this blog as a tool to help those wanting to get in the hobby and hopefully included a few things that can help even experienced modelers.

How I got started...
To this point, my modeling has been based around building Gundams. I've been building off and on for the past 10 years. Like many starting at that time, my journey into Gunpla began with Gundam Wing. Loved the show. Still do. On a trip to the local Toys-R-Us I stumbled upon a 1/144 NG Deathscythe Hell. Since this was my favorite design from the show, I had to get it. Went directly home and spent an hour or so putting it together. I was not equipped to build it, but some how I got it together. I was very pleased with my work. And of course I needed to get all of the other kits. While building the Heavyarms (me second kit) I realized how badly these kits need paint. That's when I started painting them. Also stated using tools like clippers to remove the parts from the runners and some sanding sticks to remove the nubs. Became really happy with the outcome. Except for some experiments with spray painting, that's more or less how I built my kits for the next 9 years...

That's when I stumbled across Kamm's youtube channel (here). I found his work amazing. And after watching his inspiration videos, I was no longer pleased with my work. I had no idea how much could be done. From that point on, I decided had to step things up. Since this revelation, I started practicing some scratch building and moding on an old 1/100 HG Serpent Custom. Never finished it, but it became a good learning experience. After that I got an airbrush and built a 1/100 HG Nataku (pic). I was happy with the plan, but the execution left plenty to be desired. Which takes me to now and my build off with Meads. You can check out the WIPs on the MAC Forums (here).

What's the plan for this blog...
I'm planning for this blog to be updated weekly with the progress I've made on any project I'm working on. I plan to cover everything. The kit, tools, paints, techniques, and influences. Although nearly every project will probably involve Gundams, there will probably be one every now and then that doesn't. Next week I will kick off this blog with a new project. This new project will be the MG Strike Freedom. I'll be giving more detail on why I'm working on this kit next week. Broke it out of the box the other day and I'm quite exited. Gunpla has come so far since I first started.

I'd also like to involve the readers of this blog to be involved. I will ask for help on everything from color scheme to which project to work on next. I would also appreciate any feedback or critiques on the projects I'm working on. If it can be arranged, I'd also like to get some guest post of experiences of reader and people that influence me. Everyone has a different take on how to build models and I like to hear there stories. Lastly, if anyone has suggestions on how to improve the blog I'd love hear them. I want to make this not just an enjoyable experience for me, but for those that read.

Lastly, I plan to finish each entry I want to comment about non-modeling activities that have my interest. Although I love gunpla, it's not my whole life and I want to share those other experiences as well. Hopefully it will give some further insight into how and why I build models. I will place it at the end so if you aren't interested you can stop reading.

What else I'm into...
Don't waste your time going see Apollo 18. Don't worry I'm not going to spoil the movie. I'll just say it didn't work for me. Maybe it's because I love all things space, but there's more than a few plot holes that don't get resolved or don't make sense.

I also started playing Torchlight on Xbox360. Seems like fun through the first 10 dungeons. Not sure it will keep my interest until the end though. I think it's be a combination of so so story and lack of meaningful rewards for completing side quests. But for anyone wanting to check it out, don't pick a Chakawary as your pet. It looks cool, but it's unbelievably annoying.

Well that's all for now. See you guys next week.