Sunday, September 11, 2011

Weekly WIP - MG Strike Freedom (Part 1)

I feel like I'm not putting enough into the blog... even though I just started. So I've decided to change things a bit. I'm going to continue the weekly WIP updates, but periodically/randomly I'm going to have other gundam/gunpla posts. Mostly be announcements, tutorials, news, and the occasional opinion.

What I'm working on...
This week I began building my MG Strike Freedom. Wasn't really a fan after watching Destiny. It was a little too powerful. It's like the Superman of mobile suits. Not interesting to watch someone that can do everything. But then a year or so ago I was playing Dynasty Warriors Gundam 2 and was forced to use it. After playing a few missions, it started growing on me. I became interested in the poses, moves, weapons, etc. Although I became a fan, I still had no desire to get the kit. Then I saw the Perfect Grade. It looked amazing. However, I can't justify spending that much on a single kit... At least not yet. So I settled for the Master Grade.

After snapping the kit together I'm pretty pleased. For the most part I've only ever built 1/00 HGs and NGs so maybe I'm easily impressed. There are a few issues though. The right arm is really loose so it doesn't stay put. The same goes for the wings on the right side. Also, the left gun doesn't fit in the peg on the hand. This is kind of annoying, but I'm not just snapping this kit so those issues will be resolved. Below are some images of the kit snapped together.



For those wondering, that is the pose I'm going with. I don't like putting my kits in a bunch of different poses after they are painted. I really tend to leave the kits alone once they are on the shelf. With this in mind, all mods I do will be to help with the assembly and painting. I'm going to be showing all of the steps I will go though to build this kit. Some things are ideas I'm trying out. Others are techniques and tricks I've picked up from the MAC Forum or youtube. Now on to building the kit!

I'm starting with the base. If I'm going to be able to keep the kit in the pose above, I need to have the base for it to sit on. Since the base is in the shape of the wings, I'm going to paint it like the wings. As for the stand I'm going to put pla plate over it, leaving the stripe down the middle. I'll be painting the stand white and the stripe down the middle gold (see the image below).


First issue is that the stand doesn't fit in the base. Not a major issue. Just needs a bit of sanding. I'll probably glue it in once it's painted to make sure it's nice and sturdy.


The next part is to address is covering the sides. This didn't go well. For my first attempt I tried using pla plate, but there were two issues. 1) I couldn't get the shape I wanted. The shape had to fit exactly and with the curves in the stand I just couldn't get shape perfect. 2) The hollow areas caved in a bit. So after that failed experiement, I tried milliput. Seems to be working. It's going to require a lot of sanding. Almost got half of one side done. And it only took 45 minutes :(


Looking ahead, there's going to be a lot of seam line issues to address. Since the waist is the first part going on the base, I'll be planning how to remove the seam lines on this section. At first glance, it appears the guns on the waist appear to need the most work.


What else I'm into...
Picked up issue #4 of Jennifer Blood. She's no Punisher, but it's a pretty good read. Ninjettes! Plus I love Garth Ennis books. If you've never read The Preacher, his run on The Punisher, The Boys, or The Crossed, you really should. Very intertaining and like nothing you'll ever read or expect to read in a comic.


The Tony Kornheiser Show is back after a summer away. For those that don't know it's a light and comical sports talk show. Outside of touching on major sporting issues, there's also talk about what's on TV, the animal revolution, weather, and Tony's life among other things. If you're interested, you can check out the podcast here or on itunes.

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

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