Completed! - 1/6 Sailor Moon & Luna

Here's the finished Sailor Moon kit with Luna. You can check out more photos on flicker here.

Thoughts on the kit...
I bought this kit from e2046. The kit arrived in pretty good shape. Not much in extra cleanup to do. Really just the shoulders, where I feel the pour marks are in really bad spots, and getting rid of the seam lines in the hair. Luna had a little flash, but for the most part everything looked great. This kit does not come with a base. I took it from another kit since I won't need it for that one. If you like the look of the kit, I recommend getting it.

Thoughts on my work...
If you checked out my video on the Psylocke kit I made, you know was not happy with how it turned out but I felt that I learned a lot from that build. After completing this kit, I fell that those thoughts were completely accurate  I'm really happy with how this turned out. There are still some mistakes, but they are smaller and I was able to work around or hide many of them. I did lose the earring. Could have scratch built some, but I didn't care that much. Also messed up the color of the shoulders, but I don't think it's a big deal.

In the end I'm happy with this kit. I built this kit for a friend and now I don't want to give it up. It's far and away the best figure I've done. Yes, I know I've only done 3 figures, but this kit makes me really motivated to do another figure and to push abilities in figure painting.

Weekly WIP - 1/100 Nightingale (Part 5)

Not much of WIP here, but I felt like share what's be going on. Some personally stuff came up and I really lost interest in modelling and specifically this kit. So after a week or two away from model building, I started getting the itch to build again. But, seeing how much more there is to sand just made me want to throw everything in a box and put it in the back of the closet. So check out the video below for what I've been doing to get me back into the Nightingale kit.

Seems to have worked. Almost done sanding the wings and the weapons. So expect more post in the near future.

Weekly WIP - 1/6 Sailor Moon (Part 1)

I've mentioned it a few times, but I'm working on Sailor Moon kit for a friend. It's really just been sitting around for a few months and since I need a break from all the sanding for the Nightingale, I thought I'd start painting this kit. Was going ok until I got to the hair. When I was painting the base coat, it fell and landed in a pile of dust. Although I hate redoing parts, there was no way around redoing this one. Stripped the paint. This time during priming it fell. Fortunately, not much in the way of damage here. But, it does mean I have to take a new approach to painting this part. I think I'm going to paint half, wait for the paint to dry, paint the other half, wait for the paint to dry, highlight the first half, wait for the paint to dry, highlight the second half, wait for the paint to dry, then detail paint. Given that, I think it will be at least a week and likely 2 before this kit is finished. Here are some pic of the parts as they stand now.

Well that's pretty much it for now.

Weekly WIP - 1/100 Nightingale (Part 4)

Still sanding. Got the hip, front, side, and back skirt done... Well nearly done. Noticed a few issues during filming that need to be taken care of. Started working on the wings and weapon. Waiting for some option parts to arrive before tackling the arms and head. Hopefully they'll arrive before I finish the other parts. Anyways, here are the latest vids...

Site Update - 2/24/13

I'm back. Took a few weeks off from any model building. I guess I got burnt out and needed a break. But I'm back at it. No images or videos to share right now, but I've been sanding away at the Nightingale. Got the front skirts and hip done. Nearly finished with side skirts and making good progress with back skirt. Expect some new videos shortly. Also started painting a Sailor Moon kit for a friend. Hopefully that will be done in a week or two. So stay tuned for future updates!

Weekly WIP - 1/100 Nightingale (Part 3)

Been sanding and sanding and sanding. Got the legs and body done. Currently working on the skirt armor. Here are the latest vids

Completed! - 1/100 RX-93-v2 Hi-v E-V-O

Finally finished the Hi-v E.V.O. Here it is!

Ran out of photo space here and there's no way to pull from flickr, so here's a sample. Rest of the picks can be found here: Hi-nu E.V.O. Gallery.

Thoughts on the kit...
For a non Bandai kit, I was pretty happy with what I got. I really like the look of the kit. The larger size and added detail really make this kit look amazing. There were a few seam line issues to deal with, but other than that everything fit well and the kit feels pretty solid. The base for the stand is pretty good. The rest of the stand, not so much. So many dimples in the plastic. That was a bummer. But I think if your only real complaint is the stand, the kit is really good.

Thoughts on my work...
I fairly pleased with my work. The two things that really stand out to me is the dust and the scratches. I have no idea how so much dust got on this kit. I tried really hard to prevent it, but half way through I just stopped caring. Once the parts are washed for painting, they are always covered unless I'm painting. I just cleaned the room and covered it in plastic. I don't know what happened, but this guy is a magnet for dust. As for the chipping, that was my fault. I just got carried away building it. I mean I put so much time painting and detailing that I couldn't wait to see it together. So when parts were a little snug, instead of trying to find what the problem was, I went with brute force. It got the job done and there wasn't anything too bad, but there are a few spots that I have noticed.

I also tried detailing the inner frame on the kit. Well really just the legs. It's the only frame parts that are exposed. It was actually kind of fun. I didn't really want to do it, but so much of the leg armor was exposed, I felt I had too. I was really nervous when I started. Would look at photos over and over to make sure I was getting the right spots. But after a while I stopped looking at the boxes and just did whatever I thought would look good. I will definitely be doing this again for kits with exposed frames.

In the end I'm happy with this kit. Tried detailing for the first time and found out it's something I really like. Had some issues with dust and scratches, but I don't think it's anything too major. I don't think this kit is better than my Marasai, but it might be my second best kit. If you have the resources to build tis kit, I highly recommend it.

Weekly WIP - 1/100 Nightingale (Part 2)

Sorry for the lack of updates. I have been building, but I've just been too busy to post. Here's how the Nightingale build has been going

PS - The Hi-nu is done. Expect a post tomorrow!

What's in the box - 1/35 Citroën Traction 11CV Staff Car

Received this kit as part of a gift exchange at my local modeling club. I'd like to tell you something about the kit or the vehicle, but I don't know anything about either. So this will quite the learning experience.

First up, the box. It's about the size of an HG. Nice artwork. Not many images of the actual kit though.

So what's in the box? Few bags of parts, some instructions, stencils for masking of the clear parts, and some decals.

First up is the manual. It's all black and white. Personally, I'm not a fan of that. Instructions are in a few different languages which is nice. I really only need the English parts, but it's nice that the other languages are there. Really nice to have it for the sections that discuss the story of the car. That section is highlighted in the images below. The painting guide is pretty simple. Nice that the company that makes the kit also has a line of paint.

Next up a is a separate paper labeled "Tech Tips." What's on this page is a set of stencils for the masking of all of the windows. Pretty cool idea, but I don't know if they are necessary or not.

Next are the decals. They look pretty nice. Hopefully they work as good as they look.

Lastly are the parts of the kit. They look pretty nice. Looks nicer than the Camero kit I've been working on. I'm interested in seeing how this kit goes together.

Well that's all. After the holidays I'll probably start snapping this guy together. So until then...

Weekly WIP - 1/100 Nightingale (Part 1)

Doing something very different here. This build is going to all be on recorded and put on my youtube channel. That being said, here's the first set of videos. Hope you enjoy!

Kit Building - 1/144 Fire Valkyrie (Part 3)

So with the individual builds done, what do they look like together?

Knowing this was an old kit, I didn't expect much out of it. For the most part, I got what I expected. Seam lines everywhere, poor color separation, bad numb marks, and limited articulation. Was a little surprised that there was a clear canopy. Thought they might opt for a solid piece and a sticker. In the end, unless you need a practice kit and don't want another Gundam or you're a huge Macross fan, I can't recommend this kit.