Weekly WIP - Goddess of Death (Part 1)

So I've hit a roadblock with my Mecha 2012 contest entry. The images and instructions for the XN Raiser do not make sense. Parts are reversed and I'm not sure about certain detail. To help fix this, I've ordered the HG version produced by Bandai. While I wait for that to arrive, I've started another project. Trying something a little different. Going to try and make a Gundam Girl. However, I'm not interested in making your standard Gundam Girl. I think it's the "girl" part I don't care for. Why can't they be more on the sexy side? Well that's what I'm going to try for. So I'm going to try and make an attractive Deathscythe Hell Gundam Girl, which I will call the Goddess of Death. I will be combining the MG Deathscythe Hell and the resin Herald of Hell Airi (unboxing) kit from e2046.

I have no intention of rushing this kit, but in case I finish it before July1, I took a few photos so that it can be entered in the Mecha 2012 contest.

Started putting the kit together. Looks great. I'm really happy with it.

As far as the kit itself, only a few things to do. First up are the seam lines for the arms. Not a big deal. Only minor gaps to fill. Very happy with this.

Other fix is the dress. Yes I'm keeping the dress. Adding the chest and skirt armor seems boring to me. Unfortunately, the dress parts just do not fit. Not sure what I'm going to do with that. Going to try the heating thing and see if I can get them to fit together. I've never done it before, so my guess is the dress wont be clear (or clear-ish). I think I'm going to need putty and pla plate to fill the gap. I tried taking a photo but I couldn't get the back to stay on.

Next up is getting adding the Deathscythe Hell parts. Legs appear to be the perfect size. All I need to do is is add a little pla plate to make a connector for the knee.

Arms wont be so easy. They don't match at all. The plan is to just extend the piece. But as you can see, it's a pretty big extension.

Next up is the head. I have to get rid of the maid headband. That's not going to work at all. Not sure what I'm going to do there though. Might just make a simple headband. The biggest head issue I have is with the V fin. I like the way the bangs hang and I have no idea how to add a V fin so that it doesn't look like I just glued it on. Anyone have a suggestion?

Lastly are the wings. No image because I don't know what I'm going to do there. I think the only problem with the wings is going to be the attachment to the back.

Well that's all for now.

What else I'm into...

MARCH MADNESS!!!! I love the NCAA tournament. It's my favorite sporting event not involving the Raiders. Well the brackets just came out. Don't have much more to say about this now, but I'll have more in few days once I fill my bracket out.

Completed! - AGE-2 Normal

Here is my completed kit for the iShop2go AGE-2 Custom Coloring Contest. When I first saw this kit it seemed very reminiscent of the Freedom Gundam. However, to me, that color scheme just wasn't interesting enough. So I went with the Strike Freedom color scheme.

*Check out the WIPs - 1, 2

Thoughts on the kit...
This kit is pretty nice. I don't usually do 1/144 scale kits. Haven't done one since the NG Wing kits. Haven't done an HG since the 1/100 Wing days either, so I'm very impressed with how far Bandai has come. Fewer seam lines, fewer visible numbs, better color separation, etc. I don't care much for the standard color scheme, but the design of the suit itself I like. I like it so much so, I will definitely get the MG and I'm thinking about getting another HG.

Thoughts on my work...
I think the color scheme fits pretty well. I wish I would have spent more time on it. Got squeezed with this contest and the HLJ contest ending at the same time. For the most part I'm pleased with the paint job. There are a few parts that I had to hand paint to save some time that I'm not pleased with, but the rest can out really nicely. Even the masking and touch ups look pretty good. The biggest issue I have is with the poor prep work. Lots of scratches from the sanding process. Most are hidden, but they can be seen. Overall, this wasn't my best work, but I'm pleased with the results. Not a show piece, but it's shelf worthy.

Weekly WIP - AGE-2 Normal (Part 2)

Going to be quick this week. Been busy building. 2 kits, 1 week left. I'm on pace to finish on time, so hopefully nothing too major will get in the way. Here's a preview of the AGE-2 Normal.

Here are some other finished parts that can't be attached yet.

Lastly, what's left.

I appear to have lost a part. It's the poly cap that joins the head to the body. Looking for a replacement. Not sure I can get one in time. Might have to make something.

Well that's all for now. I need to get back to work on the HLJ kit.

What else I'm into...

The Walking Dead. First two episodes of the second half of this season have been pretty good. Hopefully tonight's episode will be equally as good. As much as I love the tv show, the comic is much better. If you haven't checked it out, what are you waiting for? I recently finished the ninth TPB and I couldn't put it down. I can't recommend the series enough. Check it out!

Weekly WIP - AGE-2 Normal (Part 1)

Been working like crazy on my kit for the HLJ competition. Only two weeks left. Not sure I'm going to make it but the end is in sight. As if that wasn't enough, I decided to enter the iShop2go AGE-2 Normal competition. Might not have been a good idea given the time constraints (it ends the same day as the HLJ competition).

I got the kit snapped together pretty quickly. Then I started rushing the sanding. Didn't seem to be an issue until I started painting. You can really see some of the scratched that I missed. Anyways, here are some pics of the parts in their current state. Some need a gloss coat for panel lining.

Others are ready for a flat coat.

And others need to be painted.

As for the paint, here are the colors I am using.

 

The dark purple/blue is 2 parts blue, 2 parts black, 3 parts purple.

Right now, I think this is one of my better paint jobs. Unfortunately, my poor prep job is taking away from that. Well hopefully with some clean panel lining and creative posing, I can cover most of that up.

What else I'm into...

Don't have much time for other stuff with these two competitions, but while I've waited for paint or putty to dry, I've returned to playing Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3. I know I've mentioned this game a lot, but what can I say. I love it! If you haven't checked it out, do so. And remember, respect the foot dive!

*Check out more tips, tricks, and commentary from Maximilian's youtube channel.

Weekly WIP - Full Armor 00XN Raiser (Part 4)

As I've been focused on my HLJ kit, progress has been slow on this kit. I've been working on the 0 Raiser part of the kit. Nubs are sanded and other areas have been smoothed out. Pretty happy so far. There are a few parts that will need extra work. There are a few noticeable seam line on the 0 Raiser. There is a seam line on the tail end of each binder. I don't expect this to be a big deal. Given the way this attaches, I don't think any modding or masking will be required during painting.

Each of the binders has 2 wings with a seam line going all the way around. In my case, the parts don't align very well. Kind of annoying since this is a 2011 kit, but it's not anything a little glue, putty, and sanding can't fix. Unfortunately, The blue part goes in between the white parts. I think I'm going to mod this part so that it slides in. Since I keep my kits in a fixed pose, I don't really care that I will be reducing the kits articulation.

Lastly, I received my decals from Samuel Decals this week and they look great. Got a lot of them as them are a lot of parts on this kit. First up are the 00 7 Sword/G decals. I got two of these since I have 2 sets of weapons.

Next are the 00 Gundam decals. Samuel has 2 versions of these, so I got one of each. Will probably be using a little from each of these.

Next up are some 1/100 XN Raiser decals. Samuel doesn't actually have these, but he does have some in 1/144 size. He was kind enough to increase the size. Not sure that these will fit, but I'm optimistic.

Lastly, are some 00 Gundam series metal decals. These are pretty cool. Not really sure how to describe these. They are definitely not flat like normal decals. They appear almost like photo etched parts with an adhesive on the back. Samuel does provide instructions on how to apply these. I will be playing around with the non Celestial Being decals to see how these work. I'm very excited to try these out.

What else I'm into...

Getting my gunpla mojo back. After a busy couple of weeks, I had begun to lose my desire to build... well technically sand. I hate sanding. Especially where there's a ton of parts. So to get the juices flowing, I watched a couple of Gundam series.

Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket. This series was ok. The kid was unbelievably annoying, but I think the message of the story is pretty good. The pacing I felt is pretty up and down, but the last 2 episodes I really enjoyed.

  

Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memories. The mobile suit designs are pretty awesome in this series. I really like the GP02a. The action is pretty good. Story seemed to tie everything together. Wasn't really happy about the Gato ending, but that's because it seemed a little underwhelming giving his importance and standing. As far as continuity goes, it seems seems to me like GP01Fb, GP02a, and GP03 are all more impressive suits than the Gundam Mark II. I'm sure someone has a logical reason for this, but it doesn't make sense to me. Overall I must say that I really enjoyed this series and I'll be watching this series again in the future.