Saturday 30 April 2011

Mobile Suit Wing Gundam Custom XXXG-00W0

I bought this kit a year ago,and was hoping to modified its wings and add more details.But it didn't end up as the way i thought so i return the kit back to its original form.

For the color scheme of this kit,i took some ideas from Wing Gundam ver. EW because i thought the original color scheme is kinda plain,and I was quite happy with the final results.I used gun metal color for the internal frame,and for the weapons i spray silver on them first then used black pastel to polish so as to get a rusty metal effect.This is the first time i use this method which i found on the web(pardon me for forgetting who and where i saw this from),that guy used graphite instead of pastel however i got the wrong grade of graphite(i think it was 6B or higher),so i tried pastel and the result was still ok.But i will try graphite next time.





After seeing the final product,i was glad that i didn't continue modifying despite some early failures as it would just make it more complicated and maybe uglier.Thats why sometimes i say "simple is better".

















So this was how the kit looked straight out of the box,before i did any modding.

I completed this diorama a couple weeks ago,however i wanted to wait for the completion of the gundam wing custom before i post photos of the gundam on it.However,as you can see i still haven't put the gundam on.This is because i could not decide whether i should use it,after seeing how the model turned out.Maybe it would be a better choice to make a land gundam for it,what do you guys think?












Thursday 14 April 2011

SD Blitz Gundam WIP part 1

I bought this a long time ago and stopped building it halfway.I was not skilled enough to build a nice SD model then.But since i'm finishing with my MG gundam wing custom,i thought i might as well start preparing for my next build and maybe its time to try challenging myself with this model.
I dont know to go with the sword or without it.Any suggestions?

Last time i stopped after putting cement on some of the parts,so my first task was to sand them down.
I also did some research on SD model on which parts i can work on to make it look nicer.I started with filling epoxy putty into holes that are obvious like the v fin,shield,etc.
My next task was to sharpen the v fin,claw and chin to make the model slicker.It was a tedious process,but my sanding router help me save a lot of time.And using sanding sponge to sand the v fin make my life a lot easier.
I may sharpen the v fin a little more,but i'm worried that it'll break.

I notice that there were plastic in between the missiles on the shield to prevent breakage,but i find it ugly so i decided to cut them away.I was extremely careful when cutting away the plastic as those thin missiles are very fragile,and i did almost break the middle one.Lucky!
The front was halfway done when i forgot to take picture.

Wednesday 6 April 2011

How to do pre-shading and highlight on your gundam

Before applying any color paint be sure to spray a coat of primer(i use mr hobby 1000 grey primer),this will help the paint to stick better to the surface and also reduce the risk of "flooding"(too much paint at one area causing thick and ugly paint marks).(Primer also help to find faults on your model)

Base paint-This will be the first layer of color paint and it's usually a darker tone of the final color.For example,if you want to paint light green on your model,your base color would be dark green.
For this piece here,I used dark grey as base because I will spray dark blue next.

Shading-How well you shade,comes with practice.The more you practice,the better the result.Shading is basically leaving a darker color tone on the edges.Make sure that the top color is vivid.(For example,when spraying white,there will be a lot of instances when the white is a little grayish. Thats because the white coat is not thick enough or the base coat was too dark causing the white parts to look like very light grey parts.)

Blending-This is an important step to blend the darker parts with the original color,and to do so,we need to thin the main color more by adding thinner.Spray it at a distance,and see the base color getting closer to the main color but still remaining its darker tone.




Highlighting-Add white paint to lighten the color tone more.Lightly spray this at the center of the pieces,do not go too close to the edges or it would erase the effect of the previous shading.

Monday 4 April 2011

My thoughts on MG Epyon Gundam



When i heard that there will be a MG epyon coming out soon i was very excited,since i didnt get the NG version of it and epyon is one of the cooler gundam on wing series.However,when they release the colored version of the kit,i was rather dissapointed.It just seems that the body proportion is a little off,the head is kinda small compared to the huge lower body.This may be because of the color scheme,im not sure.I personally would get rid of the light grayish purple and change some of the "red" on the leg to black,if i was going to follow the epyon color scheme.
The wings doesn't look menacing enough,and the gimmick on the feet seems useless as it can only be used in MA/twin head dragon mode.However,there is one thing in this kit that excites me,and thats the shield and heat whip!Those things are so cool that may make someone buy the whole kit just for that.
Overall,this is not a must buy for me.However,i think this kit have the potential to be modified into a cool kit.

How to make realistic miniature trees for your diorama

Here is a cheaper way to make large quantity of miniature trees compared to purchasing those ready-made miniature trees you will find in hobby shops.The materials you need are simple and easy to obtain.A can of glue spray(you can also white glue but it dries slower),a hand drill with a 0.5-1mm drill tip,some small branches that you can find on the road side,and woodland scenics' bushes.
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When you are dealing with the branches make sure that it is completely dried,if not dry it under the sun for a few days.

If your branches does not have enough branches branching out,you can drill a small hole on the trunk and stick another branch in it,using superglue.This is important because if the tree does not have enough branches,the "bushes" would not have space to stick.
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Now,you can spray glue on the branches leaving the bottom of the trunk clean.(Be sure to spray a thick coat of glue)
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Dip the tree into a bowl of "bushes",and bury it under.
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After taking it out,apply a little pressure on the bushes to make sure it is stick well.You can also trim your tree by removing or adding more bushes using white glue or super glue.(Do not use the spray on bushes)

Here is the final product,hope you guys like it.
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Using bushes as the leaves let you create how a tree look when you are looking from afar.So for gundam because of its scale,i think it is better to use bushes.

For this diorama,this kind of trees are perfect for making a forest feel.
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This is still wip,more trees are need.Next post will be on how to make realistic mountain.Please stay tune.

Sunday 3 April 2011

RX-0 Gundam Unicorn

I finish this kit a year ago,and since im starting this blog i thoguht i will share the finish product with you guys.This was not my first gundam kit but it was my first attempt at doing weathering on my kit.When i first saw the kit with the cage together,an idea immediately came to me and that is to make a old rusty dirty look on the unicorn.Since it was a first time for me,i went on the net and did a lot of research on weathering.Overall,i'm happy with the final results although there is still a lot of things i can improve on.But what keeps gunpla interesting is that you learn new stuff every time you finish one.For example,i learn to do "washing" on the kit and the usage of pastels.