Sunday 28 August 2011

Gundam Epyon "The Hydra" Week 3

For this week,i've been working solely on the body as i got tired of sanding the wings.Sometimes,its best to change and work on something else,this helps me from getting burnt out.

Basically what i did was the same as my deathscythe hell,drawing the panel lines,adding rivets and pla plates,so i won't talk about those.

I did some modding to the ankle,to make the parts separable even after i cement them together and removing the seam line.How i went about doing so is rather simple and most of you should already know this.After i cement the 2 red parts and removed the seamlines,I drew a wide panel line right in the middle.Make sure the line is deep and use a hobby knife to cut in between the panel line and separating the 2 parts.Now,i can paint the red parts and the inner frame separately.

Most kits' ankle are like this,and if you do not want a panel line in the middle,you can draw 2 parallel panel lines on the sides and cut 1 of those right through to separate the 2 parts.After painting,the panel lines will look like its part of the design and the ugly seamline will be gone.

I wish i got more examples and photos to show,but i kinda got lazy...

The next thing i did is also a mod to clean up the seamline on the claw.First,i cut out the portion that is highlighted in black.Next,cement it onto the other part of the claw and putty the gaps.And the unpleasant seamline is gone.I hope the pictures will explain the steps better than i do...Haha...



And for all the joints,i sanded the black portions down so that they won't rub against other parts and scratch the paints off after painting.Even when the parts aren't touching each other after priming,it is likely that they will after painting because paints will add to the thickness of the surface.
Arm frame(Left),Leg frame top portion(Right)


For additional details,other than the rivets,panel line and pla plate,I added pipes underneath the shoulder to enhance the look of the inner frame.


I was thinking whether i should combine the 2 shenlong weapon and make it into the EW version,or use epyon's sword as the main weapon.What i don't like about the sword is the guard,it looks too small compared to the huge beam.So i went to test fit the fin onto the side of the guard,so as to extend the width and make it look bigger.The fins fit pretty nicely to the side,so i hope after some modifications i can make them movable so that when the beam is not activated,i can close the fins.

I'm going to mod the boomerang from destiny gundam into spikes for the wing.Here is the basic design for it.

I'm sorry for the wordy post,but i hope that some of the mods i explained can be of help to those who are just starting out gunpla.Thats all for now,see you guys on the next update:)


Friday 19 August 2011

Gundam Epyon "The Hydra" Week 2

For the past week,i've been continuing with the wing's mods and the fifth head.I'm not sure whether my working pace have slowed down but i do feel a little burnt out over the week.I am spending more time on my xbox now when i have free time rather then on gunpla.Its not that i have lost interest in this build but i'm just a little tired.I hope i can regain my momentum and finish this in time for the local competition that was postpone.

Enough about me,lets get down to the project itself.The dragon head gave me the hardest time because i can't draw,that means i can't sketch out the design that is in my head which would make sculpting it out so much easier.When i'm sculpting,it is usually trial and error.But when that doesn't work,my only option is to finalize the design on paper.Luckily,i was able to sketch out a design that looks like a dragon's head after a lot of tries.

After i got the design on paper,i was able to sand the head out but i'm still thinking where i should attach the weapons to.And the funny thing is that my first few tries on the dragon's head,looks nothing like a dragon.It was more like a eagle's head,and that made me second guess the whole concept.But its better now,and i'm glad i continued.

The progress on the wings are going smoothly,they just need some more time and i think they should be good to go.The thrusters just needs some detailing and i have ordered some HIQ parts for it.


I also needed to make some changes to the backpack for me to attach the fifth dragon to.And thats when i thought of putting the shield on the back since i won't be putting it onto the arm,which turned out to be a rather neat idea.


And for the fangs on the feet,i shorten the fangs a little and sanded them down,before cementing them.I will have to apply some putty to seal up the gaps at the side later on.

This a trial piece of a pillar that i've made using plaster for a pantheon theme diorama.I have some problems with it,so i want to ask whether any of you have tried this before.How do i make the plaster not stick to the corrugated paper?
This is a very ambitious attempt for me and i'm not sure whether i can pull it off but i'll give it a shot.

Thats all for now,thank you guys for viewing my post:)Cheers!

Wednesday 10 August 2011

MG Gundam Epyon "The Hydra" WIP Week 1(part 2)

Hmm,i think i've posted the first wip way too early,with only 4 days of work there wasn't much content.So this will be like a part 2 of week 1's wip.

So for the past few days,i've been working on the wing and thinking how i should approach the 5th head.

Lets start off with the wing,the sanding was very tough this time.I don't know why but i just  can't get the shape right,especially the middle part.So i had to put epoxy and sand over and over again,which was kind of disheartening.It still needs more work but this definitely looks better than my first try.And i should also mention that i haven't even started sanding the other wing,so this is definitely going to be a long journey for me...

 I've also started on the other parts of the wing that i want to add.These are still prototypes that i have to refine further.I'm not good at using pla plates for scratch building so these are the parts that worry me most.

For the fifth head,i added some of the epyon's parts to the side of the head to make it look more dragon like and fiercer.And of course i will have to recast the parts later on.The next step would be to add putty to try to blend the head with the twin cannon together so that it will look like 1 whole piece.This should be done by the next update.

I have also started marking out the places on the body that i want to add rivets.And i've also designed panel lines for some parts.I find this model very different from other model.I don't really know how to explain but i had a hard time deciding which parts need more details and which are the parts that i should leave alone.If you have seen my last project,you'll notice that i don't like to add too much because i know if i do that i'll just keep adding and make the whole thing a mess.

Not sure if i should put the "fangs"...

Thats all for now,i hope that this is more interesting than the first post.Cheers guys!!

Sunday 7 August 2011

MG Gundam Epyon "The Hydra" WIP Week 1

The joints are pretty weak so i need things to help hold them up.

I got the MG epyon a few days back and have almost finished denubbing it.I have also started on modding the wing and working on the "5 heads".The 5 heads is nothing special actually,i mean most of you must have figured out how i am going to get the 5 heads.The first 2 heads is the epyon's feet themselves and the other 2 is from the shenlong's claw. Disappointed?Well,let me show you the 5th head first which may make you guys more disappointed...Haha...But don't worry,i'll try my best to improve their look and hopefully i can give them a unique look.


I have also started working on the wing which if you have read my last post,you will know what design i'm going for.First,i use pla plate to mark out the places i need to add epoxy,this also helps strengthen the parts when it dries.Next,i applied epoxy putty to them and try to mold them into shape.But i'm not good at molding so i'll wait until it dries and sand them into shape.That means for the next whole week,i will be sanding the wing...AHHH!


So for next week,i will sand the wing and remove the seamlines on the model.I like to fix up the model first before applying any cement.Because like this,i will know which parts i need to remove the seamlines and which parts will be hidden and removal of seamlines is unnecessary.

Hope you guys like what you are seeing here and please stay tune for the next update.Cheers guys:)

Wednesday 3 August 2011

My Work Station

After every project i will try to clean up my station and tidy everything up,so it won't get too messy for my next project.This is also a great time to check what stuff you need to resupply.I finally found some time to do some cleaning up and i thought i will show you guys my work station before it becomes messy again.

So this is my humble work station,it is not very big and it gets crowded real fast,especially when you are doing mods and painting at the same time.Equipment wise,i don't have much but its enough,a 3 years old compressor,2 airbrush for easy shading(1 for base,1 for the color),etc.And I have a hell lot of paints leftover...


Next,is my not so humble collection.4 large boxes of model kits.Don't ask me why i bought so many,I definitely regret it...haha...

And lastly,this is my display cabinet.It is running out of space real fast and there are several painted kits that i have keep in boxes due to the lack of space to display them.I was thinking of getting another cabinet but i don't have space to put it...sad..sad..

Tuesday 2 August 2011

MG Gundam Epyon "The Hydra" Preview

First, there was Gundam Wing Zero custom.

And then there was Gundam Deathscythe Hell.

Now,let me continue my gunpla journey with the wing series.

Haha,pardon my fancy intro,i thought it would be funny.Anyway,for my next kit i'm going with another model from the wing series,because i love them.Without this series,I won't have come to love gundams and started gunpla.No haters please,i love the other series but this is the one that brought me into the world of GUNDAMS.And i love their designs a lot.


Pardon my rough sketch:(

I am going with the MG Gundam Epyon and i'm going for a dragon theme.Here is a little sneak peek of the wing design.Some of you must have seen something similar to this,and yes you are right,the design is somewhat similar to a poster of epyon gundam on the net and thats where i got part of my inspiration from.It looks very cool and i don't think anyone have tried making it so i'm going to give it a try.But i am still unsure whether i have the skills to execute it,but you will never know until you try.
My other inspiration came from gundam epyon white,which is basically is the combination of altron gundam and gundam epyon and i'm going to do something like that.I'm like breaking all my old NG wing series model for all these MG models...haha...I hope you guys like the idea.Cheers:)