MG Infinite Justice

It's a bit old but I thought I'd post these pics anways. I love the work this guy put into his custom made MG Infinite Justice. Most have taken a lot of time and dedication. Taken from Hobby Japan #7. The entire gallery can be seen here.

All of Athrun Zala's Gundams... at the same time!

Why did I do this? Well the answer is that I had an idea that I want to do. Eventually. I still have a whole bunch of other ideas that I wanted to do first. I still have an unbuilt Powered GM but I go out and buy 4 more HG models? I really do have an addiction. God only knows when I'm going to get around to building these.

MG Gundam RX78-2 OYW

78-2
Originally uploaded by Busterbeam

Oh this is almost embarrassing. Look at this! This OYW RX78.2 looks way better than mine! Granted I didn't air brush mine or use any shadowing techniques... but it just goes to show you what a little more work, not to mention time and money, can achieve. I love how this artist used the original anime colours but did a bit of shadowing/weathering to give it that realistic look. Truly the work of a master. I hope to achieve this level of skill someday.

Astray Red

Astray Red
Originally uploaded by Busterbeam

Astray Red. The first model that I inked. Yeah. After having almost twenty of them. I inked everything. Even things I didn't have to. Things that no one would see. Things that would be covered up later. Yeah I wasted a lot of time doing that actually. But it looked friggin sweet after all that work. After this model I decided that I would never make another model and just leave it as a straight build. I'd at least line it. I went back and re-lined my PG rx178.2 during this build process and I was so happy I did. All that time and his potential... Only now have I started to unlock it. Terrible

Astray was great fun and it was my first time cataloguing the build process. The sword and scabbard are just plain white and do NOT do the model justice if you leave it that way. I decided that I would make the sword and scabbard look better and thus... for the first time in 10 years... painted my model. And boy am I glad I did. A whole new world opened up to me. Now I see all these older models in a new light... Thanks to the Red Astay.

The models posability is shocking. It is just amazing... especially when compared to his Blue brother. Without doubt one of the coolest models I have, and the one that I'm most proud of. This model brought me deeper into the world of Gundam modelling. After so many you'd think I'd be in deep enough... but no actually. I realize now that I'm only now just beginning to scratch the surface.

The Gerbera Straight is really the corner piece of the model. Without it, it's a great kit by all standards but with it, it just pushes it into the 'superior' category. You'll see this kit in advertising being used as an example of a 'cool Japanese toy'. It's in a class all by itself. Surpassing the Gundam brand and escaping from the realm of models entirely. It's become a symbol of Japanese pop culture, combining a 30 year old animation, 16th century Japanese history with a 26th century Sci-Fi storyline but made for today's audience.

As for my Red Astray... I'll never be able to fully articulate my joy at seeing him completed. It's the joy that one can only achieve after putting in hours and hours of meticulous work, slowly coming together over the course of months. This model taught me patience. This model taught me tenacity. The model taught me diligence.

This model changed my life.

Beginnings

I create this blog primarily to detail/chronicle my experiences with plastic modelling, or "plamo" (PURAMO/プラモ/PLAstic MOdels) specifically... Gundams. I've been making these for some time now and only recently did I start to take them a bit more... seriously. I realized that making these models gave me a lot of pleasure... but I particularly enjoyed seeing the process. Seeing people make these things and then seeing the finished product was the best part for me. Here's an example taken from Dalong's site.

After seeing things like this I realized that to be a good modeller you also need a good artisitic sense. I studied art all through out high school and in a different lifetime I'd probably be a professional illustrator now instead of a teacher. Gunpura in a sense combined so many of my loves all into one activity. Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Mechanics, Art and the possibility of self expression through design and modifications. Really... you are only limited by your own imagination.

But for me its all about the process, so that's what this blog is going to be about. Keep in mind that I'm not a master model builder by any stretch of the imagination. Only now am I just starting to try, so this blog will be a sort of online journal for myself so I can see my process and hopefully learn from my mistakes.

So a bit about myself. For me it all started when I was 16, growing up in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada (a suburb just outside of the largest city in the country, Toronto). While working in an "electronic arts" class in high school a Chinese friend showed me a picture of a robot which I thought was the coolest thing ever. He told me that this was called a 'Gundam'.

Shortly after that time but within the same year, I was at another friends house and I saw a model robot on his desk. I asked him what it was and he said "It's called 'Gundam' and my friend brought it back from Japan." I said to myself, "Gundam again! I must have one!". Later on that year I bought my first one.

It wasnt the best kit ever but it was really fun to make. This is where it all started. Initially I knew nothing of the storylines concerning these mecha. That would change later. I never painted any of the kits I bought. Just assembled them. But this kit was enough to start an addiction that I've never been able to satiate since.

Click here to see all the kits I have and if you want to take a look at some models that I think are really good click here.