PG Astray: Strike Frame

PICT0437
Originally uploaded by Busterbeam

I mentioned before that I'd be spending a bit more time on the frame than usual on principle and I'm think I'm finaly done with the basic frame.

I wanted to give it a used, metallic look so I did a bit of silver dry brushing all over the frame and painted the tubes/wires. I could have done a better job but it's all going to be covered up by armour anyways so I didn't put in my best effort. However I do believe that some of my efforts will pay off once the armour is applied because a bit of the frame is going to peek out in places so... We'll just have to wait and see if I'm right or not.

As usual there are more images at my flickr.

PG Red Frame / PG Strike frame comparison - Part 2

This post was long over due but here's the 2nd half focusing on the PG Astray with the PG Strike frame.

Starting with the cockpit. The only change here is a pretty minor one. The cockpit cover latch is different. Really it's almost insignificant. I dont know why they made it like that.

The neck connection is a bit different.

Most of the changes can be seen in this shot. Chest frame cover, cockpit hatch cover and the torso/shoulder joint are all different from the Strike.

This is the last part. The elbow armour connection panels are different. Outside of the parts I mentioned here, there are no extra parts that are necessary for the Astray frame.

As you know all know now, I've used the PG Astray Red frame for my Strike Vermillion and I will be using the Strike frame for my PG Astray. Here they are side by side before armour application. I really like the Strikes lower legs and feet. The Astray feet seem really bulky to me now.

That's all for now. I'm a bit behind on posts so I suspect that I'll be blogging a bit more within the next couple of days. I have a free weekend with no plans so that means I can finally concentrate on the things that matter. *looks at his Red Frame box*

More Strike Vermillion + Where are they now? Current poses for my models

Thought it'd be nice if I put up some pics of the current poses that my 'boys' are in. I have a lot of models but these days I only keep the ones that I've painted/lined out. You can see the gallery for all of these models on the side bar.

Also there are couple of extra pics of the Strike Vermillion. More of that to come in the future but for now... I'm going to try and put that aside until my Astray is done. I think I can officially say that my distraction is now over. I'll put all of these pics up on my flickr in case there are any problems with the links.

PG Strike Gundam - Redux

... and I will call him... Strike Vermilion.

Today is my birthday

and I want Aki Hoshino to come to my house, clean my floor and make me sweets!





Thank you and have a nice day!

Errors = Eros?!

Here is some extra candy because of my mistake.

PG Red Frame Comic - Part 3/3

Final Round!

Side note - Modifications on the PG Strike are coming along well besides some minor 'hue' problems. Basically just have to line the armour, wait for the paint to dry on a couple of pieces, get a new battery and assemble the head.

*edit* just realized that I saved over my 2/3 post... ugh. Oh well it wasn't anything pressing or important. I'm putting all the images up at my flickr for posterity.

PG Red Frame Comic - Part 1/3

Those who purchased the PG Red Frame got this comic included with the model itself. I'm not sure if this is out on the net yet but if it isn't, it is now. I'll post them in installments.

All images are also at my flickr (don't trust this html crap)

PG Red Frame / PG Strike - Frame comparisons

I've talked about this a few times in my blog but here is the visual proof of just how similar these kits are. I've taken the Red Frame and put the necesary Strike parts on it to make it into the Strike Frame. The differences were minimal to say the least. I havent changed any of the colours here. The dark grey parts are necessary to make the Strike frame.

The major part is the torso. Because of the way it's constructed you must use the cockpit housing of the Strike. Technically the difference between the two is slight but significant. I've highlighted the differences here in red. Thanks to Dalong for the scans.

Red Frame

Strike frame

Because the cockpit housing is built as one piece you have to use the entire unit, even tough 90% of the construction is the same. The re-occuring theme with this is that the PG Red Frame actually uses less parts than the Strike. At least concerning the frame.

After swapping the parts it looks like this. The neck and shoulder joints are slightly different. The torso's outer frame is significantly different than the Red Frame.

Couple of slight differences concerning the arms. Just the elbow/forearm armour mounting and the shield attachment unit.

I did repaint the foot of the Strike black because the red just clashed too much with the colour of the frame. I like it better like this. Actually, the Red Frame comes with almost all the parts necessary to make a complete Strike frame but there were just counted as extra/useless parts on the runners in the Red Frame manual. For example the Red Frame comes with the Strikes "Combat Knives" but they were considered 'useless' parts for the Red Frame.

Conclusion - Not a lot of differences in the frames at all. Bandai certainly saved a lot of money in this area. Frame wise, the Red Frame uses about 90-95% of the Strike frame but the Strike uses 85-90% of the Red Frame. Consistent with SEED chronology, the Strike frame clearly came first in the development process and Red Frame is just a slightly slimmed down version of it with a couple modifications here and there.

It's funny that despite the percieved bulkyness of the Red Frame with armour, it actually has lighter and thinner frame than the Strike. However the Strike's armour is considerably thinner and less bulky than the Red Frame. Perhaps this is to better accomodate the various Striker packs it uses.

More frame comparisons to come but next time we'll look at making a Red Frame from a Strike frame.

Gundam Pro

When the opportunity to witness greatness comes along we should all stop and take a good look.

These resin kits do not come cheap though. 2000 bucks for the Sinanju and 1000 for the RX-78. wow.

Last set of Gundam posters

Finally, we'll finish this poster run with FIX posters. These are ALL my personal favourites and I have difficulty choosing which one I like the best. The RX-78 got a special place in my room, along with the FA version. The "Hummingbird" is my desktop wallpaper at work.

More Hobby Japan Posters

This set will deal with real life models made into scenes from the anime. The Zaku one is my favourite, but the one for Seed-Destiny is pretty cool too.

GNX-607T/AC/BW - GNX-II Sword/Cannon

Ever since the GNX-III came out a lot of us have been wondering about the GNX-II. Where exactly did it go? For that matter, what exactly IS it?! The GNX-II was developed between the end of Season 1 of Gundam 00 and the beginning of the 2nd season. I don't believe it actually saw any kind of production run and was used mostly as a test-bed for new technologies and equipment.

In this month’s Hobby Japan (thanks to SRWHotnews again for the scans, saving me the trouble) we have some conversions of the ESF GNX-III 1/144 kit.

Aesthetically it's very similar to it predecessor and successor, but I have to admit that I do like the GNX Advanced the best out of all of them.

*edit - had some html issues. All the images are now at my flickr.