HLJ VF-27 - WIP 2 - Main fuselage / Head

Brought to you courtesy of HLJ.

Here are the parts that will be added to core fuselage.

The cockpit and pilots have a lot of little details that would look lovely with a bit of paint.

One thing that you should try to take note of is how well the parts line up after snapping them together.  They should be relatively seamless, as shown here.

Some parts don't move.  After snapping the nose cone together you could easily glue/putty/sand this part to remove the seam lines and it wouldn't effect the mech at all.  Of course you would have to paint it and if you paint one part you're going to be painting many just for the sake of consistency.

You're given the option of two types of canopy.  Solid and clear.  The solid one is used in the anime.  Below are the comparisons.  The molding is exactly the same. Material is different.

Which one do you think looks better?

Parts of the head. Relatively simple.

Assembled.

Oops!  Likes like my knife slipped! haha no I did this intentionally of course.  This is the only mod I'm going to be doing to the kit.  I didn't think that the 'horns' were necessary for a super aerodynamic fighter (extra drag) so I cut them off.  I also want the head to resemble my VF-25G a bit more so I cut them off.  I'm going to do a bit of shaping later but I decided to just do a basic 'chop' right away to get a feel for how it'd look.  I kept the horns just in case I change my mind.

HLJ VF-27 - WIP 1 - Core fuselage

First day of summer vacation which means it's the first day of work for me.  Work on Gundam! haha yeah I'm just exchanging one job for another now.  Granted I don't get paid for this but I can at least sleep in.  And it's fun.  So let's get started!

I say 'core' in the title because some extra parts will be added after but this is just the basic transformation mechanism at work.

Before I start this project I must clean my work area!

From VF-27 Basic tools, 2 types of a nippers and 2 cutting knives, multi-vitamins and Omega-3 capsules, homemade sports drink, watch, speakers to connect to I-Touch, and miscellaneous tools/markers/pens in the blue drawers. VF-25G oversees all! I had a couple Real Touch Markers laying around from when I bought SD Justice and Aegis a life time ago (bought before I started this blog so no link unfortunately). So I decided to use that for working on the nubs. This is basically what it looks like before and after.  As you can see it's not perfect but it's certainly better than leaving the nubs as is.  Generally what I like to do is shave the nubs down with the knife, then run my fingernail over it to smooth it down a bit.  Then I use the marker and blend it in with my nail again.  I know... it's a bit... organic but it works. Here are the parts that I'll be assembling first. There are quite a few small pieces so it's very important to cut the nubs down properly in order to leave the transformation mechanism unimpeded. Very small parts.  Repainting these kits would be a true feat.  The nubs are a bit glaring but they're on parts that probably won't be seen.  You have to decide for yourself just how detailed you want to be.  Also because the pieces are so small its very easy to lose them.  Please be extra careful concerning that.  One lost piece could have disastrous implications, as in the entire transformation mechanism may not work without it. The next couple shots will just show how much movement and articulation you can get from the assembled parts in this section.  Everything moves it seems.  It's quite a bit different from building a Gundam in that sense.  Gundams generally move like people and have joints in the same places that we do.  Macross kits are like that as well but x10.  Every other part can move somehow.  That said, it is a relatively stable build and can be played with without much concern of breakage.  This kit is a masterpiece of engineering and everything fits together perfectly.  If there's one piece of advice that I can give you about assembling this kit it is this; If it doesn't seem to fit right you made a mistake.  The engineers didn't.  Everything should fit together and move perfectly.  So for god sakes don't force anything to happen that the engineers didn't intend to happen.  You may ruin one of the many transformation mechanisms in the kit.  The parts are small and can break with a bit of force, please be careful of that.  Check and double check the manual if you have to but if you're going to force something into place make sure that's what the manual is telling you to do.

GNY-0042-874 Gundam Artemie

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Originally uploaded by sandrum

I know a lot people aren't so keen on this 'bumblebee' suit but I really like it! I think it's cute. And innovative. I'd like to see more designs like this. Sandrum put up a bunch of nice pics of the scratch built suit. Check it out. Maybe your opinion might change about it.

RG RX-78-2 + MS Hangar

Patience has never been my strong point. Couldn't wait. Even when I got there shortly after lunch time there were only a couple of kits and magazines left. I know there's a chance that I could win this in the HLJ Contest but it's a long shot and you can't live your life thinking "maybe" all the time. If I do end up winning it by some miracle I'll still be happy. And I know I could probably buy this kit later after the contest results have been announced but that's a long time from now and... I can't wait to see how this new RG series holds up.

There are tons of reviews out there already so I won't bother but I will be posting my thoughts about it later.

Right now I'm currently on the fence on whether I should paint it or not. I kind of want to build the kit as is and use all the things provided just so I can finally have a proper finished un-modded RX-78-2 but... that's just so boring to me... So like most things I'm probably going to put my own spin on it. Change the colour and leave some of the decals off. Oh I'm excited about this!

The MS hangar isn't really anything special but I'm going to use it. I like having extra 1/144 scale goods for sake of comparison.

MG Rezel + HG Delta Plus

*Cue tears of joy mixed with misery*

Every time I think I'm out... they pull me back in again. I'll never be free. MG Rezel... wow I never expected that... with complete transformation mechanism... oh... *drooling* HG Delta Plus though... Could it possibly be made into a MG?  I still think there's a high chance of that...
I'm even thinking of getting the HG Sinanju... just because why the f not? Can someone tell me why not? Please tell me why not...

all hijacked from Ngee as usual.

HLJ VF-27 - WIP 0 - Intro / Preface

Well I've gotten my first 'job' as a modeler and here it is.  The VF-27 Lucifer.

This is what's been keeping me busy for the past couple nights.  I didn't do anything until I confirmed with the HLJ staff how they wanted to proceed and their expectations.  Now that that's all out of the way now I can get started on this fully.

I changed the banner to commemorate the event.  Kept it green because the MGIJ is still my main project but has temporarily been put on the back burner until I wrap this up.

Here are some shots of when I first received it.

From VF-27

From VF-27

From VF-27

Some of you may remember that I posted about this kit a long time ago when the mass produced version was announced.  Now I finally have the chance to build it courtesy of the kind people at Hobby Link Japan, who provided this kit for me (+stand!) free of charge on the condition that I make a build log at Hobbylink.tv of the kit.  Easily done.

Here are some pics of the stand.

From VF-27

From VF-27

Seems to have been made specifically for planes.

Please do check out their goods by clicking on the banner below.  They certainly do have an impressive inventory!

First I want to thank all the people involved who helped to make this happen.  Thank you.  I love you.

Second I want to mention some things about the history and the design of the plane.

The VF-27 is the successor of the VF-25 but looks like it's more from the SV-51 design tree as opposed to the VF-0 (which just happens to be on sale!) design that the VF-25 descends from.  Actually both planes share a lot in common as far as how the transformation mechanisms work which leads me to believe that the VF-27 is more like the VF-25 structurally and fundamental but takes some design elements from the SV-51 design.  I believe that's the most accurate way I can put it.

Now... building the VF-25G (shown here) helped a lot concerning what to expect from this kit.  The VF-25 was no joke.  It's a beautiful, beautiful kit and plane.  But it isn't easy and the VF-27 has even more movable parts so I'm pretty sure I'll have my work cut out for me.  During the entirety of this build process the VF-25G will be present.  At the end I'll do some touch ups on it as well as a comparison between the two fighters.

I've always liked the VF-27.  Simple armament and a design that harks back to one of my favourite fictional planes ever, the Falken (1/100 scale! Oh I'd love to build this!), because of the enclosed canopy and the bold colour scheme.  I also like the extra thrusters on the wings.  And don't get me started on the beam rail gun/gun pod...  It's an impressive machine.  Not the biggest fan of the fuchsia or the pilot but those are minor things.

Onto the kit itself:

Because this build is supposed to be a basic review of the kit I won't be doing anything radical and will be approaching it more from a beginner/intermediate stance, illustrating some of the most basic techniques that you can use to make a regular kit look really nice.  That's not saying I'm going to do all of them myself but I will show you how and where to do it if you're inclined to do so.  For that reason this build process/WIP will also double as my first tutorial.

If you're interested in picking up the VF-27 for yourself please do check Hobby Link Japan first.  It is a great source for all you're modeling needs!  They have just about everything!

Keeping busy...

Haven't made a post in a while.  This post is just to say that I'm still alive AND I've been working on Gundam stuff everyday but I just can't post about it yet until... I get all my ducks lined up so to speak.  That and the fact that the semester is winding down and I have quite a busy social life (apparently.  Who knew!)  So...  yeah I am working but right now it's either I work on Gundam or I post about it.  Hard to do both right now.  That should all clear up by next week though I hope!

In the meantime here's something for you.

Asian Baroness + Uzi = Hottest girl I've ever seen.

HG Zaku Warrior: Lunamaria Hawke Custom

Gallery here. As usual I will post the write up a bit later. More pics than usual as I'm intending for this gallery to be used as a tutorial for my new "speed" 1/144 build process (which I'm starting to realize has it's own flaws but it's still faster than what I was doing before). The other two Gundam's in the gallery I didn't build myself (assisted) but the 3 of them are a set regardless.

HG Murasame - Review

The Murasame was always a suit that intrigued me. A mass production transformable mobile suit. It's like a dream come true for me. I have an affinity for these from the VF-11 to ReZel to the Bawoo. I love all of them and I love them all for the exact same reasons.

But let's stick to the MS at hand, this Murasame, which Lupes refered to as a cross between the Zeta and Astray Gundams in the comments section of this post, which I believe is a somewhat accurate description

Being a mass produced suit, it doesn't come with a lot of weapons. One beam saber, one rifle and a shield. The weapons you can't pose are the vulcans in the head and missle pack in the front skirt (which just looks like some extra design tossed in there just break up the blandness) and a beam cannon in the tail stabilizer. And there are, of course, the missle pods that attach to the wings.

From HG Murasame

First... This kit doesnt have a lot of options for movement. There isn't a whole lot of lateral movement in the legs and its hard to get decent poses for it.

From HG Murasame

And the shield is pretty oversized for the suit.
To get it to transform you have to remove the arms and head, plus detach and reattach the legs to the extra hip unit specially made to help with the transformation (shown with the missile pods).

From HG Murasame

It's a nice kit but the proportions are a bit off to me It doesnt really look cool enough. I'm not sure what it is. Too round maybe. Stocky. Blocky. I like it in MA mode but MS mode doesn't really do it for me. I don't know maybe I was hoping for a bit more. I'd only recommend this suit if youre a Murasame fan and even then...

Still though I'm glad I have it because of the reasons I mentioned in the first paragraph and it does look pretty good in MA mode, so I'm just keeping it like that for now.

From HG Murasame

I was planning on painting it in a simple "special command" unit theme. Changing the red to blue or gold. And I think I still will. I'm probably going to combine it with my Althun/Asran build when I ever get around to that... (I've finally started working on it but don't tell anyone!)

My motivation for the MGIJ has sank a bit (which also happens... but I'm not starting on painting the Musha until I finish the MGIJ completely.)

That said, I enjoyed posing it with another flying Gundam, the 1.5, even though they're both from different universes.

From HG Murasame

I decide to use the stickers on this kit because it really looks TOO plain without them. So use the stickers or paint it but even you leave it plain... it looks REALLY plain.

I'm giving this Murasame kit 3.5/5. 2.5 for the kit and an extra point because it comes with it's on stand.

Scale Comparison - Tank / Gundam

Was out picking up some beers for a house party when I came across a 1/144 J Type Panzer Tank model in the convenience store.  1/144 scale...  I thought that it'd be good to have a real historical machine along with my Gundam stuff just for the sake of comparison.  Generally we tend to think of tanks as massive machines.  Well they are.  But they don't really compare to Gundams.
Here's a pic with a man for the sake of comparison.  Again

I bought and built the tank and decided to measure it all to make sure.  I'll be comparing it with the 1/144 Nadleeh.

I measured the tank to be 3.8cm and Nadleeh to be 12.6cm.

Listed numbers for the tank is 5.52m in length and Nadleeh is 18.1m tall.

Divide the listed numbers by 144 and you get; 3.83 for the tank and 12.57 for Nadleeh.  Round to the nearest millimeter and my numbers are accurate. Acceptable margin of error considering... I'm human.

Confirmed: Tank scale is an accordance with the scale of the 1/144 Gundams.  So you'll be seeing the tank in some shots with other 1/144 suits just to illustrate just how massive these machines are.  Not that we need a reminder but... it's something to do.  It's easy to forget what we're looking at when we see them all side by side.

We're essentially building walking tanks. Flying war machines.  With that in mind think about how massive this Gatling gun would be in real life and the effort it would take to actually make it.

HG Murasame

Will add the write up a bit later but here are the photos for now.