New Beginnings

I suppose it's appropriate. I do kind of feel like I'm starting over.

At the height of my Gunpla career I was living in Japan and working full time. I think having a full time job helped with my Gunpla. I had a routine and I was always working on something. Be it assembling a new kit or painting another one. I'd do a little bit each night before I went to sleep. Kind of a thing to relax and unwind a bit before wrapping up the day.

Yet sometimes it did the exact opposite. Sometimes I'd get like a fever and really want to finish something and I'd just keep going and the time would fly by. That's the dangerous side of this I guess. In my case I can't finish until the entire section I've allotted for myself is complete. Like a checkpoint. And then after that I'd want to re-assemble things to see how it looks... and then I'd want to do a bit more and on and on. It can be brutal.

During the past year it's been pretty crazy. A lot of ups and downs and getting used to things and re-acclimation and whatever. Life and Gunpla are intertwined. At least in my case and my life is constantly changing so naturally the Gunpla follows suit. Actually, let's not say "changing". Let's say "evolving". Which brings me to my next project. I've decide that it's going to be the 1/100 HG Endless Waltz Heavyarms Custom.

Now from looking at this picture I can already tell a couple of things. They left some stuff out that you can find in the MG version of this. Specifically all the missile pods on the waist. They just aren't on this model.

I'll be starting a new job soon. It's my first full time job since I've been back... so hopefully it will bring a return of normalcy and routine back to my life. I'm been living for a year as a Ronin and it's kind of nice to have a master to serve again. I know it sounds strange to say that but there it is. Plus this is my first real job I've had in my home country. I hope everything works out but I'm nothing if not flexible.

Anyway after seeing all the images on the net recently of the new MG Heavyarms, I decided to pull my own out and take a look at it again. It kind of symbolizes what's been going on with me recently. Not quite complete. Not new. Semi discarded... very cheap but I'll find a way to make the most of it. Making 1 and 1 = 3 somehow. Realize what you have and make the most of it instead of always striving for the next and newest thing. Flies in the face of convention I know but consider it... This was isn't for everyone but it is for me.  I like this "Mecha Recycling". In the meantime I've been transporting the Gundams that I re-assemble to the display area in the basement. That's basically the process. There are only a few left in my room now.

Here are my sword fighters.

1/100 Red Frame - The Vangaurd

OYW Gundam with MG Red Frames swords.  2nd kit I ever painted, right after 1/100 Red Frame.

Musha still waits for his turn in the sun.  Only the frame work is done on him.

Asianskill1 this is all your fault.  If I hadn't seen your MG Heavyarms I probably wouldn't have went downstairs to grab my own.

This is one of the few Gundams that comes with an alternate face and I go and lose both of them.

I bought this guy when I was about 20 while in Buffalo, New York.  I was at a shop called Target.  We don't have those in Canada but apparently that's all about the change next month.  I got him for a really good price too.  Comparable to what I'd pay in Japan... but that was a different time.  A different era economically.

At first I was just going to do a simple clean up of this guy.  As in dust him off, re-assemble, pose and put him in the display case but as I was working with him I realized that it'd be very simple to make him look really good.  My skills now are light years beyond what I knew when I was 20.

This guy is just an HG and an old one at that.  It'd be very easy to disassemble him and spruce him up in just about every area.  Joint range, seam lines, details, panel lines and naturally I'm going to recolour him.  And yes... face fabrication.

I look at him with new, older and wiser eyes now.  Eyes that have evolved with time and experience.  New but old.  Old but new again.  Maybe some things are just timeless

Ah... I'm adrift in time. I just finished FFXIII-2 today.  What a time traveling mind **** that was!  But such a beautiful beautiful game!  Actually since I'm here let me drop some candy for the fans.

Anyway since that's done and I destroyed Skyrim I have nothing really to play until Mass Effect 3.  Which I'll get for sure but maybe after this guy is done.  No need to rush.  The games will always be there later. (Man I am getting old.)

But for now I just want to have fun with Gunpla again.  I don't care so much about what happened in the past.  The past will always be there but the present demands your attention. 

It's time to just live in the moment and work towards the goals in the future.  Starting here.

Scratch built GN-X hands

I really don't know what to say... The level of precision... my goodness. Love the face too! Potential mod for the people thinking of getting the MG maybe?

Sorry I can't remember the source. Will edit this post should I come across it again.

Just say NO to flash w/ XXXG-01H2 Gundam Heavyarms Kai (OVA version)

Let me show you why you shouldn't use flash in your pictures young man. To his credit, he's got great poses and his lining/decal work is solid. But come on... you're going to go that far and not even take decent pictures? Give your models some more credit!

Check it out!

This is your Gundam model 'au naturale'.

This is your Gundam model with FLASH.

Any questions?

Just say NO to FLASH

This message has been brought to you by Busterbeam; "For a FLASH free Gundam modelling community."

Yeah I'm a cheeky bastard. Moving on...

I bought this model in America in a shop called "Target". I found it during a road trip to Buffalo. It was cheap and it looked cool so I bought it. Glad I did. It really is a great looking model. I don't have many complaints. It looks pretty good OOB (out of the box) and stands up reasonably well, that is if you're willing to let it's arms just hang to it's sides. Which brings me to my one major complaint about this model. The arms are way too puny to hold those massive gatling guns outward. I had to use a little bit of wood glue on the elbow joints just to get them to hold up even a bit. Otherwise... I love this model.

Let's be honest... no one is going to buy this thing to do some agile space flying battle pose. You're going to buy it because it looks freaking badass posted up with those giant double gats in either arm. None of us really have high expectations for this model so it's hard to dissappoint since the proportions are spot on.

Upgrade outline: seam lines, panel lines, hard core weapon/missile pod detailing. I already like the colour scheme so maybe just some flat topcoat.

Rating: 8/10 - Really... it's just cool to look at.

VF-25 Messiah - Nakajima Megumi custom

Continuing with the theme of real life Japanese female entertainers and pink mechs...

Ranka Lee's voice actor, Megumi Nakajima recently had a contest sponsored by Hobby Japan. Apparently she designed a custom scheme for the VF-25 from Macross Frontier and the folks at Hobby Japan built it for her. The contest is a trade!

Scan courtesy of Tokyo Hunter. I read all of this a while ago in my own Hobby Japan but he's already gone through the trouble of scanning the image already, saving me the trouble. I find this way to be more efficient than scanning it myself. There's always someone on the internet that's beaten me to the punch. Most of the time at least.

Participants can win her custom designed VF-25 by sending in one of their own! Participants are to send pictures of their own VF-25's to Hobby Japan which will then be judged by Megumi and some of the Hobby Japan staff. The winner then gets to trade for this one.

What do you folks think? Does this sound like a fun contest to you? I'm not sure if I want a pink Messiah but maybe if I were a fan of Megumi's I would? And giving away a model that I spent so much time to build? Well trading... but even still... I'm not sure how I feel about it. I'm not sure if I could do it. It would be a nice souvenir. Maybe if she made it herself...

And another thing... I know these women are very pretty and feminine and want to express that when asked about what they want their mechs to look like but... really... does it ALWAYS have to be ALL PINK?! Surely there are some other feminine colours.... Hell even a little bit of white tossed in there... Anyone remember Lacus Clyne's Zaku? Or even Strike Rouge for that matter.

Oh well. Here are some more pics of the young woman in question. And I do mean young. Only 19 years old!

*grumbles* I was young once! *shuffles away with cane and corn cob pipe* *sits in his rocking chair and carves a small Gundam statue out of wood*

She seems very... pleasant.

Strike Gundam ver. Green Dragon

If you haven't seen this masterpiece yet here's your chance. I believe this is #3 in his set of "Four Legendary Mobile Suits". They are ALL very impressive but this one was my favourite.

Want more? Check here.

SVMS-010 Over Flag High Maneuver Package - Details

hmflag1
Originally uploaded by Busterbeam

Here are the supplementary images to my SVMS-010 Over Flag High Maneuver Package post in October. These scans show and explain how the modeller created this piece of art. Extra image can be seen here.