Super Blast Impulse

I was going to post something else today but when I saw this... I knew there was nothing else I could post about. This takes priority. You need to see this if you haven't already.

You need to see it now.

Here is the source.

When I look at something like this... I wonder how can people say that this hobby is for kids?!

And even though I'm well into my adult years... will my skills EVER reach this level?! My goodness...

Sinanju - Eye Work 2

Initially I posted about the work I did on the eye a while back. Here is the follow up finally (I'm terrible I know.)

First let's start with shots of the stock helmet/face. Green lines show where I did the cutting to open up the face and eye slot a bit more. I basically just cut out some of the curves and extra angles in the design. More open and simpler is the look I was going for.

Very narrow field of vision. Needed to open that up to let more light shine into the eye and reflect some of the colours out. Also changed my two tone gold/black face plate scheme for a uniform black with gold lining one. Again... trying to simplify.

Decided to remove the mould line and nub marks on the blade antennae while I was at it.

Helmet removed. This is what the eye looked like. "Shine silver" acryrilc base with clear green enamel on top. I know I got the order reversed but I didn't know better at the time and it was all I had. Besides it's a small piece so didn't think it'd make a big difference. It didn't.

Sanded all the paint off, applied a tiny piece of mirrored tape to the eye then put an aurora decal lense on top of that. Captures and reflects the light 1000x better now.

This is what it looked like after and when I decided to make a quick post about it. I wasn't satisfied with it though. Even though you could only see it with the flash I didn't like the grey on either side of the eye...

So I went back and added mirrored tape to either side as well just to have more light moving around inside of the helmet

Doing this didn't change the outward appearance so much... but it's the principle of it. I feel better having done it. Leaving no stone unturned and all that...

Sinanju - Eye Work

Couple more pics of the eye after I finished it and touched it up a bit. I did a couple more touch ups after this too. Perfection is a sickness.


My room is practically 100% Gundam themed. It's all you'll see in my place really. I'm obsessed I guess. This is the reason why I don't invite many people over to "The Dungeon" / "The Laboratory". PG Strike and Red Frame on the TV in front of posters and box art.




Left arm under repairs!

OK... I'm starting to scare myself now...

With the new eye this thing is starting to look alive. It's always looking. Always awake. The eye is always shining. That single, solitary eye. Always watching!

I fear for the place I'll end up at once this is done. I almost like the nondescript mask more. I mean both are equally emotionless but this single shining eye can be a bit off putting. It looks more fearsome now that the eye can be seen as opposed to the shaded face.

More to come obviously as I'm just really in the testing stage now.

Changing the face is a big deal for me. I feel like it really contains the soul and personality of the machine (oxymoron yeah but you know what I mean). Changed some of the lines, opened up the visor, changed some of the colours. Some of the most precise work I've done to date has been modding this eye and helmet.

Details to follow.

Recent Work: XN Raiser swords and 3x Bazooka

I've got to make at least one post this month about what I've actually been doing as far as modeling goes.

Recently in the Gundam Australia forums we've been talking about 'weapons block' in regards to the Sinanju Group Build. Weapons Block refers to the lack of motivation to complete the weapons of a kit as the main part of the project nears completion or is in fact completed.

I'm going in the opposite direction entirely now. I'm working solely on the weapons. And to make matters worse, these weapons are optional.

Anti-weapons block in action so to speak.

First the XN Raiser swords:

Base swords with clear pla-plate. I know. I was surprised when I first saw it too.

Drilled some holes.

Then removed the center sections.

Why did I do this?

This is why:

I loved the idea. Techically, it would make the blades lighter if this were real. Not as stable but offset by a decease in weight, increase in blade speed coupled with a superior cutting edge. Not a bad trade off. And it looks cool. So I thought why not... I'll give it a shot. And so far so good! I've done a test fitting and it looks like it'll work but there's the issue of painting. I'm still thinking of the best way but it looks like painting the easiest way will force me to give up on the seam lines, otherwise it will be a large pain the butt to keep paint off of the clear pla-plate.

No pictures of this but I did work on the edges of the blades. I removed that extra nub at the tip of the blade and sanded down the cutting edge and tip until it was actually sharp.

I still want to do a bit of putty work to remove some of the small mistakes I made while I was removing all that plastic, but I'm worried that my basic putty will weaken the plastic too much. I don't think epoxy will really be effective for the small amount of puttying I want to do. Dilemas.

For now my main effort of going into the 3x 1/144 bazookas:

We've got a 360mm, 380mm and 400mm. One from my Powered GM, one from the Odaiba Gundam and the last is from a Kotobukiya weapons set.

Special effort went into eliminating the seam lines for these.

The outcome was acceptable. Not perfect but pretty good.

Nothing better than erasing a seam line from existence!

I sanded them pretty hard with 240 grit paper. I like having a bit of a rougher surface before I prime and I wanted to get a bit of texture.

Primed with Mr. Base White 1000 (Mr. White Base? Amuro? Bright? What?) then sprayed with Gundam White (paint ran out just as I finished the 3rd bazooka. Awesome timing.) I thought that the resulting white was a bit too 'cold' so I did a light coat of "Racing White" on top of that to make the white a bit softer.

These weapons will be used by the Odaiba Gundam and the O Gundam so while the white I've achieved doesnt watch the armour completely, it is a close approximation. All things considered.

I've already hand painted the non barrel parts in gun mental. Should have done some masking but who can be bothered. That **** takes a lot of time!

So I'm getting there! Slowly but surely. I've given up on trying complete things at fast paces. Life just gets in the way too much. But I'm still working! Still plugging away just at my own pace, such as it is.

That's all for now but I want to leave Gundam Guy a present.

Re: Danny Choo's "Gundam Mods" post from Jan. 10/09

holy1
Originally uploaded by Busterbeam

Bit of a hiatus there. Life gets in the way sometimes. Been away from Gundam for a little while but I'm back now.

So I was browsing the web and noticed that Danny posted about this and thought that I'd do a supplement to that post in case anyone wants to learn more about it. Danny was looking at Hobby Japan #2 and in it they have a little spread of a very unique mod to the MG RX-78-2 v.2. The holes plus the paint job give it a very cool 'steel' look. It almost looks like the thing was made of metal and that some of the edges could possibly cut you!

But it's all just plastic and paint.

Works like this really do a good job of showing off all the work that Bandai put into making the frame. If you take a look at the the other pic in my flikr you can see similar work this artist did on this model's corefighter and MG Ball. Very impressive work. I was planning on posting this one myself but Danny beat me to it but at least I can flesh out some of the details.