Unicorn OVA Sinanju

I like it! It looks quite sturdy and strong. Powerful. Like a Sinanju should. I think what they're going to do in Ep.2 is going to be really good. Too bad we have to wait until Autumn to see it though.

Unicorn Movie Promo 3 - Proper Video

Someone finally uploaded a decent version. Watch this one instead of the crap version I posted earlier.

New Unicorn Movie Promo Video - Watch it here

It's crap quality but it's enough to see and hear what's going on. I used some shareware software to capture it for all of you but didn't take a lot of time to mess around with the settings to make it nice. Not sure if that's even an option or not (I checked and tried but it didn't work) .

A lot of people outside of Japan said that they couldn't watch it. This will solve that problem at the very least. No one gets left behind! Especially my readers!

I accidentally uploaded the f'ed up version where my window re-sized automatically (don't ask why why) so I had to restart the video (sorry didn't edit that out. Forgot.). You can start watching from 1:16.

It really pains me as a perfectionist to post such low quality stuff but it's better than nothing (which is what a lot of you saw). Forgive me. Hopefully a better version will appear somewhere else soon. The quality is much better (smoother animation, better sound) at the official site mentioned in the previous post.

If you feel like downloading the file I made for yourself (not sure why but I'm putting the option out there anyways) you can do that here.

(whoo lotta brackets in this post!)

Kshatriya / Unicorn Diorama

ASM actually saw this in real life but here are some up close images from last months Dengeki Hobby.

This photo courtest of ASM.

Very dynamic. Love the sense of movement in this. It really does feel like its a moment frozen in time. I have never seen the Unicorn look so menacing in it's regular mode! Or the Kshatriya look so... afraid! Love the way the funnels were done with this.

Dengeki Hobby vs. Hobby Japan

I'm starting to get agitated by this. Why is Dengeki Hobby so much cooler than Hobby Japan? FA MG Unicorn vs. Armoured Messiah? I know which one I'd rather see. Seriously... that FA Unicorn has got to be one of the coolest models I've seen in a long time.

Don't get me wrong I love the Armoured Messiah as well but... I just feel that Dengeki Hobby is a better magazine. Higher caliber of models and execution, better photos...

Did I get a subscrition to the wrong magazine? It certainly is looking that way. I do like the Gunpura LOVE sections in Hobby Japan though. And the FIX lineart posters... Oh well. Maybe I should have just gotten a subscription to both of them!

RGM-96X Jesta

jesta-6
Originally uploaded by Busterbeam

More U.C.0096 goodness. A pic from last months Hobby Japan that I meant to put up but didn't get around to until now. Love this suit! If you missed my previous post on the Jesta, check it out here.

MSN-06S Sinanju - Work Log 9 - Shield / what to do about the gold detailing

Ok, the shield is completely finished now. Disassembled, and re sprayed all the components again. Painted the inside and outside. Hand painted in all the little details... and then did it again. Dry decalled and top coated. This is my first time to use top coat. I did it on OYW Gundam but had to scrape it off because it ruined my lining job. Applied it too soon.

I'm done with it the shield. There might be more I could do as a bit of the red is still showing through on the underside of the shield but... it's really not worth it so I'm just going to let it go.

About the decals. Foil or Water slide? The answer is neither. I went for hand painted.

Reasons:

1. I tried to apply the main crest foil sticker on the front of the shield first. But I wanted to cut out the black parts first. Too troublesome. Faster to paint. Couldn't stand the idea of having that extra black sticker on there.

Start painting and realize that I'm going to need a couple of coats to get it even. Screw up a bit, shave off the excess paint, using Gundam markers on the edges to get them even and get clean lines. Paint chips off occasionally, need to do touch ups on it.

2. After that try using the foil stickers on the long lines on the edges. Does NOT match the colour of the hand painted crest. Easy? Yes. Acceptable? No. Foil stickers have too much reflection compared to the paint and are a bit lighter. Water slide or just way too yellow. In the end the included decals will be going in the trash. I have no use for them. It doesn't look good and I realize that I have to stick with one and go all the way with it. Can't mix and match. I can't at least. Probably better that way though. Things will be the same colour across the board so the model will have a uniform look upon completion.

I'm glad to have this first major component done. I want to keep my Sinanju in poses while I'm working on it so I'm moving onto the back pack next. Slow and steady! That said... I'm going through a LOT of paint. Already on my 2nd can... Big re-recolouring job...

In the meantime, OYW Rx-78-2 is taking care of the rifle.

Can you imagine what Amuro would have done with this rifle if he had it during the One Year War? By the time the Sinanju is created the 78-2 is TOTALLY outdated but still... it's kind of funny to think about it. It's like double the size of the regular beam rifle!

RGM-96X Jesta

rgm96x
Originally uploaded by Busterbeam

Alright, I'm going to start with the best as far as I'm concerned. This months Hobby Japan has got a large feature of scratch built 0096 suits and they look good! The Sinanju featured in my U.C.0096 gallery is actually not the MG that a lot of us are building now but actually a scratch built one made months and months ago. If you compare the two side by side (they did this in the magazine) the differences are very slight so I suspect that if future U.C.0096 suits are released they'll look very similar to these scratch built ones.

The one that I was taken the most with was this Jesta. Reminiscent of the RGM-79SP GM Sniper II or the RGM-79SC GM Sniper Custom. Take your pic. Except this is not a Sniper unit. On the contrary it’s a regular infantry suit.

Although it was made 10 years after Gundam Mark II (stats in italics) let’s do a comparison of the numbers.

Propulsion: 81200kg vs. 89030kg
Sensor range: 11300m vs. 14200m
Generator: 1930kw vs. 2710kw
Base Weight: 33.4t vs. 24.8t

I know. 10 years but still... When I look at this suit I don’t see a GM. The GM Custom from 0083 was actually comparable in power to Amuro's RX-78-2 just to keep things in perspective. This machine would smoke a Mark II easily in every category.

The thing I like about this suit is that it’s not special. It’s standard for its time. Maybe above average and it’s not overly armed. Grenades, Beam sabers, Beam rifle. But where’s the shield? That’s the only thing I’m concerned about. I'd like it to have a shield. Even the one the GM custom, Quel or Hazel used would be fine. This suit reminds me a lot of those one. It harks back to a time when grunt suits where GOOD and not cannon fodder like what the GM's and Zaku's eventually became. I guess that's just time though. All machines become obsolete eventually.

I also like the fact that this suit isn’t flashy. It's functional and has now become a personal favorite of mine.

MSN-06S Sinanju - Work Log 7 - Armour application complete

uc0096
Originally uploaded by Busterbeam

Very hard session tonight as I could finally start to see the finish line. Last night and today I did the 2nd coat of paint on the leg and waist armour pieces. I decided to push it and just put all the armour on. I have the base colour down so I can get a good idea of what it looks like... and it looks awesome if I do say so myself haha! I am in love with this kit! I should say I'm in love with my kit because of the things I've done to it. The re-colour was a good idea.

But I think it all hit me when I attached the finished wings. Then the true majesty of the kit really struck me. The armour fits together perfectly. It's intricate but not overly complex. This kit was designed with symmetry in mind. There's no distiction between left and right parts until you put the armour on. I was really impressed with that aspect of the design. It would make things a lot easier to make production wise. A couple things become redundant in the process but... it would definitely save on manufacturing time on the whole. This is my first Ver.KA kit so I don't have a frame of comparison but if they're all like this... wow.

Everything is very sturdy. No problem holding poses. It is heavy though, which should be expected from a kit like this. I must say... this kit is a joy. Beautiful in so many aspects. If I had paid for it I'd say it's worth the money. But more importantly... it's worth the time. Beautiful. And the time you put in to it will be rewarded with the time you spend looking at it and the feeling that it gives you. Then you can change the pose and the accesories and feel it all over again haha. I'm just so... impressed!

I'm broken my work method down into stages:

Stage 1 - Washing, priming, 1st coat of paint
Stage 2 - Frame assembly
Stage 3 - Armour application, 2nd coat of paint (not always in that order)
Stage 4 - Detailing, Fine Tuning
Stage 5 - Decaling

I'm almost finished Stage 3. I'm going to do Stages 3-5 at the same time on each individual part. So I have the basic look down but I'm going to work on each part individually now. Feet, legs, waist, body, arms, shoulders, and backpack. The head is already done.

It was quite ambitious of me to think that I could get this all done before work on the 5th. There's no way. But I'm not going to rush it. If the kit looks this good now then it's going to look way better once I get everything the way I want it.

This kit will be my masterpiece so I'm going to give it the time to get it right.

I will not be posting pics of my WIP henceforth, so I'm going to get back into my regular routine of magazine pics and scans. I'm going to start with spreads of other U.C. 0096 suits and then back to the Rasiel/Sefer stuff that I initially wanted to post about before my life got consumed by this kit.

Sticking with the U.C. 0096 theme here is the poster spread from the February issue of Dengeki Hobby. I really hope a Unicorn animation is released eventually. It seems like it would be such a great series!

Year in review

uc96
Originally uploaded by Busterbeam

Happy New Year's everyone. I end 2008 with this majestic shot of the two main suits for Unicorn Gundam. Perhaps Gundam 00 overshadowed this series but I'm pretty sure the most popular suit of 2008 was the Unicorn Gundam.

This year (Gundam wise) has been an exceptional one for me.

I started this blog in January, and proceeded to get deeper and deeper into the Gundam scene as time progressed. I bought all 4 HG versions of Althun Zala's Gundams which, almost one year later, are still not even built yet.

In February I assembled my GM Custom which I bought in 2007. Finished up working on my beam rifle for the RX-78-2 OYW and concentrated heavily on content about the Plutone from Gundam OOP.

March - The biggest thing for me that month was finally finishing the OYW. The first Gundam (or even model for that matter) that I was really serious about. Custom paint scheme, lined, repaired and decaled. A milestone for me.

April - Getting excited for the MG Impulse. Consider getting limited edition FG 0 Gundam but decide it's not worth it.

May - Start going to the Gundam Bar more, getting more in U.C. 0096 designs, start work on MG Impulse

June - Reflections on women making Gundams. I officially become a Miyuki Uehara fan.

July - Working really hard on the MG Impulse

August - One of the best vacations I've had in a while. No posts but not Gundam free. Re-unite with my old model kits back in Canada. Brought two back to Japan with me. Have barely touched them. Like I need more kits to work on! lol

September - 2nd half of the year starts. Big month. News of MG Infinite Justice is released, finish my Impulse and I'm introduced to the Red Warrior for the first time. Working on my G04 Gundam occasionally.

October - I get a subscription to Japan Hobby, G04 is stil in the mix, and I toss HG GNX-III in there too. MG Infinite Justice takes priority near the end of the month.

November - Just working on a bunch of projects. MGIJ gets assembled but that's as far as I go.

December - Rasiel and Sefer are on my mind a lot, but really just waiting for Sinanju to come. It does and I sink my teeth into it pretty hard. Highest post count since March and shattered records for both my highest monthly and daily hits. Awesome news is the PG Astray will be released in March... I am so happy about that one. Post count for the year: 129.

And that's the year! Time sure does fly doesn't it? 1 year doesn't really seem that long but... it is. If you're not careful time can really get away from you. There just never seems to be enough. That's why it's so important that we treasure the time we have. Enjoy yourself and enjoy your life! Don't waste your time on bull**** and haters because it's not worth it! Just keep doing the stuff you love! and in my case... in OUR case, it is GUNDAM!!!

Happy New Year's everyone. Stay safe, don't hurt yourselves and dont hurt anyone else! Much peace and love!

Sayonara 2008! Helluva year.

MSN-06S Sinanju - Get!

Yeah! Finally now I can stop dreaming about getting it and start dreaming about what I'm going to do with it. I've pretty much decided already though. It was cheaper than I thought it would be too. I used my points anyways so it was a 'free' X-Mas present to myself.

I know in my previous post I said I was going to talk about Rasiel and Sefer which I also just picked up but... ah... we'll see. I'm intending on making this one my winter vacation project so I'm hoping to get it and the gallery all done before I have to go back to work on Jan. 5th.

Happy Holidays!

Best Unicorn Gundam ever

rx-0
Originally uploaded by Busterbeam

As far as I'm concerned this one takes the cake. Best mods, best concept, best execution. It is perfect.

And apparently a lot of you are taken with it as well. It's one of the more popular items on my flickr so I've put a couple more pics up.

But don't settle for what I have. Go straight to the source. Erix93 has done an awesome job. Check it out. I've been following his WIP for some time and I was VERY pleased with the end result. Truly a masterpiece.