RG RX-78-2 Gundam - Leg repair

Long overdue post but here it is finally. As I was building the frame the leg broke because the joint was stiffer than the plastic. I guess I didn't work it loose gently enough, although I'm not really sure how I could have done it better. I'll be more careful next time.

Anyway, after the break... I took a break. Came back to later after I found the parts I needed to fix it, namely a 1mm drill bit and 1mm steel rods.

Tools required.

Here's where it broke.

Where I drilled the holes.  Had to be pretty precise with this as there wasn't really much room for error. 90 degree angle straight down the shaft of the leg plastic.  Worked out fine luckily. 

Insert rod.  No jokes please.

Cut rod, apply cement to the broken surfaces, insert into bottom half.  Apply some pressure for a couple of seconds while the cement dries in place.

Leave it to dry for a while, test it out gently. Works perfectly.  Actually I think it's stronger now than it was before.

No problems standing on it's own now.

Following this I could continue my work on the model and it was really a joy to build and detail. I'm still suffering from weapons block now as the main suit is completed but... I'm glad to have it done and standing with the rest of it's 1/144 brothers.

Delta Plus / Delta Gundam

I love the Delta Plus... but I love the Delta Gundam more. Actually the original reason why I wanted to buy the Delta Plus was just so that I could make the Delta Gundam. I was sure that I wasn't the only person that had that idea and sure enough other modelers did end up making it... but it wasn't as abundant as I thought it'd be. I thought a lot of people would be going for this mod but as it turns out not many did. Looking at what the modeler below did I can kind of see why. It's not really that easy. Comparatively it is because you're making a more complex design simpler but there are a couple of things that have to be almost completely redesigned (the shield for one).

I like the Delta Gundam more than the Delta Plus because of the colour and the simpler design. It's a shame the suit wasn't fit for use during the AEUG/Titan's conflict. It would have made a great suit for Quattro to pilot but he would have stolen the show from Camille and they'd have had to call it Delta Gundam instead of Zeta.

This begs the question... what on earth would a Double Delta Gundam look like?

Perhaps similar to this?

It's not pictured here in wave rider mode but it looks cool.  Very cool in my opinion.

Painting Copper

I saw this tutorial at FitchenFoo and couldn't help but marvel at the techniques this guy uses.  I'm really a sucker for metallic paints and this guy has got his technique down it seems.  Truly an inspriration.

Worth a look.  I think we can all learn something from him.

That said I think a lot of it has to do with materials.  He's picked up a lot of tools and good materials to work with.

One thing I don't get here is that he says he primed and then sprayed flat black and then went on with his Alcad copper.

You can see here that it still looks pretty shiny and has a nice finish even with the flat black undercoat...  Is that just because the Alcad paints are that good?  I thought when you're painting metallics that you should put down a coat of gloss black and then do you metallics.

Did he do this because he was going for a more lusterless/weathered final look from his copper?

There are times when I feel that I'm so far away from really making the type of stuff I want to but sometimes when I see stuff like this and I see the possibilities I feel like... this is probably going to be a hobby that I'm never going to be able to really give up.  There's just so much... depth!  The sky is really the limit with this stuff sometimes.  From simple snap builds to stuff like this...  So much to learn...

I have a strong feeling that next year is going to be a good year for me in this regard. I plan on really stepping my painting game up a notch. Less buying. More refining.