Ok, so I had a big booboo that put my kit-building activities to a halt today. I was experimenting painting the thrusters and I made a couple of mistakes.

1. I forgot to put on latex gloves. Thus, I easily got paint on my hands.
2. I forgot to make the pieces stick to the tape. When I started spraying, two thrusters flew away and got smudged and dirty.
3. My hands are dirty now and majority of what I’m currently doing involved a lot of white pieces. Uncool.
   
4. No I don’t have thinner in the house at the moment.

So there. I’ll probably continue working on the kit tomorrow or one of these days during the week. Hopefully. >_<;

But I have pictures!

More when I move on with building the kit. It’s only the first kit. T_T But it’s good to learn from all my mistakes from this kit before I move to the permanently-Destroy-Mode version.

View the entire article here.

So I finally found some time to start working on my MG Unicorn, or at least one of the two kits that Chil bought me for my birthday. Bought some small alligator clamps that I mounted on some sticks to use as piece holders when I need to paint over those nubs that I had to sand down after removing them from the runners.

This seems to be the cleanest kit I’ve actually done by far. Good to know that I’m improving kit-building-wise rather than degrading…

This is my dad’s mat and I found that it fits nicely on top of the center table which is my current makeshift workstation. Those are old spraycans from my previous model kit works. Some of them still have a smidgen of paint left. Really need to get myself an airbrush and mini-compressor.

These are the runners for the gray parts. The plastic is a lighter shade of gray which made the kit look a bit dull. So I had previously purchased a can of Gunship Gray which is even darker than German Gray. I’m liking the result.

More of them gray runners. That’s Glu-Tack over there, I’m thinking there will be some parts that might come off loose so I’m trying to see this as an alternative since super glue melts the ABS plastic which is not nice.

Part of the inner collar of the torso area after respraying it with some paint. Buying that expensive painting mount wasn’t within my budget so I went to a local hardware store, bought those small alligator clamps and mounted them on some sticks I found in the house: chopsticks, which I happen to have a lot of.

Front and back of the half-completed torso. Nice thing about this kit is that you don’t need to do panel lining to make this actually look good. And by the looks of it, painting is also minimal.

More progress pics later in the day. Thank goodness, I also have a tripod. My hands are really shaky so holding up the camera with one hand and holding the pieces would have resulted in far more horrible pictures.

View the entire article here.

Got this torrent of Hobby Japan 6 scans from SRWHotnews. Really interesting stuff inside. What I’d like to focus on here would be the mods/scratchbuilds of this UC series’s MS’s.

The magazine showed a hefty amount of model kit mods and they look quite gorgeous. One thing’s for sure: it made me wish Bandai would invest in producing these model kits exactly as they look like in these images.

MSN-06S Sinanju

First up is the MSN-06S Sinanju which is the custom mobile suit piloted by Full Frontal or who is known as the “Second Coming of Char”. He dresses, acts and sounds exactly like Char. Now whether he would still retain the classic rivalry that Amuro and Char had in the previous UC series from OYW (One Year War 0079) all the way to CCA (Char’s Counterattack) with the protagonist of this series is yet to be seen.

I am definitely loving the military uniform trim that is classic to Zeon shown in the designs of the MS’s themselves and the Sinanju is no exception. What you would normally see as uniform trim on Char or Full Frontal’s top coat is also seen in his mobile suit. This is also done in all Neo-Zeon units in this series which is really awesome. I know that there are a lot of Zeon MS fans out there and this one would add to their love for Zeon mechs.

NZ-666 Kshatriya

The Green Demon. This mobile suit appears to have been based on the design of the Quin Mantha. I can’t remember who pilots this but this was one of the first units that appeared in the official website. I’m definitely its design as well. Like I mentioned above for the Sinanju, the military trim makes it look a lot like a very serious mobile suit. In fact, the Neo-Zeon units here look even more serious that the Feddie mechs. The Kshatriya’s main armament appears to be fin funnels housed underneath those large shield-like protrusions on its shoulders, quite similar to those of the Quin Mantha.

I remember in SEED and SEED Destiny, there were Djinns that had additional ranking trim and paint for ceremonial purposes. These ones have rank designations based on the emblems on their chests which also mirror the emblem/trim on the chest of the uniforms of those assigned to pilot them.

AMS-129 Geara Zulu (Guard Custom and Angelo Sauper Custom)

Incidentally, I forgot about the existence of the AMS-119 Geara Doga, which was a mobile suit produced by Anaheim Electronics for Neo-Zeon for the Neo-Zeon war. If you were to look at it, the design is a lot closer to Geara Zulu’s design than people might think (me included). So whatever references on Feddie units that were derived from this MS design gets booted out the window.

I remember having written about Angelo Sauper’s Geara Zulu. It’s the first purple mech that I actually liked. I’m surprised it was a Zeon unit and not an actual Gundam. The Geara Zulu’s design looks really nice although I’m not exactly too fond of the 0079-ish GM-looking feet. Would have been nicer if Hajime Katoki had just recycled the feet from the Kshatriya.

The Guard Custom is a Geara Zulu with additional stuff added to the armor and armaments. The head reminds me of a Nazi helmet, actually. It looks scary and can deal death quite easily. Obvious cosmetic differences between the guard custom and the regular Geara Zulu would be the shoulders which have the spikes that the Zakus were known for but it has it on both sides, with military trim that makes it look really awesome-scary. It also has a high mobility backpack as well as spare magazines mounted on the front skirt. It doesn’t carry a bazooka like the regular Geara Zulu so I guess the guard custom is more for honor guard, ceremonial purposes rather than actual military combat.

Angelo’s custom mobile suit, aside from being painted purple, looks almost exactly like the guard custom. The emblem on the chest shows a higher rank than both the guard custom and the regular Geara Zulu. It sports a shield that reminds me of the shield that the ZZ Gundam had as well as additional thrusters at the back that remind me of the thruster found at the back of the GP01 Fb. (EDIT: The shield is actually closer to the one used by a Geara Doga) And instead of the Gear Zulu’s usual firearm, it carries around a sniper rifle. It also has that command array/rank antenna on top of its head similar to how Zakus were distinguished by rank back then.

The regular Geara Zulu’s main difference is its bazooka, beam axe and the shoulder shield that was seen in the Zakus while the guard custom has no shield whatsoever but I guess it would be safe to assume that this one has higher mobility and serves as strike units rather than cannon fodder.

MSN-001A1 Delta P Plus

I wrote about this transforming MS sometime way back then. For those who don’t know yet, the Delta Gundam had been under development as far back as during the Gryps conflict. In fact, it was supposed to be a mass-production MS for that particular war. But then they could not seem to perfect the transformation ability so what happened instead was that AEUG just locked it in mobile suit mode, discarded its waverider capabilities and named it Hyaku Shiki, Quattro Bajina aka Char Aznable aka Casval Rem Deikun’s golden mobile suit in Z Gundam.

In this UC series, they’ve finally perfected the mobile suit, probably much thanks to Camille Bidan developing the Zeta Gundam (Zeta, Delta, Greek characters, you get the drift) which is capable of transforming into waverider mode. Sadly, to maximize the Zeta Gundam’s full potential, a newtype, particularly the one who developed it, Camille, would have to be the one to pilot it. Delta Gundam also needs a newtype to pilot it, thus the N designation in its unit code. As for who the pilot is, I do not know.

Finally, some much-needed Gundam news after that large 2-day photo barrage. Gundam Unicorn news is up our alley. The official webbie has just updated their MS Section with a customization of the mass-production unit Geara Zulu. I know some people consider the Geara Zulu as the Zaku of UC but just to remind you, Gundam Unicorn is within the UC timeline and Geara Zulu is pretty much like how Jegan became the new MP unit from its predecessor, the GM.

This one is a custom unit and it’s colored in purple. So imagine a red MS (Sinanju) and this one (purple Geara Zulu) zipping through the stars. Happy times are afoot. Here are the details on this MS from the website:

The custom unit of Angelo, the commanding officer of Frontal’s bodyguards. Since it needs to coordinate with Full Frontal’s MS Sinanju, its propulsion has been considerably enhanced. Equipped with 2 large boost pods and propellant tanks with stabilizers in the rear.

Then of course, as with all Gundam series, we need to have a mothership for the Feddies. This is the Nahel Argama:

An assault space cruiser built by the AEUG, who fought against the Haman Karn-led Neo-Zeon. Successor to the Argama class, its name means ‘one who is close to the Argama’. Carrying a number of MS, including the MSZ-010 ZZ Gundam, it served as the trump card for the counteroffense. Following the war, it was given large-scale, modern improvements (FRAM) and was affiliated with the Earth Federation’s independent mobile fleet Londo Bell. But incompatible without ships of the same class, it was badly managed and not included in the fleet formation, being mainly used on its own. Captained by Otto Mitas.

Now, I’m really hoping that they will release a Master Grade version of Sinanju and Geara Zulu. These mobile suits just look absolutely gorgeous.

Remember when I said I’m going to buy two MG Gundam Unicorns and build one to be set at Normal Mode and the other in Destroy Mode? N.P.GPM beat me to it but boy is his version a lot sexier than I could ever make it. Of course, he had installed the usual metal bells and bolts which I wish they sold here in the Philippines but they don’t. You can see more images of his third-most-recent work in his website.

I haven’t featured much of N.P.GPM’s work recently but other works that are noteworthy are his HGUC Exia and Dynames as well as his MG Sazabi in glossy finish which I believe is how the Sazabi should be done.

Personal Byte: I’ve yet to pick up my second MG Gundam Unicorn from Wasabi Toys but with all the work I have lately, I just spend most of my time at home resting but I’m anxious to finish that project. N.P.GPM’s work has definitely got me going for it again.

Saw this juicy piece of news from the chap who updates his blog on Gundams more often than I can breathe: Ngeekhiong! Click on the image to zoom. In the larger picture, you see “1:100″ written twice. I don’t see any MG written there so it’s possible that it’s just a HG 1/100 scale model but I’m so so so hoping it’s going to be an MG release. They’ve already made us all happy with the announcement of Shin Musha Gundam. This would be the golden cherry on top of the icing.

For those who don’t know, the Sinanju is the antagonist mobile suit in the Gundam Unicorn manga. It’s the red mobile suit that looks like the orgy lovechild of the Zaku II Char Custom, Sazabi and Nightingale.

Now for more updates on gunpla, visit Ngeekhiong’s blog.

I did not really think I would be able to wake up early today for an errand that I had to run for my youngest brother but I did. Not without help from my fiancee and my colleagues though. The day started with a startling phone call from one of my subordinates who was at the US Embassy for a visa interview because she and three other team members will be heading for Chanhassen, MN early February. She told me that they did not let them into the embassy because they had handwritten DS-156′s when it should be typewritten copies of the form. That definitely woke me up. So Plan B was to go to a nearby net cafe and fill up the form from scratch and print it out then line up again. Thankfully, two of them have already confirmed that they passed the visa interview. I have not yet heard from Greg and I have been trying to call his mobile but it was always busy. During this whole “ordeal”, my fiancee was on the phone telling me that everything is going to be just fine. I love her. She calms me down quite well.

So the errand I ran for my brother today was to have his white PSP Slim unbricked. It was getting those weird screen lines during video playback and gameplay and then just recently, it finally conked out and would no longer open any games. It would always hang, freeze and then shutdown. It’s now up and running again on 3.71 M33-2 custom firmware and we’ll upgrade it to M33-4 when I get home. Thanks Walter!

Now, I am back at the office working on updating some files and folders on Sharepoint. There is an up and coming theme by blessedhands which is based off the Windows Media Center program. Really nice theme by the screenshots alone. Should be interesting to see the final product. I’m definitely loading that and replacing my current Organ 3.80 theme.

Not much on the gunpla side today or at least none that really interest me. There’s been quite a lull plus Bandai’s been releasing MG Zakus left and right. I heard they put up a survey for which Gundam they’d like to see on their Speed Grade line. They should do that with their MG line as well. I can bet one of the first to come up on the list would be a UC mobile suit or Sinanju from the Gundam Unicorn franchise. Or Nightingale!

So until I pick up the first of my two MG Unicorns, I’ll be reading some of my books to eat away my time. Books! Yes! I just remembered! I bought several books over the past couple of weeks. Some of them are mine. Some of them are Chil’s. I got Dragons of the Dwarven Depths and Dragons of the Highlord Skies in paperback: two of the Lost Chronicles trilogy that resolves the time gap between the first trilogy of Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman. I also purchased Brothers in Arms which is the sequel to the popular novel about Raistlin: Soulforge. Last but not the least (and the first among the bunch that I finished) is Mitch Albom’s For One More Day. I’m a mama’s boy. This book made me cry. I loved it!

Minor edit: I changed my theme. I originally changed it to the Twitter-like Prologue but then I realized that my pages are now missing so I went to Digg 3 instead. I’m liking it~!

These are from Hobbyshop Kasare but they’re official Sunrise pics.

Don’t they look gorgeous. I’m seriously considering buying two of these. One will permanently be in Normal Mode and the other will be in Destroy Mode. Besides, I’m sure I’m going to be able to save up on paint. Heheheh! Unless I try to do those nice mod paint designs you see in this Gundam ver. OYW.

Would you consider buying two of these? 

Gundam Unicorn has released a new mass production unit that looks like the lovechild of the Zeta Gundam and the Hyaku Shiki. The gold color, head shape and leg design alone speaks volumes of references to Char’s Hyaku Shiki from the Zeta Gundam series. But the long beam rifle and its Waverider Mode is very obvious reference to Camille Bidan’s Zeta Gundam from the same series.Here’s the translation from Gunota Headlines:

MSN-001A1 Delta Plus (Earth Federation)

Head height: 19.6 m

Base weight: 27.2 t

Generator output: 2,460 kW

Maximum thrust: 92,400 kg

Sensor radius: 16,200 m

Armor: Gundarium alloy

“Anaheim Electronics variable MS supplied to the Nahal Argama after losing the majority of its mobile weapon complement to fighting with the Kshatriya. An all-purpose strike machine useable in all domains with its waverider form, which flies under 1G of gravity and has unassisted atmospheric entry capabilities. Since it is a nonstandard prototype difficult to place in a unit, it’s thought it was sent to the Nahal Argama, which makes use of a lot of similarly nonstandard things for a single warship.”