Bob makes a gundam

[BobTD]

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After watching the first season of Gundam OO and remembering how much I liked assembling model kits I decided to give the 1/144 scale models another try. I got a great deal on the price and I was interested to see if the model was as good as some of the pictures I have seen.

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Right out of the box things looked good, I could tell I would have to use a marker to add detail and make the parts pop. This is also the case with 1/100 scale gundams I have put together as well so not so much of a surprise. Clipping all these parts and cleaning the edges is the slow dirty work. I decided to man up and give this gundam my best effort despite my bad experiences with the smaller models.

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The sexy results.


The detail and quality of this master grade 1/144 scale model where on par with the best gundams I have built. There is a ton of flexibility in the parts and this gundam stands with amazing balance, better than my custom gouf even. The shield here actually has a sticker for the white part, that big sticker is my least favorite part of the model, because over time I know its going to start to look bad. I might have to peel it and simply paint the shield. Im finding good painting makes up for any sticker.

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The big sword fits almost exactly on the wrist as the anime, ther is a grey part that locks into the arm for the sword and shield, those being the most obvious differences from the anime. It hard to actually tell if the anime or the models where made first. Im betting they had the models in mind when they made the anime. There are so many small details that would be hard to add to an anime that look great on this model.

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Here you can see the 1/100 gouf next to the smaller scale 1/144. While the gouf actually has a lot more pieces, the Exia gundam is not far behind on detail.

[BobTD]

super lame post restrictions have made me split this post, carrying on:

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Here we have the exia and my phone.

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Exia with sword belt

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Painted beam saber.


Im still waiting on a marker in the mail for th final touches. But all in all I think the Gundam 00 models are a huge and vast improvement of the 90s gundam wing crap they used to put out. I built 3 1/144 scale gundams from wing and non of them are worth uploading pictures of.

let me know what you think, also if you dont know much about the gundam series I would recommend the Gundam 00 anime to anyone, its a great one to start out with, IMO its one of the best in the series. ANd the story is independent from the others.

[norid]

I geeked over this!!!!!!! That is awesome! Brings back memories of a screwed up Gundam Death Scythe in the hands of a 8 year old (me). How difficult was it? I think i will be getting into modeling again. Haven't touched a Gundam in so long...
My favorite is G Gundam for it being my first true Gundam i watched all the way through. Also have you watched Gundam Unicorn?

[BobTD]

Well thanks, good to see some people think this is is as cool as I do.

As for the difficulty, I had no problem. I do recommend using an exacto knife to clean the edges and clippers to get the pieces off the sprue. You can paint anything that is a sticker if you mess it up, I was worried about the shield and stuff but I managed to get them on there pretty well. And I also have a 1/100 deathsythell! That was the first model I built. I will take pictures of it when Im finished restoring it, one of the wing type things broke, the part that connects was very poorly designed.

What is exciting is that they re made teh 1/100 deathsyth and its widely regarded as on of the best quality models printed.

[norid]

Agh that's it I am going to try and get back to modeling and building.I just need to start off small. What would you refer to a beginner such as myself?

[BobTD]

eh, look on amazon for gundams and find something in your price range. I have seen some go for $10-$20, if you arent paying top dollar you can count those as practice. The Exia here was $18 + shipping:

Amazon.com: Gundam 00: HG 01 GN-001 Gundam Exia 1/144 Scale Model Kit: Toys Games (http://www.amazon.com/Gundam-00-GN-001-Scale-Model/dp/B000VO0550/ref=sr_1_11?s=toys-and-games&ie=UTF8&qid=1330918193&sr=1-11)

As long as you take your time and detach the bits from the sprue with a sharp blade you can probably pull off a master grade quality gundam no problem. I guess I would recommend getting a gundam model from a series you know, its always more fun putting one together that you are familiar with.

[norid]

I went and got Kyrios (who needs clothes for a bday anyway)....
Amazon.com: Gundam 00: 03 GN-003 Gundam Kyrios 1/100 Scale Model Kit: Toys Games (http://www.amazon.com/Gundam-00-GN-003-Kyrios-Scale/dp/B0010LAJ3G/ref=cm_cmu_pg_i)

I always liked this one and from the reviews I read hopefully I can pull it off. I am just doing this in between time for hw and classes anyways so I can go at a good speed.

[BobTD]

Sweet, I love the 1/100 scale. And I love how that gundam looks, the colors are my favorite out of the 00 gundams. 1/100 is my favorit scale to build in. I was thinking I wanted to collect the four main gundam from 00 so I went with the 1/144 scale to cut the cost down a bit. There is simply no way I coul afford them all at the 1/100 scale right now. And I got the exia first just to make sure the quality was worth it.

I just ordered Dynamis (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000VO055K/ref=oh_o00_s00_i00_details), hopefully it will be as good as exia. Next I plan to order the O8th MS Team EZ8 (http://www.yahobby.com/gundam-master-grade-1100-model-gundam-p-362.html) to keep the gouf company.
I found the Master Grade Deathsyth remake (http://www.amazon.com/Bandai-Deathscythe-Hell-Master-Grade/dp/B004EH68Z6/ref=pd_sim_t_16) on amazon as well, this is supposed to be one of the best master grade gundams ever printed.

The Custom gouf I had in the comparison post and the EZ8 are both from the 08th MS Team series. The series that comes right after Wing. It has been my favorite for a while now because of the more realistic combat. There is one fight in particular that stuck with me as the best in the series:


Before you watch it, the pilot of the gouf is trying to kill the guntanks to prevent them from shooting his leader out of the sky, and was probably my favorite Zeon war hero of all time.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-m7YMbdA1jQ

[BobTD]

Double posting? Bumping a thread? This is not allowed normally, but according to military testing standards I am better than 93% of my peers and I have decided to use that as an excuse.

Also I was excited when I found this in my closet:

http://img823.imageshack.us/img823/2976/dsc00159ss.jpg

yeah, what where you doing when I was 15, nothing that cool I bet.

[norid]

Agh I opted to build the Astray Red Frame. Finished it. Just need to transfer pics from phone to computer =P
And a little painting will be done.

[BobTD]

When are you going to post pics man? I got my 1/144 Dynames in the mail and will have pics up soon.

[norid]

Okay here they are...
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It took me a few hours because this was my first one but I was pleased with the final results. I just need to find some paints so I can get some practice in on this before I move on to my next one :p

Dual Swords
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Penguin Destoyer
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My favorite part aside from the sword and legs is the hand when holding the sword
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[norid]

And the pose it is currently in

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I went ahead and orderd Avalanche Exia, which should be here Friday if not tomorrow.
I am thinking I will have a go at painting on my Red Frame, then try on Exia. I just need to find some paints.

[BobTD]

oh that is not the gundam I thought you where getting. Wow that must be a gundam seed variant. It looks great man, you should google some material on painting/coloring gundam models, some people use markers and stuff or at least look at how certain paints looks.

I found this paint job Here (http://gundamcentury.com/2012/03/hguc-1144-dreissen-unicorn-ver-by-shunneige.html) very interesting. I paint a lot of warhammer stuff so I have done some of the weathering effects but not on such a large model. I might give something like that a try.

[norid]

That looks sweet! I tried painting today, and I enjoyed it very much. Right now I am just coloring the gray parts (That make up the inner frame) but just by making them a little bit darker it adds a world of texture and takes away that plastic look. Later this week (cause of school) I will start adding my custom paints to the parts. Honestly I think it will look nice because it will break away from the normal gundam colors.

The paint I used and am using, is Acrylic. Mainly because I can use a handbrush and it looks really full in color (does that make sense?). I read that it good to use on the big parts of the Gundam and to decided to give it a try. I am happy with how my gray parts came out.

[BobTD]

So here is my Dynames alongside Exia:

http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/5463/final1s.jpg
Comparison

http://img515.imageshack.us/img515/744/final2g.jpg
Sideview

http://img690.imageshack.us/img690/1006/final3b.jpg
Back

http://img39.imageshack.us/img39/2537/final4p.jpg
Resting (very much like deathsyth)

http://img198.imageshack.us/img198/8088/final5a.jpg
Current collection (the 90s gundams on the right are really poor quality)

http://img839.imageshack.us/img839/4237/final6x.jpg
Lightup base from those laser crystal stands. Strangly perfect for the 1/144 scale.

http://img269.imageshack.us/img269/3787/final7v.jpg
more colors,these do of course look better in real life.

I took pictures while I was building this time to put together a more informative post about the building process. I will upload them soon.

Oh yes, and a had a question about the sword from your red frame Norid, what material is that? It really does look like metal in any pictures I find online.

[norid]

Is it a hard plastic.
I have finally setteld on a color and I am painting my Exia a purple but at a slow pace... But should be done by nexr week. I have been bumming around for a paint compressor =P

Here is the body painted...
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[BobTD]

Lookin good so far, might help to start off with a grey base paint for any purple area, or white. Applying a base paint makes everything look better and its harder to rub off. I got Kyrios int he mail, so Im working on that right now.

Also now that Im building Kyrios, you did say you ordered that one. What happened did you change your mind?

[Kenoi]

man, thats cool, I used to do all of those things, except they weren't Gundam, they were transformers & car kits. thats all. haha.
wish I had them to put photos on here, but nope... they got STOLEN. T_T

[norid]

Yea, I changed my mind from Kyrios to the Red Frame. The base paint will be used from now on! Agh I finished all the blue pieces last time and they look pretty good! I just need to buy some plastic sealer or something. AT the moment I am pondering what I will paint the red feet in and how to edge my swords in green. I think the swords will look pretty sweet edged in green so it clashes with the purple body armor.
I think I will start saving up to buy the MK.II titans color version. When I get a job then I will splurge for a compressor and Sinanju.

[TheGateKeeper]

Not a fan but that looks awsome :P