Torso finished! (except for the paint I messed up..)

And some panel lines I need to clean up...


The big question I had for tonight was how to get my aftermarket metal thrusters into the back of the torso. I had previously cut off the rounded nubs for the normal thruster and drilled some primary holes.
What I opted to do was attach the thrusters to a small piece of 5mm diameter rod and then insert that piece of rod into the back of the torso.
This involved using my pin vise, file, design knife and whatever else I could find to widen the hole and reduce the diameter of the rod.


The result:
Oh ya baby. It really went in snugly. I used model cement anyway to hold it in place (I hope it holds it in place).


Also slapped together these things.. whatever they are
Some decaling and fin funnels remain, plus the final touches to the head and final cleanup.

so close.. so close..

Thank you, Bandai!

Yay!

While they stated that it takes 2 to 3 weeks for delivery, my replacement parts arrived within a week!

Look a this pleasant packaging. Apparently, I overpaid and they send back some stamps in lieu.


Here is the part I needed the most. The front of the head. I originally tried to widen the holes to insert metal vulcans but that didn't go so well and will try something else with this one.
The other parts I ordered include parts for the waist and for the legs if my modifications don't work properly. Good to have backups.
And we're back on track!
Almost all painting is finished. Decals are now on the skirt, shoulders, and legs. Feet are done. Soon... very soon..

More odds and ends in improving weather.

With the weather still wet I thought I would work on the fuel canisters for something to do.

I wanted to do something with the two ribs. After pondering for awhile I came upon a plan.


Step 1: mask on either side of each rib.
Step 2: Take my .5 copic marker and colour all over da place.
Step 3: remove masking tape and touch up the marker
Step 3.1: apply decal. I also had to glue the gold part back in because it was moving slightly.


Step 5: Profit


I also decided to decal the shield while I had the decals out and immediately was presented with a dilemma. The big decal for the shield is silver, and I painted the shield gray so it would be hard to see it.

I decided to break the decal up into sections and apply them in different places. But the waterslides were being a bitch and started folding over on themselves. I got the Amuro symbol back into a presentable condition but the 01 was a lost cause. So I opened up the decals that came with the kit. They were stickers (sigh). So I cut the sticker up into sections and placed them around the shield. It is pretty much finished except for a top coat. BUT I will definitely wait for good, dry weather.

This evening was rather warm so I thought I would try to paint the white pieces. I picked up a white lacquer spray at a local hardware store for 198 yen. I wanted to give it a try. If it works well I will save money on paint.

It comes out very thick though and doesn't coat evenly. I sprayed from quite a distance so I wouldn't have build up in some places. I will have to do at least one more coat though.


Some other odds and ends that were accomplished:

Separated and painted the fingers.
Made a pair of eyes and painted them.
Painted all the silver pieces with my Mica silver.

If my parts from Bandai get here soon I may actually finish this thing!

Odds and ends in bad weather

With the weather still damp, to say the least, I thought I would make use of this time to finish up some things non-paint related.

Here Mr. Amuro takes his rightful place in the pilot's seat.
Here is the final assembly of the leg frame. Armour will go on once it's all painted (sigh).
And the feet are ready to go except for one more piece.
After assembling it, it turns out that there is a slight gap between the frame and the foot. At first this perturbed me. Then I realized that this will serve to lengthen the feet (which I originally planned to do anyway.) and allow some space showing the piston better. Everyone wins!
I slapped the decals on the weapons. Very easy as there are few decals for these weapons.

I was asked if I was working on something else while waiting for the rain to stop. And the answer is...


YES!


Here is the 1/100 MG Lucas Strike and I.W.S.P. It will be a simple build with some custom colours and maybe some extra plastic here and there. After forging my way through this Hi Nu, I needed something easy to do. ...before I start on another hard one... which I already purchased... and have planned out... hehe.

Hit the wall

I have reached a point where I can't continue.

I have finished most of the construction and now have to paint, but I can't paint because it has been raining for the last few days.
Here are some pieces waiting to go.

... and a bag of pieces waiting their turn.
And here is my order from the Bandai parts center. They say it takes 2-3 weeks!


Needing something to do, I built the stand.
If it keeps raining, what will I do?

(don't worry.. I know what to do.)

It's slow at work today..<

So I thought I would have some fun with the guys

Shin Matsunaga just got his hand mod.  He really likes it.  Rock on, Shin! 

Have I done it? Have I conquered the legs?

I picked up some brass rods, in 1.5mm and 2mm diameters, the other day hoping they would be the solution to the problems I was having with the legs. I lengthened the legs a while back but the cement was not strong enough to hold the parts together and the amount of movement the ankle and calf have during poses would put too much stress on a weld of just cement.

I took my pin vise and drilled down the center of the leg extension and inserted the brass rod. I then drilled into the lower leg part and then glued everything together. The weld seems much stronger, however, the angle might be a little off. I think once the armour is on that it should be alright.

My solution to the pistons on the lower leg was to take my 3mm plastic rod and drill a 1.5 mm diameter whole into it. Then I inserted the brass rod and drilled through the frame.


This is the result
And this is how it will look. It moves pretty smoothly and has enough friction that it should help holding the mecha in position in different poses.

I glued the newly-constructed pieces together and once it is dry will start painting. I will paint the pieces separately and then assemble it. I won't use glue to hold the frame together because I want to be able to replace just one piece should my leg extensions prove too weak.

I have also come up with a solution for the colour dilemma, but I will try it out to see if it will work like I think before I show it off.

Back to the Hi Nu!

Now that I have satisfied my painting and decaling urges with the Shin Musha Gundam, I can get back on the Hi Nu. However, I realize I may have bitten off more than I can chew with the modifications I wanted to make on a kit as difficult as the Hi Nu. I will be ordering replacement parts from Bandai this week, so until they come in the waist and head are on hold.

I have panel lined the weapons and just need to clean them up and decal them.

The verniers and thrusters have been readied.
I assembled the upper part of the legs as well.

And started on the fuel tanks (or whatever these things are). I want to remove the seam lines so I had to cut one piece in half so that I can paint the fuel tanks without messing up that part.
I have hit a bit of a snag concerning the paint. I had originally picked two colours that I thought would work well together. HOWEVER, the colour I chose to replace the white (the light part of the mecha) is too dark, and the colour I chose to replace the blue (the dark part of the mecha) is too light. I am now wondering if these colours will work well together or not.

I have actually painted the shield so that I can look at it and see how I feel about it, but I am leaning towards changing one of the colours. I will have to go with a really dark colour such as black or a dark, dark blue in order to make it work. Wish me luck.

If you can recommend a good dark colour to replace the Hi Nu Blue, let me know!

Shin Musha Gundam Gallery

Kit: MG Shin Musha Gundam

I will let the guy-who-takes-pictures-at-work's pictures speak for themselves.

Before heading off to battle

He's ready for battle!

With a shiny new paint and detail job, Shin Musha is ready to set out to battle... whoever it is that is against him.

I am still planning to dirty and scar him up a little, plus some other changes. I thought that before I did that I should take some pics just in case he turns out terribly...




With these big shoulder armour, I think he looks like a ladybug.