HobbyLink Japan 'PLAYING WITH PLASTIC' Gunpla Competition!

Big news from HobbyLink Japan!

HobbyLink Japan has recently launched its hobbylink.tv site and as part of the festivities is holding a Gunpla Building Competition which they have dubbed PLAYING WITH PLASTIC!

Here's the details!

http://www.hlj.com/gundam2010.html

There are several different categories allowing Gunpla builders old and new a chance to win some really good prizes, the biggest being the lusted-after upcoming Master Grade, THE-O!

There's actually two chances to win yourself THE-O. Hobbylink Japan wants to encourage viewer submitted content to hobbylink.tv by offering the upcoming enormous MG kit to the person with the best video submission.

Other prizes include an MG V-Dash gundam kit for category winners.

Second place finishers will receive a Real Grade 1/144 Gundam.

All entrants receive 10% off an HLJ purchase!

So fellow Gunplars, let's show HLJ what we can do!

Oh no he didn't!

Oh yes I did!

1/144 G Gundam Ver Ka.

...coming soon.

HG G Gundam Work Log 4: More light mods

While I don't intend to try anything extravagant when it comes to modding the G gundam, there are a couple of places I felt I needed to make changes, if for no other reason than to give myself some piece of mind. You know what I am talking about. Those little things that stick out at you and bug you until you do something about it, even though they may not be viewable once completed.

For example, the underpart of the shoulders. The armour on the G fits together using the male/female connection, but that connection is viewable from certain angles. Well, not anymore!

A small piece of plastic glued overtop and that is that. Actually, this was more difficult than I thought it would be. I didn't want to interfere with the articulation of the arms at the shoulder joint so I had to get that plastic the perfect size (or what I consider to be the perfect size). Painting awaits.

Another part that I may have mentioned earlier that irks me is the underside of the wing, or is it fin?, which is part of the corelander. For reasons unbeknownst to me, there be hollows.

Well not anymore!

Some Mr. White putty and sanding later the hollows were filled. I should mention that after spraying the Mr. Surfacer there are some blemishes with the putty use but my Musha MKII is beckoning to me and I need to get the G finished before I can move onto the next project.

The hollows in the underside of the claws were also filled in.

The design of the claws didn't sit right with me. You can see how the claw fits over the peg. Sure this allows the claw to open and close but it just doesn't look right.

Voila! More plastic!

I simply glued on some .03 plastic, then once the glue had dried, cut it down to the right size and shape. A quick test reveals:

That's better. Now the claws look like this. Painting awaits!

Once painted I'll do some decal work using some of the many remaining decals I have collected over the past year or so and see what I can make of the G.

Also, there's more big news on the way soon but I can't let the cat out of the bag yet. Ooh, suspense. A great literary tool.

HG G Gundam Work Log 3: Light Mods pt 2

With the G Gundam the idea is to play around and experiment with modifications and such. So let's look at what has been done with the head. Above you can see the three pieces that make up the head. I wanted to try and get rid of the seam line which means...

First you take this piece and...

BAM!

Right in half!

Cutting this piece allows me to glue the seam line and then insert this piece afterwards. But to do that I need to...

BAM!

Gauge out that extra plastic!

Then glue the pieces together. I also took the opportunity to reshape the lower 'jaw' part of the face, by cutting away some plastic and giving it a sharper look.

And this is where we're at. So far so good.

I then moved onto the dual V-fins. First I cut some plastic off the ends, then sanded them down to make them sharper.

And then...

BAM!

Okay, nothing too exciting here. I simply separated the small fin from the large one.

And then I cut away some plastic near the base of the V-fin.


Leaving that for now I moved onto the legs. Or would the correct tense be; Leaving that for then I moved onto the legs. I've been in Japan just long enough to start losing some English. Soon I will speak neither language well. But I digress... I won't be doing anything to the armour but I did want to try something with frame. I picked up some parts from Wave and Kotobukiya.

I test fitted a vent, or is it nozzle?, onto the leg frame where the rear armour lifts off, however, it was slightly too long and prevented the leg from closing properly. I had to cut away a tiny sliver of plastic and do some sanding.

I broke out my seldom-used tube of Mr. White Putty and got to work filling in the spaces.
After that dried I sanded it down and then glued on the the Nozzles. Or was it Vents? What word did we decide to use for these? They look alright don't you think?
Next up: Mods to the forearms and shoulders.

RX-0 Unicorn - Destroy Mode Gallery

Kit: MG Unicorn Gundam

(For more Unicorn Gundam goodness you can view galleries of the Gatlings, Bazooka, and Rifle.)

Well, here it is. The 'Destroy Mode' gallery. And with this I can properly end this chapter in my gunpla life. And not a moment too soon, I must add. Transforming this guy and then trying to get him to stay that way while I posed him was a chore. The clasp at the back that is supposed to keep the torso in destroy mode won't stay closed which meant he would often become wobbly and lean forward. His shoulders would start to close, his arms would pop off, his feet wouldn't stay open. Add to that the problems I encountered with the camera set-up at work -couldn't get the lighting right- and I am admittedly quite happy to be done with this.

In this shot you can see what I did to the rear center block on the skirt. I like it.

Here the 'Gray Ghost' poses with his nemesis, the "Yellowbird" (I still love this thing!)

I don't intend to keep him in Destroy Mode, but I may display him in a hybrid sorta way for the next little while.

So long Unicorn!