Hi Nu Gundam Gallery

Kit: MG Hi-Nu Gundam

Hi Nu Gundam! (or is it Hi-V Gundam?)

Finally Finalized!

yay.

I finally finished this thing! And just in the nick of time. I have completely run out of enthusiasm for this project. When originally planning this kit I had a good idea what I wanted it to end up like. I feel I have reached that idea more or less, but the getting there was definitely tough.

To end this post on a good note, I will list the bad things first. haha. And then finish with the things that I think I did well. So here we go!

The things I don't like about my Hi Nu:

the leg extensions
Because I made a mistake right off the start in how I went about extending the legs, it took me quite a while to find a solution that I thought would work. I don't mind the proportion, but it seems that the ankle joint is really loose and I don't have faith that this thing will stand up on its own for very long. Also, the idea I came up with to extend the pistons worked pretty well except the length is slightly off so there is a risk of the piston coming out of the housing.

the white paint

I originally wanted this kit to be a different colour but the shades were not correct, so I had to come up with an idea to fix it. I like the gray so I wanted to keep that. I experimented by painting matt white over the gray so I had a really light gray. I thought this would work, but using Tamiya Pure White would have cost me a fortune with all the coats I would have had to do. So I paid 198 yen at the local hardware store for a spray can. It comes out thick. So thick that it interferes with how the pieces go together. It is also difficult to sand down for repaints. I will stick with Tamiya in the future.

The Eyes

This was my first attempt at scratch-building the eyes, and it was more difficult than anticipated. One of the biggest problems was getting the eyes to be the same size. I got the as close as I could, but if you know what to look for you can tell they aren't. I think they are also a tad too big. I should stick with the stickers next time.

The stand
What a piece of crap. The joints on this kit can't seem to hold up to the weight of the aftermarket pieces I put on it. One of the knees was starting to give out. 'It's okay', I told myself. 'I can just put it in a cool pose on the stand'. So I connected it to the stand and a piece immediately snapped off. Now the joint at the top of the stand won't stay where I put it and only sags. So my cool pose is him just hanging around. This angers me and may be the straw that breaks Mr. Hi Nu's back.

and now... The things I do like about my Hi Nu.


Verniers/thrusters/and aftermarket pieces

It took some effort to make sure that these pieces worked, but I think the result is good. All the thrusters seem aligned and pointing in the right direction. I do feel they add to the kit.

the Head

If you have been following the blog from the beginning of this project you can see that I added about 1 mm of thickness to the head. There is no visible seam line and the proportion looks really good. Also, the expanding of the black part around the eyes worked well (except the eyes are too big ;)　) The chin has been reshaped and looks good and symmetrical as well. While I did rush the panel lines the result is still good.

the feet

These worked out really well. From the cutting and adding plastic to the filing down edges to reshape, to painting the internal parts everything seems to work well. I created the space I needed to fit the foot thrusters and didn't mess up!

TS-32 Haze Gray

I really like this shade of gray. And the Tamiya can sprays so evenly and cleanly it ends up looking really good. I have a feeling I will be using this paint in the future. I already have an idea to use it for the frame on one of my future projects. The Matt Black I used for the frame is sexy too, although depending on the climate when spraying different pieces can have different textures.


I think that about concludes my summary of this build. I my try to take pictures of this at work for some kind of gallery, but I don't have faith that the stand and joints will hold up for too much longer.


Okay, Mr. Amuro.. Walk your mecha off into the sunset.
The End

Finally complete.. Wait?! Aw, crap!

This weekend I managed to get the last of the decaling, panel-lining, and most of the top-coating done. As I was ready to assemble the head, I realized that I had lost a piece! Komatta na! I looked all around my work area, but found nothing. So I moved my desk and shelves, and still found nothing.

So I resigned myself to making one from scratch. It didn't turn out too badly, but after assembling the head, the face doesn't quite look symmetrical.

It may haunt me til the day I die.
Also compled the fin funnels. These will go on after I do the final top coat on the chest and head.
I didn't do a full test-build of the Hi-Nu before starting modifications. I didn't realize how tall this kit is. And I made it even taller!
Next update should be the final completed shots. Then off to SGBP!

Damn Weather! Co-operate!

Well, the rainy season is upon us here in Kanto so painting is plodding along. I manage to do little pieces here and there and then follow up with the decals and what not. Right now, I am waiting to paint the last pieces so I can do the final topcoat.

Let's see where we are, shall we?

I needed to attach the foot to the leg before I could put the last of the armour on. It was make or break. I would see if my leg extensions were strong enough or not.
Well, one of them was strong enough, while the other started to come loose. I quickly clamped and cemented it. It is strong again, but poseability will be limited. As long as it looks cool, right.


Here are the arms:
Here are the arms on drugs. I mean, attached to the torso.

The torso actually turned out better than I thought it would after I have been fighting with it for 2 months. I is 'volumed up' by a millimeter or more and I added small pieces of pla plate and putty to cover where the joins are.

Some touch up with the paint will need to be done before I attach the head.

I don't have a pic of the head, but I gave it a spray (with that thick hardware store paint) and it turned out not bad. The seam line is gone! I will need to gloss coat it for decals and then will post a pic.

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.