[WIP] Gundariumsmith

I have been stuck in 2014. Aesthetically, I created a set of sub-par banners, graphics and logos, slapped it on Blogger, tweaked the settings to my personal taste, whether it was practical or not, and called it Gundariumsmith. Though I've been satisfied with the design, I know I can do better. Plus the site could use a face lift as we come close to the fourth year of this blog (has it really been four?). In this article, I wanted to highlight the changes that have been made, the reason for the changes, and future (dream) changes to come. I apologize if you clicked on this post looking for Gunpla. There probably won't be much for you here (check out my stuff in the menu above!).

The most obvious changes will be the background and banner. Those are can be seen universally. I originally had a tile of grainy gray squares. Overall the blog had a grain heavy aesthetic because I wanted to have a sort of television grain theme. If I got into the reviews enough, I wanted to start doing video reviews in a sort of VHS aesthetic (if anyone remembers the "Why I Hate Money" cringe-bomb series). Though I still like the idea, I think I unintentionally moved away from the aesthetic over the years as my taste slowly evolves.

ABOVE: Grainy Gray

To replace the backdrop, I have a long exposure of the New Hampshire night sky in late summer -- cropped, duplicated, rotated, and tweaked to be tiled -- hopefully you can't find the seams too easily. I like the darker background, though I'm not sure if the star sky helps or hurts the overall theme, especially since I used the image in multiple places. I'll have to test it out for awhile.

The next change is also quite universal -- the sidebar. I originally had the google+ profile links on the top. Over the years I've grown to detest these logos, not because it's g+ (though that has another can of worms), but because the objects themselves were slow to load and quite rigid in design. Since I barely use the platform, I decided it'd be best to remove it all together. Instead, I have the latest builds right at the top, followed by a link to my Instagram as a shameless plug to a platform I frequent more often than anything else I currently use (seriously, if you're even remotely interested in what I do, please follow me!). The other banners currently remain the same, though I should probably look into remaking them in the near future.

The last two changes are probably the most significant -- the pages. The About section had not been changed since I started the blog, and Gundariumsmith had a format that was not only hard to follow, but hard to upkeep. I needed to change these badly if I wanted to

In the About section, I had a section that read,

You will find nothing special on this blog: just an account of an average guy, and his wishful thoughts, trying to put the pieces together. Updates are sparse with little content, and modeling skills are mediocre at best. Photography is done with an average point and shoot camera in a DIY light box.

Though part of that is true, I have grown as a photographer -- my equipment is not as basic as it once was. Though no one probably reads the About section, I should have changed this at least a year ago. As for the Gundariumsmith section I mentioned I stopped Quick Reviews this year. Because of this, I wanted to downplay the OOB kits by removing the banners, then highlighting the significant work year by year. Inspired by my brother's page update in 2016, I made some changes of my own.

With these changes, I hope the blog will be easier for you, the reader, to go through the content. I still have a lot of improvements to make in the writing of the articles themselves, but hopefully I can get there one step at a time -- this is just a work in progress.

Thank you for taking the time to read this update. If you have the time, please let me know what you think of the changes!

[50kUNICORN] HGUC Unicorn Gundam Unit 02 Banshee

I didn't think I'd make it this far! My motivation to work on Gunpla has been pretty weak this year with the Hobby Zaku II and the RX-78-2 Head Display being my only significant work, all in the early months of 2017. Nevetheless, here I am, at the end of ZakuAurelius' 50k Unicorn Contest with something to show! If you have the time, please stay awhile and listen (actually, you're going to need to read it. Maybe I'll read it out sometime).

Preamble

The year is 2015. Summer comes to a close and my brother is nearing the end of his time at home. We decide to finally break out the massive HGUC dual kit from Gundam Front Tokyo. I'll spare the details here, since you can read (a lot more) about it in the "Special Review" we did. The point is, as I am reviewing the "Strikes Odaiba" Banshee Norn, I had a thought -- can I make the novel version of the Banshee? Ever since I saw GoodGuyDan's 1/48 Banshee Head Ver. Ka Final Battle, I've always wanted to find a way to make this version of the Banshee (without breaking the bank on the actual kit). Since I had a Banshee with a green Psychoframe, I decided to try it out.

Modified "Strikes Odaiba" Banshee Norn

Unfotunately, the Banshee Norn does not include all the parts to make up the novel version -- it would require parts from the Strikes Odaiba FA Unicorn kit in order to complete the look. I reverted the kit back to the Banshee Norn and stopped thinking about it.
A year or so later, I started gaining interest in doing a custom job using a regular production Banshee. After doing some research (on dalong.net, of course), I come to find that the original HGUC Banshee (Destroy Mode) actually includes all the pieces I need to create what I am looking for. If I was too lazy, I could throw a pretty penny at the FA Unicorn for the green Psychoframe, or I could paint the existing gold for the look I wanted. I purchased the HGUC Banshee kit and threw it in the sea of backlogged projects.
That is until August 2017, when ZakuAurelius announced the contest. Rather than trying to think of a new project specifically for the contest, I took this opportunity to just get one of my backlogged projects done.

Background
I am currently in the middle of reading the translated novels on baka-tsuki (it's been a struggle to strain my eyes on a regular screen), but I am not at a point where I have enough knowledge to say anything about the Banshee and how the novel differs from the OVA. However, there are some key differences in the suit design that can be easily pointed out.

Scans from baka-tsuki (link above)

In the novel, the Banshee was simply a second Unicorn Gundam, colored black with a different V-fin. There was no gold collar, no Banshee Norn, no Armed Armor VN, BS, or DE. Simply a Black Unicorn with the Beam Magnum and standard shield.

Scans from baka-tsuki (link above)

The suit is the second Unicorn Gundam unit built along side the original. As it was stationed at the Augusta Research Lab on earth, the Banshee was optimized for atmospheric combat. Without spoiling too much of the story the suit is eventually assigned to Riddhe Marcenas, where, through a series of struggles with Banagher Links, awakens his (true) Newtype powers and turns the Banshee's psycho frame green (okay, that might be a little too simplistic).

Quick Review
Like all Destroy Mode variants, the build feels flimsy with certain parts that come off effortlessly, the ankles feel weak, and the neck joint is loose. Despite these issues, the main attraction is the stunning exposed psychoframe scattered throughout the kit. Unfortunately, the gold psychoframed Banshee is not clear like Unicorn's red and green frames -- this leaves the non-final battle version Banshees not very desirable in my eyes. It's a good thing I prefer the Unicorn Mode over Destroy Mode.
For more detailed opinions about Destroy Mode, please check out the "Strikes Odaiba" review!

"Mid-transformation" posted on Instagram

One aspect of the straight build I was happy to experience was mixing parts between a friend's Unicorn Mode with my Destroy Mode. Through this I was able to compare which parts were compatible, and which were not. A part of me was hoping most, if not all, outer armor pieces were the same -- the only difference would be the psycho frame, expanding the inner frame to "explode" the Unicorn Mode. Unfortunately, that was not the case (if that were the case, this kit would be some engineering genius). At least the joints used were all the same -- I ended up using the gray joints of the Unicorn mode instead of the gold polycaps included in Destroy Mode. That way, the joints would not be as distracting when the psycho frame was painted green.

Contest Build
Because this was a relatively straight forward paint job, with little customization, even in the paint job itself, I disassembled each part and painted pieces according to their color in plastic. The major exception was the gold psycho frame which would eventually be green. Other than the psycho frame, the other major colors were dark blue, gray, and black. Each of these were painted Tamiya's Dark Mica Blue, Tamiya Gunmetal, and Rustoleum Gloss Black (with a coat of Tamiya Clear Pearl) respectively. Both Gloss Black and Dark Mica Blue were sprayed on via spray cans and the Gunmetal was applied using a brush. For the green psycho frame, I attempted to spray Gloss Black, Silver with spray cans and eventually spray clear green with an air brush, but there were two issues: The spray cans leave quite a thick coat which was no good for psycho frame pieces that required a certain clearance for regular armor pieces to attach over. The other issue was the lack of air brush -- I was also unable to borrow a friend's air brush setup, so I ended up hand painting the clear green, leaving an even thicker coat of paint on these pieces.

After weeks of meticulously planning out the painting process, I scapped the plan and painted like I've done in the past.

I ended up ditching the spray silver and gloss black and opted for lightly priming followed by hand painted silver. This gave me more control over how much paint I was putting on these parts, giving me results closer to my desired results. I think I will need to purchase an airbrush soon -- in order to get the results I want, I'm going to need to upgrade my tools.
Once the pieces were painted to a satisfactory level, I re-assembled the parts, painted in certain extra details, applied decals, and moved on. Of all the details I struggled the most on was the gold detailing in the legs. Each leg has eight parts that are supposed to be detailed with gold foil stickers. On the "Strikes Odaiba" Banshee Norn, I painted all gold detailing with clear yellow backed with silver. This time, in order to save time, I used Tamiya's Gold Leaf to paint in these details. All red detailing also use Gold Leaf before the Tamiya Clear Red is added.

I was originally going to use silver for the piping, but I wanted something that would pop more as an accent color.

While the beginning of the build I treated the painting process with care, September (and October) ended up being some of the busiest days -- a majority of the paint job was done in the last two weeks, rushing the process. Fortunately, I was not met with any major muck-ups with the spray cans.

Photography
Normally I don't talk much about my photography -- I just shot with a Canon point and shoot with a few lamps and a light box made from cardboard and tracing paper (referencing an online tutorial). More recently, I upgraded to a DSLR (second hand Nikon D3100 with a 35mm f/1.8 prime lens). Shooting with it for a year, I am still learning a lot of the functions, tapping into the full potential this entry level DSLR has to offer.
One of those learning points I only recently came upon recently is shooting in RAW (and editing with Adobe Lightroom). Photos were pretty good while shooting in JPEG (the above photos), but the amount of control in post with RAW is ridiculous! I don't know how I've been able to allow myself to shoot with JPEG for over a year before switching. I'm not sure I could ever go back!

These past eight weeks (in between all the chaos and busy-ness of work and other responsibilities) has been a fun process, fumbling with paint, learning more about photography, and just diving head-first into two of my favorite hobbies. Now that this project is finished, I should probably go back and finish Persona 5 (definitely before Monster Hunter World releases...).

That's it from me. Thanks for reading this far (at least skipping through the pretty pictures). Until next time, may your cuts be clean and sandpaper rough! Best of luck in your next endeavor.

Custom: RX-78-2 Gundam Head Display Stand

Preamble

Hong Kong: a city of a past memory. It had been sixteen years since I visited the hometown of my parents. Back then, the United Kingdom had just turned Hong Kong over to China, most of my extended family still lived in the city, and my family would visit on average once every two years -- it was my playground. The last time in that fragrant harbor, Gundam was the last thing on my mind -- my flavor of obsession was Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh! 

The view from Victoria Peak (not from the tourist balcony)

Though Hong Kong is still a familiar place, much has changed -- cousins growing up and moving away, the gradual disintegration of the Cantonese speaking community, and the inevitable gentrification as old buildings are destroyed for new ones. Even the popular hobby shops have changed! Many of the stores that used to sell scale models have shifted to the demand of airsoft guns and military gear. 

Searching from store to store, I had a hard time finding interesting hobby stores. The big stores chains sold kits I could now easily find in America (thanks to Bluefin and Amazon), and the more exclusive kits were priced too high. It wasn't until the latter half of my time in Hong Kong where something finally caught my eye.

While shopping for photography equipment in Sham Shui Po (深水埗), my uncle, who had known about my desire for Gunpla, showed me to a street in this area that sold nothing but toys. I found my hobby shops -- anything from holes in the wall with piles of kits to the ceiling to something a little more "class." But one thing was certain -- these places were down to sell a variety of kits regardless of origin. There was something...magical about this place.

"something...magical"

The kit I am showcasing in this article is one of the kits I picked up in Sham Shui Po. It is not a Bandai kit, nor is it necessarily a knock off. Nevertheless, Intellectual Property was stolen in the production of this kit. I would not normally purchase these kits, but for 50 HKD (about 6.50 USD), how could I refuse? I present to you the DX Hobby 1/48 RX-78-2 Head Display Stand. 

Out of Box Thoughts

Head Displays were, from what I can tell, originated in 2010 with the Dengeki Hobby bonus 1/48 scale Unicorn Head Display. Other head displays would pop up, like the Sinanju, Banshee, Build Burning, and G-Self (Zeta too?), but overall, it the collection of head display kits was pretty limited. A Chinese company (assumed) decided to play into the recent head displays and make their own based on the RX-78-2 Ver.Ka kit.

Like most head displays, very little color separation exists. These kits are typically produced in monochrome on one or two runners. I was happy to see this kit includes a clear runner for the stand mount and the eyes. It has potential for LED installation!

Unfortunately, like most knock-off kits, the quality of the mold was nowhere on the level of Bandai's kits. Gates were large, flashing was obvious, and pieces would be slightly misaligned. A lot of sanding and cutting was required. If I was anal about the sculpt, I probably would have applied putty to smooth out certain parts too. Overall quality, despite its knock-off status,  was okay -- nothing was outrageously frustrating.

My favorite part of the kit is the fact that the head camera was designed to be removable. This allows for easy LED placement to light up the eyes and the front and back head cameras. For my kit, the front piece of the head camera has a little bit of a clearance issue, but it helps keep the piece from slipping out too easily too.

The worst part of the kit is the beam saber mounting method. Ovals are provided for a friction fit with the ability for a custom position The problem is the underside is not covered, so if one were to view the back, the underside is exposed (refer to image later in the article). It might not be an issue from the front, but even from the side, this exposed underside is clear. The other issue with the Beam Sabers is the position. Typically, the beam sabers are positioned farther apart -- closer to the ends of the torso. It might look a little strange without the shoulders on this head display, but the current positions are not much better. If I wanted to spend more time customizing this head display, the beam saber positions would be the first issue I'd tackle.

...but I'm too lazy, so I immediately jumped into painting and detailing the head display. 

Custom Process

You got an idea of what the final product looks like in the title image, but here it is without the text from the front.

I started with the red portions of the head -- the face is separated between the red and white parts, making the paint job quite easy. Same with the crest with the rest of the V-fin. I used a spraycan of RustOleum Gloss Enamel to quickly paint the parts.

With the inside of the head and the vents, I hand-painted the locations using Tamiya Flat Black acrylic and Gundam Marker Real Touch gray for the panel lines. And with the yellow on the head vulcans, I used a spray can of Tamiya Polycarbonate paint (after masking off the rest of the head).

For the clear sections, I used Tamiya Clear Red acrylic and Mr. Color clear yellow, hand painting the parts. Decals were generic ones from Bandai's MG Unicorn wet application decals. Once the details were set, I top coated with a spray can of Mr. Hobby Top Coat a friend had passed on to me after seeing the problems I was having with Krylon Clear Acrylic.

For the torso, I started off by spraying the underside with RustOleum Flat Black Enamel. From there, I proceeded to spray the same Polycarbonate yellow on the top side. Once the yellow dried, I masked off the neck area to spray the rest a Tamiya French Blue, once again with a spray can. Details around the neck and on the upper "vents" (if you can call those bumps that) were done with Tamiya Gunmetal and Gundam Real Touch Markers. 

I wanted to also put some decal details on the chest, but the Unicorn did not have any generic labels like EFSF and quickly finding decals for RX-78-2 was either hard or costly. Looking through my limited selection of decals, I came across my recently procured sheet of gold decals, which I will eventually use on my Banshee Head Display. Because of the story of the Banshee, the suit has EFSF labels, whereas the Unicorn does not. This turns out to be a great situation -- I can experiment with the gold decals (see what the quality is) and I get a gold decal as an eye-catching detail on a blue background!

The decal was actually pretty tall -- the bottom half of the EFSF had "Earth Federation Space Force" spelled out. I cut the bottom half off for the initial use, but to not let that part go to waste, I found another use for it (as seen in the image below).

I thought the end result was pretty good, but this head display does not come without faults. As you can see on the image from the back (above), the yellow has quite a few blemishes. This was from the flat black sprayed on the underside -- I didn't bother cleaning up the top side before adding the yellow. I knew it would happen, but I disregarded anyway. There are additional blemishes that are harder to find, like tints of yellow and red on the head, and some spots on the yellow neck (closer to the base of the head. I tried my best to hide most of them, but for personal use, this is good enough. With the amount of projects in queue, I'd rather count this as a finished product rather than slaving away at perfection.

On display: HGUC REVIVE RX-78-2 Gundam

As for the actual use of this 1/48 scale bust, I have no intention of using it as a display base. Instead I plan on eventually implementing this piece onto a book end. I'm not sure when that will happen, but when it does, it'll be displayed proudly holding up my collection of Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin (and maybe Thunderbolt too).

That's it for now. This was supposed to be a quick weekend project as I waited for my brother to finish Persona 5, but I ended up working on the details well past his completion of the game. I think I'll go back to stealing hearts now. Until next time, may your cuts be clean!

A Stark Upgrade: Part 2, Delays

Previously on 宇宙傭兵: スペクターGM: Part 1, Salvage Ops

Flavor Text: Work In Progress?
"You're taking all our resources right now. It better be worth it."
"When will you upgrade my suit, Ana?"
"How much longer until you get back to work?"

"Shut up. Shut up. Shut up!" Anantha said out loud as she attempted to quiet the team's voices in her head. With a few deep breaths, Anantha moved the welder closer. Flipping her mask on, sparks scattered through the machine shop. The smell of flux fumes filled the shop as she slowly guided the welder, keeping the circular pattern with ease.

"This project was a waste of our time and money."
"We should have left the Jegan behind"
BANG!
With a flash of light, the welder blew back, causing Anantha to do the same. As the smoke and fumes dissipated, the machine shop was silent. Anantha looked around to see the hangar and machine shop empty -- not a soul, not a suit. Only the cold metal walls that surrounded her stared back.

"Fuck."

---

WIP: Delays
In the previous post, I imagined this project to take a few weekends, and I would be done by the end of March (maybe even earlier). Unfortunately I've been running into further delays of various kinds. What I thought would be more free time turned out to be more hours at work. Though I am all for more pay in form of overtime, it has left me without much free time. With the little free time I had, I spent a lot of time finishing Tokyo Mirage Sessions ♯FE -- I had the game since its release last June and wanted to make sure I finished the game before Persona 5 released.
On a side note, TMS♯FE is a quirky mashup of Fire Emblem and Shin Megami Tensei. I can't say its a must play game, especially because it's on an outdated console (Wii U), but for any fans of both franchises, it was a fun trip. If you have a chance (and about 60 hours to spend), try it out!
Back to the build, once I got back on track, I wanted to top coat the chest I just finished painting. The same issue I had with the Hobby Zaku surfaced again: the Tamiya, Mr. Color, and Testors paint all reacted to the Krylon top coat and wrinkled. Combine this with a family-related event, I know I won't be finishing this build in March.
Coming back from the family-related event, I'll probably be spending a lot of time on the PS4 -- Persona 5 has been my most anticipated game since 2013. No gunpla kit can compare to this excitement. So when do I anticipate the completion of this "mere upgrade?" Who knows -- I'm just hoping when I get back to the build, I don't run into any more paint issues. For those who wanted to see the final product at the end of this week, I truly am sorry that I am terrible at delivering on my self-set schedule, especially for what was supposed to be a simple upgrade.

As I've mentioned shamelessly in previous articles, if you want to follow my work in a more frequent format, please follow my Instagram. Between Morgenroete and myself, we're trying to use the platform to fill in the gaps between Blogger articles (especially now that I have discontinued the "Quick Review" format). I hope to see you there.
Until the next time, may your cuts be ever clean!

A Stark Upgrade: Part I, Salvage Ops

Previously on 宇宙傭兵: スペクターGM

Flavor Text: Prologue
      "Are you sure they're here?" Al inquired as the three pilots scanned for evidence.
      "You're going to miss them if you keep asking." Anantha responded in irritation. After a short pause, Al snapped back,
      "I'm sure you won't miss them with that fancy camera of yours."
      "Please Al, you still butthurt about-"
      "RADIO. SILENCE." Marinus ironically yelled. The three pilots abruptly stopped and continued to scan the area.

      The war-torn factory district had been isolated from the rest of the colony after a small skirmish during the Laplace conflict. With the district in disrepair, rumors of illegal activity spread through the rest of the colony. Though there was no hard evidence, citizens of the once Federation-occupied manufacturing colony were reporting Zeon mobile suits. So far, rubble, silence, and the blackness of space were the only objects the team could see.

      "Look, Marinus, we're wasting our time. The Zeeks are not coming to this rust bucket of a colony, you won't be reliving your golden One-Year War days, and we're pissing away money the longer we stay out here." Al said, attempting to convince Marinus to halt the operation,
      "You have somewhere to be, Al?" Marinus rhetorically asked,
      "We could have taken that escort job and actually make money instead of catching the wind!"
      "Who are you to question my judgement?"
      "I don't need to be here, Captain! I'll take my skills to another team that actually pa-"
      "Guys!, I see something." Anantha interrupted.
      The three pilots flew to the location of the sighting. No Zeon forces to be found, but a relatively in-tact Stark Jegan had been abandoned on a roadway. Anantha jumped out of her suit and started surveying the remains.

      "Other than its head, the suit is quite undamaged." Anantha excitedly reported "The run time on the computer says less than 200 hours!"
      "Great," Marinus responded, "we'll salvage for spare parts and sell the rest. Take it up, Al"
      "Wait, no! Al revolted "I'm not carrying someone else's scrap!"
      "Just get it done, Al! We need to hurry before any Zeon forces find us."
      "For the last time, Captain, they're not-"
      "You get 70% of parts sales" Marinus said, talking over Al.
         "...deal," said Al as he picked up the Stark Jegan.

---

Concept: Inheriting The Old
After finishing the 'Weiß Hund Zulu' in late 2015, I pretty much abandoned the Specter GM project -- The trio was achieved and the two side characters were at an okay state. Over the next few months I thought of doing u/sandrock465's "mid-season upgrade" like he did with his Strike Ixion (Brave to Jäger) that summer, but I had no intention of purchasing kits merely for parts, so that idea was scrapped and I continued with other projects. Fast forward about a year and a half, Gunplaworks is clearing his shelf of older models, one of them being a Stark Jegan. Now I can play around with the idea of a "mid-season upgrade" without spending money on it. Thanks friend!

The idea here is to add further mobility to this Sniper. With the extra boost on the legs without the increase in armor in the upper body, Anantha can fly around space much faster while still hitting her targets. I don't have a name for the suit yet, but I have a few ideas.
The other goal in this project is to upgrade the aesthetic of the Jegan Sniper Type. The OOB build is quite boring and removing the accent colors to a black/navy color scheme made the kit look even less interesting. I aim to add better accent colors and panel line details not only to the new pieces but the old ones as well.
Part of the aesthetics upgrade is the "iconic" Sniper Type head I created. In the original build, I was experimenting with a level of customization I was not used to. I can't say much has changed, but since I have an additional head from the Stark Jegan, I have a new opportunity to retry the old concept. Click here for more information on the original Sniper Type.

The goal of this project is to finish all the aesthetic upgrades by the end of March. Though a lot of the work is technically done, I anticipate, like February's hiatus, I will be busy -- I do not know how much time I will have to dedicate to something as "simple" as this. Maybe I'll finish a majority of the work over a weekend. Maybe I'll have to hold off until the end of March. Either way, I'll play it by ear. If you want to follow this project a little closer than this blog, make sure to check out our Instagram!

Until next time, may your cuts be ever clean!

[JAN17GroupBuild] Hobby Zaku (Thunderbolt Ver.)

Submission Album | Original Reddit Post

Kicking Off
At the beginning of 2017, /u/soximent takes the lead in organizing a group build on /r/gunpla. At the time I was in the middle of two projects -- both of which I had to put on hold for different reasons (I'm sure I'll get back to them soon). Since I had a Zaku II from the Big Gun kit (for yet another project), I decided it would be a good place to use what would have been an extra suit.

Concept
While snap building this kit on an impromptu Twitch stream, I thought about what I could aim for in this kit (partially aloud to the 2-5 person audience). Two ideas stood above the rest,

• Char's Zaku (Thunderbolt Ver.) -- since Mobile Suit Gundam: Thunderbolt is only based on the Universal Century, rather than part of the main canon, I started wondering what Char's Zaku would look like in Thunderbolt's version of the Universal Century. 
• To start, Char would pilot a regular Zaku II, as opposed to the High Mobility (or Psycho) Zaku.
• From there, the idea pretty much stopped at a recolor: Nothing really stuck out to me.
• Hobby Zaku -- What if the Thunderbolt series continues its story to UC 0093? What would a Hobby Hizack look like? I don't want to re-imagine Quess Paraya, but thinking about a civilian use Zaku in this alternative Universal Century would be interesting.

 

Needless to say, I chose the Hobby Zaku concept. I started thinking about General Aviation, trainer aircraft, and the like. Though I would try to stick with the color scheme of the Hobby Hizack, I also thought about what kind of twist I could put into the kit.
Let it be known that the reason had nothing to do with the fact that I would not have to work on any weapons.

Background: Hobby Hizack
The Hobby Hizack first appears in Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Coutnerattack as a...well...hobby vehicle. By 0093, the Hizack had become an obsolete war machine, so it was stripped of its weapons and sold for civilian use.

In the movie, we can see Quess pilot the Hobby Hizack like an acrobat in front of many military brass, including Char himself. If only this spawned choreographed mobile suit demonstrations like the Thunderbirds or Blue Angels. That might be an idea for a future project (no! no! no! you have too many half-finished projects!).

The Build
Soon after the Twitch stream, I started thinking about how I should paint the kit -- what parts should be true to the Hobby Hizack, what parts would be left to my interpretation, and what parts would remain closer to "Thunderbolt Ver." Looking at the back of the Hobby Hizack, I noticed the backpack was colored generally blue. I decided to start there.

To keep the color scheme interesting, I did not follow the color scheme of the Hizack (which involves coloring the whole back blue with little to no color separation). Instead, I painted the parts involving the thrusters, among other details, Tamiya's Gunmetal. The Thrusters, instead of the gray/red look, I went for the Thunderbolt gold and red by spraying the inside with gloss red from RustOleum, and painting Mr. Color Gold on the exterior. After removing as much seam line as possible, I finished off by spraying the tank flat white and detailing the stem/connection point a combination of gold and gunmetal. Once the piece of generally dried, I thought the test was successful and proceeded to the rest of the kit.

One part I am proud of (and, as you will see, sad for) is the shoulder-mounted armor plate. The red and yellow stripe is not perfect (like most things on this build), but the way it turned out conceptually had me excited to finish the rest of the build. If I had more time on the kit, I probably would have tried to add a similar yellow and red stripe spanning length of the opposite leg.

After priming the piece, I painted a spot with Tamiya polycarbonate yellow. With the thin layer of yellow dried, I masked and sprayed the gloss red stripe then masked and sprayed the rest gloss blue.

Other than the shoulder, most of the painting went smoothly. Other than the calves and spiked shoulder, no glue was used to remove seam lines. Because of this painting involved spraying ro hand painting parts separately, making the job easier.
The major issue in this phase ended up being the arms. Because the parts are generally two half-shells, color separation involved masking. Not only are the seam lines highly visible, the paint job is well under par. Needless to say, I'm not proud of that work.

Thinking about the shoulder...

Like most Gunpla kits, the Zaku II (Thunderbolt Ver.) lacks the essential play option of hands. For a suit that will not be carrying any weapons, I wanted the open hand option. None were provided -- not even the open left hand for carrying a rifle stock was provided. To remedy the issue, I purchased the Jigen Knuckles (Round), shaved down the top until I could crudely fit the Zaku armor plate on top of the hands, and painted the piece white and gunmetal. Despite some flaws, I was pretty happy with the result.
Furthermore, most Zaku kits will include a pink sticker for the monoeye. It looks cheap, it is cheap. I hate it. To fix this, I used a set of lens stickers from CJ Hobby that a friend had given me. Backed with a silver sticker cut to size, I painted the surface of the sticker with a tiny bit of Tamiya clear red to get the final product.

Crunch Time! The Final Days
From straight build to the previous photo, I took a little over a week. It took me until maybe 2 days before the end of the month to figure out what I wanted to do with the shoulder. I liked the spikes, but it wasn't very "Hobby-Hizack-like." To compromise, I cut off the side spikes and left the top spike for the final result.

While I was letting the shoulder dry as best as possible, I took out some leftover decals and stickers from various kits and started adding some minor details to the kit. Unfortunately, some stickers are very obvious on gloss surfaces.

At this point, I was not completely satisfied, but I was finished -- time was up. January had come to a close.

Faults
With the build time frame set to one month (not to mention my sloppy craftsmanship), many mistakes were made. A lot of the detail work could have been tighter, some scratches and fingerprints in the paint could have been avoided, but the biggest faults of this build lie in two locations: the shoulder armor and the right foot.

The right foot had since been repainted, so the final photographs will not show the mistake. However, if you look at some of the WIP photos, you will notice a strange looking right foot with what looks like mustard (I'll let you find it). I wanted to add a little color separation to the foot to imitate the white/red recessed tip of the Hobby Hizack. Instead of white or red, I wanted to add a little more yellow to the kit, so I masked off the top part and sprayed the polycarbonate yellow, the same yellow used on the armor stripe. The blue reacted to this paint and started warping, causing the foot to look like it had stepped in a puddle of mustard instead of a yellow soled shoe. To remedy the foot, a day before the due date, I scraped off and sanded the piece and repainted it. If you look closely, the right foot does not have the same defining edge of the left foot. The gloss blue had glazed over any detail that used to exist.
As for the shoulder armor, the piece looked pretty satisfactory on the first try. However, I wanted to add a gloss top coat before adding a wetslide decal (the 'GG'). Unfortunately, despite weeks of letting the paint dry, the RustOleum gloss enamel lifted the gloss blue enamel right up. I should have foreseen this, but in a lapse of judgement, I ruined a perfectly OK paint job. Unfortunately, with time running out, I was not able to repair this issue and decided to put the decal on anyway. In certain photos, the shoulder does not look so bad, but in the right light, you can see the full extent of the damage.

Going Back
I considered going back and "completing" the suit by cleaning up some of the paint (re-doing the shoulder) and adding in some panel lining, but I decided to just keep the suit the way it was. It is a suit completed within a month, it was the suit that I submitted to r/gunpla. I'm sure there will be other group builds and custom projects I'll be working on soon enough.

Thanks for reading! Until next time, may your cuts be clean and sandpaper rough.

Review: A Year in Gunpla 2016

The last time I posted one of these was for 2014 (posted in 2015). Though I attempted to write a similar article for 2015, nothing was ever posted (just like that MG RX-78-02 review I was supposed to do). Nevertheless, here we are at the beginning of 2017 looking back and looking ahead. After nearly three years of this blog, I still have no idea who actually reads this stuff, so if you are one of those readers, thanks for stopping by, once again, for my inconsistent, rare moments of...

It has never been a better time to be a fan of Gundam (from the American perspective). Anime from the franchise is more readily available than ever before with multiple series airing at once. Merchandise can be purchased in big name chain stores and on the web, and soon enough, if everything goes right, we'll have access to Premium Bandai (if you haven't filled out the survey, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR!?). With Bandai looking to the west to expand their market and companies like Bluefin expanding the market of collectibles, I hope to see better access to this hobby in the near future!
Personally, 2016 has been a year of changes. The biggest change was getting a job (based on what I studied in college). The previous years of this blog were fueled by a drive to create, funded by whatever I could scrape up (or generous "gifts" from my brother), and made possible with gratuitous amounts of time. I tried to make the most of every purchase, thinking about what I could make with the materials on hand. With the influx of money from this job, purchasing any High Grade kit was no issue to me. Unfortunately, the job also meant a lot of my energy is spent there instead of this hobby. This is the obvious and logical way of life, but it's one thing to talk about the change and experiencing the change. Having to manage time between work, play, and other responsibilities, has been quite a change in pace. Finding a good cadence between all of the things I want or need to do has been a challenge. Because of this change, I wanted to find a way to continue connecting with the community without the need of writing and photographing in such detail.
My best answer was Instagram: this was another big change. Obviously not as big as a job, but it changed how I thought about Gundariumsmith as a blog. With two apology posts between April and July, I felt the need to change the pace as I started a new chapter in my life. In addition, I wanted to continue working on my hobby in photography, something I, to be honest, have more interest in than scale models. With Instagram, just as I explained back in July, I had two goals in mind,

• Fill in the spaces between long-form reviews (that I doomed myself by calling them "Quick Reviews")
• Share my love of photography and gunpla at the same time.

I also felt more free to share beyond the Gundam franchise on Instagram. I was planning on expanding here on Blogger, but only if the subject remained within scale models. If I had better access to an airbrush (hopefully I can figure out an old one I inherited...or I should just throw money at a new one), I probably would have finished off the AE86 I purchased back in 2009 and shared that on this blog. Nevertheless, Instagram gave me more flexibility in what I shared and how often I shared (relative to the format of this blog).

Speaking of photography, the last big change of this year is my equipment. After a decade of photography, I was finally willing to drop money on a DSLR. Granted, I was also blessed to stumble upon a used Nikon D3100 a friend was trying to sell. With the new job, I was waiting for a sale somewhere for a 3000 series Nikon, 300-350 USD was my goal, but with this second hand D3100, I spent 100 (then spent another 170 on a non-kit lens). After a few opportunities to shoot with this camera, I began to see the power difference between my previous cameras and this beast of opportunity DSLR. Though I am still proud of what I was able to accomplish with lesser technology, I am happy to be able to push my ongoing journey of photography to greater heights.

Reflecting on these changes on my life and this blog, I was thinking about my blog's purpose. The premise of this blog, outlined in the About section, hasn't changed since the start,

You will find nothing special on this blog: just an account of an average guy, and his wishful thoughts, trying to put the pieces together. Updates are sparse with little content, and modeling skills are mediocre at best. Photography is done with an average point and shoot camera in a DIY light box.

Despite this paragraph staying the same, my short term goals in terms of what I write about in each article has been quite inconsistent. As I gain more experience in building and exposure to kits, my views change and so do the articles. There's nothing wrong with that, but I think I need to realign my goals for this blog: I need to take a break.

I don't mean take a break from the hobby, but to step back from the blog to think about what my goals are. I want to think about the content I produce, and ways to improve the format. I know one of the major questions I'm asking myself is how I can improve on the Quick Reviews - My original goal of doing the Quick Reviews and photographing kits was to document the kits I have and organize my thoughts on custom projects. However the Quick Review format does not really help any readers nor is it easy for me to update the database.
In the end the questions I want to ask (based on thoughts from an inspiring Youtuber reflecting on his recent success) is "How do I make my content unique enough to provide value?" Between dalong.net and Zakuaurelius (and the two 'r's two 'b's before him) the "market" for reviewers is quite saturated. So what can I do to provide "value" beyond what already exists? This is what I want to think about rather than chugging along with the regular format.

I also do not mean I am abandoning this blog! I will still post any custom projects/group builds I participate in, so between the less frequent posts and Instagram, I should still be active enough. It's mainly the Quick Reviews that I want to overhaul in the coming year. I apologize if any of you look forward to those articles.

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Rather than ending on the rant wall, let's go through the questions PerfectGradeMod has posted on r/gunpla!

How many kits did you buy?
I've lost count. I usually have a decent log on my blog, but I have not been doing a good job keeping that up to date. For sure the number is well over ten kits (not counting the kits that have been gifted to me or given away).

How many kits did you build? (link a gallery if you have one!)
Nine, maybe? For the previous two years, I had between 15+ kits per year. Other than the burst of kits I built in the winter of 2015, there were large portions of time I had not been building.

Do you have a high or low moment you'd like to share?

• High: though I started in 2015, reworking my friend's HGUC Guntank was a very fun project. Throughout the build I was uncertain whether or not the kit could be repaired. In the end I gave Guntank's arms its articulation back and gave it a pretty decent paint job.
• Low: I was anticipating being able to do a lot of custom work over the summer. I literally built nothing. Part of the reason was the heat - our air conditioner broke and was not fixed until late August. The other part was starting my job, I felt as though I had no free time. I'm still trying to figure out how to balance my time properly. I basically stopped functioning over the summer.

What releases are you looking forward to/hoping for next year?
I am interested in how the MG Ver.Ka ZZ Gundam will look. Though I am not fond of the design (nor the anime), I am interested in what kind of details/changes Katoki and the team will engineer into the updated design. From the ZZ Gundam, I would like to see two spin-off kits come from this Ver.Ka,

• FAZZ (in reality, I just love the name)
• Tryon 3 (because the HGBF kit was disappointing)

With the 30 year anniversary of Mobile Suit ZZ Gundam as a thing in Japan, I am expecting to see more kits from that series, whether it be MG or HGUC. A few kit's I'd expect/want to see are,

• HGUC Galluss-J and HGUC R-Jarja: variations of these suits already exist in kit form. Will this be the year we find ZZ versions of these kits?
• HGUC Queen Mansa: it would be expensive, it would barely hold its weight, and it probably won't become a kit. One can hope though.

Gunpla wise, what will you remember most about 2016?
2016 is the year I slowed down: 2014 and 2015, were strong years of building, learning, and working my creative mind. 2016 definitely felt much less so.

Do you have any Gunpla goals for 2017?
Other than the goal(s) mentioned above, I need to sort through the backlog of snap-togethers and separate between dead end projects and back burner projects. I don't know the fate of the dead ends, but I know I want to truly finish off some of these half-finished projects I have. To me, a backlog of untouched kits are okay - I can easily share my hobby whether it be giving it away or building with friends, but the half-finished projects serve no purpose and take up space. I don't need that right now.

A few projects in particular are on my mind

• EZ-Destiny (tentative name)
• Second Generation Diva Crew, Mobile Suit Division (at least the non-protagonist suits)
• Super Fumina custom (cannot disclose any plans right now)
• Banshee Head Display (painted to match the Strikes Odaiba Banshee Norn)

I really should get an airbrush setup soon.

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That should cover all I wanted to blog about. I hope you got an insight on my thoughts about this blog, the hobby, and what lies ahead. Until we meet again, whether it be Reddit, Instagram, or this blog, may 2017 bring you opportunities to enjoy life and grow. This has been Gundariumsmith, may your cuts be ever clean!

Quick Review: Gundam Local Type

Preamble
As my friend was on his way back from Hong Kong, he asked me if I wanted anything from that fragrant harbor. I told him I wanted nothing more than the local flavor of Gunpla. He, the Pokémon fan that he is, did not know where to begin. Fortunately, with a little street smarts from his cousin, my friend was able to pick up something...local.
Driving said friend from the airport, I immediately got my hands on this kit. If I put the kit together within that week, it would have been the fastest turnout for me from kit release day to assembled kit. Unfortunately, I got hung up on other responsibilities and ended up building nothing. At least I found the time now!

Background
Gundam Local Type comes from Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin's Mobile Suit Discovery, a collection of mobile suits you probably haven't heard of. Similar to past Mobile Suit Variations, MSD serves to tell the expanded story of Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin through mobile suits that would have existed in the same timeline. In the case of Local Type, it was the predecessor to multiple suits such as Aqua GM, Underwater Gundam, and Gundam Ground Type. Please refer to the flowchart below for exactly how they're related.

Source

Basically, Local Type is Ground Type before it was cool mass produced for the One Year War. At least that is what Sunrise/Bandai want us to believe in the new interpretation of the story.

Thoughts
As a fan of the Ground Type Gundam, there are aspects of this pseudo-predecessor I find interesting while also finding aspects I despise. If I were to choose between MSD and 08th MS Team mobile suit designs, I would, without a doubt fall back on the 1996 mobile suit designs. Obviously there is quite a bit of bias between growing up in the 90s and being a fan of the OVA. Nevertheless, the Local Type has its merits.

One of the biggest improvements from its 08th MS Team counterparts is the articulation. Though the HGUC kits were okay, they definitely had their limitations in poses and sturdiness. The Local Type has many of the issues engineered out specifically in the shoulders and the ankles. Unfortunately, the ankles are not perfect - the guards are molded into the legs. While Gound Type and all the GM variants typically have a hinged ankle guard, this design keeps the guards static with the rest of the leg. Maybe this is the largest non-issue, but for me, the ankles do not look right when they are always in the "up" position.

Size comparison to the HGUC REVIVE RX-78-2 Gundam

Aesthetically, I am quite happy with most of the design decisions. The white and blue with the hint of yellow reminds me of the Patlabor color scheme. The fact that this suit is considered the "Local Type" furthers the idea that these suits were used as domestic forces. All I need now are EFPD decals (Earth Federation Police Department?)
The overly white sections of the suit are broken up with line details and accent colors via stickers. These clear stickers, seem to be one of the defining features of this line of kits. Like Real Grades and Ver. Ka kits, HG The Origin will seem to always have a decal set to further enhance the kit. I personally do not like the idea of using these stickers, however, these clear stickers seem to do the job. I just wish Bandai either included water slide decals or sold them separately. It would be nice to have the option.

The accessories included with this kit are a re-imagined 100mm Machine Gun, a Federation Small Shield, and a pair of beam sabers. These two modern interpretations of the standard ground war equipment give a fresh look while maintaining their old roots. The beam sabers can be mounted directly on the arm or at the tip of the shield. Nothing too fantastic in those designs.

Overall, the suit is well made and looks great. I was, at first, slightly put off by the amount of white in the suit, but with the accents of gray via stickers, the suit looks a lot better. Basically, with a little work, this suit has the potential to be amazing.

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Housekeeping
Hey readers, it seems the common theme of this year has been apology after apology for delays. I guess the hobby life was never an easy one for a working man. I have not touched paints in months and so many of the kits I've been excited for simply do not get purchased. However, I have not given up on making time for this hobby! There are a few projects still on my mind and I will hopefully allot enough time to get to them before 2016 ends.
In the mean time, I finally made the photography upgrade I've needed since..well, since I started a decade ago. With a friend's upgrade to the Nikon D7100, I had the privilege to buy her slightly used predecessor, the Nikon D3100.

Left: Nikon D3100 Right: Canon Powershot SX150

In the photo set above, I tried to carry on the joke that the Local Type is the Gundam of hipsters. Reclaimed wood and lame filters aside, I attempted to shoot in natural light rather than the sterile setting of a light box. I hope to continue to experiment with this DSLR and see what interesting shots I can get with my Gunpla (along with whatever else I shoot). There's still a lot to learn about the Nikon so I hope to be able to share my progress as I continue both hobbies. Thanks for reading and I hope to see you here in the next one!

[100kTY] Giveaway Results

Ladies and Gentlemen,

With the 100kTY giveaway and contest ending two weeks ago, I best be wrapping this event up and send some balls on their way. Unfortunately, there were no entries for the contest.

That's right, Zero.

I had some folks interested in the event, but in the end, no one delivered. Oh well, one less prize to send out for now. I have plans to host a larger contest in the future, so we'll see where the planning takes us. As for the giveaway, we have a total of fourteen entries with a chance to win the HGUC Ball Twin Set. Thanks for dropping by and entering!

Without half the event to worry about, I decided to put more work on myself to determine a winner. I started by using RANDOM.ORG's random number generator to first shuffle the pool of names by grabbing a number 1-n (n being the total number of names remaining) and adding the name from the chronologically sorted list to the new list, then deleting the name from the chronology pool (wash and rinse 13 times). Once the shuffled pool was created, I took four random numbers - three random numbers between 1 and 14 (taking out repeat numbers), and a single random number between 1 and 3. The number between 1 and 3 determines which of the three numbers is the winner. I hope this is random enough.

...and the winner is,

Congratulations, and thank you for reading (as little or as much as you do) and participating in this giveaway! I will contact you requesting for shipping information. If I do not receive a response in such a time frame, I will contact one of the other two names (from the final pool of 3).

I think that is all from me. If you have any questions about this giveaway (or the contest that did not happen), feel free to contact me through my email, or leave it in the comments (here or reddit). Thank you once again for keeping up with the blog, and I hope to see you all in the next one!