Graham

Finished building and panel lining mine at the weekend. About halfway through applying the stickers. The stickers are actually extremely good quality. Nice and thin, with no border and they stick really well. As others have said, the kit is very solid in battroid mode, but really needs some locking pegs in fighter mode, as the legs do not lock onto anything. Also, the left wing-root gun on mine doesn't want to stay in position in fighter mode, leaving a big ugly gap. Haven't tried Gerwalk yet. Only painted a few small parts, such as the head lasers, canopy frame and PPB Knife blade, otherwise the left the rest of the kit unpainted. Used Gundam markers for the panel lining. I found through trial and error that the best way of removing the excess ink from the bare white plastic, was to just wipe it off with my fingers. Needed to rub quite hard, add the occasional dab of saliva (don't worry, I washed the parts afterwards with soap and water to remove any smell ), but I was really pleased with the end result. Overall, I'm very impressed with the engineering and design that went into this kit. What really surprised me was the amount of ABS parts in this kit (Probably about 50%, or most of the internal frame). I know it's been mentioned that Bandai is now using a lot of ABS in their recent kits, but it's new to me. From 1987 to 2002, I built a lot of Bandai Gundam models, and the ones from that period had none or minimal ABS parts. Looking forward to the Ozma kit, which has far fewer markings. Graham

Looks good. The side eyes need to be green as well and the knife blade should be a different color to the hilt and guard. Graham

OK, I'll ask the shop this weekend. I didn't see anymore stock when I picked mine up yesterday. In fact the shopkeeper went up a ladder to his loft to bring mine down. Maybe he only had one, or he's hiding them all (dunno?). Anyway, I will ask. Graham

OK, you've got me worried now. I haven't started on the shoulders yet, but I can't tell from the pictures you posted what is wrong. You mean the assembly instructions are incorrect, or just the photos of the assembled model in the instructions is wrong? Could you explain which part numbers you are talking about? Graham

Phew, you guys were right about the huge amount of panel lines on this thing. Judging from their Gundam kits, I didn't think Bandai even knew what a panel line is . Not looking forward to starting on the panel lining. It's gonna be a huge job. Anyway, just finished putting the nose/cockit section together. Gonna call it a night for now and carry on tomorrow. It's about 5 years since I last built a model. This certainly seems to have more parts than the MG and HG Gundam kits. Graham

No, the battery died before I even started. Forgot to charge it after last time I used it. Graham

Here's a few quick indoor pics taken at night with a flash. Graham

Heh, picked up a second one. Unfortunately, my digital camera battery just ran out of power, so gotta charge it. Very nice toy. Graham

Yay, got it today from the Tai Po model shp I preordered it from and only paid HK$298 (US$32.80)! Will start building tonight. Graham

Would love to see a navalised Typhoon in RN service, rather than the chubby (jack of all trades, master of none) JSF. I'm in love with the Typhoon. Sexiest aircraft ever IMO. Graham

Highly unlikely. Yes. PSP games are region free (or so I've been told) and a game from any country will play on a PSP from any country. Only PSP movies are region encoded. Graham

Looks like they are finally arriving in dribs and drabs into HK. Seems to be all grey imports, not official Bandai shipments. Most shops are asking over HK$600 which is really price gouging, for what should be a HK$350 (US$45) kit tops. Just saw it in Waile Models on Wanchai Road during my lunch break. They had 2pcs in stock. No prices on the boxes, so I asked how much and was told HK$620! (US$79.50). I laughed in the guy's face and walked right out. I want the kit, but I'm not paying that price! Graham

Just picked one up during my lunch break. I'll try to snap off a few pics tonight after my monster goes to bed (my son, not the Destroid), that is unless Swoosh beats me to posting photos first. Anyway, looks great in the box. I will probably pick up a second one if there are no problems with this one (touch wood). Graham