Gundam Plamodel Thread IV

[Swoosh]

Anything "blinks" will sells these days....

[areaseven]

[kajnrig]

Look what came in from Tatsu Hobby:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1gT-aDsFMx6cm01aC1JSy1zS1k/view

Now the question becomes whether to turn that Heavyarms into an early Christmas present for me or turn it into a Christmas present for a family member... Ah, family. You love to hate 'em.

[areaseven]

MG 1/100 MSZ-010 ZZ Gundam Ver.Ka

1/100 Full Mechanics Gundam Vidar

HGIBO 1/144 Gundam Vidar

RG 1/144 Build Strike Gundam Full Package

[mikeszekely]

RG Build Strike. *sigh* I committed to building all the RG kits, and I will, but there are probably a hundred or more MS I'd have preferred before this.

Anyway... it's been a LONG time since I properly reviewed a kit, and honestly I don't see myself getting back into it. But I'll briefly share my thoughts on a couple of kits I've built recently.

RG Gundam Astray Red Frame - SEED is traditionally one of my least favorite series, and while I do like a few of the MS the *insert color here* frames don't make that list. Frankly, the idea of a mobile suit carrying around an MS-sized katana is a little too ridiculous for a "real" robot anime. That said, it's not a bad kit.

RG Wing Gundam - No joke, I built the legs and torso and just quit. After several months, I forced myself to finish it. I really wish it'd be a P-Bandai so I could have skipped it, but Bandai seemed determined to reuse Wing Zero's frame without giving us any of the other Operation Meteor mobile suits (just like how we've got all three of Setsuna's MS in the RG line but none of the other Meisters'). Worse, it's not even Okawara version from the TV series, as Bandai seems determined to erase it from existence, but the Katoki version that was never in any anime but we're supposed to pretend was how Wing really looked all along. Unless you're a masochist who's determined to build all the RGs (like me) or you really like design, feel free to skip this one. Seriously, I've built RG RX-78 three times now (-2, -3, and Casval) and I had more fun building the third of those.

HGUC Quebely (Revive Version) - Super easy kit, due in large part to having basically no accessories. It looks really nice once it's done, but it didn't wow me the way the Revive Guncannon did.

HGUC Hyaku Shiki (Revive Version) - Another easy kit. Has that level of action-figurey articulation that I've come to expect. I dig that he can carry his clay bazooka on his back. The colors are a little weird, like someone muted them. It's made from a gold-ish plastic, but not the shiny vac-chromed kind that the original HGUC Hyaku Shiki and HGUC Delta Gundam used, nor the mustardy gold of the HGUC Hyaku Shiki + Mega Bazooka Launcher (although I'd say it's closer to that), and the red parts are a very dark maroon.

[chyll2]

I'm a seed and astray fan. The Rg astray is simply one of my worst RG build.

[areaseven]

Of all the RG kits I have, my least favorite is the RX-78-2, as you're forced to cement most of the armor plates if you want to do some decent poses. A close second is the GP01/FB. For some reason, the spinal joint on my GP01 is loose, causing the Gunpla to lean to the left. My GP01Fb has issues with the Core Fighter connecting to the upper body. And both units have the shield that doesn't want to stay on the forearm.

That being said, if you want a solid RG kit, get the Gundam Mk-II - especially the Titans version, which has the bonus Test Unit parts.

[chyll2]

@areaseven

All points you mention for GP01 are a hit. I have to re-balance it every now and then since the one on the shield is always lower. I think it can be addressed by adding friction to the spinal joint you mention. I am planning to add future or if it wont work, I will fix it to never lean again. I rather have a little ab-crunch which unfortunately, by design is not possible to RG MS with Core Fighter. Speaking of core fighter, the connectors are really NOT effective on what it does. It will be glued on mine.

[areaseven]

@areaseven

All points you mention for GP01 are a hit. I have to re-balance it every now and then since the one on the shield is always lower. I think it can be addressed by adding friction to the spinal joint you mention. I am planning to add future or if it wont work, I will fix it to never lean again. I rather have a little ab-crunch which unfortunately, by design is not possible to RG MS with Core Fighter. Speaking of core fighter, the connectors are really NOT effective on what it does. It will be glued on mine.

One day, the right beam saber holder snapped off. Because I cemented it back in place, the Core Fighter II will never transform again. Perhaps I'll permanently fuse it with the upper body. Besides, we never got to see the standard GP01's Core Block System in action, anyway. And quite frankly, the RG Core Fighter II is ugly compared to the HGUC (non-transformable), MG, and PG versions.

[kajnrig]

I dislike RGs in general, but then I dislike gimmickry as a rule of thumb. (That being said, I snapped together three RGs in the last month or so, so clearly I'm a hypocrite.)

None of the... five?... RGs I've built have been more impressive to me than they were troublesome. The only one of them that I have any interest in from a design standpoint is the 00 Quanta, and its RG makes no significant improvement over the HG that can be had for $10-15 less. It looks about the same, has only marginally better articulation, and its increased gimmickry is still just that: gimmickry. Certainly its ability to form a GN Buster Sword without parts swapping is completely wasted on me, since the Buster Sword looks dumb and poorly-designed anyway.

The rest of them that I've built cover MS designs that don't particularly interest me. I was building them just as a time-waster, and here is where their stupid overengineering finally came in handy. When I didn't care what I was building, only THAT I was building, I found them to be perfectly sufficient. When I cared about the subject matter, I found that they didn't offer anything new.

That said, I feel pretty confident in my decision to continue ignoring the RG line for the next good while. I just snapped together the HGUC Palace Athene and Gabthley kits, and boy it'll be a fun project doing what I want to do with them.

[Big s]

The hg Gabthley is one of my favorite looking kits. It's definitely more of a looks over articulation item, but it makes a great display set.

[areaseven]

New Gunpla pics:

MG 1/100 Providence Gundam

MG 1/100 MS-06R High Mobility Type Zaku "Psycho Zaku" Ver.Ka [Gundam Thunderbolt]

MG 1/100 RGM-79SP GM Sniper II

1/100 Full Mechanics Gundam Vidar

HGIBO 1/144 Large Mobile Armor (Tentative Name)

[areaseven]

Time to go old-school with the MG RX-78GP01 Gundam GP01. Abandoning Shoji Kawamori's lineart in favor of sharper edges and proportions, it would influence the design of the HGUC, PG, and RG kits, as well as many toys and figurines of the GP01. For being a 19-year-old kit, it's a good build, despite lacking the articulation of today's MG kits. As with kits produced before 2005, the articulated hands struggle to hold the weapons. The Core Fighter II looks so much better than the pudgy RG version.

Just like any '90s Gunpla kit, quite a bit of painting is required. Also, as with pre-1999 MG kits, the marking sheet uses the outdated "U.N.T. Spacy" labels. Fortunately, Bandai has released a Gundam Decal sheet for the MG 0083 kits that includes the updated "EFSF" markings.

Hopefully, within the next year or two, we'll get a Ver.2.0 of the MG GP01/Fb which, like the MG RX-78-2 Gundam 3.0, will improve upon its RG counterpart. And while we're at it, maybe the MG RGM-79N GM Custom should get the Ver.Ka treatment.

And here's my current GP01 family.

"If you build it, he will come."

[kajnrig]

The hg Gabthley is one of my favorite looking kits. It's definitely more of a looks over articulation item, but it makes a great display set.

Definitely. My one gripe with it is that the molds must have seriously deteriorated since their inception; the hands barely hold together at all, and the slightest wrong twist of a beam saber or spear-rifle-thing will dismantle the hand entirely. It could definitely benefit from some aftermarket hands, but the Bandai HDMs are crap (DAT THUMB!!!!!) and the Koto/Hobby Base ones are too big. The Gabthley has surprisingly small hands for an 18m suit, and is surprisingly small in general for a Zeon-inspired design.

I'll eventually be able to just glue them together permanently, but I haven't decided yet whether I want to encase the spear-rifle in them and make the kit fixed-pose or maybe mod it to allow for disassembly so that I can insert it into the hands later.

New Gunpla pics:

1/100 Full Mechanics Gundam Vidar

HGIBO 1/144 Large Mobile Armor (Tentative Name)

Questions:

- Is the Vidar supposed to be able to "shoot" those rods? Maybe it's a pile bunker type of device?

- That MA speaks to me in a way IBO hasn't since the Hyakuri/ren. I can't wait to get my hands on it.

Also, as with pre-1999 MG kits, the marking sheet uses the outdated "U.N.T. Spacy" labels. Fortunately, Bandai has released a Gundam Decal sheet for the MG 0083 kits that includes the updated "EFSF" markings.

...

And while we're at it, maybe the MG RGM-79N GM Custom should get the Ver.Ka treatment.

I remember seeing the UNT Spacy on the old 1.0 (or 1.5, I forget) RX-78-2. When did they transition to EFSF and why? I realize I never really gave it much thought when I started seeing EFSF more often than UNT Spacy.

Also, isn't the GM Custom already a Katoki design? Which would render the naming scheme a bit moot? I know I said this not too long ago when we were talking about some other Ver Ka mention, but it seems more appropriate to name any new tooling a 2.0 rather than Ver Ka.

[anime52k8]

Time to go old-school with the MG RX-78GP01 Gundam GP01. Abandoning Shoji Kawamori's lineart in favor of sharper edges and proportions, it would influence the design of the HGUC, PG, and RG kits, as well as many toys and figurines of the GP01. For being a 19-year-old kit, it's a good build, despite lacking the articulation of today's MG kits. As with kits produced before 2005, the articulated hands struggle to hold the weapons. The Core Fighter II looks so much better than the pudgy RG version.

Just like any '90s Gunpla kit, quite a bit of painting is required. Also, as with pre-1999 MG kits, the marking sheet uses the outdated "U.N.T. Spacy" labels. Fortunately, Bandai has released a Gundam Decal sheet for the MG 0083 kits that includes the updated "EFSF" markings.

Hopefully, within the next year or two, we'll get a Ver.2.0 of the MG GP01/Fb which, like the MG RX-78-2 Gundam 3.0, will improve upon its RG counterpart. And while we're at it, maybe the MG RGM-79N GM Custom should get the Ver.Ka treatment.

I seriously think that's the worst gundam kit I've ever built. I'm pretty sure I trash canned it before it was even finished. bad times indeed.

Edited December 2, 2016 by anime52k8

[areaseven]

I remember seeing the UNT Spacy on the old 1.0 (or 1.5, I forget) RX-78-2. When did they transition to EFSF and why? I realize I never really gave it much thought when I started seeing EFSF more often than UNT Spacy.

Also, isn't the GM Custom already a Katoki design? Which would render the naming scheme a bit moot? I know I said this not too long ago when we were talking about some other Ver Ka mention, but it seems more appropriate to name any new tooling a 2.0 rather than Ver Ka.

The UC canon transitioned from U.N.T. Spacy to EFSF when the PG RX-78-2 Gundam was released in 1998. AFAIK, there isn't an official reason for the name change, but it's probably to avoid confusion with the U.N. Spacy of Macross. At the same time, the UC canon phased out "Duchy of Zeon" and "Zeon Dukedom" in favor of the now common "Principality of Zeon" moniker.

Yes, the GM Custom was Katoki's design, so a new version of the kit would be more fitting to have the Ver.Ka moniker on it.

[Big s]

I may have mentioned how much I would like a hg galbaldy before, but with all the revives and redos and the upcoming barzam, it really is giving me hope that sometime soon they will finally do a galbaldy.

[areaseven]

Not sure what to make of the plastic for the cables.

MG 1/100 MS-06R Zaku II High Mobility Type "Psycho Zaku" Ver.Ka [Gundam Thunderbolt]

[anime52k8]

Not sure what to make of the plastic for the cables.

I'm thinking super-thin waded tubes of plastic that you slide over and scrunch up over the regular springs used to make the pipes on zaku's

Edited December 5, 2016 by anime52k8

[Big s]

Those covers are really ugly on the mg kit. They look more like garbag bags. The ones for the cables look like they were made too loose.

I was a bit against the molded joints on the hg version until I started looking at the manga images and realized they were spot on perfect.

[dizman]

Yeah it definitely looks like it will take some doing to get those hoses to look good, not sure if they should be tighter or even looser so the hose scrunches up on itself more naturally. I wonder how a braided steel hose would look there instead....

[kajnrig]

How else should they do it? Yeah, it does look kind of crap, but that's more due to the nature of the design. The HG method looks bounds and leaps better... from one angle, and at one position. Give the elbows the slightest bend and the appearance is ruined entirely, and even at their best they still have the unsightly joint separation lines. The MG method at least hides the joints the way the real thing would while allowing for the ever-necessary double joint hinge. The only better (and what would be my preferred if I cared at all about these designs) method is to mold a whole bunch of fixed-pose elbows that can be swapped in and out, but I don't think the majority of Gunpla fans would dig that.

Unless you have an issue with the material being used, not so much the methodology. But even then, I'd ask what else you would suggest that would be as flexible while looking as "true to life." (By the by, if I remember correctly, the FA Thunderbolt has excess cover material for each joint that you can bunch up for greater density of folds and subsequently a more "natural" look. Nothing suggests the same wouldn't hold true for the Psycho Zaku as well.)

Anyway, I'm more dismayed by the hollow toe anchors. Small detail, but if they've splurged on the rest of the design, why not there as well? They can't be saving THAT much money by not filling in those gaps...

[Big s]

As I mentioned above I wasn't convinced on the look of the hg covers until I looked at the manga and even anime for thunderbolt. Those joint gaps are actually drawn in every panel or scene no matter the position of the joints. It's almost like it's supposed to be somehow scrunched into the joints gaps.

[areaseven]

For the longest time, Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans was the first Gundam series to not have any beam weaponry. Well, last week's episode ended all that - with this.

HGIBO 1/144 Hashmal Mobile Armor

[areaseven]

Well, you get what you pay for.

PG 1/60 RX-0 Unicorn Gundam 03 Phenex

[Kelsain]

For the longest time, Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans was the first Gundam series to not have any beam weaponry. Well, last week's episode ended all that - with this.

I was just trying to remember if that was the first beam weapon in IBO.

Certainly adds to to the "Oh crap" moment at the end of the last episode.

[chyll2]

I think that is the first usage of beam weaponry in that universe.

[kajnrig]

Well, you get what you pay for.

I'm of two minds. On the one hand, it's kind of a nonsensical criticism to make; it's unreasonable to expect Bandai to create new molds with everything undergated. On the other hand, they knew they were going to do this; there's no good reason why they shouldn't have undergated everything from the very beginning.

I think that is the first usage of beam weaponry in that universe.

I thought the... Astaroth? would have beam guns from the first images shown of its model kit, but it turns out that's apparently a shell-firing weapon as well. So yes, apparently this is the first time the tech is seen. I'm not watching the show anymore, but here's hoping they DON'T eventually scale that down to MS size... but they will.

[Big s]

Maybe I'm mistaken, but didn't the ships have energy weapons as well as hard point and missiles. It's been a while since they had a ship to ship battle.

[areaseven]

Maybe I'm mistaken, but didn't the ships have energy weapons as well as hard point and missiles. It's been a while since they had a ship to ship battle.

Nope. All ships use artillery and missiles. Beam weaponry is one of the reasons why Mobile Armors are labeled as forbidden technology in the Post-Disaster timeline.

[close313]

I just noticed that sites like HLJ and Hobbysearch just put up the listing of the 3rd 1/100 Full Mechanics kit (3200Yen) as a "new gundam frame" . I'm suspecting it's the Rebake Full Cappuccino Frappe with whipped cream. And they better make that Helmwige Linker as a 1/100 too!

[kajnrig]

P-Bandai has a survey specifically for overseas customers. Here's your best shot at eliminating those pesky third-party fees.

https://p-bandai.jp/enquete/1000004100_outline/

[hachi]

P-Bandai has a survey specifically for overseas customers. Here's your best shot at eliminating those pesky third-party fees.

https://p-bandai.jp/enquete/1000004100_outline/

Guys don't forget to put Macross in Other category of stuff you like

[kajnrig]

On 12/16/2016 at 6:33 PM, hachi said:

Guys don't forget to put Macross in Other category of stuff you like

Oh yeah, very much this. Can't quote this enough.

[chyll2]

On 12/17/2016 at 8:33 AM, hachi said:

Guys don't forget to put Macross in Other category of stuff you like

Yeah. Did it with home PC and work laptop using office network. I also shared it to other groups and I urge everyone to share it if it is not yet shared to your social group.

 

For Macross groups, yeah, pick other and put Macross