MG Red Frame Kai W.I.P. update

Red Frame is going quite well, its a great kit and having a good time making it. Finished cutting out and cleaning up all the pieces tonight for both the suit and the Tactical Arms IIL. Snapped some pics, then took the whole thing apart for painting. Not 100% sure whatI want to do with it, would like to do this kit justice, primer, fully painted, shaded, lined, decaled, and top coated. That's a lot of work ahead, but should be worth it. Pissing some pics of various things through the test fitting build. Enjoy!

Dual project time! MG Red Frame Astray Kai!

As I recently posted, I've started building the XM-X2 Crossbone while a friend is building his Age-2 Dark Hound.  Now, while building these suits in tandem is great, it also presents a problem. What happens when he's busy or just doesn't like building? That leaves me with no model to work on, which is bad bad bad.  Fortunately, the solution is an easy one. I've decided to start another project that I can work on at any time. Looking through my backlog, the MG Red Frame Kai stuck out. I won this kit via Bandai's "Fun to build Gunpla" campaign, and its been starting at me ever since. The Astrays are very cool looking suits, so I'm pretty sure this is gonna be awesome. Anyways, currently, the head and chest have been cut out and assembled, and work continues on the waist section. A pic of the current progress is posted too!

Next project!

Recently finished up the awesome RG GP01, and finally flat coated the MG Age-1 Normal as well. Why did I flat coat a kit that's been long done? Welhp, trying to waste time while my buddy finishes his RG Destiny, which if very very soon. Then, the next project is... XM-X2 Crossbone MG! Buddy is gonna build the Age-2 Darkhound at the same time. Seems appropriate, Dark Hound is obviously heavily inspired by the X2. Plan on painting pretty much the entire kit, mix of Mr color lacquers and Testors enamels. I want to use these paints because they are much stronger the acrylics, should last longer and not chip. Also considering priming this kit a well, but that's not write determined. Anyways, stay tuned for what will hopefully be an amazing build!

Real Grade RX-78GP01 " Zephyranthes" COMPLETE!

Here she is, 100% done! No missing pieces, no pieces left to mess with and eventually flat coat, just 100% done and awesome. This was a great little kit, had a lot of fun making it, had fun painting it (first time using Mr color paints, awesome btw), had a great time decaling (waterslides = incredible! Thanks samueldecal!) And really, really happy how it turned out, most likely my best kit to date. Anyways, pics!

RG GP01 WIP

Haven't posted many updates on this project, and this will probably be the only real update before completion, but hey, anyway. The basic steps with this kit started with cutting out pieces, sanding the nub marks and test fitting it all together. It was then disassembled, all parts were washed. I panel lined the white parts with a mechanical pencil and gray panel wash.  The color parts were painted with my newly acquired Mr Color paints (which are AWESOME, btw). All the parts were then clear coated with Alclad II Aqua Gloss (also AWESOME, very shiny and hard finish). At this point, the color pieces were panel lined. Then came the detailing. Now, I hate hate hate HATE stickers, they look awful! So, I purchased a set of waterslides from Samueldecal, and they came just in the nick of time, right as i finished panel lining the last of the parts. Spent the last three days applying a ton of decals to this kit, far more then i usually do.  I am now currently in the final steps of the process, flat coating and assembly. At this time, the legs are basically complete, needing only the silver detailing on the back.
Overall, its been pretty fun kit, and i think it will look really awesome when complete, possibly my best kit to date. Its got a ton of work but in to it, almost master grade hours, so should be great! The pics are from various steps of the process, and of course, completion pics will be up when finished!

New project time!

With the finishing touches being applied to the blue frame, I've chosen and started on a new project. To be honest, I had hoped to move back to my beloved MGs for this next build, specifically the XM-X2 Crossbone. However, I would very much like to build this in conjunction with my buddies Darkhound, and since he has started construction on a RG Destiny, that plan is on hold for at least a bit longer. As such, I've decided to build a real grade of my own, the elegant-yet-simple RG RX-78GP01.  Just received this kit from HLJ about a week ago, but have been drooling over it since its announcement earlier this year, and am pretty excited for this build. To make it even better, I've found a way to correct what I consider a major flaw in the real grade line, the use of stickers for decaling. I've found a site online that offers waterslide decals for a wide variety of kits, including real grades! Already ordered them for both gp01 and the f/b version. Anyways, should be an awesome kit! Here's a few pics of whats been accomplished so far!

Blue Frame, (basically) complete!

So, its been a longer road then anticipated, for the whole story check out an earlier post, but frankly been a PITA, and I'm not super happy about how certain things turned out on it, but still looks pretty awesome! The only thing that needs done is getting the right shoulder orange piece to an acceptable level. Here's the (basically) finished pics...

HG Blue Frame 2nd L WIP

Quick update here, but thought I'd post a quick update seeing as she's very close to completion. Body is mostly assembled, while the tactical arms is about half way complete. All that remains is flat coating some pieces, painting the eyes, and final assembly. Pictures are the mostly complete body, and the final pieces needing flat coat.

More "Mail gifts!"

New things have arrived in the mail recently, and new stuff is on its way! From HLJ I recently received both GP01 and the GP01FB Real Grades, two  caledwich swords for the red frame astray (one of which is for that Jason guy), the Builder Parts MS Blade set, two green led units (likely for a future 00 Raiser) and some Celestial Being waterslide decals. Robot4less also (finally) sent me a few things, like the Builder Parts green and clear MS sight lens sets, some led batteries,  and the Builder Parts EFSF MS hands. Lots of fun stuff there.
Got a few things on the way two, some Alclad clear coat from Burbank hobbies, and a bunch of Mr color paint from Hobbywave. Can't wait to try that stuff out!

Blue Frame Astray 2nd L WIP update

Haven't posted much on this wip, mostly cause its giving me quite the headache, primarily because of the painting required and the paint brand (I'll be avoiding Model Master Acryl like the plague from now on) I choose to work with. The blue on this kit was done in model masters acrylic French blue.  The first application was thinned too much, and pooled into the corners and away from the edges, resulting in a very blotchy look. The majority of pieces required resanding and repainting. The next problem was how weakly the paint adhered to the plastic. Masking parts often resulted in the masking tape pulling up the paint, which resulted in having to sand and paint the part, again. In several cases, even my disposable gloves caused the paint to come up. This nightmare caused several parts to be painted three, even four times. Because the paint was so weak, I resigned myself to hand painting. FYI, I'm awful at hand painting. Its not so bad on smaller pieces, like the white on the upper arms or the fingers, but larger sections, like the orange on the tactical arms, are not so great. The next problem I had is with alclads klear kote gloss. This stuff is super runny, and doesn't dry super fast, so it tends to pool at certain points, and is completely noticeable even after flat coating.
Don't get me wrong tho, the kit itself is a very nice build, the frustration revolves around paint choices and my awfulness. Anyways, here's a few pics of parts on various stages of completion.

WD101's 2014 Gunpla "Wish List"

Ok, so now that we know the releases for the rest of 2013, and for my own amusement, this is a list of gunpla releases I would personally like to see for 2014.

Master Grade

• Kshatriya
• Delta Kai
• Ground type
• GP01 3.0
• Fb
• GP02 3.0
• GP03 3.0
• RX-178 MKII 3.0
• G-Defenser

• RX-78NT-1 "Alex" 3.0
• Dynames
• Exia repair II/III - Repair II Announced!
• Stark Jegan
• Jesta Cannon
• Byarlant Custom
• Hi-Nu ver. Ka
• Crossbone X-3 - Announced!
• Age-FX
• Age-1 Swordia
• RX-78-2 "The Origin" Version 
• Deathscythe Hell Ver. TV
• Kampfer
• Jagd Doga
• Gouf Custom 3.0

Real Grade

• Sinanju
• Stein
• Nu
• Hi-Nu
• GP02
• GP03
• Delta
• Plus
• Kai

•  NT-1 "Alex"
• Kshatriya
• Exia - Announced!
• Repair I/II/III
• 00
• Raiser
• Seven Sword
• Qan[t]
• Impulse
• Force
• Sword

 I realize most of this is highly unlikely, but hey, can't stop me from dreaming!

New WIP! HG Gundam Astray Blue Frame Second L!

Upon the essential completion of yet another master grade kit, I decided i should have a small change of pace and go for a high grade 1\144 kit this time around.  Purchased this kit from a vender at Animeiowa for a pretty decent price, and it just screamed "build me, build me". Like a lot of HGs, it will require some painting but that's to be expected.  So far, the head, chest, and both arms are clipped, sanded and test fit. Definitely gonna be a quicker build, but should be fun!

MG Strike "ver. RM" complete(ish)

After several weeks of weeks of work, my mg Strike is as complete as I can get it. Still looking yo replace or find the yellow v fin, and need to now replace the back skirts, everything else is essentially done. Gonna post up some pictures, then make another post about my thoughts on the kit.