That being said, I haven't stopped with Gunpla. It's just slow going at the moment. My current project is a HGUC Gouf Custom that I'm trying a few 'new' things on. I'll probably post a work in progress for it in the next week or so. I had always thought of myself as a Master Grade guy but I find myself messing with HG's more and more recently and there's a few reasons behind that. One; They're cheaper, no surprise here. Two; Since I don't have that much time to dedicate to Gunpla currently, it's a lot easier and faster for me to pick up a HG and get to detailing it than to tear apart a MG. Three; Modern HG's are better than they've ever been. I remember getting my first Gundam Wing and G Gundam HG's from Wal-Mart back in the day and looking back now, they were atrocious. The HG's coming out now have better technology and engineering than most early MG's and proportion wise they look great.
Basically my Master Grade work is going to be limited to my backlog for a while. I just can't afford to drop $50-$70 on a MG. Especially when I can get a great looking HG for around $20.
Well with that, here's some pics of my work desk and most of my backlog.
As you can see, my desk is currently a wreck. I basically have this mobile Gunpla work station set up and have been doing the bulk of my work at the kitchen table (easier to watch my daughter that way). So my desk has sort of become a spare part/junk collector. If you can make out the MG Char's Zaku and the HGUC Gelgoog in there, those will probably be my next galleries.
Generally how I do kits is snap fit them. Let them sit like that for a bit. Then decide what I want to do to them as far as painting and detailing goes. This also means the bulk of my current collection is unpainted plastic on a shelf.
I'm not a huge Gundam SEED fan (not a straight SEED hater like a lot people either) but I like some of the basic designs like the Strike and the Astrays. The Astray Blue Frame on this shelf was built by my wife some time ago, and she got me the Red Frame as a little gift not too long ago. Both are great Master Grades and I'm very anxious to tear into the Red Frame and make it look nice.
Some might be wondering about the Zeta-esque Wave Rider thing on the left. When we moved into our house a few years ago a couple of my kits took some damage in the move. 2 of which were my MG Zeta Gundam 2.0 and Delta Plus. Instead of trying to fix the tiny transformation joints I decided to kitbash them. It's just something I fiddle with now and again. Not even sure of a final shape or color scheme for it.
In the world of Gundam and Gunpla I can say without a doubt that my favorite mechanical designer is Hajime Katoki. Whether it's his originals or his redesigns I tend to like everything he does. In my opinion, Gundam Unicorn is one of his crowning achievements as far as designs go (if you didn't know, Hajime Katoki was the chief mechanical designer for the Unicorn series). Anyway, it shouldn't be a surprise that my favorite Master Grades are Ver. Ka's. The Sazabi Ver. Ka in particular. A suit piloting by my favorite character (Char Aznable) redesigned by Katoki for a monstrous MG release? That thing was one of the few kits that took over my thoughts until I had it in my hands and in my opinion it didn't disappoint in any way. I may change up my shelves every now and again but my Katoki shelf here has remained pretty much unchanged since I set it up.
Currently the biggest, most expensive kit in my collection. The Perfect Grade Unicorn Gundam. This was a Christmas present from my mom. It's my first PG and honestly it was a bit overwhelming to build the thing. People basically bitch about how its just a big MG Unicorn. But on an engineering level I think it is quite a lot better than the MG. I plan on doing a pre-shade paint job on this guy but for right now it is kind of just sitting. I want to able to dedicate my full attention and resources on this kit to make it look the best that I can and I just don't have the time right now. It's depressing, but until my family life calms down a bit this monster of a kit is on a back burner.
I touched on the HG Lightning Gundam Full Burnern's balance issues when I did its gallery. Alas, it's fallen down again. This might be a kit that ends up being fix pose because I'm tired of constantly standing the thing back up. The GM Command there will eventually be detailed and weathered. The Star Build Strike on the left is complete and just awaiting a gallery.
Jeez the Hyaku Shiki is shiny. The Kampfer on the right is a semi-custom that's near a completion/gallery point. The GM Sniper II on the left is the GM Sniper K9 without it's extra accessories. Eventually I'll get a standard blue GM Sniper II and put the K9 accessories (most of them anyway) on it. I think the base kit looks great in green anyway.
Ah, my MG Wing Gundam EW. This was my first airbrushed/pre-shaded Master Grade. Unfortunately, like my Zeta and Delta Plus, it took some damage while being moved. I just did the best I could to fix the busted waist, hip, and knee joints. Since it was painted, I put this guy in it's own box and that box happened to take a heavy tumble. I used Createx paints on it. Which, seemed great and easy to use while I was painting. But, I realized after a few days how brittle the dried paint is (much more so than Tamiya acrylics or Model Master enamels). Because of the fragile joints and paint job this guy is unfortunately pretty much fix pose.
Well, that's all for now. I feel bad for not posting any 'actual' content but this will have to do for now. I should have an actual gallery or my Gouf Custom WIP up within the next week or so.
Til next time.
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