HGAC (HGBF) Wing Gundam Zero WIP 4 (Final)

Well here it is.. finally.  My last WISP for Wing Zero.  If you read my previous post you'll know I had some life issues that put a hamper on my Gunpla-ing.  The last couple days of working on this guy were... relieving.  Usually the last steps on a model are the most tedious to me but when I finally sat down to finish this one it was almost like a weight had been lifted.

Anyhoo, moving on.

Did a final putty layer and sanding session on the swords.  

Now, the binders.  I wanted the green piece to be an effect part.

But as you can see it's actually pegged in there and not easily removable.  Especially since I planned on removing the seam lines on the black parts.

Took a gamble and just snipped the part that 'grabs' onto the peg.  It's not perfect but they will slide in and out now.

The binders definitely don't look as cool without the green parts.  But I guess you could call this the normal mode.  In my head the binders act as normal verniers without the green pieces in.  So Zero not having it's wings won't hamper its mobility.

Next up was a random thing I did kind of last minute.  Took these little pieces off an old junk HG Deathscythe Hell's wing/cloak and cemented them to the arms.  Again, in my head these work as cooling vents so that when the Wing Zero fires the Twin Buster rifle at full output it doesn't wreck the arms.

I also just realized that aside from the back pack this is the only mod I've done to the Wing Zero itself. 

Clipped some plastic off the yellow pieces on the rifle so they could slide in after the two halves were together.  The seam lines on the Buster Rifles are probably the worst on the whole kit.  On that same note though, those are the only really noticeable ones.

I learned that Tamiya's Extra Thin Cement isn't the best for seam line removal.  As it's name suggests it is indeed really thin.  I had tons of issues with removing the seam lines on the rifle because of this.  It was just too much area to cover before the cement lost the gel like state that's great for seam removal.  You know, that point right when it starts to dry and is kinda like regular super glue.

Luckily the black parts went together without a hitch.  Above is my first attempt on the rifles.  It just refused to cooperate with me -_-.

Getting it all ready for priming.

One thing I forgot to mention.  On the white parts on the shoulders and chest there are tabs to help you get them open.  Although practical, they are unsightly.  Bye bye tabs.

I forgot to take pics after priming.  For those who are interested, I use Model Masters Acrylic Primer Gray and have for a while now.  My airbrush loves the stuff and it goes on in nice, thin, even coats.

Used regular Tamiya black acrylic for the black parts.

And regular Tamiya red acrylic for the red.

Kind of a last minute decision I made was to leave some parts in the primer light gray.  I thought the contrast of black, dark gray (joints), the light primer gray, and white would look cool.

This thing was a nightmare.  I dropped the v-fin as I was painting and of course.. it broke.  I quickly cemented it, used my airbrush as an air gun to quick dry the cement, and hit it with another coat of red.  Luckily it actually turned out pretty good.

Some random hand painting I did right at the end.  Being the big dummy that I am, it didn't click in my head that the clear green piece wasn't coming out of its collar.  Then again I wasn't originally planning on doing anything to this HG.  Anyway, just carefully hand painted the red around it.  Problem solved.

Looking back I really should have taken more pics for this WIP.  But alas, I was on a roll and wanted to get this thing done.  I have to say the hardest part was the hand painting.  And even as I look at the parts drying with top coat I can see my mistakes/brush strokes.  Oh well.  Here's hoping the second coat of flat lacquer helps hide my mistakes.

I'll have a photo review of this guy up shortly.  I really want to make sure all the paint is dry before I put it together again.  I've made that mistake before and don't plan to do it on this kit.

Til next time...

 

Been Gone a While...

So... I've haven't posted in a while.  In fact I haven't really done much with Gunpla (aside from yesterday) since my last post.  On that note I do have some good news, well good for me anyway.  Come March my wife and I will be welcoming our second child.  It wasn't exactly planned but our daughter is 2 and we decided around 2-3 is when we wanted a second so it all works out.  Well, personal life aside, this is what I've been up to Gunpla-wise.

Well I haven't been up to much honestly.  Yesterday I airbrushed my final color for the Wing Zero (which is taking too long >_<) and started hand painting some details and color apps I didn't feel like masking.

Got a few new things for my Gunpla collection.  A new HGUC, a RD figure, and a couple MG's that haven't been delivered yet.  I'll probably post an update with some pics later this week.  

I'll have the final WIP for the Wing Zero up as soon as I can.  There's still a bit of hand painting I need to do to it but I'm thinking I'll have it completely finished in the next couple days.

Until next time..

Lazy Weekend

So... I spent most of this weekend lying around.  I mean it was a holiday weekend.. Anyway I accomplished ZERO on the Wing Zero.  HA get it? But I did actually finish the decals on my Sazabi, as well as finally clean out my work station.  Woo no more lap desk.  After I was done I decided to take some pics so.. onward!

Well, here's my work area.  My basement is semi-finished so I set up a second living room/den area in it.  Which is great since I basically have a living room set up for my daughter upstairs and a living room downstairs where my wife and I don't have to worry about our laptops getting smashed by said daughter.  There's a big 'closet-y' area where the stairs cut in and I basically made this my Gunpla hole.

I happened to have this desk which fit right into the cubby made by the stairs.  This is my primary station where I do just about everything.  Recently I've been using a lap desk because a couple hours ago this desk was covered in clutter.  The huge cutting mat was a gift from my brother.  I threw the Assault Kingdom figures up there because I was constantly fiddling with them.  So I stuck them up there out of the way but still in fiddle reach.

Random IKEA shelf I hung.  I usually put the kit I most recently finished on it.  Well that's sort of what's on it.  The HGCE Strike Rouge was technically the last gunpla finished in my basement, even though my wife built it.  And the Wing Zero is going to officially on that shelf as finished soon enough.

Side note here:  I can say the Strike Rouge, and thus all the new Strike HGs, is an excellent kit.  Everything from the balance to the aesthetics to the articulation.  I was presently surprised while posing it after my wife had finished it.

Tool/Supply shelf.  Also a holder of clutter and random spare parts.

There's an actual small walk in closet (bit of irony there I know) built just across from my desk.  All the boxs are full of spare parts and other miscellaneous-ness.  You can also see the feet of my wife's unfinished PG Strike Rouge up there -_-.

Well I thought I'd end this post with some close ups of my display shelf. 

I use the top shelf for HG's because of the obvious height restrictions.  On the left is a semi-forgotten Zaku kit-bash project, along with a semi-forgotten Hyaku Shiki.  I don't remember why I took the DX's satellite system off...  On another note, I mentioned a custom Sinanju in a previous post.  Well there it is.  It's a kit-bash mod mix of sorts.  I'll start working on it again after the Wing Zero is done.

I like these kits so much I dedicated a whole shelf to them.  

Shelf of MG's.  The Exia is well.. yeah, I'm not even sure whats going on with that Exia at this point.

The Delta Plus has all sorts of problems.  I put it on the shelf next to my desk in case I ever decide to fix it.  The Stein is all laid out cause it's currently for sale on eBay (funding for a side project).  

I took a couple more shots of the Nu and Sazabi because A) I think they look awesome, and B) The Sazabi.  I've seen and read a lot of reviews of the Sazabi Ver Ka that say 'oh this guy's too heavy for an action base, don't even try'.  Well I tried.  It worked.  It works, great.  I find that the clip piece you have to use from the action base clips on super secure and the base arm itself can hold the weight.  However, it isn't perfect.  Sazabi is so big and massive and heavy that it's balance is easily shifted by just it's limbs.  Especially those huge legs.  That being said.  It's very easy to set him up and see the arm start leaning.  My base here is actually leaning ever so slightly.  Basically I'm telling you Yes, you can get Sazabi aerial.  But it IS a big, heavy kit so be careful balancing and getting the center of gravity just right.  Like I said, it isn't perfect.  But at least Char isn't just standing there while Amuro's flying around.

Well that's all for now.  I think after I get my other room cleaned up I'll do a post about it too.

 

Talking about some things to come

When I started this blog not too long ago I mentioned that I'm terrible at staying focused on one project at a time.  For instance my Sazabi Ver Ka is still awaiting some decals and top coat.  I also have a few kit bash HG's I've been messing around with for a while, as well as other MG's that need decals and top coat.  Well, one of those kit bash kits is a Sinanju that I've been playing with for quite a while now.  Basically its mostly Sinanju with parts from Unicorn Mode Banshee Norn and Delta Kai.  Last night I couldn't find the motivation to work on the Wing Zero so I dusted off the 'chimera' Sinanju and did some more work on it.  I know there's a bit of taboo it kit-bashing.  In this case, I'm taking 3 kits that had broken parts and turning them into one.  After messing with it for a bit I decided that this Sinanju was going to be the 'bad guy' or rival to my Wing Zero.

Anyway, I plan on buckling down and getting some work done this weekend.  So look for more Wing Zero WIP's and a possible Sinanju WIP.

HGAC (HGBF) Wing Gundam Zero WIP 3

Well I didn't get near as much done as I thought I would.  But I did end up with a new mod plan idea thing, a new crude tool, and more work to do lol.

First off I was playing around with some spare parts and ended up with something I really liked.  I clumsily fitted "binder?" parts from the Valvrave 1 Hito kit (I have no idea what they were called on that kit) onto the Wing Zero.  At first it looked horrible but while I was messing around I saw a shimmer of hope in the idea.  I just needed a proper way to mount the whatever the hell they're called on the Zero.

I'm still not completely used to taking pics as I work, especially when I have a good run going.  I took the squarish piece from System Weapon 003, trimmed it down, and cemented to the rack piece on the backpack.

I used this piece to give some clearance so that the binders can move.  One definite issue I ran into with test fitting was lack of room.  When the swords and rifles are attached it does get a bit crowded.

This peg piece came from the Valvrave kit.  It's actually part of a connector for the binders.  

I'm going to cement this to that squarish piece I added to the rack pieces.  I had to add a piece of pla plate to give the back of the peg a flat surface.  After the cement sets I'll trim down the excess plate.

Well here are 2 of the 4 binders.  These are the ones going on the backpack as they are longer than the other two.  Yeah... I guess I should have taken pics of the test fitting so this would make more sense...

I decided to replace the side skirts with the smaller binders.  When I was playing around with the test fitting I thought it looked pretty cool.  

Breaking to a wall of text here... My current thought about these "binders" is to make the clear green parts removable.  That way they become effect parts.  I'm thinking like a hyper Zero System mode here.  Like when the Zero System activates the green parts on the binders will pop out.

I mentioned in my previous post about how I almost wrecked the swords by drilling holes in them.  Thankfully after some re-cementing and clamping they were good as ne... they were before.

I mentioned to my wife that I had thought about putting holes in the swords, kinda like the buster sword from FFVII.  She said she thought the holes would look cool so I went ahead with them.  I have a bit of modder's regret going on with them but overall I think they add rather than detract.

When I drilled the holes the 2 layers of the sword split apart in some areas.  Mainly around the holes.  As I said, thankfully some simple clamping and cementing fixed the problem.  Unfortunately when the layers split some of the putty broke off as well.  Oh well, nothing a little more putty can't fix.

It's a little hard to make out but I did end up putting a panel line on the back side of the sword. 

Scribing these were surprisingly easy.  I had never tackled scribing before and I was hesitant at first but, it ended up probably being the easiest thing I've done on these swords so far.

Speaking of panel line scribing, this is the "crude tool" I mentioned earlier.  It's a thick sewing needle with a duct tape handle.  I put a support piece through the eye of the needle so the handle wouldn't slip.

Full credit for this tool idea goes to Mech9.  He has a "DIY Panel Scribing Tool" entry on his blog so check it out if your interested.

That's all for now.  I had planned on doing the needed putty touch ups on the swords but I ran out of oomph after messing with the binders and figuring out how to mount them.  Hopefully by my next post I'll have an actual like 'rough draft' of what this thing is going to end up looking like.  I've got an idea in my head but as we all know, that's nothing like seeing the actual modded gunpla.

Til next time...