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| 2008 is upon us and this is usually the time when bloggers reflect on what they’ve been up to in 2007. I am no different.
It’s been almost 1.5 years since I moved back and now finally, I can say that by this time next year, I will have a home of my own. With a dedicated hobby room no less. Unfortunatey, I have been staying at my in-law’s home for the past year which meant I couldn’t really do any serious modeling. Until a couple of months ago when I decided what the heck, I would do some modeling by hook or by crook! Progress is slow, but at least there is some progress.
So production-wise, I’m at a big fat zero this year, although I am close to finishing the project I started a couple of months back. Close, but no cigar. However, I have made progress in some other aspects of the hobby. Namely, the hoarding.
Oh I’m still hoarding, but at least now I hoard selectively. I’m now able to cut down on impulse buys and what I do have in my collection are really the stuff I like, not because they are cheap.
With my hobby room coming in April with tons of empty display space (I’ll make sure of that) and stacks of unbuilt kits, I think I will be fairly motivated to at least reduce the pile. While I tell myself that every year and don’t fulfill it (heh), I hope next year will be different.
With that being said, next year should shape up to be an interesting year, what with Gundam 00 getting off the ground, the impending release of Macross Frontier (episode 1 completely rocks, can’t wait for more) and of course, the increasingly nice aircraft kits the Chinese kit companies are releasing. I can hear my wallet groaning even now.
I am also taking this chance to do a bit of predicting. At least, gunpla-wise, since gunpla is probably the easiest to predict. I wanna see how right/wrong I am when the end of 2008 rolls along. So here goes, separated into Master Grade and HG Universal Century (no no… can’t predict Gundam 00 kits)
Master Grade (MG)
- MS-06R-2 Zaku Hgh Mobility Type
- LM312V04 Victory Gundam
- GN-001 Exia
- MSN-04II Nightingale
High Grade Universal Century (HGUC)
- RX-93 Nu Gundam
- MSN-04 Sazabi
- AMS-119 Geara Doga
- RGM-89 Jegan
- RGM-79N GM Custom
- RGM-79[G] GM Ground/Sniper
- RGM-79C GM Kai
- RX-79[G]Ez8 Gundam Ez8
- MSZ-010 ZZ Gundam
Let’s see how accurate I am in a year’s time shall we?
In the meantime, a very Happy New Year to everyone! |
Maxwinamp, a good friend and the owner of the Plamo forum, has graciously asked me to contribute banners for his upcoming revamp of the forum. I promised him 3 banners with different themes: Macross, aicraft and Gunpla.
Here are my contributions, all done on Adobe Photoshop:
They are currently on permanent random rotation on Plamo. Check them out!
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| It has been raining almost everyday so the environment wasn't condusive for painting. But it's almost done! Except of course, more things to fix. Sigh. The pic on the right are some of them that require a final fixing before I can proceed. Bring on the sandpaper!
 
I try to build my kits with ease of painting in mind. So the more the parts that can be taken apart and painted separately the better. But alas, this being a HG kit, this is not possible so I have to settle with at least some masking, which is what I did below with the leg actuator parts.
 
This being the holiday period, I hope I have enough time to fix all of the problems and at least be ready for decaling by the new year. Heh. Wish... |
Final production pics of the upcoming HGUC RGZ-91 Re-GZ are now out. And I must say I'm very impressed. Sure a display stand is not included, but it's oh so sleek-looking. As it should be. They even give you an open palm with the Re-GZ, which is always a nice touch. Man... even the boxart is a keeper.
Can't wait to get this kit, I even have a final pose decided for this one. At 2,500 yen, it's expensive for an HGUC. But who cares if it's this nice?
 
 
All pictures from Gundam Base.
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| Projects › RMS-99 Rick Dias |
OK here we go, this is the final pose, more or less. The right foot still can't be planted flat onto the ground though. I think it will look much better that way but I'll need to figure out how to do it properly. Still have 1.5 months to come up with other mods. Should be fun.
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| Projects › RMS-99 Rick Dias |
Wow... has it been more than a year since I stopped working on this kit? Better late than dead I guess. Anyhow, Maxwinamp from Out There challenged me to finish this one by end of January next year. We're having a 'Duel of the Dias' kinda thing with him building a HGUC Rick Dias too. I intend to fulfill my side of the bargain.
Anyhow work continues adding tiny details here and there. First up, I covered the hollow bits visible in some of the parts: namely the shoulders and the knees. A simple of matter covering with plaplate and throwing in some putty later to smooth things out.
 
I noticed the mod I did to the foot joint previously is very fragile, so I decided to add a healthy dose of epoxy putty to reinforce the joint. And since this part cannot be seen, I can afford for it to be a bit messy. Hey, as long as it works I could care less it's really rough-looking.
Looking at the pose in the last update, I think I can still work on the kit a bit to achieve a more dynamic look. We'll see how it goes though.
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I've been a fan of Genesis Climber Mospeada ever since I was a teenager watching the Chinese dubbed cartoon on TV. The Ride Armors in the anime were particularly impressive designs that in my mind, as personal armor go, were never topped. Needless to say, I've been waiting for a decent toy/model representation of these things ever since. Along comes CM Corporation with their upcoming Rei and Stick Ride Armors! Man... just look at them:
 
 
This thing is so nice on so many levels. I'm a bit turned off by the hole on the crotch but hey... gotta compromise some where. I mean, just look at how cool this thing is. I can't wait for them to release the Yellow, Rook and Stealth versions. I wanna get them all!
To add oil to the fire, Megahouse is also scheduled to release their version of the Ride Armor at the same time! Man... someone must be watching out for Mospeada fanboys. Now I'm not sure which one is better, I'll have to wait for the inevitable comparison reviews that will surely popup soon. Can't wait.
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May 2008 news archived
March and April 2008 news archived. Removed Collections section. Kinda redundant...
February 2008 news archived. Also redesigned the works pages, adding an intro to each finished kit.
January 2008 news archived.
December 2007 items archived. Also restructured how the Archives look. See below. |
| This site has been tested on Firefox 2.0 and Internet Explorer 7.0. It's compatible on both Windows and Mac OS-X platforms. This is an image intensive site so it's gonna be really slow for narrowband
users. Just in case you're wondering, this site is coded from scratch.
Old skool baby! |
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