Transformers

Still no progress with HGUC Blue Destiny. My attention has shifted to these babies recently.

Not really sure why I didn't get hooked on purchasing some toys when the first movie came out. Whenever I visit the hobby store back then, I would hear the store clerks on the phone entertaining queries and reservations for Transformers merchandise.

The first one I bought was Sideswipe. After seeing the movie, I decided that I'm gonna get myself that Autobot. I searched toystores in many malls here but they all ran out. All the other Transformers were still there except him! I got him from a seller on eBay. I was able to contact one seller who was offering the lowest price compared to the other sellers. But this one is overpriced by 6 US dollars compared to the mall price.

Next one I got was Barricade; the Premium version from the first movie. I didn't like the Interrogator version from the ROTF line. I've always thought that this toy was nice during the first movie, can't remember why I didn't buy one before.

I've already opened Barricade. And I think he needs minor repaints to improve the appearance. I've been visiting a lot of TF fan sites lately and found some pretty good customizing tutorials. So watch out for my future Transformers review.

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Bouncy

I've started building HGUC Blue Destiny last week. I'm finished with the head and body. I'm just too lazy to take and upload pics and I haven't continued building it yet.

I have something else to show. I'm not sure if this has been passed around but I got the link from a friend. Click HERE. Page takes a while to download so just be patient.

Is this the new trend with 2D (or 3D) girls, singing with a leek?


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I'm Saving My Dough For...

To be honest, this post was first intended to talk about the MG Exia and the K-ON Nendoroids.

I only started with Tekken when Tekken 5 came out. I can handle myself pretty well when playing on my PS2. But recently, I developed the interest to play the Tekken 6 Bloodline Rebellion in the arcades. There are so many good players here in the Philippines. And I'm getting my ass kicked. Seriously.

So now, I'm saving my money to buy myself a PS3, an arcade stick, and a decent HD TV. The console version of Tekken 6 is scheduled to come by the end of October, so I still have plenty of time to save some of my fresh-grad income. I've been wanting to get myslef a PS3 console, and now with tekken 6 coming out, I have decided to finally get me one by September. I can finally get my hands on the games I'm missing.

This means I can't buy any gunpla for now. I still have two pending projects; one is my 1/100 Red Astray which I got years ago, and an HGUC Blue Destiny Unit 1. So I guess those two will have to do for now. Maybe I can get the MG Exia by November. Did they announce the release date of the K-ON Nendoroids? I want Mio! I hope they include a Bump-on-the-head accessory for Ritsu since she gets at least one per episode whenever Mio whacks her.

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HG Cherudim Gundam

Finally got my lazy self to take pics of Cherudim gundam. See more after the jump.

I think the Racing Green Tamiya Spray Can I used worked well. I almost got the British Green which is a lot darker and closer to the original color of the plastic, but decided to buy the Racing Green.

Same green highlighter trick as Gundam 00 for the clear orbs.

I didn't add detail to the GN Beam Pistols anymore. I kinda regret it coz it looks plain on the pics.

I like this pic =)





And GN-X makes another cameo.

I still have two kits on my to-do list, and they're not the two remaining mechas from Celestial Being. Arios and Seravee are still on the to-buy list.

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WIP: HG Cherudim

I'm almost done with this one.

Fresh built Cherudim soaking up some sun.

I decided to get up early on a saturday morning (the 10th) to paint this kit so I can avoid the extremely hot temperature in the afternoon. I sorted the parts a few days before painting. I used Blu Tack on some parts and masking tape on the others to stick them to the skewers. I used Tamiya Racing Green and German Gray for the arm and leg frames and also the backpack. I didn't paint the white parts anymore because the nub marks disappeared after sanding them.

Sorting the parts before painting.

I used the green highlighter again for the clear parts. The clear pieces lie on top of the sticky surface of the masking tape to hold them in place while I paint them.

The result after applying the first few coats. I left it to dry on my table then I would occasionally paint it to let the color settle well on the surface. By the way, I applied the green paint on the surface inside the clear part, not the outer part where you can touch it when attached to the gunpla.

Above are the Shield Bits after painting. I applied a thin coat of Primer Gray before painting it green because white nub marks were visible even after I sanded it. The part felt smooth when you touch it but the white, raw plastic was very visible.

Most of the parts are now assembled. I'm still in the process of decal application.

Pilot drawing pens are very similar to Black Gundam markers. The best one to use for panel lining is tip size .01. I also used 0.2 and 0.3 to paint/fill in black parts on Cherudim's rifle.

Then I used a Staedler 5B drawing pencil to darken the slits on the Shield Bits. If you took drafting classes in high school, then you know the different pencil grades used for drawing. B pencils are dark, while H pencils are very light. I think you can use them for panel lining if you don't want to use ink because the lines could look too dark on the model.

Photoshoot will be done after decal application and top coating.

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HG Gundam 00

I haven't done a photoshoot for quite some time so forgive me if some images look a bit dark. I'll try to adjust my lighting when I take pics of Cherudim.

I could have finished this kit earlier but I ran out of blue spray paint. 00's backpack also got ruined when bubbles appeared after I left it to dry so I had to apply another coat of paint to cover it.

You can see here the plastic I inserted into the GN Drives.









The Figma stand was quite effective for a 1/144 scale model like this one.







I forgot to take off the red part on his antenna before I sprayed it with top coat so now it doesn't look clear anymore.



GN-X makes a cameo. Completed this kit after Exia but I'm still not sure if I would paint this one too.







The green highlighing pen I used on the clear parts gave a satisfactory result.



Setsuna's love interests.

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Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood

I know I'm supposed to post Gundam 00's pics but let me blog about the first episode of Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood before I do that.

I thought this season of FMA would be on a different setting. Turns out, this time the anime will be loyal to the story line of the manga unlike the fist series. I'm a huge fan of FMA. It aired on Animax before at the same time Cartoon Network was airing Gundam Seed Destiny so I was really in anime heaven back then.

Edward still not keen on discussing his height issue =)

It was really nice to see the characters on TV again. Animax did an amazing job of being able to air the episode within the same week as Japan, with English subtitles.

The Flame Alchemist getting a facial to cool him off.



Armstrong, the exhibitionist, still has a spark/star floating next to his face.

I'm really excited for the next episode. The preview showed the time when they were still kids, so I guess this would be some sort of flashback on how everything started. This is a very promising show, the animation looks superb and the characters are kick-ass but funny at the same time.

I got the pics from Random Curiosity, a blog full of amazing screenshots and reviews of the latest anime.

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WIP: HG 00

I will probably post the pics of the completed Gundam 00 tomorrow. First, I want to highlight some of the steps I took in making this Gunpla.

The articulation for the High Grade line keeps on getting better. Gundam 00 is not expensive at all and you still get a good gunpla. The model is very flexible; there are many points of articulation on the arms and legs.

I decided to cut off some plastic from the runner of the part connectors (PC?) and put it inside the holes of the two GN Drives. I was watching the 2nd season when I noticed that one of the holes connects with the 0 Raiser in docking mode. I went to Dalong's site to check his scans of the 0 Raiser's manual, and I saw there that the hole on the bottom is necessary to connect it to 0 Raiser. I removed the plastic I inserted inside the GN Drives but stil left the other two. I dont have 0 Raiser yet but of I want to buy one after I get the other two Celestial Being mechas. I sliced a thin strip of the silver foil sticker to accesorize the GN Drives, then colored it with Green Highlighting pen. The ink doesn't settle well on the foil sticker but it still gives off a hint of green when light hits it.

As expected from HG kits, the antenna is not sharp coz it might be dangerous to younger modelers I guess. I used my hobby knife to cut off the extra bits then sanded it. I spray painted it white to serve as the primer because I was gonna hand paint it yellow.

I think I should get me some Gundam Markers so I dont have to hand paint small parts like the antenna.

For the clear parts, I didn't use the Sponge trick anymore (HG Exia). I used a green highlighter pen. It took several coatings to get the clear plastic look green. I left it on my desk to dry then applied more coats from time to time. After Decal application, I snapped all the parts together for Top Coating, but left off the clear parts and the GN Drives coz I dont want them to look flat.

Kinda sucks coz I didn't take enough work-in-progress pics. I will try to get more pictures for HG Cherudim. Next post will be Gundam 00's photoshoot.

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