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.

Conclusion of Gundam 00 Season 2

Just finished the final episode of Gundam 00. I'm not gonna do an episode summary because I believe every fan already saw this episode. I just want to share my thoughts about this Gundam series.

Pic from Random Curiosity

I think season 2 was better than season 1. I liked how the camaraderie developed between the meisters and the entire crew of Ptolemaios/Ptolemy. During the 1st season, the meisters reminded me of how the pilots in Gundam Wing treated each other. They didn't act like they belong to the same organization. I guess it was Neil/Lockon who made the crew gel together.

Season 2 has many interesting twists. Events happened fast it almost felt like the episode was longer than 24 minutes (21 less the op and end songs). Based on other people's opinions which I read from the blogs, this series didn't borrow too many elements/copied scenarios from the other classic Gundam series. Except maybe the likeness of 0 Gundam to RX-78 =)

I like the characters, including the antagonists coz they were effective. Many didnt like Marina because they thought she was useless. For me, she was a symbol for those who can't fight in a war but desires so much to be able to contribute something. She's also essential because she and Setsuna had a connection even though they barely knew each other.

The innovators dress funny and have weird names but they did a good job in pulling the strings behind the events which happened in the series. I pitied Healing (cutie next to Anew) when she got beaten by Hallelujah, but I guess she deserves it coz she was a bee-yotch.

Tieria grew on me. At first I cant accept that he's a he, not a she. Hallelujah is a better fighter than Allelujah. I guess Allelujah was the weakest among the meisters. Whenever I think about an episode of 00 season 2 I just watched, Allelujah crosses my mind and interrupts me while shouting "Marie! Mariiiieeee!" During season 1, it was Haro (Lockon! Lockon!)

I liked how they made Setsuna and Saji appear older, you can really tell that some time lapsed between season 1 and 2. Heero from Wing and Saji are almost the same, but I liked Setsuna better coz of the way his character developed towards the end.

Neil was the good guy, Lyle was the bad dude, but Lyle was way cooler for me. Sad that Anew had to die, but why did someone who looks like her but with glasses appear behind the female president during the speech? Maybe Tieria created a new Anew (sounds funny, I know) as a parting gift to Lockon, coz Anew was the only sane Innovade.

I LOVE the two ending songs; Friends by Stephanie and Trust You by Yuna Ito. The songs were used in perfect timing during the dramatic endings of several episodes in season 1 and 2.

So now we'll have to wait until 2010 to see the movie and the new gundams (and plamo of course). Maybe the "Dialogue" will happen between the people from Earth and Jupiter. That is why Jupiter was on the background at the ending. Just a guess.

I really enjoyed the episodes of Gundam 00 and tried my best to skip episode reviews from the bloggers I follow to avoid spoilers. But after watching an episode, I'll go to Gordonator and Gundamaniac to read their funny captions. I also love to admire the sharp animation of Gundam 00. Each episode, especially the fight scenes, looked awesome.

Now I need a new anime to watch. I belive FMA season 2 will be shown on Animax. First time to simultaneously air an anime at the same time with Japan. Now that is something to look forward to =)

WIP: 00 and Cherudim

Just finished putting together 00 and Cherudim.

And something came in the mail today.


I ordered decals from Samuel Decal. It's quite hard to get the decals you want here in the Philippines. Stores that carry gunpla merchandise don't offer much selection, so when I found out about Samuel Decal, I decided to order.

I ordered decals for HG Gundam 00, and generic caution signs in red, black, and white.

I've also been catching up on the second season of Gundam 00. I'm on episode 9 now. I really like how the story develops. According to Wikipedia, the series was initially compared to Wing Gundam because of the interventions performed on the beginning of the series. But I really think 00 is better than Wing. I like how the story develops. I also found out that the director was reluctant to accept the project since he's not familiar with gundams, and I think he's doing a pretty good job.

Decaffeinated

Z made a very interesting entry in his blog and you can read it here. I follow this dude's blog because his reviews are good and he gets the latest models as soon as they come out. I know I haven't been active lately, and it surprised me to find out that Z feels that he should quit Gunpla for now.

I also had an on and off relationship with gunpla. Started with a few kits from Wing, then stopped. Saw the new series Seed and started buying when Seed Destiny came out. I got hooked on Danny Choo's blog, and got myself some MG models. I wanted to share my gunpla interest with others so I put up this blog last year.

Now I'm busy with work and I dont get to regularly check updates on the web, but I try my best to catch up by checking Z's site and Ngee Khiong. I can say the interest is still there, but I try my best to not buy gunplas impulsively. I used to envy guys like Z who can buy stacks of gundam and constantly deliver updates to the readers. When I finished college, I told myself I'd buy a compressor and airbrush kit on my first pay check. I've been working now for 5 months and still no airbrush set. I dont think I have enough time (and space actually) to paint MGs. My solution? Go on a diet, or plastic decaf for the sake of my blog's name.

I just bought HG 1/144 OO Gundam and Cherudim. I planned on buying these even before I saw Z's entry on quitting gunpla. My last two purchases before them were HG Exia and GN-X. And I wasnt even able to post of pics of GN-X yet. I'm starting to love Bandai's High Grades. The details and quality just improved over the years, and they are more affordable compared to the bigger kits. They still lack some details compared to non-graded 1/100s and MGs, but you can still do something to make them more impressive. I just go WOW when I see modelers who totally modify their 1/144 kits, to work on such a small scale requires patience and talent. What I also like about HGs is that they dont require too much time to build. You can finish a kit within two days on a laid back pace. Exia has been on my desk for how long now. I play with him when I work sometimes on my desk, while the other kits have been kept inside my small glass cabinet. HGs are just so handy, you wouldnt get too scared that a piece might get broken because you pose them too much.

So I guess the key is to take a break once in a while, to have some "balance". If you have been to Z's site already, then you must have seen the pile of gunpla waiting to be assembled. It is an overwhelming task. Switching your attention sometimes to other interests will also help. After several days of not knowing anything about gunpla, I check out other bloggers to see the latest updates and their projects to see how a gunpla kit would look like, then decide what to buy later on. I became excited too when I saw Sinanju at first, but thought that I might not be able to devote time and effort to the Gold Emblems, because I know that the foil stickers will not work for me as well. I still believe that the right time will come for me to take on a really serious project, with all the right tools and equipment, and plenty of spare time.

Good luck to Z and to all the other gunpla enthusiasts out there. Keep the passion burning =)

Still Alive

It has been more than a month since my last entry. I really missed blogging. I've been quite busy with work, and most of my weekends were spent going out.

I'm pretty excited about the upcoming movie of The Watchmen, which was recognized as one of Time Magazine's 100 Best Novels. This one is a graphic novel, to be exact. The movie is coming out March 2009, and I think the guys behind the big screen adaptation of 300 are also the ones behind this movie. The pic above is the trade paperback version which contains all 12 issues/chapters. I read this before I go to sleep, whenever I'm not super tired/sleepy. Is there a Manga out there that you think has a good potential to be a Hollywood flick? My vote is Death Note.

Still not done with my HG GN-X. The lower half of the body still requires my attention. That is why I decided not to buy any more kits until this one is finished. The good thing is I now have the capacity to acquire another kit if I want to =)