RG 1/144 WIP- RX-78-2 Gundam

After roughly two years as a Gunpla builder, I'd finally gotten around to build Gundam.

Other than some paint and panel lines, this was strictly a straight build. Although the actual span of the project lasted nearly a month because I had a lot of things going on during the build, I only spent roughly three work-days on this.

Side Project

Here's something that's got me frustrated since getting the RG Strike Freedom.
The unexplainable lack of a RG Infinite Justice release.

It's been years since Strike Freedom's release with no sign of it's partner any time soon and I had been agonizing over whether I should just wait or attempt to port the InJus parts onto a RG Justice model.

Just when I thought the excruciatingly long wait was finally over...

It turns out to be a mistake by Bandai.

Well today, I use turn to art to vent my frustration.

Come on, Bandai. I promise to buy two, so do me a favor here.

I don't even care if it's a Premium exclusive.

Side Project

Custom RG 1/144 WIP- MBF-P03R Gundam Astray Blue Frame Second Revise

Picking up where I left off with my previous Blue Frame Second G project, all that's left is the Tactical Arms II and the extra power packs.

 BTF has been generous enough to include the gatling and hilt parts needed, so other than painting, it's pretty straightforward building the Tactical Arms II.

Attached the power packs from the HG Blue Frame Second L and it's done.

Next up: RG Astray Gold Frame Amatsu Perfect Form

Custom RG 1/144 WIP- MBF-P02Kai Gundam Astray Red Frame Kai

I've already made a previous post on my Astray Red Dragon, so I'll put more emphasis on the Tactical Arms IIL addon kit this time.
Let's have a look.

 The box is deceptively big, but that doesn't mean there isn't a lot in here. There are a few extra parts including an alternate hilt and gatling parts to make the Tactical Arms II.
Although clearly too big for its contents, I appreciate the size of the box as it is the same size as standard HG and RG boxes. I'm glad BTF made this decision for the TAIIL because the size of their RG Caletvwlch box made stacking with others rather awkward.

Waterslide decals! Everything is better with decals. It's important to note that the borders around the ink in these decals are rather wide. Despite being precut, you may want to trim the decals further before application.

The gold parts aren't molded in the infamous "puke gold" like Bandai's RG releases. Instead, they're in the "lame gold" like the old HG Strike Freedom.

Now, for the question everyone's been asking. "How are the swords?"
I was specifically interested in whether there was a noticeable difference between BTF's and Bandai's blades and whether BTF's Tiger Pierce will have a "mei".

Unfortunately, it's not only Tiger Pierce that was missing a "mei", Gerbera Straight didn't have one either. They also lack the "hamon" pattern found in Bandai's release.

Now that that's out of the way, it's time to build this thing. The build is quite enjoyable. The parts are molded in ABS, so experienced builders accustomed to PS will definitely feel the difference. That being said, the quality itself is not by any means bad and isn't prone to stressmarks.

Even if it was, that wouldn't be much of an issue, because nearly all the parts are undergated. A pleasant surprise. Mold quality is also very good though not quite as crisp as Bandai's sculpts. I have not come across any mold defects during the build and there were zero fitting issues.

The manual is very clear and I had no problems following the diagrams. The manual has neglected to show how it connects to the back of the RG Astray though and you may have to do a bit of improvising with parts on hand.


Finally, the finished model.

I've opted to use my two Bandai Gerbera Straights instead as they're clearly of higher quality than BTF's. My Red Dragon backpack is definitely going to storage though.


It's interesting to note that BTF's adaptor has three slots and you can do some crazy stuff if you have extra parts lying around.

Because why settle for three swords when you can have seven?


Next up: RG Astray Blue Frame Second Revise

Side Project

RX-78 Series Project

This is where I'll be dumping photos of my completed RX-78 models. Four down, three to go!

Custom RG 1/144 WIP- RX-78-1 Prototype Gundam

The first of my RX-78 Series project!
I hope I get off to a good start.
This seems like a fairly common build with most people simply changing the color scheme.
I decided to take it a bit further though by doing a few simple mods to more closely match the original design.

I'm not all that good a chiseling, and pretty sure I'll never get all the holes aligned if I did them separately. So I cut out big holes, and stuck plaplates inside. It should be much easier to align everything now.

Just a case of filing down the excess, and it's good to go.

  I don't know what the hell Okawara was thinking, but Unit 1's forearms are different from all the others'. That needs some improvising.

 The first batch of parts are finally dry.
Segregating the parts by color turned out to be much trickier than I first thought, so it's taking longer than expected.

Finished the new right side skirt and the last batch of black parts are finally finished.
After this, the red and grays.

One last spurt putting everything together and decals as a finishing touch.
To sum things up, from the base kit, I added grills on the ankle armor, redid the arms to have contours, extended the right side skirt, and changed a few details on the rifle.

Two down, five to go.