- Joined
- Aug 14, 2014
Due to a seller’s mistake, I got a second Kehaar II with some damage to the runners for free. Any idea what I should do with it?
Anyone into gunpla - Japanophiles unite to share tips on painting our toys (GUNPLA IS FREEDOM)
- Thread starter cool4cats
- Start date
-
🏰 The Fediverse is up. If you know, you know.
-
Want to keep track of this thread?
Accounts can bookmark posts, watch threads for updates, and jump back to where you stopped reading.
Create account
- Joined
- Jun 17, 2018
Battle-damaged paint/weathering seems like the obvious call, assuming the damage to the parts are noticeable.
- Joined
- Aug 14, 2014
That gives me an idea. One of the fingers of the beam rifle shield/claw is visibly damaged. Could be useful in a diorama of it being crushed by something bigger, maybe a Baund Doc. Depending on how much of the body is salvageable I could maybe stick the shoulders and legs on a GM of some kind. Make a GM flight type to pair off against my Gouf flight type.
Edit: The damage doesn't look nearly as bad as I thought, minus the cracked undeployed claw. I just checked my Haze'n-thley II instructions, it has a spare set of Woundwort shoulders. Using those and the 2 claw rifles the Kehaars, I could potentially add a pair of wire guided claws to virtually any Feddie suit I want. This is gonna be the coolest shit.
Last edited:
EyelessMC
kiwifarms.net
- Joined
- Jul 19, 2020
That kit is, apart from the hip joint, genuinely timeless. Looking at the work you put in makes me feel stupid for buying the RG recently. I got it for cheap but still there's just no comparison. Great choice and nice job.
By the way, there's a metal joint replacement for the easily breakable joint on the Freedom 2.0: https://www.amazon.com/SHEAWA-Replacement-Freedom-Providence-Accessories/dp/B09339F7YF It's legit, too, which is nuts since on Ebay it's like two to three times that price. I ordered a couple because I thought I'd need it for the Eclipse I planned to buy--until it became SCALPED TO HELL
oh well, maybe they'll reissue the Eclipse at some point and I can put these metal pieces to use. Until then I'll just clink them like Null clinks his coins. At least they're shiny. Shiny is nice...
Anyway, one order comes in a ziplock bag with two replacements, one for each leg, so don't be like me and order two for extra redundancy, although they will work with any model kit using the Freedom 2.0 hip joint frame.
Kehaar is a great kit because it's basically Gundam meets space exploration. That Gundam type is originally a unit designated to a greater spacecraft if I recall, specifically the Gundam Inle, which is a massive Gundam mobile armor capable of ripping fleets apart and even terraforming a planet. The Inle has six or so Kehaars on it which fly off and transform from saucer mode to either defend the Inle or explore environments, kinda like a Star Trek deal I guess. Also it has advanced environmental scanning and radar equipment for such a thing.That gives me an idea. One of the fingers of the beam rifle shield/claw is visibly damaged. Could be useful in a diorama of it being crushed by something bigger, maybe a Baund Doc. Depending on how much of the body is salvageable I could maybe stick the shoulders and legs on a GM of some kind. Make a GM flight type to pair off against my Gouf flight type.
Edit: The damage doesn't look nearly as bad as I thought, minus the cracked undeployed claw. I just checked my Haze'n-thley II instructions, it has a spare set of Woundwort shoulders. Using those and the 2 claw rifles the Kehaars, I could potentially add a pair of wire guided claws to virtually any Feddie suit I want. This is gonna be the coolest shit.
So a diorama of a Kehaar battle damaged, with a Feddie pilot floating nearby on alien terrain or something would not only be cool but also vaguely canonical to the madness that is Advance of Zeta.
Last edited:
Some time has passed, and I have been building stuffs. We will start with the smaller kits then to the main event
Gundam Artifact... I honestly forgot it's name.
This kit was different, mostly due to size but easy enough. I somehow got a chase red instead of the pale orange, somehow. Behind him is my G frame buster gundam I got. I got the artifact, the G frame, and Gundam Bael from Hobby Lobby while they had a 40% off sale.
Gundam Bael HG
This was a fun and quick build, I have little to add due to lack of knowledge of IBO but it looks cool.
Now for the main course...
Arcanadea Lumitea
Lumitea is part of a new sub line for Koto, and she is beautiful. Now I know it's weird to be obsessed with a figure but it reminds me of a girl I thought I was dating but learned we weren't on my birthday (I'm leaving it at that this isn't a personal blog). To me she was an angel but shit happens for a reason. Anyway this kit has two forms. This is the normal version.
And this is the angel mode (it's called something different but I'm too lazy to get off my butt to check). Yes, she has sword in hand.
Besides hands and alternate faces, her posability is very good, also has the hip part that allows for crossed legs, like previously shown. The build quality was very solid. I like angelic/religious iconography, even though my family was not super religious, probably due to my grandma collecting angel statues. Again a different story for a different time.
She now resides in my model building area, blessing my models coming in with a happy face.
Now, Nuke Matrix Cyber Forest Rabbit (the counter part to Fox), has finally came out. I ordered from SamuelDecal and nothing... they told me it was due to HK shipping, then it was Chinese New Year. So I ordered 2 from GundamIt (a subsidiary of Show Z) and they should be in soon (they are in the US somewhere). Work has been busy, but it pays my bills and my hobbies so I can't complain, means more model kits.
Anyway, I hope your builds go smoothly and have a great day!
Gundam Artifact... I honestly forgot it's name.
This kit was different, mostly due to size but easy enough. I somehow got a chase red instead of the pale orange, somehow. Behind him is my G frame buster gundam I got. I got the artifact, the G frame, and Gundam Bael from Hobby Lobby while they had a 40% off sale.
Gundam Bael HG
This was a fun and quick build, I have little to add due to lack of knowledge of IBO but it looks cool.
Now for the main course...
Arcanadea Lumitea
Lumitea is part of a new sub line for Koto, and she is beautiful. Now I know it's weird to be obsessed with a figure but it reminds me of a girl I thought I was dating but learned we weren't on my birthday (I'm leaving it at that this isn't a personal blog). To me she was an angel but shit happens for a reason. Anyway this kit has two forms. This is the normal version.
And this is the angel mode (it's called something different but I'm too lazy to get off my butt to check). Yes, she has sword in hand.
Besides hands and alternate faces, her posability is very good, also has the hip part that allows for crossed legs, like previously shown. The build quality was very solid. I like angelic/religious iconography, even though my family was not super religious, probably due to my grandma collecting angel statues. Again a different story for a different time.
She now resides in my model building area, blessing my models coming in with a happy face.
Now, Nuke Matrix Cyber Forest Rabbit (the counter part to Fox), has finally came out. I ordered from SamuelDecal and nothing... they told me it was due to HK shipping, then it was Chinese New Year. So I ordered 2 from GundamIt (a subsidiary of Show Z) and they should be in soon (they are in the US somewhere). Work has been busy, but it pays my bills and my hobbies so I can't complain, means more model kits.
Anyway, I hope your builds go smoothly and have a great day!
- Joined
- Jun 17, 2018
got an email from Newtype advertising some new resin add on kits they got in stock and… holy fuck, are all resin conversion kits this goddamn expensive? I can’t even imagine paying $200 for a model kit, much less $200 for some add-on parts no matter how amazing the final product looks.
I’ve also been building a Muv-Luv kit from Kotobokiya (not familiar with the source material but the robot looked cool) and accidentally snapped off the neck ball joint, lol. Hopefully I can drill it out and use a thin metal rod to repair it. Bandai has spoiled me, all the Kotobukiya kits I’ve built have had the most horrendous nub marks in obvious places that require a decent amount of patience to remove.
I’ve also been building a Muv-Luv kit from Kotobokiya (not familiar with the source material but the robot looked cool) and accidentally snapped off the neck ball joint, lol. Hopefully I can drill it out and use a thin metal rod to repair it. Bandai has spoiled me, all the Kotobukiya kits I’ve built have had the most horrendous nub marks in obvious places that require a decent amount of patience to remove.
Last edited:
- Joined
- Sep 19, 2020
Resin upgrade kits are always expensive as shit and are a pain to in the ass to work with. The idea is only hardcore hobbyists would use them and are so niche they need to justify "production" of it with selling it at that cost. Other hobbies have the same idea with Warhammer being a big culprit of their special resin lines.
- Joined
- Jun 14, 2020
>Owsla gigantic arm unit gets announced
>HG psycho gundam arms have been completely remolded to fit the new kit
>missed the announcement by 2 days
>check kurama toys
>'out of stock'
>check scalpers on ebay
>only 5 kits available
I'm beginning to think that this isn't a scalper problem and that some of the lesser known AoZ kits are just deliberately understocked. It makes me a little worried about the Barzam II and the advanced kehaar II/ re-zeon variant eventual release as I fucking love both of those designs. I guess I need to keep a closer eye on new announcements.
>HG psycho gundam arms have been completely remolded to fit the new kit
>missed the announcement by 2 days
>check kurama toys
>'out of stock'
>check scalpers on ebay
>only 5 kits available
I'm beginning to think that this isn't a scalper problem and that some of the lesser known AoZ kits are just deliberately understocked. It makes me a little worried about the Barzam II and the advanced kehaar II/ re-zeon variant eventual release as I fucking love both of those designs. I guess I need to keep a closer eye on new announcements.
EyelessMC
kiwifarms.net
- Joined
- Jul 19, 2020
It's both. Bandai's artificial scarcity is infuriating and seems to be getting worse but scalpers are so much more brazen than ever. I have truly come to hate them to the point where, if you replace the term "jew" with "scalper" suddenly Mein Kampf is perfectly reasonable.
I love the unique upper arms on this kit. They look like you'd expect them to break super easy but since it's all just ball joints they're secure nicely (despite feeling a bit loose). Actually if you treat it gently and use a lot of Tamiya thin cement this is one of the best Kotobukiya kits ever (WAY more secure than anything with the inner frame of Frame Arms kits (Mingwu aside, since that kit was great but highly expensive), even after a number of things broke on me. I also filled in the holes on the pegs for the hips, where the legs connect, to make the pegs less likely to break. Used Locktite putty cement.
Also good job getting the purple version since that's the most important one. They have a DX set for the yellow version that has better color separation but screw paying Perfect Grade price for a kit that's Koto-brittle like this.
Recently got the Tsugumori Kaini from Knights of Sidonia. Might post pics once I'm done with it since it needs a bit of paint.
Good choice with Bael. I have a minor kitbash of Gremory and the Barbataurus I'm doing just to change up the legs a bit and add more of that darker armor. I'll post a pic when I get the parts in from mechapartsguy
The artifact kits look great but I really hate how tiny they are. I just don't have the patience for them. Nice job on yours, though!
GORGEOUS! Shame it brings up sad memories for you--a kit I have reminds me of when my father passed away too soon, so I can relate to that--but that is a top tier aesthetic for a kit. The sculpt on her head is fantastic and the wings are just out of this world. You really did her a service when you put her together, mate. This is fantastic! Excellent taste in kits.
I recently bought a metal frame for the Freedom Gundam 2.0 MG from Gundam Central and put in for a unique Daban Jagd Doga MG through Ali Express. Both are sellers from China (though the latter seems to just be a guy selling stuff from a warehouse and not an actual business). I really don't want to have a dime of mine going to China but I'm seeing more and more China honing in on our hobby, more than ever. Most of our kits are made in China for starters, and then there's all the hobby accessories sold on USAGundam, Newtype, etc. which are produced and sold straight out of China but bought and sold by a US seller.
It's getting harder to not let cash somehow flow into the CCP machine. I can only hope Gundam Central and no-name sellers aren't somehow connected. Maybe I'm paranoid, but after downloading a Firefox add-on called "Cultivate" which lets you check out the origin of items on sites like Amazon and seeing how many things are secretly being made/sold out of China on there...man. It's depressing. I suppose buying from US sellers is the best option but if they give a cut of what you buy to the Chinese manufacturers, who then have to give a cut to the CCP, what is the point? Crisis of conscience.
Same here. Thanks for sharing as always and make sure to spread your pics elswhere not just on this site! I'm sure there's plenty more people who want to see your creations, especially with kits like you've posted here!
- Joined
- Jun 17, 2018
Anyone have experience with the Macross VFG kits? Just saw a new preorder pop up and was REALLY tempted by that transforming jet:
I’m not familiar with Aoshima as a brand but as long as it isn’t awfully floppy I’d be interested in picking one up.
I’m not familiar with Aoshima as a brand but as long as it isn’t awfully floppy I’d be interested in picking one up.
- Joined
- Aug 14, 2014
I’m not currently in a situation where I can paint, but I’ve started creating rough concepts of what I want to do once I’m able to. Behold the results of over 9000 seconds of Paint 98: whitewashed winter camo. Haven’t decided if I want the exposed green to be deliberate camo speckling or weathered exposure.
That was the best Gelgoog lineart I could find, but I’ll actually be using a Gelgoog Cannon.
Yes I prefer to OG goog head.
That was the best Gelgoog lineart I could find, but I’ll actually be using a Gelgoog Cannon.
Yes I prefer to OG goog head.
- Joined
- Jun 4, 2015
I still need to get around to building the kits I got the last few years but the timing of everythings been fucked and I don't got a proper space currently to snip shit in. I've noticed online prices for model kits has been spiking to nightmare levels lately. Some kotobukiya shit thats supposed to be 30 I was interested in getting a second copy of to try doing some paint stuff randomly had ALL the listings vanish from amazon, then shot up to 60 then 100 and keeps going up on ebay. I hate it so fucking much it's not even a limited edition thing and as far as I know it's still in production despite beign something that according to what I'm seeing came out in the early 2010s. I weirdly managed to find a single listing for $40 each of two other kits form the line I didn't have but was interested in and over the span of the last few weeks ordered both. One has been stuck in a USPS sorting facility for almost 2 weeks now, and the other that was stuck elsewhere for a week finally showed up a few days ago. There's apperently "new" versions of these kits now that released in 2020 that actually include some shit from other kits in the case of one of them but for the most part have more matte plastic for the skin and shit instead of the same glossy plastic for the whole model with the price bumped to $40, ironically the price I ended up paying for the original version. However, literally nobody seems to have listings for the things right now aside from scalpers charging 100 something dollars much like the originals right now.
I'll take some pics later of the box and maybe the thing after i build it whenever I get around to it. It's nothing too large or major in terms of kits and as far as I know before the scalping happened there wasnt too huge of a demand for it which made me go "hmm thats fucking weird" when the corona era scalping hit like it seems to have hit everything else.
At least it's not as bad as lego scalping is right now I'm seeing listings for those on ebay where small old $4 sets in dubious condition are $200 and single parts are being charged for $500 or even $1000 in some cases. scalpers will just charge insane prices and SQUAT on stock accumulated from everywhere else right now it's horrible. I've noticed a tactic they do where they say they have only 1 or 3 of a thing but after it sells they relist it at either the same or a higher price which tells me the fuckers are really just squatting on untold amounts of stock gathered from much more sanely priced listings right now I fucking hate these current times. I already can't afford too much shit as it is but I also gotta constantly be wary of if I can evern afford fucking anything or if the scraps will be pilfered by some braindead scalper's bot and squatted on for the next decade or so.
Shit this turned into a barely coherent ramble about scalpers but seriously god damn it fuck scalpers.
I'll take some pics later of the box and maybe the thing after i build it whenever I get around to it. It's nothing too large or major in terms of kits and as far as I know before the scalping happened there wasnt too huge of a demand for it which made me go "hmm thats fucking weird" when the corona era scalping hit like it seems to have hit everything else.
At least it's not as bad as lego scalping is right now I'm seeing listings for those on ebay where small old $4 sets in dubious condition are $200 and single parts are being charged for $500 or even $1000 in some cases. scalpers will just charge insane prices and SQUAT on stock accumulated from everywhere else right now it's horrible. I've noticed a tactic they do where they say they have only 1 or 3 of a thing but after it sells they relist it at either the same or a higher price which tells me the fuckers are really just squatting on untold amounts of stock gathered from much more sanely priced listings right now I fucking hate these current times. I already can't afford too much shit as it is but I also gotta constantly be wary of if I can evern afford fucking anything or if the scraps will be pilfered by some braindead scalper's bot and squatted on for the next decade or so.
Shit this turned into a barely coherent ramble about scalpers but seriously god damn it fuck scalpers.
EyelessMC
kiwifarms.net
- Joined
- Jul 19, 2020
Alright so here's a few pics I said I'd share:
The Aile Strike MG RM is a fantastic kit as I've said. It can even balance on one leg with the striker pack on. It's also noticeably shorter than the Strike Freedom but obviously better designed by five years or so. Cockpit is a pain to get open but it's fine. Really great aesthetic and I wouldn't have minded if this was the mainstay Gundam of the series without any Freedom or Strike Freedom, although the Strike Freedom is great. Sucks that we never got a 2.0.
My Gundam Delta Kai recolor OC Donut steel. Don't know if I posted this before but here it is again. Painted the thrusters red to be more in line with older Gundam designs, drilled the shield's dual beam parts so the beam effects could actually fit into it like in the manga and coated it in Mr. Hobby Premium Matte spray.
Here's my Gremory Mk.II
It's a minor kitbash of the Gremory and Battlelogue Barbaturus, just to see if the Gremory could have better defense and it turns out it can.
See, the black armor on the Gremory is physical nanolaminite (I think it's called) which deflects beam weaponry and makes it almost impenetrable to conventional weapons. It's a very big deal in the lore since nanolaminite is usually a kind of protective paste tattoo put onto mobile suits to give them an edge in defense, especially against energy weapons, but with enough force or use it can wane and leave the mobile suit vulnerable. Kind of like Phase Shift armor in Gundam SEED. However, the Gremory's black armor was designed with this component from its origin and so, after taking insurmountable time to craft and hone, it came to have a protective layer which will never wane or fail. The only weak points on the Gremory is the cockpit, the groin and the legs (and, you know, the open pistons and tubes all over its frame, but just ignore that since it's IBO land we're talking about).
Ultimately the Battlelog's Barbataurus HG turns out to have black armor the same shade as the Gremory's, which would imply that if it was legitimately part of the IBO universe and not a Build Fighters invention it'd be basically indomitable. As it is, I just bought the leg armor from MechaPartsGuy and snapped it on. Honestly I think it suits the Gremory almost too well, almost like you'd never know it wasn't meant to look like this from the start. It was an easy kitbash since both kits uses the same inner frame as every IBO HG (which is why every IBO HG SUCKS because this thing is ridiculously loose, like a 30 Minute Missions kit but twice the price). If you can get both kits on a super discount I'd say go for it since if the Gremory looks like good just with the Barbataurus's leg armor I can only imagine what it'd look like with even more creative mix-matching. Otherwise, though, it's not worth full retail. Not remotely. If anything just get the Barbataurus and fiddle around with that for creativity.
Oh, and also I used Premium Gloss Mr. Hobby topcoat
And finally is what is ostensibly my last ever Kotobukiya kit (again, fragility): Tsugumori Kaini
I really like the Knights of Sidonia manga and this is the best version of the main mecha. It needs paint work but since it's a very monochromatic color scheme it'd be a simple job. The black blades and black touch-ups along the frame are all paint (used Tamiya gray primer for the sword and just a black and gray regular panel liner for the minor details) and I topped it off with some more Mr. Hobby Premium Semi-Gloss.
The upper arm on the right broke and I had to glue it, but aside from that it's a surprisingly solid kit even with all its polycaps. Turns out a good set of solid polycaps really can be fantastic. It can stand on its own despite its tiny feet and has a shocking amount of articulation for such a strangely thin design. Even more shocking is how much parts separation there is; everything that's not the sword on its arm, the circles on its frame and minor lines here and there is actually a gray piece peaking through the white exterior or two-tone gray pieces attached onto it. Even the tip of that massive booster and the black fin on its back are separate pieces. The red lines are waterslide decals, along with the red text, and you get some more decals for other details if you want. Overall it's genuinely a good kit, one of Kotobukiya's best ever. Probably turned out so good because Nihei himself, the author of the manga and a big gunpla fan, was involved in the kit's construction.
Is it worth $80? No. But if you can find it for $75~ free shipping and you don't expect a kit you can easily man handle, but still one you can pose however you want, albeit gingerly, then maybe it'd be up your alley. Found mine for that price on Ebay. Still, for that kind of money you could get a handful of good HG Gundams or something more solid. It's really something just for those who are into peculiar mechanical designs or are fans of the story (both are me).
And as always, to go along with uploading an unconventional kit from an unconventional manga, I'll leave a link to the Knights of Sidonia manga HERE. It's worth your time and has a great ending so check it out if you'd like something weird but well done.
But dude... I had to go to China to get a good price since the scalpers keep slapping it at $90 (not including shipping and tax). I had to go to China.
I HAD TO GO TO CHINA
TO GET A GOOD PRICE
ON AN OFFICIAL PRODUCT
Scalpers deserve the scalping. Day of the Scalp when?
The Aile Strike MG RM is a fantastic kit as I've said. It can even balance on one leg with the striker pack on. It's also noticeably shorter than the Strike Freedom but obviously better designed by five years or so. Cockpit is a pain to get open but it's fine. Really great aesthetic and I wouldn't have minded if this was the mainstay Gundam of the series without any Freedom or Strike Freedom, although the Strike Freedom is great. Sucks that we never got a 2.0.
Below is my Hathaway kits which I used GSI Mr. Hobby Premium Semi-Gloss on. Makes them look fantastic, and honestly I've come to accept and even like the Penelope's design, although the original draconic novel version will always be superior.
Painted Xi's eyes with a DISPIE metallic green marker (those things are fantastic for detailing) and as previously said I used metallic gold Tamiya spray on Hi Nu's gold parts. You barely touch them so they'll keep their sheen for ages. Didn't spray the body or anything else since it's already got a great finish but I did panel line a few things.
Painted Xi's eyes with a DISPIE metallic green marker (those things are fantastic for detailing) and as previously said I used metallic gold Tamiya spray on Hi Nu's gold parts. You barely touch them so they'll keep their sheen for ages. Didn't spray the body or anything else since it's already got a great finish but I did panel line a few things.
My Gundam Delta Kai recolor OC Donut steel. Don't know if I posted this before but here it is again. Painted the thrusters red to be more in line with older Gundam designs, drilled the shield's dual beam parts so the beam effects could actually fit into it like in the manga and coated it in Mr. Hobby Premium Matte spray.
Here is also my final Frame Arms kit since I absolutely loathe the fragility of these things:
The kit comes in a decent enough injection silver but after trying out battle damage effects I sprayed it with my left over Tamiya Dull Red and Matte top coat. Took some inspiration from @Syn_32 who did a Gundam Heavy Arms Guyver repaint and made some of the red look fleshy, as if the robot is partly organic. Probably should've drawn some veins and shaded that to make it look more human though.
I backed the translucent yellow with silver (preferably Molotow Liquid Chrome because it's just amazing) and cut part of the runner to make a cross. Also bought a pair of "Sharp Hands" from Kotobukiya's M.S.G lineup and painted that in Folk Art's Brushed Metal Black before flicking some Cardinal Red paint (also Folk Art) to make it look bloody. I like how it came out but overall the inability to pose it simply without fearing it's gonna snap a peg or major joint just annoys me to no end. Still the best Frame Arms design that's not from a major mechanical artist, though.
The kit comes in a decent enough injection silver but after trying out battle damage effects I sprayed it with my left over Tamiya Dull Red and Matte top coat. Took some inspiration from @Syn_32 who did a Gundam Heavy Arms Guyver repaint and made some of the red look fleshy, as if the robot is partly organic. Probably should've drawn some veins and shaded that to make it look more human though.
I backed the translucent yellow with silver (preferably Molotow Liquid Chrome because it's just amazing) and cut part of the runner to make a cross. Also bought a pair of "Sharp Hands" from Kotobukiya's M.S.G lineup and painted that in Folk Art's Brushed Metal Black before flicking some Cardinal Red paint (also Folk Art) to make it look bloody. I like how it came out but overall the inability to pose it simply without fearing it's gonna snap a peg or major joint just annoys me to no end. Still the best Frame Arms design that's not from a major mechanical artist, though.
It's a minor kitbash of the Gremory and Battlelogue Barbaturus, just to see if the Gremory could have better defense and it turns out it can.
See, the black armor on the Gremory is physical nanolaminite (I think it's called) which deflects beam weaponry and makes it almost impenetrable to conventional weapons. It's a very big deal in the lore since nanolaminite is usually a kind of protective paste tattoo put onto mobile suits to give them an edge in defense, especially against energy weapons, but with enough force or use it can wane and leave the mobile suit vulnerable. Kind of like Phase Shift armor in Gundam SEED. However, the Gremory's black armor was designed with this component from its origin and so, after taking insurmountable time to craft and hone, it came to have a protective layer which will never wane or fail. The only weak points on the Gremory is the cockpit, the groin and the legs (and, you know, the open pistons and tubes all over its frame, but just ignore that since it's IBO land we're talking about).
Ultimately the Battlelog's Barbataurus HG turns out to have black armor the same shade as the Gremory's, which would imply that if it was legitimately part of the IBO universe and not a Build Fighters invention it'd be basically indomitable. As it is, I just bought the leg armor from MechaPartsGuy and snapped it on. Honestly I think it suits the Gremory almost too well, almost like you'd never know it wasn't meant to look like this from the start. It was an easy kitbash since both kits uses the same inner frame as every IBO HG (which is why every IBO HG SUCKS because this thing is ridiculously loose, like a 30 Minute Missions kit but twice the price). If you can get both kits on a super discount I'd say go for it since if the Gremory looks like good just with the Barbataurus's leg armor I can only imagine what it'd look like with even more creative mix-matching. Otherwise, though, it's not worth full retail. Not remotely. If anything just get the Barbataurus and fiddle around with that for creativity.
Oh, and also I used Premium Gloss Mr. Hobby topcoat
I really like the Knights of Sidonia manga and this is the best version of the main mecha. It needs paint work but since it's a very monochromatic color scheme it'd be a simple job. The black blades and black touch-ups along the frame are all paint (used Tamiya gray primer for the sword and just a black and gray regular panel liner for the minor details) and I topped it off with some more Mr. Hobby Premium Semi-Gloss.
The upper arm on the right broke and I had to glue it, but aside from that it's a surprisingly solid kit even with all its polycaps. Turns out a good set of solid polycaps really can be fantastic. It can stand on its own despite its tiny feet and has a shocking amount of articulation for such a strangely thin design. Even more shocking is how much parts separation there is; everything that's not the sword on its arm, the circles on its frame and minor lines here and there is actually a gray piece peaking through the white exterior or two-tone gray pieces attached onto it. Even the tip of that massive booster and the black fin on its back are separate pieces. The red lines are waterslide decals, along with the red text, and you get some more decals for other details if you want. Overall it's genuinely a good kit, one of Kotobukiya's best ever. Probably turned out so good because Nihei himself, the author of the manga and a big gunpla fan, was involved in the kit's construction.
Is it worth $80? No. But if you can find it for $75~ free shipping and you don't expect a kit you can easily man handle, but still one you can pose however you want, albeit gingerly, then maybe it'd be up your alley. Found mine for that price on Ebay. Still, for that kind of money you could get a handful of good HG Gundams or something more solid. It's really something just for those who are into peculiar mechanical designs or are fans of the story (both are me).
And as always, to go along with uploading an unconventional kit from an unconventional manga, I'll leave a link to the Knights of Sidonia manga HERE. It's worth your time and has a great ending so check it out if you'd like something weird but well done.
There is no other way to talk about scalpers other than scarcely coherent ranting. I'm right there with you. I had to buy a MG Eclipse Gundam through Ali Express in order to get it around $80. If I'd gotten it when it first came out it'd have been about $78 with ten dollar shipping and tax, so $84 isn't that bad of a scalp, especially since it's gotta be shipping out of China.
But dude... I had to go to China to get a good price since the scalpers keep slapping it at $90 (not including shipping and tax). I had to go to China.
I HAD TO GO TO CHINA
TO GET A GOOD PRICE
ON AN OFFICIAL PRODUCT
Scalpers deserve the scalping. Day of the Scalp when?
- Joined
- Apr 17, 2020
No but I love giant robots and Soul of Chogokin stuff. The Gaogaigar is phenomenal if a little too "perfect and jewelery-esque" to want to handle...the original 1997 DX GGG is still my fav. The GX100 massive Gaiking set with the 3 foot long Daiku Maryu is coming soon to America, talk about a magnum opus for Bandai. I can't justify spending 1k on any collectable though. I like the old 1990s Brave series stuff myself (and SoC is coming out with Exkizer updates soon so I am drooling)
- Joined
- Jun 17, 2018
If you can pirate Photoshop, it’s a great way to try out different paint schemes “realistically” before committing. You’ll just have to individually trace out each body part which can be a pain.
- Joined
- Aug 14, 2014
Yeah I need to learn photoshop, I just threw together that proof of concept on my phone while at work one day to show someone.
And it's absolutely bonkers paying a guy on AliExpress to send me a PB release that was shipped in from Japan to ship it to me in the US is cheaper than buying it from some dude in Ohio.
Phantom
kiwifarms.net
- Joined
- Mar 31, 2018
I only bought those for the jet mode. 80% of the kit is plane and inner frame and the girls that come with em are always ignorable, generic musume. If you get one where they make the girl a character from the anime then it makes it a little better. You can get that 1/12 Ranka figure or get the 1/100 Klan Klan.
Attachments
Now that I have a little free time (only at night after work... it pays bills and floats my hobbies so I'm not mad just burnt out), I can finally talk about the new Nuke Matrix kit I got. For those that don't know about Nuke Matrix, they are a Chinese company that make megami device type kits, but I find them better produced somewhat compared to Koto on some points. I own most* of their releases and I am happy with all of them. (*only kit I don't own is Liu li's first kit run which was a pallet swap of the second run.) Anyway, today's kit is a continuation into the Cyber Forest series, first introduced by Fox, now we have Rabbit, or Lirly as she is also known.
(Blue hair is Vivienne and pink hair is Lily (mistyped as Lirly on the box))
Lily acts as the technician. These two kits have an overreaching story on the box that Lily acts as the Tech for Vivienne, who goes out and does the missions. But when together with the Droid (features in the pic), they can use the Zero Cannon (as shown). Lily was a very nice build, very close to Vivienne structure wise (including a robotic spine with crazy movement range) but still unique.
(Pictured is Lily and Vivienne in combat mode.)
Overall, this kit is worth getting, especially if you have Vivienne because it complements it (oh... there are water slides for the blue screens on Lily, but life is too short and I'm lazy as hell).
Apologies for few pics, I've just been burnt out from work, between new baloney being pushed and lack of drive due to mental state (which my leads know about and are trying to help), it's just been stressful. Hopefully I'll be a bit more relaxed soon, because it's getting stressful and I'm breaking down at work more often then not... sorry I kinda went a little overboard with details, but it's impacted many of my hobbies. Well, until I find another model kit to build, I hope your builds go smoothly and have a better day then me.
(Blue hair is Vivienne and pink hair is Lily (mistyped as Lirly on the box))
Lily acts as the technician. These two kits have an overreaching story on the box that Lily acts as the Tech for Vivienne, who goes out and does the missions. But when together with the Droid (features in the pic), they can use the Zero Cannon (as shown). Lily was a very nice build, very close to Vivienne structure wise (including a robotic spine with crazy movement range) but still unique.
(Pictured is Lily and Vivienne in combat mode.)
Overall, this kit is worth getting, especially if you have Vivienne because it complements it (oh... there are water slides for the blue screens on Lily, but life is too short and I'm lazy as hell).
Apologies for few pics, I've just been burnt out from work, between new baloney being pushed and lack of drive due to mental state (which my leads know about and are trying to help), it's just been stressful. Hopefully I'll be a bit more relaxed soon, because it's getting stressful and I'm breaking down at work more often then not... sorry I kinda went a little overboard with details, but it's impacted many of my hobbies. Well, until I find another model kit to build, I hope your builds go smoothly and have a better day then me.
- Joined
- Aug 14, 2014
How did the Gigantic Arm Unit not sell out in minutes?
- Joined
- Sep 14, 2020
Love the Gelgoog. I'm waiting on the same model kit to arrive for a kit bash.
It may not be a popular design or not the kit everyone wanted. I'd like to see the Gelgoog Stutzer get a release.