Anyone into gunpla - Japanophiles unite to share tips on painting our toys (GUNPLA IS FREEDOM)

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If they're the 40th anniversary ones, I can understand why. They aren't models of Char's Zaku II - they're just Zaku II J's in red with a commander antenna. Great if you just wanted a red Zaku II J that will never go as fast as it's supposed to :stress: I bought one after seeing the prototype photos and wasn't disappointed at all by the build. I don't know if releasing it properly in green would help, but it would make sense to some people. Yes, Gunpla is getting very scarce and expensive on our end if you are looking for certain kits. Look up a 1/144 Hildolfr on Amazon.
Because MS IGLOO isn't mentioned often.
I'm curious about Gunpla stock and price in Japan. Also, I'm curious about what Bandai is doing. Hopefully something good?
Yeah it's solely just the normal "red zaku" version of his mech before all the mods and shit. The anniversary and "origin" versions. Targets in my area are clogged with the 40th ones and hobby lobby is clogged with the other. There's normal green versions of them that apperently exist but they never show up on shelves and only ever appear online for like double or triple the price. I'm guessing something similar to what's happening with target exclusive NECA stuff where the employees are just flooding the shelves with the red ones and flipping the standard ones for nuts prices on ebay.

The weird tiny "gframe" kits I've been finding on occasion are a special kind of hell online. They're fucking price hiked on online stores tot he point some places are charging $80. lowest price I've seen for them online is $40 and with prices like that you'd think it'd be like some super exclusive rare thing that was shitcanned 20 years ago but no it's just literally smaller scale gundams with a weird manner of construction compared to the other kits.

Speaking of Char's zaku that reminds me once again about the one that I bought from a hobby shop used as a kid that had a fucking amazing paintjob. It's been somewhere in the storage nightmare that is the basement more than a decade and I'm hoping it's not gotten moldy or something lmao I need to go digging for it some day. Not sure what exact version of the custom zaku it is but it's got fuckyou large shoulderpads. It's definitely going to be caked with dust if I find it down there.
EDIT: I can't fucking find the char mobile suit the old one I own is though I fucking know I've seen it before. Closest thing I can find is the "geloog" but that's not it at all and it's way too smooth to be. It's got the normal zaku head and body but it's beefier and has shoulderpads somewhat similar to the geloog but more greebly
 
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So is anyone getting the nike crossover models
I still want the 7/11 ones from a few years back and I'm constantly pissed that weird 7/11 promo shit never come over to the US 7/11 cause there's a fuckload of them around where I live.It's always the overseas 7/11 that does the cool dumb shit these days.
Didn't even know about the nike shit toll now, gonna look that up.
EDITX2: FUCK IT WAS 10 YEARS AGO IN THE CASE OF THE 7/11 ZAKU BLUGH A

EDIT: Cool looking but not as cool as the 7/11 gundam with the roadsign weapon in my eyes. That's apperently dropped back down to $50 online but I'll wait till it drops down to $30 again
 
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Yeah it's solely just the normal "red zaku" version of his mech before all the mods and shit. The anniversary and "origin" versions. Targets in my area are clogged with the 40th ones and hobby lobby is clogged with the other. There's normal green versions of them that apperently exist but they never show up on shelves and only ever appear online for like double or triple the price. I'm guessing something similar to what's happening with target exclusive NECA stuff where the employees are just flooding the shelves with the red ones and flipping the standard ones for nuts prices on ebay.

The weird tiny "gframe" kits I've been finding on occasion are a special kind of hell online. They're fucking price hiked on online stores tot he point some places are charging $80. lowest price I've seen for them online is $40 and with prices like that you'd think it'd be like some super exclusive rare thing that was shitcanned 20 years ago but no it's just literally smaller scale gundams with a weird manner of construction compared to the other kits.

Speaking of Char's zaku that reminds me once again about the one that I bought from a hobby shop used as a kid that had a fucking amazing paintjob. It's been somewhere in the storage nightmare that is the basement more than a decade and I'm hoping it's not gotten moldy or something lmao I need to go digging for it some day. Not sure what exact version of the custom zaku it is but it's got fuckyou large shoulderpads. It's definitely going to be caked with dust if I find it down there.
That's dirty if they're doing that in the stores. I don't think Yodobashi Camera or Joshin would allow their employees to do that. Japan's people probably wouldn't tolerate it because of how inconsiderate it is.

I just watched a guy fit the really bad HG Tristan to a G-Frame. It solved the articulation issues at least, haha. I can't believe people are asking that much for them. The chewing gum must be top notch, haha.

Hey, it'd be cool to see that old Zaku aged by the environment. Kind of like finding a remnant mobile suit.

So is anyone getting the nike crossover models
No way. Uniqlo and Atsuko have way more and affordable Gundam merch. Also, you are opening yourself to having a very, very weeby moment if someone steps on those.
 
That's dirty if they're doing that in the stores. I don't think Yodobashi Camera or Joshin would allow their employees to do that. Japan's people probably wouldn't tolerate it because of how inconsiderate it is.

I just watched a guy fit the really bad HG Tristan to a G-Frame. It solved the articulation issues at least, haha. I can't believe people are asking that much for them. The chewing gum must be top notch, haha.

Hey, it'd be cool to see that old Zaku aged by the environment. Kind of like finding a remnant mobile suit.


No way. Uniqlo and Atsuko have way more and affordable Gundam merch. Also, you are opening yourself to having a very, very weeby moment if someone steps on those.
There's no gum included with the ones I'm buying, I think it's like a thing dependant on what version or release you get. None of the ones I've seen reviewed or opened online looking into what kits are out there seem to come with gum either.

I'll try to bring the camera into the depths when i plunge for the zaku, not sure if I'll bring it upstairs if I do find it though, if it DOES have shit growing on it I don't wanna be bringing that shit throughout the house.

EDIT TO AVOID DOUBLE POST: I just had a fucking realization I still haven't built those kotobukiya and flametoys kits I got the last 2 years fucking hell. Pandemic scalper shit combined with me wanting to get things a bit more organized I guess I kinda forgot about doing it.
 
There's no gum included with the ones I'm buying, I think it's like a thing dependant on what version or release you get. None of the ones I've seen reviewed or opened online looking into what kits are out there seem to come with gum either.

I'll try to bring the camera into the depths when i plunge for the zaku, not sure if I'll bring it upstairs if I do find it though, if it DOES have shit growing on it I don't wanna be bringing that shit throughout the house.

EDIT TO AVOID DOUBLE POST: I just had a fucking realization I still haven't built those kotobukiya and flamestoys kits I got the last 2 years fucking hell. Pandemic scalper shit combined with me wanting to get things a bit more organized I guess I kinda forgot about doing it.
Geez man no gum? What's the point?! Those are really meant for children so they're kinda ruining the experience for everyone.

You don't want the cough that stuff can give you so good idea.

Right on! You'll be busy for a while. What are full Kotobukiya kits like? I blind purchased a Zoids kit in Japan but it was just the armor for a separate kit lmao.
 
Geez man no gum? What's the point?! Those are really meant for children so they're kinda ruining the experience for everyone.

You don't want the cough that stuff can give you so good idea.

Right on! You'll be busy for a while. What are full Kotobukiya kits like? I blind purchased a Zoids kit in Japan but it was just the armor for a separate kit lmao.
The only kotobukiya kits I've built are the classic megaman kits they came out with years ago. It was a quest to get those they were scalped to shit when they were available but once and a while a $30 listing popped up or I'd find them at a convention for $50. Only one I never managed to get was Zero and I didn't custom paint them as I intended, and they've got really visible knubs but that's ok. Never managed to get the X kits they came out with recently their default price seems to be the price scalpers were asking for the classics, at least online. The things are solid though. Heard reports of the shoulders exploding on them but I haven't had that issue thankfully.
Shit, I almost forgot I also got one of the the kotobukiya medabots and it had issues with the joints popping out of the arms. Also stepped and broke one of the faceplates I also got the kotobokiya SD megatron like 5 years ago or so and it's a solid little thing that's pre-painted silver and it cleverly has the cutting knubs on the insides of the parts rather than on the sides of them. I've heard horror stories about the bandi kits that were pre-painted chrome not doing that so I'm glad that kotobokiya thought about that.

The ones I haven't made yet are from a thing I had never seen when I decided to buy them. They were cheap and looked cool so i got one but then corona hit and the other kits I was eyeing suddenly got grabbed by scalpers and the price spiked to $90 or higher everywhere and hasn't gone down significantly since. Oddly the only ones not scalped are the ones I initially saw save for one that's listings are just GONE.

kits I'm curious about are the VOLKS model kits. I came across the company completely by accident while seeing some video game scalper listings a year or 2 ago and they were scalping static figure kits for some video games made by the company. I looked them up and found their site and they got some interesting looking shit. It's mainly like just static glue together kits of videogame and anime characters but then they have a few lines of cross compatible modular snap together model kits that are basically within the whole kotobukiya/bandai area of things. Only difference is most of them seem to be original character and mech designs not really based on anything save for the EVA 01 anniversary kit that came out last year or so which is cool looking albeit not fully painted. Issue is I can't find any hobby shops near me that carry the damn things and the shipping buying directly from the company site has like pricey ass shipping cause it's coming all the fucking way from california. I still need to build the videogame kit I got off them but yeah I'm still intimidated by the fact it's resin you need to sand in a specific way to get it not looking like shit.

God dmn it I keep rambling about model kits now I'm deep in the fucking HOLE now.
 
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Always found gundam to be autistic but thunderbolt was pretty good

Too bad I cant find a translation after chapter 63
 
The only kotobukiya kits I've built are the classic megaman kits they came out with years ago. It was a quest to get those they were scalped to shit when they were available but once and a while a $30 listing popped up or I'd find them at a convention for $50. Only one I never managed to get was Zero and I didn't custom paint them as I intended, and they've got really visible knubs but that's ok. Never managed to get the X kits they came out with recently their default price seems to be the price scalpers were asking for the classics, at least online. The things are solid though. Heard reports of the shoulders exploding on them but I haven't had that issue thankfully.
Shit, I almost forgot I also got one of the the kotobukiya medabots and it had issues with the joints popping out of the arms. Also stepped and broke one of the faceplates I also got the kotobokiya SD megatron like 5 years ago or so and it's a solid little thing that's pre-painted silver and it cleverly has the cutting knubs on the insides of the parts rather than on the sides of them. I've heard horror stories about the bandi kits that were pre-painted chrome not doing that so I'm glad that kotobokiya thought about that.

The ones I haven't made yet are from a thing I had never seen when I decided to buy them. They were cheap and looked cool so i got one but then corona hit and the other kits I was eyeing suddenly got grabbed by scalpers and the price spiked to $90 or higher everywhere and hasn't gone down significantly since. Oddly the only ones not scalped are the ones I initially saw save for one that's listings are just GONE.

kits I'm curious about are the VOLKS model kits. I came across the company completely by accident while seeing some video game scalper listings a year or 2 ago and they were scalping static figure kits for some video games made by the company. I looked them up and found their site and they got some interesting looking shit. It's mainly like just static glue together kits of videogame and anime characters but then they have a few lines of cross compatible modular snap together model kits that are basically within the whole kotobukiya/bandai area of things. Only difference is most of them seem to be original character and mech designs not really based on anything save for the EVA 01 anniversary kit that came out last year or so which is cool looking albeit not fully painted. Issue is I can't find any hobby shops near me that carry the damn things and the shipping buying directly from the company site has like pricey ass shipping cause it's coming all the fucking way from california. I still need to build the videogame kit I got off them but yeah I'm still intimidated by the fact it's resin you need to sand in a specific way to get it not looking like shit.

God dmn it I keep rambling about model kits now I'm deep in the fucking HOLE now.
These things are awesome. Things have to get better so more people can enjoy them. I may buy some kits the other companies offer when I get around to buying again. Thank you for that information, bud.
 
Happy spooky month everyone! I somehow crawled away from the wally mines to get another model kit. This time, it is a kitbash/custom colored model of the Wave 1/144 Cyber Troopers Virtual On Temjin. For those that don't know, Virtual On is a mech fighting game released on the Arcades, then Saturn, noted for its control scheme of using 2 joysticks to pilot the mech. This model is based off its Saturn/Arcade appearance.
20211005_135023.jpg
Now this kit was very easy to build and the painting was kinda interesting. I was going to use primer surfacer on the white parts and paint pearl white, it turned more into whitish silver, which looks impressive. The metallic purple looks cool and was more for making it look like a mash of red and blue. This kit was a while coming because I had the 2p version first, but it was missing a part that made the leg, specifically the shin. I got the 1p version recently so I mashed them together, sharing complete mold designs, it was a simple kitbash.
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For the build, it was something small and was very simple, the only problem is sourcing the kits because the kits are old (released in the late 90's) so just a simple word of caution, you may be paying a bit for the kits (there are other kits from this game by Wave, but I haven't found much about them due to age of kits) and like I said about the Volks kits being a bit glue happy, that leaves the Hasegawa kits, which do need adhesives to a degree, and the rarer Kotobukiya kits (they exist but they command a bit due to the limited release) so you are kinda stuffed when it comes to model choice for this game series.
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And yes it has a Saturn on its back, it was a licensed kit from Sega after all and the Saturn was a thing... I never had a Saturn, I had a PS1, but I like the aesthetic of blocky 3D graphics that existed in the mid to late 90's, reminds me of simpler times. Now, I got the Gundam Vidar Full Mechanics kit, which I'm building tomorrow because I have the day off, so look forward to that.

I hope your builds go smoothly and have a great day!
 
I've been away too long and now I only see one poster I recognize. These new names and avatars are confusing and scary.
Anyway, I've got the RG Hi Nu on pre-order at Big Bad Toy Store, which was kind enough to explain to me in detail why it seems their pre-orders are always on indefinite hiatus:
...bbtspo.png

That said, I might be able to snag myself a RG Evangelion Mk.6 for a decent enough price (aka a price that's not bloated by scarcity and the infamous Eva merch inflation). Was planning on getting the Kotobukiya Eva Unit 01 TV Version since the OG designs are top tier (because those are the ones used in the manga, which is apex Eva) but the thing has been in pre-order mode for going on two if not three months and according to BBTS they still haven't received word on when their shipment from the manufacturer will be arriving.
Was gonna get the Muv Luv Takemikazuchi (wrongly spelled TakemikaDuchi for some reason) but that pre-order got sold out and the kits won't be in until November through other sellers. Also trying to buy any currently on the market would run you like $90+ and even if it is the best Muv Luv kit they've produced that doesn't mean its pure JANK is worth nearly that much. Hopefully it'll come out on Amazon with a massive price dip like some Frame Arms do and the Bandai Barbatos did, otherwise it's not even worth it. You need to color the thing properly yourself anyway, so the end-price for the re-release would still be over $70 for the extra paint and top coat.

Might as well get an Eva instead. Gonna see if I can repaint and modify it to me my own style since Rebuilds is crap but the Mark. 06 is a killer design.

ALSO I found out what was common sense to most other people: Gundam Central, the place where you can buy Daban and Gundam knock-off kits for dirt cheap, supports the Chinese Communist Party. Apparently there's no business that ships to USA from China that isn't in some way tethered through the CCP. So I'm just gonna keep the Daban ZZ Gundam ver. Ka I got before I learned its plastic was formed from Uyghur flesh and leave it at that.
No idea what USA Gundam Store's deal is, though, since they're also selling Chinese made stuff you could find on sites like Gundam Central. Kinda makes the "USA" part a little...funny.
 
So, I bought Neko Busou a few days ago out of curiosity. Actually, I always wanted to get at least one of the bigger set since quite a while. But somehow it became scarce in my country, and just recently, some local hobby shops began to restock them.

I picked the Tenkomori, which consisted of lizard, mouse, crow, and snail mech that can combine into a tricycle. Also, I don't know why but it somehow attracted my cat.
IMG_20211005_191238.jpg

IMG_20211009_173257.jpg

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The cat figure itself is pretty good. It's detailed, not hollow inside, and a bit heavy for it's size. And it's really really cute.
IMG_20211009_173340.jpg

IMG_20211005_192147.jpg


It can also put a helmet on. Because, being a cat furriendly mech, it should always ensure the rider's safety.
IMG_20211009_173427.jpg


But that doesn't mean it can't do some EXZTREME maneuver like this:
IMG_20211009_173543.jpg


I painted some of the parts, mainly the wheels, so it doesn't come out as a dull, all brown colored cat bike.

I really enjoyed my time building and playing with it. The parts are quite sturdy, and the joints are very tight (maybe even a bit too tight). You can play around with the parts and build other things instead of following the manual. I recommend to get this if you have spare cash and time. Especially if you like cats.
 
The cat helmet had me rolling. Love it. I'm a sucker for pretty much any Neko + something kits.

I'm kicking myself for missing out on a resin kit that came out awhile back to mod a Maschinen Krieger SAFS unit with a cat pilot. Now that I've gotten more confident with resin kit add-ons I'll definitely get the cat pilot kit if I ever see it.

Turn one of these (not my pic)
Capture2.JPG



Into one of these
Capture.JPG
 
On the sequel they have dreamcasts, so damn cool.
Yep, the Volks Kits have the Dreamcast on them, I just never cared to get an image of it due to my frustrations with the build.
I've been away too long and now I only see one poster I recognize. These new names and avatars are confusing and scary.
Anyway, I've got the RG Hi Nu on pre-order at Big Bad Toy Store, which was kind enough to explain to me in detail why it seems their pre-orders are always on indefinite hiatus:
View attachment 2609209
That said, I might be able to snag myself a RG Evangelion Mk.6 for a decent enough price (aka a price that's not bloated by scarcity and the infamous Eva merch inflation). Was planning on getting the Kotobukiya Eva Unit 01 TV Version since the OG designs are top tier (because those are the ones used in the manga, which is apex Eva) but the thing has been in pre-order mode for going on two if not three months and according to BBTS they still haven't received word on when their shipment from the manufacturer will be arriving.
Was gonna get the Muv Luv Takemikazuchi (wrongly spelled TakemikaDuchi for some reason) but that pre-order got sold out and the kits won't be in until November through other sellers. Also trying to buy any currently on the market would run you like $90+ and even if it is the best Muv Luv kit they've produced that doesn't mean its pure JANK is worth nearly that much. Hopefully it'll come out on Amazon with a massive price dip like some Frame Arms do and the Bandai Barbatos did, otherwise it's not even worth it. You need to color the thing properly yourself anyway, so the end-price for the re-release would still be over $70 for the extra paint and top coat.

Might as well get an Eva instead. Gonna see if I can repaint and modify it to me my own style since Rebuilds is crap but the Mark. 06 is a killer design.

ALSO I found out what was common sense to most other people: Gundam Central, the place where you can buy Daban and Gundam knock-off kits for dirt cheap, supports the Chinese Communist Party. Apparently there's no business that ships to USA from China that isn't in some way tethered through the CCP. So I'm just gonna keep the Daban ZZ Gundam ver. Ka I got before I learned its plastic was formed from Uyghur flesh and leave it at that.
No idea what USA Gundam Store's deal is, though, since they're also selling Chinese made stuff you could find on sites like Gundam Central. Kinda makes the "USA" part a little...funny.
I'd like to get the hi nu, but I'm looking at other kits right now (considered the eva mk6, just kinda been falling flat on getting kits, work and all...) and regarding the China issue, you're gonna notice that the CCP has a lot of influence in all business ventures within its grasp, but that's more towards the authoritative side of things and sadly thats not gonna change until the government is reformed. Also its good to see ya chief! I know the new names are scary but we all crowd around robots and other kits so we're in friendly company :)
So, I bought Neko Busou a few days ago out of curiosity. Actually, I always wanted to get at least one of the bigger set since quite a while. But somehow it became scarce in my country, and just recently, some local hobby shops began to restock them.

I picked the Tenkomori, which consisted of lizard, mouse, crow, and snail mech that can combine into a tricycle. Also, I don't know why but it somehow attracted my cat.
View attachment 2609983
View attachment 2610006
View attachment 2610025

The cat figure itself is pretty good. It's detailed, not hollow inside, and a bit heavy for it's size. And it's really really cute.
View attachment 2610007
View attachment 2609989

It can also put a helmet on. Because, being a cat furriendly mech, it should always ensure the rider's safety.
View attachment 2610019

But that doesn't mean it can't do some EXZTREME maneuver like this:
View attachment 2610041

I painted some of the parts, mainly the wheels, so it doesn't come out as a dull, all brown colored cat bike.

I really enjoyed my time building and playing with it. The parts are quite sturdy, and the joints are very tight (maybe even a bit too tight). You can play around with the parts and build other things instead of following the manual. I recommend to get this if you have spare cash and time. Especially if you like cats.
Oh goodness, its adorable! The model kit is nice but your cat looks very happy! I may look into this because even though I may not have a lot of time, it looks cute
The cat helmet had me rolling. Love it. I'm a sucker for pretty much any Neko + something kits.

I'm kicking myself for missing out on a resin kit that came out awhile back to mod a Maschinen Krieger SAFS unit with a cat pilot. Now that I've gotten more confident with resin kit add-ons I'll definitely get the cat pilot kit if I ever see it.

Turn one of these (not my pic)
View attachment 2610126


Into one of these
View attachment 2610115
I'd like to see that. I'm not confident with resin kits especially bootlegged kits.

Oh I finished building the Gundam Vidar. I wanted to paint it but I couldn't decide how to go about it and plus I just wanted to veg out (working at Walmart is not fun, thankfully I barely deal with customers now, but its difficult due to remodeling my store so shit is moved around... annoying). Anyway, the 1/100 full mechanics scale is pretty awesome.
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I wanted to paint it in purple and white, because he came with 2 pistols and I played the hell outta Gungrave (the old PS2 game and its sequel, Overdose) and wanted to do it up like the main character, Grave. Sadly, I just didn't have the oomph to do it. But he is very posable and big.
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I got him to do the crossed arms pistols pose, I am happy. The build was pretty smooth, only a few stickers were needed and it was quick, took a few hours but it was my day off, so no rush.
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He comes with swords (6 of them, and you can see one in a disembodied hand on the table), and a rifle as well. The swords actually fit into the sheaths at the side and can be removed from the sheaths as well. My only gripe can be that the feet are a little weird at times, the feet have extra posability (I haven't seen iron blooded orphans so I don't know if that is a thing about the Vidar).
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Overall, I'd say if you can find him for a good price, grab him. I paid 60 for him but I don't know what a good price for this kit is.

I hope your builds go smoothly and you have a great day!
 
I found another Gframe kit of both the Zaku II with black tubes and the EFSF Zaku tonight. That puts me up to 5 of these fucking things not counting the 0083 space booster equipped gundam. With that it'd be 6. Still gotta do the hand painting thing on the normal Zakus. I'm tempted to try and make the second EFSF zaku a bit more accurate to it's actual onscreen appearance, but lack the supplies for that. I can however probably work out a way to do the red markings some of the EFSF zakus had on them in that miniseries. Strangely this brings me to an even set of 3 protagonist mechs and 3 antagonist mechs at this scale, even though nearly all of them are fucking Zakus. Can't find a place near me that sells any kind of primer so I'm probably eventually just gonna give and paint onto the fucking thing without a basecoat of some other brushable paint that helps the other paint stick better.

EDIT: FUCK I REALIZED I NEVER WENT PLUMBING INTO THE DEPTHS TO FIND THE OLD CHAR ZAKU I GOT OFF SOMEONE LMAO.
Soon. Not now, but soon. for real.
 
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Surprised to find two IBO HG kits at my local thrift shop, one was the HG Ryusei Go and the other was Barbatos 6th form. I poked around both kits to see if they were all there and while the 6th form was still in plastic it looks like whoever had the Ryusei was planning on painting it as it's already somewhat taken apart. Chest area was already 90% built and pretty nicely painted a dark shade of blue, still unsure if all the parts are there but I'm hoping for the best. Whenever I get around to it I might finish painting it keeping to the blue scheme or at least incorporating it as a little salute to whoever was attempting it before and had to give up (for whatever reason). Got them for less than 5 bucks each so even if the Ryusei isn't complete I can probably make something with it by using some older kits I'm not really caring for as scrap parts.

Also, while cleaning up my shelfs my MG grandpa gundam took a tumble, but luckily I managed to kind of slap it into some cushions before it hit my wood floor so only thing that seems to have 'broke' is the chest hatch (which was already broken from a previous tumble) so I just have to glue it back again with some cement. Just adding to the list of battle damage he has since he already is missing a v-fin from some unknown fall, adds to his charm I think.
 
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