New Banner

Since bd changed his banner, I also felt a change is needed too (changed it last night actually). What do you all think?

FYI, I also updated the "Reviews" page as well.

That's all for this extremely short update post. XP

HG 1/144 Gaddess Review

The review is up over at my Wordpress blog.

I don't really have much to say about this one since I felt the kit was done pretty well. Anyways, has everyone heard about the ATI Radeon HD6XXX series slated for a November 2010 release? And, oh, it is almost the time of that year again where Independence Day is celebrated in Malaysia. Even so, I don't feel anything about it this year... which could be due to the puasa season overlapping it.

EDIT: Oh yeah...

Source HERE.

I Wish Setsuna Would Use This in the Movie

Switched the shoulder "verniers" with the GN Drives from the 007S/G and put on the weapons you see above. Whatever that can fit though. XD

After completing this kit, I totally love this alternate configuration of the Exia though the legs are a bit bulky and not so easy to move about. Well, more on that on a review post later.

~Rant~

Considering how the Exia R2 only lost an arm and a GN Sword in the last episode of Gundam 00, I don't get the reason why it isn't available in the movie from whatever we have seen so far. Besides that, the 00 Raiser is very beat up (arguable that it was fixed up as the 007S/G in the 00V Senki) yet it can refitted with GN Condensers that can do Trans-AM Burst. Well, maybe Exia was used to make the 00 Qan[T] since Celestial Being faced a financial crisis... or so the Gundam with a mass amount of weapons tells us otherwise (Zabanya).

~End Rant~

Enjoy the teaser post~

FYI, my break is over already so I'm back to school again. Not so busy just yet but considering how I don't really post that often even during the break, I don't think there will be a problem with my blog postings, not anytime soon anyways.

Wow, Totally Didn't Expect That

PG Strike Freedom?! Really didn't expect it and it is done under Katoki some more... Wait, does that mean it is going to be plastered with lots of decals later?! O.o

Ironically, it looks like something I've designed before. No joking! I do have to say this looks way better than my lame attempt of recreating the Tactical Arms. ^^;
Technically, I took the design of the Tactical Arms and changed the thrusters into those daggers/boomerangs you see now and made it separate-able just like the original TA (this one is solid).
However, this one is a little different from mine (besides looking way cooler), I can see that they added another dagger in-between as well. The sword can contract and expand too. Heh, too bad I didn't scan my own version onto the net before. Wonder if it can detach the main blade to create a huge beam saber (or can just form it without detaching)?

...I want it!

EDIT: Oh, found a scanned sketch of my design.

Well, I did design it within the 00 Qan[T] lineage after I saw the early designs even though it was based on just Astray and 00 when I first made it. XP

Okay, that's all for now. Until he next post... WHERE'S MY PG EXIA?! D:

Long Awaited Omake - AHEAD VS Aizu VS Astraea Type F (AAA)

Sorry this took a while for me to actually put up since some of you waited for it ever since that HG Astraea Type F review I did a few months back. It wasn't really easy for me to do so I did this pretty linearly with not so much poses for the painted HG Aizu Gundam. However, I hope you enjoy it... I can say I rushed a bit near the end with non-stop action though. XP

Read on!

Read more »

Filler Post: Darn I'm Busy

Been busy this week since I was making my passport, attending meetings and doing an event this Friday for the club/school. O.o That and school will start back next week so I'll try my best to do that long promised three way by this weekend since that'll be the only free time I'll have left. XP

Anyways, I recently got the HG Avalanche Exia Dash (obvious) but only managed to build the upper body, head and arms. Exia's old mold really needs lots of detailing here and there but the Avalanche parts are quite alright. Maybe I should've just use the stickers instead of going with the markers since I was kinda tired when doing it earlier this week (I really wanted to build it though). ^^;

For now, some filler content...

Gundam Avalanche Exia "Triple" Dash

Now with THREE GN Drives! XD
The connections are compatible so you can do this with no problems at all!

00 Raiser "Condenser Type"

Might as well, right? XD

Drawn on an A4 paper with an exam grade 2B pencil just now. This is the Voldus G.I.N. (General Inspection Navigator) Type 2 Custom. Refer to this previous post if you don't get it. I only thought of the full name recently. Not an expected name, eh? XP

Okay, that's all for now. I'll be busy until Friday so I can't even do that HG Gaddess post I thought I would do this week before the battle omake. But I'll try to squish that in by the end of this week. Fwah, I'm pretty tired now actually. ^^;

HG 1/144 1.5 Gundam (Black Ice Custom) Review - Part 2

This is a continuation of this post here.

Sorry that this post took a while to get up. I was a little preoccupied with a certain SCII for a bit the past few days. Played through the campaign but I kinda feel meh about the story. Roughly a good end I can say.

At any rate, there won't be as many shots this time around since a painted Gunpla is hard to move around without scratching it too much. That and the body is a bit hard for the camera to see properly. XP
I did have to touch up some sections, using marker, from time to time due to small scratches though - just the black parts. I can't really do anything for the other colored parts though. Ah well, but the metallic paint seem to be more scratch resistant than the normal paint.

Note: The ones with the white backdrop are newer since I felt a lot of the photos taken after a while were "too dark".

Read on.

Read more »

HG 1/144 1.5 Gundam (Black Ice Custom) Review - Part 1

Price: 1800 Yen

For the first part of this review, I'll focus on the building process as well as the mod done. I'll also give some notes for those who wants to do the mod and/or paint this kit.

This review is much different than usual since I modded and painted this kit so it isn't a OOB review unfortunately.

MS Brief
The 1 Gundam or Ai Gundam appeared in the Gundam 00P side-story. It was originally meant to be used for Celestial Being's interventions but a rebellion happened thanks to Besides Pain and it end up being wrecked. It later appeared in Gundam 00I utilizing a fake solar furnace instead. It was, luckily, taken care by Fon Spaak. The 1.5 Gundam or Aizu Gundam, an upgraded model, was recently shown through the model kit release as well as in Gundam 00P Special Edition. I might be wrong or not so accurate since I'm doing this based on memory.

MS Specs
CB-001.5 - 1.5 Gundam
Pilot: Besides Pain/Leif Recitativo*
Height: 23.3m
Weight: 68.9t
Armaments: GN Buster Rifle, GN Beam Saber (2), GN Shield, Alvaaron Cannon**, Binder Rifle**
*Leif Recitativo gets "possessed" by Besides Pain.
**The weapons of the wing binders. This is where the data of the Alvaaron came from anyways.

Why did I decided to mod it?
It started when I finished building the HG Reborns Gundam a while back. I was quite disappointed with the hips articulation since the kit has so much promise. It was okay to me at first but the ball joints start to sag horribly after a short period of time.
Then came the HG 1.5 Gundam or Aizu Gundam which I prefer to call it. Ever since the Ai Gundam was shown in 00P, I liked it, more so when it was considered as "Gundam Exia's Brother Unit". At that point of time, I had an un-built HG 00 Gundam body due to the double purchase of HG 007S/G. I didn't need it so it was a good opportunity for me. To be exact, I wanted to do it for the HG Gundam Exia but it was much harder to do and required more effort. For the Aizu, it was more straightforward and I can do it with what I already have in possession. Thus, with the semester break, I did it.
Took me a while since I needed to get some spray cans as I decided to paint it after modding to make it more "complete". I don't really like half-assed things. Since I'm doing quite a major mod so I better go all the way, right?

More as you read on.

Read more »

Momotoys Sales!

"Dear hobbies and fans,

Momotoys will be holding a stock clearances sales starting from 8th of August to 31st August 2010.

Discount up to 20% for all the Model Kits available in store,and 15% discount for all the PVC Figures, Chogokin, Action Figures, Trading Figures, Gashapon and etc.

Thank you for your attention and looking forward to your presence."
Source: http://soujishinogane.blogspot.com/2010/08/momotoys-sales.html

Like I stated at the end of my previous post, I decided to spend a little extra since a discount opportunity came up at Momotoys. Lots of choices in my mind but I went with the ones I feel that I really want at that moment. Sure, the Mega Sized RX78-2, HGUC ReZEL Commander Type and HGUC ZZ tempted me but I just didn't want them for some odd reason.

At any rate, I spent my cash on these two which I "sort-of" wanted for quite a while but pushed to the side due to other prioritized purchases.
There was only one box left for the Gaddess (my fav Ga- suit) while I just like the design of the Savior. There is a high probability that I'll do a custom color scheme for the Vent Savior but not in the immediate future as I've just finished my previous "big project". Hm, a light gray body with dark blue colors sounds nice. :3

At any rate, can't wait for the HG Exia Avalanche Dash and HG Qan[T] to come around. I really want to build the Qan[T] for some odd reason. >_>

"Black Ice/ブラックアイズ Complete!

Not bad for a second try, huh? Not as great as I would like but good enough for a novice like me. ^^;
If you're wondering why the backpack isn't on yet, that's because of a mistake I made with the backpack... due to the paint, it wasn't move-able so I had to thin out the area after forcing it off (the GN Drive slot area). Fixable so it isn't a big deal in the end.

I also decided to change the orientation of the waist unit so the rear skirts becomes the front skirts while the front skirts become the rear skirts. A better method of hiding the hips, ne?

Sorry about the dust in the photos, dust just accumulates like bunnies on my work desk. :/

I might not post the review that quick but expect it sometime next week. Huu... looks like I'm going to Spring tomorrow for a "visit". *Checks reserves.* <_<>_>

Bonus!

>D

Almost...

Phew, I'm almost done but don't think it will be done very soon. I've been sprayin' since yesterday and only done, hm, about 60% of the body.

Flat black isn't so easy to use though since if it comes out too thick (I don't have much control over the spray technique yet), it leads to a bit of bleeding. Luckily, it is at a less noticeable area. I tried to fix it up (strip and re-paint) but the bleeding still happened. ^^; I'll let you guys guess which part of the body it is later when the whole thing is done but overall, the paint is coming out pretty nice, especially the metallic violet blue. Hehe. Wished I could get metallic purple instead, would have looked oh so much evil.

The shield is practically done. Thought of doin' some masking to make the "inner frame" colors (underside of the shield, skirts, etc) but the cheap masking tape doesn't seem to work as well as I'd hoped so I'll just let it be simple for now. That or I might do some manual painting for those details if I feel like it after the sprayin' is all done.

Preview of the head. Not yet entirely done but I just assembled it to see how the black and silver trim came out. ^^ Yes, SILVER TRIMS. (Haven't done the gray areas yet and the blue areas are about half done.) Going with the blue eyes for this one since it fits better than purple due to the obvious colorings.

That's all folks. Don't expect a very clean paint job when I'm done though but IMHO, it looks alright... from the right distance. :P

Next Time...

...after some epoxy at the pelvis and paint. XP

Doing it rather slowly but my finger had to rest. :P

Anyways, have ya all seen the latest 00 Movie trailer? Or perhaps the song PV? With that said, I'm kinda hyped to see what is actually going on in those scenes. Some have speculated there are going to be aliens, perhaps even mechanical beings. Hm, interesting but we'll know the real deal when the movie comes around.

Also, looks like Setsuna will indeed use the 00 Raiser (Repair) in the movie with the GN Sword IV. Haha, another kit from Bandai will come soon. Marzz, are you gonna get it? XD
After seeing the trailer, the Zabanya and Harute really does stand out. Zabanya with its bits and Harute with its six eyes. o.o Raphael, without the "backpack unit", is spewing out Tau particles which gives an idea about its gimmick...

Okay, that's all for now. Anyone played the translated Tales of Innocence yet?