MrMinto

2/2

That said, the effect under UV light is fricken AWESOME! I definitely need to get some sort of stand or attachment for it so I can free up a hand for a spot light.

That said, feeling a bit burnt out, with my current backlog of 4 filled with ambitious builds.

So next up is a simple Moon Gundam

1/2

It's finally done.

While I normally find the decaling process to be relaxing, some of the pink UV decals were both very thin (this fragile), but also nearly invisible to my colour-blind eyes.

I also had a lot of waiting for some chrome paint to dry after top coating.

#gunpla
#gundam

Some clean up, decals, and top coat left to do, but the Vidar is as fantastic as people have said.

Still, looking forward to a simple HG kit next to recharge the batteries.

#gunpla
#gundam

3/3

Lastly, the pics in the same order as above. Snapseed is doing a lot of heavy lifting, and the end result isn't too different.

Ultimately I'll go with the new set up as I'm sure more advantages will reveal themselves as I take pictures at more varied angles.

More Vidar pics soon.

2/3

The new set up, using 2x 5⅜ wooden dowels, 5⅜ copper t-connector, parts of a dollar store tripod, and black spandex.

Resulting pics. Note the darker background and continuous gradient.

So far all pics haven't had amy post processing.

1/3

Spent some time last week devising a t-frame for taking Gunpla pics.

First pic the set up I've been using for a few months. It's dollar store foam core and bristol board.

Note the right side of each pic and clear line where the back and bottom panels meet.

#gunpla
#gundam

The Origins GC has better waist articulation, as all the Origins kits do, but I was surprised at how thiccer the Origins GC is compared to the HGUC.

He chonky!

Both were fun in their simplicity!

A Tale of Two Gun Cannons*

*Or how I bought a KO Origins Gun Cannon after forgetting I had an HGUC Gun Cannon in my backlog.

When I realized, I knew I had to build them back to back. I was pretty sloppy on the clean up for the HGUC (red), but eh, it's fine for the shelf.

1/2

#gunpla
#gundam

Did the box art trading card thing.

41 "boxes" in 2¼ sheets (back to back cards), and while not a complete inventory of my kits, it's a nice reminder of my journey through the hobby.

#gunpla
#gundam
#artsandcrafts

Thank you!

It has almost completely replaced The Division 2 as my current perma-game.

It's pretty neat! The original color palette is white blue green, which is also pretty striking. But this color palette feels less jarring to me.

And pink's an awesome color anyway.

The funnest part about this kit is the ingenious way they handle a running pose. That white bit is actually a y-shaped connector that replaces her ankle joint, and can be positioned in front of behind her foot depending on the pose. That said, I'll be keeping Teio in her most confident Season 2 episode 1 pose, with her eyes on the Triple Crown prize.

4/4

I absolutely adore this Tokai Teio kit, though I probably won't pick up any other 30MS kits unless they make an Oguri Cap.

This was a truly fun couple of weeks, but now it's back to some old school designs before I tackle the birthday MG Vidar I got for my birthday back in April.

I am tickled at just how faith and vibrant this representation of Teio is. While you can definitely see the mecha-musume influences, I love how articulate this kit is. I decided to paint the trim pieces in gold, reasoning that her actual racing outfit would likely have such accents (albeit as gold fabric). Not much to complain about here, but I do wish they'd included some extra joint parts, as I lost at least one half into the void of my room. Also, I wish her skirt was not some sort of laminated paper, and posing her in her Teio step introduced a crease where the color flaked off.

3/4

Then Umamusume happened. While I stumbled through training up Oguri, listening to Tazuna's poisoned cup of advice, I decided to abandon a straight build of the Nobel Gundam for a Mihono Bourbon-inspired custom (I started playing the game during her banner).

This build was... problematic. The box interestingly has a fan art depiction of Shia Kijima, rather than the Qant itself. This had a litany of problems you come to expect from KO kits: bad fitment, pegs that needed cutting, sanding, or removing to get halves to fit flush, too loose or too tight polycaps. Add go that that 00 kits are generally a pain in the ass to top coat because of the clear effect parts they use, I was glad to have finished this kit. Did some color separation with the pink Sharpie Creative marker, and decaled with some leftover RG 00 Raiser decals I had.

2/4

A while ago I missed the boat on a reprint of the Nobel Gundam. So when I saw a KO, I pulled the trigger on it and the KO Shia Qant recolor.

Tough-looking war machines are fun, but variety is the spice of life, so some fem-coded MSes provided a much-needed break from beam rifles and missiles.

It was actually a reply to a post on Reddit that I aped in this concoction. Weirdly fits.

1/4

Bear with me. Gonna use this post to set up the tags, with explanations in the replies.

Builds are chronological. First pic in each reply will have a detailed impression of the build.

#gunpla
#plamo
#gundam
#gundambuildfighters
#umamusumeprettyderby
#umamusume
#tokaiteio
#30minutessisters

4/4

And up on display. Also planned, Semi-Gloss -> Gloss -> Matt.

3/4

And fighter mode, where the decals truly shine. I had to really think hard about whether I wanted to stick to my original vision, or keep it in fighter mode because damn that's sexy.

2/4

Gerwalk mode, and the form I'll be leaving it in for my display. Weirdly, the official decals don't have anything for the arms and legs, which leads me to surmise that the intended form for display is fighter mode.

Also, Bandai decals are as bad as they say. Hard to use, tbh.

1/4

VF-22S Sturmvogel Milia-use.

The other decaling project last week, and a chance to try out some Tamiya X35 Semi Gloss that I've had for a while but never used. Perhaps unsurprisingly, it looks the most like plastic, especially with the bright red color way.

#plamo
#macross
#macross7

2/2

Some more static poses.

1/2

Bootleg Varguil FINALLY done!

First my decals were stolen from my front door. (Along with some new paints)

Next I ordered the wrong set. (Moon Gundam)

Then I broke a C-clip which I needed to repair.

But after all the setbacks, this glorious kit is finished.

VF-22S tomorrow

#gunpla
#gundam

Thanks! I've got some beauty shots of the Varguil I'll post tonight, and of Miria's Valk tomorrow.

For sure. Honestly, give me a polycap or simple peg any day of the week.

Well, my plan to top both my current kits got derailed by a broken c-clip. Engineering a solution was fun though.

#gundam
#gunpla

I didn't mean to spend a large chunk of the afternoon decaling my bootleg Varguil, nor spend my evening decaling my VF-22S, but that's what ended up happening.

Really, I needed to turn my brain off tonight and just get into a flow state after a hectic week.

#gunpla
#gundam
#plamo
#macross

Thanks! Still WIP, but I'll hopefully get it finished this weekend.

WIP VF22S Sturmvogel Milia-use

Such a nice kit to work on, with great parts/color separation, though I do wish Bandai had splurged on a fourth runner color, as the cockpit cowling and gunpod needed repainting.

Hopefully finishing this weekend.

#plamo
#macross
#macross7

2/2

A few more pics, and a bonus Mihono Bourbon. I didn't end up liking the gloss coat I originally did, so I sprayed a layer of matt to knock down the shine.

Looks a lot better IMO.

#umamusume
#mechamusume
#nobelgundam

1/2

GM Sniper

A quick and easy weekend build to grow my collection of grunt-type MSes.

The construction of this era of kits is so nostalgic to me, and pretty much defined the kind of kits I made when I was living in Japan.

Quick reliable build with reliable results.

#gunpla
#gundam
#gmsniper