Arche's Boxart :
http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h7...Z/bqtjEDvS.jpg

Sorry mate, but you got beaten to the punch a few pages ago.
Tuff boxart anyway.

if only Bandai willing to release this baby :(

how you do the oragami stars I love those got any websites?

The reason is I feel conventions have gotten slack on doing things like Modeling. I am tired of seeing Ball Jointed dolls when here are hundreds of gundam modelers in my area. I want to see cool diorama's and quality painting things like that. And hopefully there will be other people inspired. I already have a master modeler who runs a shop in Miami on board for a panel or two. And I have the space. I just need judges and what not. I need to find people interested that will enter their gundams into contest. I can find thousands of cosplayers but gundam modelers are harder to find.

is there any official word on Reborn yet?

HGUC Messala being released this August:
http://img207.imageshack.us/img207/1...ucmessa.th.jpg

It's all good and well to try attract gundam modellers to come along to the conventions. But since the majority are usually non modelling related anime section have you ever thought about trying to tailor you're section to appeal more to the general public. Competitions are always good way to start when enough people participate as you have pointed out. Also you can maybe discuss with the modeller you invited to hold a basic intro/tutorial session to get people into it. Some people are turned off taking gunplay as hobby and just pass by instead because they think it's too complicated. So intro/tutorial session be helpful to explain the in's and out's. I think most important aspect is really advertisement. Maybe see if you can get a sponsor and throw in freebies crowds are suckers for freebies and in turn arouses more interest in that general section.

Design online ads or banners for the gundam competition and get it posted everywhere. Have leaflets printed out and leave it in shops in person. That might help get the word out.

Doesn't matter if they're just cosplayers or gunplay modellers. If they know about it that's good. If not explain what's so good about it to arouse their interest. Think yourself as a sales person and gunplay as the object of sale.

Thanks a bunch for the info Jaycee. Will post progress once its done.. Doing only a 1/144 scale Civilian Astray for now to sharpen my skills since my last Gundam i did was nearly 6 years ago. Then its time for the MG's

Yeah, it doesn't come with one.

Also, Sinanju was released last December, so I doubt a special version will be coming out any time soon.

http://img6.imageshack.us/img6/7223/1239935756802.jpg

HGUC Messala for August. At that supposed pricing, one does wonder about the scale though. As it was about twice the size of Mark-II from the anime.

i just have another question in regards to spraypaints, i just bought the flat clear tamiya spray today (ts-80) and on the can it says that i shouldn't spray this on decals or stickers, however most people on this forum said that this was ok, so i jus want to clarify this...

also with the tamiya metallic silver spray (ts-83) which i also received today, on the can it says its best to undercoat the part first with a black spray then spray it with the silver as then the finish will be smooth. jus wondering though as i dont have a black spray paint, is it ok if i apply another colour onto the part being parted or is it fine just to spray the metallic silver directly onto it?

Don't know about everyone else's views on this. But I already mentioned this before a few pages back that Tamiya clear spray (TS-80) can eat into decals. This is because it's a lacquer spray and not water soluble. It's not guaranteed it will eat into it, but there's a coherent risk. Especially when sprayed heavily or too close

As for metallic spray. You can do it without anything else. Although I wouldn't recommend just spraying it on it's own. Even if you don't have black paint you should use a primer to get best results out of the silver. Also say if the base colour of the kit is maybe bright red. There is a Chance the colour can show up underneath the silver.

Looks fake -- April foolish.
The cost is far too low considering the size this would have to be (at HGUC) and the consumption tax calculation is incorrect. At 5% plus 2,400yen the total would come to over 2,520yen.

thanks a lot for your advice jaycee (you've helped a lot of us modelling n00bs ><), in regards to metallic silver paint, would it be ok for me hand brush some black enamel paint instead of using the black spray? would the effect be similar or would u still recommend me to undercoat it with a black spray?

Not a problem. We all have to start somewhere. I'm only just here to relay what I know from advice given to me or self learnt lessons from past mistakes. Anyhow Hand painting can also be a viable option. But make sure layer is not thick. Nice smooth thin layer should do the trick. If possible get a piece of plastic you might not need and practise on it if need be until you get the right results. If it goes wrong use paint thinner and strip it down and sand till smooth and prime or undercoat again.

Will be looking forward to see the results. :)

On a different note. Hopefully I can get my lazy ass working and finally finish my MG Unicorn and put up some photos this weekend. (Well I did finish it but wasn't satisfied so redone a little bit here and there. I'm a bit anal with these things :))

i saved a HG blitz from the trashcan, my neighbors (spoiled) grandson was visiting and tried to make the set alone for his first time. it went wrong and wanted to throw it away. i was helpin them an saw what he had done to the kit, i asked him for the set and now i am trying to save it. some joints were damaged, sticker were almost gone, and horrible attempt to paint it. i already tried to remove the paint and scratches using sandpapers. il post some pics later, help is really welcome.

Why don't you google up some plastic friendly paint strippers, then re-prime it and re-paint it again? Saves sanding down forever and with bonus of looking even better than it was fresh out of the box if painted properly

Late reply but in case the other dude didn't get back to you and you haven't found any yet

http://www.foldastar.com/ - video tutorial
http://www.dltk-kids.com/world/japan/morigami_star.htm - picture tutorial

It's really a doddle to do when you get used to it. But takes forever to fill a jar of them

its nice to see people on this site who actually can help out a bit, you seem to have a lot of really good advice there. How long have you been building gunpla for? And you should post some pics of what you got done thus far, id like to see your collection.

Well the more the merrier eh? :) Anyhow I first started gunplayat a very young age, I think about 7-8 but grew out of it by early teens. But back then they were all rubbish and I never took the care and effort into doing it properly. Only cared that it was a mech and it looked cool.

I only picked it back up again last year and started to take it more seriously from there on picking up new skills on the way.

I posted 2-3 sample pics of my more plain simple clean build on page 596. Don't think the mods would quite like me to keep on spamming the same pics. But I might repost some new pics when I fixed up the thrusters for the MG unicorn :D

I remember those, they look really good. I kinda did the same thing with gunpla started in the mid 90's then stopped in the early 2000's i just started a again a few months ago but am having a hard time getting into it. But i had to learn a lot of the things i know now from doing it myself, no internet help back then. So yeah its great to have people who are more then willing to give tips and help out those people new to the world of gunpla.

indeed, there are very nice ppl here, that's why I keep looking at this thread even if it isn't at its peak (when 00 was still airing).

So the HGUC Messala is a fake then?

Btw, what does it mean when you say "primer"? Please take into consideration that I'm not from the USA so I'm not familiar with all the words :)

Last but not least, which spray top coat do you guys recommend that doesn't eat decals and is available at HLJ ?

What about metallic spray paints?

Yeah have to agree. Internet helps out big time for info. Remembering back thinking i new everything about putting one together now i look at the ones i did and they turned out ok but i could of done better. Now i got back into it since i have seen the Master grades and I'm hooked. So now I'm doing them the right way with putty, primer, sanding airbrushing. All in all this is probably the most i have spend on a hobby that i like doing. All because of the internet. With the information with people on this forum being nice enough to share their idea's i can't ask for anything more. It opened way more idea's that i can use and maybe share with others when i know a few tips and tricks. Thanks a bunch.

http://img127.imageshack.us/img127/5...9862430678.jpg

Special Release of Gundam Unicorn Vol.8 comes pack with a Bazooka for your MG Sinanju. No word regarding the same package will be made avaliable for the Chinese translation.

well, bought my first ever gundam model today at hobbytown USA. i live in nebraska, so there isn't any like anime store or any sort, went there they only had 00 in 1/144 model. i wanted exia in 1/100 but this will do here is a picture that i took.

00, good choice.

is there a release date for this? Theres a japanese book store 15 mins away from where i live and i might just go check it out.

I heard it was preorder only? (the bazooka)

sigh..., i wish they would make a model kit of Exia's prototype design the "GN-001 Pawn Gundam",:heh:

seriously, that thing looks freaking badass!!, the designs!, the designs!, the GN cables are nearly everywhere on its body!, the awsome GN cables running through-out its body!!.....

Pawn Gundam & its GN cables!!! arghhh!!!......:heh:

man, i wish Bandai aproves Pawn Gundam.......

I finished my MG Gelgoog 2.0 today, i put on a few decals and painted most of the kit except the pink (light red, as Char would call it) I had a hard time finding the right tone of red for the pink area so i just left it un painted and i added a little grey to some areas i thought looked a bit plain like the chest and the exhaust vents around the mid section. I also cut out the fingers so each one will move what ever way its likes. Im pretty happy with the quality of this kit, it was my first Gelgoog MG and i think the 2.0 is just awesome, but i was a lot happier with the Zaku 2.0 I think i did a far better job on it. Time for pics:D Sorry for the bad quality of the pics i only have my iphone camera so it dont work to well indoors.

???which one is pawn gundam? isnt the exia prototypes jus the 0 gundam and the astraea?

He meant the concept art for the Exia. When the anime was still in the planning stages, the Gundams were named after Chess pieces--and Exia was known as the Pawn Gundam. The concept art for the Exia gave it a much more rounded out design, more curves and less angles. This concept art is what he wants released.

Said image of the prototype concept Exia:

http://img23.imageshack.us/img23/8642/1237432316909.jpg

That'd be hell to realize as a model with all those cords. Not impossible, but very difficult :heh:

I'm not from USA either :p. Anyhow "primer" ensures paint adheres better to the surface you're applying to. It also increases paint durability. Also it's used as a way to check for any modelling errors such as gaps left out from filling or uneven surface areas.

But if you're not confident yet with re-painting you're models you can skip the primer bit and just finish it with topcoat.

As for which topcoat. Gunze Mr Topcoat from HLJ most user friendly for paint and decals (blue can with yellow writing).

What do you mean what about metallic spray paints? What kind of question are you asking? Not very clear on it. If you're after recommended, it all boils down to personal prefernce as there's so many brands, but I personally stick to Tamiya products.

Hope that helps.

Gelgoog looking good there. Although quality if pic really doesn't do it justice at all although it can't be helped with iphone. Don't you have any sort of digital camera you can use?.

I see, thanks for all the tips once again, Jaycee. Where are you from, by the way?


The pawn exia looks good, it really isn't that different from the finished product, if 00 was succesful enough, it isn't impossible to think about an eventual MG special ver with all the cables (after all, the light-violet stickers on the legs of the 1/144 EXIA seems like GN cables for me).

I really liked that Gelgoog 2.0. Good job, vektar.

I picked up 1/144 kits mostly when I was around your age too. I eventually dumped them all back into their boxes when they got too dirty. (the white plastics on some had actually turn yellowish.)

Fast forward to the start of 00 second season. Hung around this thread a tab too much and saw for myself how much model kits had improved so I got myself a GNX-III and it just snowballed from then out. :p

Currently working on Sinaju..13th model since my revival. :uhoh:

Just to be safe I did order one through the local Kinokuniya shop. I'll probably post around once I get my copy of the special volume and see if it can be bought straight off the shelves.

I always like how you managed to put your own touch onto the model without being tacky or weird. :p

To be honest, that's quite the opposite of what I'd like to see in an Exia model.


(One of the reasons I want the R2 is because it has no external cables.)

I personally like the external cables, so I'd like that model kit to be made.

Honestly i dont like them my self, before i decided to wait for the MG exia i was planing on not putting on the cables if i had bought the kit.