Real Grade 1/144 - MS-06S Zaku II "Char Aznable Custom" - WiP - Decaled

Almost completed, decaled and then a satin coat applied which has given it a real nice texture to weather onto.

When i decaled this i didn't quite follow the instructions, felt that too of the markings make the Zakus look a little "busy" and this is now the template for all future RG Zakus.

Ian

Real Grade 1/144 - RX-178 Gundam Mk.II - TITANS - Completed

Latest RG finished and ready for action. This is my 3rd completed Real Grade and what was the the most straight forward and quickest to complete even though it felt like the most number of parts ive had modelled on a RG.



About the most articulated pose i went for, so as not to ruin the paint.

Changed the colour of the bazooka, original the barrel was the same colour as the gundam, dark blue but felt it look off so changed it to black .



Only mod done can be seen here, rear of the wrists there was a panel line thathas  been eliminated. Like all the fibre cables you can see from the rear, might paint them when i do the AEUG version.



However you pose this Mk,II, i get the feeling of strength.



Next up will be the AEUG Mk.II and Chars Zaku which im working on and then the awesome Zeta.
Ian

Real Grade 1/144 - RX-178 Gundam Mk.II - TITANS - On Parade

Completed Mk.II on parade in Green Noah.

Really like doing this sort of on parade photo as the first for a completed RG, done it for the last 2 and will make it routine now as the first photo of a finished RG. This is the fourth completed Real Grade ive done and defiantly not the last, got 2 on the go right know with alot more waiting to be model, mostly Zakus.

Was a great little build to model, alot of parts to make the 14cm high mecha but made easier by a simple paint scheme and a decals copying what appeared on screen, except for the addition of the cool TITAN's eagle on the shoulder and shield.

More completed shots coming soon.
Ian

Real Grade 1/144 - RX-178 Gundam Mk.II - AEUG - WiP 1 - Arm Mod

Same arm mod i did on the TITANS Mk.II, back of the arm is a ugly looking seam line that looks really out of place on an RG.

What needs to be done is to glue the 2 largest parts of the forearm together using the inner frame as a guide. Then later cut off the glued part by sawing down the panel line, sand and finish. Only mod you have to do to the kit and an easy one, now got to sand off all the stubs on the rest of the kit.

Ian

Real Grade 1/144 - MS-06S Zaku II "Char Aznable Custom" - WiP - Man Salmon

Its not pink its "Man Salmon"

Damn hard to get the colour match correct and still not feeling its perfect compared to the anime but having run low on white couldn't risk mixing up any new batch of pinkish paint. Think it will be fine and from the colours any gundam fan would know its the Red Comet.

Got this painted and ready to decal in quite good time, probable be completed by Christmas to then concentrate onto the Mk.II AEUG.

Ian

Next Real Grade - RX-178 GUNDAM Mk.II - AEUG -

Got the second Mk.II in then post yesterday after almost finishing the TITANS, up against the TITANS RX-178 ive built which was very simple i plan on adding alot more detail with a whole lot more decals just like it is on the box front.

Wanted to have both Mk.II finished before the Zeta was released but way behind, got lots of free time during Christmas to catch up.

Ian

[Kit Review] Revell 1/144 - F-16C Fighting Falcon -

The new Revell 1/144 F-16, an awesome new addition to the Revell 1/144 scale range and completing their Teen series jets after first the F-14s, F-18s and last years F-15. Taken quite some years after the DML Dragon kit 20 years ago to get a new 1/144 Viper and for some reason i knew that Revell would be the first to release a updated more accurate version.

Quite a few parts for somewhat of a smaller jet compared against other revell kits., things to notice is the amount of weapon's usually lacking or just enough on most Revell kit, the part of the fuselage for the cockpit is separate from the main body which i reckon would suggest a future 2 seater (but like the Refale, Typhoon and Strike Eagle yet to appear) and the multiple parts of engine nozzles, canards and wings to make initial production F-16A and the later F-16C. Canopy has the bubble effect.



Never seen a Revell cockpit with this amount of detail before along with the great panel lines.



Best injection plastic ejection seat ive ever seen! Amazing improvement over the earlier F-14, F-18 or even the recent Typhoon.



Close-up on the 2 of each, jet nozzles, canards and tail wings. Also GBU's which Revell not made before, always used DML ones before.



All those assess panels on the fuselage which the F-16 is lacks on alot of the previous Vipers all present and looking good. Really detail cockpit too, even has separate control panels.



Not over the moon on the decal choice and with this being the only option instead of the a extra set for usual grey/grey scheme lets the kit down a little but at least all the important marking are separate unlike the F-15 where the marking are Incorporated into the tiger patterns.

Still very sharp crisp decals designed by Daco, who produced a decal sheet with every F-104 Starfighter in the Luftwaffe and also have some Dutch F-16 decals available.



Only this one livery to choose from, a very bright Viper as per the box art. Not a fan of this schem, with Revell only gaving you this one option to model, Revell's F-14A and D, F-18, Refale, Typhoon, and Hawker Hunter all came with 2 option to model usually a high viz like this one and a normal low-viz combat version, damn shame.



Except for the decal option i reckon this kit is going to be beauty to built, looking forward to building mine and itching to start on the best F-16 released so far. Got to wonder what Revell will choose next?
Ian

[Kit Review] RetroWings - 1/144 Air intakes for Revell Harrier GR7

Had this little conversion kit in my stash for over a year waiting to be used on a build. This is one of RetroWings first conversion kit which over the last year has rapidly expanded.

Fits like a glove, very easy with no problem at all.

Cockpit is very bland on this at the moment, after seeing this close-up i will defiantly start from scratch to build up a more detailed one as it my tribute the the British Harrier.



Nice little conversion so that you can have the air intakes open just to add a little detail.
Ian

Real Grade 1/144 - MS-06S Zaku II "Char Aznable Custom" - WiP - Antenna + Spikes

Repainting Char's Zaku doing it this time changed a few little bits. The first thing i did was the thin and sharpen up the command antenna which makes the zaku head look alot sleeker and then sharpen the shoulder spikes. Already did the shoulder spikes the first time round but had ago at doing it again to improve what i did before.

Looks like that when you model the MS-06S these are the only 2 main things you need to do to improve the RG Zaku.

All ready to be painted again now.
Ian

Eduard Super44 1/144 - MiG-21MF "Fishbed" - WiP Painted + Decaled

Had this painted about 3 weeks ago but only got around to applying all 8 decals to the Fishbed today. Really amazing looking models so far, want to a do a little weathering but with the MiG powders but will practice on something old before starting on this.

The marking don't actually come with the eduard model MF but a A-models decals sheet i received a trade as i wanted to model the classic all metal Fishbed with the red stars.

Ian

Was going to weather but going to repaint.

Was going to attempt a U.C. Hardgraph style weathering on my newly completed after a year Char Zaku but now i no longer like the colour i painted it in.

Going to strip the paint off and repaint Char's Zaku again in the anime "Man Salmon" scheme.

Could have made it Johnny Ridden,s MS-06S if none of Chars specific decals had not be added.

Ian

Real Grade 1/144 - RX-178 Gundam Mk.II - TITANS - WiP 5 - Assembled + Decaled

First time ive assembled the Mk.II and im thinking it looking awesome, went together like a dream with all the parts fitting perfectly

The Black Gundam basically all done and waiting for a final matt finish, only a handful of decals added copying how it look in the first few episodes of Zeta Gundam with extra TITANS logo added just because that eagle looks cool.

As soon as i get this one matted up i will start work on the much more detailed RX-178 Kamille's AUEG Mk.II and another RG Zaku.

Ian

Real Grade 1/144 - RX-178 Gundam Mk.II - TITANS - WiP 4 - Inner Frame

Inner frame or movable skeleton ready for the all the parts to be assembled onto. Unlike the other RG ive built, you build the inner frame as a whole first then add all the the other parts on top. Most of the ABS parts have not been painted, which luckily is hidden by the painted parts.

Cool spherical cockpit which is nicely detailed and looks great but will never be seen again after the very first part of assemble. Not even sure what the little red ball is called after destruction of the suit, life pod?



Should get the entire Gundam assembled today.
Ian

Real Grade 1/144 - RX-178 Gundam Mk.II - TITANS - WiP 3 - Painted

Every part of the Mk.II painted yesterday, will now wait 2 days to make sure the gloss sets before doing the panel lines and applying the few decals i want to add.

Painting went smoothly, used Tamiya paints on the blue parts which sprayed perfectly with the airbrush and made airbrushing the majority of the parts quick and easy.

Reckon that i should be able to assemble the RG this weekend.

Ian

[Kit Review] - Revell 1/144 - BAe Harrier GR Mk.7 -

Been a year since the RAF Harrier was mothballed so thought its about time i modelled this legend of a aircraft.

Usual great quality from Revell on there affordable 1/144 kits, the GR.7 specific sprue is the small one at the bottom right.



Nice panel lines and bumbs.



2 decals options, both RAF. Surprised by the lack of aftermarket  decals for 1/144 RAF Harriers available, none that is.



First set of marking is for a Flight Commander RAF Harrier.



Quite like this scheme with the bomb tally below the cockpit.



Already built the US version of the Harrier so know what to expect and can improve on the previous build.
Ian

Real Grade 1/144 - RX-178 Gundam Mk.II - TITANS - WiP 2 - primed

Took me over a hour to get every individual part evenly primed on a kebab stick and ready to be painted on my free Sunday afternoon. That is if the Tamiya royal blue i ordered arrives in the next couple days.

So many parts to this RG, feels like alot more than the RX-78-2 and Zaku which i think is down to the inner frame the Mk.II sports.

Ian

Awesome model box art.

.

You don't see artwork like this on model packaging anymore, the old painting on Airfiix 1/72 kits use to convince me to part with my pocket money but now its all cg, meh

Ian

Real Grade 1/144 - RX-178 Gundam Mk.II - TITANS - WiP 1

First time on a Real Grade kit ive had to join and fill a seam line and this seems to be the mod that nearly all modeller who's painted this kit have done.This is done on the rear of the fore arm where 2 parts come together and leave a panel line that looks wrong and looks out of place on a RG kit.

What needs to be done is to glue the 2 pieces together then using the panel line as a guide cut off this section and sand to finish. Once done it makes it a little difficult to get all the parts assembled again but with a little easing fits perfectly and remove the nasty seem line. Once painted you only have one chance to assemble these parts again without ruining the paint work.

Plan on making this a fast build and got all the other parts sanded and ready to be primed so to be painted next weekend.
Ian

Next Real Grade - RX-178 GUNDAM Mk.II - TITANS -

My next gunpla is the first RG from Zeta Gundam, the original gundams successor the RX-178 Gundam Mk.II and in the cool dark colours of the TITANS. I plan on building both this "black gundam" and the AEUG version but got this one first because to me i reckon it will be the easier but plan on getting both done by the years out before staring the upcoming Zeta.

Only going for a handful of decals compared to what the kit can be marked up in, like in the anime im only going with the numbering and maybe the titans logo. Not too keen on all the little white warning decals on really dark gunpla, find it makes it look fake it such a thing can be send of mecha.

Ian

Revell 1/144 - Dassault / Dornier Alpha Jet - WiP 4 - Built, masked and ready to paint

This is the first bit of real modelling ive done since the thumb incident which is almost all good now. Luckily all this involved was masking off the canopy, which is just time consuming since most off this model was basically complete a month ago.

Next will be to prime this up and then find the correct paint colours to paint in the Luftwaffe livery and to find some RAF decals which will have to be burrowed from some other kits.

Ian

U.C. HARDGRAPH 1/144 - FF-X7 Core Fighter - WiP painted and decaled

Both of the real grade Core Fighters all painted and decaled somewhat between the markings on the 1/35 scale U.C. Hardgraph Core Fighter and the full size replica at Diver City.

The fighter on the left is Amuro's 102 or 002 same as the Gundam and the right is Sayla's 106 or 006 just like the Core Booster. Not sure which other number the pilot have but think Kai and Hayato are either 108 and 109 and maybe Sledger is 105, had no luck finding a list.

Whats left to do it attach the canopy's after giving them a smoke effect and get the landing gear painted, then maybe some ground crew when the new Gunpla Builder 1/144 personal set is released.

Real Grade 1/144 - MS-05 Zaku I - Completed

My 3rd Real Grade kit and the first of what i hope will be many future RG Zaku customs. Really happy with this custom, alot of work to accomplish a conversion backwards from the MS-06 to the MS-05 but feel it worth it with the results.

Decided to build this after seeing the custom MS-05 on the Bandai Hobby site which i got lead to from a postcard of the conversion with the RG MS-06F Zaku II. Really like the old zak custom and thought i could model it and improve on the result from the instructions, which i think i have, having spent a whole lot more time on mine compared to the easy conversion on the site.

Photo is meant to be copying the front of the box on all the Real Grade kits which really give it a sinister look, which i dig.



From the top for the front:
Head - All detail for the cables removed and the central guard for the mono-eye added from the HGUC kit.
Shoulder Guard - All spikes removed and covered over, took quite a few attempts to get perfectly round and smooth.
Left Shoulder - All parts for the shield attachment removed and the top covered to hide the internal skeleton.
Chest - Cockpit taken from the HGUC kit and made to fit in the space where the Zaku II cockpit was. Cut decals to be similar to the RG Zaku II detail but also to make them unique to the Zaku I.
Skirt - Extended the length of the front 2 smaller guards to copy the original line art.
Legs - All detail of any attachment for the Zaku II cables removed and made to look like the inside of the RG Zaku II legs.

From the top for the rear:
Head - some detail removed and a fin added to the rear.
Backpack- Top verniers and cables holes covered over
Rear of legs - Booster covered and a single panel line added down the centre.



All painted like the Zaku I in the TV series but with the soles of the feet a darker shade of blue just to add a little nod to the future Zaku II having black soles which i really liked the separation of colour there.
Decaled in a much more simpler way the the RG Zaku II, kept all the decals which i think are cool and really tried not to "busy up" the zak too much.

Knuckle Shield with the incredibly sharp new metal spikes and the RGed up Zaku I Bazooka from the HGUC kit.



Gadem's last manly attack against the "White Devil"



Last line of defence at Al Baoa Qu, think this is a 105mm Machine Gun using the ammo cartridge from the RG kit.



This could and is to be an addition to my new U.C. Hardgraph project which i think would fit perfectly. Really when i get around to finding some display bases i will make a little diorama up in a proper One Year War setting to show this off with.
Ian

Real Grade 1/144 - MS-05 Zaku I - On parade

Completed Real Grade MS-05 Zaku I on parade ready to sortie.

My third RG kit and this one a custom MS-05 Zaku converted from as RG MS-06F Zaku II using parts from the HGUC MS-05 Zaku I.

More photo soon, because of my thumb which seems to be healing fast i haven't been doing any modelling but taking photos is fine.
Ian

Thumbs up for modelling!

Thumbs up for modelling!, a photo by AntSizedMan on Flickr.

Luckily its not quite thumbs off, new scapel blade cuts through your skill like a hot knife through butter.

Ruddy disaster, won't be able to do any modelling anytime soon, had some damn difficulty trying to tie my shoe laces

Japan Matsuri 2012 @ Trafalgar Square, London

Japan Matsuri in the heart of London, what started off years ago as a small gathering for Japanese expats has evolved into quite festival for to experience a little Japanese culture.

This is the same festival that the K-On! girl's played at next to the London Eye, exactly like the movie! I was actually in Japan last year so missed it, great holiday!



TakoYaki, very tasty, was the biggest queue to get these, was worth the wait.



Shame i could'nt stay late to see all the stalls and lantern aglow.



Lolita galore.


Sound of the music reminded me of my time in Kyoto.



Lots of stalls for food, everything i eat was excellant and i eat alot.



Made use of the Matsuri being right in front of The National Gallery to pay a quick visit, ended up spending hours in there. Unfortunatly no photos aloud inside, lots of fantastic art. I got all excited about seeing so many of my favorites from Monet, Constable, Rembrant, Turner and of course massive crowds round the Van Goghs.



Was the best curry ive had for some time, going to the resturant that has serving this up soon.



Only part of the martial arts stage i got to see was these Japenese kids doing Kendo, i wound'nt mess with them after seeing this.



There a 4 pedestals Trafalgar Square at each corner and for over a hundred years one has been empty waiting to be occupied until recently, now very 6 months i think, a new statue gets to be displayed.


Very energetic Taiko drummer, had quite a selection of different groups throughout the day.



Had a great time and really made me miss Nihon, really want to go back again.
Ian