once again I used the glass file to get the nub marks off. 

that piece on the leg was partially annoying. I don’t understand why they couldn’t just include it on one of the leg halves….

Not a bad kit! A few loose parts but perfectly suitable. 

For the face I cut out some foil to put behind the visor. It does really make it pop I think!

Ready to fight some Gundams! Or are we? It is the Alliance Space forces color…

I went to comparing what I had previously used to paint the MKII. I determined that some colors would work while others wouldn’t. 

I tried using glue stick glue to attach the small parts onto the skewers rather than trying to figure something out with the clips. It actually worked really well! Was firm enough to paint with and easy enough to take off when done.

We primed everything first of course.  

it may be called “royal blue” but it’ll always be Titan’s blue to me!

This was the tricky part… my normal blue was far too dark to use. I had to lighten it up. When all was said and done I ended up using 3 parts white, 1 part blue, 1 part red, and equal parts (if not more) thinner (alcohol). 

It’s not perfect but I think it’s a pretty handsome blue that came out. 
I don’t think it’s too far off the mark…

I think the OZ space forces would be proud! 

What do you think?  
Up next is a pair of twins. I plan on going more unconventional with them. Stay tuned!

So far she’s been an interesting build. A little bit of Déjà vu to the Red Frame which is to be expected for this. It is certainly one of the shiniest kits I’ve ever dealt with, which makes sanding down the parts both more crucial and more painful to do, but these nub marks can be a devil to get out, especially for something so shiny. 

On the note of nub marks, I’ve added a new tool to my arsenal and I cannot recommend it enough. Especially if you do straight builds and don’t paint. The glass file is quite remarkable at greatly diminishing nub marks. Between my earlier technique with the Xacto knife and this I can sometimes even get the marks to nearly disappear. 

It might be hard to show with pictures but trust me there’s a difference.

I’m taking a more half measure approach in this build in the interest of saving time. Since I’m a little bit more familiar with the kit I’m only building half the limbs and only partially putting together the chest. This will help me identify any parts I might want to customize on the full build (Which I doubt I’ll do) while letting me save time from fully building the whole thing just to take it apart later. I am separating everything accordingly though so I when I paint I’ll have a good idea of what parts go where. I learned awhile ago that it’s good to paint limbs together (for example I want to paint the legs and all their parts in the same go around). 

I’m sad to say that I pulled a stupid stunt and unless the part miraculously reappears I may have thrown away the connecting joint for the entire mobile suit (who can blame me there are a TON of runners!).

While dismayed as I am, I can’t let circumstances dictate my limitations. I’ve already concocted a plan to salvage this particular project, and all it will take is a helping hand from a distant relative…

Stay tuned for more Astray business!  If things go as I hope the next part should be particularly exciting and new!

When I first watched Zeta, I was fresh of the high of watching the MSG compilation movies. I had started a journey to “watch” all the UC material since by that point in my life I had watched a lot of the AU series; but neglected the original shows. I erroneously went into Zeta Gundam with high hopes.

Prior to watching the consensus, I was told, was that Zeta was “one of the best Gundam shows out there”. Now that claim can be rather vague on its’ own. What is it that makes a Gundam show great? The Mecha? The fights? The character development? The story overall? It’s important to note that I had been spoiled to a degree with the animation exhibited in modern shows (at the time), a prime example being Gundam Seed. Gundam Seed has a good mixture of all elements that make it exciting, there were genuine moments in that show that “got” to me. Zeta by contrast is a completely different animal.

I can safely say that I went into Zeta hoping for high animation action with thoughtfully placed together story. But Zeta suffers from a few problems that even by modern standards can’t be overlooked. The plot can be a little whimsical at times, blink and you might miss a key point that won’t be highlighted again. When I first watched it, I didn’t understand a lot of what the characters were doing or why. Maybe its because the narration never repeated the key points before each episode consistently? Whose to say why it can be hard to follow? At times the show runs almost oblivious to itself which makes it that much harder to watch.

When I finally got to watch the compilation movies, I was actually able to piece the story together a lot better. I understood more the greater politics and motivations regarding each faction. I think it was the quicker pace of the movies which helped with this since something would happen and then be consequential in the same sitting.

On the topic of the movies, I understand that they are much different. But I think they do a fine job telling a story as it is. To keep it brief, I don’t think they hinder the series in any way. I’d argue that they help in bringing in impatient fans who want to see what all the old stuff is about without investing 50 episodes and that’s more than fine in my opinion. But for those who invest themselves in the 50 episodes there is a whole lot more one could derive from the series.

So was the third time the charm? For me I feel that it was. It dawned on me this third time around that Zeta is about subtle themes and changes. Maybe it’s because I knew not to expect the Zeta Gundam popping out of the sky killing 50 enemies like the freedom? No, while Zeta isn’t that type of dramatic its clever in the story it tells about Kamille.

Zeta does a great job telling the story of growing up from teenage adolescents into a young man. It highlights the tumultuous emotions one can feel at that age, and how one can feel helpless at times because of their youth. While Kamille is told to be a great pilot; that’s not the cause for his character to be motivated into action (I’m looking at you Kira). In a sense, its his emotional motivations that make him a much more believable pilot. He struggles against enemies and doesn’t always win. I would argue that its not until his final battles (against Haman, Yazan, and Scirocco) that you begin to see him actually get “scary” with his abilities.

Char on the other hand is also an interesting character to see in the series too. They could have easily decided on using Amuro from the very beginning but instead chose his rival. As the series progress you see him struggle with his identity. Prior his motivation was largely revenge. But in this new post war environment what is it exactly? You see him clearly opposed to tyranny in the form of the Titans while he himself refusing the easy temptation of declaring his legitimacy of being Zeon’s heir. There are two moments to me that clearly define his transformation in this show. The first being his speech at Dakar where he finally admits to being who he actually is, and in a way, begins to shift into that persona of having to take responsibility himself. The second is the stage scene with himself, Haman, and Scirocco. He clearly states how his hopes lay with the newer generation and the developing newtypes. This is an eerie foreshadowing as to how Kamille’s fate impacts him after the war.

Overall Zeta is not without its flaws. There are a few things I would clean up if I was given the opportunity (I for one, would have loved to see Jerrid keep a MKII throughout the entire show). The “monster of the week” vibe was a bit much IMO with the enemy suits. Despite any misgivings I do think it’s a fabulous show, easily worth the time invested in watching it. Just understand that it’s a show much more centered around emotions and how those can impact what a person does. This makes it a more “personal” experience for the viewer in my opinion. 

In short, my opinion of this series has changed. I can see how I was wrong in my earlier assessment of this show, and it easily has climbed the ladder of my personal rankings. I hope maybe I can convince some of you to watch (or rewatch) this show as well!

So it’s simple, what is your favorite Gundam and why? For the sake of this conversation let’s keep this to Gundams only! We can do mass produced and special units down the road. 

I’ll start first! 

My favorite is Exia! Even over the OO from that series, the exia has this appeal that never washed away as the series progressed. I like that it has an array of beam sabers and even physical blades. I really liked the sword/shield/rifle combination it has too. From a purely fan perspective I like that it could switch from these old school beam saber fights to using this butcher blade on its arm. I also appreciated that they made it super agile and tough carrying on even after getting heavily damaged. It simply strikes me as having this balance of being menacing, destructible, and timeless. I hope someday to make a seed conversion... for reasons!

how about you guys?!

I'm working on a list of stuff I can find here. In the mean time, it'll be good to see who would be interested and whether it'll be worth our while to get this going.

This was a wonderful birthday present from my wife! 
Here’s a picture of my set up and tools. 

To recap some of what I’ve done already I’ve complete the lower half of the unit so far. 

The great thing with these RG kits are the inner frame. At first glance I assumed more of the frame would be exposed on this particular unit, but I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the amount of armor on the limbs. Still while I don’t enjoy exposing the frame I like to at least prep the parts as best as I could. 

I’ve adopted the technique of cleaning up these nub marks with an Xacto knife, but not the way most might think. 

I’ll angle the blade and basically scrap away from the cutting end. 

while it doesn’t always remove the mark I find it has a pretty good ratio of success. Besides my goal is more or less to make the surface even since I’ll end up painting everything anyways. 

To really get it clean I’ll use some sand paper, or in this case a nail file. Typically I use two different grits, while the nail file is finer than some grades it still eats up the surface some. 

What I’ll do after the tougher stuff is follow up with a piece of wet sand paper (I feel like this is 1000 grit, but I forgot I’ve had it for so long). Wet sand paper is great because you can use it dry like this, and later (typically between paint coats) you can use it wet with water to make an even finer finish. Anyone whose put an RG together can attest to the frame plastic being a softer material than the rest of the pieces but the same technique works for the regular parts as well

After....

It’s worth noting that not every time I will sand a piece, sometimes it’ll clean up just fine with the blade. 

There’s not a whole lot of scribing and what not that I can do with this kit but I suspect I can make it shine once I get to painting it! Right now the plan is to assemble the kit together vanilla then take it apart for painting. 
Stay tuned for more developments as they come!

https://www.gundamkitscollection.com/2019/04/seiko-x-prospex-celebrates-gundam-40th.html

SEIKO x PROSPEX LX series [RX-78-2 Gundam]
Release Date: August 9, 2019
Price: 630,000 Yen (approx. $5,820 USD)
Limited to 300 pieces (worldwide)

SEIKO x PROSPEX Marinemaster Professional series Zaku II
Mobile Suit Gundam 40th Anniversary Char's Zaku II Limited Model (SBDX029) 
Release Date: April 12, 2019
Price: 400,000 Yen (approx. $3,580 USD)
Item is limited to 5000 pieces worldwide

SEIKO x PROSPEX Marinemaster Professional series Zaku II
Mobile Suit Gundam 40th Anniversary Mass Production Type Zaku II Limited Model (SBDX027) 
Release Date: April 12, 2019
Price: 400,000 Yen (approx. $3,580 USD)
Item is limited to 5000 pieces worldwide

https://geekculture.co/suit-up-with-uniqlo-40th-anniversary-mobile-suit-gundam-tees/

Bonus Uniqlo gunpla.

Speaking of gunpla, if you're on Instagram, follow http://instagram.com/mechabay/ for the occasional gunpla photos.

That red one is pretty tempting. I wonder why there's no love for the Federation though. Or Amuro.

Quote

U.C.0092. A young boy from the Light Tribe named Yutta lives on the forgotten colony Moon Moon. There, he sees with his own eyes the remains of a mobile suit that drifted to his colony! A new Gundam saga penned by Harutoshi Fukui bridges the gap between ZZ and Char’s Counterattack in an explosive new comic!

http://www.zeonic-republic.net/?p=7405

The Gundam Blog is looking for writers to help make us the leading blog. Rather than just provide others with the latest news, which some other blogs are doing, we want to offer in-depth analysis on the various aspects of Gundam.

We will be covering topics ranging from the discussion and comparison of various series, characters, locations, storyline elements etc. Please post here if you are interested and I will get back to you regarding this matter.

Banpreto and Bandai has jointly produced Senjo No Kizuna, a simulator that features mecha from the Gundam universe. The player controls the mecha via dual joysticks and foot pedals, just as the pilots do in the anime and manga. The simulator display is a mock-up of the panoramic cockpit that many mecha use.

 

The player’s scores can be stored in a card. You can build upon your scores by using the card when you play the game some other time. You can upgrade your mecha as your score improves.

 

The simulator is connected to a network that allows you to fight with players all over Japan, instead of just in the arcade where you play from.

Head over to The Gundam Blog for a video and pictures of the simulator in action.

Here's a look at the OP and ED for the show. The opening song is by L'arc~en~ciel. I'm not sure about the ending song.

Descriptions from Gunota Headlines.

Images from Ngee Khiong.

SVMS-01 Union Flag

“Union variable MS. It can change into a flight form but that doesn’t suppose transformation during combat. Armed with a Linear Rifle that fires electromagnetically accelerated live rounds. For melee combat, a super-vibrating Sonic Blade. One part of the machine is also equipped with an energy-covered Plasma Sword blade. There are many variations of this unit.”

Head height: 17.9 meters

Base weight: 67.1 tons

Designed by Hitoshi Fukuchi

AEU-09 AEU Enact (Demonstration colors)

“The latest MS developed by the AEU. A solar energy model, the MS itself can accept a direct supply of power from the orbital elevator’s generation system. The basic design is based on the Union’s Flag and shares many features such as the flight form transformation and armaments. “

Head height: 17.6 meters

Base weight: 66.8 tons

Designed by Hitoshi Fukuchi

MSJ-06II-A Tieren

“Human Progressive League (aka People’s Reform League, etc…still no official English version yet. Pick your favorite translation.) mass-production MS. Many variations for ground and space-use exist. Compared to MS in other armies, the unit is unusual in that its very slow. But as much as it sacrifices in mobility, it has strong defensive abilities and can be loaded with heavyweight armaments. It’s basic weaponry is a gun & Carbon Blade and though seen as an old model in contrast to other forces, its very reliable.”

Head height: 18.1 meters

Base weight: 121.3 tons

Designed by Kenji Teraoka

Only suggestion entries are allowed in this thread. Any irrelevant posts will be deleted.

Opening schedule: 2007 August 11th to 2007 year August 16th

Time: 10:00h to 18: 00h

*As for last admission 30 minutes before the closing time

Place: Ikebukuro Sunshine City Cultural Center 2nd Floor exhibition hall

Admission: No admission fees charged

Source: The Gundam Blog

Leave a comment if you have any opinions regarding the article.

The second character to be featured is Mu La Flaga. Help us out by stating your opinions of Mu!

As a partnership, we will be co-featuring articles from the Gundam Seed Vault. The Vault is dedicated to the Gundam Seed series, seeking make in-depth reviews and discussions of all Gundam Seed related topics.