With the arrival of the Sword/Launcher Striker packs, now time to get some building done. starting with assembling the Launcher Striker Pack (As suggested by the instructions, which coincidentally was also the Striker Pack used by the Strike Gundam in the anime) The "Agni" beam cannon has reasonable parts counts for its size, but just by building this cannon... this thing does have quite a bit of nasty seamlines and questionable nub placement on a few parts. Some of these nasty seam lines aren't all that visible once fully assembled but to make this "Agni" Beam cannon look as good as possible, some plastic cement and sanding sticks may be required to remove the nasty seam lines. Simultaneously, I've also added a few splashed of gold paint on both the "Agni" and backpack, just to break up all of the seas of grey and greens. The Combo Weapon Pod also needs some work, mainly painting the tip of the wings with yellow paint and masking tapes; as both of the wings are cast in green plastic. There are color-correcting foil stickers that kinda rectify the lack of yellow trim, but they look "eh" and didn't cover the entire wingtip (When in any other iteration of the Launcher Striker packs, the wingtips are in yellow like the red trim on the Aile Striker's wings), so I just say' f**K it" and painted them.
Done with my Gouf today. Solid boy. That Zaku II ver2 frame is really good for something so old, they got a lot of milage from it. Limbs was maybe a bit looser than the moderns I built lately so I tightened the leg joints a bit. I can see why they keep reprinting this and the Zakus instead of making a 3.0. On the other hand I did have a look at the HG origins models and its amazing what you can do with just a couple of panel lines extra. Too bad only one origin set has been made in MG.
What a pleasure this MG F90II kit is to even disassemble. I think I'll be working differently this time. I usually work on inner-frame parts before working on the armor parts. Gonna do the reverse this time. Problem with this kit is that I while already know the color scheme I'm going for on the armor parts, I haven't decided how I'm going to deal with the inner-frame yet. One shade of gunmetal? Two shades of gunmetal based on the existing runner-colors separation? Just do whatever I want? Who knows!
Hahaha! I've been generally pretty good recently, but not gonna lie, I've definitely broken stuff in the past while pre-building. I think the last time was on the MG TV Wing; broke the upper-chest piece because of the stupid way it was molded (blue sharpie used to mark out where I needed to cut away to fix it): Managed to fix it without any issues (and also shortening the peg): The F90II was 99% easy. The only really tough part was getting the V-fin off of the forehead; the fins are very thin and I was paranoid about breaking it. Took it slowly and it worked out just fine.
Essentially, it's the original kit, plus four extra full rifle/holster combos. Shame they couldn't provide the parts for the extra rifles, plus a frame mount to display the "honeycomb of death" attack. Also assuming there's no extra parts to display the Gundam in "hatch open" mode, despite that also being a possible feature of the kit, with the easily removable kneecaps (don't remember if the ankle plates were as easily detached) and the molded cameras under the green shoulder segments.
According to the dengeki article it's just the two kits with their dedicated add-on parts. No bases or even that "effects" stand either. It's safe to assume the two kits are relatively unchanged from their initial releases,, save for how the additional Shield bits are suspended over Zabanya's shoulders, and Harute's new "Marute Mode" face.
Taking a page from @Hadlen_Weltall, I decided to make some larger batches of custom paint for a full project I'm working on. These are "construction yellow" and "jumpsuit blue."
It's my favorite of all the various Zaku II iterations, because of its combination of classic '70s silhouette and modern articulation... but once painted, panel-lined and assembled, Char's just looked too "toyetic" for me. So, using The Origin as marking reference, I started applying waterslide decals for detail: ...and after hours of work, I'm starting to lose perspective. Is this enough? Is it too much? I seriously can't even tell any more... What do you guys think?
With both the "Schwert Gewehr" anti-ship sword and "Agni" beam cannon now fully assembled, I figure might as well try out some of the waterslide decals, and... I can't say I'm having much fun applying these waterslide decals. (I even accidentally wrecked some of the decals, when adjusting them in place They do look good and adds to the weapon's overall look once the decals want to stay in place (for god's sake), however.
The torso is complete. I know I wanted to build just the skeletal frame without the midsection armor, but meh... besides, I would have to take the upper torso apart again to fit it on later anyway. Now with this done, I can attach the torso to the waist and arms. I went over some of my accent lines on the arms and torso with my green micron pen, but I see some more areas I need to clean up with a paint brush. For now, it's the return of the angled, flat on its back pose before I shut down for the night.
YellowCorvette vs Waterslide Decals Round 2: Sword Striker... Fight!! It's the 2nd day since I've opened up the P-Bandai MG Sword/Launcher Striker, building it and trying my best not to screw up applying the waterslide decals (Like I did the last time). The focus now is the right shoulder armor of the Sword Striker (Which includes the "Midas Messer" Beam Boomerang) and the "Panzer Aisen" Rocket Anchor/Shield (What's with Gundam SEED and its obsession with overly long, dramatic weapon names?) To avoid getting decals wrecked as I did before, I'm more patient and cautious when applying the decals this time around; Together with the use of Mark Setter and Softer, it kinda pays off and the decals are applied successfully.
I'm not an expert in Gunpla by any means, but I think you struck a nice balance of giving it details to not be boring/toyetic without going overboard into Ver Ka territory overly busy. Nice work!
@Autobot Burnout A bit late as I had to source some stands. Anyways...I wish I had the 3 3/4" Revoltech Solid Snake but I don't.
Give yourself a high five! EDIT: here's a fist bump! Hand grind is done, and work on the backpack begins.
Prime time for the shoulder armor and backpack. Protruding fins, raised details, and vents on the main panels, and for the shoulder socket plate, some preliminary gold with a recoat of primer for silver. I didn't finish the hinges on the socket plates, but I will get to them soon enough. The backpack is primed, again gold was already started and since gotten a primer coat refresh. And while I fidget around with the completed (so far) skeleton, adding a few extra droplets of primer and paint, I decided to tilt the system base up. It keeps the frame in a relaxed state instead of standing it up and risk tipping over.
