You're all wrong!!!! It's the 1/5,144 scale Mega Maid! Char Helmet's Custom! They can't transform it at that scale.
Bandai can you please stop making general release kits Gundam Base Online Shop Exclusives especially if when they’re hard to get a hold of nowadays!!
Today started with finishing the shoulder armor. I like the practically seamless parts separation and how moving panels don't interfere with each other. Very gratifying when it means no chafing paint. Painting that gapped line flows with the white pattern. Now I can finally take the missile pods off the maintenance rack and put them where they belong! This kit is very robust now and its verticality shows. Meanwhile in the realm of chipping paint and sloppy mistakes, I stripped and restarted the Incoms because my paint clumped and was just not looking so good in general. Then of course the mask had another accident. It let go of the tape tag I had it secured on. Oy... At leaste the work was easily recovered, the Incoms are more evenly coated in primer again. I still have them with the same pattern as before but I'll do it right this time. With the primer bottle open, it's time for the booster shield and next phase of the verniers work. On impulse I thought to paint that section to stack more white on the shield. When it all comes together, it blends in with the existing white sections and where I already started painting. The bands around those *what I assume are* propellent tanks strapped on the back side of the shield are primed for silver to go with the cable links on the back of the arms. Now for a little extra work I was thinking about from the very beginning. I got this idea from the USA Gundam Store sticker of the MkV I got a few months ago. My idea won't look anything like this but I did think about painting the front half of the chest panels. I decided against it by going for more remote areas. Now that I am far enough along on this kit, I have the freedom to pick and pull parts to paint. It's a mix of two other blends I set aside, a pale navy and dark blue. I'm not going too crazy with it, but only enough to make things more interesting. My main objective however was getting to this. Just some rough edges to clean up and ink lines to thin out but I am not going through this process of messing up and restarting the face again!!
as I stare down the $90 prebuilt 1/60 God Gundam on ebay I found myself making a Powerlinx Hot Shot.originally he was mostly dark red but then it looked too much like God Gundam repainted in an Epyon scheme to me. I'm gonna make myself build my Ex-S after I watch Dune tomorrow afternoon.
This is a question that had me wanting to hear others' perspectives for quite some time and I'd love to hear opinions from others in this thread. In your opinion, do newer, more advanced versions of a Gunpla automatically make the older predecessors completely obsolete? Would it make any sense to purchase an older version of a Gunpla if a newer, more advanced version is available? Like for example, does the existence of the RG Sazabi mean that there's no more reason to pick up the HGUC version? Or, are there still any reasons to pick up the old PG RX-78-2 when the newer PG Unleashed RX-78-2 is a more advanced, detailed kit that outclasses its predecessors in every way?
Didn't you ask this on r/gunpla? Those kits aren't newer, more advanced versions of the same kit. The RG Sazabi isn't the HGUC Sazabi upgraded. They're entirely different designs with entirely different goals. If you want a kit that looks like Char's Counterattack, the RG Sazabi completely fails where the HGUC Sazabi excels.
Yeah, I did ask the question on r/gunpla once before. I just want to hear any personal experiences or examples from the POV of those on this site (Not to mention, not everyone here uses Reddit) As for me, I actually did this once, where I choose to pick up the NG 1/100 Avalanche Exia rather than the MG. At that time, I'm just curious to see what the NG version was like, and I would like to have a week-long project where I test out my Gunpla skills; And the simpler construction and affordable pricing of the NG Avalanche Exia fits what I'm looking for.
I'd say no for the Sazabi simply because of the price. Yes, the old HGUC is a bit dated but its also not going to cost you nearly as much, plus from my own personal experience you might actually be able to swap the weapons, whereas my RG Saz had the wrist peg snap simply trying to remove the damn thing. Plus, there's aesthetics - as the name implies, Real Grade is designed to look real, so you have segmented plates, opening parts, etc. but that may not necessarily be what people want. Between the HGUC and the RG, the HGUC one still looks more like the one actually in Char's Counter Attack. Likewise for the old PG - it's not as nearly complex, but if you aren't going to display all the opening hatches or want it looking that realistic, the old one is likely a slightly cheaper option. A better example would be Char's Zaku II because that glorious bastard has two variants within two semi-different lines, that being HGUC and Origin, though with Origin it really is just the same kit with different stickers (compared to how there are two Char's Zaku I kits that actually ARE physically different in minor ways, mainly color). The original HGUC Char's Zaku II is one of the earliest offerings and is extremely dated compared to the recent Revive which has an entire rubber skirt option purely for leg clearance in certain poses, namely all the kicking Char does (to the point this is literally the box art). In this case, unless you want the vintage experience of the true original HGUC kit, there's absolutely no reason for getting the first kit as there's nothing it offers the Revive doesn't do a zillion times better. Similar cases would be the Blue Destiny Gundams, since they just offer so much more like options on Unit 1 for manga or game head details. By the same token - and indeed, the same model as the Blue Destiny units - the old Ground Gundam isn't as nice as the newer one, but if you don't need all the fancy new tricks the newer one does, the old one is still perfectly serviceable with a little work.
for me, you buy what you like or you buy what you can afford, simple as that. That's why I got the old 1/60 No-Grade Exia and 1/100 No-Grade Kyrios and Virtue (also partially because their MG versions didn't exist yet), they were just cheaper and still brought in the same amount of volume they'd take up on a shelf if I got the expensive versions.
For me it's largely yes. I don't tend to buy older kits when there's a new iteration available. Not all the time, but most of the time. Mostly yes because I love advancement in technology and the benefits that bring. For instance, take the HGUC 1 Guncannon and HGUC 2 Gyan. In the case of the Guncannon, unless you really need to have the rocket launchers, the HGUC 190 Revive versions blows it out of the water. Better proportions, details, and articulation. Same for the Revive Gyan. I have both my original and the Revive Gyan and there's no comparison. The Revive is everything the old HGUC is but an order of magnitude more articulation. I also do think many old kits still stand the test of time. I got the HG Astraea and it's nice. The RG Exias may be well articulated but it's also an old RG with the B-Runner internal frame...it gets loose over time. The HG is honestly still pretty good. So I guess I will generally say that while I'll prefer a newer version over an older one, if reviews aren't super positive in the new kit I might look at the old one with a different mindset.
While I personally mostly buy the latest versions/iterations of a suit, I don't think that a newer version makes the old one obsolete in the majority of cases. Kits come in all sorts of pricepoints that you get whatever you want in terms of budget, aesthetics and complexity. Especially if you're jumping from one grade to another. An MG doesn't necessarily replace a 1/100, or an RG doesn't necessarily replace an HG. It's just options depending on what you want. MGs and RGs are usually just "cooler", but 1/100s and HGs are usually closer to the animation model. Also, depending on what the changes are, modding an RG/MG can potentially be significantly more complex/tedious than a HG/1-100; something like a thigh/forearm extension is much easier on the less-complex version of the kit.
Speaking of "not replacing." I finally have a new Jack Russell puppy, and she has a Gundam reference name. Say hello, Haro! Saying the name in a whimpery sound got her attention at the breeder's home, and it fits. First because it's a name that she likes, and two, her fur pattern is like a Haro's ear flaps. Also this... See! She's already set to take over maneuvering controls while I snipe!
I have a JR as well! She is 13 now and used to kill everything in the backyard but has mellowed a little now and doesn't bug the squirrels or birds anymore. They are great doggos!
They really are some of the best. This is my second Jack Russell. When I lost Brite last month, he was 16 years old. My forum posts notwithstanding it left me an emotional wreck.
Just something non-gunpla but one freaky little kit, a 1/72 XP-79B Flying Ram... Shouldn't take too much effort, detail is sparse but then, it's not like they can crawl all over the real deal....