Project BB 00 Raiser

First and foremost, I owe a huge apology to all my readers for such a late post. The main reason for such a late post is that I’ve been out sick for over a week with dengue fever. Fortunately, I’m back on my feet now and ready for more Gunpla and life.

Originally, I had intended to put up a review of my HG Cherudim Expo Edition (Clear Color Version) but, guess what? My photo box’s light went bad and now I’ve to find a replacement bulb before I can move on with any decent reviews. Thus, I’ll give a glimpse of the current project which is the BB 00 Raiser!

Ok, without delay some kit info.

Kit Name: BB 00 Raiser

Kit Price: 1000 Yen

Kit Status: Released, April 2009

Kit Availability: Uncommon / Rare

Now, for some pictures of progress thus far.

GN Sword/Rifle II have been primed and painted. Only the sensor unit needs to be painted and some minor touching up and it’s all good.

The GN Shields have been primed only so far.

The Gn Shields merge together like in the animation.

The shoulders are also primed and painted but, touch up is still required.

The swords are primed only so far while a base coat of red has been applied the base of the feet.

Progress on the torso. A lot of painting has to be done for the torso as it originally comes molded in blue only.

The freshly painted GN Drive holders.

Legs and arms are also roughly painted over the initial primer layer only.

The head is by far the most completed part

But, even the head still needs some touch up

Overall, quite a lot of work still has to be done. Most of the painting is a rough initial layer over the primer coating. Nevertheless, this is a very nicely planned kit by Bandai. There are plenty of gimmicks such as the cross beam for the GN Sword/Rifle II and the 0 Raiser docking system. More progress to come in the future.

Until then,

Happy Gunpla-ing!

HowTo: Remove Nip Marks from Clear Gunpla kits

I’ve said it before and I’ll say again, the most annoying part of all clear kits are the nip marks. It leaves an unsightly white-ish are on the part and spoils the whole look of the kit.

Nevertheless, it is not unrecoverable as there are polishing compounds which can be used to clear of those unsightly nip marks. Only problem is, polishing compound is expensive and takes a lot of time. SO, is there a cheaper alternative?

Fortunately, there is. As I’ve shown with my MG Strike Rouge Clear Color Version; toothpaste, cotton bud, polyester cloth and high-grade wet sanding will remove the nip mark. Only setback is that it consumes a lot of time and consistency is tough to reproduce without concentration.

Thus, here’s another faster more economical method to remove those unsightly nip marks from your clear color kits. This works especially well HG kits which have relatively smaller parts and nip marks in more obvious areas.

For the demonstration, I’ll be using the GN Shield Bits for my HG Cherudim Expo Edition.

No, there are two reasons why I choose the GN Shield Bits as the demo part:

1. These GN Shield Bits have the most number of nip marks and they are also the most unsightly nip marks because the gates are rather thick

2. Well, I generally have 9 of it so, all the better if I screw up.

Here’s the rough cut, as you can see the nip marks are still sticking out

Horrible discolouration and on closer inspection the nip marks appear cracked

Now, the excess nip marks have been removed with a cutter but, it is still sticking out slightly

Using a art knife, cut out the slight excess but be careful not to dig into the plastic or hurt yourself. A blade works fine too especially considering how sharp art knives are

The slight excess has been removed, looks much cleaner now. Though, it still is far from complete

Now, using a permanent marker of the same colour, colour over the nip marks

Be careful when choosing a marker, always go for a marker with these criteria:

1. Ink with low reflection rate (if not, the ink shines back light easily and gives away the nip mark)

2. Ink which s translucent (doing so will allow a certain amount of light to pass through looking more natural)

3. A thin tip (preferably 0.5mm and below)

For me, I use a Stabilo 0.3mm marker and it does the job just fine

With the ink applied. Nip marks are less noticeable but ink still reflects light a little

To finish it all off, use a High Grade sandpaper/finishing abrasive. mIne is 2000 Grade sandpaper

Finally, there you are!

I hope my little DIY tip has helped. Feedback and comments would be lovely.

So far, I;ve yet to try clear paint on nip marks but I’ll try it as soon as I can.

Until then,

HAppy Gunpla-ing!

Project Strike Rouge Clear Colour Version Part 3 – Articulation 2

Fuh! I haven’t been able to update for such a long time! Now with my accounting competition and national debates over and set aside, I can finally focus on what I love best, GUNPLA!

With so much work, I only managed to complete the leg armour, arms and head. Still, a small review on articulation and I’ll reveal one of the MG Strike series’ weakness. No secret or surprise though if you now your MGs. Now, pictures.

Progress on  Strike Rouge so far. I’m still very satisfied with the clear parts. No complains there, yet.

More funny articulation. Dancing perhaps?

One thing I forgot to say was how the hip armours dampen the articulation of the kit massively especially the rear skirt which pushes against the torso if you move it more than 45 degrees. The front skirt can also be a bit loose thus, simple reinforcement is required. No big deal.

Uh…. top view?

Notice, the thigh armour slides forward when the leg is bent and slides back when the leg straightens. Normal for most Cosmic Era (CE) MGs. I approve.

MG Strike Rouge has a fully movable knee cap. Helps for more realistic poses.

Hands fold all the way to the back with ease.

Close up on the head. The V – Fin looks a little awkward. Sticks out too much.

Under light the head looks weird. The scale is also a bit off, but I’ve begin to get use to it.

I would recommend future/current owners to paint the eyes and sensor. Sticker look a bit awkward because of the clear parts. Somehow, from this angle it looks nicer.

Feet detail isn’t disappointing similar to the detail on the rest of the kit. Thumbs up.

Now for the biggest articulation flaw. The ankle connector is made of PC making the ankle very weak.

Fortunately, the ankle can be improved very simply and just requires a little effort. Firstly, separate the ankle joint from the leg.

The solution is simple, just apply some plastic cement on the ball of the ankle joints and the inside of the ankle connector. Wait for it to dry, and when you connect it back you’ll notice it is stronger and tighter. Any hobby plastic cement will do, in my case, I use Mr. Hobby’s Mr. Cement Deluxe. For those who don’t have plastic cement, thin paper will do (preferably tissues). Just put a small bit between the ankle joint and the connector.

After that, doing this is no problem. The ankle becomes much stronger.

All in all, the kit looks very nice with the armour fully in place. Best thing is the leg armour doesn’t disrupt the leg’s articulation a single bit.

Next up will be the progress on the Aile Pack. Feels good to finally get back to Gunpla instead of insane 2 straight days of debates. XD