|
BlitzBlast posted:Also it seems like every single new person never ever listens to "just put on the stickers you think look cool" and goes and puts them all on and drat near almost always complains about how many stickers there were and ugh. Uuuugh. Yeah, unless you're a big fan of excessive detail (and if you are, get waterslides, stickers will go bad so fast), there's no reason to feel obligated to throw everything on. Whatever's most comfortable. Gunpla is freedom, which means I've got the freedom to put on over 200 decals on a small MG 
|
#
?
Jun 18, 2016 06:54
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 29, 2024 13:26 |
|
|
Found an R-Gyagya at a B&N near me! Time to start the hunt for GM Cardigan, I gotta have all the great semi-major suits from Try! That's kinda the other thing I like about B&N stocking kits, the surprise of finding a kit you absolutely have to have just randomly on a shelf. Hell, I saw a Double X on the shelf when I was there last and I grabbed my buddy and said "Here, buy this kit," "Why?" "Don't ask, just do."
|
|
#
?
Jun 18, 2016 07:07
|
|
|
G O O D
|
|
#
?
Jun 18, 2016 07:35
|
|
|
So I stuck together my very first Gundam kit. Its a NG 1/100 Gundam Astray Gold Frame Amatsu (standing guard in a dollhouse I'm building) Coming from plastic modelling and the horrible fit issues one often encounters, I really love how well these things go together.
|
|
#
?
Jun 18, 2016 22:48
|
|
|
Greyhawk posted:So I stuck together my very first Gundam kit. Its a NG 1/100 Gundam Astray Gold Frame Amatsu (standing guard in a dollhouse I'm building) Oh, just wait until you try the modern kits. Gunpla has come a long way since that thing came out.
|
|
#
?
Jun 19, 2016 00:33
|
|
|
Darth Walrus posted:Oh, just wait until you try the modern kits. Gunpla has come a long way since that thing came out. Yea, that ng 1/100 is almost hot trash compared to the recent sets that have been released. The IBO line blows the seed line out of the water in details, engineering, and even price. This is coming from a guy who bought too many seed kits 7 or so years ago!
|
|
#
?
Jun 19, 2016 07:31
|
|
|
  THIS THING IS TOO BIG. Seriously, this segment took me two days of work to finish. This is some sort of punishment from on high or something because jesus christ it's like 200 parts, and I've got to do another one of these. I'm counting the hours until building this thing drives me insane.
|
|
#
?
Jun 19, 2016 19:34
|
|
|
Man, how frustrating. You know the little ankle caps that all the MG Gundam-types get? I'm building the Amazing Red Warrior right now, and while those caps fit with ease on one foot, they absolutely will not snap on to the other one. I've been turning them around and trying to force them for half an hour now. I'm going to come back to it later and hope it just works, but I'm worried I've warped the plastic now, if it wasn't warped when it came off the sprue. It all looks okay. Plus, neither cap will fit on either fitting.
|
|
#
?
Jun 19, 2016 20:26
|
|
|
BlitzBlast posted:
Uuuuugh, I just put all the stickers on my Gundam MK II and it took me three hours and was finicky and now it looks really good, kill me uuugh! 
|
|
#
?
Jun 19, 2016 20:35
|
|
|
  Given that I never weather poo poo, I think I fell into the old "added too much" trap. when your weathering on a black surface, it's hard to tell when you're doing it  . Cleaned up some stuff after taking the photo. We'll be adding some pastels and do some weathering on the lighter grey parts later.
Monaghan fucked around with this message at 21:52 on Jun 19, 2016 |
|
#
?
Jun 19, 2016 21:49
|
|
|
I broke the ankle rocker on my M1 astray while posing it. It was my fault for not noticing how hilariously tight the foot balljoint on that thing is. I've applied steel-epoxy to the inner part to mend it but it will be kinda noticeable. I hate all the problems I got with the M1, same with the Genoace II; I wanted to love those kits to death but they are immensely frustrating to work with.
|
|
#
?
Jun 19, 2016 21:49
|
|
|
MG GM Cannon completed.     Pros: -Mostly sturdy (except for the waist, but more on that later) -Enough spare parts left over to make a normal GM, in your color choice of white or cow -Based off the MG Gundam 2.0/GM 2.0 -Flexible as all get-out Cons: -The waist has a series of loose-ish ball-joints that hold the skirt armor on. The rear skirt armor keeps coming off at any hint of flex. -The torso loves to pop out of the tabs that hold onto it-- also at the waist Overall, I really like it. I didn't do anything outlandish paint-wise, as I really like the design stock. I handbrushed a semi-gloss clear-coat to protect the decals, and panel-lined with a micron pen. The sparkly-bits in the camera visor were done using white primer, a layer of silver, and then some acrylic "hologram" craft paint that I got from the hobby section of Wal-Mart. This was all done to the inner visor piece, not the clear piece itself. It doesn't show up well in the pictures, but there's a very nice mica effect when the light hits the clear visor.
|
|
#
?
Jun 19, 2016 23:15
|
|
|
Wow, that cannon is a lot larger than I was expecting.
|
|
#
?
Jun 20, 2016 07:04
|
|
|
Slanderer posted:Is there anywhere in the US that I can order 1:144 decal sheets from? The ones I ordered on ebay were cheap, but they will be in the mail forever (and I have a feeling my postman is gonna gently caress them up by cramming the parcel into my mailbox, wasting all of that time) Gundam Planet has some, but they're at the mercy of Bandai for restocks. Model Grade might also have them too.
|
|
#
?
Jun 20, 2016 18:59
|
|
|
I'm kinda sad the GM Cannon didn't get a general release, and that MSV is so under-loved in general.
|
|
#
?
Jun 20, 2016 22:34
|
|
|
I'm sad I was too broke to jump on the Powered GM MG at the time.
|
|
#
?
Jun 20, 2016 22:39
|
|
|
Anonymous Robot posted:I'm sad I was too broke to jump on the Powered GM MG at the time. I was just about to get it when Gentei Kits closed preorders.  I got an MG GM Cannon in the backlog, so it doesn't hurt too much.
|
|
#
?
Jun 21, 2016 01:22
|
|
|
closeted republican posted:I was just about to get it when Gentei Kits closed preorders. Apparently, it's going to be based on the old GM type C kit? If it is, then no great loss. The thing was old enough to need screws.
|
|
#
?
Jun 21, 2016 02:45
|
|
|
 I couldn't find a decent enough pose for GM Cannon within the Detolf display case, so this will do-- surrounded by the rest of my GM squad. (Also, it's a pretty big red flag that you're addicted to Gunpla if you're running out of room on a Detolf.)
|
|
#
?
Jun 21, 2016 02:54
|
|
|
I guess ACES has just gotten to me, because I was looking up prices for that old 1/144 Ace Model Deep Striker. Wasn't sure if I was really going to get it or not till I saw this picture. My first thought upon looking at it was "hey, that guy folded up the reflectors wrong". My second thought was "EX-X DEEP STRIKER  ".By the time it gets here my Gaia Notes will have arrived too. Should be good practice for painting and modding before I really get started on MG Leopard Destroy.
|
|
#
?
Jun 21, 2016 03:41
|
|
|
Yeah the MG Powered GM is a bit of a joke, sadly, the GM Kai has always been a baddish kit.
|
|
#
?
Jun 21, 2016 04:28
|
|
|
Wow, glad I skipped it then. At the time people were saying it looked like an all new mold. I can't recognize older kits so I'm often unaware of weird p bandai stuff like that. I almost bought the lovely Heavy Gundam last year, too.
|
|
#
?
Jun 21, 2016 04:30
|
|
|
If it's a P-Bandai kit, and it's not some accessory pack, it's not a new mold. Ever.
|
|
#
?
Jun 21, 2016 04:36
|
|
|
BlitzBlast posted:I guess ACES has just gotten to me, because I was looking up prices for that old 1/144 Ace Model Deep Striker. Wasn't sure if I was really going to get it or not Yesssssss. Goooooooood. Give in to the dark side. I'm glad I've become synonymous with bad financial decisions and excessively large robits. I was always considering that kit though, for various reasons. You'll have to take a gratuitous number of work in progress shots as you build it. What's your gameplan for modding it?
|
|
#
?
Jun 21, 2016 04:57
|
|
|
Honestly the original Deep Striker is pretty much just the upper half of the Ex-S stapled onto a big platform of crap. All I really need to do is stick a HG GX on there instead, but I intend to use the X Maoh so I need to figure out where I want to distribute the new stuff. Current plan is to replace the radome up top with the reflectors, either swap out the smartgun for the Hyper Satellite Cannon or just leave it be, and replace the I-Field with the beam saber. I'll fit my MG Turn X's Shining Finger effect part on it, and it can be the Maoh Sword. I also have a bunch of leftover HG X parts from my WIP G-Bits, so I'm considering using the purple bits to add some X flavor throughout the suit.
|
|
#
?
Jun 21, 2016 05:04
|
|
|
Anonymous Robot posted:Wow, glad I skipped it then. At the time people were saying it looked like an all new mold. I can't recognize older kits so I'm often unaware of weird p bandai stuff like that. I almost bought the lovely Heavy Gundam last year, too. I genuinely coveted that P-Bandai Heavy Gundam, even though it's based on the single worst RX-78-2 in the whole MG line. Bimmi fucked around with this message at 06:13 on Jun 21, 2016 |
|
#
?
Jun 21, 2016 05:13
|
|
|
I'm definitely familiar with the status of the Deep Striker to the S/Ex-S, yes  But, seriously, that's an interesting idea. I'm not sold on the idea of the smaller torso/chest, and definitely think it'll look weird without the huge shoulders. Instead of replacing the radome though, have you thought about just strapping them to it? You could probably still get a pretty good X shape depending on how you oriented them, even if they might end up more >< shaped than an X. Whatever you end up doing, I can't wait to see what kind of monster you make. 
|
|
#
?
Jun 21, 2016 05:15
|
|
|
BlitzBlast posted:If it's a P-Bandai kit, and it's not some accessory pack, it's not a new mold. The Pale Rider was kind of a hand wiggle, since it was the only way to get the kit other than as part of a special edition playstation game. But yeah. When I thought it was based on the GM 2.0 frame instead of the Kai, I assumed there had to be a Powered GM Cardigan coming out too, since a full on new mold for P-Bandai doesn't exactly scan
|
|
#
?
Jun 21, 2016 08:53
|
|
|
I need some help understanding HLJ shipping charges. I carted a bunch of stuff during their recent sale, and set about paring things down to what I could afford:. Depending on what was or was not in the cart at any given time, the shipping options and prices fluctuated wildly: sometimes SAL was cheap, sometimes it was more expensive than EMS, sometimes it wasn't offered as an option at all. In the end, deleting one item (HGUC Doven Wolf, not a particularly large kit) bumped my shipping total from $50 down to about $17. Getting most of what I wanted would have cost me more than buying locally and completely negated any savings from the discount. This is the first time I've ordered from HLJ in 15 years, and it was confusing as hell. Any ideas as to why my shipping options were such a mess? Would using Private Warehouse have negated these issues? I had to pass on a lot of things I'd otherwise intended to buy, and I'm kind of annoyed at the whole experience.
|
|
#
?
Jun 21, 2016 21:42
|
|
|
i think it has something to do with shipping box sizes or something
|
|
#
?
Jun 22, 2016 00:18
|
|
|
EMS cost is based solely on weight and increments the rate every 250 grams. SAL is often less expensive but has a maximum 30kg weight and has some restrictions on the size of the box in all three dimensions, incremeting the rate every 500 grams. HLJ assigns a weight and volume to each item and they just add them up and pick the smallest box that will hold it all. Some of HLJ's boxes exceed the SAL max size in one dimension. Sounds like you were right on a break point on the box sizes. With Private Warehouse you could have spent some time arranging your items into multiple shipments to get the lowest total cost but you would have had to purchase the items before you could experiment with the shipping arrangements.
|
|
#
?
Jun 22, 2016 00:47
|
|
|
Seems like quite a bit more trouble than it's worth. Seriously, I had to drop more than half my intended order because most of the shipping options ranged from "what?" to "lol gently caress u." EMS is good if you want new things fast I guess, but I can get better prices at the Gunpla hole-in-the-wall five miles down the street, and even with the HLJ sale discounts and SAL I saved mmmmmmaybe 10 bucks on the whole deal.
|
|
#
?
Jun 22, 2016 01:16
|
|
|
Yeah, for me HLJ is mainly just for obscure parts that I'm not going to find in a nearby store or on Amazon. And to its credit it's been pretty good for that (Kotobukiya/Wave balljoint and detail packs, older models, niche tools, etc.)
|
|
#
?
Jun 22, 2016 01:25
|
|
|
Bimmi posted:Seems like quite a bit more trouble than it's worth. Seriously, I had to drop more than half my intended order because most of the shipping options ranged from "what?" to "lol gently caress u." I used to order a ton from HLJ but since a local hobby chain has a deal with Bluefin plus Barnes and Noble I pretty much just get oddball stuff there that isn't available domestically.
|
|
#
?
Jun 22, 2016 02:05
|
|
|
I try to grab domestic, Bluefin releases whenever I can to support Gunpla in the USA. Buying kits from JP-based distributors counts the sale as a domestic sale, while buying a Bluefin-distributed kit counts as a USA sale. I'm a big proponent of voting with your wallet, and what better way to show Bandai there's a growing interest in Gunpla in the US than to buy Bluefin-distributed kits?
|
|
#
?
Jun 22, 2016 05:50
|
|
|
Good point, that.
|
|
#
?
Jun 22, 2016 06:43
|
|
|
I'd like to buy from American places, but I can't fool myself into thinking it's a good idea to buy stuff at a 200% markup. Even the guy who works at the place that sells kits nears me doesn't understand why the prices are so high. It's dumb.
|
|
#
?
Jun 22, 2016 07:51
|
|
|
I'm lucky to have a place close by that is basically a glorified warehouse, and their prices are quite good. The markups I see almost everywhere else are goddamned absurd.
|
|
#
?
Jun 22, 2016 08:00
|
|
|
gently caress ankle guards on Gundam type suits. Except for the Ez8. That is all.
|
|
#
?
Jun 22, 2016 18:16
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 29, 2024 13:26 |
|
|
BlitzBlast posted:I'd like to buy from American places, but I can't fool myself into thinking it's a good idea to buy stuff at a 200% markup. Where are you buying with such a markup? Gundam Planet pricing is basically the cost of the kit + transshipment to the US, so it doesn't vary much than the HLJ EMS shipped price. Sure, you could do SAL registered, but it's usually 500 yen more to go EMS, and then it's a difference of weeks going into days to get your stuff. True, shipping from GP to you adds in, but I find it hard to believe that ordering kits X, Y and Z from HLJ is that much cheaper than kits X, Y and Z from Gundam Planet.
|
|
#
?
Jun 22, 2016 19:18
|
|