RG Aile Strike Gundam Part 1

The Aile Strike is my first Real Grade. If you're not aware, the RG is the latest grade offered by Bandai and all kits use the Advanced MS Joints for the inner frame. I have to admit I had no idea about how the frame works until I started putting this kit together. 

The ball joints for the knees, elbows, fingers are all pre-molded in the runner. Putting the frame together wasn't that hard as there weren't that many parts. I was very impressed by how the frame was bended to fit on the runner. Once detached from the runner, the parts have to be twisted in a certain way to fully reveal the   frame. 

                                                     very impressive articulation

Articulation on this kit (and I believe all RG's) is nothing short of amazing. The joints are extremely flexible but feels very solid at the same time. I never got the feeling that the joints were gonna snap no matter how much I twisted the frame around. 

I've actually completed the kit but seeing the amount of detail on an RG kit, I think it deserves two parts. The armor pieces are also very detailed with intricate panel lines. Panel lining the armor pieces took me quite a while but I enjoyed it due to the sheer amount of detail. The arms come with gold foil stickers which were quite difficult to put on and had the tendency to spring out at the ends (easily fixed with super glue).

                               lots of armor pieces just for the lower body and legs

                                                         .....panel lines galore!

Somehow I feel the amount of panel lines, details and stickers just make the kit look realistic (hence Real grade) and imposing. Will post up the 2nd part once I have the time to take the pictures. 

HGUC MSN-06S Sinanju

I've read very good things about this kit before deciding to purchase one. I have to say that I'm very impressed with the look of the Sinanju in terms of the details and aesthetics. It looks fantastic once completed and I particularly like the giant shield and backpack of the Sinanju.

For this kit, I painted the vents gold (it came in plastic yellow), iron metal on the grey parts and silver on the pistons at the back of its knees. Finished it off with a layer of  matte top coat. There are plenty of stickers on this kit and it took quite a while to put them all on. But it's well worth it as this kit is just awesome! 

There are 5 hands in total; 1 trigger hand, 2 clenched fists, 2 fists with holes for the sabres. There are also 4 beam attachments of different sizes for the shield other than 2 normal sabres. The beam rifle comes with a grenade launcher which can be attached to the shield when not in use.

                                             Grenade launcher attached to the shield...

                                         Beam rifle with attached grenade launcher...

                                                Sinanju looks menacing just like that..

Overall the Sinanju is a beautiful kit for a HGUC. The articulation is pretty decent as well and the details are just impressive. I've read that the details on this kit is comparable even to its MG version and after assembling this kit I would think it's true (the MG version must be amazing then). The armor on this kit comes in lots of pieces and there are hidden thrusters everywhere. Coupled with the giant shield and detailed thruster pack (I  just can't emphasise this enough), this kit is a must have for all Unicorn Gundam fans!

HGUC Zaku I Sniper Type

This is a kit which I feel is pretty cool with the big backpack and sniper rifle. I wanted the Yonem Kirk's version but it was out of stock so I got this instead. I built this in less than 2 hours with no painting at all. Just removing the nubs with a filing set and some panel lines. 

                      It comes with the sniper rifle and the standard Zaku I rifle....

The right knee of this Zaku comes with a unique stand to allow the 'sniper' pose which is a nice touch. The sniper is attached to the backpack via a wire tube and can be detached when not in use. Nothing much to say about this kit, pretty standard HG with limited articulation. 

                                      With the standard round magazine Zaku I rifle...

               The tube attached to the backpack itself when not attached to the sniper...

              The sniper rifle is relatively big compared to the model and looks good...

                             The sniper position pose with the right knee attachment....

HGUC Gouf Custom

This is one of my personal favourite - the Gouf Custom. I have a thing for kits with big ass weapons such as this one. That's why I already have my eyes on the Jesta Cannon which is gonna be released some time in March.

I painted the limbs (sky blue + a bit of white), knees/chest (black + white) and weapons (metal iron colour).  I didn't paint the body/skirt - the colour seems hard to mix. Finished it off as usual with a layer of matte top coat. I made the same mistake again of painting the knee joint (left) too much that it crumbled. I couldn't repair it with plastic cement unlike the Heavy Arms due to the HG parts being much smaller. In the end I glued the knee to the thigh using super glue so it's not bendable anymore.

The kit comes with quite a few weapons - the huge gatling gun attached to the shield, a sword, a smaller gun attached to the left hand (covered by the gatling gun/shield) and a wire thing on the right arm as seen in the anime. It also comes with 4 hands in total - 2 clenched fists with holes (for the sword and gun) and 2 clenched fists (no holes, for display).

                                      The smaller gun attached to the left hand...

                                                   The wire which is pretty cool...

                                            Pictures to round off the post!

HGUC Zaku II F2

The Zaku II is one of those must-have kit for anyone doing Gunpla modelling. This kit is not exactly the original Zaku II hence the name (it's an upgraded version). I painted the limbs and head with basic light dull green. For the body armor and skirt it's a mixture of dark green, a bit of black and very little white. My first attempt in painting the body/skirt was only with dark green and it ended up fluorescent green! I had to repaint it after Googling for the correct colour blend. That's why the paint is a bit thicker than usual as seen in the pictures. The joints and grey-ish parts are painted with metal iron colour. A bit of panel lining to top it off and a coat of matte top coat to finish it off.

In terms of weapons it comes with the standard Zaku rifle (with the round magazine), an additional gun (pictured above), missile attachments on both legs and a heat hawk. The left side of the skirt has 2 grenades attached. It also comes with an additional drum magazine which can be attached to the skirt as well. Unfortunately I broke the standard rifle so it's permanently holding the other gun. The missiles are supposed to be red but it's a hassle to paint as they're not detachable so I just left it as it is.

It comes with a nice open left hand on which the rifle can rest on other than the standard clenched fist. Articulation is good but the skirt hinders the legs as with other Zaku type models.

                           Back view... painted the thrusters red with Gundam marker...

      I think the smaller head makes it look quite menacing as opposed to the original Zaku II...

That's all for this kit! I'm contemplating getting the Real Grade Zaku II but I have other Gundams in mind as well so it's a tough choice... I generally try to get different model kits and not repeat although strictly speaking this is not a Zaku II. I'll be doing the awesome HGUC Gouf Custom in the next post!

HGUC RX-0 Unicorn Gundam (Destroy Mode)

This here is the High Grade Unicorn Gundam Destroy Mode. The details in the kit is pretty good considering it's just a HG. I only did very minimal panel lining and a bit of painting. The only drawback is there aren't any decals with this kit aside from the standard eyes and foil sticker for the beam rifle.

 

As with the Unicorn Mode, I painted the thrusters and upper portion of the backpack with a mixture of silver and dark blue. It has a magazine pack for the beam rifle which I had to paint as well. The magazine on the rifle itself is not detachable unlike the MG one. It came with the same colour as the rifle which is grey so I painted it as well. The V-fin was wholly in yellow front and back. The actual colours should be white on the back and yellow in the front. I painted the front gold (didn't like the yellow) and the back white.

The Gundam came with 2 beam sabres, the beam rifle and a variety of hands (2 standard grip with holes, right trigger hand). The open hands from the Unicorn Mode can also be used on this kit as it's the same design anyway. I accidentally broke the left beam sabre when it was attached to the backpack so now it's actually super-glued to the backpack.

It's customary to pose both the Unicorn Mode and Destroy Mode together =) I like this combination more than just getting the MG as I can foresee I'll be too lazy to transform it just to pose with it. Having two different kits is better for my case. 

                                       Unicorn Mode with the beam rifle....

That's all for the Unicorn Gundam kits I have!