Graze Kai Fenrir Custom

So again, I'm sorry I've sort of abandoned my blog. I haven't had as much time to model as I'd like, considering I just had my first child I guess it's probably excusable ;P

anyway, this has been a long standing build off with a good friend of mine, who builds over on facebook : Go check out Mecha Lab
he's a member of my team, and a good friend. anyway, I wanted to do some modifications to my graze outside keeping it normal and changing the colors. so the first thing I played around with was the ankle guards. I flipped them upside down, and threw them on, and thought they looked really cool that way. not really a modification, but it's different. next I wanted to experiment with scribing, so I added some detail to the legs and the chest. Finally I felt like adding wolf ears would make the head of the kit stand out, since it's so plain (it looks really good, in my opinion, mind you) thus the Fenrir was born. the weapon is a 1/100 Magic toys ore gun, since I preordered it I actually got double the weapons, so I tinkered with how it looked holding a large oversized cannon. and oddly enough it didn't look too out of scale. so I decided to keep it. the Axe was modified heavily using pla-plate, I didn't care much for the stock axe, and thought It could use some work. so I lobbed the top half off of the back portion of the axe, and cut it at an angle, and I cut a triangle of styrene out and glued it to the top of the axe, and sanded it to shape.

as for the color scheme, I was originally thinking of painting it in an orange color. Not really in relation to my team, but because I thought an orange graze would look awesome. but I laid down a red basecoat and fell in love, so I quickly modified my color scheme, and changed how it would work, and moved forward with the build.

now that you've heard all there is about the build. hit the bump and see some photos! this was a blast to build and paint. can't wait to dig into another one :)

1/144 GM Barrage Custom Gallery

Wow I need to get on keeping up with my blog better. Here's the gallery for my GM Barrage, built as a complete custom kit to commemorate the launch of my build team: Team Helios. Decals and Logo designed by the wonderful Gundam UK
you can find more images from the rest of my team over on simons blog or on our build team page on facebook

Team Helios on Facebook

HGUC Ez8 Tempest Completed Gallery

So i didn't do too much in the way of WIPS on this guy, for the blog anyway. there was a bit on youtube, but anyway. This was originally a part of the Team Nexus 1 year anniversary build. But I've departed the team, So despite the decals, this is now a standalone build. there was a little more i wanted to do with this guy, but with the group deadline I had to skip hard decaling and weathering. But i'm still pleased with the final result. it has a little grit to it, but it's not 'dirty'

anyway lemme know what you think! gallery below!

hit the bump for more :)

GM Custom Completed!

So when I got home this morning, I couldn't get any sleep, So I did what any normal gunpla builder would do, I finished up my GM. I painted the weapons and shield, and I slapped a couple decals on the kit while waiting for the paints to dry. I caught a small nap, and everything has dried and been assembled. I snapped a couple photos, and this is what I came up with. Unfortunately, due to it being an older kit, leg mobility wasn't as great as I'd hoped for. but it was still a fun build. and is still a great kit!

anyway, on to photos.

so, now that that's all done. I got a package in the mail today, some stuff I ordered from ModelGrade last week. a little something for me and some stuff for my pen pal.

So, I'm gonna be doing another blue frame here in the near future, as a bro-op build with Dan, who is doing the Red frame I think. You guys should keep your eyes peeled for that. Also I wanted some action base 1's. so I ordered those.

My penpal however made out like a bandit on this one. I sent her my Unicorn mode Unicorn gundam with head display and she loved it. and expressed interest in building more. and then showed me some designs she liked. one of them being the justice. So I got her the justice and a stand for it, and something else that's not pictured (I think she checks this, so I wanted to keep it a surprise) so hopefully she enjoys that.


Onward, my next project will be....

the master grade Age-1 Normal. I was gonna hold off on this, but Wildo (Check his blog out here!) mentioned (and got me excited enough to enter) the Plamocon Grand prix. (entry pending) So If I am permitted entry into the competition, this will be what I'm using. so I hope you'll stay tuned and enjoy. :)

RGM Custom WIP 4 Some ranting

I wound up with three days off this week instead of my normal two. So I've been cranking work on this GM, trying to get it finished. I put the final touches on the paints on the arms, and they should be dried and ready to assemble in the morning. after which I'll be priming the weapons and the shield, and painting sometime in the evening. Hopefully if all goes according to plan, I'll be able to decal and topcoat, and then post some pictures by friday for you guys to see :) until then, here's a little to tide you over if you've been waiting to see the completed project.

I want to do a little hand brushing (this is actually kind of punny, because most of the stuff i wanna do is on the hands) and once everything is decal-ed and topcoated. I'll be able to take some nice sexy pictures of the kit.

that being said. time for me to rant a little.


about two months ago, I ordered about 70 dollars worth of paint from Plamo UK. (which really isn't that much paint, but that's besides the point) I never got any sort of shipping confirmation emails or anything, and this was after about two or so weeks of waiting for my paints to ship. of course I had already been billed, and the money had been pulled out of my account. So I emailed the owner of PlamoUK, and asked him if there was a problem with my order and if he could tell me what was going on, I guess just to put myself at ease a little. Several days go by, and nothing. So I email him once more, asking for an update on my order wondering why it's taking so long. A few days later, he responds telling me he was out of small bottles for paint, and said he would be recieving them in a day or two, afterward my paint would be put in the bottle and sent to me. I was okay with that. and thanked him for his time.

Another week or so passes, and I still havent received my paints. At this point it's been over a month and some odd days before I had even made the inital order for my paint. I know I didn't order that much, But to me that's a pretty nice chunk of money to be throwing at a product, espescially one that I've recommended to people. Anyway, I let it sit for a little longer and Finally my paints arrive at about the month and a half mark. To my dismay, the entire package smells like laquer paint, so I can tell immediately one of the bottles must have burst. and one of the corners has some paint on it. (this is all besides the fact that the box is absolutely wrecked)

This is exactly what the box looked like when I got it in the mail. So I go ahead and I open the box, Hoping nothing major has happened with my order. Immediately my heart is broken as I open the box.

I was incredibly displeased when I opened the package to see that four out of the five paints I had ordered and been waiting over a month to recieve had been burst. Ironically enough the only one that HADN'T burst was the one color that I already had. I immediately wrapped everything back up, stuffed it back in the box, and took it outside after taking these photos. I sent all of these pictures in an email to Kyle explaining what had happened, and I asked if there was anything he could do for me, partial refund, any sort of way I could get replacements, etc. And I still haven't heard any kind of response. I waited about a week, and sent another Email to him, and Still nothing. So at this point I'm really not holding my breath any longer about hearing from him, I just wanted to vent a little about this horrible shopping experience I had with plamo UK. The worst part is I've heard from several other people (that i've talked to personally and just read about) who've had similar problems ordering from him. I know I'm just a speck compared to who all he sells to, and it probably won't affect him too much, But I don't think I'm going to be ordering any products from there anymore. It's a product I enjoy. but if I have to jump through hoops after handing over my own money for a product, only to get it sent to me like this, and then I'm ultimately ignored when I inquire as to whether or not anything can be done for me. It's just not worth it. I'll continue using Tamiya paints and ordering from other shops, where I know I'll recieve my products.

Sorry for how wordy this was. I just wanted to get my point across. Hopefully if you guys decide to shop over at PlamoUK, you'll have a better experience than i did.

see you next time.

RGM Custom WIP# 2! a small quick build!

So this week has been a little crazy with snow and tornadoes and whatnot. Normally the best way to battle power outages and boredom is with some good old fashioned model building. But it's been FREEZING! But alas, all has returned to normal (for the most part) and I actually got a little work done on my RGM. With this WIP, you'll finally be able to see all the colors I'm using in the build. The colors came out a little brighter in the photos, they look just right in person. and there's a few spots in the black I need to touch up ( I guess I overthinned the paint a little) but once that's done I'll hit these pieces with a gloss coat, and move on to the legs!

Now that you see where I'm at with my RGM, time to show you the other stuff I've been working on this week.

I bought a few kits to just snap together and another for a future project (no way I'm just gonna snap the buster gundam together)

the biggest turn-off with this kit is the amount of yellow and purple stickers included. bandai should have given us a little more purple plastic... 

I've got this guy standing and almost complete, I forgot to take a picture. so I guess that'll come next blog.

Lastly, I've been working on my metal gear rex the past week or so. but I've decided I want to do a 'lets build' series for my youtube channel. So in preperations for that, I painted up the little liquid figure that's going to be going inside the cockpit on the rex. Once all of the parts have been cut from their runners and separated (I've been procrastinating on this admittedly) I'll begin the series, and you'll all see pictures and more on here.

Anyway, that's all I've got for now!

Something a little different. BATTLESTATIONS

So I haven't been in the best of moods lately. So I haven't been too motivated to work, but I'm starting to feel a little better. so regular WIP posts and videos will resume soon. But I didn't want to leave my blog empty for a week. So I thought I'd try something a little different than usual.

I imagine everyone who builds gunpla, or any sort of model, or heck, if you even just build legos. you usually have some sort of setup or place you do it. your workstation if you will. I wanted to show mine off and show off my 'mobile workstation' because I'm not usually at home when I build gunpla.

So lets start things off with my home setup and we'll get into the rest in just a bit.

So first off, we've got my desk. If I'm at home, and building. this is where my building takes place. got a nice light overhead, with plenty of gundam markers and other stuff scattered about. it's a bit messy right now. but you get the idea. It's got most of what I need for basic construction and even some detailing.

another shot of the same desk. still messy. 

now this is my airbrush paint station. anytime I wanna paint, I peg up pieces and thin down (if it's not already thinned) my paints. and go to town. 

another thing I love about my battlestation is that both of my setups are pretty close to the TV. so I can pop in a movie and enjoy. although sometimes that can lead to distraction. WHICH IS BAD.


Now that you've seen my home setup. I'm not typically home when I'm working on gunpla. Since I work nights, and don't have internet at home I usually hang out at my moms house on my days off, so lots of my actual building gets done there. So instead of carrying handfuls of materials with me wherever i go, I've set up what I call my Mobile Workstation.

 Here it is. in all of it's glory (and mess) this box has most of the materials I need to do a straight build of any kit I'm working on.

Pictured here are my gundam realtouch markers, which i use mostly for panel lining, and my gundam paint markers (which i hardly ever use at all), Scissors for cutting bags, or cutting out dry transfers and water slides, some crappy synthetic brushes; which I don't use very often. but I figure it's better to have than to want... just in case i ever need them. Some tamiya masking tape, I don't suppose this really needs to be here because this'll likely only be used in painting. but I keep it in here just in case. Sandwich bags! if you're painting or just seperating pieces. or you stop mid build. these are indispensable. A tripod for my camera, that's self explanatory. a screwdriver, also self explanatory. My video camera, also not sure why this is in here, but it is. never know when i want to videotape something. Tape, for dry transfers mostly. thinner and brush cleaner, for detail painting. and finally my tamiya weathering master kits.

and in the little red box pictured above are my testors paints, my mr hobby cement, some paint holding stuff, a mini cutting mat, some sandpaper, hobby cutters, tweezers, x-acto knives, pin vice, panel scriber, and  a handful of other things. nothing too fancy. 

and when it's all packed up you can sit a model kit right on top and it doesnt' slip and slide around too much. 

this got out of order, so here's another shot of everything sitting out.

you can even pop little SD kits, or HG's in there nicely. 

and even your standard sized MG kits fit pretty well, so no worries about carrying too much stuff.


and a few shots of the GM Custom from what I HAVE done to it.

 First up, the head has been painted. and so far i'm completely happy with what i've done. have some touching up to do because when re-assembling I chipped the paint on the back.

the grey/black combo works well on the GM i think. and the orange visor looks really slick.

a back shot. you can see the chipped paint from where i was putting the antenna on. gonna touch that up, as well as adding another layer of orange to the back camera. 

 another shot. you can see the painted vulcan a little better from this angle.

and one last shot. so that's all i've got this time. thanks for checking my stuff out. got some big plans coming up soon I think. hopefully you guys keep following me to see what I've got in store.

another thing. sorry about the bad punctuation and stuff. it's freezing and i'm just trying to knock this post out before i get hypothermia.

See you guys next time!