Thunnus Posted December 2, 2020 Share Posted December 2, 2020 This is a sci-fi build that is probably outside of everyone's realm of registry. A niche within a niche within a niche. A model of a giant robot from a 1970's Japanese anime. I'm not even going to explain it further than that or present any sprues... just start building it and sharing as it comes to together. If you are interested, go ahead and google it and you'll see what it is supposed to look like but my plan is to apply some aircraft scale modeling sensibility into this. Right off the bat, I'll say that Bandai makes superb models. I think their primary market is sci-fi figures, especially from the Gundam universe. Most of their models are designed to be assembled without glue but don't let that fool you into thinking that these are snap-together kits made for kids. They can be quite complex and incorporate innovative joint mechanisms to make their figures posable. I've built a few Bandai kits, most recently being a Star Wars Storm Trooper and I've been very impressed at (a) how well they go together and (b) how realistic the poses can be... Ok... so here we go! The entire model is molded in the appropriate colors. Giant robots from the 1970's were quite colorful and this kit has sprues in black, dark grey, metallic grey, orange, yellow, red and blue plastic! Everything will be repainted but I will be sticking with the original anime color scheme. As I mentioned, this model is designed to be assembled without glue and so most joins are super tight and meant to be permanent. I'll probably be building one assembly at a time. You're supposed to start at the head but I'm going to save that towards the end. So I'm going to start with the arms. These are supposed to be saw-like weapons housed in the forearms of the robot. Molded in metallic grey. Just for fun, I sharpened the edges of the individual blades! They were painted with AK Extreme Metallic Polished Aluminum and then given a dark wash to highlight the detail. Sorry but that's it for now! Still need to sort out construction order and whatnot and my Me262 build is still ongoing. Troy Molitor, scvrobeson, LSP_K2 and 2 others 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nessus Posted December 2, 2020 Share Posted December 2, 2020 Robots.................not in the Gundam Universe! Piloted Mobile Suits or Mobile Armour that need to battle in line of sight due to the Minovsky effect! Nice start John, although I have to admit the UC designs will always be my favourite! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Out2gtcha Posted December 2, 2020 Share Posted December 2, 2020 Great start John, and I wholeheartedly agree that the Bandai kits are really superb. I recently built one of their speeder bike troopers and it was a ton of fun. I distinctly remember how amped I was over Voltron Defender of the Universe! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troy Molitor Posted December 2, 2020 Share Posted December 2, 2020 Ha! Another one to follow along. Nice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thunnus Posted December 3, 2020 Author Share Posted December 3, 2020 4 hours ago, Nessus said: Robots.................not in the Gundam Universe! Piloted Mobile Suits or Mobile Armour that need to battle in line of sight due to the Minovsky effect! Nice start John, although I have to admit the UC designs will always be my favourite! Comments??? Great! Getter Robo is a Go Nagai design. He's responsible for lots of the old school giant robots like Mazinger Z, Great Mazinger, Grendizer and Getter Robo. These anime aired during my childhood so they have a soft place in my heart. 4 hours ago, Out2gtcha said: Great start John, and I wholeheartedly agree that the Bandai kits are really superb. I recently built one of their speeder bike troopers and it was a ton of fun. I distinctly remember how amped I was over Voltron Defender of the Universe! Thanks Brian! I tend to be pretty narrowly focused in my builds (Late War Luftwaffe) but will enjoy the occasional foray into other genres. The Bandai Star Wars kits are really good. That Perfect Grade Millennium Falcon was tempting! 3 hours ago, Troy Molitor said: Ha! Another one to follow along. Nice. Ha is right! A more relaxing type of build. No one can tell me that I got the colors wrong or messed up the details. This one's ALL MINE! I'm going to make a test painting run with the right arm assembly. I mount them on cocktail sticks so I can paint them. Although the model comes in the right colors, I think a coat of paint helps lose that toylike translucence of the kit plastic. And I want to change up the colors just a little bit to be more anime-correct. The blue color will be slightly changed to a more baby blue. And the silver components will be painted white. This is where it gets a little strange. I think the intention of the anime creators may have been to have some metallic coloration on this robot but metal is hard to replicate in animation so those parts were portrayed as white. I'm guessing this because most of the painted figures that I see, including this one, show this part of the arm as being metallic. But in my mind, per the anime, it's white so that's what I'm going to do. Hard to tell but I've sprayed the colors onto the parts. I added a little bit of brown to Tamiya's Red to deepen the color. The model comes with multiple sets of hands. This one had some seams that I sealed and was painted red. All of the painted parts were given a clear coat as I'm going to experiment with some panel liner. I've picked out some details in Metallic Grey on the right hand. Out2gtcha, scvrobeson, LSP_K2 and 3 others 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Out2gtcha Posted December 3, 2020 Share Posted December 3, 2020 Nice work! I like the gloss for Gundams and robots and Si-Fi and such. 13 minutes ago, Thunnus said: Thanks Brian! I tend to be pretty narrowly focused in my builds (Late War Luftwaffe) but will enjoy the occasional foray into other genres. The Bandai Star Wars kits are really good. That Perfect Grade Millennium Falcon was tempting! It was TOO tempting for me! I picked one up a year or more back with the light set. Totally worth it!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dodgem37 Posted December 3, 2020 Share Posted December 3, 2020 I'm building a couple of Bandai snap tight kits at the moment, as well. Will be getting a couple more. X-Wing, for sure. I keep vacillating on the MF, but it's not getting any cheaper. Remarkable engineering. Fit is perfect. Detail is minute and crisp. Everything you would want a model company to example in their products. Really impressive. Sincerely, Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thunnus Posted December 3, 2020 Author Share Posted December 3, 2020 The right arm components have been painted, given a wash and sprayed with a flat coat. The dark grey parts are the internal joint mechanism and have been left unpainted. Assembly of the right arm can begin and the components are snapped into place. The right arm is completed! There was some color shifting of the red due to either the wash or flat coat (or both) and it's not as bright as I'd like it. As a test, I sprayed the little wrist joint with straight Tamiya Red (no brown added) and I think I'm going to re-do the hand and arm components similarly. I'll take a final look at it later today and decide. scvrobeson, Rockie Yarwood, Gazzas and 3 others 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scvrobeson Posted December 5, 2020 Share Posted December 5, 2020 Nice progress so far! These Bandai kits are always great as a little distraction from other builds, and they do go together great. I know some of the Star Wars kits had issues with enamel washes messing with the plastic and causing cracking, seems like it'd been fixed though. Matt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thunnus Posted December 29, 2020 Author Share Posted December 29, 2020 A long pause on this project as I did not like how the matt that I was using (Model Master Clear Flat Acryl) was toning down the brightness of the red. I've tried MIG Lucky Ultra Matt with better results. It is a funky, water-based flat finish that feels a bit rubbery when dry and is somewhat tricky to use. If it goes down wet, it tends to stay shiny so application technique is key and I often have had to go back to tone down shiny spots. But there it seems to be better at not altering the tone of the colors. The legs have been painted so I have a complete set of arms and legs! Gazzas, LSP_K2 and scvrobeson 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thunnus Posted December 30, 2020 Author Share Posted December 30, 2020 The torso components drying after painting and the flat coat. After painting, it is just a matter of snapping the pieces together... no glue required. Bandai included shiny metallic tape for the chest emblem. The chest assembly is attached to the hips. The major body components have been painted, except the head. Getter Dragon is now standing, waiting for its head. chukw, Out2gtcha, Gazzas and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Out2gtcha Posted December 30, 2020 Share Posted December 30, 2020 Looks great! Colors look good Thunnus 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gazzas Posted December 31, 2020 Share Posted December 31, 2020 (edited) Looks awesome, John! As always, your paintwork is spectacular. Edited December 31, 2020 by Gazzas Thunnus 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thunnus Posted January 1, 2021 Author Share Posted January 1, 2021 Thanks guys! This little detour is just about over. The head is complete and popped into place... And now I have a finished giant robot model... Here is a clip of the anime that inspired this build... Back to our regularly scheduled programming... Out2gtcha 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Out2gtcha Posted January 1, 2021 Share Posted January 1, 2021 Love it! I think it turned out phenomenal. I'm current in a diversion myself.....its good to step out from our usual! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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