Off to Japan, some updates and looking back at 2013

Off to Japan in a while, so thought I would round up the year with a final post looking back at 2013, which has been a all-round good one for me, as well as give a little update as to what I have been up to. 

Setting aside personal things like (finally) getting myself in employment I actually like, watching my first born growing up past the toddler stage and into boyhood, and of course welcoming our second child into the world, my Mecha building world has grown substantially. Whereas I did not get as many models completed as I would have liked to, I have definitely improved a bit and learned a hell of a lot from my peers. I have also made some great friends and interesting characters this year through the hobby. The mecha lounge has continued to grow, with the success of the CHAOS group build setting a new standard in forum-based competition. Hats off to all the chaps on the mecha lounge for a year of fantastic work. 

Gunpla Fixations google hangouts have been a tremendous success this year, bringing together for the first time many you tube and Mecha modelling community members and continues to gain popularity, I have been lucky enough to be chosen by Jim to be a co-host of this awesome fortnightly event that you can catch up on by clicking here. New events currently in planning for the new year, and we always welcome new faces so if you are interested, do drop Jim, Justinius or myself a message through G+ :)

Updates wise, the Level Up Competition now has an amazing total of 20 entrants! I am admittedly shocked by the amount of entries and am very pleased everyone has entered into the spirit of the competition, and are genuinely upping their games. Prizes will be announced in the new year, so keep an eye on the gundamuk facebook page for updates. 

The Victory Gundam is nearing completion, I have been doing a little filming here and there so should cobble together a final WIP and reveal video in the new year. Made some slight errors on masking the red circle parts and they ended up looking a little wonky.. still I am hoping some retouching and panel lining should fix this. Just a few parts and weapons to paint now, then I can move onto assembling.  

So, after a 2 year wait I am finally going back to Japan, I'll be staying for a number of weeks and (hopefully) regularly updating the sights and sounds of all things Gunpla related on my travels in Japan. I will be (of course) visiting Gundam front and praying to the almighty 1/1 scale to provide me with another year of smooth air brushing application and non-splitting parts. I have an extensive list of items I plan to purchase, and a pretty ingenious way to get them back here to the UK with the aid of a set of clippers, and some plastic containers. Some things on my list are all the thunderbolt kits (as many as are released during my stay), and MG Nu Ver.Ka, and a HG Gerbera Tetra. I will also be picking up some exclusives that are actually worth buying and are not just recolours. No doubt there will also be large amounts of ridiculous tat that are Gundam related. The first thing I am going to eat when I arrive? A McDonalds Teriyaki Burger. If you have not had one of these, these are things that if you ate more than 2, you will have a heart attack. They are simply, stunningly tasty. We already spent considerable time planning our eating plans.. :) 

A couple of bits of news to share: Monoeye press' fantastic beginners Mecha building guide has topped the "arts and crafts" section over on Amazon. If you are new to Gunpla or need some handy and comprehensive instruction on basic technique - then this is for you. I was lucky enough to get an advance copy and I can personally say, its excellent - covering everything from the history of Mecha in Japanese culture through to panel lining, assembly and modification techniques. Pick it up now! 

Anyway, that's enough rambling for now. Thank you all for a fantastic 2013 and I wish you all a great holiday and New Year! 

A quick vid saying more thanks :)

End of October update

This month has pretty much been all about the HLJ contest entry, and I think the enthusiasm I have to move onto the next project has been somewhat of a driving factor in getting this 1/144 TR-1 Advance Hazel completed..

In my haste, as the WIP will describe over on the HLJ social media channel I have made one or two mistakes, though the results are looking adequate to good at this stage so no major stresses.

The next project is undecided as yet, I was going to move onto a bit of a practice session with the AGE kit Zedas R, which would be quite a quick build judging by its low number of runners but in both the calling of the uncompleted FAZZ, and the inherent need to build something from Gundam Seed Destiny (which I am currently watching through again at the moment) are getting in the way. On top of that.. I really would like to have a bash at the Victory.. and the Stein. Decisions decisions. I think ultimately, with my trip looming on the horizon I will opt for a quick HG, which is the Zedas R. Mood may change.. my Facebook update will indicate which path I have chosen.

Be sure to tune into the Gunpla Fixation google hangout which has moved to this coming Saturday, which I believe will be broadcasting around 4pm PST, roughly 9pm GMT (I think) - times will be confirmed on my facebook page. Hosted as usual by the venerable Jiminboo, and co-hosted by myself and the almighty bearded one Justinius. As well as the usual workbench based topics and some awesome special guests, we'll be having a lively chat about this years GBWC and it's divided attentions on top of our usual community-based topical discussions.

In the coming week I should also be making a return to YouTube, with a personal update on all things GundamUK. Not made any videos primarily as not a lot is going on other than the HLJ entry.

Finally, entrants into the Level-Up! Competition have been gathering pace, great to see so many WIPs on the go and I am entirely pleased that everyone so far has been supportive of its theme. I am seeing some great work so far and although it's going to be hard to pick out winners, it'll be a pleasure to see such amazing works of art. Prizes are still in the pipeline. More on this later :)

You can see all the entries over on the GundamUK Facebook page (in the level-up contest entries picture album) and you can click here to be reminded of the entry rules. Only 3 months left so time is ticking!

An update for September

The contest has kicked off pretty well, I have 5 very promising entries so far and really looking forward to seeing what these guys can do. If you would like to be acquainted with the post containing information on how you can enter my "level-up!" contest can be found by clicking right here. Said promised video will be making an appearance very soon.

Some may have seen I also completed the superb real grade GP-01fb, which now takes pride of place right here next to my monitor and will be subject to a paint job at a later date. A vid of this here:

Special thanks again to Japan:Cool for introducing me to this amazing range of Bandai models, and for the great success of their recent give-away on the Mecha Lounge where they generously gave away a very cool MG Jesta, and 2 £25 vouchers to two random lucky bastards winners.

I also received my second-place prize from the Justinius Builds competition which was a Real Grade Zaku 2, with a few unexpected extra bits I and the nipper were very pleased to receive - a video of the un-boxing along with my farty sidekick JK coming shortly.

Fresh in the mail this morning from E2406.com I received my first ever resin kit the form of a 1/6 scale figure of my favourite Zeta Gundam character Quattro Bajeena in all his 1980's glory:

Handsome I think you will agree. Man crush I have. Yoda style writing I do not know why I am writing.

Still in progress is the mighty FAZZ Master Grade, nearing completion of the main gun and adding some details this weekend. I may (may) start a little HG project in between, undecided at the mo. 

Thanks for reading, more soon :) 

The GundamUK Contest: Level Up!

With my hands tied for a while by parental duty, I thought now would be a good time to launch a contest!

The concept is really quite simple, I want every contestant no matter how few or many, to UP YOUR GAME and LEVEL UP!

What do I mean by this? Well, the idea is you must build yourself a mecha model, within certain constraints listed below where you improve upon your own modelling ability in some way.

Some of you are already pretty shit-hot when it comes to mecha modelling, but everyone, no matter what your skill level is has something they have not yet tried, or have reached a plateau in which they have been stuck in over time.

This contest however is not locked into the idea of improvement on your technical ability - it can also or be inclusive of an improvement in your creative skill. Perhaps you have had an idea swimming around your head for some time, but have not yet found the drive to put it into action. Or maybe you are tired of doing the same old model in different colour schemes, or for once you feel like adding a few extra barrels to that gun.

With all this in mind, I want to set some ground rules.

The Model:

• Must be modelled. By this, I mean no plain snap-fits. Anyone can snap-fit and make an ornament. Modellers make it a model. 
• A single model. No dioramas. Scratch building/modification fine. Weathering is fine. Any scale fine. 
• Must be Mecha/sci-fi based. No real-world stuff. Sorry Gary. 
• Not limited by manufacturer. 
• Must be made purely for this compo. If I see it elsewhere, sorry your disqualified. Re-entries defeat the whole premise of the contest. 

The entry requirements:

• I need legible quality photo of your kit or parts, with the entry graphic in frame (below). This can be done with a mobile phone or on a monitor in the background. Adding it in with software won't count. You can enter any time up until the closing date. Details on how to submit are below. 
• A link to a WIP somewhere. A good place to do this is on the Mecha Lounge. Judgement will be on the final model, but it always helps to see how the model was built and painted.
• Preferably a link to your previous work. Helps to see how far you have come so far. 
• A little info on what you intend to do.
• Any skill level accepted. Don't be put off by others skill levels, it's about you, not them.  
• *EDIT* 31/08/13: One entry for contestant only please! 
• *EDIT* 31/08/13: You can enter a model you have started, but it'll be on a case-by-case

Time

I will start accepting entries from today, the 31st of August and will close on February the 1st 2014. This gives you 4.6 months to complete your entry. 

The Winners

Will be chosen by me, with perhaps a little advisement from my non-participating friends and non-mecha modellers -  and will win prizes. What these prizes will be will be announced later but your motivation should be improvement and enjoying the competition and not material gain. I do understand however making models costs money, so the winner will be suitably rewarded :). I have chosen to do this to sort out the chaff from the real people who want to improve and/or compete in something they really love doing. I will also announce later on how many places will be given. 

There will also (depending on how many entries) be one winner chosen by my 3-year old son JK. 

Ok, got it and have read everything above. How do I enter?

Easy. You need to give me a "like" on my GundamUK facebook page. 

http://www.facebook.com/gundamUK

Click on "message", and attach a legible picture for your submission. I will then add your picture to an entries folder, and add your name or alias underneath with your proposed model. Once you see it here, consider that your entrance acceptance. 

Rightio, now then, once I am done?

I don't really need to tell you that they need to be a good enough quality for me to see your model in good detail, with good lighting and absolutely no photoshop trickery. Please submit 5-10 good quality pictures to:

chokaiuk+levelup@gmail.com

Please include a link to somewhere I can see your work in progress - this can be YT vids or a link to a flikr account, blog post, facebook photo set, forum thread - anywhere I can easily access. Please check links work!

Anything else?

Of course! I would also request that all entrants accept me using any material posted in WIPs, YT videos and so on in my own social media channels, so I can talk about them. These will be progress reports, nothing more and will not be showing favour to any particular participant. Depending on how many entries I get will depend on how much is featured, and of course how much spare time I have :)

I will hopefully be featuring entries (if any) on my youtube channel, youtube.com/gundamUK.

I also advise that, as the time frame is relatively short - have a good think about the scale of what you want to make and think ahead about how long it is going to take you and the stock of material you have.

If you have any questions, you can either post them on my facebook wall or message me directly. I am frequently online as I am a social hermit who scowls at sunlight.  There is probably something I have not covered here that I will later kick myself for not adding.

Please enjoy this contest, and take that extra step towards a greater potential. If your reading this, you have the interest. Now up your game. I greatly look forward to seeing what you can do.

Entry Graphic:

Real Grades

So, I was sent recently a lovely gift from the nice fellows at Japan:Cool which happens to also be my number 2 favourite Gundam of all time, the GP-01fb - in real grade format.

Since the RG line came about I never really paid it much attention. Just kind of saw them as scaled down master grades, which they essentially are. Since I have started cutting and sanding however I have come to realise just how amazing the engineering is on these things, and the scale to detail ratio is astounding!

What first struck me (which probably does not come as a surprise to most avid builders and collectors of gunpla by now) was the intricate moving parts already attached to the sprue - I found myself bending the leg joints to and from just to admire the double-joints moving along with the connecting parts that will (assuming) allow the armour parts to separate in a more "master grade" fashion. Although I think the HG line as extensive as it is still has a few years left of releases, the RG line certainly is a worthy successor in the years to come.

Bandai get's its fair share of criticism and nerd-like over analysis from it's fans. Justifiably so with its shiny special editions, updated boxes with a little extra part to its predecessor and unashamedly corporately branded re-issues of old kits taking full advantage of the unenviable buying habits of its most avid collectors (including myself, on occassion.. I can be forgiven right?), but you can say for sure regardless of its blatant profit-making, it is most importantly innovating. Bravo chaps.

Still working on it by the way. There are considerably more parts than I anticipated, and with a curious 3-year-old around I am being extra careful not to lose tiny parts in the carpet. I video of its assembly as promised will be delivered when I get around to it..  I hate this carpet in here.. I will take it up one day..

Quick vid here of me and JK opening the box.

I am also still, yes still working out the details of my forthcoming contest which has been somewhat overshadowed by the recent announcement of the HLJ compo (to which I will be participating, if I ever get the time for it...). Stay tuned here for an announcement.

Getting back into the swing

I did not actually realise it had been over a month since I wrote on this blog.. well, quite a lot has happened over the past month as you can imagine.. followers of gundamUK will know of course I have recently had a new addition to my family, a little baby boy named Ibuki who is both awesome and amazing simultaneously. Now at 4 weeks of age he is rapidly gaining weight, crying a lot and making burble noises as babies too. The good news is he gets on with his brother, and most importantly is not stressing out mum too much.

Anyway, enough about life and babies, let's talk about more important things like mecha modelling!

Currently modelling...

I have been steadily working on the master grade FAZZ (Full Armour Double Zeta) and completed the de-nubbing and initial assembly. I have now got as far as disassembling the main cannon (which is flipping hooj), priming it up, and today completed painting the metallic elements. Video wise, I may perhaps make a couple of longer vids rather than a series of short vids.. this way I can edit it all down better to make for better viewing. That and I have plans for a couple of other vids over the next couple of weeks, but you can always keep up to date with my progress on the FAZZ on the gundamUK facebook.

Mecha lounge Giveaway number flipping 2, is association with the brilliant gundammad.co.uk.

In other news, myself, the Mecha Lounge community and gundammad.co.uk have collaborated on a prize-give-away. A simple compo in which all you need to is post "shut up and give me gunpla" on the thread of the same name on the Mecha Lounge. A winner is shortly to be announced (tomorrow in fact) at random who shall receive a smashing 1/100 non-grade virtue/nadleeh combination, which is a much sought after model for me in fact and one which I shall be begrudgingly shipping to our random winner. The response to this has been pretty phenomenal, and although it did encourage the 1-post-and-fuck-off-never-to-be-seen-again types it is my hope we have encouraged some new memberships to our ever-growing and awesomely super community of Mecha Modellers. Stay tuned for yet more give-away's. Damn we're generous folks.

Short vid here on that:

The CHAOS group build draws to a successful close

Yep, the winners have been announced right here, and I must say I was thoroughly impressed by the level of entries we had. Made it incredibly difficult to judge as you can imagine, but it was a lot of fun. Here is yet another vid featuring my gawking face telling you all about it:

And lastly... Justinius Builds Music-themed contest. Holy shit I placed second!

Yeah! I know! I could not believe it either! This bit of news has most certainly brightened an otherwise dingy weekend. I was so genuinely impressed by the whole concept of this compo, and upon seeing the other entrants I was sure there was no chance I would even place in this, but I came second with my brightly coloured Boards of Canada jesta, which Justin mused about making him want to drink a can of sprite.. I can see the logic in this.. lol. Special thanks to the Justinius Builds channel for running such a superb compo that I thoroughly enjoyed participating in. I can't wait to get my prize :)

That's enough rambling for now.. more bloggy-type nonsense coming back soon.

Justinius Builds - Music Theme Contest - My Entry

I finally completed the 1/144 HG Jesta "boards of canada" custom, did not take that long and managed to squeeze in a few bouts of painting and detailing in between preparing for our new arrival in a weeks time :)

A few things learned from this - Do not use black to preshade bright colours, especially yellows.. it took 3 coats of yellow resulting in a little thickness to the coat to cover the shading effectively - up close it's still looking a little mottled but overall it fits in OK. I remember reading some advice from fellow youtuber jiminboo on a comment on another video saying you should never use black - serves me right for not paying attention!

Here is the video for the entry, of course you can view all the pictures on the GundamUK site (Which I might add, the site revamp is now almost 90% completed, more news on this later).

Stay tuned for some more blog entries soon, my next project is going to be BIG.

Later!

Mid June Update

Hello folks. Just a quick update really, finally managed to get started with the painting of the Jesta HG, which if all goes to plan with most certainly the most psychedelic model I have ever created.

Here is a quick update vid:

If you are interested, the great GundamUK sale is still ongoing over on my facebook page:
http://www.facebook.com/gundamUK

1 week remains before it all goes on eBay!

I also have a few gashapon items for sale over on my ebay, one such listing is here:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/130929946162?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649

All the best! :)

The GundamUK collection sale!

Some of you may know that we are expecting our second child this July (exciting.. mortified.. happy.. scared.. lol). Some of you may also know that my better half is Japanese, and of course it would be marvellous if we could afford to go to Japan later this year and take our new addition to meet his grandparents in Saitama. With this in mind, I have decided to have a huge blow-out collection sale of many of my rare Gundam and mecha-related items, and I would so much prefer that these go out to members of this awesome community before it all goes onto ebay. 

So, I have now put up a list of items, and pictures on my GundamUK facebook page, so please head there if you are interested in purchasing a nice little rarity!

the site is

http://www.facebook.com/gundamUK

The list will be active for a couple of weeks, and anything unsold shall be going onto ebay. If you have any questions or queries, do feel free to PM me on facebook via the GundamUK page!

In other news, I am still in the process of making up the HG Jesta for Justinius Builds contest, seam line removal has just been completed and I should be getting it primed during the week. I will hopefully find the time to make a vid on it, but its hectic at the moment as we prepare for our new arrival!

Thanks all :)

Kagutsuchi-kou, final WIP

So, I have pretty much completed the Kagusuchi-Kou frame arms now after a weekends worth of panel lining, decalling and matt coating.

The final WIP video is here (and thanks blogger for forcing me to embed this..):

and here are a couple of test shots before the final pictures are uploaded!

Final pics probably coming during the week after some editing-out of crappy backgrounds.. I really must get myself a decent backdrop and lighting set up... 

May Update

Yes, I know, its been ages right? Well, if you have been following me on my facebook or on youtube you will know I have actually been pretty busy of late, working on the Kagustuchi Kou frame arms model for the mecha lounge's CHAOS group build. In a nut shell, I am around 40% done, and with a fast approaching deadline It's looking tight but doable.

So, here's how its all going so far:

Part 1

part 2

part 3, uploaded today.. 

More progress coming next week, as well as (hopfully, if i can think of something..) a response to mokanamans awesome 2000 subscriber vid where he has asked people of the mecha universe to vid response a tutorial of some kind.

There is also some news I would like to share in regards to the awesome first ever English translated mecha-building guide from Monoeye press. An unfortunate setback in regards to images has meant the book has been slightly delayed, but fear not, its on it's way and having seen a same of the said publication I can honestly say its looking rather marvellous.. and I am looking forward very much to reading it. My thoughts on it shall be shared of course.

More later!

Gundam F91 - Completed

This weekend, I finally completed the F91. Pretty happy with how this turned out, despite the horrific smudge created on the underside of the cannon (which shall never be seen luckily due to its current pose). The base turned out OK despite the dodgy masking..

Here's a few pix:

And a little vid, which I might add is mostly the pictures above :)

End of March update

An incredibly unproductive weekend due to numerous unforeseen circumstances. Unfortunately Mrs.GundamUK has done something funny to her knee, and as a result I am having to take up the reigns of her usual tasks such as shopping, cooking and taking master GundamUK to nursery. Gunpla time has suffered - and aside from that I am experiencing a bad shortage of acrylic thinner so no work can currently progress on the F91.

On the plsu side however I have managed to dedicate a little time to planning out my mecha lounge chaos GB entry, the Kagustuchi Kou.

I am going to try out something a little more daring than my usual builds - I will be scratch-building some additional weaponry, and trying out some new damage and weathering effects. My original idea was to have a dio, but with my time limited and a June deadline I may reduce this to a simple plinth.

I have begun sanding and cleaning parts - the model itself is actually quite simple and the number of parts lies somewhere between a HG and MG, at a large HG scale. Assembly should be a breeze, and I already do not forsee any requirement for seam line removal. Some pix below along with some koto parts I will be using for the additional weaponry. I have also taken the liberty of purchasing a stack load of styrene rods and such from a good 'ol Chinese ebay-er. Delivery time will be somewhat lengthy but by golly gosh I have saved some bunts. Seriously, from a UK seller, 5x .2mm rods for nearly 9 quid including shipping? Fuck off. How about 48 from a Chinese seller for only a tenner? Hell yes. No wonder model shops are a dieing breed here in the UK. There all greedy bastards. lol.

Oh yeah.. pictures.. here you go:

Gundam F91 - WIP#4

More of the same really this weekend, mostly armour parts. Did not get as much done as expected due to time constraint  but managed to fully assemble the legs and arms. Have now completed around 80% of the painting with only the cannons to be completed now. Lots and lots of panel lining and detailing to come, as well as those lovely, iconic F91 decals! (can't wait..).

Here's a few pics:

Arms, Legs, Bazooka

Hello

Left: completed shoulder bits, Right: Preshaded body parts waiting another coat of white.

Blue body part, hard to see the shading on this though..

Shoulders, oh those shoulders.

Yellow, blue and red body bits. 

Teeny Seabrook waiting on panel lining.

Gundam F91 - WIP#3

The latest is pretty much summed up in this vid:

..and here's some pix of the assembled legs, minus the feet and pistons. Its coming together.. I think I should be done with the bulk of the painting next week. 2 weeks I think till completion :)

Early March update

Working on a bit of a re-vamp of the old looks of GundamUK, here on the blog, the site, and on the youtube (and wherever else I happen to lurk). The below is something I have been playing around with, its a very short intro sequence test for future vids.

I also made this mock today, which will possibly be the new backdrop of the site and this here blog..

Which still I might add needs a little refining.. this will take time. Here is the intro vid:

I also posted up a Gunpla Update today showing off some models I recently received  as well as other news (including that awesome londo bell badge sent to be by Tian Hong!). 

And yet another vid should be coming tomorrow for the WIP#2 of the F91. Phew, busy weekend!

Gundam F91 - WIP#2

Having completed the inner frame parts of the legs (well, mostly bar some additional things I would like to do once the whole inner frame is completed) I worked on the inner frame parts for the torso and head.

This complete, I thought I should start working on the armour parts for the legs. Unfortunately they did not turn out as expected, but none the less are mostly done.

Having applied the primer a little thick on some parts (and regrettably not sanding them smooth as you are supposed to), adding the first base coat of white created a bit of a mottled finish, so I added another layer of white to smooth it out a little. Worked to a degree - then I decided to do a little pre shading - a technique I am new to. This to, resulted in a bit of a mottled finish but much smoother. All that remains now it to add a top layer of white to smooth it all out, hopefully this will fix it because right now it looks terrible..

Sorry for the lack of video this week.. I did film some but today's and yesterdays work took a ridiculous amount of time.. so much in fact I did not have time to cut a video, so next weeks will (hopefully) be a kind of "double" WIP.

Anyway, a pic below of the pre shaded parts :)

Gundam F91 - WIP#1

I started this one around 3 months ago, assembled, cleaned and de-nubbed but have only now got around to painting it.. partly because I wanted to do a good job of it :)

Started out with the inner-frame parts of the legs, the intention being to have it mainly in metallic blue, and some parts in gold/silver for a little detail. So far I have done all the main painting, and all that remains now is to gloss coat and panel line.

Here are a few pics of the work so far:

F91, preassembly, 3 months back.

There is also quite a long vid for you to gander at here:

More soon!

HG Gadessa - WIP#3 - Completed

The Gadessa is now complete! Took a little work to complete those buggered up prongs, but I was quite pleased with how well I managed to scratch-build those prongs. Its a little dodgy and wonky in places but you would have to look quite closely to notice the defects.. and it would have been nice to add a metallic detail part here and there.

All in all, I think the model turned out well although I could have possibly spent more time working on the details - the thrusters for instance I could have masked off and added a gold metallic effect on. On retrospect, I think the emerald green and gold would have been a nice combination.

Here are a few pix of the completed model:

..And here is my final (and very short) WIP video on youtube: