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:

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!

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:

Mid-January update

Hello!

After completing the Rick Dias MG I thought I should take the pace down a bit with a HG model, and decided to build the "Geara Zulu Angelo Sauper use". I say take it down a bit.. in fact this is probably going to take some time, the trim on this kit is very detailed so no doubt i'll be frustratingly hand-painting the detail on this kit. Progress to follow in later posts.

Still having a think about what to do for the chaos GB. I have a model in mind, the Kagasuchi-kou from Kotobukiya (with some additional modifications in the shape of missile launchers, and "AA" style guns, still being planned). I have bought the model but unfortunately it's on backorder form HLJ so I am in for a bit of a wait..so having some thoughts about a possible diorama. I should also probably consider another model in case this one has troubles getting to me.. hmmmm.

Anyways, here's a vid of my latest update:

Plans for 2013

Hey all, following my recent review of everything that went down in 2012, I thought I would share a little with you of what my plans are (gunpla wise) for 2013.

On my shopping list I am looking at getting:

The Rosen Zulu, despite is apparent sticker hell. 

The Zee Zulu

This will complete my neo-zeonic Zulu style collection I think, having already built a Geara Doga and still having the Angelo Sauper custom Geara Zulu.

I will also be getting this:

The Kotobukiya type 48 Kagusuchi-Kou Frame arms. If it ever comes off "back ordered" on HLJ.com. It is my intention to use this for the chaos GB as my entry in the ground forces team :)

Which leads me neatly (without mentioning the 50 odd other kits I may be getting, not forgetting the Nu-gundam of course) onto one of my main plans for this year, and that is to better my modelling skills by attempting my first diorama. 

I have not really avoided making one as such, just due to time and space constraint I did not really deem it necessary to do, but with this group build starting off I thought I should step it up a little and challenge myself with something a little more advanced. Planning is in progress, and updates will of course be shown though the youtube channel, or on my facebook page. There will also be a WIP thred started in the lounge when work starts. 

Anything else? Well, I will also at some point, perhaps in the latter half of this year (after the arrival of our second child due in July) be getting hold of a resin kit, preferably a 1/60. Again, purely to challenge myself and push my current skills to their limits and hopefully beyond. I think there will be tears.. :) 

And so begins a year of more learning, cock-ups, triumphs and breakages. My passion (obsession) for this hobby thankfully persists and with more discoveries of kits and imaginative creativity from the community around me I am sure it'll persist for many years to come :) 

Straight up start to end build and paint of the Rick Dias MG coming soon, this Sunday I think. 

Have a good one everyone!

Ryurai Kai Suppression Vanguard custom

Took around 5 weeks to complete, on and off of course interspersed with family life and activity. All-in-all I really like the design of this model, it has a real chunky, thick-armour feel and is the closest match to what I can only describe as a walking tank!

The addition of the gatling gun was a bit of a whim, but it did give me the idea to call it the "suppression vanguard  with the idea of this machine being a pure, frontline mech with artillery and ballistics combined. Its heavy armour would make it ideal for initialising battlefield operations by laying down a spray of gatling cannon bullets along side long-range artillery, enabling other forces for drive forward with less challenge.

In summary, assembly was easy and straightforward, the inner frame gets very loose, very quickly and the model does suffer a lot from "droop". The additional armour bits are really cool, although I kind of ran out of steam to detail those parts properly so they returned to the box where perhaps future frame arms will utilise them. Would I get another frame arms model? Yes, if i like the design of course. Some final pictures below:

Late November Gunpla Update

Hello Gunplanatics! It's been an action packed weekend of blowing up balloons, wrapping presents and putting up decorations in celebration of my sons 3rd birthday, so not much Gunpla wise has actually happened. Despite that, I did receive some new things from HLJ, and purchased some amazingly awesome things in the recent sales, even though I can't really afford it.

Anyways, here is a short video of me rambling in your face about stuff:

Ryurai kai continues this coming weekend with some detailing, panel lining and decalling. Should have it all wrapped up pretty soon.

Ryurai Kai - WIP 3

Quite a productive weekend this for a change, well, that and I had a lovely day off work on Wednesday and spent it all painting. All airbrushing now completed.

Managed to do a lovely Norwegian flag on one of the shoulder armour parts - take a look in the video below which is mostly me unmasking things.. :)

With a little luck, should have this completed by next weekend. Got to give it a gloss coat, do some decal work and some panel lining, then we're done :)

Ryurai Kai - WIP 2

With a rudimentary thought of colour scheme now figured out, the work on painting and slightly modifying has begun. I decided to make the grey parts a light blue, with a shading of royal blue. On top of this, with some masked off parts will be a JA grey. I also scribed in some additional lines in the leg armour - to better the separation on the masked parts and to serve as additional detail. Further colours are yet to be decided but I am leaning towards a beige, along with some stripy motif of some kind.

Took me forever it seems just to prime the gray parts. Once it was all primed (after several airbrush clogs and cleans) I had already lost half the day, and doing the masking and first undercoat of royal blue took up the rest. Lessons learned here - if your brush is consistently clogging, your not thinning it enough. Although I trusted the primer to be adequately thinned for my needs, it was a false presumption. I knew I bought a bottle of thinner from plamo UK for a reason.. Next time it will run smoother I hope.

Once the royal blue was completed, it left a bobbly, dirty residue, in which after some deliberation I decided to stick with as a "texture detail", some of course would grin with a sceptical comment about laziness, they would probably in all fairness be half right :)

Anyway, a video of the preceding described WIP below. Turned out quite nice in the end, and with the discovery of the additional Gatling cannon hidden in my spare parts bin, this Ryurai-Kai I have decided to title:

"Model 38 Ryurai-Kai: Suppression vanguard"

Now I need to hunt for some suitable decals :)

Thanks for watching and reading, more soon!

Frame Arms: Ryurai Kai first impressions

Throughout the week I have been doing the usual cutting/sanding, getting the most laborious task out of the way in preparation for assembly this weekend. 

Now it is complete, I can summarise it as a pretty enjoyable build, with a few flaws and some cool extras. Lets start with the problems. The frame itself. Its loose and flimsy. It may be just my copy, but I had to unfortunately glue it in some places otherwise the legs would be coming off by a gentle breeze. Some parts were a little tough to fit, while other parts snapped on a little weirdly and sat at odd angles (the plates of additional armour on the front of the legs a prime example). 

Model 38 Type 1 Ryurai Kai Frame Arms

Now for the good stuff. It looks amazing. To my surprise it came with some alternative armour parts I was not expecting. This way, you can wither make it the mean-looking, heavily armoured artillery type or the more streamlined, infantry type. The benefit to this of course is that I can paint all the parts, and effectively get two models out of it! 

Will I get another one? Well, maybe. On looks alone it's totally up my street. On build, I enjoinder it but when parts started to drop off with no effort at all I could not help feeling disappointed  In balance though, it gets a thumbs up for sure. Coming up next time, let' see how well it paints :) 

Here's a vid of the assembly: