"HARIBON" MG RMS 108 Marasai vMatX Part V

I haven't been able to touch Gunpla, literally, for two weeks since I got "swamped" with work and had a 3-day on-site seminar that left me a bit drained, even I has a little time to do work on Gunpla. I felt sleepy all the time and sometimes fall asleep in the middle of typing something (I often joke I could do things in my sleep).

Before I took that two-week break to reality, I did manage to do a very simply modification to one of the Marasai's "open hand" manipulators. I find strange that Bandai included a set of manipulators jointed at two places where the only real pose you can do with it is open-hand. I would have been satisfied if they included a pair of solid open-hand manipulators, a pair of closed-fist, and the usual v2.0 manipulators like what is included with the Zaku/Sinanju. I really don't find any logic in this.

More so, it was how the thumb digit was positioned that left me at awe. It's positioned pointing down and into the palm, with no provision to move it outward for a more dramatic pose.

So, I modified it to enable it to do an outward pose, but keep the inward pose as well. Even though this is a simple mod, it is nonetheless a delicate one. I CAREFULLY added a hole on the side of the thumb area and carved through the existing hole. I reinforced and thickened the area with 0.3mm plaplate to keep the ball of the thumb digit snugly into place regardless of its position.





I also modified and customized the head, but I'll post that much later.

When I resumed the build yesterday, I did so with uneasy hands, especially since I as cutting and bending small parts. I left off the Harbon up to the frame extensions, so it was time to "rebuild" the armor to accommodate the extensions.

First off, the arms. I decided to build the armor extension of the upper arm as a separate unit instead of attaching it directly to the existing armor in order to avoid having to contend with the shape of the base of armor as well as adding detail in the process. I made a 3mm sandwich, aligned and shaped to the cross section of the upper arm.



This served as the foundation for the shaped 0.5mm WHIPS that wraps around it to form the additional armor.



Then I simply added 1.0mm WHIPS to the lower arm extension, just enough to fit the wrist armor and align it when attached.





I used a similar approach with the thigh extension, but this time, I mounted it directly onto the armor since it has a more even shape and has a larger area. I then reinforced the top section with another piece of 0.5mm. This will help the the modification keep its form when it cures.

I used 0.5mm for this since it's easier to bend, and since it's less springy than 1.0mm, I could work faster on having it hold on to the base armor. I used magic tape (I couldn't find my regular masking tape) to hold the shape as it cured for 30 minutes, just so I can quickly do test fits and make adjustments. After 24 hours, it should be fully cured and "solid" as.





Test fit. I'll still be adding detail to this, but that will be done when I add full details overall.





Previously, even simple modifications like these will take me days to do, so I can safely say I am becoming a bit faster these days. I estimate I only have around 2 weeks, give or take a few days to finish this build. I'll try to finish the armor detailing and Wings in a week, and paint the week after that. I have another class this weekend, so that will surely eat up two whole days. So I'll probably work on the groundwork for the diorama during that time.