Gundam Qan [T] MatX Pseudo Version Part V

Groin and Waist mod.  I decided to use the Exia's groin and waist assembly mainly because it's more flexible and articulated than the 00's.  As I have mentioned time again, the 00's construction is so poorly designed it's more of a downgrade from the Exia in terms of detail and articulation.  I was quite disappointed with the 00's simplicity after having seen the Exia's close to MG pseudo frame.

I started with the main groin assembly by cutting the top portion off and extending that with plaplates reinforced with small pieces of 3mm beams.  Note that I filed the edge of the plaplates at an angle so it can fit snugly onto the crevice, providing a greater bonding area and thus a stronger bond overall.

I've modified the Exia's waist adapter, trimming all the unnecessary parts and cemented the "nape" mod to it.

Gundam Qan [T] MatX Pseudo Version Part IV

Just another "quickie" I managed to squeeze while doing "real" work.

Reconstructed the shoulder mounts with the usual plaplate mods, and the tricky part of matching the vent size to the mount while still maintaining enough mobility.  I made the vent a bit deeper (or more protruding) just in case I need to trim later or reshape it.

I also gave it my now trademark interlock mods to keep the parts removable for easier painting later on.

Test fit.

Bandai Sues Bootleg Companies

In an article posted by Ngee Khiong, Bandai has finally made a legal move against TT Hongli which is argued to be the *best* in terms of knocking off the Bandai brand and another company camed Huang.  TT Hongli has gained a strong support over the years from "collectors" and "modelers" who purchase Gunpla knock offs mainly for economic reasons.  Hence, the rule at BAKUC for boxes to be brought as proof of purchase, rightly so because I've had a few people who have brandished that they have been able to enter knock offs at competitions in the past (not necessarily BAKUC).

TT Hongli, for one, has reproduced certain kits within months of Bandai's own, and have produced somewhat a comparable quality to that of Bandai's.

Gundam Qan [T] MatX Pseudo Version Part III

The build is getting trickier.  I have thought of just slapping plaplates on the Exia's stock shoulder mounts, an easy mod, when I realized it will look too thick for comfort, so I had two choices;  build the entire PAIR from scratch, or modify the stock mounts.  Either options would not be easy and have presented me with unique problems.  I opted to go with modifying the (assembled) mounts by cutting about 3mm from the top (bottom left pic), and 1mm laterally (bottom right) to fit the plaplate mod (top right).  I then "simply" made the chest protrusions, estimating just how big they should be.

Test fit.

Gundam Qan [T] MatX Pseudo Version Part II

Quickie update.

Like most of my mods, I kept the parts being removable by exploiting the original connective pegs and sockets. In cases when I had to cut them out, I simply replace them with either a similar-sized beam or piece of plaplate if reusing them is not an option.



I did just that with the round central armor when I mangled into pieces then rebuilt to change/reverse its form. In some cases only a small part of the original armor is left, as in the case of the lower abdominal armor.

The Dragon Ronin Astray Part XI

And the Deadline Passed Me By...

The Gerbera Straight and Tiger Pierce blades. I won't be stripping off the chrome, but, I'll just remove the nub marks.

Stripping the gold off the sword parts is soooo slow since I couldn't find Chlorox. Winrox is like Zonrox.

The last picture is after 24 hours of soaking.

Decided not to use the stock backpack since it'll take me more time modifying, so I customized something similar. I used the surplus Strike groin armor as the mold for the build.

Progress of the backpack.

The objects in the last pic are ear cleaners.... 

 The paints...

More back(pack) pains..

The mysterious thingee that has been giving me deja vus...

Initial paint stages...

A technique I used before with the Big Red/HiNu.

Instead of clear/clear gloss, I used flat/matte clear as a top coat, essentially defeating the purpose of the shiny metallic effect, but yielding, at least for me, better results...

 

 Subtle color difference between the Tiger Pierce (left) and the Gerbera Straight. I achieved this by varying the coats of Metal Alloy over flat black, then Honda Red. I used Metal Alloy instead of my usual Gold 351 since it gives a more striking and visually better effect.

 The sword guards, pummels and sheath ends finally stripped of its gold coat. There's still a wee bit left, but I'll sand those off.

Gotta love flat black. It's a primer and base coat in one, and gives a nice, deep tone to metallic paints.

Muted metallics.  They look good enough to eat... 

The stock thruster, and the custom.

Another kosutte trial. I will be using a couple of Sinanju H4 thrusters inside the custom ones.

The scabbard/sheath painted with Metal Alloy and the sword guard painted with Metal Alloy + Gold 351.

 

The scabbard/sheaths of the Tiger Pierce and Gerbera Straight.

The layered armor of the groin guard...

 

Presanding, when done right, and the parts are aligned well, basically removes the seamline even without cement. This is perfect for ootb snapbuilding.

The Gerbera Straight (top) and the Tiger Pierce.

Black and Red...

 

The yet to be finished Zen Shrine dio.

Unfortunately, I won't be able to make it to the deadline, and even though I still had a few hours left, I'd rather not ruin a good build by rushing it. 

With the head mods, the Ronin's neck looked visually short, so I decided to mod the neck joint and added 3mm, just enough to give it clearance.

I cut away the base of the ball joint from the main connector used 2mm beams and 1mm plates to rebuild the shaft. I then added pegs to the base, drilled holes to the main to make a strong connection.

Fits like a glove.

Before and After modifications...

I will have to "thicken" the neck later on. 

Assembly update.

There's a-plenty I need to rework.  Project's on-hold indefinitely...

The Dragon Ronin Astray Part X

Shot to the Heart

The gun stock of the customized weapon made with 2mm beams sandwiched between 1mm plates. The trigger is made of two pieces of 1mm sheets cemented together.

Layered 2mm beams to form the gunshaft. The design is loosely based on the Kampfer's shotgun.

 

 

 Is it a Shotgun?

Or a CrossBow?

 

The DragonBow...

The Dragon Ronin Astray Part IX

The Shoulder Armor Saga

It's basically the "final" leg of the build and I'm taking a "little" break. This gives me an opportunity to tidy up a bit just so I can gather my thoughts and psyche myself up.

Before:

After:

 

I was finishing the side skirt armor with the template shape when I realized it's better as a shoulder armor. This one and the arm shield were the toughest so far and I had to make radical changes to my original designs to simplify the build. Regardless, it still took me a bit of time to iron out the kinks.

The shoulder armor adapters. I've used the original shoulder joint attachment and built adapters. I sandwiched polycap cores with 2mm beams and 0.5mm plates. I was planning a very simple slide mechanism to lock the adapters together, but later decided on a dual peg connection for a stronger lock.

The armor and the adapter. The mid armor piece connects via peg to socket, while the top armor piece connects via socket to peg. The bottom armor (not shown), will simply be an insert underneath the mid armor and most probably be independent of motion.

I made a C-type adapter that the upper arm armor will connect to. This time, instead of using runners, I've used 3mm round beams mounted onto 3 1.0mm plates cemented together with holes drilled only barely breaking though the last sheet.

I decided to use round beams instead of runners mainly for consistency, thus eliminating the time needed to trim the runners. With the round beams, I simply insert a fresh beam onto a pre-cemented hole and the bonding is almost instantaneous because of the snug fit and there are no gaps present.

Test fit.

 

As illustrated, the armor folds only slightly inwards, but the entire thing swivels underneath the shoulder armor. I'll be using sewing pins, both as rivet heads and as hinges.

  

Test Fit