Launch Imminent!

The only thing constant is Change...

I've simplified my watermark to something I've been using since college.  This is also my email signature, regardless of who I am communicating with.  The older one is fine, but it's time for a "small" change.

My band's album launch is a week away, and we kind of updated the back cover to a more appropriate image that features two of my passions (photography, is of course, another).

The kit of course, is an MG Exia with modified GN Folding Blades from my two Astraeas.  This is a preview of the 00 Infinity Gundam IX-Sword System.  The Electric Guitar is Lisa, and I found her in a thrift shop.  I was actually testing another guitar when the salesperson moved her into view, and never let her go thereafter.

MG Turn X Gundam ver MatX WIP Part IX

 
June's going to be a very hectic month for me, as I have a couple of classes, a whole day seminar, my former boss urging me to work for her again, a couple of "real" projects and not to mention our album launch, so, I'm trying to get as much Gunpla time as I can. (My build off with Falldog will have to wait a while, but, I already have a few ideas on what to do with my The O).

Anyways, more challenges unfold as I go further into this build. Simple as it may look (like a Star Trek saucer with a shark's fin stuck on it), the Turn X's shoulder armor proved nevertheless a difficult build. I thought I would have been able to do this with simple plaplate bending magic (if it were JUST a customization), but, I realized that won't do because this is after all going to be cast for reproduction considering the overall shape of the part and how I'll connect it to the arm. Also, instead of constructing this as a solid, one-piece part, I opted for a 3-piece construction.

As such, I used a different technique to build this part. Instead of sandwiching plaplates right away and sculpting them afterward, I cut out the basic shape of the base of the shoulder armor from 1.5mm HIPS. Checking for symmetry, I scored "lightly" on the middle, and attached 2mm beams appropriately to make it solid. This serves as the frame for what I dub as "progressive plaplate sculpting," which is something I've used before in earlier "simpler" builds.



The beam that runs across the middle is off center and will serve as the frame for that side. Once cut, I simply cemented another piece of beam to the other side, and braced it with 1.5mm HIPS. I'm using thicker HIPS for this to ensure a solid construction, and the beam increases the workable area and enables me to work faster (a smaller area would mean I would have to wait longer for the cement to cure before I can proceed). The mid brace serves as the first "layer," and is shaped right away and becomes the "guide" for the next layer, so on and so forth.



The 2mm rear beam also becomes the spacer for the back brace.



With that done, it's all a matter of adding the layers up one at a time and sculpting them to shape.





The middle part, or "Shark's Fin," is made by sandwiching a 1.5mm HIPS between two 1.0mm plaplates then later shaped as such (later on, I'll simply call the lot of them HIPS, as I mentioned in the tutorials, H.I.P.S., for all intents and purposes are basically plaplates). The fin also follows the undershape of the main shoulder, which was my main concern to begin with.





I've yet to do the "tail" section of the part (which will either be connected to the fin or the main sections), but that would be rather easy compared to this. I'm still deciding whether to keep the parts separate and simply add connective parts, or cement them as one solid piece.  I'll finish this by cementing bent plaplates over the top section.  This method actually enables me to get a more accurate and better curved surface.

Random Modifications Part II: The PG 00's "Wings"

When I posted "Random Modifications" here and across the forums, I got a "friendly" challenge from someone at Hobby Fanatics to do this:

Which isn't really hard to do (at least for me).

I simply modified the blue armor parts of the drive wing support to increase its swing range.

I could still make the angle more dramatic later on.  The swing angle is also limited by how the articulation is designed. I didn't want to alter that unless I really have to, since I might damage it inadvertently.

The thing is, owing to how the drives function in season two of the anime, doing that sort of pose is pretty useless.  There's also a scene (or a picture) where the drives are swung completely forward so that the 00 can speed backward, so at this pose, will the drives hold the 00 at a hover, or let it fall dowards fast?  The Exia can execute all sorts of movement regardless of the drive's orientation, so, it's either a plot oversight, or it really doesn't matter so as long as it can do a "kewl" pose.