My Top 10 Favorite Mobile Suits

 
I'm not really planning to make any top 10 list, though I did start a blog named the X-List a while back but that's an entirely different story.  I first posted this at MAC Forum, and owing that I'm still a tad slow on the updates, I'll just put this filler for the meantime.

1.  The Sinanju - this monster, as the lore has it, was based on the Sazabi's frame.  For me, it's quite an improvement from the Saz, with all the right curves on the right places, a very balanced contrast of smooth curves and pointy edges, and a balanced overall weight to width to height ratio.  Lore-wise, it's the meaner brother of the Unicorn (which I actually didn't like up until recently when I made the Chimera) in terms of development since both were developed and created by Anaheim.  Full-Frontal, as it turns out, specifically directed the development of the Unicorn for him to have a worthy opponent.

The MG construction itself is sturdy, and looks good as it is out of the box.  There is little one can do in improving its look, but the likes of Toymaker has done wonders for this beast.

2.  The Exia - I first saw this MS design three years ago when one of my artists gave me a "copy" of the series.  I was no longer collecting Gs at the time, as my previous other collections were "destroyed" by my kids, mine proof that Gundam kits AREN'T toys (but technically, they are) since they don't stand up well enough against playful hands).  It was a gradual liking of the design itself that led my to buy the 1/100 version a year after and thus restarted my Gundam collection. 

3.  The Red Frame Astray - After the Exia, this was the kit I got from Great Toys (which was still at Goldcrest/Glorietta at that time).  This is the ONLY kit I really like from the Seed series.  I mangled my 1/100 version quite fast, as it turns out, this kit has rather brittle plastic as compared to the NG Exia.  Because I like this MS design so much, I got the PG version as soon as it came out, and has just recently acquired the MG.

4.  The Full Cloth Crossbone X1 - There's something about this kit that drew me in after having bought the F91.  It's a tad small, only 15 cm in height, so it was but natural for me to wish it was bigger.  As it turns out, scale-wise, The MS in the series itself is actually small because the developers didn't have enough money to make the Crossbone taller (which, if you ask me, is a load of bull if you look at the Xbone's armaments).

5.  The GN X - I'm not much for protagonists MS design (I don't like the Zaku or any of its incarnations and redesigns much, and the only one that grew on me is the White Wolf), but this is actually one of those fresh ideas that is neither Gundam nor Zaku in terms of design. 

6.  The Wing - Like most people I know, I started my first collection AFTER Gundam Wing was shown here in Manila.  The MG was a bit of a disappointment in ways I'd rather not discuss.  I have both the vKa and the MG versions, and I'm torn between the individual flaws of each.

7.  The Deathschythe - 'nuff said.  I had the original 1/144 HG TV version of this a while back, and got a1/100 on sale at Landmark more than 7 years ago.  Suffice it to say that this was one of those that got mangled up pretty quick.  As far as the MG version and the DS Hell are concerned, I have the same issues as with the MG Wing, and have delayed getting one.

8.  The Hi-Nu - I am impressed mainly with how the MG was constructed.  This was one of kits that really drew me in back into collecting, and was the first kit I ever painted. I got the MG Hi-Nu After, as well as the MG Nu verKA.

9.  The Turn A and Turn X - These two share the same spot because both are also radical designs that don't quite look like Gundams nor Zakus.  Unlike the Unicorn though (which didn't make it to the list), I actually liked the Turn A rather easily maybe because it's human-like in structure, and the Turn X because of how fierce it looks.

10.  The Dynames - I like the concept behind this Sniper Gundam, especially its very long range sniping capabilities of hitting a target at low earth orbit.

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Congratulations to Elbert Isaac for winning the Best Straight Category of GG's G-Shot Photo Contest with his Cleanly built MG Exia Ignition Mode.

"Quick" Fixes...

Of Flaws and Fixes.  No kit is perfect.  Not even the so-called Perfect Grades.  Perfect Grades actually suffer design, stability and structural flaws more than their smaller-scale counterparts mainly because of the amount of parts that come with the kit.  I have two PGs so far, an RF Astray and a 00.  Both are overall good enough PGs design-wise and I am actually impressed by how they are built.

I'm not sure about other PGs, but these two actually share the same basic flaw of the removability of the armor.  Some of the armor parts easily come off even with normal handling.  What's funny is, when the PG 00 came out, it was advised that one should purchase a second kit if one wanted to assemble it with the clear parts.  That's nothing more but a sales ploy because armor parts do come off easily, and this was the reason why I had to do this fix to begin with.

The problem lies within the connective sections of the parts, some of which are either too short or too thin.  Both the NG and PG Astray have this flaw, specifically at the V-fin's base and thus making the connection flimsy.  The V-Fin comes off rather easily in both cases (I am yet to get an MG RFA), and my PG Astray's forehead base broke off because the base is too darned thin.

This was a fairly easy fix.  Click here for the step by step process.

The 00's Chest Armor.  Maybe it's me or maybe it's the flaw in the armor's rather thin connective "lip," but this particular chest part (the right one), broke when I was simply handling the kit (it broke about a couple of months ago, and I only got to repair this a couple of nights ago while taking a break from the Angelus build).  Using the other chest part to align the fix, I cut the remaining part clear off the base, and cemented a set of small plaplate strips and reinforced it further with a 3mm triangular beam.  After waiting for 24 hours for the fix to cure, the OTHER one broke as well while I was test-fitting it to the chest assembly to see if I aligned the part correctly.

This time, I decided not to cut the remainder off the base, but cut it laterally and left those small supports.  I cemented an appropriate-sized piece of plaplate in between the supports, imitating the original structure of the lip.  I progressively saturated the entire fix with extra thin cement to reinforce the part and waited another 24 hours before test-fitting it again.

And viola!  As good as new and (almost) fits like a glove.

Custom PG Astray V-Fin and Bust

I didn't like the PG RF Astray's stock V-Fin so I scratch-built one out of the usual pla-plate and beam combo.

Perfect for the Dragon Ronin/1/60 Bust.

Whne I redesigned the Ronin I made a larger Vfin to match the redesign. The one on the left is the stock, the one on the right is what I made a couple of years ago. I'm itching for a double Vfin, similar to what I did with the Chimera.

PG MBF 02 Red Frame Astray Review

"The Red Giant"