So it’s been awhile since my last post, and I thought that today I would try something different since I am putting together my most expensive, and complex gundam yet. I, for once, am going to a semi step-by-step sorta deal. When i’m all done i’ll give it a quick review/overview so it’ll be a 2 in 1 post. So here we go. Oh, and please ignore the stuff in the background haha. I took these at 2am and this is the most level part of my room for showing things off due to my height. So yeah ignore all the boxes and Kodomo no Jikan stuff.

This is what I am putting together. The Perfect Grade Strike Gundam. What is a perfect grade you may ask? (if you care haha). Well to my knowlege the grading of Gundam kits goes as such. Ungraded, High Grade (1/144 scale generaly, sometimes 1/100), Master Grade (usualy 1/100), Perfect Grade (1/60). They are the top end of the Gundam model spectrum and as such also require the most work, and most paitence to complete. If you so wish, it is very easy to put together a Master Grade gundam in around 8 hours give or take. That’s usualy how long it takes me. Perfect grade Gundams (and i’m going on what other people have said, as I havn’t finished one yet) is that they take a few DAYS to finish as the sheer number of parts is so high. As an example of what I mean, I would estimate the number of parts in an MG kit would be around 200. PG Kits have over 560 minimum. Some up to 800. Now, lets begin with this thing.

Day 1

So I woke up and got started straight away. I took the parts I needed for the legs (working in reverse order than im used to, which is a good thing. you work your way up from the feet) and feet and sprayed them out in the yard. No photos of that because after all, whats so special about runners (plastic that holds the parts together) on a clothes line? Nothing. Unfortunately due to being out of stock, I don’t have any spraypaint for the red, blue or yellow sections of this kit (Next Day Edit – They have come into stock once more, so i’ve ordered a ton and they arrive in 2 mondays time) That is going to be a bit of disapointment but since this is my first attempt at actualy spraying and inking a gundam perhaps it’s better I try my hand at it first. So I finished the foot in around 10 min. Nothing special really except the sheer size of this guy’s foot compaired to the 1/100 MG scale kits is massive.

See? Besides the obvious fact my photoshop and photography skills suck, thats almost double the size. About an hour later I had the leg finished. Again nothing too special. What I love about this leg though is that so many things move when you do the simplest thing like bend the knee. Now I see why there are so many parts

Ignore the fact it looks like I have nail polish on (spray paint SUCKS to get off your nails without metho or something). Say mabye 10 – 20 min later I had the entire thing finished. Next up was to apply the stickers (no decals, buu. thats crap, I don’t like stickers) and ink the leg. Here is the finished product. Sorry, best I could do so late at night.

All day and I have 2 whole legs to show for my effort. Man this is going to be 1 huge Gundam. More to come when I am able to continue.

Next Day Edit – Ok so I’m not able to continue today because it seems its raining and i may very well run out of spray paint for this guy. After spraying both legs (only small cans mind you) I may have enough for mabye 1 or 2 runners but thats about it I think. So this may be put on hold until 2 mondays away when my next shippment of spray arrives. Joy T.T

Chaos Wars is a Playstation 2 game that was released early this June. Of course someone decided to add English voice acting. On a postitive note, the game does have music by Sound Horizon. If video game companies can’t at least catch up to anime dubs, perhaps they should quit. Then again, people will complain that they have to read.

Moetan figures, books, pillows, banners, stickers and even Moetan clothing. Obsession of anime can be really wonderful. Ebay and living in Japan helps.

Well come the 27th it will be my birthday. I decided to buy myself a gift package because I do enjoy gifts quite a bit. What? Nothing wrong buying yourself a gift. So I figured I would Just make a small post about what I bought because i’m a little picky about things I buy believe it or not. Also note worthy that while i’m not a fan of any of the Gundam anime series, I do love some of their models because they look great and are fun to put together.

So first up this is originaly what I bought and only planned on getting this little cutie. As any Gundam 00 fan will know, this is Haro who accompanies Lockon Stratos inside his gundam. While I have yet to get any of these items (they arrive monday or tuesday) according to the description given, he reacts to voice by lighting up his eyes and saying a few phrases. On top of this he can rock left and right when he is on his special stand. He can also tell the time and function as an alarm clock if you want. Another feature this has is if you roll it on the floor, when it gets upright it will pop open its ear flaps and say a phrase. He comes with 2 arms and legs which you can pose him with if, like me, you wouldn’t want to ruin him.

Next up we have a Master Grade 1/100 Zeta Plus C1 Type from Gundam ZZ. Having never even heard of Gundam ZZ before last night, this model was rather surprisingly cool to look at. As you can see he is all gray with some white, silver and blue on him. Quite a welcome change from the usual white base you tend to find. When these actually arrive, I may put some pictures up of the finished results incase anyone coming here also likes to make these. He also transforms into a plane! Woo! He is like the Kyrios model I have only cooler looking.

Moving along, we have another Master Grade Gundam. 1/100 Wing Gundam Zero Endless Waltz Version to be exact from Gundam Wing. When I saw this I had to buy it as it just looks so damn cool. After seeing the Zeta gundam this one was a little ordinary with its colour scheme but it more than makes up for it with awesome looking wings. Comes with its own display stand too so He will have a place on my desk next to my already built Hi-Nu Gundam from Char’s Counterattack.

Yet another Master Grade kit here. Actualy they are all MG rank so I won’t bother saying that anymore. This one comes from the 08th MS Team series according to the site. He is a 1/100 GM Sniper. What caught my eye about this fella was the colour scheme, like the Zeta, and the fact his huge sniper gun was wired into his backpack and then is in turn, wired into a big generator (I assume) which comes with him. He was quite cheap too so it was a win win.

Next we have the 1/100 MG Strike Noir Gundam kit, from Gundam Seed Stargazer. Again this guy is pretty cool looking with his colour, which actualy reminds me of Saber’s kit I bought years and years ago from the Tekkaman Blade series. Anyway this guy has these funky Scorpion-esque whip things that come out of his hands and I thought that was so cool that I had to get him. His wings on his back open up as well to look even cooler when he is all posed up.

Finaly we have a kit from a series I have never even heard of before last night, Super Robot War. His name is Alteisen, and is the heaviest of the lot that I bought (most kits here are around 800g, this guy is 1300g) This guy is what set me off on my Gundam hunt because after reading some of the stuff he has in/on him and seeing his pictures I just had to buy him. According to details he has Individually articulated fingers, which is pretty damn awesome I think. On top of that his shoulder cannons open up which again reminds me of Tekkaman Blade’s kit. On top of that he has something i’ve never seen in a MG kit and that is when you push his “vernier” as the site puts it, an LED inside his head will light up and show his eyes. Thats pretty cool. Just wondering if you can keep his eyes on for good. That would look pretty spiffy i’d imagine but I would be willing to bet it would drain the battery and kill the LED rather fast. On top of that, this kit comes with a 12cm high PVC model of his pilot to stand next to if you wish. I’m not sure I really care about that but I may as well add it to my collection.

Note: I could only find a blue painted version of this guy but this is him none the less…

So as I said these havn’t arrived yet but when they do I may sort of continue this post and put up some finished product versions along with the collection I already have. Not sure yet.

Anime publisher ADV ended the magazine Newtype USA and replaced it with a general media magazine PiQ. Of course subscribers weren’t happy getting something unrelated to what they paid for. It also didn’t help that a reputation of insulting and poking fun of its reads was growing. Without much shock PiQ has ended after four issues. This could also be another sign that ADV as a whole is having problems and perhaps near an end themselves?

The mainsite for PiQ does hint at more news coming soon. Newtype USA was making profits when it was published, why ruin it? But it’s true that it was expensive and in theory it didn’t help grow interest in anime and manga with non-fans.

So for those who read my Clannad Visual Novel write up or just like Clannad in general, I thought I would post about some items that are currently out and about to come out. There are only 2 but they are pretty worthy of money I think. Since these measurements are in centimeters, you’ll have to work out inch conversion for yourself if your in the US.

First up we have a Clannad Tapestry which looks quite nice. It measures 120cm x 65cm so physicaly it’s quite large which is a good thing. I’ve ordered this one today so I can’t say much for the quality of it but judging from the price i’d bet it’ll be really nice. Speaking of price, this currently runs for 4,000 yen, which works out around $38 US. A bit more expensive than what you would find at other online shops selling Hellsing or Naruto (eucgh) equivalents, but I’m sure that this is made up for in quality. My only gripe? NO FUUKO! WHAT GIVES?! She is the best character in the entire game/series and they leave her out?.

Next up we have a plush Botan which just looks adorable. He is about 18.5CM long and looks pretty much exactly as you would expect him to look. This little guy also sells for $38 US so again he isn’t cheap, but cmon… look how adorable he is. Awwwww. The only thing that would make him better is if when you hugged him or applied pressure to him, he viborated. Not sure if that was shown in the anime version but he does it in the Visual Novel. Yeah dont ask.

I’ll be sure to pick 1 of these up for my birthday