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RazorStar

Model Making

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So I decided to cave and pick something up that I always wanted to try, building a plastic model Gundam. My first attempt at it went alright, but because I didn't do a good job of filing out the body, the arms kept popping out of the shoulder joint. Which is fair, since I was basically using wire cutters and a sanding file instead of proper hobby tools. Well I went ahead and picked some up, along with a newer model to try and practice on. Hopefully everything turns out alright.

 

I don't think there are any other model makers here, but if there are, feel free to post what you've made.

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The Box. This is the Gundam Exia, from Gundam 00. It's the main protagonist's suit and is meant for close range combat.

 

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The plastic runners. It looks like a lot... and it kind of is. When making your models, make sure you only cut out the pieces you need for the step you're on. It's easy to lose them and some parts are very very tiny. Make sure to exercise caution when cutting out, and if you need to cut further away from the piece and file down a larger nub later, don't be afraid to.

 

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Here's the right leg completed. It's fairly flexible with working ankle, knee and hip joints. The hardest part was applying the stickers and the reflective film on the thigh and shin. I haven't done any paint or detailing work as I'm lacking a fine tipped marker for the panels.

 

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Here's the right leg all suited and armored up, compared to the frame of the left leg. As you can see, there is a lot that goes into making the leg work.

 

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Both legs are completed now, I really like the way the translucent green plastic looks on the knee joints, gives them that needed pop.

 

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And I did a little bit of work on the torso before finishing for the night. I'll show it off in more detail once it's finished.

 

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I used to love building model cars. It is a worthwhile endeavor and it seems you have a talent for it.

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Thanks, but I've still got a long way to go before I can be considered good at it. Nonetheless, I made a bit more progress today.

 

The torso as I started today. The shoulder joints were easy to assemble, but the work around the abdomen was difficult, lots of tiny pieces for the armor to cap it off meant a lot of careful filing and snipping before applying.

 

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Getting the GN drive (the piece in the back) assembled was really tricky too. And unfortunately I made an error when I was doing it. One of the internal parts, which looks like a cylinder, actually needed to be rotated another 90 degrees. You can see the little depressions on the end of the white part, they're supposed to face left, right and down. Mine face up, left, and down. The white part doesn't rotate at all, so it's stuck like that. I can orient it 180 degrees, but that just causes the same problem. Disassembling that piece is nigh impossible now.

 

There were also little metallic stickers that hide behind the green plastic part there, but it's really hard to see.

 

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The hip joints and skirt armour are finished here, and I'd have to say the hardest part was getting the skirt armor to align just right. The white part hangs really loosely until you can get the gray cap in to lock it in place. Attaching the legs to the hip joints were way easier by comparison.

 

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View of the legs from the back. The back skirt was a lot easier to put on because the piece doesn't extend too far away from the body like the front skirt does. You can get a better view of just how off the GN drive is. Ah well, can't win them all.

 

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Showing off the flexibility of the model so far. Really impressed by how solid the whole kit is.

 

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I expect it'll take me one or two more sessions to finish the head and arms, and probably another one to finish applying the decals to the body. As a comparison, here's a comparison to my first kit, the (HG) Wing Zero Gundam from Gundam Wing

 

d1EmGm4.jpg

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Aw yiss, Deadhouse Gates.

 

Those are some solid looking models. :yep:

 

Nice work so far.

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Glad you guys are digging it. I finished the arms today, which leaves the head, shoulder armour and weaponry for me to do. As well as detailing and decals of course.

 

 

Here's the frame of the arm, it comes with two seperate hand pieces, so I'm just showing it off with the closed hand for now.

 

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Part way done the arm here, the armor doesn't really stay in place until the whole arm is given it, so that white piece in front, and the one behind it (can' see from that angle) are pretty loose at that point in time.

 

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Arm complete, showing the range of motion on it. You can see that little nub on the tricep, and that's supposed to be there to attach the shoulder piece onto. Due to the way it's put in the plastic runner, it is very easy to accidentally cut that nub off, and then you're screwed unless you have some model cement. Measure twice, cut once is an old motto, but it's a good one.

 

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Both arms finished up, along with the open hand pieces.

 

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Connecting the arms to the shoulder joint was actually tougher than it looks. It fits really snug once it's in, but aligning it properly is a bit of a challenge. You basically have the bring the inner frame as far forward as you can and slide the arm socket into the ball joint at just the right angle and it'll snap in. You can see in the second picture just how nice the fit is on a side profile.

 

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1415643600929_Image_galleryImage_Myla_Da

 

 

Not sure who made this one, but whoever it is did a good job.

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I didn't realize there would be so much range of motion and intricacy to it. Super cool. I can't get myself to make my body hold precise micro-movements for very long without freaking out, so this process would be torturous. Respect.

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haha yeah, the variety of moving parts makes it very neat when it all comes together properly. I can really only devote a couple of hours to it at a time before I start getting mental fatigue, and if I try to build when I'm tired I start slipping up. I messed up the shoulder armour because I was in a bit of rush so my final product is going to end up looking a bit lopsided. I might have an idea to remedy it, but we'll see. For the time being though work has kind of hamstrung my progress on this.

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Personal anecdote: The only model I ever put together was one I got for my birthday when I was a kid. It was a 1965 Cobra like this one, but with slate blue stripes. I never cared much about cars, but I put the time into building it since it was a gift. Then not even a week after I finished it my little brother got pissed at me and squirted hand lotion on all of it and smashed it.

Edited by Zack_of_Steel

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Update time. I decided to get at this again since I had a rare day off.

 

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Here's my broken shoulder piece for reference. It's hard to see, but on the second pic you can see the stress marks on the gray plastic piece that is supposed to snap into the shoulder joint. Because of that, it can stay on, but with any sort of movement, it'll pop right out again.

 

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However the Left Shoulder applied itself just fine. the metallic sticker is supposed to look like that, and provides a second point of attachment for the shoulder piece. Because the right shoulder kept popping out I had to cut apart the sticker on it, which is why you can see it kind of hanging off the arm there.

 

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Getting started on the head. There are quite a few stickers for the eyes and the parts themselves are super tiny. This definitely took a lot of focus to complete.

 

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The head is starting to take shape, after like 20 minutes of applying the stickers to the eye piece and the sides of the head.

 

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This is the head complete, with all the armor pieces on. There is supposed to be a small yellow piece that snaps in by the cheeks there, however mine didn't snap in properly and got lost in the aether when I attached the cheek piece. After that happened I didn't bother to cut out the second one since I knew it wouldn't stick, and I'd rather have a symmetrical model.

 

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As Complete as this will get without the shoulder joint. As you can see, the mobility and flexibility of this model is great, and I'm really satisfied with the results despite the number of mistakes and screw ups I've made during the construction. All I have left now to build are the weapons, and the application of decals if I decide to go ahead and do that, although it is super frustrating sometimes.

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