Trace Remnants

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Small update~!

My current (partially completed) project: HG GN-X

Thanks to immaterial for the Sparkling clear red stand. ;D

I was taking a stroll through Greenhills with my friends one time and I just happened upon this certain HG kit. I didn't buy it immediately, but I was really tempted to that time. Aside from the nice box art, what really grabbed my attention about this kit was the design. It somehow reminds me of Masamune Shirow mecha with its long, stabilizer-type fins and curved appearance that's almost insect-like.



The kit is really nice. Very sleek and poseable (although the stabilizers kind of get in the way). Arms are single-jointed and can only bend half-way, as are the knee joints. The shoulders can move forward, backward, up and down. Some good features about the legs are the fact that the joints connecting the pelvis with the upper leg can move 360 degrees and the back leg cover can swivel up and down, not hindering the leg movement. Poor thing can't kneel though.


A close-up of the GN-X face. Pardon the lack of detail, I didn't have time to detail the face (I was too bored to mix gundam marker paints and I kinda misplaced my fine-tipped brush so...)
I used the stock sticker because I didn't have any silver and clear purple paint that time but the effect is pretty good overall.



Another thing that I really enjoyed about this kit is its rifle! Very sleek, and really big when the long barrel is attached.



Some pics of the GN-X in action:



Thanks for browsing!

[miasong]

nice review on your gnx!! suuper!! ;D

[RainerO]

yup indeed aside that from it's great, consider the price quite reasonable to get it!

[kingferic]

awesome review of the GN-X bro...

[Vlad]

nice choice of kits sir! i see that you're a 08th MS team fan that's a great gundam series

nice shots and review on the Astraea and the GN-X too!

[qb]

nice review of the GN-X bro. now I'm really excited to finish mine. Hehe. ;D

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Thanks everyone!

The GN-X is really a nice kit, but the price was a little bit off for me, especially after comparing it with an enact... I still plan to paint it again just to get my money's worth. ;D

@vlad: I am an 8th MS Team fan. My first fave unit from that series is the GOUF CUSTOM. Too bad there's little hope for Bandai to churn out a 1/100 APSARUS.


Thanks for looking. My current projects right now are a bit on hold again, but I'll try to post what other kits I have left.

[Lotur]

superb review pre! equally superb job on the GN-X!
learned a lot just from browsing over the GN-X breakdown, thanks for sharing john!

[raps]

Nice... I like this design...

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Short update!

I've been busy organizing the stuff in my room and I rarely get the chance to buy new kits (thanks to the bad influence of a few friends. XD Details later) so updates are pretty scarce, but I still do find the time to assemble some back-log.


I'm currently assembling an MG F91. Technically my second one; the other is now a recruit in Lotur's army. I felt so attached to the kit that I bought another one and promised myself that I'd do a better job of assembling and adding details.


Head and Weapon sensors:

I cut and shaped some clear, dark green plastic, coated one side with tamiya chrome silver and let it dry for a few hours. after letting the paint dry, I attached the cut plastic pieces to the sensors with the unpainted side facing out. Here are the results:

Front main camera:

Notice that the silver paint catches the light, giving the illusion of depth. XD

Rear view camera.



Beam Rifle camera:

This darn thing was probably the most difficult part to make. Width is about 1/3 a millimeter and length is 1 1/2 millimeter. tweezers really helped in the attaching process because I have fat, clumsy fingers. Xp

Beam Bazooka camera:

The biggest camera, therefore the easiest to attach. I might have to repaint the chrome, but it'll depend if I'm lazy or not. XD


Eye sensors:



Having mixed thoughts about this one because I can't just attach the clear green plastic. The reason is it'll hinder the F91 mask if you'll want to change it from regular, to open-face mode. I opted to paint it with gundam markers for the time being. I'll scratch build a set of clear green eyes when I have the time to do so.

That's it for the F91. Full assembly with details soon!


As for figures, this is what I got recently:


Figma Miku Hatsune. Cute figure! (If you're wondering where I got the clear green plastic, your clue is right here in this picture. XD


MMS Skygirls Eika. Thanks to immaterial and Zidac for this one. They presented the opportunity for me to buy it, and I took it! ... at the cost of a few minutes of running. XD Well worth the effort for this figure though.



Shot of Eika testing out some clear green plastic. I might mod this into something a shinki might be able to use.

That's all for now!

[Lotur]

nice tutorial on the F91 pre!
amazing attention to detail!
and thanks again for the other F91 kit

kudos on the new figs!

[miasong]

Nice tutorial indeed. Thanks for this tip and will try to do these one of these days. Eheheh. The mech your building is quite interesting. I can't wait to see this one displayed in full.

[RainerO]

Nice hauls and great wip there on your f91!

[kingferic]

nice Figs and great update on your MG F91 bro...

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@everyone: Thanks! I just happened to pass by our local convenience store on my way home that time and I was thinking of an alternative for clear pla-plate and clear green paint. The alternative cost about 1/10th the total cost of what I originally intended.

Lotur: hehe. My attention to detail is is nothing compared to how much you improved with your modeling skills.

miasong: I just happened to be a bit broke, but at the right place and the right time when inspiration kicked in.


F91 update:

I had some free time to finish detailing the MG F91

Box is still mint... (Thanks chuckles!)


Shoulder armor assembly:


Pretty bland without the decals. I'll probably stick them on when I have some more free time in the near future.


Right and Left arm assembly:



Here's something I liked about this kit. The basic frame was the same for both arms, but the external armor for the left arm is different, thanks to the energy shield holder.


Leg assembly:



A little close-up on the leg details. two different pens for detailing were used. One solid black pen for the thick panel lines, another, slightly grayish pen for the thinner lines.


The leg's range of movement is very good! Another thing, regarding the knees of the kit. Before sliding the knee cover on the knee joint, give both sides of the knee joint a good sanding (I used an 800 grit sandpaper to do the job). It'll help lessen the frustration of accidentally breaking any part of the leg. Trust me. XD


External upper torso armor:


Upper torso assembly:

Mmm. Glossy blue parts. thankfully, the sprue nubs were located in places where it wouldn't really be noticed so cleaning the parts was pretty easy. I detailed the panel lines with light blue gundam markers rather than the regular Black to mix things up a bit. I'm pretty pleased with the result.

Lower Torso assembly:

I really enjoyed assembling this part mostly because of the side skirt armor. The left and right skirts are different, the left side is used to hold both beam sabers, the right side houses an extra shield generator that can be attached to the left arm.


When I test-fitted the right side armor, the parts didn't really close properly, so I had to make small cuts to the hinges. This made the skirt cover loosen up. A small piece of plastic with a half-circle shape seen in this picture helps push the hinge sidewards from the center and makes the joint "tighter" This helps prevent the cover from accidentally opening itself.



Lower torso attached to both legs. I can't seem to stop playing with the beam bazooka holder. :3



Dual VSBR's assembled. Notice that I didn't follow the manual exactly and went on to attach the VSBR's to the parts that connect it to the body. The reason is because of this:


The part where you connect the VSBR to; the part that swivels is very prone to breaking. This procedure reduces that risk.

The part of the VSBR which was attached to the sprue. Thankfully, the parts weren't deformed and I didn't make any mistakes in cutting so there's almost no trace of leftover plastic nubs. The gloss finish of the parts did give me a difficult time though.



The upper torso with dual VSBR's attached the first picture has no external armor, the second picture shows it with the external armor.

Final assembly (Without weapons):




Front View (with stand):


Slight overhead shot (No stand):


Front view with slight close-up:

Mmm... Light blue panel lines. XD


Back view:



Close-up of the rear head camera.


Close-up of Face (Open mode)




My detailing and assembly of the F91 was slightly delayed thanks to my newly-bought action figure; Figma Miku Hatsune ;D




After detailing the weapons, I let Miku test them out a bit.





That's it for this update!