Official Brisbane Qualifier for GBWC 2012 Announced!

Zombster is pleased to announce that they will be running the first Bandai GunPla Builders World Cup - Brisbane Qualifier this year through the Brisbane Supanova event happening on the 4th - 6th of November at the RNA Showgrounds.  Zombster is very excited to bring the qualifier to Brisbane and hopes to increase the Brisbane presence at the 2012 Australian finals in Sydney.

They're still ironing out the details for the event, but wanted to make sure that you have plenty of time to prepare your entries.  You can submit your entry form here.  You will also find the current rules and regulations regarding the event as well as the category definitions.  A brief explanation of the categories:

Standard
For entries built out of box with no modification or scratch building and no dioramas.  Painting and official Gundam decals are encouraged.  One entry per person.

Advanced
Open for any type of kit remodeling, scratch building is allowed for additional parts to incorporate with the kit. Multiple entries allowed per person.

As with the Sydney finals, there are also matching junior categories for those 14 and under.

As Brisbane Supanova is a 3-day event, Zombster kindly ask everyone to bring their entries on Friday, 4th of November while Supanova’s doors are open, 1-7 PM.  It is highly recommended that if you are going to attend the Supanova event to purchase a weekend pass for easy (read: easier) entry on Saturday and Sunday.  People’s Choice votes will only be accepted on Saturday from 10 AM to 6 PM.  The winners will be announced Sunday afternoon.

Please use the official announcement at GAF for questions and comments.  Zombster are open to suggestions and will be announcing further information regarding the awards soon.
Addendum by Gundam Australia:

Gundam Australia are proud to announce that in conjunction with and infinite thanks to Zombster, Hobbyco, and Bandai, we will be presenting Zombster's Gundam workshop throughout the convention!

This will really be a great opportunity for Brisbane's anime fans, Otaku, and otherwise casually interested Domo-kun T-shirt sporting folks to try their hand at some gunpla all for the cost of admission only!

After the success of the recent Gundam Australia Gunpla workshop at this year's QMHE, we are thrilled to be presented with the opportunity to hone our skills in workshop presentation and share our passion on such a big scale!

The Catapult: GAF Member Feature - GundamPRO's 1/72 Kshatriya

GundamPRO are a professional completed Gundam model online retailer and home to the Dragon Workshop, headed by Dengeki King Of Gunpla and renowned world champion Master Lung and his team of extroardinarily talented artists based in Hong Kong. These folks are true masters of their craft and spare no detail in perfecting their work. Work which you can own, for a price.

I have been a big fan of GundamPRO's work for some years now, and it has always been an honour to have them share their amazing work with our comparatively insignificant forum.

When GP announced they would be tackling the G-System 1/72 Kshatriya kit I was instantly excited by the familiar feeling of anticipation I experience when something BIG is about to go down in the Gunpla universe. Some months have gone by with little more than a facebook update or two about it, and suddenly I am confronted with the completed work as I stop to check in at the forums!

The G-System kit captures the ferocity of the Kshatriya in a way that Bandai has yet been unable to replicate. I think it is in the sharp angles that this occurs, given the obtusely bulbous design.

The beauty of GundamPRO's work is in the infinite, perfect details and the flawless finish. Sure you can glance at it and think hell, that's nice, but it is in taking the time to peer into the windows of their photographs and understand just what they are trying to illustrate in each shot that the wonders begin to unfold.

Prepare to be amazed.

The page is very image heavy so you might wanna go make a snack or something while you wait for it to load, but it is indeed worth the wait.

GundamPRO's 1/72 Kshatriya at GAF

Grunt MS: Ex Details Announced!

The Grunt MS GB will end here this coming Thursday, but the Grunt MS: Ex will launch immediately after, as mentioned before this a contest build off with the best build taking home some prizes. This first theme has been chosen by the GAF staff.

Coming the beginning of September is The Grunt MS: EX first challenge! Vanguard of Zeon! To win you must put your best skills to work on any Zeon kit out there, official details and rules will be announced on launch day, September 1st, and this contest will run a good 2-3 months so you will all have plenty of time to compete.


Click the banner to check out the action! ZIEG ZEON! 

G.G. Infinite News Launched - Evolution of the Gundam Guy Team!

Hey guys, just wanted to do a small update to tell you about Gundam Guy's new website. If you are like me, Gundam Guy's Blog is your browser's home page (okay, maybe I'm just too Gundam obsessed >> ), but today, you better switch up those URLs, because G.G. Infinite News just launched. The G.G. Team has already got a whole backlog of news from the blog up and two reviews up and it just launched! Go check it out!

Welcome to Gundam Australia Forum Ver. 2.0!

With infinite thanks to Fury-S12 for the awesome custom theme, I am proud to present to you the Gundam Australia Forum 2.0! (ver. Beta)

First of all let me say that nobody likes change, and if you dislike the new look at first please give it a chance to grow on you for a few days. Secondly, Fury and I have done extensive testing of the new theme but there is no better test than a live run across a hundred different machines and browsers. This theme will remain the default theme for Gundam Australia from now on, and will be considered the Beta testing version for the next couple of weeks while we hunt for issues. All of you guys will be our official testers for the initial period ;)

Please let us know if you find any bugs in this topic and we will jump right(ish) on it. :)

This is very exciting for us here at GAF. A custom forum theme has been on our want list since re-launching as GAF 1.5 just over a year ago, and even before that as GAF 1.0 at evilcow for those of you who remember it. To see it come to fruition after 4 years in the pipeline is a very special occasion for us.

We have more and more exciting things in store for the second half of 2011, and moving into 2012, so stay tuned!

Among them will be the revival of the data from GAF 1.0, in the form of an archived forum (Yay!), the first big comp sponsored by HLJ (soon!), the launch of the Gundam Australia website proper (later), plenty of awesome group builds, (some including prizes for the winners!), plus all of the usual friendly and helpful atmosphere that we are renowned for.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank YOU! All of you guys and gals, our members, are what make this place what it is. Without you we would not exist so a big Big BIG Thank You sincerely for your contribution to the forum and your willingness to help and be friendly with all newcomers. I honestly believe that this is what sets us apart as a forum and makes this a truly special place to be. You guys humble me. Keep being awesome.

Extra special thanks to the GAF team. Cam you have gone so far beyond the call of duty with creating this theme and I am more grateful for that than words can express. ZETA NEWTYPE thank you for all your hard work with the blog, social networking, and the Grunt GB. I'm very excited about where we can take this in the next 12 months. Hoardz and Hemish a big thanks to you guys for your unquestioning committment to QMHE and the hours and resources you guys have volunteered for the cause, and also for being a couple of good mates. Alphabeta, Xenomorph, and roggstudelpest for your help also with QMHE. Random a very special thank you to you for offering us your elite level design work and for being a very good friend. Zahmad, GhostofZeon, and thegunny for your silent vigil watching over the forums. I am pretty particluar about my requests and a bit of a perfectionist so a very special thank you to all of you guys for putting up with me!

This topic is now open to the forum. Please let us know your praises and criticisms on the new look, your feedback helps make this place better!

We hope you like our new look, and we look forward to sharing bigger and better GAF things with you over the coming months and years!

(Thanks to Tonghoo for the awesome SD Sinanju!)

QLD's First Ever Gundam Competition at QMHE 2011!

QLD’s First Gundam model Competition!Gundam Australia, Hobbylink Japan, Hobbyco, Zombster, and QMHE are proud to present the inclusion of a Mecha category for the first time ever at this year’s 16th Annual QLD Scale Model Chamionships, at the Queensland Model and Hobby Expo on the 20th and 21st of August 2011.

Gundam plastic models, or “Gunpla” are currently experiencing a boom in Australia. Recently in Sydney we were honoured for Bandai Hobby Division to include us in the international Gunpla Builder’s World Cup for the second time. The event was a great success with over 60 entries, thousands of spectators, the grand prize allowing the winners to travel free to Hong Kong later in the year to compete in the world finals!

Our community is small but it is growing quickly. Currently the Gundam Australia Forum has over 350 members. Our aim is to promote enjoyment of the Gunpla hobby both online and within our local communities.

Gundam Australia will be holding a free Gunpla workshop on Saturday and Sunday with limited places available to try your hand at building one of the free kits supplied by our sponsor Hobbylink Japan.

The Mecha competition will be also include prizes for the winners courtesy of sponsors Hobbyco and Zombster!

Entry to QMHE is $7 for Adults, $5 for children 12 and under, and $18 for a family of 2 adults and 2 children.

Where:
Brisbane Table Tennis Center
86 Green Terrace, Downey Park
Brisbane

When:
Saturday the 20th of August, 2011 (9am to 5pm)
Sunday the 21st of August, 2011 (9am to 4pm)

We’d love to see you at the Queensland Model and Hobby Expo 2011!

Links:

http://www.gundamaustralia.com
http://www.qmhe.com
http://www.hlj.com
http://www.zombster.com.au/
http://www.hobbyco.com.au/

MG Delta Plus Review

Another informative and well written piece by Falldog @ Otaku Revolution. Well worth the read if your MG Delta Plus is shipping to you as we speak, or if you are yet to make the purchase, this might just sway you.

http://otakurevolution.com/content/mg-delta-plus-review

To see some freshly painted interpretations and another great review, you can check out this post at GAF.

The Argama Hangar #1 - August - Zeta Newtype's Report on Otakon and the GAF Horizon

Okay, apologies upfront for being absent for a bit, but I bring you one massive update!  WARNING: This is incredibly photo heavy!

Back in the days of my Zeta Newtype Gunpla blog I used to do a little something called the Argama Hangar, it was a little monthly thing I did to keep my ducks in a line. It was structure! Now I'm bringing it to the GAF blog to do a monthly report of not just my experiences, but GAF as a whole. Don't worry, I won't bog this blog down with my personal backlog each month :P

First up, my Otakon Report, which was going to be massive, but I went through my photos today and half of them we're blurry and just all around crap, which kind of sucked because most of them were from Bandai/Bluefin's booth showcasing some awesome Gunpla and future releases, but alas, a good portion I can still share with you!

Nothing here was shown we haven't already seen yet of course, but it was great to see it in person, like I'm sure some of you felt like when you saw some of this stuff at SMASH.  Isn't that HUGE Unicorn Gundam awesome? It's like 7ft and it greeted you as you walked into Gunpla heavy. I walked away from this place with the following swag:

My first Perfect Grade, and it's the Gundam MK-II, I love Zeta machines obviously! The others are of the S.H. Figuarts of the San Diego Comic Con exclusive Son Goku and TaToBa Kamen Rider OOO! Plenty of fun times we're had at Otakon this year, and met some friends face to face for the first time, Arthur and Tom, you guys rocked, and of course it was most excellent to see Dylan again. I didn't get good shots from the Gundam photoshoot since I was technically in it, but here's a shot of Arthur (Packard) and Tom (Char) with Kamen Rider Stronger!

That's it for my report from Otakon, now let's look at GAF stuff shall we?

First of all I would like to publicly thank each and everyone of you who are participating in the Grunt MS Build. We are winding down to the close at Aug. 30th and the results so far have been nothing but outstanding. It was a great honor to host such an successful GB and to see the work of a great community I've found myself in. You have helped me grow as a Gunplar watching each and one of your builds come to life. Be sure to check us out, we're in the long stretch before the Grunt MS:Ex Challenge series approaches, and we are hard at work bringing some interesting challenges for you great Gunplars!

 

The 00 Raiser 'Flour Bake' has taken off lately with the release of the MG 00 Raiser, however, it's losing steam because we all seem to be working on other things. Oh, distractions, how annoying you are sometimes. I have no doubt we will see this GB fire up again, I myself have updates in it and I need to get back to cracking! Be sure to click the banner above to see the first round of work being done. 

Similar to the 00 Raiser GB, this GB hasn't picked up full steam yet, but there's great ideas flowing,  and remember! This one ends with a winner and prizes! Click on the banner for details.

The new GB on the block is the MG Delta Plus Recolour Challenge by the bossman himself, Sonar! This one is a doozy and it's celebrating the release of a HIGHLY anticipated kit. There's a storm rumbling of people jumping on this one. Recolour a Delta Plus and perhaps you can win prizes from HobbyLink Japan.

The MG ReZEL and Bearguy GBs are chugging along as well, while the updates are far and in between they still exist! 

 

And it all comes down to this..

Where are the heroes? Who are our heroes?

Well, we're about to find out people, this Gauntlet ends in September and will these Strike Freedoms be our heroes or....bringers of the Apocalypse itself!

All dramatics aside, we've seen some FANTASTIC work from this GB, and with such heavyweights attached to the GB, it's no wonder. From a personal standpoint, the work Gaijin Gunpla has done with his Strike Freedom is awe inspiring. Keep an eye on that awesome thread and the GAF blog for the final updates! ONWARD!!!

Well that's it for my report, as always, Keep up the Gunpla, Newtypes!

Finding Nemo

With appropriate guilt for not doing it earlier, I present to you this absolutely beautiful rendition of Master Grade Nemo ...some 4 days after it was posted. ^~^

This master work is created by GAF member Falldog as his entry to our snowballing Grunt Mobile Suit Group Build: Ode to Cannon Fodder . Amazingly, it is painted mostly by spray can with a few touch ups and details by hand!

I feel this build has not yet received the response it deserved as it is not only cleanly built, but flawlessly painted, wonderfully detailed, highly original in colour, and creatively and very cleanly decalled. The Nemo is a simple design, a grunt suit from Zeta Gundam, and as such potentially easily overlooked.

However it is the subtleties that make this a really great design and one that has grown on me very much in response to Falldog's work with the kit.

Falldog is no stranger to the Nemo, having also created this incredible and highly underrated work named Night of the Living Nemo, a play on the zombie flick from the 80's of similar name.

When Falldog is not producing masterful gunpla works, he writes for Gunpla and Japanese pop culture blog Otaku Revolution and also has a great sub-section called A Layman's Guide to Gunpla, not just a must-read for anyone curious about the hobby but very immersive for the seasoned hobbyist as well.

As a valued member of the Gundam Australia community and a very skilled gunpla, it is my distinct pleasure to feature Falldog's work at GAF Blog.

Enjoy more of this awesome Nemo at Gundam Australia Forum and read the extensive write up about the build process plus more pics at Otaku Revolution.