Monday, July 1, 2013

Grugnito di Build Numero Cinque

Sì, sì, sì, sì.. It is starting started. The GAF sub-annual, half yearly Grunt Build. This is number five. Another 5 and we are up to ten Grunt builds. I was there and the big ten is a sight to behold. However, back at the present, yours truly is slacking off. After a slight vision-seeing-voice-hearing-angelic-bgm encounter with the being called thegunny, I present to you [cue Mambo No 5 or maybe the annoying The Apprentice Australia promo song] (also click the bright yellow big f--- <font people, font> and travel to the thread to learn more):


As the build is currently rolling up the hill in a snail's pace, it is not too late to crawl in, slug it out [get it!?! get it?!?], build the top 3 best in the three categories (Open, Enhanced OOB, Strictly OOB) and grab yourself some great prizes from thegunny and our sponsor, the ever loving GenteiKits.

AS OF NOW, we have 11 confirmed entrants, in which Epimethius is wandering in horny land, thepuddingcup failed to crash the thread, flamingeyebrows became the auto spelling corrector (and made a good point about bulk and agility having an inverse relationship), tristan..... (oh-no-you-didn't-make that comment about girls), Pink Gundam of Doom tried to subtlety slip in that he used to have girlfriends, thegunny informed us of a hot night out with a newspaper - but things burned out pretty quickly as usual, and everyone is waiting to meet Hawk105th's friend that is a girl. As you can see, we need more quality entrants for this build.

Now that I've offended everyone, it is time for me to go back into my jungle. Till next time peeps!!

Oh wait, before that, some Rules:

Build duration:

Grunt Build #5: 0800 17 June 2013 to 2000 25 August 2013.

The finish time is just that, the finish time. No extensions will be allowed. If you have a slow internet connection then make allowances for it.

1. All GAF Grunt Builds are open to any forum member.

2. Kit requirements.

A] First and foremost the entry must be based on a Bandai or B-Club kit. Resin conversions from B-Club are also allowed. Limited non genuine plastic, metal or resin parts such as weapons, heads, hands, shields, nozzles or other small parts are allowed. If in doubt ask. Scratch building is allowed (Open only) as are the use of any type of decals (Bandai’s selection of decals is limited at best and some are very hard to locate these days). As there are a multitude of pirated B-Club kits around these days if you plan on using B-Club parts or kits please include a picture of the box top in your WIP.

B] As this a Grunt Build no custom MS are allowed. Any suit with Custom, Customise, Prototype, Experimental or Commander Type in the name, description or kit instructions are not eligible as a base kit. These kits share common parts with the grunt versions and those parts can be used. For example Char's MS-06S shares many parts with a standard MS-06 such as the Zaku Machinegun, Heat Hawk and most of the basic body work but you cannot use the parts that are specific to the 06S such as the lower leg thrusters and armour or the back pack. If you wish to give your MS those sort of things you must modify the standard parts to achieve it. Specific build requirements may from time to time over-ride this section but as a rule of thumb no custom MS base kits will be allowed.

C] To keep things simple if the MS is referred to as Custom, Customise, Prototype, Experimental or Commander Type in the kit description, instructions or primary timeline then that's what it is regardless of what it is called in any side story or game. One MS requires specific mention as it has come up in all previous builds. The MS-07B-3 Gouf Custom is sufficiently modified from the base Gouf to be considered a custom even though it's description alludes otherwise.

3. Entry requirements.

A] To be considered an entrant you must post at least one photo in the appropriate Grunt Build topic sometime between the start & finish times. The photo must show the kit before any work is done and it must show the date it was taken in some way. Please do not start a separate topic for your WIP, make all WIP posts in the main Build topic.

B] Please make sure you understand and accept the following (overseas members especially); unfortunately due to the ridiculous prices Auspost charges for postage, a condition of entry is that if you are skilful enough to pull off a victory you accept that you will pay half the postage costs or make other arrangements to collect your prize. The winners will be notified of the cost and payment details ASAP after the results have been announced. Prizes will not be sent until payment has been received. The only time this will be waived is if the prize sponsor agrees to pick up the postage costs.

4. Presentation of finished entries.

A] Once you have finished your entry please start a new topic in Field Training titled Grunt Build #5 plus the name of your entry or kit. Once judging has been completed it will be moved to The Catapult. Finished kits can be presented as stand alone figures or in a vignette (no full blown dioramas). Stands may be used to display the figure. There are some good Bandai stands around but there are also pretty good stands from other manufacturers as well. As an example of a stand you could use the Zeon or Federation Bandai action base. If you wish to do a small scene (vignette) you could for example use the Kotobukiya Chain Bases to depict repairs or re-arming. If you are going to do a vignette just remember they are only intended to be a small scene that complements the centre piece. No Cecil B DeMill productions of Ben Hur. For example if you choose to use a chain base then make it only one panel wide by one panel high.

B] As the finished entry will be judged from photographs please follow these guidelines. This is not a photography contest so no Photoshop trickery will be tolerated. You may resize and colour correct and that is it. No fancy titles, names, fades, light effects on weapons, lens trickery to hide a poorly made model, nothing! Please photograph the model against a plain background as to prevent the background from distracting from the model and crop the picture as close as possible to eliminate any unwanted background. If you wish to present your model AFTER the judging has been completed with a bit of photo trickery that’s fine but if any shopping is detected in photos submitted for judging apart for what was mentioned above then the entry will not be judged. Also do not include any props in the photos that are not part of your finished entry. As a minimum requirement you must submit 4 shots of your finished model; front, back, left & right sides. Ideal picture size is somewhere around 1200 x 900 pixels. Do not submit pictures that require going to another web site. You may use the forum's additional options to attach your pictures to your topic if you like. If you submit poor quality pictures you will be asked once to provide better ones. If you do not then don't expect to do well. Feel free to highlight any mods, assembly or painted effects you have done with extra close ups. The more pictures (to a point  ) the merrier. Remember the judges only have your pictures to go by. Poor pictures mean poor results.

5. Dates & Times.

As this is an Australian forum all times and dates are EDT. There are plenty of web sites that can convert EDT to whatever time it is in any other country.

6. Prize allocation.

Each category must have at least two finishers to be eligible for prizes (no auto winners). If you are the only finisher in your category your entry will be bumped up to the next highest category with the required amount of finishers. If this happens allowances will be made when judging.


Whatcha waitin' for eh?? Join the Gundam Australia Forum (<--- Clickety) and have the best time of your life.*

* Please be advised that the word 'best time of your life' made on this website are made in good nature but we believe that they are both accurate and reliable. We hold no responsibility for any loss or lack of great time suffered in the course of participating in the Forum.

Thursday, April 4, 2013

Gundam Australia: The Gauntlet 3: Not Just For Show! MG Nu Ver. Ka

Gundam Australia: The Gauntlet 3: Not Just For Show! The MG Nu Ver. Ka

As our third Gauntlet winds down I have a fantastic wrap up from Lupes to share, but first allow me to say a few things:

Big respect and massive thank you to Lupes for heading up another incredible Gauntlet. Anyone who has followed the goings on at GAF over the years will know that with each Gauntlet we have achieved an amazing level of quality with all finishers, and this is no exception. In fact this is my favourite selection of finished kits to date and I find it impossible to pick a favourite. They are all just that good.

Monumental thanks to Fury for the Gundam Schemer Apps .. Amazing work. God tier.

Thank you to our sponsors Hobbylink Japan for your continued support. Show your gratitude by clicking the banner and buying some Gunpla! :)

Thank you to all of the participants in the Gauntlet. Congratulations guys you have officially blown me away.

A special shoutout to Derringer for his Nu comparison topic "The Nuseum" showcasing three generations of Nu Kits. I love a good comparison and Derringer's thread was highly detailed and very interesting to read. Thanks for your contribution to the forum mate!

Finally thank you to all of the members of the Gundam Australia Forum. You are the Australian Gunpla community and it is your participation and enthusiasm that makes GAF a great place to be.

Some links:

Gundam Australia: The Gauntlet 3: Not Just For Show! The MG Nu Ver. Ka
Gundam Australia: Gauntlet Of The Apocalypse: PG Strike Freedom


(RIP GAF 1.0/Sinanju Group Build Project AKA The Gauntlet)



"This ain't nuthin but The E.N.D.
Follow me into the sun and let your soul be free"

Repost from Lupes

The End.

Of the gauntlet, that is!



That’s right folks, the Nu Gundam ver. Ka Gauntlet is now officially OVER! It was a really excellent GB that saw a lot of entries but only seven out of the nineteen entrants (counting only the open and newtype styles as they were the ones who were painting their kits) managed to finish this kit in time for the deadline. There were a few people who came close but finished is finished and I’d be selling the others who pulled through and got everything done in time short if I let others slide on not having their kits totally completed. Like Busterbeam said in one of his posts over at the GAF thread, there was a big difference between this Gauntlet and the one we held for the PG SF. With the Nu GB, everyone came in cold whereas with the PG SF we were all a ways in to the build and we just had to make that one big final push to wrap the kit up. Obviously everyone starting from zero made this a more demanding GB all around but I also think that it makes what people managed to accomplish in the three month time frame all the more impressive.





By now, everyone has seen my own Nu Gundam in Karaba colors. There were only two entries in the Newtype Style, but that’s alright. We’ll get to the other entry in a little bit! This is still one of my favorite builds that I’ve done to date, especially with the Double Funnel set attached, which I still need to snap a few more pictures for before I can update the page with those. Let’s get on to the other excellent entries.



GaiGun of the Gaijin-Gunpla fame finished his kit shortly after me with a nicely executed darker colorscheme using Tamiya’s spraycans. I especially like the bold choice he went with on the psychoframe parts, electing to use a popping candy green that would be shown off in it’s Invoke mode. His entry marked the first of the few to finish up in the Open/Gangnam style category and you can read his excellent writeup of the build as well as look at a gallery of pictures here and here respectively.



Falldog was next with his entry in to the Open style and wow, this build came out extraordinarily clean. I think by now Falldog should be known for how tidy his builds are and the Nu is no exception- all the toned down colors play off each other really well and the grays accentuate the blues and whites just right. The alternate position of the Fin Funnels looks nice too and the addition of Sazabi’s escape pod really makes for an excellent display piece! You can see the full gallery and his thoughts on the kit here.



Wolfman X’s Nu came in with a really solid military feel to it, something that really makes his kit feel unique. The colors almost feel Titan-esque but have their own spin on them that makes it stand out from others. Most of us went with brighter colors or toned down shades of bright colors and this was one of the few that took the dark color route. I also want to point out how well the stock Nu decals work with Wolfman’s colorscheme- I had to use Hi-Nu decals on my own Nu and a few others got custom sheets printed up for their builds so hats off for making them work with this kit! More of his pictures can be seen in his Catapult post over at GAF.



Shaid is up next, and is the only other person to enter and finish up their build in the Newtype field. I really like all the choices he made with this kit ranging from going with the glossy metallic frame and flat armor parts to the very well kept secret of attaching the Commander ReZEL’s wing binders to the Nu’s backpack. Sure, it cuts down on the number of Fin Funnels the kit can have equipped but frankly the choices he made go so well with the Zeta Plus A1 scheme that it hardly matters that the suit isn’t packing all 6 of it’s iconic weapons. Not to mention the paint and work overall on this kit is just plain crispy! Even the photography has a lot of pop to it. While I’d love to see pictures of it with all the armor on, given how much work Shaid put in to the frame I can see why he’d want to show it off. You can see a full gallery of this impressive kit over at his blog!



Khai was the next one across the finish line, wrapping up his build of the Titan’s colored Nu Gundam. It’s a given at this point that pretty much everything looks great in Titans colors and this Nu Gundam is no exception. Khai’s paintwork on this kit is so smooth and fresh that it almost looks like the kit was molded in these colors! The decals he used here really bring the kit to life and his mod work is just crazy! The railgun in place of the hand on the arm, the weapons on the shield, the different weapon in hand and the shoulder mounted bazooka are both top notch additions to the kit and give this a look all it’s own. There’s a full gallery (and I’m sure you can track down WIPs for how he did his mods) right here.



Last but certainly not least, Busterbeam managed to finish his monsterous kit just two minutes to midnight on the last day of the GB. He definitely didn’t disappoint with his entry! The last few models he’s done have had very well executed colorschemes and this is another one for the record books for him if you ask me (he even used his own blood in the paintjob!). The work on the frame is really tight and it’s obvious why he went took some pictures with half the armor off- I’m always impressed by people that can take frame detailing to this level and the next kit I work on after the Stein is done with I’ll give it a shot myself. The really impressive thing he’s done here is the head! No one else in the GB knew what he was doing with this so like Shaid’s ReZEL wings it came as a big surprise to everyone when he unveiled it. Something else I love about BB’s builds is that he always has a really awesome backstory for builds like this which is something I’ve already thought of for my customized Stein. You can read the story and get a good look at this kit by checking out his blog!

This GB was only as hugely successful as it was thanks to all the folks who participated and gave out feedback or got involved in various ways from making banners (I have to give a big thanks especially to fury-s21 for making an entire application that helped a lot of folks get their colorschemes in order before they started painting) and of course the GB wouldn’t have even existed without the kindness of the Gundam Australia Forums and my main man Sonar. GAF is absolutely my gunpla home on the internet outside of this little blog (fun fact: I still need to do a year 4 wrap up post! I can’t believe I’ve been doing this for so long), to the point that apparently there are people out there who think that I’m an Australian, haha. I also have to give a big thanks to HobbyLink Japan for both sponsoring GAF and in turn providing prizes for those who took part in the Gauntlet 2.0. I’m grateful to everyone who took part in this event and helped it become as large as it was and now that this is all wrapped up, we can start getting things together to decide on prizes and the like for the brave few who managed to make it across the finish line! You can keep an eye on the GAF thread for developments in that regard since that’s where everyone involved will be most likely to see it.

Thank you again, everyone!

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

89%

Almost doNe decAlling the front of the suit. A bit of paNel lines and weAthering to do yet.

Teaser shot included.

Monday, February 18, 2013

The Catapult GAF Member Feature: thegunny's Ballstrosity

What's green, have balls and shoots out loads of stuff?

The Hulk's what???

Bzzzz, wrong answer!

It is thegunny's...... hmmmm...

I present to you the Ballstrosity.







































His project started out as a Jesta on a Jabber. An unforeseen fall of the Jabber from a slight height became the stepping stone for the birth of this Ballstrosity. Two balls, armed to the teeth, makes this quite a formidable support/flight unit.

The usual gunny camo paintjob don the whole build. Needless to say, a clean paintjob. The flat coat finish gives the paintjob a shine that made this more appealing.







































Of course, the hero of the show, the Jesta was painted beautifully again with the camo and upgraded with vents, spikes and armaments. Weathered and decalled - thegunny style. A perfect finish to a well built kit.

Have a look at the original thread in the Gundam Australia Forum for more photos (it's worth it)!!

Monday, February 4, 2013

News on the Drop: February 2013

9/2/2013: 1/144 HG Shardoll Rouge ( ¥ 1365 ¥ 1040 @ HLJ)



9/2/2013: BB Delta Plus ( ¥ 1260 ¥ 1200 @ HLJ)


 16/2/2013: 1/144 HGUC MS-06R Black Tri-Stars Zaku ( ¥ 1680 ¥ 1280 @ HLJ)

 
16/2/2013: 1/144 HGUC RGM-96X Jesta Cannon ( ¥ 2100 ¥ 1600 @ HLJ)


 16/2/2013: Builder Parts: System Base Gunmetal and White ( ¥ 945 ¥ 720 @ HLJ(G) + HLJ(W))

 
23/2/2013: 1/100 MG MSN-06S Sinanju Stein Ver. Ka ( ¥ 7350 ¥ 5600 @ HLJ) 

 
23/2/2013: 1/144 HG Perfect Strike Gundam ( ¥ 1785 ¥ 1360 @ HLJ)


Layout, info and photos courtesy of Bandai Hobby Site 


Excited much? Personally, I am looking forward to the Stein (granted I cancelled my preorder and reordered a couple of times). This would be my first MG Sinanju. Simple design, straight lines and white. Whoosh!! 

Kinda on the fence with the Jesta Cannon. My gunpla-sense tells me that Bandai might plough us with the MG treatment of the Jesta Cannon (Online exclusive or not), which should look insanely menacing in that size. I would have to wait for March to see if the MG Jesta is significantly better than the HG.

What's your pick of the month? Join the discussion and more in the Gundam Australia Forum.