HGIBO 1/144 Gundam Astaroth Quick build and review

Ok, I decided to pick this guy up from amiami.com since I had a shipment within the same month, and since shipping is nearly the same with or without Astaroth, I decided to go with it. This won't be a formal review like I did before since I was building this in my rented house. So I will just do a quick review of this and show you the basics and details of the kit. I will not be using the sticker provided with this kit except for the eyes as I think I might have plans for this kit.

WIP custom abyss gundam update

Some minor updates on my custom abyss gundam, Already sprayed most of the joint and cannon parts with some Mr.Hobby Dark Grey (2). Decided to add a bit of mettalic parts on abyss' gundam binder cannons. I drill a bit on the end of the cannons to widen up the hole to make sure the metallic parts could fit in. It worked out perfectly fine without the need to use super glue for me to secure the metallic parts. A pretty simple mod but yeah I'm kinda of a newbie when it comes to modding stuff and adding metallic parts.

 Pics of it before being assembled, I forgot to take the picture of before and after the hole widening on the barrels. But it's pretty easy for you to widen it if you know the size of the metallic part's peg end.

And here is the pic of it after insertion. Turned out quite nice than I thought. Probably will removed these and insert them again after I topcoat the barrel's with matte clearcoat.

Slight update on current progress

So, haven't been touching much gunpla lately due to work again, So far it's just been priming the parts then checking for defects for the past 3 weeks really, but most of the mods seem to end up being fine, the only hard part is masking and painting each part. Also decided to go to a weekend flea market to see if there are any old or rare to find kits and sure enough there were at least a few that piqued my interest. They weren't necessary buys but I couldn't resist the urge to get them since they were there in a pair.

Yup, pretty much the main parts are primed and ready to paint. Just the head is giving me some slight scratch marks here and there. Still need to restock primer before finishing this up.  Seam lines so far aren't apparent in the large parts and mostly left are in the shoulders which shouldn't be a problem with slight putty if need be.

Yeah, I found these guys in a second hand shop selling for like RM15 each, color swap was intentional I guess or the previous owner decided to do so. Since both of them were there I just couldn't help it. They're pretty much in good shape, don't see nothing broken except for the mercurius' defensor bits being loose but that could be fixed and also a rigid hose for Vayaete's cannon to it's generator missing. I am still unsure if I want to restore them completely with a painted build or decided to kitbash both of them into one unit. I have another vayaete in storage and an unbuilt HG Serpent. I could probably use them for thought.

1/144 Abyss gundam Custom Build temporary build up

Well, here's a slight view of the the Abyss Gundam kit I'm working on for the Mid year challenge which I have around less than one month for it to be completed. Still need to fix up some seem lines, smooth-en some putty application around the legs and the feet. I also need to do some more detailing a bit. Don't want to overdo it in case I might make irreversible mistakes. I mostly have time for kits on weekends only and IF I'm not working during those times so progress is actually kinda slow for it being only a HG kit. These pics were taken before my WIP #2 post came up so you'd notice some of the items I posted on that post aren't visible yet in here. So far I haven't actually transformed it into MA mode yet but I don't think it would pose a problem for the body, only the side skirts and the legs I guess. The kit was slightly flimsy while I took these pics since I assembled it loosely and then proceeded with repairing it more. So far among what I've built in the years of building gunpla, this is actually the most heaviest mod I ever did on a kit.

 I guess the feet looks a bit elongated from this point of view but rest assured the size isn't that big than I thought it would be since the Hazel kits were slightly smaller than your average HG kits.

The back cannons aren't completed by this stage so I didn't get to see if it was back heavy yet after installing the epyon shield and heat whip and also an amount of putty to secure it to the original abyss gundam backpack. Legs seems to be slightly off but maybe that because of me assembling the legs loosely so it isn't standing on the same level as the other leg.

I also decided to leave the forearms alone and not do any extra item installing, just only deepen some panel lines for the elbow guard so it won't hinder with MA transformation. I tried using other forearms from other kits and the size and bulkiness of them doesn't seem to slot into the shoulder binders nicely.

1/144 Abyss Gundam custom build WIP #2

Hey guys, It's been awhile since I last updated my blog, haven't been doing much of gunpla recently. Just an update on my Abyss Gundam custom build. Added some stuff, did more putty cleaning, added some plaplates and panel scribing for detail. Just some minor additions to fill in gaps and and also added some stuff to give more details.

 

For the backfeet, I had to add some plaplates to fill in the gaps around the original abyss feet.  Then I added some putty to clean up the seamlines that seem to be stubborn and hard to remove using your standard mr.cement technique. All that's left is just to sand and prime for inspection.

1/144 Abyss Gundam custom build WIP #1

Okay so here is it is my first custom build for the year 2016. Had this old abyss kit a few years back and did well a pretty much cheap paint job on it ( Let's forget about this shall we?). So I decided to do a slightly more customized build of Abyss gundam using pla plates and also parts from other kits that I considered scrap parts. Still need to refine them more. Truth be told this is actually my first time in doing this kind of mods so Guess I'll be going with the flow I guess. I pretty much got the inspiration of doing this kind of build based on the SEED destiny R  of the forbidden, raider and calamity gundams. I figured why not do these kind of mod on the new gens. Haven't really decided a new yet for this but lets get straight to the pics right?

For the leg parts, I added an extra thruster vent on the sides of the legs. Not finalized yet as the plaplate is kinda thin to be a wall so I really need to thicken it up with more plates. Overall, I'm quite satisfied with it, just need to smooth out the putty there. Probably need to add more slight panel lines.

1/144 Gaogaigar with dividing driver painted build

Well, finally finished painting this bad boy during the weekend, made a little color adjustment for gaoleon head and I have to say I am quite satisfied with the result. This kit was intended to be a birthday give for a best friend. Was kinda hasty to give it to him since the deadline was around the corner, or else I would have made more detailed shots. anyway here it is for you guys viewing , hope you enjoy it. Didn't do much in detailing since this kit wasn't intended to have them.