MG Gundam Sandrock EW Roll-Out Color Version

Definitely there is no denying that I was eagerly itching to paint this kit after I had snapped-fit it a few days ago. After this is I'll be back to my destroy mode to finally wrap up the Unicorn. Anyway, here is the so called roll-out version - ala Exia roll-out color that I also previously did with the Gundam Virtue. At first, I thought of retaining the original white color   of the OOB because it's already a bit fine. It has a sort of off-white but still quite "plasticky" when stared at. So I then proceeded in painting it. 

The customisation I had made revolved only with the paint job. I had painted it with a flat grey and graphite. Metallic blue and honey gold for the accents. Later on, I applied soft weathering. Then of course the decals. Photos are all raw - no photoshop tricks here.

I tinkered with the B/W of my camera. Hmmmm... quite serene or dramatic for a portrait.

Out of the Box - MG Gundam Sandrock EW

Here it is! , MG Gundam Sandrock EW from the Gundam Wing Series. Staright out of the box after I've snapped fitted it. I have to admit that I temporarily froze the work on my Unicorn "Ver Ka". It took the whole night to assemble the kit. I didn't put any decals yet since I will soon paint it anyway. And just a preview and I have to say, it has a pair of sexy but a "kick-ass" heat shotels. Plus its shield is awesome!

A Glimpse of the Gundam Unicorn "Ver Ka" Metallic Inox Steel Finish

While I was on my way of trying to complete MG Gundam Unicorn "Ver Ka", the Banshee Unicorm suddenly popped out at the end of the scene in the episode 4 of the Unicorm series. Grrrr! that Banshee surely looks astonishingly cool. Apparently, the HGUC Unicorn Gundam 02 Banshee Unicorn Mode and Destroy Mode versions will be rolled-out by Bandai this coming January 2012 according to gundam.info as shown in the picture way below.

Here (above) is by the way the progress I have made with my Unicorn - so called Metallic Inox Steel Finish. I custom painted it with a mixture of carbon graphite and silver to achieve a diffrent effect so it's NOT glossy like the typical Titanium Finish that Bandai released. Though the details are not yet really visble here in the photo. I will post more detailed photos in the future once I have completed the kit. So far I have only put a couple of decals  and have to weather it. The weapons too are yet to be assembled.

Assault Virtue Roll-Out Color Version 1:100

Here it is as promised. Gundam Virtue 1:00 Review. Among the other units of the 00 gundam series Exia, Dynames, and Kyrios, the Gundam Virtue has caught my attention in the episode 10 when this mammoth size bulk purged its armor. Its massiveness may not be typically attractive but I find this kit interesting.

I was itching to buy this kit before but the stocks were usually unavailable. Until last month I was able to grab one. Surprisingly, its price is the same as other MG kits. I really don't know why until I had opened the box and found lots of runners! It should have been an MG. Only the absence of an inner frame has classified it as a No-grade. Nontheless, this kit is fun to build and customize.

Coming Soon!.....Assault Virtue: The Roll-out Color Version

Still in progress but I have managed to get a good clean shot of his face! Huge but menacing! I'll post everything once completed. I'm still working out Gundam Nadleeh inside.

Why Snap Fit?

Why Snap Fit? A review of 00 Gundam Raiser No-grade 1:100 has the answers why I rebuilt it. Certainly if you're going to simply make an out of the box build and not go beyond it then there is nothing to talk about it except of course certain ways on how to make a smooth and clean straight-build. But there are questions come to play on why do we commonly Snap-Fit our kits.

What will be the Paint/Color Scheme? Visualisation takes a better place once the model is in the palm of your hands after the snap fitting it. Choosing which kind of color will suit or not in each part of the kit gives you a more in-depth idea and concept so that it can be more tailored to your taste. It's also good to take a picture. I even play with the colors in photoshop so I can imagine vividly the colors.

Any Modifications? If you're a hard core gunpla maker then snap fitting is a sure kind of way to study all the parts- proportions, scale, articulations, etc. before starting the mods. This method really takes out a hell of imagination and artistic sense. And sometimes it's a make or break thing when dealing with mods. I have seen some awesome modifications and messy ones. So if you want take it to another level then snap fitting before the mods is the way to go.

Which Part/s to Paint or not? During the time when I built my first kit, I was so eager to custom paint it. Not paying attention to the value of snap fitting.  A grave mistake! I painted each part first before assembling them. And when assembling took place.... there are parts that are so difficult to fit together. It was because I even had painted the pegs and some of the joints. Bandai was so damn good that the parts are really measured to last millimeter so that when fitting the parts they snap perfectly.

Then, I finally realized that I had ruined my first kit's paint job after I had already assembled other kits. So I decided to rebuild it and fix the paint job. I disassembled and painted again the messed-up parts. So the photos you see here are my 00gundam's re-incarnation. The Raiser is not yet finished so for now here they are. No photoshop tricks here... these are all raw pics:)