A WIP update!?!?!

Yes, it's been a while since I actually posted anything Gunpla related. And I apologize. What I'm even more sorry for, though, is how long this thing's been on the back burner...
 

Yes, I believe it was back in January when I last posted anything regarding this poor kit. What's even sadder is that it wasn't just the updates, but the actual progress itself actually halted right around then, as well...

So, what has become of our Psycho-framed decal-hell-laden kit...?

Full Armor Unicorn WIP and Other Updates

I knew this thing was gonna be a beast, but the effort I'm putting into it is far more than even I expected. I've built 3 other Ver.Ka kits in the past, so I'm familiar with the Katoki's "Decal Hell," but it's a whole different monster when you put the effort to trim them down...

Last Shooting WIP 2: MSN-02 Zeong

Okay! Back again with the shorter (photo-wise) WIP for my diorama.

... Probably confused, right?

Well, I wasn't stopping with just the RX-78-2 this time around.

LSP-001 - "Escape" Work in Progress Report

Episode 2: MSN-02 Zeong

That's right! I'm also doing the MSN-02 Zeong (head) to reenact the entire scene from the last episode of Mobile Suit Gundam!

 Back View.

Here, you can see all damaged parts created for this. I hand-crafted the melted surface using an epoxy.
The wire sticking out of the side is used for mounting the head to the Gundam's rifle beam.
I actually drilled out the hole in the Zeong's "mouth" Make it a bit more dynamic.

The explosion from before is made from poly-fiber, which I hand painted to give it the explosion depth. The scrap pieces being blown away are just parts of putty, which have been painted.
The centerpiece is the Zeong's right "ear" with the horn being bent toward the tip. The painting was done to look as if the part is reflecting the explosion.
Note that this is my first time working with suck detail, so I'm not ashamed to say I'm extremely proud of this outcome, thus far!

And here's the Zeong mounted onto the Gundam's beam rifle shot. I had to break out my Tamashii Stage 3 (Mega Man X customized) to balance the Gundam, since it isn't properly balanced to hold the weight of the Zeong's head above itself yet.

Once again, I could NOT be happier with the look of this, thus far. But, a couple things are still missing...

NEXT TIME: ... THOSE THINGS!

Last Shooting WIP 1: RX-78-2 Gundam

I've posted most of these pics in a bazillion other places, already. Buuuut, this is kinda my main hub for this hobby, so let's get to it!
Once again, this project was started way back in January, but the move and subsequent struggles following sent this to the back-burner for much of the year. But with no other models to work on right now, it's about time I finish this. Starting with...

LSP-001 - "Escape" Work in Progress Report

Episode 1: RX-78-2 Gundam

Front and back views of my modified HGUC 1/144 RX-78-2 Gundam. I used the Animation Color version from the first Gunpla Starter Set that came with the MS-06 Zaku II. The beam was taken from my scrapped RG 1/144 RX-78-2 Gundam.

Here, you can see some of the modding I did to the torso, including some serious retooling of the right shoulder to tilt it higher and stabilize it there. I used two thin runner sprues to serve as pistons in the exposed opening. I also separated the upper torso from the waist on the right side to complete the necessary arching for the arm to go almost straight up.

The neck was filled with putty and scraped at a bit to achieve the head's blown-off look. ^ ^
I painted the neck the same off-white/green (color accurate to the anime), and dry-brushed some black and silver. Then highlighted the highest parts with a combo of red, orange and yellow to make it appear still heated.

The arm was treated similarly to the neck. However, it required me to cut off the peg from the shoulder bock, and puttied the cavity to make it look marred up.
Painting was also similar treatment, but I didn't use the lighter highlights, since the arm was blown off many moments before the head, so the heat would likely have dissipated quite a bit. The shoulder armor simply had a few dings added to it with some "burned" paint treatment, since it is near the wound.

These were all very easy modifications, and I like this cleaner look versus the overly dirty look I originally approached these projects with. This better accentuates the damaged parts and draws your eye to those rather than disguises them within a chaos of messy paint streaks. ^ ^

The compact size of the HGUC makes this much easier on my paints, since I don't have to mix a whole lot as compared to an MG.
And, as I'm sure you're probably going to ask, why didn't I use the RG since I had it.
Well, that reason is 2-fold. 1: The HGUC is more accurate to the original anime in simplicity, making it feel more nostalgic. 2: Because I didn't like the RG. At all.

I'm not going to speak for the whole line, but I felt the RG was too flexable for such a small size. I couldn't pick it up without accidentally altering it's pose in, like, 12 different points. >_<

But, that's all for the RX-78! The next part had a lot more going for it, mod-wise. Despite being smaller in mass...

STAY TUNED!!