Guess what came in the mail today? and other crap

Bought this PG RX-178 less than a week ago from Amazon.com. This was supposed to come in on Friday but goddamn, the Japanese mail system amazes me once again. Got this on a really busy week with work and all the crap I have to deal with. Yes, that is my bed sitting right next to a shelf full of manga I've never re-read again.

Also been Borderlands into the wee hours of the morning. It's a helluva fun game even with the lack of enemy variety. Only level 12 so far but already seen assloads of different weapons. Something about the loot system appeals to my post-MMO grinding addiction.

Anyways, will try to see what part of the Mark2 I can build tonight.

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MG Exia Ignition Mode finally done

Well, it was bound to happen. OO never was my favorite Gundam series, that distinction solely belongs to Zeta Gunam, but damn does the Exia look nice. I prefer my mobile suits to attack from range, but something about the Exia's slim and ergonomic design as a fast close-in melee
fighter piqued my interest.

Pre-ordered this bastard from HLJ and got it in about a week from release. Built with just your standard OOB method, no fancy gimmicks or anything like that except for the no-brainer finger separation mod. Used Tamiya German Gray for the inner frame and dark gunmetal for the sword and weapons. Added a flat clear topcoat as well. I only panel lined a little bit of the details since I'm not really that big a fan of adding too much like most people do.

Front view

View on the sides

GN Blades unsheated

My only beef with this kit is that the GN blades "holster" gimmick on the hips is a little bit weak, the pegs that were supposed to attached the white circular part to the hip refused to stay on if the GN blades are attached. As a matter of fact, they so weak that both pegs on the leftmost side came off and I had to do a little cementing for that.

It's too bad I didn'y have the batteries for this yet when I took these photos, would have loved to see the LCD lights in effect. I keep forgetting to grab those LR41s while grocery shopping. Funny thing is, I never noticed that the "cable" things that attach to the shoulders and legs actually do that prism effect till I took the photos.

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The Tiny Miracles that life throws at you

HORRENDOUS EXISTENTIAL BANTER:

I never considered myself to be a religious person, spiritual perhaps, but not religious. The two can probably exist hand-in-hand inside one person but I count myself to be a more spiritual person than the rigid and structural belief system that being religious is. No doubt this initial rant will be full of inconsistencies but bear with me. The sheer hypocrisy might cause one's stomach to turn but I assert now that my life and ways of thinking have always been filled with a core that is always at war with itself.

A miracle happened to me today, or at least I count it as one. There I was at a fast food place, minding my own business, getting some food when two thugs decided to rob the place (small time robbers, yay).

They herded all the customers up to the restrooms and as I was the last person they saw, one of the bastards came up to me and threatened to pistol-whip me. Hurriedly, I did what I was told and complied. I've had a gun pointed to my face before but that was in my teens, we were young, drunk and stupid; playing around with a revolver in my friends house. Anyways, in all honesty though, I was shaken up a bit inside while I was huddled around with the rest of the customers but when I looked at my hands, they weren't shaking at all. Sometimes I think I really am too numb inside. After the initial muscling around and threats, when the dudes were about to leave they checked up on us one last time and I'm guessing since I was the only guy (there were only two old ladies with me) one of the bastards pointed a gun (poor trigger discipline BTW) to my face told me to kneel and said "You better not say anything to anyone about this" or at least that's what I understood from his ghetto trash speak.

So I knelt there, closed my eyes and thought: "Holy shit! this could have been it". If these dudes weren't playing around they could have shot me and that would have been all 20+ years of my life. The only thought that was racing through my head at that time was "God, whatever sins I've done in my life, I feel like I've paid for them and more. Just get me outta this thing unscathed, and I'll call it a personal miracle." Many times I was wondering, is my soul ready? is my soul ready? is this how it ends"

Cops came in 5 minutes later, old ladies were all frantic and crying, I still was kind off in shock. Got questioned for two hours, turns out the cameras in the place didn't work so the investigation is all fucked up the hoohaa. Left the place with only a scrath in my elbow from being dropped to the floor real fast. The manager wasn't as lucky though, he had been smacked on the head and was bleeding. The robbers only took my old-ass cellphone presumably so nobody gets heroic and calls the cops. they didn't even filch anybody's wallet. I thought "good fucking riddance, I was replacing that shit anyway." It's too bad that all my keys and my favorite anime keychain were attached to my phone but oh well.

More or less I consider this event a tiny miracle granted from who knows? God, Jesus, Yahweh, Allah, Danu, Cthulhu or whatever. I feel bad that only during a close brush with probable violence and death do my feelings on spirituality intensify. I have to remind myself that this is the human condition and experiences like this are bound to spring up.

A few years ago, I started growing my hair long (it's up to 3 feet now, all tied up in a ponytail). people would always remark "When the hell are you ever gonna cut your hair?" and always, I mean ALWAYS my reply would be "Whenever God grants me a miracle." I've been thinking hard about that personal promise I made and I now stand by it.

Tomorrow I'm getting my head shaved like the monk in the pic. Some might say that this kind of thing is petty and that people get robbed all the time, but my life isn't as exciting as a US soldier in Derka-Derkastan, I really feel that a miracle has been thrown my way.

As usual when my parents learned about my day, they said the obligatory stuff about being granted a new lease on life, pray always, keep your soul on the ready. I feel that I have always done that in my own little way and it slightly annoys me to be told so.

Goodbye ponytail, you've kept me warm in the winter and made people do double takes whether I was a girl or not for almost 5 long years. I will miss you but a promise is a promise. Now off to the chopping block!!!

Here's a video to show how I really feel:

Walking contradiction

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MG Sinanju photoshoot

Had to take a day off because of sickness, so I decided to do my entry for the Gundam giveway at Figure.fm.

Ok, so this model kit was completed sometime early this year but I never really got a chance to properly photograph it like I did with my RX-178, until today. I am by no means a photography expert and I probably spent about 3 hours or more taking about a hundred pictures, setting up lamps, finaggling around with the camera's settings. Any suggestions or comments on my work are highly appreciated.

AS for the model itself, no fancy modifications were made to it. Standard Tamiya spray cans were used (mica red, metallic black and german grey). Gold trim on the armor and chrome finish for the thrusters were done with gundam markers.

I wish I could have been a bit more imaginative with the poses. The gold trim on the armor rubs off easily even after applying top coat to seal it, so I had to be extra careful just moving this beast around. If ever I have the funds to make another of this bad boy here, I'd probably paint it black like my MG Kampfer. Well that should be it for now, my head's still hurting from moving bright lights around.

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My meager mecha menagerie and first blog post

Ok, so I have decided to give the blogging thing another go, but this time try to focus more on the hobby aspect of my life rather than the ranting and raving I normally do. I usually try to separate my normal life from the Internet as much as I possibly can, which is why I never use my real name online and why I never upload any personal pictures on any social networking site (if by the slightest chance I happen to be forced to make an account on one). With that said, I act online how I act in real life: misanthropic, full of disdain and sucking the life out of the party. Yep, I'm the closest thing to dark matter astrophysicists are ever going to find on earth. Occasionally though, when the wind is right and the stars align, I would revert to my fun-loving and emphatic persona who is willing to share what's on his mind to an uncaring world. The writing of this blog entry can be considered one of those rare moments.

If you're still not bored, haven't died of self-inflicted bleeding , or have your ADD kick in and start chasing your pet rabbit after reading that pseudo-introduction I congratulate you.

Now to the meat of this first entry, my collection of mecha otaku-related stuff. I don't have much in comparison to the the über-otaku denizens of Dannychoo.com. Never have I been a really big fan of moé-moé type of figures, though I actually have a couple of them in my possession. I mostly collect just master grade Gundams and can't be bothered with the smaller sized high grades, bigger is always better I say.
Some of these models have been painted and customized, others are just straight built out of the box. As much as possible though I would rather have them all painted but since I blew my money on a new computer instead of a proper airbrush and compressor kit, that will have to wait.

(Godly?) First Tier: 2 RX-178 in Titans and AEUG colors, Hi-Nu, Shin Musha and Strike Gundam w/ IWSP. Still have to finish painting and detailing the Hi-Nu

Second Tier: Sinanju, Unicorn Gundam, Crossbone Gundam, Zeta plus c1 and RX-78-5 in blue colors


Third Tier: Mineayer Zaku II, Kampfer, Char's Custom Zaku II, VF-25S, Yamato 1:48 VF-1S Valkyrie and a Banpresto VF-1S


The collection in it's entirety, *sigh*, poor me.


Bitter rivals. Maybe i should do a better action shot for these two? Can't wait for the new show to come. I really need to fix and detail that Unicorn.


Shot of my desktop at a surprisingly clean moment.


Closer shot. the Figma Saber was from Danny Choo's Figma giveaway that I won. Thanks again, Danny-san.

Well that's about it for now, thank you for taking the time to read this. Hopefully I'll have another update from my boring and mechanically undead life.

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