Silver Striker

"Witchcraft, heresy and mutation! He built another Gundam SEED kit!!!"

So anyways, here's quite an expensive impulse buy from that certain anime store in NYC. Originally I had planned to get the Shin Matsunaga Zaku V2 or any variant of the hi-mobility Zaks but after checking online, the bastards were out of all them. Failing that, I settled for the MG blue frame 2nd revise but really did not dig the blue and yellow colors on it.

I was a bit torn on whether to go with a metallic black frame and silvery outer armor or vice versa. At one instance I actually thought about using dark gunmetal for the frame but then I realized that wouldn't be to pleasing to the eyes (at least to mine). After much thought and with a little help from the helpful attendant at the store I came up with using a flat black color for the outer armor parts with a little bit of gunmetal thrown in. The frame itself would be Tamiya gloss aluminum which I really had no prior knowledge what would look like once sprayed. I'm so glad the gamble paid off with its nice metallic sheen.

Not so good action shot >__<

REAL CLOSE UP MACRO SHOT OF BACK

It was a real joy painting the inner frame to a more metallic and flashy hue. The inner frame kind of reminded me of the T-800 upon close inspection or as my great idol James Cameron would call it "Death rendered in steel". Even the most casual person and non-gundam fan who've seen me paint it (AKA my big bro) asked me if I was building a Terminator.

CLOSE UP SHOTS OF ZE SEXY LEGS

FRONT TORSO UP CLOSE

STANDARD DORKY KNIFE WIELDING POSE

Tried replicating the high kick pose in the manual. Failing miserably. The funny and probably impressive thing is how this kit can hold this pose solid without tumbling over. The pics I've taken really don't do justice to the kind of articulation this suit is capable of. I think it's mostly because I'm afraid of the paint scratching and wearing off from moving too much.

Shots of the dual blades. Meh...not impressed by it.

Here it is wielding the overly-compensating huge-ass Tactical Arms. Couldn't really think of any creative poses for this, the little guy can barely hold it with his one arm. Apologies for using the Char stand, I keep forgetting to buy new ones.

Without a doubt, these are my favorite shots of the Silver Striker(?)

I learned a few things about myself while building this thing, one of which is how impatient and overly excited I can get regarding this hobby. T'was supposed to be a relaxing build but I think my mind was buzzed from lack of sleep, long train ride home and the after-effects of watching Avatar in 3D for the first time.

As for the gundam itself, it's a beauty. the legs are greatly articulated and detailed. I like the little touches added in to the inner frame. It has been noted by a lot of other gunpla reviews that this MG shares a lot of the tech found in the PG Red Frame. I still believe that Bandai just uses the PG line as a test-bed for all the newest tech that they'll eventually introduce into the MG line. Who knows? we may get MG 00 raisers w/ spinning motors soon.

As for minor annoyances, a couple come to mind. The movement on the arms is kind of restricted by the pauldron/shoulder armors, which in my build come off easily on the right arm. And, as with all backpacked units, it tends to get a bit unbalanced to pose when the Tactical arms is folded. And as for the decals, what a waste. They could have done more.

After all this, I'd have to say this'll probably be the last Master Grade SEED Gundam I build, never much liked the series as a whole even if the mecha design has this great modern feel to it. Well, this is the last blog post for the year. Thanks for reading!

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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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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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