Showing posts with label gunpla. Show all posts
Showing posts with label gunpla. Show all posts

Sunday, October 22, 2017

GBWC 2017 || HG Z'Gok + Acguy: The Arctic Front

Last year, I dampened my feet in the vast ocean of gunpla with my Z'Gok diorama titled, "Imaginary Sky." This year, I decided to build on the concept of ice and snow with a more complex diorama. 

My inspiration came from the Russian Lake Baikal with its brilliant turquoise ice and vast glacier-esque mountains. I wanted something reminiscent of the Eastern Front during World War II and the brutal Russian winters.

I really love the arctic. There's a trend here. Although not perfect, I am proud to call this piece my own and I hope you will love it just as much as I do.

Without further adieu, I present The Arctic Front. I encourage you all to look closely at the little details.


















Materials used:
- Wooden base, foam, and jewelry chains from Michael's
- Liquitex Heavy Gloss Gel
- Foam sculpting tools by Hot Wire Foam Factory
- Citadel and Mr. Hobby paints

I will be putting a work in progress blog together on the construction of this piece shortly as well!

Thank you so much to everyone who approached me at NYCC because they either loved my diorama or recognized it from my progress photos on Instagram. You made this year so much for meaningful. I am determined to improve and do even better for 2018.

'Til next year, everyone.

Monday, May 1, 2017

NYC Gunpla Builders Meetup at Kulu Desserts


As if Saturday wasn't awesome enough with Tamashii Nations in town, Jordan and I got invited to a local Gunpla builders meetup in NYC (thanks, Poh!). I honestly wasn't sure what to expect - I am quite the casual Gunpla builder and didn't have anything painted to bring, so I brought along my snapped Origin Zaku I just for fun.




The meetup was held at Kulu Desserts in Elmhurst, NY with ample table space for us Gundam enthusiasts to spread out and share our work. Kulu Desserts features lots of yummy food like dumplings, pudding, and bubble waffles (I really must try one next time for sure). They also offered free Thai tea (YUM!) drinks to the builders, which I thought was really sweet of them.



Overall, the atmosphere of the meetup was awesome. I felt right at home and was welcomed right away. I didn't realize it at first, but the owner likes to build gunpla too! He had an impressive case of models he has built, including some gorgeous Saint Seiya ones. My favorite though, was of course the Kulu Custom RX-78-2. :) If you're in the area, definitely check them out, especially if you're a Gundam fan!

One of the greatest aspects of the gunpla hobby for me is seeing all of the finished models and how different they look! Even the same exact kit can look totally different painted by someone else. In that respect, it is sort of like the doll community, where one doll sculpt can look completely different, even though the base is the same.

Check out some of the amazing kits I got to see:

 Two Grimgerdes: left by Raymond Liu, right by 00gundamreviewsv2 (ED).

 Gundam Berith by Blindmech Plamo, Gundam Heavyarms - I did not get the name, I'm sorry!

 Black Tri-Stars Zaku II, Zaku II Head by Squee's Workbench, Gusion Rebake by Rxsunahime.




At the event, they raffled off a generous amount of P-Bandai kits and everyone who brought an assembled model got to take home a Petit'GGuy in the color of their choice (pink, blue, yellow, or red)! I think little Garma has claimed the Petit'GGuy as his own. They look so cute together, don't you think? I will have to turn it into a Garma Zabi Custom Petit'GGuy now. :)


Be sure to check out the rest of my photos from the event on Facebook!

I want to thank our friend Poh as well as Hangar Bay Toys for sponsoring the gunpla prizes and of course JaySon of Kulu Desserts for hosting the lovely event. Seeing so many amazing models has once again inspired me to keep building. Thank you for such a fun time and hope to see you all next time! ♥

Sunday, October 16, 2016

HG 1/144 Z'Gok E - "Imaginary Sky"

I'm so proud to share this set of images of my first ever finished model and GBWC entry, "Imaginary Sky" - featuring a HG 1/144 Z'Gok E. Believe it or not, but this is actually my all time favorite MS, so naturally he had to be my first finished kit. This model isn't perfect, but I am pretty proud of him and I certainly learned a lot. I'll talk about my process and concept behind this model later in this post, but for now, here are a handful of photos I took with my light tent:





The title "Imaginary Sky" comes from my favorite song off of the War in the Pocket OST. I imagine he is looking up into the faux sky of a colony at the end of the One Year War. I chose a custom arctic color scheme for him, helping to camouflage him in the snowy diorama scene.



This was also my first diorama base and I tried to keep it simple. I purchased the wooden base at Michael's and painted it with acrylic paints. The ice effects were made with Liquitex Heavy Gloss Gel, which goes on opaque, but dries clear in thinner layers. Testing the consistency of it, you can get some pretty neat effects with it that are similar to the water effects used by modelers.




I finished the base off with a few coats of the heavy gel before giving it a generous coating of regular gloss, which I hand painted on. I used the layer of gloss as an adhesive to which I then dusted the whole thing with modeling snow I found at a model train store.



I have to thank my boyfriend, Jordan (00gundamreviewsv2), for teaching me the basics of modeling and airbrushing and also for that extra push I needed to complete this model on time. He took home Best Small Scale for his diorama this year too! Check it out here on his blog.

I have so much more respect for the gunpla community now that I'm actively building. The amount of work that goes into these guys is just incredible!

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