Zeon - MS-07B Gouf. Just pictures and bad videos. No text!

 

Christmas time!

Woo-hoo to Christmas time. A time for giving and receiving. Now I'm sure no one cares, but I'm going to say with I got for X-mas from those people close and dear to me!

My sister got me the 3disc SE of Avatar, I've seen the original cut of the film and can't wait to watch the new extended cut!!!!! She also got me a book called 'Elephants on Acid and other Bizarre Experiments' by Alex Boese. This looks like it'll be a really cool and interesting book, based on very real and very weird experiments (tickling machines and zombie kittens. WTF?)

My parents got me a mens toiletry bag with shaving gel, face balm, shower gel and mens face wash. Everything I need in one bag. I don't usually buy this kind of thing because (A) I'm cheap, (B) I'm a bit scruffy looking all the time (C) as I've said, I'm cheap. So starting this New Years Eve, there may be a cleaner looking individual in my place!

My wonderful girlfriend got me many many things: The really brilliant free floating due to magnets Doctor Who Tardis. It is so cool, spinning with no wires. Oh the fun, I spent an hour after setting it up, just spinning it making the Tardis noise!
She also got me the Tron-look-a-like Bumblebee. This version of Bumblebee is from the Transformers Generations line and the design is based on that of his 'War On Cybertron' game form. Really cool.
On the Transformers front, I also got the Transformers novel - Exodus by Alex Irvine, based on the first meeting of Megatronus and Orion Pax (Megatron and Optimus Prime in later life). The book is canon, however here's the problem: Which continuity is it canon for? The original TV series, the marvel comic, the dreamwave comic, the devils due comic, the live action film series or the IDW comic?
I also got the 1992 Grandmaster annual for the Transformers Generation 2. I'm been looking for this for the last two years. So ahppy to have it. I think (must check) that it completes my original TF annual set!
I got two (yes two) Gundam manga: the first is based on the original series timeline - Blue Destiny, a side story to the main war, and the second is Seed Vol 4 - the manga retelling of the Seed Tv series. The art in both is excellent and if you don't want to sit through 52ish episodes of Seed, the manga retellings are brilliant!
Ooooh oooh, I got the superb series: Gundam 0080 - War in the pocket, again a side story to the original Gundam storyline, showing a tiny part of the war and how it affects the people involved. And got the Gundam F91 film, an excellent film in itself, but it feels incomplete, the ending leaving you hanging and craving more.
 
On the gadgets side: A singing Elvis rubber ducky for the bath. I so have to start having baths instead of showers just to try this little ducky out!
And finally ( i think, hope i didnt leave anything out) a really funky retro style robot, whose arms and legs have usb ports. The whole robot is an USB hub for my laptop, but the best bit is: his arms and legs move!!!!!!

BRILLIANT X-MAS PRESENTS FOR ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hope Santa came to all!

A review (of sorts)

Hello all!

Recently I picked up the Traveler TV6500 Film scanner from Aldi for 50euro. A good price, since the only other place I could pick it up anything similar was IWANTONEOFTHOSE.COM for £50.

So what does one get for ones 50euro?
You get the Scanner tower, with a built in 5.0 megapixel camera (up to 1800 dpi resolution).CD with a copy of Arcsoft Photo Impression 6, cleaning brush, 2 negative film holder sliders and 2 slide frame sliders.
The tower is made of matte black plastic and a metal panel on the top with the 'on' light and the scan button. The tower connects to the pc/laptop via USB 2.0 built in cable which also powers it. It feels hollow, cheap and light but as long as I don't drop it all will be good.
The sliders are made of the same matte black plastic and are sturdy.

The drivers and software are easy to install and I was up and running in about 10 to 15minutes after taking it out of the box. The software opens up and you can use it with a normal scanner also. Selecting the film scanner, I have the option to select slides, negatives or b/w negatives as well as the dpi and colour depth. I should be able to select either Jpeg or Tiff file type, however mine seems to have defaulted to Tiff. Not a huge problem except this file type tends to have huge file sizes (one picture in TIFF file was 99.5mb, when I converted it using photoshop to JPEG it went down to 7.5mb). After selecting the options a new window appears with a film reel at the top and a window to the left. The window is a live view from the camera, so you can adjust colour, saturation, brightness on the right hand side and see it live. A nice feature especially to line the photos up right. Up can take a snapshot of up to 12 photos before having to transfer it to the PC. Thats 3 negative film slides. Handy. The sliders slot in at the bottom and you push them manually to the next photo.
Transferring the photos can take time however, but this may be due to my filetype that its being saved as.
The photos are also auto adjusted to make them brighter also when they're being saved.

I like this piece of kit. Its easy to use. I also like the fact that it saves me having to scan the original photos, many of which have become damaged. I give this product a 4/5. I took 1 from it because it  could do with more substance to the tower. That is all!

Thanks for reading!

Inspiration

In my attempt to kitbash my Impulse into something pretty mean-like, I have being looking up images of other kitbashes. Alas, it has been hard, as google images is a pain. However, I did stumble across a nice website for gunpla: www.gundamguy.blogspot.com
He has news at least twice daily, from reviews of new kits to just galleries. However it is his links that I really like.
It's this blogger: http://zyncium.blogspot.com that I'm really digging, especially his latest kitbash. I am so robbing ideas from him!

Kitbash

KITBASHING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have kitbashed about 7 gundams and one mobile Armour (though the armour still needs alot of work).

Here is the first below. Each gundam will get a post, I'll ask for critics, suggestions and other things. Feel free to put down what you think.

Each model is in the WIP stage, All the extra parts are bluetacked to the model, for ease of changing.

Also I'll list the parts I used for each model too.

So without further delay:

Parts used are:

Head = Altron 

Torso = Sandrock

Arms = Heavy Arms

Waist and legs = Altron

Backpack = Sandrock

Shield = Sandrock

Weapon = Altron

Sword = Linebarrel (taken from Linebarrel Series)

Small weapons = warhammer 40k Tau weapons.

Any suggestions on names?

Plan of attacking my hobby.

So, whats my plan hobby wise between now and X-mas?

Well, first off, I have a few extra gundam wing models that i picked up over the years, not complete, parts missing extra. I'm thinking that I'll kitbash a new gundam or gundams from the assorted pieces and paint it up to my own colour scheme.

I have the following gundams to use, all in the 1/144 scale: Strike Aile (GSD), Tallgesse (GW), Vevate (GW), Altron (1/144), Sandrock (GW), Epyhon (GW) and a Heavy Arms (GW).

Then separately I have a 1/144 Sandrock custom and 1/144 Deathsycthe Hell custom (Fighting HG grade) that will be kitbashed together to form 2 new gundams.

2nd plan is to get my 1/144 gundam ball set (not HG), spray paint some of the sections and parts and finally get it complete, along with my 1/144 Jegan (not HG) a another Zeon suit (can't remember the name off hand).

3rd plan is to get some of my warhammer 40k figures constructed, primed and painted by x-mas. Still working on the scenery (a.k.a not finished or looked at) and hope to get them done by halloween. As most of the scenery is rock formations and hills, I can use them as dioramas along with my gundams.

4rd plan is to fix my Enterprise E which took a nose dive from my table. All the parts are present and all were clean breaks at their glue points. (Phew!). I'm also going to start on my two Voyagers also, comparing the two kits, building and finally painting them up!

So they're the plans. Hopefully I'll have WIP pictures as I do them!

Wish me luck!

Why no love?

I swear, I do have a good reason for not posting anything. I do.

Kinda......

I went to nom-com and bought over 250euro worth of Gundam goodness. A couple of the nice action stands, few models, markers etc. I will post pictures of these over time when I start to photograph all (yes, all) my collection. I've been building all these models so that's where some of the time has gone.

I haven't had internet in my house for 2months. So the only place I could blog is work. And we've been busy here so thats not an option.

Yet another reason is that I've been trying to watch all the unwatched DVDs I've bought over the years, and to have all that done by x-mas. So far I have seasons 1-4 of Allo allo watched (seasons5-9 to go), all of Gundam Seed Destiny and Eureka 7. I've also some of boxset 1 watched of Gundam Zeta.

And my final reason is that I've been stripping the paint from some of my older models. Its a hard job and many models needed two soakings. I've nearly all the models stripped, so once done I'll be painting them up (hopefully).

And thats it for another post!

Nom-Con

Nom-con is this weekend! I've bee looking forward to it for ages!

It starts Friday and finishes on Sunday!

I have the weekend pass so once I get the timetables, will be able to proper plan the weekend.

I'm dragging my long suffering GF (sorry, casually dating partner), along, poor her. As we have weekend passes, should we get bored, hungry or sleepy, we can go and come back.

OOOHHHHH, I can't wait!!!!!!

Dead? me?

Honestly, I haven't died or dropped off the planet!

I haven't credited my 3 internet dondle this month in an endevour to try and scab a few euro for the nom-con convention thats on at the end of the month. Woo!

So I've been using work internet for some bursts of browsing.

But anyway, I wander.

On the hobby front, I have finished my enterprise e for the moment. Its painted and has the decals (if rather badly) attached. I'm hoping to pick up gundam hobby markers at the convention at the end of the month (real thin panel line markers) so I can define the windows on the model.

Also built are: Gundam OO's Tieren Space type and Gundam Wing Endless Waltz's Custom Sandrock.

Both are nice builds, why different from each other in style and build.

I'll post a review at some stage for both.

I also have a Zaku Gouf from the original Gundam series built too.

On my list of items to build are:An old version of the RGC-80 Guncannon model and Mobile Armour balls too!

Hopefully I'll have more updates sooner rather than later!!!!

Stripping Models

I have quite a few old models, that one way or another, need to be repainted. Now, having looked at the internet, alot of websites suggest using simple green. The problem is that its a product found in the US rather than Ireland.

So instead I've tried using other disinfectants for the task.

In the picture slideshow below is a bottle of dettol. The one in the green bottle. After leaving models in it for a week, the only difference was the smell, clean and fresh.

So that one is no good for me (except for cleaning the rest of the house).

Next I got dettol proper. I call it dettol proper, but its just the neat disinfectant with the pine smell, coloured brown until you add water and then goes white.

I popped the models into this and within an hour I noticed some paint 'bubbling'. After 24hours all the paint was bubbling.

Now for the hard part, removing the paint. I removed as much of the paint 'skin' as i could with a needle. I then soaked the model in hot water. In the hot water, using an old toothbrush I scrubbed the paint. In some cases it worked, but in most the paint 'melted' and left the colour on the model. Annoying. However all the detail can be seen so its not too bad.

The hot warm stops the model from having a sticky touch. I popped the models back into the dettol and have now left them for about a week, hoping that the more stubborn paint will now be easy to remove.

Also, use very old toothbrushes that you're willing to dump after, th paint tends to built up on the bristles in a tar like form. I let it soak in dettol neat between models and stir it in the hot water to help refresh it.

Seems to help a little.

Just a small update, but long overdue. Hope you enjoyed it!

Coming soon

Hello all!

Over the week or so, I'm hoping to have a few updates for you.

One will be of the continuation of my AMT/ERTL Enterprise E model. (Half built and needs a lot of painting).

Also will be the painting of my gundam RGM-89 Jegan to match the box art colours.

Then I'll be building the Jago Doga model and painting it also to match the box art.

Along the way, I'll be doing an article on stripping paint from your models, how to save a few quid for your hobby and some general bits and pieces along the way. So I hope you enjoy whats coming!

Oh and I've registered for nom-con! More on that soon also!

OOOH AN Update! Pic heavy

Hi All,

I completed the Argama build and have a few photos for you from the build. Info on the series can be found here http://www.mahq.net/mecha/gundam/index.htm , Select Gundam ZZ series and scroll down to the Argama class.

Now without further ado:

My tools of the trade. A plastic cutter from Gamesworkshop and a set of hobby blades that I got for like €3.

Ah, the box. Nice picture of the model itself on the front. Nice pictures along the side too.

All the sprues in their bags, all wanting to be released!!!!

All the sprues, released and ready...

Forward section complete.

Rear section complete, nice detail for the engine.

The completed model.

Front and rear view

Two of the same! The first is the model in its cruising mode, the second is in combat mode.

Overall, its a lovely model. the chrome shine on the plastic really catches the eye. Also the choice of two modes, easily changeable is a nice feature. I would have liked a decal or two, especially for the stand, that would really make it jump out at you. The engines are metal so add a bit of weight to the model that makes it feel solid in your hands.

A quick note on the instructions - they're in Japanese, but the step-by-step is shown in clear and easy to follow pictures.

Thanks for looking, hope you enjoyed looking as much as I did building!

Update soon

Hi all!

As you can see, I've added a photo to my title area. Its of the Argama from the Gundan series. I've just finished the build and will have a post up on the build as soon as I've resized the photos!

The font used in the title is Jacinto Sans by www.tracertong.com (Paul Reid).

On The Table

So apart from having a load of Warhammer 40k models to build maybe convert and paint, what else have I.

Well, beside my lovely desk is this bad boy.

STAR TREK - USS ENTERPRISE - NCC-1701E.

Its 1/1400 scale. Made by AMT. I've never had a kit from AMT before but had read mixed reviews. But to be fair, I do like this kit. Just one or two Nittpicks but its good. The colour of the parts in the box were orginally bone white. Nittpick 1. 2nd nittpick is the way the pylons connect to the nacelles. Over than that it's good. I've it about half built and quater painted so will have updates from now on for it. But expect slow work.

Next up is this beauty:

It's a 1/7000 (i think) ship from Gundam series.

Oh, can't wait to build this beaut.

That should wet your appetite. Enjoy!

I Have a Follower?

Weeeyeeee. I has me a follower!!!!! Ya! Now to try and have interestion articles in order to keep my follower! Oh, that might be hard, but I shall try and rise to the occassion!

Thumbnail

By the way, the thumbnail I'm using is taken from www.gadgetblind.com. And I really want one!!!!!

It's the head of the gundam 00 Exia. Gimme!!!!!

Location, Location, Location

So, where do I get my models?

Warhammer 40k models are easy to get. Games Workshop has a store in Dublin along the Quays. My local Art'n'Hobby store has a small selection also. Then there's Gamers World along Jervis St. Ebay is good for individual models. And finally I find www.adverts.ie is good for 2nd hand armies.

I don't really go to the wargaming stores online. Don't really know why, just don't.

My gundam models have a variety of places. My original Gundam Wing figures were bought from Smythes Toys, sadly they no longer stock gundams. Then I went to the George's Arcade in Dublin. Mini Japan (i think its called that) has a stall there and he used to stock models. Last few times I was there, he had none, I think due to the bulk he's stopped doing them. Boo to that.

I've gotten a lot of my models from ebay, either 2nd hand group lots, individual built figures or brand new figures. I'll post what ebay shops I use in a future post.

I got some models in Amsterdam and even in Jo'burg S.A.

Never know where you might find them!

Other models such as my Star Trek models are wither from Ebay or Crowe's Street. Crowe's Street in Dublin has a little gem of a shop hidden away. It has a small shop on a corner of a building. In this shop is one of the most dis-organised yet brilliant shops I've ever come across. In one corner is a guy selling new comics, in a space the same size as a wardrobe. Beside him is the man I've gotten a few bits and pieces from, he sells models. Older Star Trek, Transformers, Star Wars, Battlestar Galactica etc. Even some 80's stuff.

Then the rest of the shop is taken up with comics. Back issues in comic bins, cardboard long boxs, and stacks. Looks dis-organised, yet the guy who runs this section knows exactly where everything is. Sheer brilliant.

Subcity Comics and Forbidden Planet also sometimes stock models but not that often :(

I'll try and dig up the ebay shops that I mentioned earlier and I hope this helps the Irish guys who may be looking for stuff.

Till next time!

Starting Off

Right so, a brief intro I believe is in order. I live in Ireland. That means that unless I go for the Revell or Airfix army models, I don't really have much options for modelling. However ebay and online sellers are great. So this blog is going to be about me, building and in some cases painting models that I buy. So you should expect probably mostly Warhammer 40k posts, maybe some gundam posts and even more rarely Star Trek models.

Hopefully I'll have lots of photos, once I figure how to add them to the posts.

My plan is that I shall update at least once a week, that should force me to get my arse in gear and actually model and/or paint some stuff. And maybe some small conversions for 40k. Hopefully, someone might find this blog interesting and helpful, but i'm not expecting many followers.

Since I'm only starting off, I may have a few posts up fairly rapidly.

Thanks for taking a look and having a read!