Objective:
To prep the entire model.
Duration:
1 month
Update: Took more than 2.5 months! Due to work commitment...
The Build:
Well... this is a recast and the packaging is not fantastic. Parts are broken before I even start building.
The Leg
To start off with this awesome Gundam, the legs were the obvious choice for me as I wanted it to stand on its on feet. No frills in assembling but removing the access parts were not easy. Take a look at the feet and see how much you can spot the additional work to rectify the "defects":
Next. To fix the legs to the feet. The ball joints needed some minor work with polyester putty to have a solid fit and the details needed some minor cutting to make it obvious and perfect for painting later on. The end result:
Somethings to take note when cutting off access from a resin:
1) Do not cut exactly on the actual body parts as it will crack or chip off unnecessary. Instead file it down where ever necessary.
2) Hold each parts against a strong lighting to reflect any bad molding before cutting as it will prevent more additional work.
3) Polyester Putty is a fantastic material to work with (except for its smell. Work in a well ventilated environment to ensure you do not faint in front of your model)
4) Read that resin is bad for health, so I used "wet sanding" (means using sandpaper and sand the part under running water or a basin) throughout the build.
The Head
Something interesting for this part...
Note: Realised that in the anime, the eye is red. Thus went to change the LED from Green to Red.
The Arms
This is the best part to work with. The open and clench hands looks fantastic. But it's visible seams need to be cut ensure all fingers are obvious for the open hands. For clench hands, each fingers needs to be shaped using the modelling knife to ensure all fingers are rounded. Tough but worth it:
The shoulder joints are horrible. 2 options:
1) To joint them then put putty
2) To sand it flatly and join them.
I choose option 2 to save time and the results were good.
The final results after sanding and fitting:
The Torso
This is the part that has the most polyester putty due to its bad molding.
Just take a look:
Note:
Masking and painting are very tough. Patience... but worth it.
The "Wings"
Awesome to look at at its shape, superb to stare at the details but fitting is a nightmare!
The access were so thick and hard, smoothing it out takes a lot of effort. (Using my Dremel is out of the question as it will produce so much resin dust!)
The small additional arms which are attached to the wings are pretty fragile. Few fingers broke during the process of fitting the parts together.
