Saturday, July 11, 2009

Gunpla Worklog: 1/100 Gundam Astraea FA Kai - Update 5

Here is another update of my work-in-progress 1/100 Gundam Astraea FA Kai. Last update I had pretty much finished with modding the main body of the Astraea. This update, I will focus more on the details & accessories for this kit, and I will describe what I had been doing in bits & pieces...


Filling Empty Area With Putty

Unlike MG kits, non-grade 1/100 usually lack the intricate details for some parts. For example, the back of the waist skirt is usually inert & empty (this is the case for this kit as well). So here is what I did add a bit more detail to them.

Used putty to fill the entire empty inert area

Added pla-plates to the piece to create what later would be metal beam support

Attached the skirts to the waist to see how it looks.... I will paint this area later with silver for the metal beam support and dark grey for other area.

I also puttied the inner empty space for the back of the arm parts.

Adding Pla-Plate For Further Detail (Currently 60 % Completed)

Since the theme of the mod is Full Armoured, I thought it will look better if certain parts were to look bulkier. So I added pla-plate to some pieces.

Scribing Panel Lines (Currently 30% Completed)
A very tedious tasks and dangerous too if I am not careful. With the newly modded pieces, most of them lacks any details to them. So here I opt to create some new panel lines.

My hands usually aren't very steady, so I always use a scribe ruler & a scriber to add in panel lines. The scriber is the best tool to do this. When creating panel lines, use very light pressure on the scriber, and just run over the piece back & forth until a noticeable panel line is visible.


Part on the left is marked with pencil the shape I want to panel line. Part on the right is panel lined using the scriber.

Weapons & Accessories (Currently 60% Completed)

GN Booster - The back of the Astraea is modded to fit the new GN Booster. The booster itself still require much modding with pla-plates adding more details & some wings.

GN Blades - When I saw the 00 Gundam Seven Sword....I fell in love with it right the way (similiar to how Mr. Bushiso fell in love with battling Setsuna...) I especially like the blades that were attached to the knees. So with my FA mod, I will be making my own and adding them to the kit. (For a pic of the 00 Gundam Seven Sword, here is a link to the image at mahq.net: http://www.mahq.net/mecha/gundam/00v/gn-00007s.jpg)

Here is a simple conceptual layout of what the GN Blades will look like... of course later it would be a bit more detail and bulkier than what is seen here.

Beam Rifle - I haven't touch them yet, other than cutting them out of the spruces.

Here is a few images of my kit still with much to be worked on.... Update again soon!



11 comments:

  1. This looks top-notch. I didn't know you were capable of this GG ;) Keep it up, I can't wait to see the end result.

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  2. Your work is amazing. I wish I can do that with my models.

    Look forward to your next update.

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  3. totally feeling this project. it is looking GOOD. i like the idea of the support beams on the underskirt. do those thrusters rotate downwards?

    great design man. this is going to look really good when its done. i know you're a good painter too so i'm really looking forward to this. not to mention the Astraea is one of my favourite mechs out there.

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  4. Thanks for the encouraging comments guys! =)

    @BB: Yeah the thrusters are fully functional, it can rotate up/down and also extend out at a slight angle.

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  5. Holy that's FREAKING Beautiful!!!

    Is there a slight chance that the bulk in the shoulder armor are Missile pods^^

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  6. Nice blog
    that is one hellish looking gundam
    I like your designs
    what does FA stand for?

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  7. @GunStray: Thanks! I am still considering what the bulk in the shoulder should be, deciding whether it would be missle pods or GN Beam Cannon. Either way, the inside is already modded to be able to fit something in there, and also left space to mod the pod door to open & close. Will see if I want to do this, or just glue it closed.

    @mk1102: FA stands for Full Armoured, and Kai stands for modified. LOL the name really doesn't mean much except to have a theme for my mods.

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  8. Wow, this took shape in to something awesome fast!

    Thinking about trying something like this with my next big to-do project. If you don't mind me asking, what sort of putty/primer do you use and how thick are the pla-plates you usually get?

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  9. @lupes: Is your next project the Sazabi?

    The putty that I use for modding is milliput, I like it because is pretty fine and not too hard to sand/sculpt. However I recently did some research and found that Mori Mori putty are the best stuff around for the job. Is very very easy to sand/scuplt, so it is highly recommended. I'd just place an order for a bucket of the stuff.

    For filling seam lines, I usually just use super glue and fill it over with baby-powder, once it gets dry (which only takes a minute), just sand it away. Very effective, fast & clean.

    Primer, I just use the spray cans from Tamiya. Depending on the color of the kit, I would choose between white or grey primers.

    Pla-plates, I brought many different shapes & sizes. This also depend on what you are making. For mods that is bulky like a shield, I would use thick plates, and if I were to only add a plate over a part for detailing, I often use 1cm thick plates.

    Hope my info helps...

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  10. Very helpful, thank you!

    I already finished up my Sazabi with a little modding (Just the leg/hip joint and the ankles). I'm going to be working with an overflag for my next one but don't have everything quite worked out out, there are a lot of things I still have to consider and figure out before I can start on it.

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  11. hey have you guys heard about site called yoyobase?

    it has a points system so you can reduce the cost of your gundams and since you guys do a lot of modding it wouldbe a good site for you since they sell TT hongli brand for vvery cheap and it saves money from buying bandai especially since you just want to customize them :)
    hope this is good info for your guys here is the site link :)

    http://www.yoyobase.com/wholesale-toys-hobbies/wholese-gundam/wholesale-tt-hongli-gundam-model-kits.html

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