Ho Yick Yin wins open division, Lao Jia Hong wins junior division
Ho Yick Yin of Malaysia won the open division in the first ever "Gunpla Builders World Cup," the competition dedicated to Gundam plastic models in 12 international regions, on Sunday. Ho Yick Yin's winning "Kshatriya IV" entry was inspired by the mobile suit Kshatriya in Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn. Lao Jia Hong of China won the junior division with "Conversation by Heart":
The second-place finalist in the open division was "Hades Kshatriya" by Hong Kong's Kong Yiu Man:
The third-place finalist in the open division was "Negai" (Wish) by Japan's Tatsuhiko Yamaguchi:
Statue returns to Odaiba island next year after nearly 3 years away
The self-described "Gundam videographer" darwinfish has been streaming two new time-lapse videos of the 1/1-scale Gundam statue's reconstruction at Odaiba since last week. The videos (dated December 17 and December 23) feature the final touches on assembly and the exterior. According to darwinfish, the area surrounding the statue was also undergoing construction, now that the statue is largely finished.
The statue is being rebuilt at Diver City Tokyo, a complex under construction on the island by Mitsui Fudosan and Fuji TV. The life-size statue first stood at Odaiba in July of 2009 and attracted 4.15 million visitors before it closed the following month.
The statue rose again in Shizuoka — the self-described "model capital of the world" and the home of Bandai's plastic model factories — from July of last year to March of this year. The statue did return to Tokyo in August — in disassembled parts — as a charity drive after the Great Eastern Japan Earthquake (Higashi Nihon Daishinsai) disaster.
The videographer has posted several other videos chronicling the reconstruction of the Gundam since construction began a few weeks ago.