Wcloudx (kumo)'s Blog – Ramblings about Figures, Gunpla, & More!!

Some of the highlights of the upcoming gunpla kit that I’m targetting for month Febuary/March:

1/100 Gundam Virtue/Gundam Nadleeh: 4,200 Yen

(March release)

Keep in mind that the kit’s high cost, which close to MG price, is because it can transform to either of the 2 Gundams.

MG Nu-Gundam – Metallic Coating Version: 8,925 Yen

(Febuary release)

To pair up with the MG Sazabi – Metallic Coating Version release.

Taken from Gunota.

Other releases include MG Strike E + IWSP & HG Throne Eins for Febuary release.

Getting Strike E would really depends on the kit, since it only recycles existing MG parts, which includes MG Strike Noir & MG Strike + IWSP.

So I probably not gonna get it, but I’m looking forward to Virtue/Nadleeh and Nu ^^

Next entry is “1/100 Gundam Dynames“, which was released not long ago.~

I bought this from Rapid Culture at Orchard Cinelesure 2nd floor for S$39.90. Just like any other 1/100 scale kit, there’s no decals given, just stickers. I really like the recent 1/100 scale release for Gundam 00 kits. The quality is just getting better and better, close to that of an MG.

Took me 2 days to finish it. That includes panel lines and some painting.

Overall, I really like how the kit turned out ^^

As for January 2008 release, I can’t wait for “1/100 Gundam Kyrios” and “MG Gundam Unicorn Ver.Ka” ^^

Transferred from old blog. 

As promised, I will update my Journal with other stuffs, such as my collections of Hobby Kits~^^

For starters, my recently acquired Gundam kit is this beautiful “MG Sazabi – Metallic Coating Version”.

For your info, this kit has the highest price for an MG(Master Grade) kit from Bandai, with a whoopin price of 14,000 yen. Normal MG kit, even the special ones will net you no more than 7000 yen. I managed to get this kit for S$198 (Singapore Dollar), when the original price is supposed to be S$290. I think it’s a good bargain ^^

I’m not really surprised on why is it so expensive. First of is the quality of the paint job done on this kit. The metallic effects is not the same with those of other “Special” kits, such as the “Extra Finish” version. Second is the water decals. Surprisingly there’s no dry decals provided. Usually “Special” kits have both of them. Probably this is to prevent damages on the kit, since dry decals needs some “scratching” needed ^^;. The water decals is different from what I usually used. It’s more slicked and easy to apply, and the quality is also great with the silver and gold effects.

The only letdown is that the “Gold” parts paint job isnt as good as the red ones. So you do need to re-paint them with a gold marker.

Anyway, I managed to finish this kit in 1 day, which is surprisingly fast for a Master Grade kit. The reason is that there isn’t really a need to do Panel Lines, just water decals (and I was on holiday haha.. ^^;). Some painting and colouring is needed on the rocket booster if you want it to look better, but it’s optional~

Here are some shots of the finished kit:

It’s definitely cool looking and shiny~^^~ The Size is bigger than normal 1/100 MG, almost as big as MG EX-S Gundam with the stand.

I will post my other collections in the future and backtracks ^^;

Transferred from old blog.

Next entry is this HGUC GP03 Dendrobium, another amazing kit that I acquired not long ago. This kit is the biggest kit that Bandai ever produced, with a whoopin length of 40 inches, which is equivalent to 101 cm, with the price of 24,000 yen. >.<~

I ordered this through Hobbylink Japan for 30,000 yen, which includes shipping cost. You will understand why it’s big ^^;

First of all, this is the packaging when it arrived at my place:

Yeah, it’s big. I was surprised when I saw it (but it looks kinda cool though with the “Bandai” logo on it :p). The box has “1/144 Gundam GP03 Dendrobium” printed on it, if you are wondering.

Anyway, the actual box kit isn’t really that big. It’s only half the size of it. The other half is just some sponges and plastics to protect the kit. This is the actual box:

Still, it’s bigger than other kit ^^; It even has a plastic handle to carry it around ^^;

When you opened the box, it contains 2 containers; A & B:

You can even line up both containers together to make a nice image~

Inside, there are actually 2 kits that you need to build, the “Orchis” pack and the HG 1/144 GP03 “Statem” itself. There was supposed to be a DVD included with an episode of “Gundam Evolve”, which features Dendrobium itself, but it was only given with the initial release of the kit. It was released in 2002 I think, if I’m not mistaken =/

Anyway with a kit this big, one would think that it would be really difficult to build it, since there are a lot of parts which is labelled from A-Z (zomg!!) and that is still not enough , until Bandai had to add another group of A-Z with an added “W” (WA-WZ).

But no worries!! Bandai is smart enough to arrange the parts in order to make your life easier. This is what you should do if you ever bought one:

1. Always starts from Container A

2. Never take out all the parts or just randomly put them elsewhere. Bandai is kind enough to stack them in order. So if you do taken them out of the container, I mean all of it, try to put them back in the same stack order and manner as when it was still in the container. Only take out what is needed, one by one.

3. Just follow the manual carefully and you’ll be fine ^^

This kit is pretty challenging even for a veteran. One word of advice is that you need some extra force and strength to put this “monster” together, since some parts is really difficult and need some real push to put together.

With this size, panel lines really a hazzle to do. Painting is also needed on some areas. Surprisingly, for a kit this big, there’s no decals provided, but lots of screwing.

Some shots in-the-making:

As you can see, there are metal plates provided for this kit, total of 3 plates, which I think is needed to balance it and it’s pretty heavy. The finished kit is nearly 2 kg in weight (ouch!).

This just shows how big it is, from the tip of the main cannon to the back of tail booster (btw, that’s my Strike Freedom Lightening Edition ^^;):

In the end, it took me 4 days to complete Dendrobium, but it was worth it.(was expecting it to take longer ^^;)

First is the GP03 Statem:

It is actually quite well detailed for an HG~

Next is equipped with the “Orchis” pack (Gattai Da!!):

The pack can also act as a weapon container.

I have to say, Bandai did went all out for this kit and it’s definitely a nice addition. The only letdown is the space needed for this kit!! lol

“Transferred from old blog”

I know that some of you who visited my blog might be new to Hobby kits and might not understand some of the “terms” I used in some of my entries.

So I’ve decided to write some explanation on the terms used in Gundam kits or “Gunpla”. This way you will understand what I’m trying to say on my entries ^^;

Ok first of all, there has been a lot of variety of these kits released, and the company behind the release is Bandai. What I mean by “variety” is that, Bandai has sorted and made their products into different scales and “Grades”. These “Grades” are really important if you ever decided to buy one, since they will determined the quality and details of the kit, and of course, the price. All these “Grades” are shown on every Gunpla kits boxes 🙂

These “Grades” are divided into 5 groups:

1. Speed Grade (SG)
2. First Grade (FG)
3. High Grade (HG)
4. Master Grade (MG)
5. Perfect Grade (PG)

and one particular grade has another releases, which is High Grade, called:

5. High Grade Universal Century (HGUC), High Grade Gundam SEED (HGGS/HGSEED), & High Grade Gundam 00 (HG00).

There are also other categories released, such as:

6. HCMPro
7. HY2M “Glorius Series”
8. Super Deformed (SD)

These “Grades” and terms will be explained shortly~

Ok, next we will go to scale. We used the term “Scale” for sizes, and these are divided into following groups:

1. 1/550 Scale
2. 1/440 Scale
3. 1/220 Scale
4. 1/144 Scale
5. 1/100 Scale
6. 1/60 Scale

Not all of these scales will be included on all Grades. Most of the scales are exclusive to some of the different Grades mentioned.

All right!! Now to the best part, which is the explanation ^^ We will start with Speed Grade and go down the list together with the scales.

Comes in 2 versions, Speed Grade and HCMPro.

SPEED GRADE (SG)

Speed Grade or SG comes in 1/220 scale and was originally made for children. This grade is actually pretty new since its production started in 2007. It comes with minimal parts, stands, and already pre-colored, so it’ll be easy to assemble even for children, but this grade lacks the details and mobility.

HCMPro

HCMPro, unlike Speed Grade, doesn’t requires much construction, but still superior to Speed Grade in terms of details and mobility. It’s more like an action figure and cost more than Speed Grade. Usually it’s already completed and ready for display straight out of the box.

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1/144 Scale
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Comes in 2 versions, First Grade and High Grade.

FIRST GRADE (FG)

First Grade or FG comes in 1/144 scale and was started in 2000. When 1st introduced, there were only 3 kits released. It was later resumed with the release of Gundam 00 in mid-2007. Still this kit requires a lot of painting and lacks the mobility, but superior compared to Speed Grade.

HIGH GRADE (HG)

High Grade or HG comes in 1/144 scale and it’s one of the popular grades that people would buy. This grade was first introduced in 1990. It comes with an “Internal Frame” which allows for poseable action. The details were also great even for a 1/144 scale. It was later given its name for a more advanced HG released such as High Grade Universal Century (HGUC), High Grade Gundam SEED (HGGS), and the most recent High Grade Gundam 00 (HG00). Paintings are still required, but not as much as First Grade kits.

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1/100 Scale
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Comes in 2 versions, No-Grade and Master Grade.

NO-GRADE

This grade comes in 1/100 scale and it doesn’t have any particular symbol unlike other grades. It’s still poseable and quite well-detailed. The recent release for Gundam 00 introduced new technology and it’s close to that of a Master Grade kits, which brought it to a new level. Still, this kit can still be improved with additional paintings. On another note, some of the kit has a special version, such as the “Extra Finish ver.”

MASTER GRADE (MG)

Master Grade or MG comes in 1/100 scale and is shown with the golden shiny “MG” symbol. Master Grade kit is probably the most popular of all the grades. It introduced the first internal “skeleton”, which is known as “Inner Frame System” that no other previous grades has. It is more presentable and allows even more different poseable action. Well detailed and usually comes with either water or dry decals, or even both. Some of the MG kits even requires screwing of bolts. But like previous grades, can be improved with further detailing and paintings. On another note, sometimes Bandai would released a special edition of certain MG kits, which has some extra goodies that no other normal MG kits has.

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1/60 Scale
—————–

It comes in 3 versions, “Real Detail”, HY2M “Glorius Series” and Perfect Grade (PG).

REAL DETAIL

Comes in 1/60 scale. This version is basically a scaled up version of High Grade kits, but with improved details and additional poseable action that usually impossible for a 1/144 scale. Some of the kits has some wiring to do, which allows it to “lighten” up.

HY2M “GLORIOUS SERIES”

HY2M are based on “Zeon Faction” and so far, there has been only 3 kits released for this version. These kits usually comes with LED Gimmicks located on various part of the body.

PERFECT GRADE (PG)

Perfect Grade or PG comes in 1/60 scale and IS (I mean it) the ultimate Gunpla kit Bandai ever released with unmatched sheer quality. First started in 1998, there were only a number of kits released up-to-date (less than 20) because of the amount of work put into it. Its quality and details is as close as the original, or even much better than the anime counterparts. It has a more detailed “Inner Frame System” which much more advanced than that of an MG with a lot of screwing needed, which allows even more actions. Decals are also provided for this grade, and because of its quality, there isn’t a need to paint it, and it will still looks gorgeous. This kit is expensive compared to other grades. Still, these kits is a great addition for Gunpla lovers, which makes PG model a true challenge. Construction can take days to finish.

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Those above are pratically the main “Grades”, but there are still other version such as Super Deformed (SD) that Bandai produced:

SUPER DEFORMED (SD)

Super Deformed or SD kits aren’t based on any particular scales. These kits are famous for their oversized heads and comically proportional build. Despite their small size compared to other scales, these are actually pretty famous among Gunpla lovers. They are particularly famous for their “BB Senshi” series. SD kits are usually easy to construct, but requires some painting to actually “finish” it. Mobility also pretty much affected because of their size.

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This pretty much what the world of Gunpla is. I definitely missing some stuffs here, but this pretty much the main stuffs you need to know. I hope this helps and I apologized for the long post ^^;