Mega Size Gundam - Building the 1/48th Scale Giant Part 3

Spectacular and worth every cent, go get one before they're all gone.

Mega Size Gundam - Building the 1/48th Scale Giant Part 2

Finding the time to work on this is kit is harder than I thought, The Stanley Cup Playoffs and lots of overtime at work are making free time scarce. But as I said in the first post, this kit is really easy to put together, I figure 3-4 hours maximum with no painting or detailing.

Looking at reviews of Gunpla kits online is making me wish I had worked on the panels, it's not too late the kit is large enough and can easily be broken down but I'm not 100% confident in my skills just yet.

Smooth sailing, this thing is going together like a dream. And just like when you start thumbing that last 50 or so pages of a good book, I'm taking my time.



I attached the legs to the crotch area and built up the torso. The amount of articulation and range the joint have is pretty amazing.

I also attached the back pack and rockets, again these parts are aching for some weathering and details, but I'll just have to be happy with a more toy like finished product.

Next up the arms, shoulders and the head, and we're pretty much done. I'll be sure to include more detailed pics of the finished piece.

I'll tell you, trolling the Gunpla sites if anything re awakened my interest in Turn A, so much so that I'm considering the MG kit for my next project, this time with plans to paint and detail.

Stay tuned for the last part this week.

Toy Beauty - Turn A Gundam

Turn A Gundam Master Grade Model Kit, Bandai, 2007

Image Courtesy Zs Gundam Model Review

Mega Size Gundam - Building the 1/48th Scale Giant Part 1

 

Jumbo Love

To celebrate the 30th Anniversary of Gundam Bandai released what is still to my knowledge the largest Gundam kit ever created, at 1/48th scale, 375mm or 15" this thing is huge, the box it's self is almost Jumbo sized.

Gundam never 'worked on me' as I often say to JohnnyBoy, no matter how much I've been into Super Robots, I've always found the overly complicated tech of Gundam unattractive compared to the brighter, simpler 60's-70's Robots that dominate the shelves of my collection. The only Gundam I own is a Chogokin from the Turn A Series, which of course is the least popular of all the designs due to it's elegant simplicity.

In the past year or so, the older designs of the original1978 series started becoming more prevalent due to the Anniversary and the latest series being a throwback design wise to the first series. The more I was seeing the RX-78, the more I finally realized how beautiful it was in its simplicity, and like any compulsive toy addict, I had to have at least one. But not just any one, the biggest one.

I was fortunate enough to have a co worker from Japan that was visiting her family in Osaka over the Christmas holidays, anything you'd like me to bring back she asked...well there is one thing I replied.

Scoring a great deal off of Amazon.jp, within a few weeks a giant box arrived at my workplace containing two of these giant beauties (one for me, and one for JohnnyBoy). And then like all of the model kits I've accumulated in the past 20 years it sat there in it's box. I used to love building model kits, but full time work lazyness and other adult commitments have prevented me from making the time to sit down with some plastic and glue and make the magic happen. The advantage of the latest Bandai Master Grade kits is the builder has the option to paint all the details they desire or leave it as is and the kit still looks great. These kits don't even require glue or paint, they are so intelligently engineered, they're practically a fully functional toy puzzle.

So I sat down the other night, determined to at least make a dent in the kit. I had a personal bet that it would take me an hour to make one leg, and I wasn't far off...I got two done in an hour and a half.

The box once opened was pretty intimidating, to be honest. Over a dozen cellophane bags filled with color coded parts and despite the lovely full color instruction booklet, everything is in Japanese but very easy to understand. It only took me 20 minutes to make my first mistake, which required me to struggle for 10 minutes to unsnap a portion of the leg I had just tightly secured. I guess they assume that more seasoned model builders are assembling these kits, and I overlooked the fact that due to the symmetry of much of the robot, most related instructions are only shown once, lesson learned. After that it was smooth sailing. The parts detached neatly from the plastic sprues, everything fit together perfectly, and all of the joints were beautifully articulated with a nice firm stiffness and even as a life long fan of Japanese toys it was never more apparent to me how incredibly well designed and engineered these pieces are, pure genius. Anyway, as I stated, after a little over an hour and a half both legs were done, I was mentally fatigued and I want to savor the experience as much as possible so I'm saving the rest of the kit for the remainder of the week. Stay tuned...

   almost 10" of pure leg

Feel The Magic, Hear The Roar...

About four months ago the North American toy collecting community awaited the first images of the BanDai Thundercats 'Classics' line with nervous trepidation. Bandai? Really?

After the enormous and unprecedented success of the Masters of the Universe Classics line over at Mattel, easily the best toy line currently in production hands down, collectors alike were salivating, imagining what Mattel and more specifically The Four Horsemen could do with everything from Blackstar to Sectaurs if they could get their hands on these licenses.

Thundercats holds a special place in the hearts of most  who grew up in the Golden Age of toy collecting, the 1980's where toy aisles were stuffed with more product based cartoon and movie tie ins than any other decade previous or since. The Thundercats cartoon, was one of the longest running of this generation where it as not uncommon to many a show disappear within a few months, if it aired in your market at all and their battered unsold carded toy counterparts warm pegs for years. While the show, especially the infectious theme, action packed opening and iconic logo are revered, the toys were a different story. They were pretty disappointing to myself who was a tad older than their demo of 9-12 year olds, but even the kids that were targeted were left cold by their simplicity, lack of articulation and general pre schoolishness, it was as if they were made by Fisher Price. LJN did make improvements in subsequent waves, but it was too little too late and the line petered out and became a distant memory.


Most collectors I know don't think too much of Bandai, in America at least. Sure they manufacture some of the most thorough, high quality, and complex line of Super Robot toys on the planet sold under the Soul of Chogokin moniker, they hold the master license and produce endless toys for the popular Ultraman and Kamen Rider properties not to mention a little something called Gundam, which is like the World of Warcraft of the hobby world. Known mostly for the omnipresent Power Rangers toys on this side of the world and the perplexing longevity and success of the Ben 10 family of toys, the collective toy buying populace let out a resounding 'Hunh?' when it was announced that Bandai acquired the license and would be producing toys based not only on a new, re-imagined cartoon but a 'classics' aimed squarely at older collectors.

Needless to say, we were all a little worried. Power Ranger toys while well designed and functional are extremely primitive even by today's standards. Bandai found a formula in the 80's that worked in Japan, imported it over here and with the exception of the Jungle Fury line and the Super Classics chase figures made very few tweaks over the years to innovate their base buck. The Super Classics for me were the first indication that they could do something right if they wanted to. Gone were the gigantic over sized feet, head and hands we were accustomed to, creating something they had never done before, a realistically proportioned action figure with nicely integrated joints and unprecedented costume details they were great collector pieces any discerning action figure fan could proudly display while still managing to be kid friendly toys, maybe, just maybe they could pull this off...

And then just days before the New York Toy Fair, official images appeared online that answered collectors and fans prayers and it looks like we'll finally be getting the toys we've always wanted. A completely new buck, highly detailed, great accessories and most importantly in scale with MOTUC. The only small complaint I could make is that when compared to the Masters, they are a bit shiny, a Bandai NA constant, but hopefully that will be toned down a touch for release. But these look absolutely fantastic and I cannot wait to wander into a TRU and find these on the shelves. Bandai have not set an official release date other than 'late 2011'and have been rather hush hush concerning other figures in this line, but I'm sure fan enthusiasm and anticipation will translate into sales brisk enough to ensure a full Classics line for collectors.

Toy Fair Bandai Lion-O and Official Bandai Stock image, via Elkkthunder's Toy Room
Power Rangers image via LoganToys
LJN Lion-O via Figure Realm