Messages

1

AoZ Unlimited Competition! / Re: GB2: AoZ Reference and Questions

« on: March 14, 2008, 01:06:38 PM »

Omecha is sort of a signature for artist Fujioka Kenki.  It doesn't mean anything in the context of the AoZ setting.  I heard somewhere that it's short of "Original Mecha" but it's usually shown with a greek theta(?) symbol instead of an O.

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AoZ Unlimited Competition! / Re: GB2: AoZ Reference and Questions

« on: November 20, 2007, 09:48:02 AM »

tada!

http://www.mechascientific.com/aoz/fg-1144th-ff-x29a-hrududu-review/

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AoZ Unlimited Competition! / Re: AoZ Mk.II.V

« on: November 06, 2007, 01:01:00 PM »

You could also restyle some of the Hazel options to fit visually on a Mark II.  Sub-Arms, Hrududu-like unit, Sniper Visor, etc. 

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Painting/Priming / Re: No-Paint Technique From Dengeki Hobby

« on: July 20, 2007, 03:55:11 PM »

I never finished this project, but I would say it's an advanced technique and not something to try if you feel like you don't have the skills for airbrush.  I don't know what your skill level is.

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AoZ Unlimited Competition! / Re: GB2: AoZ Reference and Questions

« on: July 18, 2007, 01:00:57 PM »

The link posted by clee-cm, and melonbooks.com are the only places that list them online, and neither site has all three editions.

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AoZ Unlimited Competition! / Re: GB2: AoZ Reference and Questions

« on: July 17, 2007, 07:50:02 AM »

I think you posted the wrong link.  That one goes to an online book shop that sells the novels. 

Tachyon of GearsOnline and I worked on this together.  We recently posted the "good guy" MP suits, the Xeku Enforcer and the GM Cannon IV.  Pretty soon I should have the "bad guy" MP suits up as well. 

I'm not sure what tie in there may be to AoZ...  did you see something I didn't?

The designs are top-notch IMHO and way more interesting than other recent 'official' gundam releases.

http://www.mechascientific.com/meaninglesswar
http://www.gearsonline.net/gundam/meaninglesswar/

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Model In-Progress / HGUC 1/144 RX-107 TR-4 + FF-X29A [Rosette-Rah]

« on: February 15, 2007, 03:09:14 PM »

I really like the addition of the Long Beam Rifle parts to the Marasai rifle, it seems to work well.  I agree that the Hrududu parts don't look good mixed with the Marasai.  If you can get the AoZ Gaplant (Hrairoo) HGUC, try the Hrududu II.  They are more curvy and might look a lot better with the marasai.  In fact, I didn't like them on the Hrairoo at all, so I have the Hrududu II pods mounted to my Advanced Hazel, jusing some of the Hrududu I parts you have.

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Model In-Progress / Rick Dias + Dom head?!

« on: November 07, 2006, 09:22:27 AM »

It looks like a very wicked Dom.  I agree, the head needs some work.  Not only to make it match a little more with the body, but to make it a little less stock so it doesn't just look like swapped the head.  Maybe modifying the Dias body a bit too so it looks more non-standard.

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Model In-Progress / "No Paint" 1/00 Serpent Custom

« on: October 31, 2006, 08:59:15 PM »

I was away at a developer's conference in Vegas, and now that I've recovered I have some progress to show.

I finished one foot and one leg.  The feet were glued and puttied a few years back, so there's some green spots I can't do anything about, but this is a guinea pig build, so it's all good.


sanded on the right, original on the left.


I thought my set of files was great for getting into all the little nooks and crannies, but I forgot the perils involved.  Be careful with the square shaped ones, those eges can file some deep ruts in your plastic very easily.


you can really see the difference in texture here.  This will look nice when I darken in those panel lines.


This was the best shot I could get of the seams.  My camera doesn't take close-ups so well.  The seam is pretty well sanded down and I'm pretty happy with the look.  Real MG's don't have as many of these big obvious ones, so it's less of a concern with other models.

Overall, the leg turned out well (but not the foot).  I couldn't get my sand paper into areas of the foot for sanding, since it was already glues together.  For the lowerlegs, I figured out what parts would need sanding before it was glued together and it turned out really well.  Going over the leg with 400 paper first worked out well too, mostly because the paper is just stiffer and and I roll it and fold it to make different shaped heads to get into some of the crannies.  A sharp dentist pick was used to clean out all the plastic dust from the panel lines.

10

Model In-Progress / "No Paint" 1/00 Serpent Custom

« on: October 21, 2006, 10:32:13 AM »

steel wool?  I thought that might be too rough, but I'll check it out.

yes, 600 might not be fine enough, we'll see.

Sandblasting would be too harsh, but maybe not if you used baking soda or the like.  I actually have access to a sandblasting cabinet, but I'd rather do this with supplies and tools that the average hobbiest has access too.


close up of the shield with the nice soft finish, the perfect uniform, and even in all the little nooks and crannies.  There's even a decal.

11

Model In-Progress / "No Paint" 1/00 Serpent Custom

« on: October 20, 2006, 07:56:58 PM »

For those of you who don't know me, I am ninjascience, the biggest Advance of Zeta fan, anywhere!  period.  I hung around for a while in the AoZ Group Build thread as annoying but harmless sychophant.  I played with gunpla years ago, but my kits have been in boxes for years due to the tiny iron sphere that l live in at the bottom of an ocean.  If I used an airbrush to paint models I would suffocate and die.  So a "new" no paint method is right up my alley.  Now before you say: "But ninja!  Every noob in middle school can snap together a kit and sketch in some panel lines with the 5 weeks of allowance they used to mail-order a black Gundam Marker!" I say: "NO! This in not that thing!"  If you don't know what I'm talking about, check this out.  The article isn't finished yet, but it's got the basics.

So here's my attempt at this method:

I'm going to use a poor innocent 1/100 Serpent Custom as my guinea pig.  

First I had to figure out the sanding, I tried it out on an EVA battery.


The sanded one is on the top, and the un-sanded one is on the bottom.  I sanded one side with 400 grade and the other with 600.  The 600 one is the way to go, it was way to easy to see the sand strokes with the 400.

Here's a ubiqutous test fit shot that shows I've done almost nothing:



I have my doubts about achieving the same uniform matte in those magazine scans.  I suspect that Gyan was sandblasted.

I'm an unabashed kit-basher, so doing a no-paint build is going to be an emotional challenge.  I can do subtractive customizations, but that's about it.

One problem: how well will decals work on the matte sanded plastic?

12

Painting/Priming / No-Paint Technique From Dengeki Hobby

« on: September 08, 2006, 02:31:10 PM »

Funaka:

This method seems like something new.  I think most gunpla folks start with doing a no-paint technique like yours and eventually move to airbrush.  I used to do to airbrushed kits, but since moving to and back from Japan (all over 4 years ago), I haven't touched my kits.  I was getting pretty good, and I'd like to start again, but I don't have the space for a workbench with the whole airbrush setup.  

This new no-paint method has some appeal for me because it's not just snapping the model together and filling in panel lines with a gundam marker.  It looks like it takes a lot of skill to sand all the surfaces just right and get the panel lines looking good, but not to distinct.  It looks like a challenge, and it looks like what you end up with is pretty nice looking.

13

Painting/Priming / No-Paint Technique From Dengeki Hobby

« on: August 23, 2006, 11:25:47 AM »

this sounds perfect for me, as I don't have the space for an airbrush setup anymore.  I might have to give this a try and report back to y'all.

14

Model Talk / Paintless Build

« on: August 23, 2006, 08:29:14 AM »

Has there been any discussion here on the new paintless model techniques out of Japan?  Danny Choo has a couple of entries on it: http://www.dannychoo.com/blog_entry/eng/585/Gundam/
http://www.dannychoo.com/blog_entry/eng/554/Gundam+Paint/

That would be a cool group build!

15

AoZ Unlimited Competition! / RX-107 "Rosette" Enhanced Land Battle Form

« on: May 25, 2006, 06:24:45 AM »

The Gunpla version of this we've already seen is apparently the prototype of this guy.

Mark Simmons' Translation:
RX-107 "Rosette" Enhanced Land Battle Form
The enhanced land battle form of the RX-107 "Rosette" is a ground combat form of the RX-107 used when the Murphy Team assaults Karaba's Kamchatka base. This form is equipped with option parts so that the RX-107 can perform high-speed combat on the ground, and is capable of high-speed hovering movement. The optional hovering skirt unit contains powerful thermonuclear jet engines whose thrust enables the machine to float. Unlike thermonuclear rockets that generate thrust by consuming propellant, these thermonuclear jets use the atmosphere as (fuel? propellant? the term is illegible here), and thus have the merit of reducing propellant consumption and extending the mission operating time.

Note: This is presumably the main difference betwene this version and the rejected prototype plan seen in the previous issue, which carried huge propellant tanks to fuel its thrusters and nonetheless had a relatively short operating time.

The captions on the smaller sketches are pretty much illegible, although I note that the image on the upper right shows a planned Minovsky craft version of the hovering skirt unit, which was abandoned because the system couldn't be made small enough. I also note that this version is still armed with an Asshimar beam rifle, and its chest is protected by the same kind of armor unit previously tested on the Hizack Cannon.

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AoZ Unlimited Competition! / GB2: AoZ Reference and Questions

« on: May 08, 2006, 08:10:22 AM »

ohhh, very nice!

I like it better than this recent find:
http://homepage2.nifty.com/gasdam/aepyornis.html

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AoZ Unlimited Competition! / GB2: AoZ Reference and Questions

« on: April 12, 2006, 06:41:22 AM »

new details on the Fiver.  Launching Hands ( a la Stutzers), a mini-missile launcher version of the Shield Booster, and more details about how the Fiver is armed.

18

AoZ Unlimited Competition! / GB2: AoZ Reference and Questions

« on: April 06, 2006, 08:15:53 AM »

The MS in the bottom left corner is not the Gaplant sans-Fiver equipment.  It's the RX-272 Gundam Mk. III
theories from TTTArc and 4chan along with the original RX-272 lineart (see below) point to the Fiver being a bridge in the design evolution from the Gaplant to the RX-272.

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AoZ Unlimited Competition! / GB2: AoZ Reference and Questions

« on: April 05, 2006, 06:23:12 AM »

MOAR!

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AoZ Unlimited Competition! / GB2: AoZ Reference and Questions

« on: April 04, 2006, 01:32:16 PM »

ohhhh, very cool.

now imagine that with the big grappling arms deployed.  wicked.