{"id":1626,"date":"2005-04-22T15:30:31","date_gmt":"2005-04-22T23:30:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/fichtenfoo.net\/blog\/?p=1626"},"modified":"2009-02-11T17:38:13","modified_gmt":"2009-02-12T01:38:13","slug":"in-progress-%c2%bb-hamster-ball","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fichtenfoo.net\/blog\/in-progress-%c2%bb-hamster-ball\/","title":{"rendered":"In Progress \u00c2\u00bb Hamster Ball"},"content":{"rendered":"

02.25.2005 \u00c2\u00bb Concepts<\/p>\n

WTF? Yes, that’s probably what you’re thinking. The
\nMG Ball is such a weird design though that it screams for a weird
\napproach. Basically when I was coming up with ideas for this kit,
\nhamster-balls came to mind. For those that don’t know, a hamster
\nball is a clear plastic ball with air holes that you put your hamster
\nin so that it can run around outside of its cage without getting
\nlost or eaten.<\/p>\n

So with that I was reminded of Hamtaro. I hated the
\nHamtaro TV show, but the hamsters themselves are cute and it is
\na Japanese show. So why not merge the two? So I found some “Ham
\nHam” images online and traced them. I recolored them as well
\nto be my own markings since each Ham has a different marking look.
\nThe sunflowers are because the Hams love sunflower seeds.<\/p>\n

So the end result is a design that could drive the
\nmost hardened criminals into a diabetic coma. I think it’s fun though
\nand unusual and will be a fun cute thing to do. As a bonus, my daughter
\nwill probably love this when she’s older.<\/p>\n

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At any rate, I’ve got to get started on this. Nothing
\nis cut out and I haven’t even sent the decals to the printer. Been
\ntoo busy with the new site design!<\/p>\n

03.10.2005 \u00c2\u00bb Let’s get started…<\/p>\n

Wow… I heard that this kit was a quick build, but
\nuntil you get started, you’ve got no idea just how quick it really
\nis gonna be. After 1.5 hours of work, I have the kit completely
\ncut out. I haven’t sanded anything yet, but there’s not a whole
\nlot to sand anyway. Aside from the sprue stubs, it’s mostly the
\narms that need work. I’ve only encountered 2 parts that really need
\na seam line fixed. those parts will require some other work as well,
\nbut more on that later.<\/p>\n

Now I thought the gun was gonna be the hardest part
\nof this kit. Normally you have the 2 halves of the gun and a bunch
\nof parts tacked onto that. Bandai really outdid themselves on this
\none thought. First off, the barrel is molded in 1 piece. 1
\nPIECE!<\/span> All that needs cleaned on it is a slight flash line
\nand the sprue stubs. The body of the gun is in 2 halves… surely
\nthat’ll require a ton of sanding. Again, no! It’s molded so that
\non the bottom, a cylinder hides most of the seam and on the top,
\na third piece covers the seam there and secures a roll-bar. The
\nonly seams on this whole gun are right in front of the ammo cartridge
\nand the front of the ammo cartridge which is part of the body. That’s
\nit. Nicely done Bandai!<\/p>\n

As for the rest of the kit, since I’m not displaying
\nthe internals ever, I had no need to sand the sprue stubs there.
\nNo one will ever see them once I put the armor on. So all those
\nparts… no sanding. I’ve essentially built the whole internal “ball”
\nand will only have 2-8 places that need sprue stubs sanded there.
\nI’ll just have to sand the outter shell.<\/p>\n

Anyways, no pics yet, but I have a couple mods to
\nmake to avoid unnecessary masking. I’ll photograph those later when
\nI do them.<\/p>\n

03.23.2005 \u00c2\u00bb on hold…<\/p>\n

Here’s my overdue progress report on this kit. Everything
\nis cut and sanded and ready for paint. Here’s the problem though…
\nIn less than 2 weeks I’ll be remodeling my bathroom so that means
\ndemolition dust and many trips through my basement work area with
\nlarge tools, etc… So rather than risk damaging the kit while it’s
\nin progress, I’ve put it back into the box until after the bathroom
\nis complete. As soon as we’re done, I’ll finish it up.<\/p>\n

04.18.2005 \u00c2\u00bb Back to work!<\/p>\n

Now that the bathroom remodeling is done (and a redecorated
\nliving room to boot) I’m back on the Hamster Ball. Since the kit
\nwas ready for paint when I stopped, all I had to do was skewer and
\nstart painting it.<\/p>\n

For the sky\/foliage I first sprayed a mixture of Tamiya
\nSky Blue and white. THen I sprayed the clouds on using the leftover
\ntransparent white I mixed for the Cloud09. That was IIRC White +
\nFuture. Lastly I sprayed (without a mask) a mixture of Tamiya Greens
\nalong the bottom. My sunflower decals have no green so the flowers
\nwill sit atop this green field.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The internals were painted with a 50\/50 mixture of
\nTamiya Chrome silver + Gunmetal.<\/p>\n

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\n\"\"<\/p>\n

I also had time to finish up the base. The base was
\nprimed black then drybrushed with grays and whites then dusted with
\na thick helping of ground light gray pastels. Also if you look closely,
\nyou can see the clear acrylic rod that will be holding the Ball
\nup. That has a small pin-hole drilled in the top which will match
\none drilled in the bottom bell for pinning the kit to the base.<\/p>\n

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\n\"\"<\/p>\n

04.20.2005 \u00c2\u00bb Inking<\/p>\n

The painting went very quickly so
\nnow I’m onto the inking. As I’m finishing inking
\nparts, I’m building the main “Ball”.
\nI’m doing this because I’ll need certain decals
\nto overlap several panels. This way all those
\npanels are in place and the decal will be properly
\npositioned. What’s nice is that I won’t have to
\ndissassemble this since there’s no moving parts
\nto deal with here what would need moved to have
\nan even flat coat.<\/p>\n

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04.22.2005 \u00c2\u00bb Decals<\/p>\n

The decals went on very smoothly.
\nI took a page from Hasegawa and made “layered”
\ndecals for this kit. Making a large decal with
\nall the flowers and hamsters would be too hard
\nto place on this curved surface. Instead I made
\nsmall sections of flowers and aligned\/cut them
\nto fit. The hamsters were placed overtop the flowers.
\nWhere the decals overlapped panel-lines, I cut
\nthem with an exacto after they dried and applied
\nmore setting solution to sit them into the lines.<\/p>\n

Here’s a few in-progs. The kit is
\nready for final assembly and photos so you’ll
\nhave to wait for that to see the hams on the ball.<\/p>\n

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