{"id":1735,"date":"2005-12-27T06:05:22","date_gmt":"2005-12-27T14:05:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/fichtenfoo.net\/blog\/?p=1735"},"modified":"2009-02-12T06:06:42","modified_gmt":"2009-02-12T14:06:42","slug":"in-progress-%c2%bb-mg-hazel-stutzer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fichtenfoo.net\/blog\/in-progress-%c2%bb-mg-hazel-stutzer\/","title":{"rendered":"In Progress \u00c2\u00bb MG Hazel [Stutzer]"},"content":{"rendered":"

12.03.2005 \u00c2\u00bb Concepts<\/p>\n

Continuing
\nwith my AoZ Unlimited Group Build projects I have started
\non my MG Quel to Hazel conversion with a twist. For the most
\npart the base kit will be the MG Quel with a few modifications
\nfor posability and some add-ons. I purchased a Hazel head
\nfrom Models4U to use for this and I’ll be scratchbuilding
\nthe shoulder grenade launchers and the buldged out chest piece\/hatch.
\nThe backpack will be the stock one from the Quel as I like
\nits big boxy goodness.<\/p>\n

The twist comes in where I’ll be
\nmaking a detatchable ‘Stutzer’ unit for the front.
\nFrom what I can gather, it was just the Zeon forces
\nusing stutzers, but I think it might look kinda
\ncool on the Hazel. Mine will be using the beam
\nrifle from the MG Gp01 on the one ‘boom’ and on
\nthe other ‘boom’, instead of the grapling arm,
\nI’ll be adding a row of grenade launchers. Below
\nare some pics from AoZ of the Hazel in the scheme
\nI’ll be using and of the Zaku Stutzer. My stutzer
\nunit will be modified to look more Titans Test
\nTeam than Zeonesque style-wise.<\/p>\n

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12.03.2005 \u00c2\u00bb Modifications<\/p>\n

Another twist is that I’m actually
\ndoing mobility mods. For those who don’t know
\nwhat that is, it involves modifying the kit so
\nthat it has more\/better articulation and posability.
\nFirst up was adding a ball-joint in the chest
\nso that it could pivot back and forth and left
\nand right. You can see in the final pic the extreme
\nside of the new articulation. I’ll be adding greeblies
\ninside the gap so that it doesn’t look empty when
\ntilted. Not shown is another polycap mod I added
\nto the hip joint to allow that to pivot back and
\nforth. I’ll take a pic of that later. The second
\nimage is that of my additions to make the Quel
\ninto the base Hazel. I won’t be making the leg
\nboosters or the added ass armor. This will be
\na scaled back Hazel. Finally, you can see Pete’s
\nHazel head cast in the final pic. He did a great
\njob with that!<\/p>\n

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12.05.2005 \u00c2\u00bb More
\nModifications<\/p>\n

Here’s what I go so far… The
\nHazel center chest part is almost finished. It
\njust needs some more sanding, beveling and the
\nlittle circles added to the sides. I need to find
\na 1 mm drill bit first though before I add those.
\nIn the top of the chest piece I added a rare earth
\nmagnet under a very thin top-plate of styrene
\nto hide it.<\/p>\n

Then I started on the Stutzer pack.
\nI added another rare earth magnet in the part
\nthat sits on the chest to hold it together so
\nthat it is removeable. To keep the Hazel\/AoZ look
\nbased on the HGUC Hazel I have, I took some thin
\nyellow sprue (but it will later be painted) lathed
\nsome panel lines into it (using my drill) and
\nadded those to the front of the 2 Stutzer support
\nstruts. More “yellow” tubes will be
\nadded inbetween the struts along with a vent.
\nWhen some more glue dries, I’ll add the joints\/tubing
\nto the sides of those struts that will allow the
\n2 ‘booms’ to swivel up and down. The sensor (blue)
\nis leftover from my MG Gp01 (Gerbera Tetra) project.<\/p>\n

The shoulder parts are almost done
\nas well. They just need some primer and a little
\nfill work where the grenades connect. I also filled
\nthe chest vents and scribed a line across them.
\nI’ve seen several Gundams with these type vents
\nand I like them. This seemed like a good project
\nto add that look to.<\/p>\n

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12.07.2005 \u00c2\u00bb Arms<\/p>\n

Things are progressing rather quickly.
\nSince the last update, I cleaned up the center
\npart so that it’s nice and sanded, beveled, etc…
\nI added some more of the yellow rods in-between
\nthe two struts and there will be a vent inbetween.
\nThis will look very much like the HGUC Hazel’s
\nbooster pod details when painted. A grab bar was
\nadded to the top of the struts. The joints were
\nadded to the sides of the stutzer unit and the
\n‘arms’ were made by layering sheets of styrene
\nto get that layered look. The joints were made
\nusing road wheels from an M-10 tank kit and wheel
\nparts from an M* Greyhound. In the pics, they’re
\nnot pushed in all the way<\/strong>. I want to
\nkeep the stiffness of the joints so I am limiting
\nthe amount I “test fit” them. I still
\nhave a lot of clean-up and detailing to do on
\nthe arms and such. Here’s some pics. I needed
\nto prop the arms up for now as the kit is very
\nfront heavy and will topple over. I’ll have to
\nweight the feet down with something or display
\nit on a rod in a flight pose.<\/p>\n

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12.17.2005 \u00c2\u00bb Armed<\/p>\n

I came down with a case of ‘Metal
\nGear Solid 3’ so progress slowed a bit on the
\n[Stutzer]. I’m all better now (and really enjoyed
\nthe game!) so I’m back to the in-progs. Since
\nmy last update I’ve cut and sanded everything
\nthat needed sanded and cut on the Quel. That damn
\nshield had soooo many injector marks on the inside.
\nI also finished the hand-held gun and clips. Those
\nwere made from Gp01 ePacs and the Quel beam gun
\nwith a barrel from a GM Type C gun leftover. The
\nclip covers were made from thick sheet styrene
\nthat was filed into shape. They extra clip will
\ngo on the right forearm. I liked that placement
\nafter seeing it on several AoZ GMs.<\/p>\n

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I also added the weapons to the
\nboom arms. The grenade launchers are from an Academy
\nM10 tank kit. I believe they were shell casings.
\nThe gun is the MG Gp01 beam rifle. The mounting
\n‘clips’ were made from 1\/8″ strip styrene
\ncut at a 45 degree angle. I had to add some strips
\nto the back side of the rifle so that it would
\nlay straight.<\/p>\n

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That’s it for now. Next I need to
\nwash the resin parts and then prime everything.
\nI totally expect to have a little more clean-up
\nafter priming, but will be onto paint very soon.<\/p>\n

12.27.2005 \u00c2\u00bb Paint<\/p>\n

I’ve had the Hazel painted and
\nFutured since before Christmas, but with all the
\ntraveling and Santa brining me a cold on Christmas
\nmorning I haven’t had time to do much with it.
\nI am feeling better enough today that I was able
\nto finish adding the wash for all the panel lines
\nand to paint the red stretched sprue details I
\nadded in the recesses to make this piece have
\nthat AoZ feel. Below are some pics. For whatever
\nreason the parts look textured in the pics, but
\nnot so much in real life. I think it’s a combo
\nof the dark colors mixed with harsh light and
\na need for several more coats of Future for decals
\nand flat coating. I’d love to add the decal coat
\nof Future on tonight, but I keep sneezing and
\nmy nose keeps running and that just doesn’t make
\nfor a pleasant mask-wearing painting experience.
\nYuck!<\/p>\n

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