{"id":1779,"date":"2005-08-23T07:03:30","date_gmt":"2005-08-23T15:03:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/fichtenfoo.net\/blog\/?p=1779"},"modified":"2009-02-12T07:10:00","modified_gmt":"2009-02-12T15:10:00","slug":"in-progress-%c2%bb-strike-gundam-pack-test-unit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fichtenfoo.net\/blog\/in-progress-%c2%bb-strike-gundam-pack-test-unit\/","title":{"rendered":"In Progress \u00c2\u00bb Strike Gundam – Pack Test Unit"},"content":{"rendered":"

07.29.2005 \u00c2\u00bb Concepts<\/p>\n

\"\"So I’m in the mood to do another gundam kit so I
\nstarted on my Master Grade Strike Gundam from
\nGundam Seed. I got this kit well over a year ago
\nat the Pittsburgh Comicon and it’s sat on my shelf
\nwhile I thought about what to do with it. For
\nthis kit I’m making a test unit for new Striker
\nPacks. Basically the Strike can be equiped with
\nvarious packs to server different roles in battle.
\nIn Seed we saw the Aile, Launcher, and Sword packs.
\nI’ll be making the Aile pack that comes with the
\nkit, but also creating my own custom test-pack.
\nThe Strike has a lot of modification potential
\ndue to the pack system.<\/p>\n

My pack will be called the Shinobi
\npack. It’s roll would be for light armor infiltration
\nand reconissance. I’ll be making a backpack with
\na sensor jammer. For armament the Strike will
\nhave a forearm mounted sword for certain and possible
\na chain weapon and beam saber. Plus it will have
\nthe standard Armor Schneiders located in the hip
\nskirt armors.<\/p>\n

Color-wise, the Strike will be mostly
\nlight warm buff-gray and a splash of test orange.
\nDecals will aslo depict this as a test unit.<\/p>\n

\n

07.29.2005 \u00c2\u00bb Cutting,
\nSanding and Pre-building<\/p>\n

I’m almost done cutting and sanding
\nthis kit. All I have left is the weapons and Aile
\nPack. I also need to make the Shinobi Pack for
\nit. I decided to pre-build and pose the kit to
\nsee how the pack would fit. Here’s a few pics
\nof one of my intended final poses. I plan on photographing
\nseveral poses. The sword is made from sharpened
\nstyrene srtip and various leftover gun and MG
\nparts. The hand is not the final hand. It’s the
\nsniper rifle holding hand from my GM Ground Type.
\nI plan on modifying one of my b-club hands to
\nbe bent back like that.<\/p>\n

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

08.10.2005 \u00c2\u00bb Sheath
\nProgress<\/p>\n

Here’s my progress so far on the
\nforearm mounted sheath. I didn’t take pics of
\nthe mount part off the arm for whatever reason,
\nbut I’m pleased with how it’s turning out. The
\nsmall holes within holes will contain the cut-off
\nheads of metal pins after it’s painted so that
\nthey retain their metal finish. The sheath is
\nhinged under the box in the back in 2 spots. The
\nbox hides the hinges, keeps the pins in place
\nand best of all blocks the door from opening too
\nfar. I’ll be adding some more in front of that
\nbox to make it look less “open”. I still
\nhave a lot of clean-up to do but wanted to post
\nthe little bit of progress I made before I get
\nbusy with freelance work again.<\/p>\n

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

08.11.2005 \u00c2\u00bb Sheath
\nProgress Part 2<\/p>\n

Due to some requests from the forum
\nI decided to take some more pics of the sheath.
\nBelow are pics of the arm mount portion, the double
\nhinges and the hinges I bought and modified from
\nthe RC department at HobbyTownUSA.<\/p>\n

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

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08.18.2005 \u00c2\u00bb Not as
\nmuch progress as it seems..<\/p>\n

Due to a few freelance projects
\ngoing on at once, I haven’t had much time to work
\non the Strike, but here’s where I’m at so far…<\/p>\n

I’m almost done with the scratch-building
\nand just need to add finishing details before
\nI can prime and paint. Yay! The backpack is almost
\ndone as you can see below. I originally was going
\nto just have a 2-3cm disk as a raddar jammer,
\nbut after finding some misc junk in my plumbing
\nextras, I got the idea to go bigger and have a
\nhalo as a radar\/sensor jammer. (It’s Seed.. gotta
\nhave a uselessly huge backpack!) I looked for
\nlarge thin washers and the like, but nothing as
\nlarge as I wanted was in any other material then
\nrubber at home depot. Instead I bought a 59 cent
\nPVC test plug and used my razor saw to remove
\nthe lip. That lip is now my halo. I had to do
\na lot of cleaning up to the lip, but my big (5″)
\nwood sander made short work of that. The two armatures
\nare from modified my ReGZ’s BWS that I’m using
\nfor scrap. I attacehed the halo with leftover
\nMG screws and those screws will be covered with
\nminus molds.<\/p>\n

Here’s the pics:<\/p>\n

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08.21.2005 \u00c2\u00bb Painting
\nhas begun…<\/p>\n

I primed everything today with my
\nDuplicolor Dark Gray sandable primer. Then a little
\nbit ago I used Alclad II for the first time using
\nmy old Badger 150 dual action AB that I used when
\nI started until it broke. I’ve had it since 1993
\nand recently fixed it with some parts from another
\nthat my brother found cleaning out some property
\nowned by an inlaw. So it’s my “beater”
\nairbrush now so I don’t mess up my good one with
\nLacquers and primers.<\/p>\n

Anyawy, I used Steel and I LOVE
\nit. I still can’t wrap my mind around it being
\ndry and ready for masking in 10 minutes. How strange.
\nThe main reason I used it was so that I could
\navoid scratching up the internals like I normally
\ndo when posing. Hopefully the Lacquer holds up
\nbetter than Tamiya. The finish is beautiful and
\nthe color works great for internals. Darker than
\nsilver, but not gunmetal dark. I might have to
\nget some more colors now since I bought it on
\na lark in March at the IPMS show.<\/p>\n

I also finally bought a pressure
\nregulator since my compressor doesn’t have one.
\nSince the Alclad recommends 12-15 psi and my aztec
\nhobby compressor sprays much higher than that
\nI figured it was a good idea to get one. Got it
\nat walmart for $14 too which wasn’t bad.<\/p>\n

It’s funny, I think I’m getting
\ngreat results then I buy an airbrugh upgrade and
\nsome new paint and I’m getting even better results.
\nCan’t wait to try some camo with the lower pressure.
\nThe higher pressure made freehanding camo difficult
\ndue to excessive overspray.<\/p>\n

Pics later…<\/p>\n

08.22.2005 \u00c2\u00bb Painting
\nhas just about been completed…<\/p>\n

Yeah, everything is painted and
\nFutured. Well, except for the eyes, but I do those
\nlast anyway. Next up is inking, more Future, then
\nDecals. Here’s a shot of all the colors except
\nthe Steel Alclad which I neglected to photograph.
\nThe sword is silver rub’n buff buffed on over
\ngloss black.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

08.23.2005 \u00c2\u00bb Addition<\/p>\n

Here’s those Alclad parts I forgot
\nto photograph yesterday. It’s Alclad 2 Steel over
\nDark Gray Duplicolor Primer. Very nice color for
\ninternals. Not quite gunmetal. It’s about the
\nsame shade as Tamiya Metallic Gray but all metallic
\nand not flecky. You’ll notince a little sprue
\nnub unsanded on the second pic, but my philosophy
\nis if you can’t see it, don’t sand it. That part
\nwill be covered up by the torso armor.<\/p>\n

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