ANA x Unicorn Gundam

Quick-and-dirty recolouring of "blue" Unicorn Gundam in Destroy Mode

I remember when I first showed my sister the line art of Unicorn Gundam in Destroy Mode, the first thing she commented was "I'd love it if the red parts are in blue~". It looks like that her wish has become true.


For the ongoing ANA x GUNDAM Sky Project, the latest Gunpla to be released for this campaign will be the 1/144 HGUC Unicorn Gundam D-Mode ANA Original Colour Ver. 5000 Yen (tax and shipping included), and pre-order is available for domestic flights only.


Other than the clear blue psychoframe and (apparently) plated parts, custom marking stickers will be provided for this kit as well.


On the other hand, the availability of 1/48 Mega Size Gundam ANA Original Colour Ver. (picture as shown above) and the 1/200 ANA x Gundam Jet & RX-78 Gundam set will be extended to 30th April as well.


My sister now has her eyes on the blue Unicorn Gundam, as her humble wishes has become true~ But given the conditions to get one in the first place, getting one for my sister won't be easy, not to mention the price tag of 5000 Yen as well. I'm thinking of maybe getting one for my sister anyway, but I will have to find some local proxy services for it ^^;;;

ANA x Gundam Sky Project website:
http://www.ana.co.jp/dom/promotion/gundam/
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00 QAN[T] Full Saber

Continued from last post on HG 1/144 00 QAN[T], we shall head on to the GN Sword IV, which is a kit that comes with February 2011 Issue of Hobby Japan magazine. Combining the GN Sword IV with 00 QAN[T] gives the Full Saber configuration.


The kit comes with 2 runners: One blue one and one of clear green. The clear green is slightly lighter in colour than those on the blades of the 00 QAN[T].


I'm no serious modeller, so I just use my usual Gundam Markers to do the colouring. Grey is easy to do, but white is a pain which requires layers after layers of painting. Luckily a number of the parts where colouring is required are well separated, which makes things not too dreadful for someone casual like me.


The end product, with GN Sword IV on the left and the extra backpack add-on on the right.


The backpack add-on simply goes over the back of the 00 QAN[T]. The GN Shield had to be disconnected along with its arm and reconnected on the new hole on the backpack. As the polycap is now used up on the backpack, the GN Shield will lose one point of articulation.


Backpack add-on and GN Shield attached. The signiture cone-shape back that are prominent for the 3rd generation Gundams (those that appeared in 1st season of Gundam 00) makes a return here.


Comparison of 00 Gundam Seven Sword's GN Buster Sword II (top) with the GN Sword IV (bottom)


Front view of 00 QAN[T] Full Saber configuration.


Back view. The GN Sword IV now takes the highlight and kind of balances the original asymmetric look, or even takes it away to the other side as it's bigger than the GN Shield on the left.


GN Sword IV consists of the "main blade unit", "main grip unit" (the two are currently attached together as seen above), and 3 GN Gunblades. There are many different ways to combine them (hence different modes), so I will just show the majority for examples.


The GN Gunblades can switch modes between gun mode and blade mode. Just a swivel the green blade and there you go.


With the GN Gunblades 00 QAN[T] can dual wield just like Gundam Dynames, Cherudim Gundam, and Gundam Zabanya from the same series with their respective pistols, or even Strike Noir from Gundam SEED C.E. 73: Stargazer


2 GN Gunblades can combine together to become "Twin Edge".


The GN Sword IV has 2 rifle modes. One way is to have the main blade unit facing forward and have the GN Gunblade in gun mode attached underneath.


Another form of rifle mode is to simply have the main blade unit to go the other way round.


GN Sword IV without the GN Gunblades


GN Sword IV in Full Saber mode.




N.B. There are 3 parts that are to be used in junction with other Gunpla kits, but I have decided to leave them out as the post is focused on the 00 QAN[T], and that I do not have the Gunplas that go with them (e.g. Gundam Zanbanya, Gundam Harute).

The GN Sword IV fills the "empty" space on the right shoulder of 00 QAN[T], and it has made the Full Saber configuration look more 'balanced' in a way, with a slight resemblance to the 00 Raiser.

According to the settings, the GN Sword IV itself only existed in data as the technology on the Gundam itself is so well refined that GN Sword IV is not needed for synchronising the Twin Drives that are running on the 00 QAN[T]. As the current weapon 00 QAN[T] uses is the GN Sword V it could imply that the GN Sword V (and the GN Sword Bits) inherits features from GN Sword IV to achieve the end result, making the GN Sword IV obselete in a way.

In terms of the model itself, there is a good amount of playability for the GN Sword IV, with different modes and combinations one can do here and there. I kind of felt that this is the true form of 00 QAN[T], with the huge sword acting as the other binder for the Gundam to look like 00 Raiser, and the cone-shape back that resembles Setsuna's first Gundam, Gundam Exia, with more implications showing how 00 QAN[T] is derived from both Gundam Exia and 00 Raiser.

Overall, GN Sword IV is a nice add-on kit to make the 00 QAN[T] Full Saber. It may be a bit hard to find the kit as it only comes with the February 2011 Issue of Hobby Japan magazine (which was released in January). It's not hard to build, and it's not as hard to paint compared to, say, the XN Raiser kit that was released back in 2009.

Do check out chubbybot's reviews on the GN Sword IV too on The Toy Room!
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HG 1/144 00 QAN[T]

It has been a while since I have last done a post on a Gundam model (Gunpla). I still build them from time to time, but just not much reviews or posts about them. For a change here is one from one of the latest Gundam franchise: HG 1/144 00 QAN[T] (pronounced "Double-Oh Quanta") from Gundam 00 the Movie: A wakening of the Trailblazer.


Assembly is fairly straight forward. Forgot to put all parts up for that image, which was quite silly of me back then -_-;


Tried to colour the GN condensers with green highlighter, but it turned out to be very uneven. My sister tried putting a top coat on top of it and it turns out... Funny.


Now the GN Condensers look as if they're flooded with individual GN particles inside that you can see. An unexpected side effect but it's nevertheless interesting.


GN Shield in the middle with GN Sword Bits (outer pair: Sword Bits A; middle pair: Sword Bits B; inner pair: Sword Bits C). The GN Sword Bits dock with GN Shield when they are not in used.


The Gundam can kneel down pretty well. Not many HG 1/144 models can do that as far as I know.


I've decided to colour the two sides of the faceplate grey instead of keeping them white like how it should have been. This picture was still in an early stage of colouring there were still a lot of areas where colouring is kind of off. It's also worth mentioning that the head part requires the most colouring (more if you colour the eyes too like I did instead of using foil stickers).


00 QAN[T] completed and standing. The asymmetry does give a rather unique appearance, much like the Nu Gundam with the fin funnels on one side.


It can pose pretty well even while standing, as a lot of features are inherited from the HG 1/144 00 Gundam (and its upgrades), one of the most articulated gunpla for its scale that I know of.


00 QAN[T] in flight. Love the "bling bling" stand that the kit provides as it mimics the GN particle effect.


GN Sword V in rifle mode. The shape of the weapon now looks like a fencing sword of some kind. Left spread palm is used to make the pose seem more 'dynamic'.


GN Sword V in sword mode.


The GN Shield is connected to the back and hangs over 00 QAN[T]'s left shoulder. As it has several joints in its arm it can move to the front or the back of the Gundam.


Deploying GN Sword Bits. They're more for support role rather than for offensive purposes as seen in the movie.


The GN Sword V can combine with the GN Sword Bits, but this will require a different blade part to combine them together (as seen on the left in the picture above). There are two ways to combine it for two different functions (Buster Sword and Buster Rifle), but the differences are very minor.


GN Sword V (Buster rifle mode)


Gn Sword V (Buster Sword mode)


00 QAN[T] with its oversized buster sword. This was never seen used in the movie, but the buster rifle mode was used in Trans-Am mode very briefly.


One of the last features of 00 QAN[T]: The GN Shield can swing to the back of the Gundam, then have the blue flap open up, revealing a GN Drive inside the shield. Rotating the GN Drive to align and join with the GN Drive at the back of the Gundam to activate the "Quantum System", of which the feature is story-related so I won't spoil the beans here.


Final picture of 00 QAN[T] about to activate Quantum System.


The 00 QAN[T], being the last ride for the protagonist Setsuna F Seiei in Gundam 00, does have a rather unique appearance, combining features of his previous machines Gundam Exia and 00 Gundam. The assymetrical look and a lack of backpacks or wing-like binders is a nice change from a number of superpower Gundams too.

Model-wise, a fair bit of colouring and panel lining is required here and there, especially the head. Articulation is pretty good (these little fellas are getting better and better nowadays). The clear green parts for GN Sword Bits do need a bit of sanding before I could push them inside the blue parts, but otherwise there are no real problems with it.

Settings/story-wise, this is one of the few Gundams that do not have "Gundam" on the name. Supposedly the most advanced and powerful mobile suit in its own era, ironically 00 QAN[T] had a very brief appearance compared to other very powerful Gundams, and its offensive moves were seen even briefer. While it is capable of destroying an entire armed force, it is also capable of communicating with them the peaceful way to avoid further unecessary bloodshed...

And with all that away, next post will be on its extra armament: the GN Sword IV from Hobby Japan magazine to form 00 QAN[T] Full Saber!
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figma WRS preview

So the recent hyped Black Rock Shooter (BRS) will have a white counterpart called (WRS) for an upcoming PSP game "Black Rock Shooter the Game", and it's getting materialised in the form of a figma action figure.


Front


Back


Close up on the upper body and face. This >:9 face has resemlance to one of figma Dead Master's expressions, which also has a tongue out.


3rd expression. The two fangs in the open mouth are visible.


Action pose. Looks like that the wings have articulations as well.


A picture taken in the very recent WonFes 2011 Winter from Hobbystock blog. One can see that the wings are removable.


Edited: There are no confirmed news that WRS necessarily stands for "White Rock Shooter". It can be "White Rock Scythe" or anything. Until new info is released, I will only refer it as "WRS".

But whatever the reasons, I am falling for it. Be it the big scythe, the evil yet with a hint of mischievous look of her, the unzipped short shorts, or no protruding horns and such that what didn't get me to buy figma Dead Master at the end, I want to say no more... OTL

The design appears to be that of Black Rock Shooter combined with Dead Master but with a white colour scheme. The mecha-like wings are not so much to my liking, so the fact that it's removable changed my heart on it, which is what I would have preferred when I first saw the artwork of it.

The problem? This figma is bundled with the upcoming PSP game Black Rock Shooter the Game "limited edition", which will cost around 10497 Yen for official retail price (according the to the official "pre-information" page). This is going to be a classical sample of what we call "買figma送game" in Chinese, or "buy figma and get game as supplement". The "limited edition" will also come with an artbook and soundtracks, but will they be worth getting just because I want the figma? Well, let's hope the shooter RPG game is actually good but I won't put too much hopes and hypes for it.


Image from Siliconera

The game itself is going to have a different setting from the one in the OVA. Set in a post-apocalyptic world, humans are near the edge of total extermination from unknown robots, and a girl called Black Rock Shooter is called upon as a final weapon to battle against this robot invasion. For some reasons this got me to think of Saikano all of a sudden.

This is when I start blaming myself for falling into such "marketing ploy" stuff. Go laugh at me all you want, or if you too are falling for it too, let us fall together.



Images from 4Gamer via Kyouran Kyoudai
More pictures available on figma official site
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Happy Chinese New Year

Photo of Nendoroid Hatsune MIku: Absolute HMO Edition taken shamelessly from Sakura's blog (小櫻與愉快的朋友們的網上日記)

新年快樂! Happy Chinese New Year (or Lunar New Year) to all who celebrate it!

Year 2011 is the year of the Rabbit, but apparently the Vietnamese has cats instead of rabbits for their own version of zodiacs. :o

This is probably my first time spending the Chinese New Year at home in Hong Kong in 8 years. Time to catch up on some sleep and rest while I can I suppose - a break is what I've really wanted in the recent months ^^;

Hope everyone will have enjoyed their times during New Year, should you celebrate it or not, and all the best to our hobbies!


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