HG00 1/144 GN-0000 / Odachi Weapons System

 At the behest of Mike Tan, Who has correctly warned me about doing too many kits at the same time, I'm concentrating on this one.

I got this idea for a 00 variant shortly after I received my MG Astrays. So, I did research on what exactly was the term for "big sword" in Japanese, and came across three: Daikatana, Nodachi and Odachi. At first, i wanted to call this project Nodachi, but after reading the fine differences between the terms, I've decided to stick to Odachi.

Here are the weapon parts, along with one of my assembled 00 units:


So far, I've started with the basic chest. much to my concern, it turns out that the areas near the injection marks are slightly concave, so aside from doing the preliminary sanding in the pic, I may have to use some putty to flatten the areas at the shoulder/armpits. Also, After checking the top of the shoulders, am tempted to make an extra line and then paint the top of the shoulder area Grey, given that one construction seamline already makes it look like a moving part.


More to come, I've allotted at least an hour each day to this project - no hurry, really. I haven't built a kit in years, and I think this is one I should do slowly.

Toy Thursdays - Gundam, Star Wars, Macross, DC Action Figures...

Here are some of the toy and toy-related news I've collected from around the Internet:

Gundam Café

I want one here in the Philippines so bad. Images and information are from Gundam Dot Info.

And yes, folks, they have Gundam-themed food. 




















HGFC 1/144 God Gundam

Interesting in that it's final attack can be loosely translated as Apocalyptic God Finger of Love. Images and information are from Bandai Hobbysite and Amiami.




 

HG00 1.5 Gundam

The Big Bad of the series has been given a "In better times..." makeover. Images and information are from GToy Blog.

SD Sangokuden

If I remember right, this one is called the Shin Toutaku Zaku. Those are very....suggestive energy blasts there, sonny. And that's a ZZ Top Beard, there. All SD images and information are from The World of 15CM and Below.

 

This one is what I am planning to get. It's called the Shin Ryofu Tallgeese. He's so cool, his horse turns into a motorcycle, and he's got one more unit that I think turns into a flying platform. If that's the horse, too, then by gum, I'd want more of the horse than the rider!

 I do believe that part of the platform seems to be a BIG F-ING SWORD.














From Ngeekhiong.Com:
Bandai Demands 4 Million Renminbi from Pirated Gunpla Manufacturer and Seller in China
Just a little bit of update on Bandai's legal case against the pirated Gunpla manufacturer and seller in China mentioned two days ago.


China Finance Online reported this morning that the total amount of compensation Bandai is demanding from the two defendants is 3.69 million Renminbi - about USD $540,000, which should be a combined amount for the two companies.


No other new details available in the report. The first defendant, the pirated kit manufacturer's arguments that the work was done by another company they contracted, and that they did not know that the product is copyrighted by Bandai - the same argument used by the second defendant, the seller are being repeated in the report though.


Information is from China Finance Online. The same report is also up on Yidaba Industry News and Sina Finance (All reports are in Chinese).

I seriously think that it was about time this happened. China is in a Catch-22 situation. If they recognize Bandai's claim, then it can open the floodgates to other cases. If they ignore it or let the home-grown pirates win, it also sends a chilling signal to the rest of the world. They'll have to weigh between their booming present economy, and possible future repercussions that can bring them down. It will be interesting to watch.



Star Wars
For all you Star Wars fans out there, here are the latest rumors and news for upcoming merchandise, from YakFace:

July, 2010:

Jabba´s Throne Room

August, 2010:

Anti-Hailfire Squad Battle Pack
Droids and Clones Battle Pack

Holocron Heist Battle Pack

Battle of Hoth Battle Pack

Mandalorian Trooper´s (Death Watch) Battle Pack

Legacy of Boba Fett

Legacy of Grievous

Legacy of Anakin Skywalker

September, 2010:

ARC Troopers Battle Pack

Cad Bane and IG-86

Senate Commando Captain


Macross

From the looks of it, This new version of the VF-1J (Hikaru Ichijo) Valkyrie unit is trying to strike a brilliant balance between the animation and poster art and the fact that it should be a very poseable, transforming toy.

Images and information are from GA Graphic.

The fighter mode looks spiffy.

Of course, the crowning glory of any Valkyrie toy must be the Gerwalk mode, and I have to admit, this looks good. And I guess it's a shoe-in that Strike and Armor add-ons are on the way.










DC Comics

Looks like the DC Universe is getting its fair share of action figures. I've noticed though, that they're a curious mix of classic originally non-DC characters, New Gods and variants. Images and information are from Cool Toy Review.

Assorted
There's been a whole new boom in generic (if you can call it that) mecha kit accessories, and these new weapon sets from Kotobukiya are amazing:

The first set is something like how the Japanese would think Klingons think about Japanese weapons.

The last time I saw a weapon like this, it was in a movie called Brotherhood of the Wolf. Video games also tend to have much love for whip swords. But a mecha-sized whip sword? Yes, please, with some sugar on top.

Now, I've read in TvTropes that sometimes, the more impractical a weapon is, the more cool it becomes. Well, this shotgun qualifies. It's a shotgun you can set up with a scope and a silencer. And it's mecha-sized! Huzzah!

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Search Amazon.com for Kotobukiya Weapon

00 Project: Deus / Dio de Espadachin

I'll only be able to work on this later this year in all probability, but well, here it is:

00Deus / "Dio de Espadachin"
So far, my count is twelve blades. If I add the two shields, that goes up to a potential 16 blades (two blades on each shield). There are two 00 kits - will probably divide it into a "male" and "female" mecha. and with three different 0-raiser units, I may just end up going sentai on the colors.

Search Amazon.com for gundam 00

Greenhills Gundam Haul

After getting back from Greenhills today, I added some more stuff to a project, and this is the result:

I don't want to think about how much this project will eventually cost.

But I have to admit, it looks great.

I'll be posting a mega review of this particular design soon.

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Getting Back on the Gundam Bike: The Dynames Project

It's been a sort of running joke that I haven't been able to build a Gundam kit to conclusion (painted and all) for almost five years. Here's my start-up project. It's slow going, but I think this will work. 

Gundam 00 Dynames Light Recon Ver.Ra

The idea behind this build is to create a Dynames variant that is designed more for very fast combat. To that end, Most of the armor has been stripped, and the weapons have been changed to reflect this philosophy as well.

Yes, the Cherudim is yet another project in line.

Modifications
I had acquired the kit with some substantial missing parts - specifically, it had no weapons or any of the armor cloak system. The rifle is from an old Evangelion kit, and the revolver is from an Armored Core set - the cannon on the Cherudim's left shoulder is paired with it.

One of the more radical modifications is how I split parts of the back thrusters. I've never been comfortable with the "Booster Butt" idea, so I managed to at least minimize it.

Hands
The hands are taken from an MG Wing Custom Zero (they're extras).

 

Shield
This is the latest addition to the unit - which may or may not make the final cut. The shield is from a 1/100 Astraea. The hip waist plates are extra pieces from 1/100 Astraea kits - specifically, extra parts for the central area of the Exia's shield.

Am working on this one slowly - hopefully, it will work out.

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