Kit Information :
Scale : 1/100
Grade : Master Grade
Made by : Bandai
Completed : 9th April 2007
Box Arts :
KAMPFER vs GM : THE UNEVEN BATTLEFIELD
I've been wanting to do another battle scene for a while now ever since I finished my first one about a year and a half ago. With the Fichtenfoo KKKK Kompetition in full swing and with an over abundance of severely modded Kampfers, I thought I'd do something different and revisit a battle scene build with a Kampfer versus a GM.
Inspiration for this build came soon after watching Gundam 0080 : War in the Pocket where the Kampfer is first activated and starts destroying the Colony and battles a squadron of Guncannon MPTs and, you guessed it, GMs.
I was initially tempted to do the GM falling back into a building with the Kampfer on top going to town on the enemy Mobile Suit but after starting I felt it was way too involved for something that could be displayed in a lot more detail in a much simpler fashion.
The GM was very simple to finish (it was a very easy kit to work with). OOB colors with a few extra details, such as the hydraulics on the lower legs and the vents on the upper arms, added. The Beam Sabre was done using the ever useful 'Candy Technique' using Clear Red over the bottom/top and Clear Yellow in the middle over a coating of Chrome Silver. Decals on the GM were a mix of left over waterslides from the Hyaku Shiki and Gouf (only the warning and caution decals were used), waterslides I purchased off eBay along time ago and the dry tranfers that came with the kit.
The Kampfer was a lot harder to work with. So many parts! So many thin parts that either broke or almost broke under the smallest amount of pressure. I ended up making the top antenna smaller because of that. I broke it three times and tried various ways to fix it but ended up just shortening it and sharpening the end.
The power conduits around the waist and below the neck were replaced with silver snake chain. The internal section of the thruster bells were done using the Candy technique again but this time a thin layer of chrome was painted over a black base coat so it would let a lot of black come through when the clear yellow was applied. The reason I did that was to give the effect of burn and use. Decals were left overs from the Hyaku Shiki and Gouf kits as well.
I didn't really do any weathering of the Kampfer (I did some slight wear marks on the GM) as I wanted to give the impression that the MS had just been built and hadn't taken any damage - but had certainly dished it out.
For the actual battle scene, I added a few 'cracks' to the GMs visor to show the brute strength of the Kampfer. The cracks were made with my Dremel and given a black then white enamel wash to highlight it a little. I also wanted to show the force of the head being ripped off the GM so I added broken wires to show that the internal power conduits were pulled apart also. If you look closely, I colored the tips of the wire in metallic blue to try and simulate live electricity.
The base was simple. 3 layers of substrate was used. Sand, Ballast, and Flock. The sand was put down first on top of a coating of white glue. The ballast was added next and then I got the kits into the pose I wanted, marking out the spots where they would finally stand. Then I fixed it all in place with spray adhesive and gave the ballast an air brushing with black then brown to darken it up a little. Once that dried, I added the kits and fixed them in place. I finished up by adding green and brown flock, small rocks and a light sprinkle of the ballast again (in it's original light gray color to help lighten it up a little).
Overall, I am more than happy with this kit. I could've gone all out and made a massive diorama that would've taken me 6 months to make, but in the end, I feel I have recreated the thoughts in my head in a much easy and simpler fashion - and one that tells the story better too!