In-Progress : 1/144 Kshatriya
14-08-11 : Beginning a new project...
After leaving this years Gunpla Builders World Cup, I thought hard about what I can do for an entry in next years competition. After much pondering, I decided to go with the Kshatriya from Gundam Unicorn as it is a very unique design. My initial plans is to modify the crap out of it and then give it a special, custom paint job that suits the overall design of the Mobile Suit (I'll save that one for when I get up to that point in the project).
Here are the usual snap fit test shots :
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I have made a start on the mods, beginning with converting the beam sabers into a double ender :
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First, I cut the end off one hilt and then followed up by taking the opposite part off the other hilt :
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Using a thin metal rod, I then pinned both parts together and then glued and this is what it looks like now :
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For the front of the upper chest armour, I drilled some small holes and inserted some IC sockets. The next pic shows before and after :
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And with both sides done :
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Finally for this update, I have made some mods to the backpack as well. I made a couple of holes for some mesh chain to go through and then opened up a vent hole so the chain can be seen running into the armour after it enters the hole. Again, the first pic is a before and after and the second with both sides done :
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Stay tuned as there are a ton more mods to come!
Today turned out to be a pretty shitty day - pouring rain constantly = no work for me so I came home early and decided to put a couple of hours into the Kshatriya.
First up some more on the backpack including some snake chain, vents, minus molds, and a little bit of chiselling.
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Still a little cleaning up to do on that. I have also done a little on the rear of the head by adding some small styrene pieces and drilling a couple of recessed holes.
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And finally a couple of small torso mods. First, I have put in some styrene to act as a spacer and raise the height of the kit by 2mm overall. This needs some more cleaning and shaping before it is finished but you get the idea of what it is for :
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Then I played around with some thin copper wire and changed the power piping on the waist by coiling it around the piece, creating a spring look :
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Not sure whether to keep this or not and if I do, whether to keep it bare metal or paint it.
Been slowly progressing with the build over the last few weeks. Work and home things have slammed the brakes on hobby time for the moment but here are a few pics of what I have done since last update. First is the added details to the shoulder pieces :
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Side skirts with some added details and panel lines and the front skirts which have been extended by 2mm :
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The crotch area :
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Assembled :
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And finally, the beginnings of the rear skirt with added chain and thruster :
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And that's all for now. Next I'll be working more on the rear skirt and beginning the legs. Until then!
Had some time today to do some much needed therapy by working on the Kshastriya. First up, here are the detailed feet with styrene added with some small thrusters added to the underside :
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Next is the legs that I have extensively detailed and modded by adding styrene, metal chains and wires, metal mesh and small vents :
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And finally, a couple of shots of most things assembled at what I think may be the half way point of the modding and detailing :
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Still need to finish off the upper half of the legs, then the rear skirt and arms before I can move onto the wings.
Still slowly progressing on the Kshatriya and here is what has happened since last update.
First, I modified the arms to allow for painting the internal frame without masking. The arms are the biggest flaw in this kit as both green sections have dirty big seams running down the center of them. I decided to mod the arms so I can remove the inner frame and paint that seperately whilst removing the seams from the outer armour. I did this by cutting away the pegs from the inner armour and attaching a thin piece of styrene sheeting on the inside of the upper arm where it joins the shoulder so I can glue it in place securely once painted.
Here is what it looks like in three pieces :
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Now some details and stuff for the binder arms :
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And finally for this update some pics of the rear skirt with added mesh vents and some panel lines as well as teh view from the front :
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I've made some headway on the binders as well but I'll save that for next update as it includes some modding and changing of the overall design of the diorama I had planned.
Until then!
26-05-12 : Has it been 6 months???
Yes it has, 6 months since I did an update on this WIP. Work hasn't stopped though, I just haven't had much time to update the site due to work and family commitments.
Anyhoo, what was turning into a battle scene has morphed back into a single model vignette of sorts. Gone are the 4 binders and one has been modded into a shield using parts of the binder, some parts from the bits box, aftermarket spikes, some chain and some styrene sheets cut to form armour panels on the front. At this point I was also going to use a Kotobukiya sword but that has since change. Here is what it looks like before painting :
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For the base, I have made a large rock pillar of sorts with a crumbling castle ramparts on top for the Kshatriya to stand inside of. Each part of the castle was made with air drying clay and then stamped using a custom made brick pattern stamp. Each piece had some brass rod inserted and then attached to the base with Aryldite to provide as much strength as possible to prevent snapping.
Painting came next. Primer was applied using the air brush and then painted with Deck Tan, Olive Drab and Mr Metal Brass. The sleeves were done with enamel black and Mr Metal Brass. Most of the finer details like the vents and screw head were all painted by hand using Mr Metal paints and Red Steel from the Mr Hobby acrylics range.
Weathering came next (3rd picture down) and everything was paint chipped using Mr Metal Dark Iron and Chrome Silver (brushed and sponged on) and then a wash of MIG Neutral was given before a dusting of Vietnam Earth and Light Rust pigments.
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Finally where I am currently up to is here :
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Decals have been applied all over using Bandai RX-0 Unicorn and Samuel Decals Kshatriya decal sheets. I have ditched the sword as I wasn't happy with it at all and have decided to use a Gundam Hammer that I had lying around in the Master Grade spares box. I have painted that in Red Steel and Dark Iron whilst using a gold chain to link both ends together. I plan to have it wrapped around the hand and have it hanging.
For the base, I have use a ton of Woodland Scenics foliage kits to cover the entire base with Autumn trees and small shrubs/bushes. If you look around the base you will see lots of little things I have added such as Ivy growing up the castle and down the cliff side and little flowers amongst the bushes.
So almost done. Just have to flat coat the kit, finish up the weapon and fine tune the scenery and it should be done and dusted finally!