I just joined the Gundam Model Kit Competition 2014!!

Remember the RG Destiny Gundam that I was working on previously? Well as I mentioned in a previous post, I bought the RG kit to join a Gundam Model Kit Competition here in the Philippines.

Considering it was my first time, I'm both excited and abit nervous at the same time. It's definitely an experience for me. :D So here's the completed build of my RG Destiny Gundam (now complete with decals and top coating). Kindly forgive the quality as I was using my celfone's camera to get the pics.

Overall, I'm pretty happy with how the decal turned out, however what I'm NOT happy about is how my topcoat turned out. In the pictures it looks okay, but when I touch the kit, it feels... rough and abit flaky. And upon further research, I realized I should've used an ACRYLIC based topcoat instead of a LACQUER based topcoat. Apparently, lacquer based topcoat isn't good to spray on unpainted kits (like mine) as it leaves a rough flaky surface. Big mistake on my part. That and I should've gone with Bosny to which tons of local gunpla fans swear by. Next time I'm getting a Bosny Acrylic based topcoat. Hopefully there's a clear variant that's gloss or semi gloss as I'm not fond of flat coats.

So I went ahead to SM North where the competition is being held, and man... that place was like Gundam heaven!!

They had tons of gunpla on display even, made by alot of professional gunpla builders in the country. And quite frankly I'm amazed with the stuff they put out!!

Not only that, but the event also featured a Gundam Caravan, where old and new gunpla builders get a free Gundam kit (this time is the awesome Gundam AGE-1 Normal, unlike the Genoace), and it looked like alot of people joined in, both young and old.

And damn, they even went all out with some notable gundam model kits on sale!! Some even getting as high as a 50% price cut!! :D

If I had the budget for it, I would've purchased that sweet Gundam AGE-1 Normal Mega-Size gunpla. At Php3,500, its a very sweet price for such a ridiculously huge gunpla. I'm prayin and crossing my fingers that it is still available when I get back on May 18th. :P

That aside, SM Toy Kingdom and Bandai, also used the event to heavily promote the upcoming Philippine screening of Gundam Unicorn's final episode on the big screen. On the event are some wonderfully looking model kits, limited edition gunpla releases for Gundam Unicorn, trailers, and more.

That aside, another wonderful surprise I got that day was I got me 2 free tickets for the screening of the last episode of Gundam Unicorn, because I was a contestant for the Gundam Model Kit Competition! :D I thought I had to purchase a gunpla kit worth Php400 or more for me to be entitled to get a movie ticket (as it states on the rules and flyers for this promo), but I guess I got really lucky!

Thank you Bandai and SM Toy Kingdom!! Can't wait to watch this on the 18th!! :D Anyway, without further ado, here's my RG Destiny Gundam entry on the Gundam Model Kit Competition!! :D

Had a hard time finding a nice pose, but I settled with something that's more stable so to speak. However, after going back to the event after an hour having dinner, the arms holding the rifle was already dropping, that I had to change his pose.

I had to settle with that pose, just to keep the pose in. Oh well, I hope its good enough. :P Anyway, to cap the day off, I took pictures of the 2 huge gunplas on display at the event. Theya re roughly 5-6 feet tall, and is a marvel to behold:

Overall, I had such an amazing time that day, and I can't wait to go back. Thanks SM and Bandai for bringing much love to gundam fans here in the Philippines!! Here's to more events like this in the future!! :D

Rurouni Kenshin: Kyoto Inferno / The Legend Ends latest trailer!!

For those of you, who like me, can't wait for the upcoming sequel to the phenomenal live-action adaptation of Rurouni Kenshin, well good news!! Warner Bros Japan, has released a new trailer with english subtitles!! Here's the latest trailer:

The trailer simply blew me away!! Some notable changes I've noticed in the trailer, is that the infamous Pagoda where Kenshin and his companions fought their way upto Shishio, is now gone. In its place is the massive battleship, which was also in the anime/manga, but it wasn't where the final fight took place. And if the trailer is any indication, Kenshin's towering master; Seijuro Hiko, is also missing in action.

Here's Shishio looking menacing
behind a roaring flame 

Kenshin saying his goodbye to Kaoru.
Kinda wished they did the scene at night
with the fireflies giving a somber mood to
the scene like in the anime.

Aoshi Shinomori looking grim and a lot less bishie. 

I wonder how this famous scene between
Kenshin and Soujiro would play out
in the movie. I hope the flashback scene
also appears in the movie.

May not be the pagoda, but hey atleast they got all 4
of the characters in the scene against Shishio. :D

YES!! Shishio's Homura Dama slash is confirmed
to be in the movie!! :D

But overall, I'm quite pleased with what I saw in the trailer so far. A very good indication of things to come in the final cut of the film. :D And while the film has yet to be confirmed to arrive here in the Philippines, its predecessor's immense popularity, and the growing number of anime film screenings on SM Cinemas should be a good indication that it should arrive on our shores as well. Can't wait!! :D

My Work-in-Progress on my RG Destiny Gundam kit.

As promised on my previous post, here's my work-in-progress update regarding my Real Grade (RG) Destiny Gundam kit.

Jumping from the Advance Grade (AG) kits, to the RG kits is definitely no joke. These kits are really complex, and rivals that of Master Grade (MG) or even some Perfect Grade (PG) kits from Bandai. Add the fact that they are only 1/144 size, these kits can be quite difficult for beginners, due in part to the sheer number of runners in the kit, as well as the size of some parts. Here's some pictures of me building parts of the kit, starting with the feet.

What strikes me with the RG kit, is the sheer detail Bandai put in the kit. All those separate pieces that make up the feet, at a 1/144 scale impressed me alot. But they didn't stop there, they even went as far as making an internal frame for this kit, at a scale of 1/144, as seen on the legs.

Remember when I said about this kit having really small parts? I experienced seeing that first hand, when I started building the waist. It was really so small, I had to assemble some of the parts using a tweezer.

I'm simply amazed at the amount of detail and pieces this kit has. Considering it's scale at 1/144, they managed to put in alot of detail and separate colored parts for the kit. It's a marvel of engineering that the folks at Bandai that made this RG kit much more awesome. :D

As you can see in the previous picture, I already started doing some panel lines to the kit. And the way I did the panel line wasn't using Gundam Panel line markers, which would leave a far thicker stroke than I wanted. Instead, I used a technique called "Panel Line Wash". Here's a video tutorial I found on YouTube on how to do it:

And the result is something like this:

The low-res photo's not good enough to show the detail? Thankfully, my friend came to visit me a few days ago and with the help of his awesome cameras; the Fujifilm HS25EXR (a bridge camera) and the Pentax K100D Super (a DSLR), he was able to take amazing shots of my RG Destiny Gundam kit, as seen below:

You view the rest of the photos, as well as his other photography work at his blog: http://captureclicks.wordpress.com/. 

If there's one nitpick I have to say about the RG kit, its those damn foil stickers. They just won't stick, as the stickers seem to lack adhesive in them to stick well to the plastic. You can actually see the foil stickers almost peeling off on the pictures above (the wing part). But here's a closer look of what I mean.

I hope Bandai would fix this issue really, as I'd hate to remove those shiny foil stickers just because it doesn't stick well to the kit. Anyway, looking forward to finishing this kit by applying the water slide decals and topcoat next!! :D