here comes the dom!

Oooooh, a Dom!

PLEASE keep doing the step-by-step with this build - giving me a good idea of what you Gundam vets are doing with these snap together kits.

Gundam aftermarket? Who makes it? Where do you get it?

bsyamato

 

tetsujin:

 

.....

I guess technically I've started a GB entry: I'm still trying to finish up that HGUC Zaku, but I needed a little change of pace so last night I put some work in on the 1:144 Zaku (the original one...) - doing mobility mods as well as cosmetic mods along the lines of that video I linked...

 

 

tetsujin i sign you in the gb with a tba kit?

Put me down for the 1:144 Zaku.

Dupes,

The B-Club resin manipulators can be found at Hobbylink Japan  www.hlj.com and other Japanese internet hobby shops, but they seem to sell out quite fast.  I was able to find more while in Japan, but it seems the selection is getting thinner even there.  If you see one you want on-line, hit the "buy this!" button fast.  The manipulators are a two edged sword like most things, as they offer increased detail at the expense of well expen$e!  Plus if they are not well molded like my Dom set, they can be a pain in the aft thrusters to clean up.

This is the set I am using.  Even though the content listing on the bottom of the package says one hand is for the beam bazooka, it fits the giant baz just fine.  One thing about these resin hands is that the ball joints are always too loose in the kit poly caps, and the shafts are fragile.  I cut the plastic ball joint from the kit hands and use them in lieu of the resin ones.  I'll post piccies of the swap when I do it for this kit.

BTW, I'm going to do the standard Dom, not the Rick Dom, so that's why I'm using the giant baz.

Gunpla Tip of the Day:  A standard Gunpla thing I always do is to paint the insides of all parts flat black.  I really hate it when shiny bright colored plastic peeks out from joints.  When the parts are painted, make sure you avoid getting paint inside the joint sockets and snap pins, as it will cause interference when the parts are assembled.  The same goes for the joint shafts that fit into poly caps.

tetsujin

 

bsyamato:

 

 

tetsujin:

 

.....

I guess technically I've started a GB entry: I'm still trying to finish up that HGUC Zaku, but I needed a little change of pace so last night I put some work in on the 1:144 Zaku (the original one...) - doing mobility mods as well as cosmetic mods along the lines of that video I linked...

 

 

tetsujin i sign you in the gb with a tba kit?

 

 

Put me down for the 1:144 Zaku.

line-up updated! the group growing!

AAARGH!!! After market hands!! AAARGH!! 

ps the hguc dressein is out!!! is really soon to the dom desing. Out the review the kit seems really good.

Bsyamato,

Yeah, resin hands are made by the devil and marketed by Bandai.  They usually cost more than the recipient kit, and require tedious clean up.  However, I have tried to make scratchbuilt fingers a couple of times, and it really sucks.  I think I did it for three models, then decided that I hated doing it, and would never do it again.  And that is when B-Club began marketing those resin hands!  Evil evil, evil, I tell you.

I noticed that the HGUC Dreissen is the Unicorn, not the ZZ Gundam version.  I would bet that Bandai will eventually kit the ZZ version as well.  I wonder if they will then do some more ZZ suits like the Hamma-Hamma (try saying that three times fast with a straight face!)

b-club manipulators really look better than normal hands, only they are in resin, it's totally in disagree with rest of the kit in super indestrutructible bandai plastic (false... i breaked one of the fz hands during paint session ) . really b-club manipulators they go out of stock at high speed. At least i prefere to enhance the latest hguc manipulators to save money only from the zaku I i have three hands more.

I see the dressein only in the turn-a-gundam, i miss the zz series .. lots of intresting mechs in included the hamma hamma. Actually seems than bandai want to complete the unicorn series , and probably they end with the dressein (or more to come?)

My solution to the whole resin hands thing: buy the hands I want and recast 'em.  :)  The cost of expensive B-Club hands is therefore spread out over several projects.  :)

Of course, that works a lot better if you have a pressure casting rig.  I just got one, because of problems I was having with my cast hands.  :)  For the project I'm finishing up now, the HGUC Zaku, I recast a set of B-Club manipulators originally sold for the Gelgoog Marine kit (IIRC).  There were a few problems with the originals: on the open hands some of the fingers were too thin and flat, and there were bubbles on the sides of the fingers...  So I had to do a fair bit of clean-up before even making molds.

But I'll tell you what's great:

I was having trouble with the castings from one of the molds, (one of the open hands) even after getting the pressure casting rig, so I decided to remake the mold.  This time I made it as a one-part mold.  I had a real tough time getting the original out of the mold unfortunately, and the fingers broke off...  That's the bad news.  But the good news is that when I cast copies of the hand in that mold, the mold doesn't introduce any new seam lines like a two-part mold would.  If you make a one-part mold of a part you've already done the cleanup on, and you do a good casting from the mold, you don't need to do much cleanup when you pull the new part from the mold.  (I've done one-part molds in the past but there's more work involved in casting in a one-part mold since you have to work harder to get the air out...  But with pressure-casting that's less of an issue.)

Don't have any proper status updates for the 1980 Zaku yet - but if anybody's curious, it now has working ankle joints for both feet and I've created a new knee joint that I'm going to recast and use...

The knee joint is kind of simple in principle: just a cylinder with a polycap in it, and two end-pieces for the cylinder that form the other half of a hinge.  The tricky bit is getting the cylinder centered around the polycap, and making the end surfaces of the cylinder truly perpendicular to the axis.  Both are important because if you turn the hinge, you don't want parts of it to suddenly become misaligned...  I've taken various approaches to this problem in the past, but this time I tried something new...

Basically, I first cut a length of styrene tube with a tube cutter. This got me the basic cylinder shape, with fairly good ends (reasonably close to planar and perpendicular to the axis.)  Then I stuffed the inside with epoxy putty and put a polycap in there, with a rod through it, and used a jeweler's caliper to try to get the position of the rod on each end centered within the tube.  This got me a pretty good approximation of "centered" polycap...  Then when the putty cured I started looking for errors: I got another, similar part I'd made earlier (i.e. a failed attempt at making one of these) and stuck it onto the rod along with the new part for a point of reference - then I turned the new part around the axis, looking for wobble relative to that point of reference.  When I found something, I'd take the styrene tube off the new part and sand down the epoxy putty inside to make an adjustment, then put the thing back together and check it again. Any time the epoxy putty got sanded down too much, I'd put some super glue on it, hit it with accelerator, and then sand that surface down so I'd have a tight fit again.

The nice thing about that method was it wasn't reliant upon any single process being especially precise - I could simply check the precision and improve it if necessary, without affecting the quality of other pieces of the work. The part always remained cylindrical despite any adjustments I made, because the cylindrical shape was provided by the styrene tube, which I didn't really alter during this process.  I put maybe a couple hours into that process and came away with a part that I was very happy with. From there it was a simple process to create the end-cap and center it properly (just use the cylinder as a reference to glue a minus-mold to the rod) - so now I just need to cast copies of the thing. For that I'll use one-part molds, and put the rod and a polycap inside the mold before pouring resin. I still need to figure out the mold layout, though.

wow .. good explanation.

i presume the zaku is not the hguc.. i'll update the list.

some goggdates

using the humbrol 94 for lighter parts, the colous is about finished but fortunately all parts are at good point.

no pictures of it, really few changes from original kit, just some pane lines on hands.

then moving on the chest i used milliput to fill breaks rear shoulders, added some piece to detail and panel lines

the inner head start, i'll leave a mechanism to allow head opening to see inner details, and more after to allow head turning and if possible height movements with a double hinge

tried to get a similar inner detail as the mg kit

added the pin that have a metal part in to better solidity

he work!

on the next i'll try to finish the structure

Tetsujin,

I have not tried resin casting, although I have studied it for quite some time.  A lot of companies won't ship resin to Hawaii due to the hazard classification.  I can't wait for the day when regulations prohibit shipping anything flamable to the islands.

My first tries at making manipulaors were kind of laughable compared to what B-Club puts out today.  i used square and round section plastic rod, tapering and shaping them to form individual fingers, then cutting them into sections to create the bends.  I think the feeling was like assembling Sherman indie-link tracks.  This was in the deep dark days of 1987 or so.  Here are some piccies:

The Dauzehn, from "Dragonar."  The fingers for this one are square section.  This was my first try.

And a Schwalg, again from "Dragonar."  The fingers were round section, which were more difficult to cut and line up compared to the square ones.  Note complete lack of detail!  (And flat spot on the index finger - digital photography is a cruel mistress...)

Anyway, that's why I started using the B-Club resin hands.  However, Bandai has gotten better at injection molding the hands on their newer HGUC kits, and only lack knukle joint details.  Thank goodness the amphibious MS designs don't need resin replacements!

Real G

My first tries at making manipulaors were kind of laughable compared to what B-Club puts out today.  i used square and round section plastic rod, tapering and shaping them to form individual fingers, then cutting them into sections to create the bends.  I think the feeling was like assembling Sherman indie-link tracks.  This was in the deep dark days of 1987 or so.  Here are some piccies:

It's good work. Even if it has its shortcomings, it's far better than the stock hands...  And it's good to be able to solve issues like that without always running to B-Club.

Anyway, that's why I started using the B-Club resin hands.  However, Bandai has gotten better at injection molding the hands on their newer HGUC kits, and only lack knukle joint details.  Thank goodness the amphibious MS designs don't need resin replacements!

It is very nice that HGUC hands have gotten so much better in recent years. Even though they're not as good as B-Club hands, they're good enough that they could be used as-is...

But it's also worth noting, HGUC hands started out good, then got bad, then got better again.

The very first HGUC, the Guncannon, had good hands similar to what you see on current HGUCs - but they very quickly switched to the two-part hollow fists before finally (I think around the time they did the HGUC Hazel?) starting to offer decent hands again...  Meanwhile, other HG lines like Seed and 00 have continued to offer the junk hands...

There's really nothing that prevented them from providing good hands except that, I think, they didn't want to. I think maybe they felt their audience wanted easier weapon swapping more than they wanted good looks.

Real G - say what you will, those hands are GREAT!

Howzit going everyone!

I've been checking out this forum for awhile and decided to join in the group build.  Right now, I'm currently working on a MG MS-06R-2 Zaku II Johnny Ridden.  I haven't really worked on anything Gundam related in a while and trying I'm to get back into building Gundam. So many pieces, so little time.

Orkork,

Woo-hoo, another Zaku!  We've got quite a little Zaku group build going on here!  Remember, Zakus rule!  The Feddies are lame and weak! 

OK, I am back, with more pics...Zaku's dry, so I'm calling it 'done' (for now), and I got fed up of looking at a clear Ball, so I painted up the red parts and snap-fitted all the coverings on.

Pics:

The quality on those last two are awful, and I apoligize. I'll have to get better pics when I can dig out my mom's old tripod. Until then, those two are all I have in the way of pictures without flash.

The Ball, although it looks finished, isn't yet finished. I don't particularly care for the bright blood red hatch and window surrounds, but they'll have to do until I can get a paint color that more closely matches the parts' color (that's why everything is just snap-fitted for now.) Until then, this guy will have to wait...

Keep up the outstanding work!

Klik,

All right, the first Zaku to roll out from the GB!  Is it the Real Grade kit?

The Ball's red areas look fine to me. 

Keep up the good work!

Orkork

Howzit going everyone!

I've been checking out this forum for awhile and decided to join in the group build.  Right now, I'm currently working on a MG MS-06R-2 Zaku II Johnny Ridden.  I haven't really worked on anything Gundam related in a while and trying I'm to get back into building Gundam. So many pieces, so little time.

yez! you're on Orkok!

just post progress pictures 

old version or new v2.0?

Klik good progress there when you finish the zaku just choice a picture to put in the gallery, possibly take one more with an high contrast monocrome background. when all finished i'll try some photoshop alchemy.

What's about legs conductors? Are breaked?

Real G  when i think about gundams series the first image in my head is some zaku not a gundam

LOL group growing again!

Real G

 

The Dauzehn, from "Dragonar."  The fingers for this one are square section.  This was my first try.

 

..forget!!

how much treasures you again hide to the world?

Klik good progress there when you finish the zaku just choice a picture to put in the gallery, possibly take one more with an high contrast monocrome background. when all finished i'll try some photoshop alchemy.

What's about legs conductors? Are breaked?

[/quote]

funny story on the 'leg conductors'--I plan on using your method, Bsyamato, and use string and straws to replace the ones for the kit (I just haven't got around to finding the right size string yet). The kit included springs for the tube sections, over which the coverings were supposed to slide on. Instead of sliding, the coverings just stretched and bent the springs all to heck, making them totally useless. I don't know what it is about the leg conductors, but in nearly every Zaku kit that I have built, the leg conductors will not cooperate. For instance, when I built my first 1/100th Zaku, the leg conductors would not seat into the legs the way they were supposed to. When I helped my brother build his own 1/100th Zaku, the same problem developed. Stranglely enough, the solution was to switch the tubes: my Zaku has my brother's kit's leg conductors, while his has mine, and they all fit without any difficulty.

So, yes, leg conductors are on hold for now, but I can (once I find that darn tripod) get some better pics for you, Bsyamato.

Bsyamato,

When I first started building Gundam kits back in 1983, I was ashamed of enjoying "kid stuff" model kits.  (I used to only build scale subjects like airplanes and tanks - yeah I was one of those.)  So that's why I pretty much kept to myself.  I am also very slow to take in new technology, and this is the first time I have posted photos on a forum.  That is why my dusty models are only now coming into public view!

So I'm not really hiding stuff from you guys; I'm just kind of slow taking photos and posting them.    It is my hope that I might inspire others to try something new, as well as light a fire under my bottom to move forward with my stagnant projects.  There's nothing like having a bunch of guys asking for updates to motivate me!

Klik,

I have been schooled in the art of "ghetto photograpy" by my friends, so I thought I'd pass along a few dirty shortcuts.  When you are in a rush to shoot some quick photos, use a solid object as a prop to set the camera on.  It can be anything, like a large paint jar.  You still hold the camera, but the object supports the weight.  The next thing is to select the timer on your camera; I use a 2 second delay.  These two tips will virtually eliminate camera shake.

If your camera has an "aperture priority" option, use that along with the macro setting.  This will allow you to get in close to your subject.  This made a huge difference in the quality of my photos - thanks Orkork for that tip!

Lighting is also important, so get as much as you can.  I have a twin fluorescent light fixture over my desk with "daylight" tubes.  I have the fixture suspended on chains with "S" hooks to allow the height to be varied.  All the photos I have posted have been taken under this light.

My set up is not ideal though, and I plan on getting a pair of lights with diffusers on stands to eliminate shadows.

I hope that helped.

Real G

Bsyamato,

When I first started building Gundam kits back in 1983, I was ashamed of enjoying "kid stuff" model kits.  (I used to only build scale subjects like airplanes and tanks - yeah I was one of those.)  So that's why I pretty much kept to myself.  I am also very slow to take in new technology, and this is the first time I have posted photos on a forum.  That is why my dusty models are only now coming into public view!

So t'm not really hiding stuff from you guys; I'm just kind of slow taking photos and posting them.    It is my hope that I might inspire others to try something new, as well as light a fire under my bottom to move forward with my stagnant projects.  There's nothing like having a bunch of guys asking for updates to motivate me!

not think me so good with tecnology, i get a mobile phone only under blackmail

and escape from tecnology with build something !!

nice tips on the camera, after buy my own camera i use only manual setting to take wip pictures, but need more practice

Klik not time to a good reply, i'm near sleeping mode, today i'll try to search a good solution for legs conductors

a formal recall to all why no one have one of the GB badge on??

second thing, in mind to extend the GB deadline if the GB will grow again, What all of you thinking about this?

Bsyamato,

Yeah, my sister got me a phone and forced me to use it.  It has proved useful, but I only use it for "point communication", not for talking for hours in theaters, checkout lines, etc.

Actually, your photos are really good - I can see your fingerprints!  I am not a camera guy, so I just use the automatic settings.  I wouldn't know what settings to use if I were to go manual.

Hey, isn't it something like 2:50 am in Italy right now?  When do you guys sleep? 

For the Zaku type leg conductors (power conduits?) there is a product from Adler's Nest that is basically cleanly cut plastic tubing segments in various sizes.  The only thing is that the ends are straight cut, not beveled.  I got some from Hobbylink Japan, but am not sure if they are still available.  Someone else makes metal segments, but they are really expensive.  I was thinking that a home made jig could use a P-cutter or something to cut 45 degree grooves, and an indexer to set constant segment spacing to make the power conductor outer shells.  Hmmm, sounds like a project.....

Personally, I haven't added the GB badge simply to save space!  It comes from the old days when we had to really scrape for available computer memory.

I think the current time line should be okay for us to finish our models.  We have, what, 11 months?  I think that's plenty.  Besides, we have to feel the pressure.  (Or is that just Newtype intuition?)

Real G

last week going to sleep about 3.00 am tried to finish something even for other gb's involved.

Took 3 hours at night only to scratch a mig-31 cockpit.... during thd day i have less time to build something.

I like to feel the pressure just have it on my work during day .

Actually have a z981 from kodak ( preferred to a nikon l110 only for the 26x zoom!)

Manual generic settings i use are these

iso 100 to 200 f stop 3.5 to 8 exposure time about 1/2000 sec with flash and macro, various settings depending to the subject colors but actually these are the range for work in progress pictures.

All photos are resized to focus only the necessary part (14 megapixels for a wip picture are useless)

for finished models i prefere to take pictures outdoor with the sunlight .. when he's on..

on Badges,they are really at few kb less than a mobile phone picture

.... Then OrkOrk build another zaku.. then i fugure to restrict my choice for second build out of zakus

MG gouf v2.0 MG gouf custom and the hguc kaempfer are the actual candidates i'm really undecided

Another one can be an hguc guncannon started with lots of mod

some advice?

Bsyamato,

Holy cow, my batteries last only until 10:00 or 11:00 pm!  However when I am trying to finish something, I end up staying up till 1:00 or 2:00 am.

I agree that natural sunlight is the best for photography, but I usually don't have time during the day to go outside to shoot.  Plus the sun in Hawaii is quite strong - a diorama that Orkork and I built started to expand and crack from the heat when we took it outside to photograph!  (Okay, that's another one that I have to drag out and take new photos of, but it's in the garage and hard to get at.)  Linky: 

http://www.ipmshawaii.freewebsitehosting.com/event_kawaii_kon_2006.html

For your additional build, I suggest the Gouf 2.0 or Guncannon.  Both are good kits and pose very well.  Plus the Gouf is "different from a Zaku, it's different!"  (Zaku to wa chigau no da yo, Zaku to wa!)

Group Build banner added to signature!

By the way, I dug out the Adler's Nest power conductor bits this morning.  It is ABS plastic, and as I had mentioned, the ends are not beveled.

They also make metal segments that have the beveled ends, but paint tends to rub off them.

huuuge diorama

really great, but ms are not glued on?

i'm impressed about the vegetation!!!

nice paint effect on the dom arm breaking

thunderbird n°1 are your right?

aand impressed by tifa (vash the stampede good looking too but prefere tifa )

....

Agree about metal parts problems ,probably you use acrylics and rub of, i use enamels ang with brushe just don't remain on.

I see lots of people that use these metal parts whitout paint . But so they have an high contrast visual on the model.

About the gouf or guncannon just wait for more advice ad throw the chosed one on the workbench

----

Klik just need to decide if want to leave the legs to move or want to freeze them.

this night i don't go to sleep at 3 am  

Bsyamato,

The diorama was started as a "fun" project to display our Gundam kits at public events.  The base is a piece of 2'x4' (610mm x 1219mm) plywood, with urethane foam landscaping.  It is 1/144, so we were able to use N scale Kato buildings for decoration.  The buildings and MS are not glued down, so we can change the arrangement at will.  In fact at Kawaii Kon, the guys played around with the mobile suits to make comical scenes on the day I wasn't there!  Sorry about the horribly out of focus photos - I think the guys were laughing too hard to hold the camera steady.

The "explosions" are crumpled up aluminum foil over wire armatures.  I think we covered them with something - spackle maybe?  CA glue?  House paint?  Not sure.  We added to the diorama each time it appeared in public.  The first time out it was an asteroid surface, the second time it was a forested area, and the third time it was a city.  The 2006 Kawaii Kon was its fourth appearance, so we added the explosions.  We allowed non-UC models onto the diorama because one of the guys helping out wanted to use them.

Yes, the TB-1 is mine.

I was told that there was a pair of girls dressed as Char and Garma at the last Kawaii Kon, and no one knew who they were supposed to be. 

The thing about attending anime type conventions is that for every sexy looking gal in an awesome outfit, there are dozens of people that really should not be appearing in public.    (I tried to get the guys to all dress up as Char, but they said "no.")

Real G

Bsyamato,

The diorama was started as a "fun" project to display our Gundam kits at public events.  The base is a piece of 2'x4' (610mm x 1219mm) plywood, with urethane foam landscaping.  It is 1/144, so we were able to use N scale Kato buildings for decoration.  The buildings and MS are not glued down, so we can change the arrangement at will.  In fact at Kawaii Kon, the guys played around with the mobile suits to make comical scenes on the day I wasn't there!  Sorry about the horribly out of focus photos - I think the guys were laughing too hard to hold the camera steady.

The "explosions" are crumpled up aluminum foil over wire armatures.  I think we covered them with something - spackle maybe?  CA glue?  House paint?  Not sure.  We added to the diorama each time it appeared in public.  The first time out it was an asteroid surface, the second time it was a forested area, and the third time it was a city.  The 2006 Kawaii Kon was its fourth appearance, so we added the explosions.  We allowed non-UC models onto the diorama because one of the guys helping out wanted to use them.

..

mmmmh modular diorama great fun there

these things cannot be performed by classic kits (or not?)

Real G

 

I was told that there was a pair of girls dressed as Char and Garma at the last Kawaii Kon, and no one knew who they were supposed to be. 

The thing about attending anime type conventions is that for every sexy looking gal in an awesome outfit, there are dozens of people that really should not be appearing in public.    (I tried to get the guys to all dress up as Char, but they said "no.")

This is a crime!!! no pictures of garma/chars girls!!!!!

I like cosplay (girls) ,are a good way to show some sexy and artistic way at same time....

really i will not perform thing like that i'm a good modeller not good model

But like to perform stupid poses in wrong sites as this picture can show

performing a cigarette scratchbuilt under ferrari gallery logo .. really serious pose!

In italy are lots of anime/comic convention but out of my region. It's a good way to meet intresting and strange people at same time  

bsyamato,

Yup. The 2.0 version. Wouldn't have it any other way.

That dio is great! Is it still alive? Been morphed into some other surface by now?