Gunpla Chronicles 3

Ladies and gentlemen, it’s that time again. Gunpla Chronicles III has begun.

It's here!

This time around I’ll be building the Gundam Mk. II, one of my favorite mobile suit designs. I was very close to making this my second model, but the traditionalist in me said that the original Gundam had to come first. Thus the Mk. II had to wait at least another year, which wasn’t long at all considering how fast 2013 went by.

I spent more energy than I would like to admit debating which color to get this model in. My heart wanted to go with the iconic (and heroic) white and blue AEUG paint job, but common sense (and my wife) suggested the black and blue Titans model, since it would add some needed color to my collection. You can tell by the photo which side won out. In retrospect, my only concern about the Titans color scheme is that any blemishes to the plastic will show more easily, meaning I’ll have to be more careful than ever when trimming and sanding..

On that note, I’ve added some new tools to my kit, and I’m hoping they will aid me in this endeavour. First up is a self healing cutting board.

I built my last two models using a kitchen cutting board, which proved not to be up to the task. It often slipped along the table, and occasionally my hobby knife would get stuck in it. I think it is simply meant for a different kind of cutting. My hope is that this new mat will make it much easier to trim hard to reach pieces of sprue.

I also got a new knife. As you can see in the picture below, you slip your finger through the ring, and hold it with a more natural pincer grip. One of my relatives uses the same knife for crafting, and finds that it offers much greater control and precision. The question is whether it will do the same for a hobby dimwit like myself.

I also got some new, 1000 grit sandpaper. It was originally intended to buff out a scratch on a car rim, but went unused. I’ve repurposed it for this build to see if it helps buff out scratches. All told, the knife, mat, and a new can of clear coat paint cost me only ten bucks thanks to some coupons at the craft store. Getting nicer tools is great, but getting them cheap is even better.

I’ll be starting the build as soon as possible, documenting it as best as I can. Whenever I write a post, it will be postmarked with the date I built the pieces in question, rather than the day in which the post was written. Last year I found that I was building faster than I was writing, and I want the posts to give an accurate progression of the time it took to build the model.

PS - For the rest of this series of posts, I will be referring to the Gundam Mk. II as the Mk. II, and the original, RX78-2 Gundam as OG Gundam. It’s just easier to differentiate between them that way.