(Not yet) Time to build. I made some big changes in preparing for this one that’d I’d like to go over. But first, a bit about what is inside the kit.
Upon opening the box, you will find a mountain of runners. I count seventeen in total, which makes this the clear heavyweight champ of my collection. One thing that is interesting is that none of the runners are quite as large as the box itself. Why the packaging needs to be this size, I cannot say, though it is a trend with Master Grades.
The instruction booklet is like a hybrid of a Real Grade’s and a high Grade’s. It is a stapled, multi page booklet, but there is one section that is just an extra long piece of paper folded up accordion style. Inside there’s a few pages of flavor text about Gundam Wing, but hell if I can read any of it.
Now for the build setup. I finally created a dedicated workspace in my basement. There’s been a big workbench in there ever since we moved in, and for years it served as a dumping ground. I cleaned it off so I could use it for something vaguely resembling its original purpose.
Previously I worked on all my builds at either my computer desk or the dining room table. The desk is too small, and its surface too slippery for my cutting mat. The dining room works fine, except for the fact that it gets in the way of actually using it. With this setup I won’t need to put things away and move them around. I can get comfy and leave things the way I want them.
I also came up with a rig to use for top coating. I’ve seen many pictures online of people letting their pieces dry on what look to be alligator clips taped to wooden rods. I made my own facsimile using alligator clips, tape, bamboo skewers, and a shoebox. The idea is that rather than laying pieces down flat to paint them (and risk having them roll around), this setup will let them dry unperturbed.
As for my new choice in topcoat, I got some Krylon matte coat (with UV protection), as I’m done with trying to use the glossy stuff.
I’m also trying a new strategy, in which I topcoat each section of the model before I moved on to the next one. In past builds, topcoating was always the last thing I did, and by then the model was ready to be assembled. I was so excited to see it completed that I rushed through spray painting. I thought this new approach would force myself to slow down and take my time, by treating topcoat like any other step.
If you want, you can head to this link for more pre-build images.