Kusakusa Gunpla

After getting word of this hobby show from some forums, I decided to go there myself. Fortunately Shizuoka is only an hour train ride away from my place. I reached the twin Messe building where the show was held at around noon, and as expected, it was packed with people. I headed to the North Hall where the Bandai booth was and here’s the view from the 2nd floor:

So I started from the HGUC section, where the soon to be released Sazabi was on display:

Also there was the Zaku FZ and a HGUC Kampfer on the works

Moving on to the Gundam 00 section, there were some dioramas on display:

There’s also the 1/100 Astrea Type-F and the 1/100 Tieren ground type, which is next on my shopping list along with the 1/100 Overflag. The amount of details on the recent 1/100 scale Gundam 00 kits is really amazing, probably close to MG level.

Next was the HCM Pro section, where the 1/144 scale SHCM Pro model of the Zaku II F or J units are on display. There’s also what appears to be plans for a SHCM Pro Gundam NT-1 Alex. Also on display were all the Wing models from the TV series, but they don’t interest me too much.

The last section of the Bandai booth and probably the main attraction was the MG section. All the buzz was about the RX-78-2 Ver2.0 and from what I saw, the only interesting part was the amount of details in the inner frame. They managed to squeeze the core fighter inside the chest and still allow for some flexibility of movement similar to the OYW version which didn’t have a core fighter. On the outside, the design of the Ver2.0 resembled the anime version, i.e plain looking (few panel lines, small shoulder) and reminds me more of the HGUC version. Personally though, there’s nothing there to convince me to buy this kit ( I already have 3 RX-78-2 kits! ). Sure the internal frame was detailed and there’s a core fighter, but this kit seems to be aimed at those purists who prefer the classic look in the original TV 0079 series.

But there was something else there that really caught my attention: the Guntank. Why? Because the Guntank on display had movable caterpillars operable by remote control! The shoulder cannons can also pivot and recoil and the ‘hands’ can ‘vibrate’ to simulate shooting movement. I’m not sure whether this Guntank will be released or whether it’s just a special display unit for the Hobby Show, but damn I was impressed.

And then there’s a Zaku and another Zaku. It seems Bandai is really pushing for the resurrection of the Zaku MSVs. First off there’s the MG Zaku Cannon and then what looks like an MG Zaku Tank:

Also on display was the MG Impulse Gundam, but I don’t want anything related to Seed Destiny anymore so I skipped to the MG Musha Gundam. Really impressive up close I must say. Really had a Ver.Ka feel to it.

And that’s where my camera ran out of batteries. But not before taking pics of some eye candy:

The South Hall had mostly remote control stuff: cars, helicopters, robots etc. There’s also the Kotobukiya booth where there’s plenty of SRW and Armored Core stuff, but like I said, my camera ran out of batteries. Another portion of the hall was where modelling clubs and societies display their works, from planes to ships to Gundams. There’s some really impressive works on display and I was left cursing my camera for dying out on me. Oh well, there’s always a next time.

And finally, my haul for the day. You didn’t think I’d go home empty handed did you? I bought 1000yen worth of water-slide decals from Hasegawa. They’re meant for aircraft models but I like to give my gundam models some military feel. Bandai didn’t have a booth selling stuff ( if there was, I couldn’t find it ) but there were some stalls outside the hall selling some kits at relatively cheap prices. There was a HCM Pro Sazabi selling for 2000 yen, but I decided to hold out until I can find the coating version of that model. Finally I bought a HCM Pro Quebeley for 1500yen.

In the end I can call it a fruitful day, if only my camera didn’t die out on me so soon.