Green Tokyo Gundam Project
July 30, 2009 at 1:29 am | Posted in Events | 1 CommentTags: 0079, 1:1 scale, 30th anniversary gundam, green tokyo gundam, gundam, gundam 30th, HGUC, odaiba, odaiba gundam, rx-78-2, shiokaze park
If you’re a Gundam fanboy, you probably have already heard about or seen pics of the giant 1:1 scale RX-78-2 in Shiokaze Park, Odaiba. Well I just had to go there and take a look at it with my own eyes. Finding my way to the park from the station was easy enough, just follow the arrows with the words “Gundam” on em. I reached there around high noon and it was a really hot, yet fortunately clear day. As expected, the park was abuzz with people & activity; a bazaar-like atmosphere. Different variations of the 0079 Gundam theme song, ‘Tobe Gandamu‘, can be heard over the loudspeakers. Around the park there were food stalls, picnic tables, a platform where you can be photographed with the Gundam in the background (for a fee, of course) and a booth selling official merchandise.
As for the Gundam itself, it was, well… huge. The surrounding area around the Gundam was already crowded with people taking photos with various cameras, ranging from cellphone cams to huge DSLRs on tripods. I was able to get a good zoom from my humble 40-150mm Zuiko lens. The Gundam was very well detailed and the design seems to be a mixture of the first MG and the OYW version of the RX-78-2.
If you’ve ever wondered what the warning decals on your model kits actually say, well now you know. I was quite disappointed that they didn’t use engrish :(
After having enough of taking pics under the hot sun, I decided to take a break and I left the Shiokaze park for the Makuhari Messe which was less than an hour train ride away. What’s going on there, you may ask? Why it’s just the Wonder Festival of Summer 2009. I’ll post pics from that event later. In short, I spent a few hours there, mostly taking photos and enjoying the view. Then I returned to Odaiba for a second viewing of the Gundam.
As I was waiting for the sunset, I decided to join the queue to buy some souvenirs at the official bandai shop/booth. Yes, you have to queue up because the shop was very small and can only accommodate a few people at a time.
As it grew darker, the number of people there didn’t let up. I guess they had the same ideas as me: to watch the Gundam light up. Actually at certain time intervals, the Gundam can turn its head left and right, and then look up while being accompanied by the cheesy sound effects you hear from the original anime. At the same time, smoke would appear from the chest, shoulder, booster and calf areas.
And as night fell, it was time for me to go home, having taken my fill of photographs.
It was a fulfilling journey and experience, one that I would be glad to say ‘I’ve been there’. As a memento, I bought a HGUC model of the the life-sized gundam. Its actually identical to the HGUC Gundam Ver.G 30th, except for the box art and the addition of a scale-model of the platform seen at the park. I also bought a fan (hey, I’m a Gundam fan!) and some postcards. I hope you enjoyed the pics and this post. Cheers!
Shizuoka Hobby Show 2009 (Part I)
May 17, 2009 at 8:16 pm | Posted in Events | Leave a commentTags: astray, gouf, gundam, Gundam 00, hasegawa, HCM Pro, HGUC, macross frontier, MG Exia, PG astray, red frame, rx-78-2, Shizuoka Hobby Show, yamato
Despite my waning interest in gunpla lately, I decided to have a look at this year’s 48th Shizuoka Hobby show. Armed with my new camera (and my old one as backup), I took plenty of pictures this time. So much that I had to split my coverage into 2 posts. This first part will focus on the vendor booths (Bandai et al.) and in the second part I’ll post the works of various modelling circles in Japan.
Right, I’ll start off with the headline news (I suppose): the MG Gundam Exia
In addition, Bandai will release an ‘Ignition Mode’ version which will come with an extra damaged head, cape (which looks like pre-molded from rubber), LED parts for the GN drive and metallic parts for the swords.
And then there’s this nice 00 diorama:
And the cool boxart for the HG Exia and 0 gundam:
And finally for the 00 Gundam section, there’s the 1/100 Double 0 riser with the custom decals (which you can already buy separately anyway).
Bandai’s latest PG release was the Astray red frame, and boy were there plenty of Astrays. These are the baby ones:
And then comes the daddy Astrays:
With all these different colored versions of the Astray, I won’t be surprised if they teamed up and formed a super-sentai group (e.g. power rangers).
For UC fans, there’s the MG Gouf ver.2 to look forward to. Perhaps gouf custom ver2 might not be too far away either.
And you can make cool dioramas like this:
Bandai’s offering for the HGUC series are the Hi-Nu and Jegan
And the next SHCM-Pro model will be the RX-78 Real Type:
And here’s some displays for the UC Hardgraph and MS Igloo series
And don’t be surpised if you see RX-78 ver2 and G-armor combo released in different colors (G3 & Realtype)
The HGUC-sized Ksatriya and MG Guntank:
Some PG-sized models on display, including a lighted-up Unicorn:
And there’s the jumbo size 1/12 scale Zaku and Gundam:
And some random models and pics from the Bandai booth:
And finally the last Gundam-related pics : Nu-Gundam and Hyaku Shiki bicycles. Yes you heard me, bicycles. Specifically, the foldable type called oritatami jitensha.
Here’s the Nu-gundam bike (psycommu sold separately)
and the Hyaku shiki (all you need is a pair of Quattro Bageeena shades)
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Taking a break off Gundam stuff, here’s some Evangelion-related pics:
Yes, the plugs (I’m sooo tempted to call them butt plugs) are back, two of ‘em this time.
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Now I will commence a Macross flood, starting with Yamato’s displays:
A dash of Mospeada…
and next are some of Hasegawa’s macross:
and lastly macross frontier by bandai:
Now that’s done with, here’s a topview of the vendor’s exhibits:
There’s also a section filled with gas-powered bb guns of various types, like this sniper rifle. Looks like fun
And finally (for Part I at least), here’s some random pics of figurines.
And that concludes part I of my coverage. For Part II, click here
RX-78-2 Gundam ver. Ka
March 3, 2008 at 5:55 pm | Posted in Master Grade | Leave a commentTags: GFF, gundam, katoki, Master Grade, realtype, rx-78-2, ver.Ka
What? Not another RX-78-2 variant? Yeah, I’m a sucker for Bandai’s evil marketing strategy. Anyway, I got this cheap and i decided to paint it in the Real-Type color scheme after i found inspiration from an issue of Dengeki Hobby. No modifications this time, just plain ol’ assembling and painting. I used the same colors as the OYW version, except the red parts. For the green and gray parts, I applied some subtle darker-shaded strokes using a paintbrush to simulate military camouflages.
Not much masking to do, except for the bazooka. For the decals, I decided to follow the Gundam Fix Figuration (GFF) style of this same model. Using a combination of dry transfer and water slide decals for the RX-78-2 ver Ka, I tried to copy as precisely the decal placing from the GFF version. Some gray-colored dry transfer decals didn’t show up too nicely on the darker colored parts since they were originally intended to be used on the standard white color surface. The red colored parts turned slightly pink after I applied flat topcoat (red + white topcoat layer = pink). So that’s a lesson for being too generous with the flat topcoat.
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