30MM x Centurions

March 30, 2021 at 21:33 | Posted in Other scales | Leave a comment
Tags: , ,

The 30MM-Centurions crossover has been a fun mini project. Initially I wasn’t that interested in the 30MM line, but my head turned when I saw reviews for the Flight-, Marine-, and Ground-Type kits. They reminded me of the Centurions cartoon from the 80’s. Judging from the comments on here and twitter, the Centurions wasn’t as obscure as I thought. I remember having the Ace McCloud action figure, but without any accessories :(

In terms of size, they’re similar to a typical HG 1/144 Gunpla.

Here’s my overall thoughts about the 30MM line:

Pros:
1. Relatively cheap price. The most basic Alto kit is around 800-900 yen, and the Options parts range from 200 – 800 yen. The most expensive kits shouldn’t cost more than 2000 yen.
2. Very customizable. Parts can be swapped between various 30MM kits, but keep in mind not all parts can slot in perfectly. It also uses 3mm sockets and pegs, so it’s compatible with Kotobukiya MSG parts.
3. Seam lines are well integrated into the design, for the most part. The only obvious one I noticed is on the Alto’s head. So that means seam-welding and glue are not needed.
4. Very good range of movement, so you can play around with it and make all sorts of poses.

As an example, I just swapped the accessories around for fun:

Cons:
1. Joint stiffness is inconsistent. I found that the knee joints are rather loose, whereas the shoulder-arm connection is very stiff. The chest and abdomen are connected by a polycap ball joint, and they can pop out easily if you play with them too much.
2. It would’ve been nice to have more options for the hands. Right now only a pair of gripping hands are included. I had to use MS Hands for the fists in all three kits.
3. Can be addictive (okay, that’t not really a negative point).

You can think of the 30MM line and their various accessories as LEGO parts. I’ve seen some very creative 30MM builds on twitter, so what you can create is up to your imagination. I still have plenty of parts left over from this mini project. Not sure whether to make a frankenstein build or just use them for other Gunpla projects…

30MM Rabiot Ground Type

March 23, 2021 at 22:38 | Posted in Other scales | 2 Comments
Tags: , , , ,

Introduction:
The final entry to my 30MM-Centurions crossover build. Unlike the previous two builds, this one is a kitbash between the Rabiot and Alto Ground Type. This one is modeled after Jake Rockwell, the ‘Rugged’ Land Operations Specialist from the Centurions cartoon.

Materials & methods:
Work in progress page can be found here.
I decided not to use the Long Range Sniper head because it looks a bit small on the wide Rabiot shoulders. Instead I used the canopy-like head from a separate 30MM Options set.
Here’s the paints I used:
Body: Mr Color Orange-yellow
Joints: Tamiya Olive drab
Weapons: Tamiya Wooden Deck Tan; Mr Color Russian Green
Tank parts: Mr Color Dark Green 3414
After painting, it’s the same process with the previous two builds: panel-lining, decals, flat topcoat.

Results:
Firstly here’s the body and accessories separately:

And fully equipped poses:

Discussion:
The reason for kitbashing the Rabiot & Alto was because I wanted to convey a sense of bulkiness befitting a ground type unit. The Alto Ground Type feels a bit unbalanced with its slender top half and bulky bottom half.
Thanks to the universal 3mm joints, customizing this kit was easy and fun. The only ‘hard’ mod was making the chest gatling guns. Most of the time was spent masking parts to get the color combination I wanted.
So that’s the end of my 30MM-Centurions mini project. I’ll take some extra group photos and summarize my overall thoughts in a later post.

30MM Portanova Marine Type

March 18, 2021 at 21:17 | Posted in Other scales | Leave a comment
Tags: , , , ,

Introduction:
This is the second entry to my 30MM-Centurions crossover build. This one is based off Max Ray: ‘Brilliant’ Sea Operations Commander, with a bright green and black color combination. The Portanova Marine Type is the perfect kit for this build.

Materials & methods:
The work in progress can be found here.
I didn’t mix any custom colors for painting. Just straight from the bottle (after dilution, of course).
Body: Mr Color Yellow-green
Joints: Mr Color German Gray
Accessories: Mr Color Orange-yellow; Orange
After that it’s just panel-lining, decals, and flat topcoat.

Results:
Here’s the plain Portanova, and accessories separately:

And now with some poses:

Discussion:
This build is a rarity for me, mainly because I don’t tend to paint my kits in bright, loud colors. The green, orange, and yellow combination is not as garish as I initially feared, and the black parts neutralize the bright colors somewhat.
Like the previous Alto Flight Type, the accessories can be swapped around, so it was quite fun to play around with. The claw weapon looks a bit out of place, though.
Overall, I’m still not a fan of bright, flourescent colors for model kits, but this build is an exception.

Next Page »

Blog at WordPress.com.
Entries and comments feeds.