Zaku Cannon
March 9, 2017 at 21:29 | Posted in 1/144 scale | 3 CommentsTags: ザクキャノン, custom mod, kitbash, weathering, Zaku Cannon, Zeon Remnant Project
Introduction:
There isn’t a HGUC Zaku Cannon kit released yet; only a MG kit and some old MSV kits. I bought a 1/144 Zaku Cannon resin kit from Yahoo Auctions, but that thing was a brick. I wanted to build something with more articulation. So I decided to combine parts of that resin kit, an old 1/144 MSV kit and several HG parts to make my own version of the Zaku Cannon.
It has been a work in progress for quite some time, and now it’s finally done. Throughout the build, only one thing remained constant: the shoulder cannon. All other parts were the result of trial & error to see what works best.
Materials & methods:
The work in progress page can be read here.
For painting, I went for the color scheme that appeared in the Unicorn OVA. All these were airbrushed.
- Main body: Brown-grey (Gaianotes)
- Forearms, feet: Russian green (Mr. Color)
- Front skirt, knees: German Grey + Propellar color (Mr. Color)
- Thighs: Light gull grey (Mr. Color)
- Weapons, backpack: German gray (Mr. Color)
- Joints: Dark gray 2 (decanted from spray can)
After the paint has dried, it’s the standard course: panel lining, decals, light weathering & flat topcoat.
Results:
The main cannon and side cannons can be folded to the back
And now some action poses:
Discussion:
To be honest, I didn’t really know how this would turn up. During work-in-progress I just focused on each part separately, without doing any test fitting prior to painting. I messed up some of the decals but overall I think the whole thing looks quite alright. The HG Bugu legs don’t look out of place, either.
While it looks fine standing up, I had to be careful when posing it for the photoshoot. The joints were kinda stiff and I was paranoid about breaking something. Also I unintentionally scraped some of the paint off while fiddling with different poses. Fortunately they were small enough for me to disguise them as weathering, simply by drawing over them using my black, fine tip Gundam marker.
According to my initial plan, this build should’ve been the last of my Zeon Remnants Project. But I’m thinking of adding one (or maybe two) more builds to this project. Stay tuned…
Zaku Cannon – Work in progress
February 28, 2017 at 22:04 | Posted in Work In Progress | 1 CommentTags: kitbash, work in progress, Zaku Cannon, Zeon Remnant Project
The Zaku Cannon has been a work in progress for quite some time now. After many delays and revisions, I finally decided on the final look. This build is a combination of several HG kits, a Zaku Cannon resin kit and the old MSV Zaku Cannon kit.
Head:
I used the head from the HGUC Zaku II (Johnny Ridden) kit as the base. To it, I glued the mouthpiece from the Zaku Cannon resin kit.
On the top of the head, I glued the forehead sensor from my HGUC Ground Gundam. At the back of the head, I removed some bits that hold the power cable and added an antenna from the MSV Zaku Cannon kit.
Chest:
For the top part of the chest, I used the part from the resin kit. I drilled a bigger hole on it to accommodate the shoulder joints, which were from HGBC Bolden Arms Arms. The neck joint is just simply a leftover polycap joint. At the bottom, I attached a ball-joint socket (Hobbybase) to attach it to the hips.
The midriff is another leftover part from my Char’s Zaku II Origin kit. I attached additional plaplate to add more length and girth.
Hips:
The hip was from another Zaku II Origin kit but I replaced the orignal polycap socket with the one from Hobby Base. On the front skirt armor, I attached some leftover parts from the Efreet Nacht resin kit.
Arms:
I used the resin kit shield on the right shoulder. I glued a socket from a HGUC Zaku II F2 shield to attach it to the shoulder. In addition, I glued some plaplate along the edges and within the shield to add some girth and detail, respectively.
On the left shoulder, I used the MSV kit shoulder armor. I replaced the original spikes with the ones from MS Spike. To make a rough surface, I smothered the part with basic putty and using a worn toothbrush, I made random strokes over the surface.
To attach the shield to the shoulder, I used the joint from a RG Zaku kit.
The arms were from the HG Gouf R35 kit. The biceps were elongated by 1.2mm and the gaps on the forearm were filled with epoxy putty.
Legs:
This was the part where I had the most problems. In the end, I took the easy way out and just used the HG Bugu legs. No mods except for the thighs. I covered up the panel lines with basic putty.
Weapons:
All the main weapons for this kit are attached to the backpack, which is from the resin kit. The main cannon was actually the Bigwig cannon that came included with a very old edition of Dengeki Hobby magazine. It’s supposed to be a huge cannon, but at 1/400 scale, it fits nicely on the shoulder of my 1/144 Zaku Cannon. To attach it to the backpack, I used several joints and the dog leg from GM Sniper K9.
The side cannons are from the MSV kit. I used a series of joints from Kotobukiya MSG and HGBC Bolden Arm Arms to connect them to the backpack.
On the left side of the backpack, I attached something that resembles a smoke grenade disperser on tanks.
Lastly, I modified a Zaku machinegun from the HGUC Zaku Sniper kit. I attached a vernier at the muzzle and added the stock from the Zaku Sniper rifle.
The completed kit can now be viewed here.
Zeon Remnants Project: current status
December 22, 2015 at 11:37 | Posted in Random rants | 3 CommentsTags: Desert Zaku, Efreet Schneid, Galluss-K, Zaku Cannon, Zeon Remnant Project
It’s winter again and as you can see from the totally scientific chart below, it means some downtime in my gunpla activity.
As a result, it is definitely impossible for me to finish the remaining Zeon remnant kits by this year. So far, of the 10 kits from this list, I have finished 7 of them. Here they are lined up nicely on my shelf. You can view them individually in the gallery page.
The remaining 3 are the Zaku Cannon, Galluss K and Efreet Schneid. If you’re wondering what happened to them, read on:
For the Zaku Cannon, I decided to build one that’s close to the original design instead of building a Zaku Half Cannon. I’ve settled on most parts on the top half of the body, it’s the legs that got me stuck. Completion status: ~50%
As for the Galluss K, it’s a kitbash between the HGUC Schzrum Galluss and the Galluss J. It’s not so straight forward as I would’ve liked and I still haven’t decided on a lot of things, for example the head & backpack design. Completion status: ~40%
I initially thought the Efreet Schneid would be the most problematic, but so far it hasn’t been the case. I’m using the Gouf R35 kit as the base and attaching Efreet Nacht resin parts on it. Right now I’m having problems attaching the lower legs (resin) to the knees. Maybe I’ll just use Gouf Custom legs instead. Completion status: ~60%.
And now I’d like to announce a last-minute addition to the Zeon Remnants Project: the Desert Zaku.
Using the HGUC Zaku II F2 kit as base, I added parts from the MSV Zaku Desert Type kit. The Zaku Desert Type and Desert Zaku are not the same thing, so this one will be a mashup of both designs. Completion status: ~70%.
It may seem that I have started all these projects simultaneously, but actually as I was building the Zaku Cannon, I got stuck on some parts and started with the Galluss K. Then when I encountered a problem with that, I started with the Efreet Schneid. And when that came to a halt, I started with the Desert Zaku. And so that’s how I ended up with four ongoing projects right now. I’m not sure when I can finish them all but it’s definitely not this year. With that I wish you all Happy Holidays.
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