Category: Gundam Builds

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RG Aile Strike Build Day 12

Shoulder back together

Introduction

Welcome to “RG Aile Strike Build Day 12” where I am building up an RG Aile strike model. If you haven’t read any of the other parts I would recommend going back to the start. You can find that here. In the first post I covered the box, runners and provide the manual.

I am taking my time to ensure I clean up all the marks that can be cleaned up. As with any build like this, if you end up with discolouration or a small white “stress” mark you are likely to need painting to get rid of those. I may have a look at simple quick methods of dealing with those items, especially as I find that it has a habit of happening on the grey pieces. I also accept I may need to work on my cutting style as I’m sure that will contribute to it!

The Break

Ok, normally at this point I outline the process that I follow for taking the parts from the runners and cleaning them up. However I have a confession. You may, or may not, have noticed that recent pictures the model was nor sporting their right shoulder pad. This was, I had to admit, not the models fault. Rather I had been a little too keen with the nippers and rendered the joint that clips over the arm to hold the shoulder in place weak.

The part looks like this:

Broken part
Broken part

I guess it would probably be more accurate to say the piece shouldn’t look like that. It should be more a horseshoe shape and less of a “on no some spoon broke me” shape.

What to do?

There there were a few potential options. The first would be to just glue it in place, but that would render the arm with very limited mobility. The next option would be to cut a small square of plasticard to size and then file away till I have something that works. The final, and far more fun option would be to design a piece in some 3d software and print one out.

Which did I choose?

I’m guessing from the way I loaded the what the options were, we all know I went down the 3d route. I recently bought a small 3d printer with the specific view of printing adapters for the stands I sell in the shop (here). They are cheap and versatile but I wanted to offer people the opportunity to get some slightly different connectors.

So that means I have a small 3d printer to-hand (*whew*).

My final model looks like this:

Simple 3d model of shoulder joint
Simple shoulder joint

During the process I printed and tested multiple pieces tweaking the width of the legs etc.

Pile of shame
Pile of shame

Finally I reached one I was happy with and slotted everything back together. It isn’t perfect, and I may need to tweak it further but I can print more if needed!

Final Piece
Final Piece
Piece in place
Piece in place
Shoulder back together
Shoulder back together
Holds it upside down
Holds it upside down

As you can see it appears to be doing the job. On the whole an evening well spent I feel. I also got to use the 3d printer which is a bonus!

Conclusion

I was the one who broke the part. I must have trimmed it too close when using the nippers. However, this goes to show that with a little time and patience there are options to work around broken pieces.

Thank you for taking the time to read this. If you haven’t already done so please like and follow us on our social media platforms and checkout our website!

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Website: https://modelkitsltd.co.uk

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RG Aile Strike Build Day 11

Front View

Introduction

Welcome to “RG Aile Strike Build Day 11” where I am building up an RG Aile strike model. If you haven’t read any of the other parts I would recommend going back to the start. You can find that here. In the first post I covered the box, runners and provide the manual.

I am taking my time to ensure I clean up all the marks that can be cleaned up. As with any build like this, if you end up with discolouration or a small white “stress” mark you are likely to need painting to get rid of those. I may have a look at simple quick methods of dealing with those items, especially as I find that it has a habit of happening on the grey pieces. I also accept I may need to work on my cutting style as I’m sure that will contribute to it!

The Process

Unless otherwise noted I followed this process for each piece:

  • Cut off roughly leaving plenty of nub
  • Trim back the nub with my better nippers
  • Apply water to my wet and dry sandpaper and sand the nub marks down
  • Dry the piece
  • Brush it off with the tooth brush to remove any bits
  • Re-apply the matt finish using the Gray Balancer
  • Prep the part with the green side of the White Balancer
  • Shine the part up with the white side of the White Balancer

If after this I wasn’t happy I would repeat the sanding steps down, and keep iterating until I was happy with the finish.

The Parts

Nubby Parts
Clean Parts
Clean Parts

I had pre-removed the parts and put them in the small bag. The head consists of 14 parts, some of which are quite small. The really small red pieces I found quite tricky to hold on to and they had a habit of pinging away from me. However, once the cleanup was complete I was, as with the rest of the mode, very happy with the final result. The parts themselves clean up beautifully, and using the GUNPRIMER balancers they look like they were never touched.

Part Build

Side Part Head
Side Part Head

I took this picture part way through building the head. Lots of the pieces layer on top of one another, and I thought this was a great view of the partly built head. I may yet need to dismantle it if I find suitable waterslide decals. I will, however, cross that bridge when I come to it.

The Build So Far

Front View
Front View
Head Closeup
Head Closeup

With the head complete, and in place, most of the model is done. I have him currently dabbing while next to Heavyarms and DoubleX. I don’t know why I just did.

Conclusion

So far the build has been extremely satisfying. The only glitches have been user error on my part. The parts clean up really nicely, and you can achieve a really nice finish on the model. I still have the weapons and backpack to build. Once that is done I will top coat, panel line and top coat again. Hopefully I will then be able to take some photos that do the model justice!

Thank you for taking the time to read this. If you haven’t already done so please like and follow us on our social media platforms and checkout our website!

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RG Aile Strike Build Day 10

Complete Front

Introduction

Welcome to “RG Aile Strike Build Day 10” where I am building up an RG Aile strike model. If you haven’t read any of the other parts I would recommend going back to the start. You can find that here. In the first post I covered the box, runners and provide the manual.

I am taking my time to ensure I clean up all the marks that can be cleaned up. As with any build like this, if you end up with discolouration or a small white “stress” mark you are likely to need painting to get rid of those. I may have a look at simple quick methods of dealing with those items, especially as I find that it has a habit of happening on the grey pieces. I also accept I may need to work on my cutting style as I’m sure that will contribute to it!

The Process

Unless otherwise noted I followed this process for each piece:

  • Cut off roughly leaving plenty of nub
  • Trim back the nub with my better nippers
  • Apply water to my wet and dry sandpaper and sand the nub marks down
  • Dry the piece
  • Brush it off with the tooth brush to remove any bits
  • Re-apply the matt finish using the Gray Balancer
  • Prep the part with the green side of the White Balancer
  • Shine the part up with the white side of the White Balancer

If after this I wasn’t happy I would repeat the sanding steps down, and keep iterating until I was happy with the finish.

The Parts

Nubbed Parts
Nubbed Parts

There are approximately 27 parts to the torso. However, you do need the two joint parts that were extracted from the top of the arm skeletons.

For the image above I cut the pieces out roughly and then put them into a small plastic bag overnight. No reason other than I was working on a few things 🙂

Cleaned Parts

Cleaned Parts
Cleaned Parts

I cleaned up the parts using the process outlined about. I also at this point have no idea what order I am going to need them. However, it wasn’t a massive problem. I will, however, note that the two white pieces of armour have a slot on the inner piece that goes to the front or back depending on what side you attach them. This is important as the longish white piece (on the top line of pieces third from the top left, and surrounded by blue pieces), fits into those slots. I found out that if you attach those on the wrong side then you have to take it apart again (2 pieces on top of them) and refit.

This was because I decided to give myself a blast from the past, and just put them all together in a bag. It reminded me of the old lego bags where all the parts for a specific section of the build were all together. This looked like this.

Ready To Build
Ready To Build

I actually enjoyed identifying the pieces from the manual and then finding them in my pile 🙂 Ultimately you should have a build process that you enjoy.

Putting it together

Complete Front
Complete Front
Side Torso
Side Torso
Balance 1
Balance 1
Cleaned Parts
Cleaned Parts
Top Down Balance
Top Down Balance
Top Balance View
Top Balance View

Once the torso was built I was able to attach the legs and arms. I then had a play with the posing on what I had so far. The articulation is great on the model. The “trying to do the splits” is limited due to the side parts that limit it. However, there is more than enough there to pose in a range of stances.

Also, as you can see from the pictures, at the moment the model can balance amazingly. With a little patience we can balance it really nicely.

Conclusion

I am still really happy with this. The model is building amazingly, and the way the parts layer up is really satisfying. The detail and articulation on this model are also fantastic. If you then add to this the great way the parts can clean up it is shaping up to meet all my expectations.

Thank you for taking the time to read this. If you haven’t already done so please like and follow us on our social media platforms and checkout our website!

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RG Aile Strike Build Day 9

Joint and Fist Separated

Introduction

Welcome to “RG Aile Strike Build Day 9” where I am building up an RG Aile strike model. If you haven’t read any of the other parts I would recommend going back to the start. You can find that here. In the first post I covered the box, runners and provide the manual.

I am taking my time to ensure I clean up all the marks that can be cleaned up. As with any build like this, if you end up with discolouration or a small white “stress” mark you are likely to need painting to get rid of those. I may have a look at simple quick methods of dealing with those items, especially as I find that it has a habit of happening on the grey pieces. I also accept I may need to work on my cutting style as I’m sure that will contribute to it!

The Process

Unless otherwise noted I followed this process for each piece:

  • Cut off roughly leaving plenty of nub
  • Trim back the nub with my better nippers
  • Apply water to my wet and dry sandpaper and sand the nub marks down
  • Dry the piece
  • Brush it off with the tooth brush to remove any bits
  • Re-apply the matt finish using the Gray Balancer
  • Prep the part with the green side of the White Balancer
  • Shine the part up with the white side of the White Balancer

If after this I wasn’t happy I would repeat the sanding steps down, and keep iterating until I was happy with the finish.

The Parts

Nubbed Arms Parts
Nubbed Arms Parts

As you can see the arm consists of 16 core pieces. Above I have just cut them out roughly ready for trimming and cleaning up. I showed that in the previous arm, so in this post I’m going to show you something different about them.

The arm Skeleton

Joint and Fist Separated
Joint and Fist Separated
All pieces straight
All pieces straight
End bent up
End bent up
Bending into place
Bending into place
Top Connected
Top Connected
Bottom folded down
Bottom folded down

On the inside you have a lovely inner frame. The frame or skeleton comes pre-case on the runner. I find it mind boggling how they cast these intricate pieces.

In the first image you can see that the fist and joint have been separated. They come attached, but you need to remove them. The top joint is actually part of the shoulder assembly used when you build the torso. The fist is just re-attached later on. Previously I had issues removing the top part, however, knowing it was a straight peg I felt far more confident twisting and pulling to free the part. I found removing it on this arm a lot easier than on the first one.

In the second image (incorrectly titled all pieces straight) I had rotated and bent the socket joint into place.

The third image then has a small piece on the left hand side of the image bent upwards. Ultimately this clips back onto the central core of the arms frame. You can see this in the next image (“Bending into place”) how the section is bending up back towards the central part of the arm frame.

The “Top connected” picture shows the left hand piece completing the motion up and clicking into place into the frame, as well as the bottom section starting to bend down.

The final image has the arm frame complete with the part the fist was attached to moved all the way flat with the rest of the frame, and in place.

The finished Arm

Outer Arm View
Outer Arm View
Inner Arm View
Inner Arm View
Back Arm View
Back Arm View

As with the other pictures (yes I know I need a better background, I am working on it honest!) you can see how the armour has cleaned up nicely. I am really happy again with how this fits together. I really enjoy building the arms on this model as it is a satisfying process.

Conclusion

Everything in the build process, so far, has lived up to my expectations. The detail is stunning, the precision is what I expect from Bandai, and the build itself is an incredibly enjoyable process.

Thank you for taking the time to read this. If you haven’t already done so please like and follow us on our social media platforms and checkout our website!

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100086701512793
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/modelkitsltd/
Website: https://modelkitsltd.co.uk

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RG Aile Strike Build Day 8

Outside Arm

Introduction

Welcome to “RG Aile Strike Build Day 8” where I am building up an RG Aile strike model. If you haven’t read any of the other parts I would recommend going back to the start. You can find that here. In the first post I covered the box, runners and provide the manual.

I am taking my time to ensure I clean up all the marks that can be cleaned up. As with any build like this, if you end up with discolouration or a small white “stress” mark you are likely to need painting to get rid of those. I may have a look at simple quick methods of dealing with those items, especially as I find that it has a habit of happening on the grey pieces. I also accept I may need to work on my cutting style as I’m sure that will contribute to it!

The Process

Unless otherwise noted I followed this process for each piece:

  • Cut off roughly leaving plenty of nub
  • Trim back the nub with my better nippers
  • Apply water to my wet and dry sandpaper and sand the nub marks down
  • Dry the piece
  • Brush it off with the tooth brush to remove any bits
  • Re-apply the matt finish using the Gray Balancer
  • Prep the part with the green side of the White Balancer
  • Shine the part up with the white side of the White Balancer

If after this I wasn’t happy I would repeat the sanding steps down, and keep iterating until I was happy with the finish.

Todays Parts

Nubbed Parts
Nubbed Parts

I decided to take a slightly different approach tonight as I knew I could finish this arm off. Taking this approach also allowed me to take less photos which sped the process. Again I may look into getting some sort of setup to help with that. However, at the moment I only have my phone, table, and patience 🙂

Clean Parts
Clean Parts

So, as I knew I was approaching this differently, I also cleaned up all the parts I had to work with tonight. I actually found this a nice change to the pace. Rather than cut 2 – 3 pieces, clean them, put them together, photograph them, rinse and repeat, I found doing multiple sets of pieces together meant when it came to the assembly I could just enjoy the build of the arm.

The Build

As I had approached it differently I had multiple bits to put together. Building this arm up was a really excellent experience. Seeing the parts layer on top of one another, and finally forming into the arm was a really enjoyable experience. I did have to consult the manual a couple of times, and work out which bits went where, but when in the right place the went together beautifully.

I have said it before in this build, and I’m sure I will say it again, but the armour on this build is an absolute pleasure to work with. The way the white parts clean up when you have that little bit extra time on them, they look really stunning.

Front
Front
Side
Side
Resr
Rear
Inside

As can be seen in the pictures above, the arm, in my opinion has come out really cleanly.

Articulation

The other main thing on these parts, after how stunning and detailed they are, is the articulation you get with these pieces.

Inside Arm
Inside Arm
Outside Arm
Outside Arm

As can be seen in the images above, the arm has solid articulation as well. Bending nicely, allowing for various poses.

Conclusion

So in summary. So far I have the legs, waist and an arm. However, there is not a piece in there at the moment that I am not happy with. The build has been really smooth and enjoyable so far. Apart from me wanting to examine by technique on removing the grey pieces from the sprues, I am super happy with this. I definitely think that extra bit of time, and making use of the GUNPRIMER Balancers really does make it shine.

Thank you for taking the time to read this. If you haven’t already done so please like and follow us on our social media platforms and checkout our website!

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Website: https://modelkitsltd.co.uk

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RG Aile Strike Build Day 7

Fitted Parts

Introduction

Welcome to “RG Aile Strike Build Day 7” where I am building up an RG Aile strike model. If you haven’t read any of the other parts I would recommend going back to the start. You can find that here. In the first post I covered the box, runners and provide the manual.

Round about now you are probably thinking to yourself … blimey he is not a fast builder I would have had that done days ago! However, in my defence I am working full time, plus running my company, and then building after I have done everything for those. I am also really taking my time, and if I’m not happy re-visiting parts and re-doing them. I used to take months to paint a single model, to the point where my friend offers to paint them for me so that he can play against painted minis 😀 (Thank you Steve 🙂 )

So my normal steady pace aside, I do want to really enjoy the build and not rush at any stage. I want to show how stunning the model is, not just to build, but how beautifully clean it looks once complete.

Without further ado, lets just outline my process on each part so that I don’t repeat is throughout the post 🙂

The Process

Unless otherwise noted I followed this process for each piece:

  • Cut off roughly leaving plenty of nub
  • Trim back the nub with my better nippers
  • Apply water to my wet and dry sandpaper and sand the nub marks down
  • Dry the piece
  • Brush it off with the tooth brush to remove any bits
  • Re-apply the matt finish using the Gray Balancer
  • Prep the part with the green side of the White Balancer
  • Shine the part up with the white side of the White Balancer

If after this I wasn’t happy I would repeat the sanding steps down, and keep iterating until I was happy with the finish.

First Parts

Clean and Assembled
Clean and Assembled
Parts with Numbs
Parts with Numbs

So this section is the build up of the arms. The first thing I had to do was build up the two shoulders. Then it steps into building each arm individually. The core of the shoulder is really simple but the plastic cleans up from the nubs really nicely and fits together nicely.

Second Parts

Nubbed Parts
Nubbed Parts
Clean Parts
Clean Parts
Fitted Parts
Fitted Parts
Fitted Parts
Fitted Parts

Next up is the armour that wraps around the core of the shoulders. Now I love these shite armour pieces. With the GUNPRIMER Balancers they clean up so nicely and shine back up to new. The pictures show how clean these pieces end up after a little TLC even given those horrendous first rough cuts of mine!

Third Parts

Arm From Runner
Oopss
Fixed
All Clipped
Angled Clipped

Ok there is no running away from it. These are, for me at least, not my favourite part of any build. I can, however, appreciate the quality and skill that has gone into making these pieces. The articulation and the fact they are moulded like this on the runner.

However, I just don’t like these bits. Thankfully once they are done it will be back to the bits I enjoy. The first image shows exactly how the piece comes off the runner. Pay very close attention to the manual, and where it says to cut. I then had to detach the hand, and the top part.

As you can see I managed to detach more than I was meant to, so I had to reattach the joint. However, I really didn’t enjoy getting the top piece out. Once that was done, all I had to do was twizzle and push bits into place. I have to admit I do enjoy that bit.

You have to pay special attention to the piece that in the first image is on the right hand side. That teeny piece actually bends in the middle, and the outer piece actually forms the part that clicks into place when you bend the rest up.

Fourth Parts

Nubbed Parts
Clean Parts
Fitted Parts
Reverse Side

Ok so this was the last bit I got to work on. The upper arm armour. Again, this shows the detail, the layering of parts to add more detail, and the beautiful way the parts clean up. I know I have said it before but, I am very happy with the way this has been cleaning up so far!

Conclusion

I am really enjoying the build, and the pace. The parts are cleaning up beautifully and the parts are all cleaning up so nicely. That concludes “RG Aile Strike Build Day 7”.

If you wanted to pick up an RG Aile Strike to do the build yourself at the time of writing I have a few in stock available here. I also currently have both the Gray and White Balancers in stock (Gray White).

Thank you for taking the time to read this. If you haven’t already done so please like and follow us on our social media platforms and checkout our website!

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100086701512793
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/modelkitsltd/
Website: https://modelkitsltd.co.uk

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RG Aile Strike Build Day 6

Side waist and legs

Introduction

Welcome to “RG Aile Strike Build Day 6” where I am building up an RG Aile strike model. If you haven’t read any of the other parts I would recommend going back to the start. You can find that here. In the first post I covered the box, runners and provide the manual.

If you want to skip that and just get up to speed. I had in previous posts gone on about how nice I think the RG Aile strike model is. I had gone on so much I decided I should put my money where my mouth was and build one myself. This ongoing series is that process. I am not rushing, as can be seen in the earlier parts, and if I am not happy I will go back, disassemble and re-clean and re-build anything I am not happy with.

With that all out of the way lets get to it!

The process

Unless otherwise noted I followed this process for each piece:

  • Cut off roughly leaving plenty of nub
  • Trim back the nub with my better nippers
  • Apply water to my wet and dry sandpaper and sand the nub marks down
  • Dry the piece
  • Brush it off with the tooth brush to remove any bits
  • Re-apply the matt finish using the Gray Balancer
  • Prep the part with the green side of the White Balancer
  • Shine the part up with the white side of the White Balancer

If after this I wasn’t happy I would repeat the sanding steps down, and keep iterating until I was happy with the finish.

First Parts

Waist and thingy
Waist and thingy
Waist and detached thingy
Waist and detached thingy

So the first part off the runners is the main body of the waist. It has this piece attached / in it in the runner. The manual has an arrow showing to pull that piece out. I’ll be honest that was the hardest part of the build so far. With how detailed the pieces are I was worried about breaking it. In the end I decided to spin and twist. The turning of the part helped free it up and eventually it came out. However, I could see it causing a problem for some younger builders. However, on the whole it wasn’t “bad”.

Second Parts

Nubbed Armour
Nubbed Armour
Clean Armour
Clean Armour
Attached Pieces
Attached Pieces
Clean Side View
Clean Side View

Next up was the start of building up the armour on the waist. Now these pieces were nice and therapeutic. I used the process above, and am extremely happy with how the armour is coming out on this model.

Third Parts

Nubbed Armour
Nubbed Armour
Clean Armour
Clean Armour
Blue bit in place
Blue bit in place
Clean Side View
Clean Side View
Clean Closeup
Clean Closeup

Again, the armour is building up nicely. Even the small blue piece cleaned up perfectly. The grey piece looks a lot cleaner after a brush btw (sorry about that). However the nubs are a thing of the past and the piece looks really clean. None of the parts have had any issues going together and feel really nice.

Fourth Parts

Nubbed Parts
Nubbed Parts
Clean Parts
Clean Parts
Front Armour In place
Front Armour In place
Side view Front Armour
Side view Front Armour
Nubbed Parts
Nubbed Parts
Clean Parts
Clean Parts
Rear Armour
Rear Armour
Side View Rear
Side View Rear

I found these parts really satisfying to put together. There aren’t too many of them, and the slight colour differences on some of them add a nice level of contrast. They click together nicely and come together really cleanly.

The final leg

Front waist and legs
Front waist and legs
Side waist and legs
Side waist and legs
Front Knee Legs
Front Knee Legs
Side view of the knee
Side view of the knee

Putting all these things together you can see you have a really striking lower part of the model. All of the pieces so far have been really enjoyable to clean up and put together. There is a center grey piece that goes on top of the main waist part. I admit that is my least favourite part so far. It doesn’t want to clean up properly and just feels very meh. That part has some twisty around pre cast joints that click on to outer side armour. That goes in really snugly once you get it to click in, but getting it to click in was the “hardest” part of the build so far. However, that all said it wasn’t really hard.

Conclusion

That concludes todays “RG Aile Strike Build Day 6”. Remember if you want the model it is available (at time of writing) here.

Thank you for taking the time to read this. If you haven’t already done so please like and follow us on our social media platforms and checkout our website!

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100086701512793
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/modelkitsltd/
Website: https://modelkitsltd.co.uk

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RG Aile Strike Build Day 5

Side Legs

Introduction

Welcome back to “RG Aile Strike Build Day 5”! After yesterdays little break, I’m back with the latest update. For anyone catching up, I have made a few posts saying how fantastic I thought the RG Aile Strike model is. However, I hadn’t actually built one yet. So I decided it was time for me to put my money where my mouth was.

This series is documenting my build of the Aile Strike along with plenty of pictures.

The Update

Ok well today I was working on the other leg, as Day 4 was the first leg. As this is a carbon copy of the previous post (you can find it here) I didn’t do all the pre and post nub cleaning pictures. Feel free to check out yesterdays post to catch up on that. Again, I can’t say how great the Gray and White Balancers are from GUNPRIMER. They really help polish parts back up to a fantastic finish.

Legs to Left
Legs to Left
Legs to Right
Legs to Right
Side Legs
Side Legs
Single Leg Side
Single Leg Side
Lit Side Leg
Lit Side Leg

As you can see from the pictures these parts have also come together really nicely. So far the build hasn’t had anything other than nicely fit together sections. The detailing on the neg parts is brilliant, and I can’t wait to do the panel lining on this model. I think it might take me a while though with all those bits!

Conclusion

I believe the next part is the waist. I often find these sections some of the least interesting parts to build, so I am looking forward to seeing how this one holds up. So far, this build has been a pleasure, and the outer armour has been cleaning up beautifully. Possibly my only niggle so far is I could argue the feet feel a little weird. But once posed the look brilliant.

Thank you for taking the time to read this. If you haven’t already done so please like and follow us on our social media platforms and checkout our website!

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100086701512793
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/modelkitsltd/
Website: https://modelkitsltd.co.uk

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RG Aile Strike Build Day 4

RG Aile Strike Leg

Introduction

Welcome to “RG Aile Strike Build Day 4” where I am building up an RG Aile strike model. If you haven’t read any of the other parts I would recommend going back to the start. You can find that here. In the first post I covered the box, runners and provide the manual.

If you want to skip that and just get up to speed. I had in previous posts gone on about how nice I think the RG Aile strike model is. I had gone on so much I decided I should put my money where my mouth was and build one myself. This ongoing series is that process. I am not rushing, as can be seen in the earlier parts, and if I am not happy I will go back, disassemble and re-clean and re-build anything I am not happy with.

With that all out of the way lets get to it!

The process

Unless otherwise noted I followed this process for each piece:

  • Cut off roughly leaving plenty of nub
  • Trim back the nub with my better nippers
  • Apply water to my wet and dry sandpaper and sand the nub marks down
  • Dry the piece
  • Brush it off with the tooth brush to remove any bits
  • Re-apply the matt finish using the Gray Balancer
  • Prep the part with the green side of the White Balancer
  • Shine the part up with the white side of the White Balancer

If after this I wasn’t happy I would repeat the sanding steps down, and keep iterating until I was happy with the finish.

First Parts

Leg Frame
Side View
First Parts
Parts Attached

As you can see the next thing to build was this leg. The inner frame is straight off the runner. You need to take your time on this. The manual shows you the bits you want to cut. Pay special attention to this as the nubs are tiny and you don’t want to snip anything by accident. The first two parts go on either side of the leg. They clip right on and fit really nicely.

Second Parts

With Nubs
Cleaned Up
Side Clean
Attached

The next pieces start to attach the armour. As you can see I was leaving healthy nubbage on each piece. I followed the process outlined at the top of the article. Once clean, and seated I moved on to the next armour parts.

Third Parts

Parts With Nubs
Nubs Trimmed
Polished Parts
Applied rmour
Armour Reverse

As you can see this section is adding more armour on to the frame. Each piece fits really nicely. I did have to slow down and double check how everything was sliding in to place. But after slowing myself down a little it all slotted together really nicely. Again I was really happy with how the white armour pieces were cleaning up.

Fourth Parts

Nubbed Parts
Clean Parts
Applied Parts
Nubbed Parts
Clean Parts
Applied Armour
Front Armour
Side Armour

Next … you guessed it more armour parts. Each one I’ve tried to show the nubbed parts and the cleaned parts. Hopefully the end result warrants all this time … I feel that it is looking really nice so far.

Fifth Part

Final Nubs!
Cleaned Parts
Bent Leg
Straight Leg
Bent Leg

The final set of armour pieces on the leg really do complete the piece. Also look at that articulation!

Conclusion

There are several parts here that have to slide or clip into specific places. However, I found that slowing down, have a close look at the manual, the structure of the grooves and ridges on the parts led to them fitting together beautifully. I am really happy with how the parts have cleaned up, and the current state of the leg.

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RG Aile Strike Build Day 3

Balancer and Foot

Introduction

Ok so I know this is called “RG Aile Strike Build Day 3” but I’ll be honest I wasn’t happy with the feet when I saw the pictures. So after spending hours sorting images, rotating them, re-sizing them, I then settled down with those darn feet!

What are they like now?

Brush Decorated Brush
Brush Decorated Brush
Balancer and Foot
Balancer and Foot
Foot on Brush
Foot on Brush
Re-cleaned Feet

I started by stripping the feet back down. I took the front piece off to give easier access. Before starting on the red, I gave the rear grey pieces a fresh sandpaper. I wasn’t happy with how they were showing so I decided to do those again. After some sanding I applied the gray balancer, then the green side of the white balancer before finishing with the white side of the white balancer.

Once that was done I took apart the front of each foot. Those, to me, were the worst offending parts. I separated them so that I could get into the joint and sand them down further. I also used the zoom on my phone, along with a new LED lamp to help me see any of the imperfections. Once I was happy with the sanding I followed the same balancer routine as on the grey parts.

I don’t mind admitting I put them together and took them apart a couple of times and repeated the process until I was happy. I am determined this will not be a rush job. Interestingly this also gave me a better feel for taking the foot apart and re-assembling it.

Once I was happy with the front section I proceeded to sand the middle and rear sections. I left these in place as I didn’t have issues around their joints. Once I was happy with the new sanding I again applied the balancers to bring the shine back up.

Conclusion

I hope you will agree with me that they have a far nicer finish after the second round of cleaning up. I certainly am a lot happier. They polished nicely, and I also found that I managed to just make them look smoother.

I am definitely glad that I went back and re-did those parts. As I said this won’t be my fastest build, but it will be interesting to see the overall finish on the model.

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