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Posted on February 14, 2023February 13, 2023 by Mark

RG Aile Strike Build Day 2

Introduction

RG Aile Strike Build Day 2 covers what I managed to do in the first section of the build.

This build, unlike my “Guess the model” builds is going to be more evenly paced. As long as I have enough to warrant posting an update I will. Otherwise I’ll pickup a different topic and then follow on when there is a decent update.

What comes first

Well I already did a post about the tools, the box, the runners, and the manual. I even included a link to a PDF of the manual that I put together in case anyone is desperate to read the RG Aile Strike manual. You can find that post here.

So now that pre-amble is done, lets get on with the build!

First Bits

As you can see the main “bulk” part of the foot and ankle are cast as a single part. The ball joint is cast as part of this, and I still have no idea how they manage to cast a fully working ball joint! I then cleaned up the nubs and flipped the parts over. The smaller parts attach to the under side of the larger part. The fit together fairly snuggly, but once clipped in feel really nicely placed.

Second Bits

As you can see my first “rough” cut leaves a fair amount of nub. My second trimming cut leaves a much cleaner cut. At this point it is starting to look a bit better. After the second cut I then added some water to my wet and dry sandpaper and cleaned them down flush. Once I could run a finger nail over them without it catching I then did 5 passes with the Gray Balancer, 5 passes on the green side of the White Balancer, followed by 5 passes on the White side of the White Balancer. This left me with the “Cleaned Parts” picture. Any discolouration left is from the plastic / moulding and would need painting to hide. However the parts are smooth and shiny, just like they were on the runner!

I then needed to attach the parts. Each “foot” has a flat part which has a small plastic column that slots into a hole in the black piece. In “bottom plate fitted” above you can see one ready to be put in place and one attached. The cover / second piece (as you can see in the final photo) attaches to the 3 posts on the flat piece and clips firmly into place.

Third Bits

The next section was the middle section of the feet. As you can see I started with the wider cut, then the trimmed cut and finally the sanding and cleanup. Now I will say that these closeup pictures don’t, in my opinion, do them justice. However, as this isn’t a speed build I’m going to go back and clean them up even further to see how clean I can get them. As you can see the red piece attached from underneath, and the white piece then slots in on top. Once the white piece was lined up properly it slotted straight in.

Fourth Bits

Again as you can see, I went for the leave a nub, close cut the nubs off, then clean the pieces up. The heel consists of the flat piece that attaches underneath the foot onto a peg, and then the rear piece that curves around the heel and slots into place. Again, at the risk of sounding like a fan boy, these pieces go together really satisfyingly.

Fifth Bits

The final part of the foot was, in my opinion, the most fiddly. The two initial side pieces clip on to the sides of the grey piece. Then the final section slides over the top giving it more stability, and completing the stylistic look.

Conclusion

That concludes “RG Aile Strike Build Day 2”. However, as I said, I am going to revisit the feet. This isn’t a “fast” build, rather I want to see how clean a build I can make it.

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Posted on February 13, 2023February 12, 2023 by Mark

RG Aile Strike Build Day 1

Introduction

RG Aile Strike Build Day 1 is the first part in the RG build. In a previous post I said I needed to put my money where my mouth is and show off this model. I think it looks stunning, and I am really looking forward to this. I will post up the progress I make on this. However, unlike my “Guess the Model” series I won’t be ensuring I complete a section in a day. I will rather focus on more detail.

The setup

Before starting the build I wanted to show the box, parts tools, etc.

The Box

RG_Aile_Strike_Box_Contents — RG_Aile_Strike_Box

The box, like many RG boxes, is relatively compact. When you open it up you are greeted by the usual clear plastic packed Runners. I have to say I’m a little unsure as to why the runners are packed into clear plastic bags. It doesn’t seem to add anything. However, that is a different disccussion!

When you unpack everything you get to see what the kits is actually going to be made of.

As you can see the kit consists of 8 runners, a decal sheet (stickers) and the manual.

The runners

Here is a closeup of the individual runners and the decal sheet.

RG_Aile_Strike_Runner_B — RG_Aile_Strike_Runner_A

As you can see you have runners, A, B, C, D1, D2, E, F, and G. So far so good!

The Manual

Next up on the list of items is the RG Aile Strike Manual. This consists of 16 pages, including the front and rear cover.

RG_Aile_Strike_Manual_Page_02 — RG_Aile_Strike_Manual_Page_01

Although the manual only has 16 pages I added some closeups on the Decal page on the rear of the manual. I also ombined the above images into a single PDF that you can get here if you need it.

The Tools

Everything above covers the box, and its contents. Next up are the tools I plan on using to complete the build.

As you can see they are pretty standard fare. The Red handled nippers are for first cuts. The orange handled ones for the closer cut. The knife in case I need to shave anything closer. The 600 grit to smooth things down and the dropper bottle of water as it is wet and dry sandpaper so adding water prolongs the life of it. the Gunprimer balancers and brush for cleaning up after the nubs and removing particles from the balancers. The Oral-B to clean up bits from the model after sanding. Finally the tweezers and parts separator. The tweezers are to help me place decals, and the separator in case I need to split anything back apart.

I think, I will likely also use my panel lining pens and various top coat cans. I will include those when / if I use them.

Conclusion

I am really looking forward to this build. After all the bigging up I have done on how great I think it looks, I am super excited!

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Posted on February 11, 2023February 11, 2023 by Mark

Put my money where my mouth is!

Put my money where my mouth is! Ok that sounds like a click bait title. But let me explain!

So in my previous post I was banging on about how amazing I think the RG Aile Strike is. I also, in previous posts have banged on about how great I think the GUNPRIMER products are.

So to this end I have decided to quite literally put my money where my mouth is. My next series of posts are going to be centred around the RG Aile Strike.

What is the plan I hear you cry. Well I think it is time to start showing off everything start to finish.

Step one is the prep. I have just ordered what I hope will be a workable mini green screen style box to improve my sometimes shonky photos. I will also pop to my storage and pickup an RG Aile Strike for the build. I already have the GUNPRIMER Gray and White Balancers here so that gets it ready to go.

From all the images this looks to be a truly outstanding model. So I thought why not take people through the build, and give honest feedback on the whole process. This isn’t going to be a rushed job, and I will have to take slight detours from time to time. However, hopefully, the end result will show what a fantastic model this is.

For anyone interested you can pickup the model in the shop (at the time of writing) here.

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Posted on February 9, 2023February 8, 2023 by Mark

Custom Decals – My First Attempt

Introduction

I was curious, about making some custom decals. Now this wasn’t a case of I had to, this was purely an experiment. As the sticks are sometimes a bit jarring when they are applied, I thought I would look at how hard it would be to make my own decals.

Tools of the trade

After some research I found that really, you don’t need a lot of things to do this.

Water slide decal paper
A printer (suitable for use with the paper you bought)
A graphics application
Some topcoat

Water Slide decal paper can be bought online. It isn’t the cheapest, and it normally stipulates what type of printer it works with (for example inkjet). The printer, topcoat and graphics application I actually already had. So the only thing I had to buy specifically for this was the paper.

For the graphics manipulation I chose to use GIMP (available here) as it is free, and there are plenty of online tutorials that can help you get the best from it.

Making the images

To create my sample page / decals I decided to do some googling. I found some great examples that I used as inspiration for creating my first sheet. The final A4 page looked like this:

I realise there is a lot of wasted paper here but I just wanted to test it all out. Next I used the waterslide paper I purchased off ebay and printed the above image onto it.

I left it overnight then just to make sure the ink had dried. I realise this is overkill, but I wasn’t in a rush.

The next step was to apply top coat to the sheet. I opted for 3 coats leaving it well over 10 minutes between each coat.

I finally had my sheet to try!

Testing

Ok I won’t lie. My first test was a disaster. But I think that was more to do with me not understanding how to apply them, and less to do with the decal. Applying them was, once I had some practice, easy enough. I ended up adding some to my heavy arms leg launchers.

On the images above the little nuclear sign, and the red triangle and “caution” sign on the left image were custom ones from my print. The one on the image to the right is also a custom one.

Conclusion

All told I think the experiment was a success. I definitely found they worked best on lighter/white backgrounds but other than that I was very happy with the end result.

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Posted on February 7, 2023February 6, 2023 by Mark

MG Heavyarms Foot

Introduction

Today I am going to strip down a MG Heavyarms Foot and build it back up. On the whole this isn’t a difficult process, but for anyone who hasn’t built one and curious, here it goes!

The Parts

With a little help from a parts separator I split apart the pieces. As you can see the MH Heavyarms foot consists of 8 separate parts.

First Step

How The foot will look — Foot Body and top cover

I decided to show you the first two images to show what is happening. When the main foot bod (the big solid grey piece) is in place you will get a small “nub” style post sticking up through the hole of the red top cover. The first step is to attach the main body to the flat bottom of the foot.

Step 2

Bottom of foot together — Foot bottom and top cover

Next you need to attach the top red cover over the top. As you can see the small post sticks out of the hole. Everything should fit snugly. Any problems and the likelihood is nubs that need to be sanded back / removed.

Step 3

The next piece that needs to be attached is the white section of the heel. This slides into place and is quite snug. I found that it fits perfectly though.

Step 4

Next is the heel piece. Again this fits in snugly and isn’t a problem. I found that all the pieces clipped together in a really satisfying way.

Step 5

Attached Front White Piece — White Front Piece

After the heel I started to build up for the rest of the foot. The white section fits down into the post that sticks up from the hole in the middle of the large red part.

Step 6

Connected Ankle Joint — Ankle Joint and Foot

Now the main body of the foot is attached it is time to connect the ankle joint. The top of this part has a small ball joint to go into the bottom of the leg, and a larger ball joint that goes into the socket in the foot. This clicks in really snuggly, and I found, gives a good combination of friction and articulation.

Step 7

The front section of the foot has a clip/connector that slots onto the front grey section of the ankle joint. Again I feel Bandai have done a great job as the pieces slide together and hold really nicely. That concludes the build up of the foot. A simple part of the build, but for me I always find them really satisfying due to the way the pieces go together, and the speed with which you see that model part take shape.

Articulation

As you can see in the images above the articulation is pretty good. I don’t think it is “the best” but it is certainly good enough for Heavyarms! Lets be honest, with all that weaponry the suit is likely to spend most of its time in some form of standing position. The left and right articulation on the ankle is adequate, and the arching on the foot is about the same, in my opinion.

Conclusion

There we have a mini tear down and rebuild of the foot on the MG Heavyarms. I found taking it apart and rebuilding it oddly therapeutic. However, as soon as I had it apart I had it back together again! As you may have noticed I haven’t panel lined this model. I may do that at some point, but first I need to put on a matt coat!

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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Posted on February 6, 2023February 5, 2023 by Mark

Cheap Stands or Bases

Introduction

Recently I got asked about the cheap stands or bases, and whether they were a real viable alternative to the more standard bases. You can often, if you shop around, get 3 or 4 of the cheaper bases for the price of one of the standard ones.

The standard ones look like this (or some variation on this):

The cheaper options normally look something like this:

Both sets of bases can be purchased in a variety of colours. I’ll admit I favour clear bases as I can always paint them if I want them a different colour.

The “Standard” base

There are loads of reasons to get one of these bases. They have a nice aesthetic to them, and if you want one, they aren’t crazy expensive. They have the attachments to allow you to connect them to a variety of models with no fuss. But this isn’t an article about those!

Unbranded Base

However, despite the reasons for getting a standard base, there are other options, and they can be just as effective. The generic unbranded stands normally comes flat packed, with multiple screws and parts to put together. As in the image above these are normally assembled with the grasping arms on the end. However these can sometimes cause problems where the models like to split. The torso and upper part goes one way and the waist and legs go another. This can be a real pain when trying to post a model. So what can we do with them.

Total Custom Base

Closeup Zaku Rear Stand — Zaku Rear Stand

As you can see in the images above I used the arms and grabber from the cheap base to provide the hold for my Zaku. The whole process for making that base can be found here.

Use it as is

As you can see from the images above the two pieces along with the grabbing arms allow me to elevate the model and provide a lot of options for poses. However, these still have the issue that the model will often have a tendency to come apart at the waist while tightening the arms of the stand to hold the model.

Remove the Hands / Grasper

As you can see from the images above, I only used 1 of the two arms, and then rather than connecting the graspers, I used the adapter that goes into the grasper to go into the hold in the under side of the model. It was, I admit, a tight squeeze, but it did go in without any filing. This again offers a whole range of dynamic poses.

Conclusion

If you like the standard bases, or one of the more scenic bases then go for it, they are lovely. If however, you want to make the most of the cheaper bases then as you can see above, there are a lot of poses you can get with them where they will look awesome. I’m going to have a look and see if I can do more around the options to use them with other models. I may put up a post on that after I have had chance to look.

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Posted on February 2, 2023February 1, 2023 by Mark

Guess The Model Part 6

Introduction

Guess The Model Part 6 is the latest instalment in my current model build. As I follow the manual and build it section by section. If you missed them the previous parts are available here:

Today’s Part(s)

Today I am sort of doing a “everything else” post. I would feel like a bit of a cheat if I strung out the smallest parts of the model! So today I am going to roundup everything that was left to build on the core of the model.

The Parts

As you can see above, as well as the 21(ish) parts I had to assemble for the leg, there were miscellaneous other parts to bring it together and finish the main build.

The Finished Article (ish)

I was really happy with the build of this model. It is, in my opinion, a really relaxing build. There was nothing there I would class as “taxing” but a fantastic model to build while listening to the radio, or an audio book. All the parts went together (sometimes with a very satisfying snicking noise as they clicked into place).

The foot and nub removal and cleaning I did a whole post on here. In essence I used the GUNPRIMER balancers to clean up the nub and re polish the foot. I’m really happy with how well they work!

Conclusion

So there you have it! If you haven’t already guessed this is the RX-80BR Black Rider model. It is a HGUC kit, and despite its simplicity, is really enjoyable to build.

I have, as noted previously, taken advice from those with more experience and avoided using the stickers on this kit. My plan is to undercoat some sections and paint the red on. I am still wondering what, if anything, I should do on top of that. However with so many kits, and so little time, I had better probably keep it realistic.

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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Posted on February 1, 2023January 31, 2023 by Mark

Guess The Model Part 5

Introduction

Guess The Model Part 5 is the latest instalment in my current model build. As I follow the manual and build it section by section. If you missed them the previous parts are available here:

Today’s Part

Today the manual moved on to the legs. This comes with the foot and ankle.

The Parts

As can be seen from the image there are approximately 21 pieces to form the leg. This includes the foot and ankle joint. Cutting the pieces from the runner was, as is normally the case with Bandai models, a simple process. The clean-up on the parts also didn’t take too long to complete. In the image I had partially completed the clean-up, but I still had some work to do.

Assembled Leg

I found building the leg really enjoyable. None of the parts, for me at least, were too small. They also have, as is normally the case with the Bandai kits, really close tolerances, so the pieces fit together snugly. The part that fits onto the outside of the calf adds nice definition to the leg and some extra detail. As you can see from the pictures I was happy with the level of articulation the kit has in the legs. The knee joint bends really well and there is enough movement in the ankle to help make multiple poses stable.

Conclusion

As with the arms, this was a very smooth, and pleasant experience to build the leg. There were no real “challenges” to it. I found myself able to just enjoy the build process, the cutting, cleaning and assembly of the part.

I’m guessing a lot of you will already know what model it is by now! If not feel free to guess away. I will continue on with the build, as step by step I edge it towards completion!

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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Posted on January 28, 2023January 28, 2023 by Mark

Guess The Model Part 4

Introduction

Guess The Model Part 4 is the latest instalment in my current model build. As I follow the manual and build it section by section. If you missed them the previous parts are available here:

Today’s Part

With yesterdays part being the right arm, it is probably not a shock that today we have the left arm. This comes with the added bonus of the anchor and launcher.

The Parts

Unassembled Parts Guess the Model Part 4

I should probably mention the mints are not a mandatory part of the build, but they are certainly acceptable additions. There are twenty individual parts making up the arm. I did find, as with the other arm, that some of them are quite small. However, they all fit together nicely, everything was to the high standard I have come to expect from Bandai.

Assembled Arm

Stun Anchor Fired Guess The Model Part 4 — Assembled Arm Top Down Guess the Model Part 4

Again I found myself really happy with the level of articulation on the kit. The arms have a great range of motion. I also love the stun anchor which with the added wire, can be used to make an awesome look. As with the rest of the kit I am not going to put the red stickers on it. I am planning on masking off pieces and undercoating and painting the parts that should be red. I am also tempted to add a little white into the mix as well but I haven’t decided yet.

Conclusion

The kit is coming together nicely. If you want a kit that is as satisfying to build as it is simple and relaxing then this is a great option.

I’m guessing a lot of you will already know what model it is by now! If not feel free to guess away. I will continue on with the build, as step by step I edge it towards completion!

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

Posted on January 27, 2023January 26, 2023 by Mark

Guess The Model Part 3

Introduction

Guess The Model Part 3 is the latest instalment in my current model build. As I follow the manual and build it section by section. If you missed them the previous parts are available here:

Today’s Part

Next up in the manual I am going to be building the right arm. Something I have found with this build, so far, is that it goes together really nicely. I think it has a nice balance between chunky and thin with some nice detail.

The Parts

As you can see above the right arm consists of 20 parts. I found several of them to be quite small, but still easy to handle. Cutting them out, and sanding them down wasn’t a problem, and by the time I had cleaned them up with the GUNPRIMER Balancers they were as good as new. (You can see a post I did on that here.)

Assembled Arm

I was surprised by the level of articulation that the arm had in the elbow joint. Overall I am quite happy with how it fits, looks and moves. It is worth mentioning, as I have earlier, that multiple pieces in this build should have stickers on them. However, personally, I feel they look a little cheap. As I have an airbrush sitting at my feet, I think it would do the model more justice to add those parts via paint.

Conclusion

I have to say this is turning out to be a really enjoyable build. There is not a single part so far I have found frustrating, or awkward. I’m guessing a lot of you will already know what model it is by now! If not feel free to guess away. I will continue on with the build, as step by step I edge it towards completion!

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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Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/modelkitsltd/
Website: https://modelkitsltd.co.uk

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Introduction

What comes first

First Bits

Second Bits

Third Bits

Fourth Bits

Fifth Bits

Conclusion

Introduction

The runners

The Manual

The Tools

Conclusion

Introduction

Tools of the trade

Making the images

Testing

Conclusion

Introduction

The Parts

First Step

Step 2

Step 3

Step 4

Step 5

Step 6

Step 7

Articulation

Conclusion

Introduction

The “Standard” base

Unbranded Base

Total Custom Base

Use it as is

Remove the Hands / Grasper

Conclusion

Introduction

Today’s Part(s)

The Parts

Conclusion

Introduction

Today’s Part

The Parts

Assembled Leg

Conclusion

Introduction

Today’s Part

The Parts

Assembled Arm

Conclusion

Introduction

Today’s Part

The Parts

Assembled Arm

Conclusion

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