Tag: aile strike

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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 2

Starting the Feet

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

First Cut
Cleaned Up
Under Side
One Part Fitted
Both Fitted
First parts of the feet

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

Freshly Cut
Trimmed Bubs
More Nubs
Even More Nubs
Wet Sandpaper
Cleaned Parts
Upside Down Parts
Bottom Plate Fitted
Top Cover Fitted
First Foot Covers

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

First Cut
First Cut
Trimmed Nubs
Trimmed Nubs
Cleaned Parts
Cleaned Parts
Ready To Attach
Ready To Attach
Bottom Attached
Bottom Attached
Top Attached
Top Attached
The Feet
The Feet

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

Nubs Ahoy
Nubs Removed
Cleaned Up
Ready To Attach
Fitted

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

Pieces With Nubs
Pieces With Nubs
Cleaned Pieces
Cleaned Pieces
Ready to attach
Ready to attach
Pieces connected
Pieces connected
Front Section With Nubs
Front Section With Nubs
Cleaned
Cleaned
Complete Foot
Complete Foot

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.

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 1

RG_Aile_Strike_Runners

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
RG_Aile_Strike_Box
RG_Aile_Strike_Box_Contents
RG_Aile_Strike_Box_Contents

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.

RG_Aile_Strike_Runners
RG_Aile_Strike_Runners

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_A
RG_Aile_Strike_Runner_A
RG_Aile_Strike_Runner_B
RG_Aile_Strike_Runner_B
RG_Aile_Strike_Runner_C
RG_Aile_Strike_Runner_C
RG_Aile_Strike_Runner_D1
RG_Aile_Strike_Runner_D1
RG_Aile_Strike_Runner_D2
RG_Aile_Strike_Runner_D2
RG_Aile_Strike_Runner_E
RG_Aile_Strike_Runner_E
RG_Aile_Strike_Runner_F
RG_Aile_Strike_Runner_F
RG_Aile_Strike_Runner_G
RG_Aile_Strike_Runner_G
RG_Aile_Strike_Decals
RG_Aile_Strike_Decals

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_01
RG_Aile_Strike_Manual_Page_01
RG_Aile_Strike_Manual_Page_02
RG_Aile_Strike_Manual_Page_02
RG_Aile_Strike_Manual_Page_03
RG_Aile_Strike_Manual_Page_03
RG_Aile_Strike_Manual_Page_04
RG_Aile_Strike_Manual_Page_04
RG_Aile_Strike_Manual_Page_05
RG_Aile_Strike_Manual_Page_05
RG_Aile_Strike_Manual_Page_06
RG_Aile_Strike_Manual_Page_06
RG_Aile_Strike_Manual_Page_07
RG_Aile_Strike_Manual_Page_07
RG_Aile_Strike_Manual_Page_08
RG_Aile_Strike_Manual_Page_08
RG_Aile_Strike_Manual_Page_09
RG_Aile_Strike_Manual_Page_09
RG_Aile_Strike_Manual_Page_10
RG_Aile_Strike_Manual_Page_10
RG_Aile_Strike_Manual_Page_11
RG_Aile_Strike_Manual_Page_11
RG_Aile_Strike_Manual_Page_12
RG_Aile_Strike_Manual_Page_12
RG_Aile_Strike_Manual_Page_13
RG_Aile_Strike_Manual_Page_13
RG_Aile_Strike_Manual_Page_14
RG_Aile_Strike_Manual_Page_14
RG_Aile_Strike_Manual_Page_15
RG_Aile_Strike_Manual_Page_15
RG_Aile_Strike_Manual_Page_16
RG_Aile_Strike_Manual_Page_16
RG_Aile_Strike_Manual_Page_17
RG_Aile_Strike_Manual_Page_17
RG_Aile_Strike_Manual_Page_18
RG_Aile_Strike_Manual_Page_18
RG_Aile_Strike_Manual_Page_19
RG_Aile_Strike_Manual_Page_19
RG_Aile_Strike_Manual_Page_20
RG_Aile_Strike_Manual_Page_20
RG_Aile_Strike_Manual_Page_21
RG_Aile_Strike_Manual_Page_21
RG_Aile_Strike_Manual_Page_22
RG_Aile_Strike_Manual_Page_22
RG_Aile_Strike_Manual_Page_23
RG_Aile_Strike_Manual_Page_23

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.

Tools
Tools

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!

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 Gundam Aile Strike 1/144

RG Aile Strike

Introduction

I currently have a box in my living room. In that box should be 5 RG Gundam Aile Strike models. I picked them up partially because I think they look amazing, and partially because I may nab one for myself!

If you haven’t seen it the model looks like this:

Aile Strike
Aile Strike

Background

The model was originally released in April 2011 and featured the latest advancements in joint technology. It was also the 3rd model released in the commemoration of 30 years of Gunpla.

The suit itself was first introduced in Gundam Seed (a show I still need to watch despite having already watched Gundam Seed Destiny … yes I know the wrong order:) ). It was originally piloted by Kita Yamato.

If you want to see a full detail of the kit, and the parts, and the general makup have a look at the information on dalong.net. Note you will want to have your translation software/plugin/extension of choice to hand unless you happen to read Korean.

One of the items I found interesting reading through the information there, is that like other RG models the hand consists of multiple parts. As a result this leads to it being split into a palm, the thumb as it’s own jointed part, the index finger as it’s own jointed part, and the middle, ring and little fingers all forming the final jointed part. Subsequently the separation provides a much larger range of posing and options with the hand. It is one of the items I find absolutely amazing with these kits.

Conclusion

As can be seen by looking at the model images, and the quite comprehensive images on the dalong website I think this looks like a phenomenal kit. The little details, like the styling on the shield, and the slightly tapered in calf / lower leg, all give this a really unique and stylish look. As a result I think I may just be talking myself into getting one into my backlog!

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