Painted Kit: LM-HG Sachiel 3rd Angel

Here are a few photos to highlight my painted LM-HG Sachiel 3rd Angel.

Kit Review: LM-HG Sachiel 3rd Angel

This review is about the LM-HG Sachiel 3rd Angel which I finished painted a month ago. Its #011 from the original LM-HG Eva Series released by Bandai in 1997 and is the last kit on the series.

This review is a short one since there isn't really much Sachiel can do compared to the Evas Units from the LM-HG Eva Series and is very unique in design.

Resin Kit: 1/100 MSN-04II Nightingale - Unboxing and Dryfit Build

This is the last of the three resin kits I recently got, the 1/100 MSN-04II Nightingale from SMS Workshop. Its one massive Gundam kit for a 1/100 scale and is pretty heavy.

The box is made of heavy duty cardboard and has a large SMS Workshop label and a picture of the Nightingale.

Resin Kit: 1/100 AGX-04 Gerbera Tetra - Unboxing and Dryfit Build

A few weeks after getting my first resin kit, the 1/100 Kshatriya, I got another resin kit. This time its the 1/100 AGX-04 Gerbera Tetra from SMS Workshop. This is the full kit version and SMS Workshop included the conversion parts for the AGX-04A1 Gerbera Tetra Kai. SMS Workshop earlier released the Gerbera Tetra Kai as a conversion kit and has a few differences with the Gerbera Tetra's body design.

The Gerbera Tetra is a pretty small kit and the box it comes in is about half the size of a standard MG kit's box. No box art and the only indication of what you are getting is a label on the side of the box. 

Resin Kit: 1/100 NZ-666 Kshatriya - Unboxing and Dryfit Build

What I have here today is a 1/100 NZ-666 Kshatriya full resin kit.

It is one of three resin kits I have and this is the first time I am building resin kits. The Kshatriya's resin kit was originally done by NeoGrade then later recast by G-System and SMS when NeoGrade stopped producing the kit. G-System still makes some through G-System-Best while SMS no longer recasts the kit. The Kshatriya is one of the most popular resin kit I have seen and there are a lot of recast from less know manufacturers. The kit I have is one of them. I got this Kshatriya from gkgundamkit.com. They're a Hong Kong based online store that sells a lot of Gunpla and resin kits. From what I understood after ordering from them, the kit was "produced" after the order was placed. I was expecting the kit they have might be from the more well-known manufacturers but it seems that they recast the resin kits they sell themselves. With this in mind, the first thing that comes up is the quality of the resin. Companies like G-System or SMS require a minimum number of orders before they recast an kit that's no longer in production. How will gkgundamkits' single order recast fare against more popular manufacturers? We'll see that later.

Painting: LM-HG 3rd Angel Sachiel

After completing the straight build on the LM-HG Sachiel, I decided to keep going and paint the kit since there very few parts that need painting. I only painted the plastic parts and left the rubber body alone.

Straight Build: LM-HG 3rd Angel Sachiel

After getting most all of the Eva units, I was luckily able to come across another Eva kit from the LM-HG line. This time its the second angel in the kit's series, The 3rd Angel Sachiel. I believe it is the second to the last of the LM-HG Eva series with the final version of the Eva-05 being the last.

I'm not sure if this was a hard to find kit in the years of its initial release, but now its one of the rarer kits in the Eva series kits.

Kit Review: LM-HG Eva Kits (Part 2.5): Eva-04 Production Type nad Eva-05 Mass Production Type

In Part 2, I showed the differences between the three main Evas. Now I will show the difference that the Eva-04 Production Type and the Eva-05 Mass Production Type have with the other Evas. Both these Evas did not appear in the first anime.

Let's start with the Eva-04 Production Unit. This model Eva did not appear in the Anime was mentioned to have exploded in the base it was being kept in so no one saw what it looked like. Now according to Gainax, the Eva-04 is pretty much identical to the Eva-03 Production Type but uses a silver color scheme with red and white accents. So in the kit, its pretty much just a recolored Eva-03 in all ways. It has the same standard chest armor and shoulder pylons as the Eva-02.

Kit Review: LM-HG Eva Kits (Part 2): Eva-00 Prototype, Eva-01 Test Type and Eva-02 Production Type.

Continuing from Part 1, where I reviewed the parts that the Eva kits have in common, I will now highlight the parts that make each Eva distinct along with the weapons specific to them. I will discuss the three main Evas here and then the other two later.

First up is the Eva-00 Prototype (Yellow Version). It uses a yellow color scheme with some black and white accents.

Kit Review: LM-HG Eva Kits (Part 1): Similarities between Eva kits.

Today I'm reviewing some very old kits I acquired in the past few weeks. After first getting the LM-HG Bardiel, I decided to search for the other kits in the series to try and complete them.

What I was able to get were the Eva-00 Prototype (Yellow Version), Eva-01 Test Type, Eva-02 Production Type, Eva-04 Production Type and Eva-05 Mass Production Type.

The blue version of the Eva-00 Prototype is a bit difficult to find these days so I don't have that. I didn't purchase the Eva-03 Production Type since I already have Bardiel and I prefer Bardiel over the Eva-03. The Eva-01 Test Type I purchased is the regular one that doesn't include the launch pad. And The Eva-05 Mass Production Type I have is the first version. Later I'll explain what difference it has with the final version. Lastly, there is one more kit I was, by great luck, able to get and is waiting to arrive this week. That would be the 3rd Angel Sachiel. It's one of two very rare kits in the LM-HG Eva Series, the other one being the final version of the Eva-05 Mass Production Type.

Kit Review: MG The O

This is a short review of a kit I finished doing a straight build on a few weeks back. This is the MG The O. The O is a large and bulky MS that boasts some very thick armor. This translates to one of the biggest MG kit from Bandai.

Kit Review: Gundam Collection 1/400 NZ-333 Alpha Azieru

What I have here is 1/400 NZ-333 Alpha Azieru from Bandai's Gundam Collection line. The line consist mainly of of extremely large Mobile Armor units and ships. They are pre-painted and fully detailed.

The Alpha Azieru's box is the same size as a standard MG kit. According to the box, the kit was released in 2006.

Painted Kits: LM-HG Bardiel 13th Angel

I finally completed my LM-HG Bardiel.

Painting: Bardiel Bloodbath Effects

I've always imagined Bardiel as a bloodthirsty monster using its bare hands and mouth to massacre its opponent. After all, he doesn't use weapons like the Eva units do. So I decided to finish Bardiel with an after battle bloodbath effect.

I started off with brushing red paint with a stiff bristle brush. The same type of brush I use for dry brushing. I apply it on the hands, parts of the arms, the shoulder pylons, some on the chest and a bit on the face. I only apply paint to the front of the kit.

WIP: MG The O (Part 4) - The Waist and Weapons

After finishing the legs from last time, all that's left now is the waist section and weapons to complete The O.

The O's waist inner frame is made up of just four pieces. The ball that connects the waist to the thighs are on a hinge that allows the legs to swing forward.

Hobby Knife Maintenance

A hobby knife is one of the important tools needed in our hobby and having a good sharp hobby knife is essential. I use an X-acto knife and from what I have read, X-acto blades rust easily if they are not stored properly.

One solution is to apply oil to the blade before storing. Some people use WD-40.

Before storing the knife and applying the oil, always wipe the blade clean and dry. Moisture and humidity is what will cause the blade to rust so if you store the blade without wiping it dry, it is bound to rust. Apply oil on both sides of the blade then wipe off the excess. All you need is a thin film of oil on the surface to protect the blade so the excess oil will just make the blade dirty and possible cause corrosion.

WIP: MG The O (Part 3) - The Legs

Moving on after finishing the upper body, we start building the feet.

The O's foot has an inner frame that is separate from the foot armor, unlike other MG kits where the inner frame is part of the armor for the bottom of the foot.

The foot assembly is quite simple since there isn't much movement in The O's feet.

The O has some massive feet.

WIP: MG The O (Part 2) - The Head, Arms and Shoulder

Continuing from last time, the next sections to be built are the head, arms and shoulder binders.

Starting off with the head.

The armor section of the head can be easily pulled off from the head making for easy assembly after seam removal.

Looks like he is wearing a wizards hat.

Kit Review: LM-HG Bardiel 13th Angel

This is a short review of a kit I have recently finished painting. It is the LM-HG Bardiel 13th Angel from Neon Genesis Evangelion.

This is a very old kit, first released in 1997. Its a bit difficult to find them these days and they usually go from $30.00 and up. In 2010, new versions of the kits were release, improving the already great design of the original kits.

A short back ground on Bardiel. As you can see Bardiel looks like an Eva Unit. That's because he is. Bardiel infected the Eva-03 Production Unit and used it as his body. He is exactly the same unit except for the longer arms, stretched neck and thigh.

WIP: MG The O (Part 1) - The Torso

I got this monster of a MG Gundam kit last week but wasn't able to work on it until today.

This is the MG The O.

MG The O Box Art

MG The O Box Art 2

 A brief background on The O.

The MS was used in the Zeta Gundam series. It was designed and piloted my Paptimus Scirocco and is one of the four mobile suits seen fighting in the anime's finale.
The box of the kit is huge. The boxes of any of the other extra large MG kits I have will fit in it. Even the box of my PG Strike will fit in it. The box doesn't open like other MG kits but rather open from either sides. The box also comes with a handle. From what I know this is currently the most expensive non-special edition MG kit available today.