This is done by Shinobi from The Philippines. It is a project which I have been following for quite awhile. He has recently just completed this conversion project and I proudly present to you, Master Grade Tobikage. The MG Tobikage achieved via a conversion from the Master Grade Gundam Spiegel.

As a fan of the Ninja Senshi Tobikage, this project has certainly lived up the expectations. Even with the announcement of a Soul of Chogokin Tobikage, this model thus far, has the best proportion as compared to previous Tobikage release and the 2 different SOC variations recently revealed (See below picture comparison). Not to mention, hell lot cheaper too, right?

Meanwhile, he has begun working on Zerokage, Tobikage’s nemesis, by using MG Shining Gundam as a base. Currently, it is still work-in-progress, so I will post pictures of it later when it’s completed. Finally, Shinobi has complied photos of MG Ninja Senshi Tobikage into one and has put it up for viewing at his deviantart account, so head over there for a larger view of the kit in its various action poses.

You guys shall now be the judges and tell me what do you think of this project. And, have you done a similar conversion whereby you use gunpla as a base and convert them into mechas of different genres or series?

I believe many of us have already seen the first 7 minutes of Gundam UC Episode 1. For those who are eager to find out and understand more about a bit of the first 7 minute is all about, you can now read the scanlated 1st chapter of the manga which incidentally covers a portion of them via Gundam Unicorn – BANDE DESSINEE- [Act.01]. Courtesy of Zeonic|Scanlations.

I’ve just finished reading it; the 1st chapter covers until the portion where Kshatriya just sortied. I must admit it’s kind of short but at least it’s enough to let me know a bit of what’s going on before I get the chance to see the entire 1st episode.

What do you guys think of it after reading? Any thoughts? Has anyone had the chance to get ahead of the rest of us by finishing the novel first?

By the way, don’t forget to drop by and give thanks to Deacon for the scanlation when you grab that 1st chapter

This post was sparked off by Mark’s New Year. What to do? post.

I’m sure many of us will have some sort of new year resolutions as we begin this new year, so I thought that it would be a good idea if I write down mine here so that when the year ends, I will have a reference to check back and see if I have managed to stick to the objectives I have set for myself. Below is the list of objectives that I have set for myself to accomplish;

To-do-list

1. Cut down out gunpla purchase (save money)
I have been buying them on impulse the moment they are release but I have not been finishing as much as I’m buying. The thing is, I have completed snap-fitting them but have yet to finsh them up by doing the treatment and painting. Although the SD Unicorn coming up in late February will be an exception. :p

2. Attempt more SD conversion/kitbash/upgrades
This will keep me occupied and spend less on acquiring new gunplas, as well as, giving me the opportunity to work on my foundations which is sorely lacking. I’ve already done a SD Blue-Destiny Unit-01 last year. Although end results was less than satisfying, it was nonetheless a good learning experience for me.

3. Improve my craft
These includes improving my blog, by hopefully blogging more often and finding more works to showcase and share with everyone, improve my pla-modeling skills which I still find them still very rough and slipshody.

4. FInish at least 5 kits by end of year.
This will be the eventual overall goal. Knowing ahead that my schedule for the coming year will be pretty packed especially during the mid-year (back-to-back activities comprising of exams, annual army reservice and camps; wonder if I could find the time to breath in-between), I’m setting a modest target of finishing at least 5 projects by year-end.

To make sure I stick to my objectives, I have already began working on some of them to give myself a headstart.
Below is a sneak preview on what’s I have been working on.

On-going Projects

Main body and feets are currently completed

larger resolutions of the close-up can be found on my flickr account

Seasoned gundam fans should have no problem identifying this mystery blue MS

What are everyone’s resolutions for the year 2010? And what do you target to do and achieve in this new year?

Remember this in SG BAKUC 09 Preview? Our 1st spotlight for 2010 focus on the Custom FA Unicorn Gundam by Izzaku81. He has recently finished up with the photoshoot and has put them up for viewing over at his site.

The modifications that he has done for the kit as followed:

The big gun done with Zeta ver.2, C1 plus, PG astray and plaplate. He chose to retain the initial red scheme instead of the green scheme for full-armour version

the chest, groin and legs, reversed V-fin has be remodeled thought a series of trial & error, to give a more 3-dimensional look

internal modifications are also done for improved posability, e.g. mods to allow the legs bend more (and these are done internally so they are not visible from the exterior), etc

The tubes on the back are actually erasers from Daiso

wings are scratch-built from pla-plates

Head over to his website to view the full set of photos @ http://www.gmrevo.com/gallery_unicorn.htm

In addition, some of you might realised that this is also the champion of BAKUC Grand Final 2009. What are your thoughts and comments of this winning entry after seeing photos of it up close?

I was browsing through my drafts when I found this buried amongst them. I was supposed to post this article but decided to postpone it so that I could concentrate on preparing for my exams during that period of time. And a series of hosting problems that happened thereafter had me completely forgotten about its existence.

It was not until I was reading through DC23’s blog where he featured this as his “2009 Gunpla of the Year” that I remembered about it.

Julius first caught my attention with his diorama “Stardust Memory- Stipulation of Gerbera” for BAKUC 2009, where a GP-04 stands on top of a wrecked GP-03 Dendrobium.

Julius Lim hails from Penang, Malaysia. Though a beginner in blogging, he certainly has very impressive skills to boot for a modeler. The manner he crafted the entire denbrodium from scratch, certainly speaks volumes about his modeling abilities.

A close-up on some of the details

The large claws for holding the large beam sabers

The missle pods

Denbrodium base & I-Field Generator

The assembled scratchbuilt Denbrobium

For more details of his work-in-progress, you can visit his article – BAKUC 2009 : Stardust Memory- Stipulation of Gerbera and Work-in-Progress thread @ Zero G

And for more photos of his completed work, you may view this article – BAKUC 2009 : RX78-GP04G WIP and the completed photos @ Zero G

Upon further reading through his blog entries, I’ve uncovered more great dioramas that Julius has previously constructed. Such as the following:

BAKUC 2008 – Sinanju

The Sinanju that he had scratch-built. I couldn’t tell it that was scratch-build from the first look from the photos, until I read and looked further into his entry.

Stage19 – The Moon In The Darkness (Eva Dio 1998)

A non-gundam diorama for a change but just as equally impressive.

DC23 has nominated Julius’s “Stardust Memory- Stipulation of Gerbera” for his “2009 Gunpla of the Year” and it is not difficult to see why.

Any thoughts on the “Stardust Memory- Stipulation of Gerbera” diorama after seeing it? With 2009 will be ending in another couple of weeks, I would like to pose you the following question:

“If you had to choose, which would you choose as your Gunpla/Diorama of the Year 2009?” For diorama’s case, would this “Stardust Memory- Stipulation of Gerbera”, “The Graveyard by DC23 ” or “The Sinanju Diorama” be your choice or will it be something else. If so, post a link to the diorama of your choice. The same goes for your choice of gunpla for 2009.

For my choice of the “Diorama of the Year 2009″, my vote goes to DC23’s The Graveyard. As for Gunpla of the Year, I’m still deciding and looking around for it. What’s yours?

Barely a week after featuring the MSN-06S Sinanju with diorama, another amazing diorama has just caught my eyes. I present to you: the Graveyard.

Don Carlo Suratos (a.ka. donc0023 in Plamo & ZeroG) hails from Philippines and he is the man behind this amazing diorama, ‘the Graveyard’. ‘The Graveyard’ is his entry for the recently concluded Bakuc Philippines 2009 and just for the record, he is also the Bakuc World Champion in December 2008. And now introducing, our cast in this diorama; Infinite Justice, our main lead, together with the Impulse, Gunner Zaku and the MG freedom guest-starring as the wreckage lying below.

Without further ado, enjoy yourself looking at these wonderful micro-details of this diorama.

As compared to the MSN-06S Sinanju with diorama, this diorama can be considered much ‘noisier’ and bustling with life. Despite being ‘noiser’, it doesn’t mean that you can overlook all the little bits of details inside. Looking at these miniatures, you can see ‘life’ from them, through their actions and poses; very dynamic, just like real people in real life going about with their work.

I highly recommend dropping by his work-in-progress link @ ZeroG, the 37 pages might seemed a little daunting initially, but I believe that everyone of us can learn a thing or two on making diorama while going through then along the way. If you always wondered about how this miniature structure are constructed, built and painted, this is preharps the best time to do so. Do drop by his blog – DC23 mech arts for the full set and actual size of photos of his diorama.

Well then, after seeing this, what do you people think of this diorama? Which part of it do you like best?

If you had to choose between this diorama and the MSN-06S Sinanju diorama for a winner , which one would you pick and why?

The very first entry which he came across left him in awe, and the first thing that struck him was the sheer size of this build. It was really massive, and a variety of different parts from all the genres has been used. This Zaku Mobile Suit was named Z.E.A.M.A. (Zaku Embedded Assault Mobile Armour) by its creator. Both him and I has been left wondering on who could be the possible modeler behind this giant, since I don’t recall seeing and mention of in the local forum before. The set of picture in this post does not really show the full extent of the kit. I suggest one going down personally to catch a glimpse of it when one is free and available.

Any thoughts after seeing some of the entries above? Which one of them has caught your eyes and why?

Check out more photos in their original size at Toymaker’s Singapore BAKUC 2009 post.

In addition, I’m currently testing out a new way for displaying pictures in this post so I need some feedbacks from you guys.

Is this manner of displaying picture good? or would you prefer the old fuss-free method with everything laid out from top to bottom (longer scrolling) For example, like the MSN-06S Sinanju Diorama and the Graveyard post? Other thoughts and feedbacks are also welcome.

updates:

Do also check out other bloggers’ coverage on the Singapore Bakuc 2009 for more pictures.

Chubbybots

Singapore Bakuc 2009 Part 1 Chub’s Report

Singapore Bakuc 2009 Part 2 De Arimasu!

Kianyang

Anime Festival Asia 2009 Figures

BMecha

B-Mecha @ Anime Festival Asia 2009 Part 1

B-Mecha @ Anime Festival Asia 2009 Part 2

B-Mecha @ Anime Festival Asia 2009 Part 3

B-Mecha @ Anime Festival Asia 2009 Part 4

I’m sure many of us has seen our share of Sinanjus and its different variations already since it was released. But I don’t think we have yet to come across a Sinanju that comes with such detailed diorama. This piece of wonderous piece of work is done by NorrisPackard (fichtenfoo’s forum) or Karl (in figure.fm).

I’ve first spotted this on fichtenfoo’s forum . This is Karl’s entry for this year’s BAKUC. No major modifications done to the kit itself, with the exception of the particle cannon that it’s carrying on its right hand. This main thing that I would like to bring to your attention is the meticulous attention paid to the small details on the diorama.

Below, is a list of what Karl has done for this project:

• Kitbashed/scratchbuilt main weapon (railgun)
• Scribed additional panel lines
• Used IC sockets to detail up the thrusters
• Custom paintjob
• Scratchbuilt diorama base

Let us look at the overview of the entire diorama, before moving on to marvel at the minute details.

The custom paint job and details of those hexagonals print (above and below ) are also masterfully painted.

The macro details like the above picture really took my breath away.

I’m sure everyone has already know about the upcoming Bandai World Gundam competition, and so if you’re wondering why you’re not seeing this piece of work, this are the reasons why;

1. Karl didn’t finish this on Nov. 1, and,
2. even if he did managed on time, the local BAKUC rules bars him from joining this build in any local or international contest prior to the BAKUC itself, which is really unfortunate and pity.

In addition, this is not Karl’s first work on diorama. Allow me to refresh your memory, with the following picture below.

Familiar, isn’t it? This is also done by Karl. Here are some more others ot it, for those of you who hasn’t seen it before.

Before and after comparsion

The details of the cracks and broken fence are really realistic-looking. If you take the Sandrock Gundam out of the picture, I’m sure many of us would have mistaken them for the real thing from a macro shot.

What do you guys think of this diorama after seeing it? Which part of it do you like best about this diorama?

Have you had the experience of doing a diorama before? If so, how was it?

images via [fichtenfoo]

The following sets below are groups in rows:

Set 1 : RX-78, Wing Zero, Impulse Gundam and Gundam X

Set 2 : Zeta Gundam, God Gundam, NT-1 Alex and V Gundam

Set 3 : Nu Gundam, GP03, ZZ Gundam and Turn A

Set 4 : RX79G, Devil Gundam, F91 and Strike Gundam

According to ToyMaker’s review, during his trip to Hong Kong, he visited several stores in search of these Banpresto Desktop Head Display sets. And it seems that these items were really in demand. Majority of the shops have either sold them out or raised the price of their remaining stock by marking them up 2 times of its original price. Despite all these, he was able to still grab a few of them for himself and other enthusiasts.

His initial expectations of the display sets were not very high since the price was considerably lower than its G-System counterparts. But he was proven otherwise when he first opened the package, the moulding was quite accurate in terms of proporation and shape. And it is actually possible to remove some parts easily for colouring if necessary.

While G-Systems display head sets have very good detailings and LEDs installed, the details on the Banpresto units are kept at a minimum with no LEDs as well.

With the fillers done, let us move on to the main stars of the show. Below is a showcase of a collabrative effort between member from plamo.outhere and Zero-G forum:

RX-93 Nu Gundam by Erix 93

V Gundam by Whitebase

Turn-A Gundam by G-Net

RX-79[G] Gundam by ryukick 2088

GAT-X105 Strike Gundam by kbata

RX-79(G) Gundam MODELING by dlcm (Zero-G Forum)

MAS-0011[Ext] EXS Gundam MODELING by Rayloke (Zero-G Forum) [G.SYS Gundam Head Display]

All showcased Gundam Head Display are from BANPRESTO non-scale Gundam Head Display, with the exception of MAS-0011[Ext] EXS Gundam which is from G.SYS Gundam Head Display.

Visit GUNDAM HEAD DISPLAY GROUPBUILD 2009 for more pictures of the respective Gundam Head Displays.

Among all of them which one of the following showcased Gundam Head Display did you liked the most? And did you personally own one of them yourself? If you did, which display head was it? And do you have photos of it to share them with us?

On a side note, I’ve made some changes to the site over the past few days. I will fill everyone in with the new changes and additions that I’ve added at a later time.