MG RX-78-2 Gundam Ver.3.0 [WIP: Hyper Bazooka]

With the holiday season in full swing, my hobby activities seem to have come to full stop. Inertia has set in but not in a bad way as I find myself enjoying other hobbies instead such as PC gaming and watching the English Premier League's insane schedule of football fixtures over the festive period. Thankfully I still had some photos of previously completed steps to upload and write about, although such backup hobby content is rapidly dwindling as I remain inactive for the third straight week. Well enough with the negatives; here then is the RX-78-2 Gundam Hyper Bazooka in all its glory.  

Master Grade RX-78-2 Gundam Version 3.0 Work-in-Progress: Hyper Bazooka

RX-78-2 Gundam Hyper Bazooka (angled, rear view)

As has been the case for the RX-78-2 Gundam's previous weapon (i.e. the Beam Rifle), the color scheme for the Hyper Bazooka is fairly boring but functional. It looks good enough in dark greys, whites and a thin ring of red at the muzzle. Add in the parts which I decided to paint in metallic silver and gun metal as well as the strategically placed sticker decals, and the Hyper Bazooka actually takes on a pretty cool look. One nice thing about having the weapon come in a myriad of different parts was that I could paint them separately without having to mask anything (see below).

Parts of the Hyper Bazooka: painted; before assembly and before decal application

Assembly of the Hyper Bazooka was straightforward and easy. Thanks to Bandai's brilliant design, all the parts snap-fitted securely into place without the need for glue at all. That's a great attribute for a model kit to have, especially for a modeler like me who always paints the individual parts before assembly. As you should well know, glue and painted parts are not a good combination. 

Start of assembly process: painted and decaled pieces of the Hyper Bazooka all laid out

Most of the Hyper Bazooka's sub-assemblies are completed at this stage apart from the barrel

Hyper Bazooka's barrel is attached to the trigger sub-assembly; while rear sub-assembly is done

Hyper Bazooka of the RX-78-2 Gundam, fully assembled, painted and decaled

Simple as it is, the design of the Hyper Bazooka looks really cool to me. The ratio of rounded edges versus sharp edges leans more towards the former, a design style which I personally prefer. However, as much as I like the aesthetics of this weapon, I'm still not completely sold on it. At least until I see how it 'performs' with the RX-78-2 Gundam e.g. can it be attached to the hand easily and securely.

Hyper Bazooka of the RX-78-2 Gundam (side view, from the right)

Hyper Bazooka of the RX-78-2 Gundam (side view, from the left)

In terms of size, the Hyper Bazooka seems to be more than twice as big as the Beam Rifle, if not more. Meanwhile, the greys on the Hyper Bazooka comprised a lighter mix then the ones found on the Beam Rifle. Having learned from my mistake with the Beam Rifle, I added more light grey to the overall paint mix in order to get a much lighter dark grey, one that I was finally happy with.

Size comparison between the Hyper Bazooka (top) and the Beam Rifle (bottom)

Hyper Bazooka is roughly twice in overall size compared with the Beam Rifle

So the year is at an end or near to the end anyway. I don't know if it's just me but as the years roll by it seems harder and harder to find the time to hobby in. All this could just be psychological as time always seems to fly by faster as one gets older. To add insult to injury, I seem to be adding more scale model kits to the to-do pile rather removing them from the completed pile. As such, in the spirit of the coming new year I hereby declare that I will finish more projects in 2020. And as I remove my tongue-in-cheek, I leave you with yet another quote from the Rick and Morty animated series ... Break the cycle Morty. Rise Above.Focus on science, said Rick Sanchez to grandson Morty Smith.  

MG RX-78-2 Gundam Ver.3.0 [WIP: Beam Rifle and Beam Saber]

A severe bout of flu certainly put paid to any plans for sustained progress in my scale model kit and miniature projects. While I was too sick to even write last week, I felt much better this week at least enough to write this blog. The RX-78-2 Gundam Beam Rifle was completed a week prior to me falling ill so all I had to do was edit the photos and do the write up that you see below. 

Master Grade RX-78-2 Gundam Version 3.0 Work-in-Progress: Beam Rifle

Similar to how I've approached the other sub-assemblies of the RX-78-2 Gudam, the various pieces of the Beam Rifle was painted first before being decaled and then finally assembled together.

Various painted parts of the Beam Rifle before assembly; some decaled, some not

After painting (see immediate photo above) and applying decals (see immediate photo below) to the individual parts, the assembly process began in earnest as was chronicled in the following photos.

Painted pieces of the Beam Rifle, this time decaled and awaiting assembly

Assembly process of the RX-78-2 Gundam Beam Rifle begins 

Exposed core section of the Beam Rifle (center piece) is done at this stage

Everything in its place except for what I assume to be the Beam Rifle's targeting scope

Beam Rifle of the RX-78-2 Gundam, fully assembled

In terms of color scheme, the recommended guide went out the window because for some reason or other I had decided to put my own take on how the Beam Rifle should look. To compound matters, I had used a shade of grey that was so dark that it bordered on black. So if the Beam Rifle looks a bit off color-wise, it's all one me. I think it still looks kinda okay, not great, but not bad I guess.

Color scheme of the Beam Rifle differs greatly from the official colors ... 

... so if it looks bad, then it's all on me

Meanwhile, I also managed to put together the Beam Sabers (aka power swords of the RX-78-2 Gundam). This means I've actually finished 50% of its weapons system; the other two being the Hyper Bazooka and Shield. Unfortunately because of flu, any chance I had for this project to be completed outright by 2019 is now gone. At most I can finish the rest of its weapons system and leave the final photos for the start of 2020. All was not lost, however, as the hobby downtime gave me a chance to catch up on a show I had been meaning to watch i.e. Adult Swim's Rick And Morty.

Master Grade RX-78-2 Gundam Version 3.0 Work-in-Progress: Beam Saber

Before you ask. No, it isn't a children TV series. This show's target demographics actually range from 18-49 years-old. And as I write this, the new season should air tomorrow hence my binge watching of the first three seasons. In short, if you love science and intelligent writing - watch this series. I leave you with the words of co-protagonist Rick Sanchez ... To live is to risk it all; otherwise you're just an inert chunk of randomly assembled molecules drifting wherever the universe blows you...

MG RX-78-2 Gundam Ver.3.0 [WIP: Amuro Ray in a Pilot Suit at 1/100 scale & Teaser Shots of Grandpa Gundam]

Whatever the build, whatever the scale, a model kit only ever comes alive when there is a human figurine at the same scale that can be displayed next to it. That's my personal theory anyway. I felt that all the hard work that went into the 1/100 scale RX-78-2 Gundam would've gone to waste if I didn't also paint up the similarly sized Amuro Ray figurine. For non-fans, Amuro is the protagonist of the first ever Mobile Suit Gundam anime series. As such below is the 1/100 scale Amuro Ray and some teaser shots of Grandpa Gundam himself (full photos will be uploaded at a later date).

Master Grade RX-78-2 Gundam Version 3.0 Work-in-Progress: 1/100 scale Amuro Ray in a pilot suit

Trying to balance himself on RX-78-2's hand, Amuro Ray grabs onto one of its fingers for dear life 

As the camera pulls back from Amuro, we get a long shot view of Grandpa Gundam from the waist up

To give you a idea of how small this figurine is, I took some photos with it next to a five sen coin as well as a regular paperclip (see below). With my old man eyes, this is the best I can manage these days. I suppose if I really tried I could do better but it would take too much time to be worth it.

First scale comparison: 1/100 Amuro Ray against a five sen coin

First scale comparison: 1/100 Amuro Ray against a paperclip

Closeup front view of the 1/100 scale Amuro Ray in a pilot suit

Closeup back view of the 1/100 scale Amuro Ray in a pilot suit

There was another Amuro Ray figurine that I completed and wrote about in the previous post. Back then, I didn't have time to assemble him and take photos. Well I've finished inserting the Body Core into the RX-78-2 Gundam's torso and took some closeup shots of the seated version of Amuro. If you look closely at the photos below, especially at the midriff section, you should be able to spot an open hatch exposing the seated pilot inside. This is yet another way a modeler can show the scale of the Gundam in comparison to a human being. If you recall, there is actually one other Amuro figurine that I painted (for a total of three), namely a version that was placed inside the Core Fighter.

Torso of the RX-78-2 Gundam opens up to reveal a seated version of Amuro Ray

Closeup view of the seated version of Amuro Ray, located inside the midriff section of the RX-78-2 Gundam

At first I had planned to upload photos of the RX-78-2 Gundam before I finished work on its weapons. Well, I've changed my mind. Instead I intend to finish its weapons first - Beam Rifle, Beam Sabre, Shield and Hyper Bazooka - before taking the final shots of the RX-78-2 in various poses. Doing it the way I had originally planned would've been anti-climatic. That I even showed any shots at all of the Grandpa Gundam in this post was because they were needed to show scale comparison of the figurine. But these are only teaser shots. The full monty will be presented in all their glory once the weapons are done. With that, another weekend comes to a close and I bid you au revoir.   

MG RX-78-2 Gundam Ver.3.0 [WIP: Core of the Body]

Tempting as it is to now attach both halves (Upper Body and Lower Body) of the RX-78-2 Gundam together, call it done and start snapping shots for the blog, the venerable Grandpa Gundam per se is not quite finished yet. Rushing into the final assembly of the mecha itself (i.e. Grandpa Gundam sans any of its external weapons) would likely be disastrous seeing that both halves have a certain fragility to them. This arises out of their many moving and non-monving parts. This is where the Core of the Body (aka Body Core) steps in, serving both a structural as well as aesthetic function.    

Master Grade RX-78-2 Gundam Version 3.0 Work-in-Progress: Core of the Body (aka Body Core)

Scale comparison of the RX-78-2 Gundam Body Core components using a paperclip and five sen coin

Structural because the Body Core forms a basis for a strong connection between both halves in an otherwise hollow interior of the mecha's Upper Torso. And aesthetic because the front of the Upper Torso can be swiveled upwards to reveal the seated pilot within the Body Core. From the scale comparison in the immediate photo above, you should be able to tell that the Body Core isn't that big. A possible reason for this is to allow it to fit into the hollow torso interior. Nonetheless it's a solid enough block that allows both the Upper Body and Lower Body something substantial to attach to.

Amuro Ray, pilot in full flight suit and seated in the Body Core version (front view)

Back view of the seated Amuro Ray, which I don't know why I painted as it will never see the light of day

Cockpit seat, which also will also largely be hidden from view once assembled into the Body Core

Mid-section cutaway of the Core Fighter that forms the main structure holding both halves of RX-78-2 together

With the Body Core being a single molded piece, painting it entailed lots of masking

Apart from the single molded piece, there is also the pilot and cockpit seat that attached separately

Technically speaking this build was relatively easy. After all there were only three pieces involved. Apart from the single molded piece - i.e. the mid-section cutaway of the Core Fighter which is the largest of all three - there was also the seated pilot version of Amuro Ray and the cockpit seat. As a miniature painter I thought it was an excellent design choice to make the latter two as separate parts. It allowed to paint details I otherwise couldn't have reached effectively with my brush.  

RX-78-2 Gundam Body Core with Amuro Ray seated inside (angled side view, from the right)

RX-78-2 Gundam Body Core with Amuro Ray seated inside (front view)

RX-78-2 Gundam Body Core with Amuro Ray seated inside (angled side view, from the left)

RX-78-2 Gundam Body Core with Amuro Ray seated inside (view from the top)

RX-78-2 Gundam Body Core with Amuro Ray seated inside (view from the bottom)

Despite all the written explanations above, you might still be a bit confused as to where does this Body Core fits into the greater whole. And I don't blame you. As the old cliche goes, a picture is worth a thousand words. So to provide a better context of how the said part relates to the Upper and Lower Body please refer to the two photos above this paragraph and the one immediately below.     

Body Core in relation to the Upper Body and Lower Body of the RX-78-2 Gundam

As you can see from the top view of the Body Core, it doesn't really connect to the Upper Body via a joint. Instead it slides securely into the hollow interior of the Upper Torso. Connections via a jointed system are made primarily between holes at the bottom of the Body Core and corresponding pegs on the Waist Unit of the Lower Body. Despite this, I still expect the connection to be a fairly strong one because the whole Body Core in a way acts like a huge connector peg that inserts itself into the corresponding 'hole' i.e. the hollow interior of the torso. Hopefully this all makes sense to you.  

Final closeup view of the RX-78-2 Gundam Body Core with Amuro Ray seated inside

While there is actually still lots to do for this kit such as main weapons - Beam Rifle, Hyper Bazooka, Shield and Beam Sabers - that the RX-78-2 Gundam is able to wield, the mecha itself is just a step away from completion. With all its main components - Upper Body, Core of the Body and Lower Body - assembled and painted, all that's left to do is to assemble the mecha's disparate parts together. Well, almost the only thing left to do. First, I plan to paint up a 1/100 scale figurine of Amuro Ray in a pilot suit standing up, and pose him next to a fully assembled RX-78-2 Gundam. This way the mecha would still remain in the background and not be the main focus ... yet. His big reveal will come soon enough, and before any of the weapons are completed. So I'll work on Amuro, for now.