BAKUC 2007

I went down to Takashimaya specifically to look at the BAKUC entries at level 2, Toy Department during my lunch time today. The number of entries this year seem to be lesser than. There are some rather neat pieces which I liked. Anyway, I managed to take some photos of the entries before I rushed back to work and here they are.....

Firstly the one and only entry from the Expert Category.

This is one fantastic looking Providence by Leon Ku, previous years BAKAC/BAKUC winner. To be frank I have yet to come across one modeller who is able to present this kit as sinister and overpowering as this. The modifications and colouring is spot on. Definitely the best one I ever seen.

Providence [1/100] [Conversion]

Clever use of stock bases here! Thumbs up!

Hildolfr [EX model][1/144]

The first thing that attracted me to this kit is the camo scheme which is very pleasing to the eye. I don't know why but this kit gives me the "Metal Gear Solid" feeling..... hahaha.

Turn A Gundam [NG][1/100]

Zeta Gundam [HG][1/144]

Neat paint job!

SD Stargazer & Strike Noir

SUMO [NG][1/100]

Eye-catching stuff here!

SD Duel & Astray

Anti Smoking entry, cool!

HYAKU-SHIKI [MG][1/100]

Strike Gundam [PG][1/60]

This entry really overshadows the rest!

ZAKU [PG][1/60]

GUNDAM MK II [MG][1/100]

SAVIOR [NG][1/100]

Interesting modifications!

Gundam MKII [MG][1/100]

MASTER GUNDAM [MG][1/100]

MUSHA GUNDAM [MG][1/100][Conversion]

Nice details and great scratch-building skills. Love those weapons!

IWSP [MG][1/100]

HI-NU GUNDAM [MG][1/100]

Another one with neat paint job and camo scheme.

IWSP [MG][1/100]

GM QUEL [HG][1/144]

GOUF [MG][1/100]

GYAN [MG][1/100]

Nice pose and customization....

GM SNIPER [MG][1/100][Conversion]

GELGOOG [MG][1/100]

HAZEL [HGUC] & FIVER [SCRATCHBUILT][1/144]

Another huge entry!

F91 [MG][1/100]

KERBEROS BUCUE HOUND [1/144]

Handpainted!? Wow!

ASTRAY RED FRAME [NG][1/100]

AKATSUKI [NG][1/100]

A refreshing break the gold colour scheme

ZUDAH [HG][1/144]

CROSSBONE X-1 [MG][1/100]

CROSSBONE GUNDAM X-2 [MG][1/100]

I think there are still some kits I never take photos of but I guess this is the bulk of it anyway.... Good luck to all the contestants!

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A tribute to my Mum (I love you, mum...)

I guess I won't be updating this blog for quite some time.

My mum has left me on 3 October 2007 at the age of 55. She died of complications due to cancer. She was struggling with the disease for the past few days and I tried to be with her all this time. I wanted to make sure she was comfortable as she can be and not lonely as well, but I was really helpless. Everyday was bad news to me, she just wasn't getting any better. I prayed, I prayed really hard, for her to get well to go home to be with my family. But it was not meant to be....

My family was with her during her last moments. She was confused and very sick, vomiting non-stop. It hurt me seeing her like this, but I could not do anything. I just sob. When the time did come, I grabbed her arm and asked her to rest. Life ebbed away from her slowly and I could only cry. Everyone was crying. My father, a harden man, it was the second time I seen him cried. I felt that someone has stabbed me in the heart, the ache was indescrible. It was really painful.

When she was alive, I have never realised how many sacrifices she had made for us. Like all mothers, she was caring and her children always come first. Praying for our well-being became her only devotion. She wanted us to be healthy and happy and we acknowledge that. But we never let her know....

I regretted that I was not so open to her. There are a lot of things I wanted to tell her but I held back and now I live with regret. I wanted to tell her that I love her. I wanted to thank her for taking care of the family all this years with such devotion and love.

To think that she has to endure so much hardship in her younger days and till the very end, she was still worrying about us, I felt that I have done her a great injustice. I wanted to hold her hand and bring her to many countries, give her the best food I could pay, live in the biggest house I could afford. But I am just plain useless...

If the deities are listening to this, please let my mum know that I want to be her son my next life so that I could fulfil my obligations to her. I really miss you, mum....

My first year

My sister and me

My mum in the background.

My mum, sis and me.

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Armoured Core - 03-Aaliyah

It has been quite awhile since my last update. Basically I have been doing nothing for the past two months whilst waiting for a new computer. I sort of "fried" the motherboard for the previous one. I managed to save enough for a new one and finally can get down to some business.

I'm thinking of taking a break from Gundams and do something different and Armoured Core comes to my mind. They look pretty interesting with all those additional weapon unit add-ons. I took out the one and only AC kit i bought so far, 03-Aaliyah.

The first thing I noticed when I opened the box was the incredible amount of small parts there is. My first impression was that it has more parts than your typical MG gundam and I am probably right. Building this kit was fairly straight-forward except that I needed to really scrutinize the manual at times. The small parts are pretty difficult to handle too.

I am pretty impressed by the amount of detailings on most of the parts which you would never find on Bandai Kits.

However, the assembled kit is pretty flimsy and parts tend to fall off easily when you handle the kit. Some work has to be done to secure those poly-caps as well as the smaller parts. You would be better off using Wave Option parts to replace the really small stock ones.

I'm thinking of a metallic finish for this kit but I am still pondering on the colour scheme. As for the base, I got myself a Mechanical Chain Base from Kotobukiya (Modelling Support Goods) and will be giving it a "revamp".

Overall, this is quite an good kit from AC minus the minor hiccups. Some brush-painting will be required but I do not foresee any major issues. Sometimes building kits by other manufacturers will help you in understanding the concepts, mechanical and the design aspects of these mechas which is pretty useful when it comes to scratch-building and detailing.

I'm not too sure how long this is going to take but I'm going to take my time to enjoy the whole process. Oh, I still have a half completed Strike IWSP and SD Duel lying somewhere in my stash waiting to be finished up, sweat.......

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