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.......
