A good cause

All of you all should know what happened to Japan recently. Hit by a 9.0 magnitude earthquake and then ravaged by the tsunami, they are now coping with the risk of radiation from the nuclear reactors. For most of them, life can never be the same. 

Here, we feel for them and want to help. From fund raising events to donation drives, everyone is doing their part. This is very encouraging to see. 

The gruesome images and footage I seen for the past few weeks prompted me to write this post. I felt sorry for my Japanese friends and at the same time, count myself lucky that I do not have to face the wrath of Mother Nature, at least not at this moment. 

Likewise, Joyce and the rest of the guys at Hobby Art Gallery were deeply affected by what they seen in the news. Hence, she decided to chip in to help too. 

Hobby Art Gallery has targeted to raise S$10,000.00 as relief fund. To reach that target, they are:-

1. Pledging 10% of their sales proceed to the fund;

2. Full amount for the sale of completed model kits donated by various modelers; 

3. Full amount of sale of limited models. 

More details are on their Facebook page, http://www.facebook.com/HobbyArtGallery

Not to be outdone, I have given HAG the following works to raise funds.  

Kampfer Kanji 

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Another lesson I learnt as a Father

You know when it comes to parenting, it is a challenge everyday. Your children are a reflection of you when you are young, lol. 

Ever since my daughter arrived, a lot of attention was diverted from my son to her. I wouldn't be surprised if he feels neglected. I feel guilty when I think of that. But I am glad that he did not show any jealousy but even showers little Ashley with affection. 

(Who wouldn't? Look at that smiley face, ooo...)

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RX-78 Head Unit (WIP)

Next in line, a Banpresto RX-78 head set. I am very surprised about this product. Details are pretty decent and it can be taken apart easily. My task is pretty simple; add some internal mechanisms, detail up, add LEDs, some re-shaping, create the collar and maybe a base, LOL... 

I am not going for the traditional colour scheme of white, red and yellow. I am having a dilemma right now, a Zeon's Gundam version or Char's version is more interesting? 

Well, so many projects, so little time. Double Speed!!! (you guys did notice the MG Son Gukou behind right?) 

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The Mother's Fury

When I first heard of an earthquake hitting Japan last Friday, I thought nothing of it. "That is to be expected" was my usual response. But when I watch the news and saw the tsunami being unleashed on unsuspecting folks, I was literally heart-broken. I never expect to see that much devastation. The news coverages were very disheartening. The way the waves swept the towns was terrifying. These look like scenes out of an apocalyptic film and how I wish it was. Everything seems so unreal.

I really feel for the victims and their families. And with no apparent reason, I fear for my own family. It was not  rational at all but that was how I felt. I mean anything can happen. Who knows when the Earth will go crazy again.

I hope our Japanese friends will recover soon and be strong for their loved ones. How I wish this was a dream...

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Formania Sazabi with maintenance bay

When the Formania series was announced, I was skeptic. Can Bandai really mass produce highly detailed models? Well after two releases, they prove me wrong. The Nu Gundam half bust was fantastic but the Sazabi blew my away. I could have grab a few if I have the spare cash because it is an hot item. When I bought this for The Timertraveler, I thought it deserves some special treatment. Although it came with a limited acrylic base, I thought that a mechanical/ maintenance set up would complement it. 

So, I had a black acrylic base custom made and started on my "mini" maintenance project. 

Base plates were cut out from pla-plates and and then detailed up with panel lines. 

Wire mesh were added. 

These pillars were taken from MiniArt 1/35 Pedestrian Bridge. I used to scratch-build these but since there ready-made ones, I decided to use them to save me some time. 

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Black vs White

It has always been non-conclusive when it comes to whether to use a black or white base coat for metallic colours. Quite frankly, I would rather not dwell on this topic for too long. Since I was painting the base and left with some metallic paint, thought that I could do a little experiment.  

I prepared four plastic spoons and primed them with Surfacer 1000. After that, I painted gloss black and gloss white on two spoons each. At this point, I noted that I need to coat several layers before I fully cover the primed surface as compared to black paint. 

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Gearing up...

This year is going to be an exciting year for me. I don't know why, but the local Gundam scene seems to be heating up nicely. More youngsters are becoming interested in Gunpla. This is a very good sign. The local distributor is doing a very good job creating awareness and now Gundams are so easily available compared to 10 years ago. I just attended the Gundam Unicorn episode 3 this afternoon and the response was pretty good. Even better than I expected. This is very encouraging.

And then the little "duel" with Dc23 will certainly push me up another notch. With him around, I probably have to start racking my brains for ideas! LOL. Just look at his last update, it gives you an idea how massive his final product will be. Phew...

Local competitions are more unpredictable now.I got people here constantly pushing the boundaries which keeps me on my toes every time. I'm loving it though.  I can recall someone saying that he will "defeat" my  Qubeley one day. Well, that's a good start. But I never stop at Qubeley and will progress and surpass even that work.

Now it's a good time to concentrate on building now. I was kinda of preoccupied the last few weeks. Some disputes to settle but I'm hitting a wall as some people can be pretty elusive. But I think it is a matter of time when our paths will cross and I look forward to it. You can call it the "BIG BANG" if you want.

Right now, I just concentrate on my next build and have fun.

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SD Sinanju - Review

I have just finished snapping the SD Sinanju and thought that a quick review would be nice. To be released in March, I think this will be a hot item and rightly so. With five runners, it look more like a HG release than SD.  Although there are more parts, assembly is rather straightforward.  

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