I could still clearly remember the first time I saw this during BAKUC in 2006. I was awestruck. It has never crossed my mind that someone actually built this. It simply blew the competition away (yes! I am one of them). This was a first at that time, and it was made in Singapore! We beat the Japanese to it! Gotta credit Leon for this...
At the scale 1/144, this piece stands about 50 cm with it rear cannons and a 1/60 Impulse Gundam was used as the base kit for the conversion. Involving heavy modifications and scratch-building, this kit took him an estimated three months to complete. Most people could not tell that this was converted from the Impulse.
I remember he mentioned 50 boxes of Epoxy Putty were used. He basically ordered from the supplier the whole carton! It didn't come cheap either.
The toughest part (in my opinion) would be the backpack since it has curved surfaces and symmetrically challenging. Can this transform to Attack Mode? The answer is "yes". But it is not worth srcatching the paint work.
It was a pity that Leon did not take much WIP shots. Otherwise, it would be very good reference to most modellers.
Oh well, let's just enjoy the pics.....
A 1/144 BuCUE (or what's left of it)
A damaged 1/144 Ginn
