By Loran
After an on-off week consisting of papers, work, and Gunpla work, I’m mostly finished with my Unicorn kits… well, the first one anyway. However, it’s very nice to be back in the mostly-full swing of building Gunpla again-I’ve been out of this way too long and it really kind of shows. For one, my paint supplies are running really low and I’m going to need to drop about $50 bucks to replenish most of my stuff. Also, the price of Model Masters jars went up to $3.45! Not cool man, not cool…
The ReZel Commander is very close to completion, and just a few more things need to be done. I have to say that damn, this suit is sexy. It just goes to show you how great Hajime Katoki has really stood the test of time as a designer. My custom color scheme came out pretty well, I’d have to say. The only issue I had while working with it was in regards to the little V on its crotch plate. I felt that the yellow of the original color scheme would look too tacky and stand out too much against the intermediate blue and black. Instead, I went with the British Crimson I used on the Gundam Epyon I did several months back.
One of the few parts I still need to finish for this suit are the Transformation bits. I can’t say I’m all that surprised, but there’s a lot of part-swapping needed to transform this guy. It isn’t as bad as the Zeta Gundam but it’s really blatant. For one, the back torso, head, and arm assembly are all removed and replaced with this… block thing. It’s… really undetailed which isn’t too much of an issue since it’s covered by the shield and stuff when transformed. Also included are pieces to make the hip armor appear on top… a little overboard, I’d say.
There’s one thing I realized again when building this kit: My god I hate stickers. Maybe I’ve just become too spoiled by waterslide decals, but these things are just irritating. Once they’re on, they’re pretty much on. They have to be aligned perfectly. With waterslides you at least have a few seconds to move them around before they adhere to the surface. Plus, the stickers hardly ever look good.
I’ll get more in-depth into the poseability and construction of the kit with the next update once it’s all finished, but right now, all I can say is, it’s pretty damn awesome.
The Unicorn kit is unfortunately at the same stage it was last time. Since the ReZel is almost finished however, it’s going to change pretty fast. One small thing I altered was the shade of shiny blue. The older shade looked too light, and seemed more like an off-silver than an actual blue. I added more blue and green to it to make it darker, and I’m liking the result so far. I plan on using this shade for the red on the face as well, since I feel it adds more character. Also, I’m going to buy a Unicorn Mode Unicorn Gundam for its Bazooka, because let’s face it, rocket launchers are cooler than rifles. Besides, it helps to have both modes!
