By Loran
While most of the kitbashing I do and have showcased here has been the tried-and-true practice of “MSV+HGUC,” there is of course a much simpler way, and that’s just throwing a couple of High Grades together–and no, taking an arm from one kit and throwing it onto another kit isn’t kitbashing. I did this last year when I made Ramba Ral’s Zaku I—a personal favorite design of mine. It’s probably the simplest form of kitbashing, but I would only recommend it if you have the money or enough spare parts kicking around to pull it off.
At some point I can’t quite remember right now, I reviewed the Master Grade GM Kai, one of the only Master Grade reviews I’ve done for this site. That kit was a precursor to the Hajime Katoki’s version of the classic RX-78 Gundam, which came a few months after it. The Gundam Ver. Ka as it’s commonly known, originally debuted in a series of drawings made by Katoki, which included his renditions of the GM and Zaku, both of which we now know as the GM C-type/GM Kai and the Zaku F2. It also featured an updated Big Zam, but that’s another story for another day.
I bring this up because my current project left me with some spare parts from the GM Kai, particularly the shoulders. I’ve always been fond of the Ver. Ka—it’s how I pictured the Gundam looking in the novelization. I realized just how easy it would be to actually make an HGUC Gundam Ver. Ka… and I think I’m determined enough to do it.
I haven’t started yet because I still need one of the kits, but here’s my plan: the project I’m doing right now is the GM Wagtail—a conversion of the HGUC GM Kai with some conversion parts from the May issue of Hobby Japan. It leaves you with enough parts to get started on a Gundam Ver. Ka kitbash; particularly the shoulders and backpack.
Of course, I still need a base kit, and for this project I think the GM Custom will suffice. It has most of the features of the Gundam Ver. Ka despite being a largely unconnected design. With the shoulders and backpack of the GM Kai thrown onto this suit, it’ll be pretty close.
The head may seem like a bit of a problem area, since I’d have to buy a whole kit just for its head. Thankfully, I have a spare! Yay for spare parts left over from bad projects I did when I was a kid! This is one of those moments where I’d strongly advise doing this kitbash only if you have the parts lying around beforehand, since buying a ~$15 kit just for its head and gun is a bit wasteful.
The legs are also a bit of an issue, since the GM Custom’s legs aren’t a 100% match for the Gundam Ver. Ka’s. I’ll try my best to do some resculpting here, but well, I’m not very good at that. We’ll see how that goes. I’ll also have to get another “saber holder” for the backpack, but that won’t be much of an issue since I’m sure EVERY other Wagtail owner has one kicking around…
This idea’s been on my mind for awhile now, and I think I’ll go through with it provided I get a good price on a GM Custom over the summer. I might even go the extra mile and do a Zaku F2 as Char’s Zaku. Whatever you want to do, you can look for all the ingredients at FPNYC!
