I’m pretty sure it’s been made clear over the years that I’m not a very big Gundam Master Grade person. I enjoy building them and whatever, but they aren’t really my thing because they don’t usually have the suits I like. However, I’ve pretty much come upon a “system” for how I do my model kits now. In a way, it’s like a pyramid structure.
At the base of the pyramid I have my 1/144 kits. For me, this is almost entirely Universal Century stuff. In this scale, I’ll build anything from the lowliest grunt to the most overpowered main character’s unit, but again, only in UC.
In the middle I have my Master Grades and other 1/100s. This is the kind of stuff the casual fan knows; main character units, the main antagonist’s unit, the main supporting characters, and maybe the most prominent grunt enemy. An example would be if I wanted to do Zeta Gundam, I would build the Zeta Gundam, Gundam Mark II, the Hyaku Shiki, the Qubeley, and the Hizack. That’s probably it, aside from maybe The-O. This is also the scale where I’ll do my non-UC works, since I’m really only interested in the main Gundams from those shows, and well, those are pretty much all that gets made.
At the top of the pyramid is the 1/60s and Perfect Grades, the latter of which I still haven’t done yet. Here I’d do suits that EVERYBODY knows, even people who aren’t into Gundam. I would build the RX-78, the Zeta Gundam, or the Gundam 00, but not something like Astray Red Frame or GP01.
Okay, so why is all of that relevant here? Well, because I’ve now started my first kit from the SEED Universe in Master Grade form: Destiny Gundam. As the main character’s ultimate mobile suit, I figured this would be a suitable entry into that era for me, and will help out with my goal to one day own every star Gundam in 1/100 scale. I also wanted to do a visually impressive Master Grade, and well, this one certainly fits the bill.
This is the “Extreme Blast Version” of the Destiny Gundam, which is by and large the same kit aside from a few changes: one of the joint runners is now chrome silver, some of the inner mechanical parts now have a swirly plastic look to them, some extra effects parts are included along with two 1/20 scale figures of Kira and Shin, and enormous parts for the Wings of Light are included. Really, the last bit alone makes this version the one to buy.
So far, all I’ve assembled is the upper body sans wings and weapons. The construction thus far has been largely straightforward (it IS a five year-old kit after all) but I’m enjoying it nonetheless. The chrome parts are a bit frustrating, since there’s no way to avoid scarring because the parts weren’t designed to be chrome.
Initially I was painting the inner frame in silver to match the chrome parts, but it wasn’t working for me. Making the rest of the internals silver would just make it seem too much like the Infinite Justice, the suit that’s supposed to have silver joints. So, I left the inner torso painted silver and I’m doing the rest in plain gray. I think it’s working out well so far.
Before I started this kit, I made sure to refill my paint reserves since I was running low. Unfortunately I grabbed Intermediate Blue instead of Insignia Blue, so I had to improvise with the paints I already had to mix the blue, and well, I think the results speak for themselves! This is probably the closest to “Gundam Blue” I’ve ever gotten.
Also, if my readers haven’t picked up a Gundam Marker in Gundam Eye Green (GM09), I highly recommend you do so. They are a godsend.
I’d also like to point out how crazy the shoulder joints on this thing are. Holy crap. They don’t seem to stay together very well, but I’ll get a better gauge of that once I have some weapons built for it.
Things seem to be going pretty well on this kit so far, and I’m anxious to have it all completed. Remember to always check by Forbidden Planet USA for whatever Gunpla projects you might be interested in!
