Gargoyles & Decepticons – Upcoming Gunpla Projects

It’s been a while since I’ve spoken of my Gunpla projects. The main reason for that is that aside from the Turn A Gundam that I built during the holidays I really don’t have any models to build. And considering how minuscule some of the decals are, placing them on the kits doesn’t really make for spectator sport.

But even considering I won’t be getting new models for at least a month, I do have some new things to talk about, some projects that I’ll be working on in the coming days and weeks. In fact, as soon as I get my belated Christmas care package from my sister. You see, in addition to whatever surprise gift they’ve thought up, my brother-in-law is also sending me his full airbrush kit, paints included, leaving it to me to just buy the compressor before I can start doing paint-jobs on the kits.

Right now I have three major projects:

Decepticon Freedom

The first Gunpla I built was a v1 Freedom Gundam. Building it was a fantastic learning experience and while I adore the 2^nd version model kit, the first one has a special place in my heart.

With the version 2 Freedom Gundam kit being the definitive Freedom Gunpla in my collection, I thought it would be good to use my first ever model as my first Gunpla mod. But there’s more to it. Unlike the pristine white V2 Freedom Gunpla, this kit has a metallic colour that really fits the Deception style.

Also, when I built this Freedom Gunpla, I made a mistake and slightly broke the V-fin, and while it looks alright, it’s a mistake that’s I’ve thought about ever since it happened. This modification would let me rectify that mistake.

The modification plan for this kit has two major tasks:

• Painting: One of the key elements for the Decepticons is the colour scheme, particularly that iconic mix of purple and metallic we all remember from their insignia, particularly in the G1 series in the 80s.
  • The Freedom Gunpla already has the metallic colour on its coating, but I’ll retouch it with something a bit shinier. The model also has blue pieces with red highlights. My plan is to repaint all the blue parts to that iconic purple, leaving the red highlights and, depending on my options, either add the insignia as a decal or paint it using airbrush stencils. The way I’m thinking about it, the insignia would go over the cockpit cover and on the wings.
• Mods/Plating: I’m still deciding just what will go into this, but I’m probably going to use pla-plates (polystyrene sheets) to reinforce some of the waist armour to make them a bit more solid. I’m also going to look for some Decepticon characters for inspiration, to draw some features I can then apply to the freedom. The main point however is that I’m turning the broken V-fin into something looking more like a crown, by twisting the ends up. I must reinforce it though, to make sure it looks good enough.

Deathscythe Gargoyle

It’s no secret that I absolutely despised the Deathscythe Hell Gunpla kit. There are too many flimsy pieces that only stay together because they’re between two other plates. The entire kit feels wobbly.

But there’s another problem I noticed later. When you extend the wings on the Deathscythe Hell Gundam, you should be able to wrap them around the body and hook them together, like a clasp on a mantle, so they cover the front of the body. This doesn’t work, the make of these pieces being terribly shoddy.

I’m a big, big fan of the Gargoyles TV series from the 90s, and the idea for the wing clasp made me think of this series. So the first plan is to alter the wings so that they have claws that properly hook together to lock them in place.

I’m not looking to repaint the entire thing, at least not right now. I like the Deathscythe Gundam, I like the Grim Reaper look it’s got going and I don’t want to change it.

This modification focuses more on fixing the wobbliness of the model, so I’ll be reinforcing a few pieces, adding some details here and there and generally focus mainly on the wings. For now the plan is to add these reworked claws, but I might go the extra mile and fully rework the wings into something less bulky than what it is now. If you extend the wings, it takes very careful positioning to keep the thing standing upright.

The last fix I’m thinking of for this Gunpla is on one key element of the kit, the Scythe. I don’t really like the grip on it, so I’m going to add some details to make it a bit more solid in the model’s hands.

GeekOut Beargguy III

I am a big fan of GeekOut South-West and their meetup group, headed on both counts by my good buddy Timlah.

So, for my first Beargguy custom Gunpla build, I want to make it something they’ll appreciate. So I’m making them their own little Beargguy III model, using the same colour scheme as their website and logo, and adding a few secret details here and there for extra points.

This is going to be the most paint-intensive build of all, as I have to carefully paint colour stripes on the little bear guy-san.

Every build I make, every change and alteration, I’ll try to record so you can see how I made it work. How I took the pieces or pla-plates and created these modified models. If you read carefully, the changes aren’t extensive, just some reinforcement, extra details and a new coat of paint, but you have to start somewhere.

I have other custom builds in mind, but don’t want to talk about them until I’m confident enough in my skills that I can pull them off, but to give you a hint, let me just drop some names: Guyver, Darth Vader, Kamen Rider Kabuto, Dark Knight Cecil.

As for new models, I have my eyes on my first ever Perfect Grade model, the Strike Freedom Gundam. But I don’t know when I’m getting that one!