GBWC Singapore 2014

Last Sunday was the result day for GBWC Singapore 2014. Although I did not win anything, it was a fruitful experience. After collecting my kit after the event ended, there is a chance for us to meet with Master Kawaguchi for a mini consultation session. He expertly pointed out all the flaws of my kit such as the masking was not done properly when painting and since the centre part of the kit is where most people look at first glance, it needs to be done perfectly. Furthermore, when scratch building the shields, I need to ensure that the pla-plates at the sides need to be done properly so that it isn't that obvious that it was scratch-built and only when all the inner parts are done properly then add the design on the shields. He also said the yellow used blends well with the main kit colour and the overall design was quite balanced. When I asked him how to improve on the base itself, he commented that I should think about how the tieren moves and the normal terrain that it normally operates in so maybe add a bit of dirt and mud but he also said that if the focus of the work is on the kit itself then the simple base like that is fine. In the end, I managed to get his autograph.

I totally agree with his comments and one of the lessons learnt is not to start too late. For this event, it was an impromptu decision as I  only decided to enter it after the group build and there was hardly a month before school starts so it was very rushed. Moreover, I made a silly mistake of not mixing the paint properly so the paint turns out darker at the start and gets lighter towards the end making it impossible for me to repaint it without changing the tone of the colour. However, I did had fun coming up with the design and after modifying the tieren, it really makes it an unique piece in my collection.

Thanks for reading.

Tieren Phalanx Completed

This project is inspired by gundam build fighters where I modify the Tieren based solely on what weapons and amour that I want it to have in a battle. The name "phalanx" is inspired from mahouka so I tried to make its shields the main point of the kit.

The tieren being bulky so I think that a buster sword is the most compatible with its size. Thus, I took the tactical arms from a NG Blue Frame Second L and modify the sword with the design cues from the tactical arms from the master grade version where I added pla plates to the edges and removed the hilt.

I changed the signal backpack from the original tieren to a weapon backpack by attaching a grand slam sword from MG strike IWSP and its original machine gun.

   All full armoured up. The decals are from Samuel decals and some of them are from left overs from my FA unicorn decals. The base are basically made from left-over pla plates and putty. The base looks plain but that is all I could do in the time constraint.

Tieren Phalanx WIP

I had completed the kit a few months ago but didn't have the time to update the blog till now. It is basically a project for me to work with pla plates for the first time.

0.3mm or 0.5 mm pla plates? It is a question that I thought about when I wanted to buy pla plates for the first time. After working with both thickness, I find 0.3 mm plates are like thick sheets of paper so they are good for detailing and good for curve surfaces as they are flexible enough. For 0.5 mm plates, they are more stiff so they are good for scratch building rigid structures and detailing parts where you want the details to protrude out more but are not good for curved surfaces.

 The shoulder shields are built from 0.5 mm pla plates and the external lines on the shields are made from 0.3 mm plates. 

After pla plating, painting is another headache as with all the added details, they would need to be masked if you want them in different colours. There are two ways of masking, namely masking tape from tamiya or masking solution from mr hobby. After working with both ways, I find it more reassuring to use masking tape over masking solution as the masking solution turns translucent after a while so sometimes I will missed out some edges. The masking solution is also hard to control where you apply it to especially on raised surface and uneven surfaces.