Saturday, May 7, 2016

Hi-Mock Bolt - Customized Hi-Mock

The Hi-Mock is a great kit.  It is simple and that makes it easy to customize.  Decided to enter a friendly contest on Gunpla Reddit.  The contest was Build Fighters Build-Off which the entries had to be customized suits that were not just straight builds.  1/144 scale only.  Anything goes including resin upgrades.

Hi-Mock Bolt

I decided that I wanted to do a customized head piece since a spare head came with the Hi-Mock weapon pack.  I thought the (really) old Bolt Gundam feet looked great on the Hi-Mock as well.  So with the feet being kitbashed onto the Hi-Mock I decided to do a Bolt Gundam inspired paint scheme.

Felt throughout the build that there was always something more I can add.  But with a time limit I had to put alot of ideas aside and focus on getting the build done before the deadline; which was shorter because I didn't decide to enter until about halfway through the start.

I wanted the Hi-Mock to have a Bolt Gundam feel besides just feet and paint scheme.  The Bolt Gundam had a really cool electricity morning star type weapon so I wanted to play off that so I decided that a huge sledge hammer would be perfect.  BUT WHAT IS BETTER THAN A HUGE SLEDGE HAMMER?  Easy...A ROCKET POWERED HUGE SLEDGE HAMMER.

I used the hammer that came in the Hi-Mock weapon pack and extended the handle.  The bulky part of the handle had some hollow parts so I pla-plated them and puttied to a nice finish.  Not much of a rocket sledge.  That is where the Ez Arms weapon pack came into play.

Meow-meow what's meow-meow?

The Ez Arms weapon pack has two of these rocket pieces that can attach to the backpack that is included.  I decided I was going to put these on the hammer.  To do so I did quite a few things.  First the hammer had the indent on the sides where I wanted to mount the rockets.  So I cut some pla-plate and cemented them in the indent.  I then painstakingly puttied and sanded until I was happy with the product.  This took me a few primer coats until I thought it was consistent, this is after all going to be very prominent in the build.

The holes on the side of the rockets needed to be filled or covered.  I decided to design a customer pla-plate that would sit on top of the hole and create another dimension at the same time.  Lastly the rocket nozzel itself had to be altered so it was facing backwards and not at a 45 degree angle.  To do this I used my hobby knife to hollow out the location it attached to and then I would glue it into place once it was painted.

Rocket Without Modifications

The Hi-Mock Bolt isn't going to be much of a Build Fighter if it is only melee so I decided to scratch build a mid-range beam cannon and use the missile pod from the Ez Arms weapon pack.  I used some scrap capacitors for the bulk of the weapon.  Found the small peg part laying around and it was a perfect fit for the Ez Arms arm...

The barrel of the beam cannon was build from a mechanical pencil that I cut a notch out of for a small scratch built heatsink and then pla-plate for the end of the barrel.  A back exhaust vent was scratch built using pla-plate and was a nasty experience I do not care to do again (still unhappy with it, especially when I realized I glued it in crooked).  Lastly, I added some piping that goes from the heatsink to the bulk of the beam cannon.

The Ez Arms arm had some pla-plating and putty work done to cover up some visible hollow parts.

Capacitors Glued Together for the Bulk of the Beam Cannon

Not much was done with the missile pod.  I disliked that the peg on the backpack could be seen from the other side of the missile pod so I pla-plated a custom cover.  Also added some pla-plate on the other side to cover up more hollow parts.  The pla-plate on the back of the missile pod was eventually removed because I could not get the shape right.  Not every mod works well.

Ez Arms Missile Pod

The back pack including in the Ez Arms weapon pack was used to mount all these weapons.  The backpack had a huge slot in it to add a large thruster.  I didn't think it fit well with what I had in mind so I cemented in some pla-plate, puttied and sanded to a nice finish.

Unmodified Ez Arms Backpack


The head of the Hi-Mock Bolt was customized from a spare head that came in the Hi-Mock weapon pack.  I wanted a Zeon-esque visor so I could put in a LED.  SOOOOOOOOO I shaped one out of pla-plate.  Again, this was not fun and I do not plan to do something like it again.  This was difficult because I was eye-balling the shape and then fixing with sandpaper and putty.  Getting the angle right and the slope of the head right was quite a task (also broke on me a couple times, extremely easy to squish it while sanding).  But I am happy would the outcome.

Spare Hi-Mock Head and Scratch Built Visor

Adding the Bolt Gundam feet probably would have been straight forward if I hadn't decided in the past that I was going to use them for something else and so cut out the poly caps and added ball joints.  So now I had to glue in some new poly caps to snap to the Hi-Mock legs.  This seemed easy until the poly cap kept snapping off.  To get around this I made a very crude box within the foot to hold the poly cap.  I then used a 2-part epoxy to secure it in the box.  This poly cap will never budge!!!

Added some small pla-plate details to the foot and also had to fill in the bottom of the foot since it was completely hollow and without detail.  To do this I used some pla-plate to create a support structure inside and then added the pla-plate detail for the pad of the foot.  I think it came out pretty good.

HG Bolt Gundam Feet Modification and Detailing


So here is the bolt gundam...

Bolt Gundam

I love the blue and red, especially on the feet and the crotch.  The Hi-Mock doesn't have a ton a great places to paint red to where it looks natural and not forced.  Therefore I needed to add some detail that would give a nice mix of red.  I decided to add some pla-plate to the torso and the forearm guards.  Note that I did not put any yellow in the paint scheme.  That is because it is ugly.

Forearm Guards with Pla-Plate Modification


There were a few more smaller modifications done to the Hi-Mock including reshaping the chest, pla-plate on the crotch, and piping added on the waist.  All the piping was done by painting perler beads and wrapping some small gage wire around a larger insulated black wire.  I did not panel line this build for a few reasons.  One it doesn't have a lot of places to panel line, two it is a rather dark paint job with the dark blue, and three because artistic freedom!

Now for some more final pictures!  Enjoy!









Friday, March 11, 2016

What We're Playing this Weekend

I would like to restart my blog after some time away due to real life taking a crit.

The wife and I are in a new home and ready to start being nerds again.  This weekend we will begin renovating a room in the house that is substantially bigger than the previous nerd room.  I am planning on doing some sanding and hopefully some painting.  The game room is scattered across 20 boxes and everyday I hear the games screaming to come out.

If I am not sanding or painting I plan to do some gaming, lite anime watching and possibly some modeling.

Recently picked up Awesomenauts Assemble! for the PS4.  We are always looking for couch co-op games to play together and I thought Awesomenauts Assemble! fit the bill.  Not sure what the expect from this game as the description is a 2D MOBA.  Either way we are always willing to give a game a try and we are both excited to play.

Another game I will finally be enjoying this weekend is Fire Emblem: Fates.  Got the collector's edition on launch day but decided to wait for a couple reasons.  We were in the process of closing on the new house which can take up quite a bit of time and we were packing for the move.  Also I told the wife that we would play together...so I had to wait for my copy to show up.  Admittedly I have played a few chapters past choosing your route, but really want to sit and play for a few hours this weekend.


Might throw in some Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth too...I am addicted.  Bandai Namco recently added seven new Digimon to the game and I plan on putting in some more time to acquire them all.

Wargreymon from Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth

On the anime side of things I have quite a bit of catching up to do and some anime I need to finish.  I have a few episodes of Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron Blooded Orphans to get through.  Really excited for the next few episodes.  Speaking of mecha anime I also have Schwarzesmarken to catch up on.  Might throw in some of the second season of GATE as well.

If time permits I would also like to get to some modeling or at least reorganizing the supplies.  I have a couple Gunpla kits I was in the middle of and I have a 1/100 Barbatos begging to be snapped together.  I have some interesting things I want to do with 1/100 Barbatos.  Keep an eye out for that in the future.

1/100 Gundam Barbatos Box Art
HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!

Saturday, February 13, 2016

Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth Screenshot Gallery

After a long struggle to bring new Digimon games west, North America finally got Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth.  I am at about 40 hours into the story with some grinding sprinkled in and I am loving this game.  Not only is it a good Digimon game but it is also a good JRPG.  I have been working on some mega level Digimon and took some screen shots of their unique moves.  Believe I did pretty well timing the screenshots for the best dynamic photos.

BanchoLeomon's Flashy Boss Punch

Black MetalGarurumon's Garuru Tomahawk

Black MetalGarurumon's Ice Wolf Claw

BlackWarGreymon's Black Tornado

BlackWarGreymon's Dark Terra Force
Highly recommend getting Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth!!!

Friday, November 27, 2015

Black Friday 2015

After enjoying Thanksgiving and playing games all day the wife and I like to join in the Black Friday fun.  It is entertaining where we live as people are always friendly and it is never too crowded.  Last year we got a new TV and XBONE with some games.  This year all I was after was some newer games that were on sale.  Well I managed to get everything on my list!  Also managed to get Little Mac Amiibo at Gamestop.  Some last minute splurging on Guitar Hero Live (so my wife can win at a game) and a sound bar and sub for the TV.  

We had a blast standing in line at Target with a nice 7degF chill to keep us on our toes.  

Loot Pile


Top Row were from Gamestop, Bottom Two Rows from Target


Little Mac Amiibo

Sunday, November 8, 2015

1/100 HG Custom Heavyarms Custom

About a year ago I handpainted a 1/100 HG Heavyarms Custom.  It was no easy feat as this is an old kit that doesn't have much seperation between parts.  The white and yellow parts are unpainted as I wanted to keep those colors.

I have been wanting to do weathering to him and give him a bit more personality.  Finally decided one day I was going to start.  As I was adding some black to the legs to make silver metallic show better I decided I was really diggin' the black outline.  Almost as if it was cel shaded or sketched.

Decided to do it to the entire kit.  It made me reaaaaaaally nervous because I spent so much time handpainting the custom paint scheme.  Well I think it paid off brilliantly and I think I will likely do this style in the future on some other kits.  I think it looks amazing on the white.  Gives the edges a great contrast you wouldn't usually get.  I am thinking this would look amazing on 1/100 Barbatos!

1/100 HG Custom Heavyarms
1/100 HG Custom Heavyarms
Show them Guns
Back View
Heavyarms with Custom Base

Missiles Ready




The legs are definitely my favorite part.  I want to try this style again but with a suit that is mostly white.  Hope everyone enjoyed!  Album has more pictures!



Thursday, November 5, 2015

Muv-Luv Kotobukiya 1/7 Cryska Barchenowa

In celebration of the Muv-Luv Kickstarter being a huge success I wanted to finally take some pictures of my Cryska Barchenowa 1/7th scale Kotobukiya.  A great addition for Yui Takamura Kotobukiya.  I am hoping to get Inia 1/7th scale Kotobukiya as well.

Cryska Barchenowa 1/7th Scale Kotobukiya
This is another great Muv-Luv statue by Kotobukiya.  Cryska includes a removable gun aswell as some rubble pieces for decoration on the base.

Back of Box
Close Up of the Gun that is Included

One of my favorite details is the back of the pilot suit.  With Yui you could not see much of the detail due to her longer hair.  However, Cryska's shorter hair gives the back a lot of noticeable detail.


Cryska's Icy Stare and...some Large Assets...

Album!  Other Muv-Luv!  More Muv-Luv!

Saturday, October 31, 2015

Game Pickups 10/31/2015 & All October Pickups

Went to a local store that was doing a buy 2 get 1 for a dollar on used games.  Picked up DuckTales Remastered, Sleeping Dogs Definitive Edition and Akai Katana.

Found a Steelbook case for Halo Wars at Gamestop and also picked up Zone of the Enders Collection while I was there.

Pickups from this week!


Halo Wars Steelbook Case Front

Halo Wars Steelbook Case Back

It was a good month with a lot of releases, some of which I decided to pick up at a later date when I can get them a bit cheaper or buy them for the coming holiday.  All my game pickups for October!

All my October game pickups