Gundam HG : Astray Red Frame WIP Part 1

Yo, dudes and dudettes~ Check this awesome looking mecha out. It's the Gundam Astray Red Frame HG.

I know this guy been out for a long long time but I just got back into this hobby again. So, I thought to myself that if I'm EVER going to build a Gundam again, it has to be the RED FRAMEEE~

No Gundam gets cooler or hotter than the Red Frame 'cos he got a real katana (Japanese sword)! Not some fancy laser beam sword. Moreover, he's built sleek and streamlined, unlike the Shin Musha and Musha MK II which are bulky and clad in thick samurai armor. I don't really adore chubby samurai. Red Frame is more like a ninja than a samurai, so he works for me.

So, less talky now and get on with the building of the RED FRAME!

You see that can of Krylon Fusion Flat Black in the picture? It's going to be my primer and I'm going to spray every runner with it. Except the sword and the laser beams.

Done! All runners coated and I have emptied the entire can but I started with a half-full can though.

My lineup for today are Park Green, Flat Red, Titanium Gold, Flat White, Flat Aluminum.

I begin with the backpack. The color scheme is basically the same as the original but I  find it to be a little lacking of something. So I added a bit of highlights of my own. The Titanium Gold! Does it looked better now?

The back part of the backpack~ Nothing much to see here. Ya, the backpack is movable but not detachable.

Another view of the backpack. I did minimum weathering effect and I hope it will looked as what I intended.

Okay! The upper body is finished too. That stub at the bottom right is the neck portion and I got huge complain about the plastic used for it. The neck is on the runner for the polycaps! So my grudge is that the paint won't stick on the neck's rubbery surface. The paint can be scratched off easily and that just sucks.

The front and the back laid side by side. More weathered effect on the front. And I wondered why they can't make the mecha twists at the midriff section as well? It's not that hard. Ah, I forgot this is just a HG version.

Combine 'em up! And that's the toughest part for me. You see, I painted the inside of the body and the paint got in the way when I tried to snap fit the pieces together. There is hardly any allowance between the connectors. But I admit that's my fault, for spraying into the connectors. Haha... sucks for me.

The front view. I wondered if the Titanium Gold is noticeable on the vents on the chest? Nope.

Back view with the backpack released but still latched at the waist. I wondered what's the purpose of this...

A bottom up view of the backpack. The thrusters get a fair bit of scrapped paint effect.

So, that's all for now. And I hope this model won't take me too long to complete it, 'cos... it's just a HG, for God's sake!