1/48 Zaku verDC23 WIP 033114

Old habits die hard. And so I am slowly over detailing this project as usual.

I originally wanted a classic looking Zaku that does not look too customized. This is the same kit I am placing on a huge 1/48 Hangar Diorama. Obviously I am already obscuring the classic look of the Zaku.

I feel that the visor matches the round left shoulder armor and it should hopefully compliment the big crotch and skirts. This should give my Zaku that extra armor look without the need to kitbash 5 kits! ;)

I am going for a hyper detailed kit that wont look absurd and still resemble your classic green Zaku. No funny kit bashing super mecha monster ongoing here.

BTW, cutting 1/48 armor is hard! It is thicker than your usual MG armors but nothing my Hasegawa saws cannot handle. It has been a while since I customized a kit like so, I almost forgot how relaxing it is. 

Anyways, hope you like my update so far. Thanks for dropping by! Until next post guys! Just enjoy the hobby! :)

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34 Zaku Hangar Crews Assembled

At last I have assembled all 34 1/48 crew members of my Mega Scale Zaku Hangar diorama. I have removed the mold lines already and will just need to fill the gaps around the neck and arm joints.

I am now pretty confident that this project will not only be my biggest diorama ever, it will also be the busiest! Unlike my other dioramas though, I hope to do a better job on painting all these figures. I think the main feature of the diorama are the figures as the Zaku will just be standing straight.

The next couple of photos shows that I will not be using identical figures on this Zaku diorama. I wish I could make it sound complicated ( LOL ), but to be honest I just swapped the arms and heads to create different looking figures.

The two (2) photos below are showing the same figures that now looks different due to swapped parts. The upper torso and the leg parts remains the same though. Hopefully positioning them apart from each other in the diorama will not give away the fact that I am just using the same figs.

So far I have 34 figures I plan to use. However if I fail to pull off this custom made Char Aznable, I will obviously end up with 33. The char is basically one of the figures that I sort of sculpted. I gave him some boots and gloves by scraping off plastic and added the costume using Green Stuff. 

Char is still rough but once the Green Stuff has cured, I can refine the sculpt through sanding and shaving. I hope I can pull it off. :)

Assembling figures is fun! But kind of boring after 25 figs! I will set them aside as Char is still curing and now work on the 1/48 Zaku. I am going for a steam punk old school look to match the old school goggles of the crew members.

Wish me luck! Thanks for dropping by! Until next update guys! Just enjoy the hobby! :)

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Zaku Hangar Diorama Layout - Digital Sketches

I am still at work but I am so eager to work on my 1/48 Zaku hangar diorama already!

I can never do Gunpla in my office as it is too messy ( plastic dust and the smell of thin cement ). Although I have my own spacious cube, I can only display kits but never work on them. So I thought of drafting my Zaku hangar diorama in my computer. Actually I did some sketches in my notebook earlier today but I think my sketches are too rough to understand.

Anyways, I was cracking my head the whole day for a layout that should look a bit unique. I understand that hangar dioramas are overplayed and so many has done good hangar dioramas already. I want a hangar diorama that is not too boxy like the traditional and classic layouts ( see this classic layout by Nathaniel Barrera circa 2005 ). I was even thinking of copying Ronnie Phoon's diorama which is sort of a reclamation of a broken down Zaku.

Reclamation dioramas will offer me creative ways for layout and placement and can have so many different settings ( desert, ocean, underwater, moon base ). But I always wanted a traditional basic hangar diorama for my display cabinet. No concepts whatsoever, just plain and traditional maintenance diorama for my 1/48 Zaku. So I ended up with the design and layout as seen on these photos.

Now I present to you my Quarter View Hangar Diorama! This Layout is basically your basic hangar diorama. The major difference is that the walls and the whole layout are tilted to the left side a bit. The main base for the diorama will be square as usual, but the walls will be angled to show a quarter view of the hangar cross section and of the main kit ( 1/48 Zaku ).

Hopefully this layout will create a different look for a traditional hangar diorama and should give more depth to the whole piece. Searching for creative ways for a hangar diorama for a couple of weeks now and I think my simple layout should look a bit different than what others have done in the past.

I will be filling it up with catwalks, ladders, cranes and bridges in the actual execution, but at least I now have a guide for the basic angles and layout of the my project.

I hope I did not waste your time with this post. I am just too excited to share my idea. Thanks as always for dropping by! Until next post guys! Just enjoy the hobby! :)

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1000 Followers @ Intragram! Woot!

I have been enjoying posting at Instagram ( IG ) for a while now. Friends at Facebook knows that I post a lot! Biking, my bikes, daily stuffs, my kids, my toys and of course Gunpla. I just reached 1,000 followers today which includes family, friends, office-mates, and fellow modellers. Thank You to all who follows me at IG!

This is just a shout out post if a handful would like to follow my posts at IG. Basically I blog way less during weekends coz I blog at work ( hehehe ) and I do not stay online at Facebook much. Well, I am online but totally inactive sometimes. However I post quick photos at my Instagram everyday.

Now that I am back with doing Gunpla, I am pretty sure I will be posting a ton of WIP photos specially during weekends! I post all my Instagram photos at my Facebook account, but if you do not like me as a friend, at least you could follow me at IG ( No friendship requirement at all, LOL ).

 So if you have an Instagram account and interested to see quick Work in Progress ( WIP ) photos, do follow my account at Instagram... my user name is...

http://instagram.com/dc23_mecharts

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1/48 Zaku Diorama " Resurrection " by Phoon

 Modeling by Ronnie Phoon! Ronnie Phoon! Ronnie Phoon!

I am 200% sure that I will be having sleepless nights this weekend! I am so dang inspired right now after seeing the most impressive 1/48 Zaku diorama ever! What is most inspiring is that I personally know the alien ( the person ) that did this masterpiece!

I am so proud and delighted to present a work that most likely all of my readers have already seen ( I know I am late ). I am so guilty to steal all of the photos of this 1/48 Zaku Diorama " Resurrection " by Ronnie Phoon. Apparently Ronnie Phoon aka Phoon at Pla-Zone has been creating impressive masterpieces for the past few years. The last masterpiece that I knew Phoon created was the " Dawn of Change " which was almost his last update in his blog. As I have not visited forums for the past couple of years, little did I know that Phoon has become a monster in this hobby!

Although I stole all of his photos, do head out to Pla-Zone to check his original post. Link below

1/48 Zaku Diorama " Resurrection " by Ronnie Phoon

Thanks for dropping by! Until next post guys! Just enjoy the hobby! :)

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1/48 Zaku Hangar Diorama - Unboxing Again

This Zaku hangar diorama project is basically a dream project that I have shelved ( boxed ) for a loooong time. My very last post about this project was way back January of 2012 ( see post here ). So at least I have done the boring work of removing the seam lines ( albeit some are still visible ) and could jump into modifications and diorama construction already.In fact I have also constructed a wooden box for the hangar, but will redo it as I find it kind of too big for the kit.

I plan this to be my BIG side project as I still need to work on a few pending commission works this year. I plan to work with this from time to time and not on a regular " kill yourself " mode basis.

I think I am capable of modifying and painting the 1/48 figures this time around than years past. My short experience in painting miniatures ( see also this post ) will aid me in painting these little critters.I hope I can push myself to modify one of the figures to look like Char like in this diorama. If I cannot and my skills with green stuff will not allow me to do a Char figure, then fine! But I still want a really busy Zaku hangar diorama no matter what.

My last ( and only ) really complicated diorama was my " The Graveyard " diorama done back in 2009. I feel after looking at my Galleries ( 3 of them ), that I have regressed through the years and have not done really good projects before my self imposed retirement. So I think It is about time I push through with this dream project that I could show off in my display cabinet hopefully at the end of the year.

BTW, I have used some of these 1/48 figures in my The O II Hauer project. These figures are so fun to paint and as I've said I think I will do a better job this time because of my experience in painting miniatures. Basically I have 26 1/48 figures to use in this project. I think the number of figures will be enough to make it look really busy!

Anyways below are more photos of my materials for this 1/48 Zaku hangar diorama project.

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1/144 RG Zaku diorama WIP - initial layout

Highly inspired by the 1/144 Zaku diorama modelled by PICO ( see photo below ), I thought of using my 1/144 Real Grade Zaku that was a gift by Kenny Lim aka TOYMAKER.

I have always thought of using my 1/144 RG Zaku for a diorama. I wanted to make  a decent diorama to make sure I used Kenny's gift well ( insert bro love here ). Then PICO's build struck me like lightning! It took me a couple of weeks to finally come up with a diorama that would be dramatic and scenic like that of PICO's.

My diorama is highly inspired by PICO's diorama but I do not want mine to look like a rip off! So I thought of a landslide scene! Basically my Zaku is trying to hold back landslide to protect people passing through.

I could go with 2 different directions here. Past or present! I mean I could make the Zaku look like it is already part of the mountain side as the landslide happened years back OR I could make it look like the landslide is happening in the present. 

I could also make it look like the diorama is happening on a moon or happening on earth. Anyways, I hope this turns out well. The initial lay out of the scene looks a bit promising though. 

Thanks for dropping by! Until next post guys! Just enjoy the hobby. :)

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