AC White Glint diorama by DECAY

Easilly putting my old Armored Core White Glint to shame, I have here a very inspiring Armored Core diorama based on the introduction of the game. This was modeled by no other than DECAY of mecha lounge.

Beautiful overall composition and is the best Armored Core diorama scene I have seen so far. The chopper adds a great dimension to the overall build. Great stuff as always as we would expect from DECAY.

Read more >>

2nd US ( International ) commission build!

Ello guys, I just closed a deal with a new client from the US! Yeap, a different client this time and not the one who commissioned me to do the AC White Glint, however this new client wants an Armored Core too, he likes me to build him an AC CR-HOGIRE. Seems like Armored Core is big in the United States or something.

The deal is closed but I have not received the money ( in my paypal ) for the kit and the downpayment yet. But this sure is good news! After this commish, I'll have 2 international builds under my resume, not bad for a newbie ( 2 1/2 year old ) modeler from the Philippines. hihi

Now, I really have to finish the PG MKII by mid August ( in time for my birthday ) and hold off my MG Sazabi. Though the client instructions are simple, ootb build with minor detailing and a custom color scheme. Unlike the AC White Glint, the client wants his kit in clean finishing... AC in clean finishing! goodluck to me. hehehe

Hope this deal pushes through in the next couple of days. ;)

Read more >>

AC White Glint has landed in the US!

Wahoo! The AC White Glint that I shipped through FedEX has landed to the US already! I was getting nervous, coz it just arrived to the US earlier today even though FedEX told me it will arrive in just 3 days. It actually arrived in 4 days. hihi

Luckily the client was very happy with the build, he told me it is so far the STAR of his mecha collection! I am happier than he is of course, all the time spent on seam line removal, sanding, modding and painting is well worth it! My first international commission build is a success! ;D

I will put up how I packed the White Glint for shipping as a tutorial later. It could be a nice simple guide on how to pack a model kit and ship it through FedEX for other people who are doing their first international commish work.

Anyways, a million TON of thanks to my client for giving me the opportunity of working and building a rare and expensive ( in the Philippines ) AC kit in White Glint. It was a pleasure working with a very generous guy! hihi, Thanks bro!

On a side note: I am currently working on the back skirt of the MG Sazabi ( nose bleeds ) and I have reshaped the boob part already ( nose bleeds again )... stay tuned for updates later today. thanks! XD

Read more >>

AC White Glint now flying to the US!

Just got home from the mall, I treated the kids and my wife to a nice lunch and bought the kids some Toy Story 3 toys...Anyways, I inquired at DHL for the shipping of the AC White Glint and it was relatively cheaper than FedEX, DHL was charging me 2,700 Php... but decided to ship it eventually via FedEX.

FedEX was initially charging me 3,600 Php but I managed to convince him to give me a lower price, he then packed the 1/100 Dynamez box with a couple of layers of carton boxes and charged me for a reasonable price of 3,200 Php or 70 USD. Perfect! The AC White Glint is literally flying to the US  now and will arrive to the client in 3 days!

Farewell to my first International commission work, the AC White Glint + Vanguard Overed  Boost! hopefully the client likes it. ;D

Read more >>

Packing the AC White Glint for shipping...

This post is mainly for my client, I started packing my AC White Glint for its long travel to the US ( from the Philippines ). I used a lot of styropor to fasten it inside a MG Zeong box and reinforced the layers of styros with some barbecue sticks. My wife told me that the shipping company might check the contents before they allow shipping so I will add tons of shredded styropors to fill in the gaps and seal the box after they have inspected it in the shipping company.

The nearest FEDEX is a long 2 - 3 hour drive from my place, thus I have to research a bit on some alternatives that is nearer my home or office. Also, I have yet to withdraw the money sent to me for shipping by the client in my paypal account.

Anyways, here are a few photos of the packing of the AC White Glint...

Read more >>

Armored Core WHITE GLINT wallpaper - DC23

Ello guys, I just finished a quick wallpaper for the AC White Glint that I just finished a couple of days ago. I basically composited a couple of my photos with a nice background, added a ninebreaker ship? and did some burn and smudge effects to blend everything in.

Thanks for viewing! til next post! ;D

Read more >>

Armored Core WHITE GLINT with V.O.B. ver DC23

Ello guys, I just finished putting the final topcoat of my very first international commission work, which is the AC White Glint build and finally it is done! I actually worked on this for 2 1/2 months ( on and off ) and I got the kit around February 28. The kit as I've said before looks really really impressive and is my most impressive looking build so far.

There are a lot of seam lines to work on and there are a gazillion small parts to paint but it was truly a great experience to have worked with a non - Gundam kit. As per the client's intructions which is to glue the loose parts ( make it feel more solid ) and weather the kit, I think I did a fairly good job.

Read more >>

AC White Glint - WIP part XVI - last update

Ello guys, this will be my last WIP update of the AC White Glint commission build. I will definitely be shipping this to the US by the end of May ( or even next week ). I have given the parts 4 layers of gloss coat using future straight from the bottle yesterday and have let have it cure overnight to prepare the surface for the enamel washes.

I then mask the parts on the Vanguard Overed Boost ( V.O.B. ) parts that needs to be black with Tamiya tape and I have also painted the black parts of the V.O.B. I will ten have to drybrush the black parts with silver after painting.

This build is almost done, I will have to spray black on the mask V.O.B. parts later, give all the parts an enamel wash of Tamiya flat earth and spray the final flat topcoat. I am still thinking of modding the base that came with the kit and also weather it. Anyways here are a few pics...

Read more >>

AC White Glint - WIP part XIV - White parts painted!

Ello guys, I just finished painting ALL of the white parts of both the White Glint and the Vanguard Overed Boost ( V.O.B. ). It took me roughly around 4 hours to finish, 2 bottles of Tamiya flat white and a cup of future. I also managed to paint the V.O.B. boosters and started to paint the guns.

I got tired already, so the guns will be repainted some other time. Hopefully you can see in my lousy pictures that I did some subtle shading with the whites. I first painted the crevices and a few corners with flat black then sprayed flat white all over. The Tamiya acrylic paint retarder worked like a charm as usual and the paint went really smooth.

Read more >>

AC White Glint - WIP part XIII - White parts primed!

Ello guys, the AC White Glint client ( from the US ) has fully paid this build yesterday through paypal...wahoo! Though it's kinda embarrassing to get the full payment coz I just finished priming ALL the White parts of the AC and also a few pieces like the guns and a couple of parts over the shoulders.

Anyways, I made a slight booboo while priming the parts... a few parts ( shoulder armors ) where hit with some overspray producing a slight sandy texture. I then sanded it a bit and resprayed but a few small portions of the said parts has some slight texturing still. However after looking at it for a whil, I kinda liked it...I think it will give a nice look once I have weathered this kit.

I now plan to add a few textured areas to the other parts during painting as I weather this build. 95% of the parts primed today are so smooth though, I will have to roughen it a bit during painting as again this would have a weathered look overall after. Now, here are some pics...

Read more >>

AC White Glint WIP - wet sanding

Just a quick post... I just finished sanding ALL of the parts of the AC White Glint + Vanguard Overed Boost parts today and I am just taking a break. I did some wet sanding with a 800 grit sandpaper and finished off the wet sanding with a 1200 grit sandpaper. I have a cup of water full with small sheets of sandpaper and sanded away the overlooked sprue marks and softened the edges of the pla plating. Looks good so far specially the leg pla plates. 

Now, I will have to put all those parts individually on skewers and prime them...hopefully I still have the energy later to do that and prime it soon. I will show lots of pics after priming but will not re assemble the parts. Here are a couple of snapshots of my wrinkled fingers and ALL of the sanded parts...phew! ;)

Read more >>

What happened to my AC White Glint build??? ;D

What happened to my AC White Glint build?...well, nothing really... for those very few ( if there is any ) people who are curious to what happened to the commish build, I figured I'd post about it. Anyways, I have not touched the White Glint for 2 weeks now, as most of you know this is my first international commission work, being my client is from the US.

The client basically emailed me to hold off the shipping until June, so naturally I was planning to paint this a couple of weeks ago but figured the painting session could wait until around May. I don't need 2 months to paint this after all. Plus I simply got lazy to paint it, coz I won't be able to ship it anyways. hihi...

Read more >>

AC White Glint - WIP part XI - detailing mods done!

Ello guys, I have sanded all the cylinder parts of the Vanguard Overed Boost and all the seam lines that I previously removed. I have also finished modding and detailing the AC White Glint with my usual pla plating and some MSG parts. Actually, I am not really decided if this is done already...will check the photos to see if the kit is not yet detailed enough. If ever I decide that the detailing is enough already, I will be cleaning up the glue marks and give all of the parts some wet sanding to soften the edges of the pla plates. I will then disassemble the parts and prime them to check for errors and wil be painting this kit soon. Again, this  build is going to be weathered, and the added pla plates means more crevices for the enamel wash thus a more weathered look will be easily achieved. Anyways, here are some photos of the AC White Glint with pla plate detailing...

Read more >>

AC White Glint - WIP part X

UPDATE 04-06-10 : initial torso and shoulder mods...

Ello guys, this is just a quick update before going to work today... guess what? I remove another seam line today, this time the shoulder armor. I overlooked it before, coz the seam line at the top part is well placed and is very passable not to remove it, but then I realized that the bottom part has a nice long seam line running through out the whole part. 

Basically, I glued the shoulder armor tight but of course retained the transformation gimmick...I also added some quick and usual koto option parts detailing and will add on my usual non sense, purely cosmetic pla plating all over the torso and shoulder parts later after office. I did all this in a couple of hours...so if I a lot at least a couple of hours everyday instead of just working on weekends, I think this will speed up my progress. Anyways here are some pics...

Read more >>

AC White Glint - WIP part VIII

UPDATE 03-21-10: Detailing the leg and crotch parts...

Ello guys, I have some progress pics of the detailing of the crotch and leg parts of the AC. Basically, I just detailed the White Glint with my usual pla plating and some koto parts...Personally I want to put more details like smaller pla plates and some holes, BUT I think I have to ask for the client's opinion before continuing with the detailing. I think the client may find the detailing is too much oledi, but If I  get the go signal to detail it further, I will. hihi... The detailing this time is my usual pla plating shapes..BUT, the arrangements looks a bit unorthodox in a way, I got the inspiration from the existing detailing on the waist parts of the kit. As you can see in the photo below that the shapes are kinda interacting with one another...so i figured I could do the same specially on the leg parts...

Read more >>

Seamline Removal - AC White Glint WIP part VII

Ello guys, I just removed the seam lines of the AC White Glint, actually I just applied cement and I will sand it tomorrow. I figured that this part of the AC WIP could be a small tutorial on how you remove seam lines using Tamiya Cement and Tamiya Thin Cement. Both types does the job well, they just use different methods when applied. The most important TIP here is that both cements dries in minutes BUT cures overnight...so let the cement cure before sanding.

Now lets go through the simple steps with pictures...

Tamiya Cement, this is the standard type...a lot thicker than the thin variety and dries to touch a bit faster...You apply this by opening the two pieces apart and put some cement with the included brush on the edges of both parts...

Read more >>

AC White Glint snapfitted - WIP part V

Ello guys, I finished snap fitting the AC " White Glint " and I must say that this kit with the Vanguard Overed Boost ( V. O. B. ) is the most impressive looking kit I have done so far! Man, it looks fierce and collection worthy even without painting. This is great stuff from kotobukiya, shame it does not have an anime hence is not as popular as Gundams. I should say even though it is on the pricey side of model kits, that this kit is very very well worth it...at 4,200 Php ( with the V. O. B. ) it looks a ton better than the 3,500 Php Sinanju or the 4,000 Php HiNu. I highly recommend this kit to medium level and advance modelers, that is if you can find one. Well, no wonder this kit is rare and difficult to get.

Anyways here are

Read more >>

AC " White Glint " in action!

Ello guys, my client gave me the go signal to design a custom color scheme for the White Glint. I will be designing the schemes right after I finish snapfitting it though, I need to check the kit first so that I will not do lots of masking job with the color scheme design that I will do for it. And of course I will need to ask approval from my client once I designed a few schemes.

I have a few color schemes in mind...it is a bit weird though to call it " White " glint if it has a color. hehe...Anyways, my client also gave me a couple of you tube links of the " White Glint " in action and this is also my first time to post a video link here in my blog...hope it works. Here it goes...

AC " White Glint " WIP part V

Read more >>

AC " White Glint " WIP part III

Ello guys, after soooo much wait I finally have the " Armored Core " WHite Glint " with me. I am supposed to buy this kit here locally ( Philippines ) when my US client sent me the money ( 50% downpayment ) last month...then I told the client that it is not available locally and I would have to buy it online. I am not comfortable shedding 65 USD online coz it will be my first time to do so...even though the client sent me enough money to purchase it online. Then the client proposed to me that he could personally get me the kit online, but I would have to get him a Vanguard boost for the downpayment that he sent me in return...SO, the agreement is simple, I do him a Vanguard boost and still get payed another half of the payment, meaning he kinda shouldered the cost of the " white glint ".

Now,here

Read more >>

AC " White Glint " WIP commission work

Hello guys...This will be my first INTERNATIONAL commision work, the client is from the US and I am happy today coz the client has sent his 50% downpayment through my PayPal account already, thus I will be working on this soon...I just have to transfer it to my local ( Philippines ) bank account tomorrow and wait 3-7 days ( I think ) and buy the kit locally ( that is if it's available ).

The client commisioned me to do an Armored Core " White Glint "...I am free to do modifications on it and even alter it's color scheme ( I am thinking of a gray and white digital camo of some sort )...the great news is he likes it weathered and he likes my DOM and purple IJ ( which are over-detailed for some ), which I think I am most comfortable of, so I'll be working within my style.

The client's requirements is to make it sturdy ( no loose parts ), have full articulation, and paint job nice and weathered. So again, I am free to do mods with this kit and I am planning to create a simple small base for it ( coz I love doing bases ). I will have to study the design of the kit, to see what mods would look best with it.

The client gave me a link at PLAMO as reference as to how weathered he likes his kit to end up...HERE is the link:

http://plamo.outthere.info/forum/showthread.php?tid=6762

The modeler is Oishi, I can't see infos in his PLAMO account, thus I cannot link it to his website ( if he has one ) but here are a few pictures of his great work I took from the PLAMO link...

Read more >>