RG Aile Strike now ready to fly to UK...

My recently finished ootb RG Aile Strike Gundam is now ready to fly to United Kingdom! This kit after assembly did not make it to even one week in my house. It was a fun and quick build and I sure did enjoy taking photos of my first ootb build in years. It was a refreshing change from all the sanding and pla plating stuffs that I usually do before shooting paint. It's just snapfit, paint and reassemble.

I disassembled it again for the last time though. This is to aid in the packing and my client's request. I tried to pack it in the smallest box possible as shipping to UK costs like a bomb! I made sure there are no extra spaces as extra spaces is a cause for scratches. All pieces are individually plastic wrapped and place carefully in the cell phone box.

After FedEx has inspected the package, I will add small pieces of papers ( if need be ) inside the box to ensure safety of every piece. FedEx will also cover this with bubble wrap and another external box before shipping it across the planet to UK. Hope this arrives safe and happy in the arms of it's real owner.

I just got full payment through Paypal and will ship this to the client once the money transfer to my bank account is complete. Should finish the two MG Zeta commissions next... Anyways, here are some photos for my client...

Thanks for dropping by! Til' next post! :)

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Real Grade Aile Strike Gundam modeled by DC23

I am proud to present to you today my RG Aile Strike Gundam in purple background! hehehe, I chose a purple background as I thought the kit being OOTB with ootb colors, would only stand out from the hundreds of ootb RG Aile Strikes all over the net, if it has a different colored background.

Seriously, now I think my RG is unique because of the background. The client requested it to be ootb, in ootb colors and clean. Yeap, I rarely do clean builds as I feel like I skipped a couple of modeling ( weathering ) steps whenever I do clean builds. I did put brown washes instead of the usual light grays, to at least give it a subtle weathered look ( hope it worked ).

The client also asked that the blue should be in lighter shade, the reds should be less red ( but still vibrant ) and the kit be sent to him disassembled. I think I did a fairly good job on complying to his requests with regards to the colors. And the last request of disassembling the kit is super easy.

Don't get me wrong, I like looking at other people's finely done ootb masterpieces, specially those with custom color schemes, custom decals and superb finishing. But I myself do not fancy doing my own kits ootb, much more in ootb colors... well unless a client asked me to, like this one.

I cannot call this a verDC23 at all as I did nothing with it but snapfit, paint and reassemble. But I did use a different paint other than the usual Tamiya's and Mr.Hobby's with this one. I might as well call this a RG Aile Strike Gundam version Vallejo Paints.

The Vallejo Model AIR went smoother than Tamiya acrylics and I believe it is a lot more vibrant. Although if you add acrylic retarder to Tamiya it would yield the same results in terms of smoothness. But my new favorite is the Vallejo varnishes!

The gloss varnish is better ( more expensive ) than future / Pledge Wipe and Shine. The Matte and Satin varnishes from Vallejo comes pre mixed instead of the trial and error of mixing of Tamiya gloss / future with Tamiya flat base. The Vallejo varnishes are a gift from above, for people like me who loves acrylics and hates using more hazardous lacquers.

Overall it was a nice experience working on a Real Grade. Added the fact that I enjoyed the painting session so much as everything went smooth and easy. No silvering of the decals due to the quality of the Vallejo gloss varnish and the final Matte varnish is a charm.

Anyways this kit is packed and is ready to fly to my client in the UK. Now here are some last glimpse of this little critter as I would never see this guy again...

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RG Aile Strike Gundam commish - final WIP

I just finished shooting the final matte coat of my RG Aile Strike commish. I can't really take good photos of the kit indoors ( 11 pm here ) as I do not have enough light source or the proper equipment to do so. So I'll be posting the final photos early tomorrow.

There is NO highlight on this build as this is just OOTB. Assembled, Painted and re assembled. I did put a few warning decals and some brown washes to give it a bit more life. I could have used light gray for the panel lines but I always love browns as it gives a very subtle weathering look to the kit, rather than the super clean look which ain't really my style.

The client also does not like me to weather the build as this is his first Real Grade... so really, there is no highlight on this ootb build at all. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed working on this little critter. I just can't call it a verDC23, as their is no version here what so ever. This basically looks like ALL the other RG Aile Strike you've seen around the net so far. hehehe

However the only thing unique with this one, is that I painted the kit with Vallejo paints from start to finish. Yeap, from Vallejo grey primer to Vallejo Matte Varnish. Even the brown washes is by a Vallejo wash ( transparent acrylic ).

Anyways this kit should be flying to UK soon, well as soon as I get the payment. lol... now here are a few photos of the kit in Matte varnish...

Thanks for dropping by! Photos of the finished kit tomorrow! :)

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A REAL GRADE kit is NO walk in the park...

Seriously, I thought being a 1/144 kit that this commission build is going to be a walk in the park. I mean how long would it take me to assemble, clean up, paint and re assemble this little kit? Plus the client only asked for an ootb build in ootb colors... pretty easy ey?

Not really. The sanding of the nub marks was no easy talk as you can easily over sand those little pieces. The assembly is not easy too! It has a gazillion parts and all of them are small. Now imagine painting all those little plastic critters one by one, making sure that the color is consistent from one another.

To put it into simpler perspective. The number of parts of this Real Grade kit is insane! The last time I almost run out of " satay " sticks for painting was when I painted my Armored Core White Glint commission and my Perfect Grade Zeta Gundam commission. Needless to say those kits are big.

This REAL GRADE line from Bandai is not for the really young modelers. I mean you should have a bit of experience with master grades so not to frustrate yourself with this little dang kit. But animosity towards those little parts aside, This kit was such an experience to build. The level of engineering put into developing this beautiful kit is humanly impossible.

The Master Grade Aile Strike was put to shame with the release of the Real Grade Aile Strike period. I wonder what Bandai could come up in the next 5 years. Anyways, this post is basically a collection of photos from assembly to painting of my first Real Grade kit.

Thanks for dropping by! Til' next post guys! :)

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