Core building is 90% done; we’ll be starting to throw some color on there soon. He looks a bit top-heavy now without proper feet/shoes, but those will be done in good time.
As I mentioned in Turn 2, we’ll be going with the classic tried-and-true paint and play approach for this armor as we did during Year One. Once again Home Depot was our go-to paint supplier. Picked up a large can of white, some black, and small sample bottles of red and yellow.
All the paints are of the matte finish variety in large part due to my friend’s preference for flat finishes, but we might switch the black and white out soon for gloss on account of durability. The matte white we used on our first armor didn’t fare so well at the Expo after all.
Shoulders are becoming a bit of a concern. There isn’t actually much for surface area to attach them to the torso bloc, so they’re constantly sagging and nearly falling off. Even the more durable black duct tape seems to only be capable of doing so much.
Oh my god when the silver tape starts ripping and there’s just a giant gap between the shoulder and torso what do I do.
Comrade working hard at getting all the funnel pieces drawn and cut out. That makeshift taped one right there is actually a rejected prototype.
And then there’s an entire pile of reject pieces because they just don’t fit for some reason or another.
With most of the core components done, we had some more time to add some of the more fine details like the thrusters on the shoulders.
Also added on the trim/flare for the back of the legs. Should bulk up the bottom quite a bit more and even things out.
Test fitting – it works!
The elastic system we used on the insides of the lower legs actually doesn’t seem to do the job of holding them up and preventing them from sliding down when walking particularly well.
As such, we added yet another suspension system, this time from the top of the calves to the thighs. The thighs are already being hung off my comrade’s belt, so with the attachment of the lower legs pretty much everything will be pulling on his waist and pants.
With six funnels and four of those base pieces per funnel, my buddy had to clone those bits a total of 24 times, not counting all the failed rejects and failed prototypes.
Almost as bad as cleaning the nubs off of a whole mess of the same pieces on Gunpla.
The ultimate pile of funnel pieces that were left to me to tape together. This isn’t even everything, merely enough to have the bits take their shape.
The current scrap weapons collection. Just added a bazooka to the armory.
The helm, like the first year’s, was all my comrade’s work.
I was really shocked at how clean this helm came out, with him working all on his own. Not to bash on my buddy’s taping and cutting prowess, but after the mess that was the RX-78-2’s head, the near-perfect dome done here is mind-blowing to say the least.
Facemask isn’t quite final; it looks a bit long, but the rest of it looks pretty damn good.
It was always a taping mess up here, but it’s significantly cleaner this year.
Getting the mohawk on there. We’ll most likely be using clear painted plastic for the head sensors just as we did before.
Looks extremely legit with the crest and v-fin on there.
This makes us happy. Year one looks pretty disgusting in comparison, even for a total YOLO job by my partner way back. The bluntness and limpness of the RX-78-2’s v-fin makes me sad compared to the sharpness and pronounced form of the Nu’s.
We’re still unsure about making actual Gundam eyes or just keeping the eye area open for my comrade to have maximum visibility. Either way the faceplate will most likely be detachable as it has been, hopefully through magnets this year.
It’s a bit loose and not as solid as our previous helm, but it sits on his head pretty well. It’s kinda prone to moving up and down though, might have to tighten it.
Laying out what pieces we have of the funnels and starting the taping process.
Most of them will be featured in their closed configurations, but two will be stored completely open. We wanted to have one actual functioning funnel at the end of the assembly that we could take off and have people pose with, but at this stage it doesn’t look like that’s gonna happen.
It’s taking shape. Looks like we were right on the money with the sizing, since they don’t seem to be too large or too dinky small.
Basically all there. Just need to close off the top assemblies and figure out the mounting system with the PVC pipe.
Doing another full suit-up to test the parts we have so far. The leg buckles seem to work really well; hopefully this way nothing will slip and fall down his leg during the Expo, crushing the pieces underneath (it’s happened before).
Taped two of the funnels onto the back randomly just to check the weight and sizing, and it generally looks pretty good. Won’t really get a total test look at it until we have the backpack ready though.
I told him to take his helm off on his own. That awkward moment when we didn’t actually work any articulation into the shoulders. He’s gonna need a sidekick at the Expo now.
Almost everything has been hit with a good few coats of Mod Podge, so technically the priming for the paint is done. Only the feet, backpack, and weapons are left before we hit it with color. I think we’re technically behind schedule compared to years before because we’re starting painting a bit late, but all the building is basically done.
Read on the rest of the build:
