DMK Bumblebee WIP 1

    Here's my last post for 2011, fellas!! As the world (or at least everyone in my timezone) counts down to 2012, I'm home fitting some parts and working on my TF project. As mentioned earlier, the goal here is to use the Dual Model Kit Bumblebee set by Takara Tomy and mod it into something resembling the G1 version, yet retaining the sleek mecha feel of the movie.

Unicron (25th Anniversary Special Ed)

    Just like any robot-lover, I've got a stash of Transformers toys to go along with my Gundam collection. I keep tellin' myself that I'll get down to painting the TFs one day but I'm always too busy working on Gundams to start. LOL. So I guess TFs are the lazy modeller's way of buying something off-the-shelf to fulfill an ownership need, and that's that. Nothing else to work on. (Kinda like women's shopping habits, if ya ask me.) A hazardous mentality (for your wallet) too. Ha. But you know wad? It's XMAS so what da heck rite? Hurhur.

GBWC 2011 Winners Round-up

    Aaaaand we're back to Gundam business even before Christmas is officially over! So for those of you in the know, the GBWC Finals in HK just wrapped and the GRAND WINNER has been announced. This would probably be one of his best Xmas presents EVER for Jeff Ho of Malaysia. Yep folks, Jeff's just been crowned the World Champ for this year's 2011. Congrats to Malaysia! You can see more of his masterpiece, the KShatriya IV here.

WINNER'S CIRCLE: ALL HYBRID RX-78 by sori.Kim (Korea)

    Here's a belated post that I just have to add for my personal archives and reference. It's a 1/60 RX done up in Amuro Ray colours (in my opinion) by GBWC Korea champ Sori Kim. What can I say man? This seems like a clean build but look closely and you'll see how exquisitely weathered his colours and textures are. This is realism at its cleanest best! I love the rust stains, chip and washes. Gives it a lot of weight and depth. You can actually believe that's Gundanium alloyed armour there. Enjoy!

Winners' Circe: KSHATRIYA by Budi Salim (Indonesia)

    Some overdue stuff from GBWC - A nicely detailed Kshatriya by Budi Salim, which was the Indonesian champ. Nice colour tones here to lend details, and the segmentation of armour, especially on the wings for intricacy. I'll let the pictures do the talking:

MERRY CHRISTMAS ONE AND ALL

    Nothing much to post today except - MERRY CHRISTMAS fellas! Hope all of you got the Christmas presents that you want this year (Gundams gundams gundams!!!!). I'll be putting up a lot more WIP posts of my latest project soon so stay tuned. Until then, kick back and enjoy the festivities with friends and families. May all of you have a good one. Christmas greetings too, from my cat Skippy....(The other one's too big and fat to be carried. LOL)   :)

What does a Transformer look like naked?

    Don't be fooled. This isn't Terminator. It's the Dual Kit Bumblebee from Takara Tomy! I started on this project way before my GBWC but had to put it on hold obviously. And now I'm back on it. Last I left it, I've finished painting and detailing up the internal frame. I'm now considering if I should just go for an OOB look and finish off the yellow armour bits for the movie look, or try something ambitious and mod it beyond the original shape into something else!

CENOTE by Ani (2011 Ora-Zaku Winner)

    Alright fellas, while we've been talking about the GBWC, which by the way, ain't over yet, Japan just concluded their annual Ora-Zaku championships. For those of you who have not heard of the Ora-Zaku before, it is THE competition of competitions for Gunpla. It is the MOTHER of all gunpla competitions, exclusive only to the Japanese, where elite masters pit their skills against each other. This is the cream of the crop, folks. And naturally, I have to feature 'Cenote' by Ani on my blog.

HYAKU SHIKI (WIP revealed)

    Hi fellas, I was going through my stash of photos and I realised I haven't posted the WIP pics for the Hyaku Shiki Revised yet! And so, without much ado, here they are! My apologies if there are parts unaccounted for in the pics, as I did not have the time to stop and snap a pic at every step. It was a mad rush to the GBWC finish line! I still have light years to go before my mod skills reach the standard of the pros out there, but if any of you have queries about how I did certain parts that are not illustrated here, feel free to message me. Here goes:

Art of Transformers: Livio Ramondelli tribute

Megatron Full Armour

    It's hard not to be a fan of Transformers if you like Gundams, and especially if you grew up in the 80s. I just need to keep these gorgeous illustrations from the covers and pages of the Chaos series in the TF comics published by IDW. Particularly, the luscious art of my idol Livio Ramondelli. Just look at the texture and lighting of his artwork. Sublime! You can even come up with some design, dio, colouring and weathering ideas from his drawings for Gundam, why not? Long live Livio!!

Gundam Age EP 9 Review (and stuff)

    Following on the Gundam Age series momentum, I'll get to Ep9 shortly, but before that, I've gotta comment on the preview picture of Generation 2 of the series, which was released by Gundam Guy. And in the background, we see the Age-Raiser Gundam...sorry...I meant Age-2 Gundam!! LOL.

Bumblebee (Alternative designs?)

    I've got a bee in my bonnet recently. A bumblebee. Hurhur. Y'all know that lovable Autobot scout from Transformers. Well I'm thinking that I might wanna convert this little yellow fellow into something cooler than the movie version.

Transformers: The Ride (Universal Studios Singapore)

    For those of you in Singapore and the US, here's a pic at what the new Transformers The Ride will look like! It's already up and running at Universal Studios Singapore, where I managed to preview it and get some pics for you guys (job perk). Michael Bay came down for the opening a week ago. I hear the US version is due next year in Hollywood.

Masterclass: GP05 by Forma UC

    Every once in a while I'll be featuring some works by the Jap maestros themselves. These are collated stuff taken from my various surfing expeditions for gundam porn. lol. Naturally, stuff by the Japanese still sets the standard. I present to you, an impeccably detailed GP, customised to perfection. I'm not sure about the name of this modeller, but I think it's safe to assume he's a member of nBlood, a high-level group of Jap modellers, whose works certainly are the benchmark we should strive to meet and surpass.

Hot Toys Captain America

   And since it's off-season, here's a non-mecha post - Captain America by Hot Toys!!!! Woohoo. I'm not exactly a huge fan of Hot Toys 'cos their prices are not cheap and there's nothing much you can do with an action figure doll other than to put it on display. But I bought the Cap at the Toy Convention coupla months back when it was available for pre-order at $200, which is a steal by Hot Toys standards.

GUNDAM AGE EP 8 REVIEW

    Let's get back to the ongoing Gundam Age series!! I've skipped a few Eps cos I don't wanna bore you guys out with a review for every single show. I'll only talk about ones where there are things to talk about, and Ep 8 didn't offer anything mind-blowing in terms of plot, but it did have lotsa action and new suits. Namely, Age Gundam's brute form - the Titus, is revealed.