Impulse RED Gundam

The Impulse RED Gundam is a completely new initaitve to my gunpla modelling hobby.
Modelled using a NG 1/144 Sword Impulse Gundam,
this MS utilizes 'Evergreen' styrene sheets to scratch build and mod parts.

WORK-IN-PROGRESS

Modding the Impulse Rifle
A start with styrene. I have utitilzed 1mm thick styrene sheets for the whole process of this kit. Being new to styrene, I decided to start with basic modding of the Impulse Rifle. An actual dimensional layout is drawn on paper and protoype is cut out. After the correct dimensions are determined, actual drawing on the styrene sheet was done. Scoring of the styrene was done using a hobby knife. The styrene snaps neatly according to the properly scored styrene. I used 2-3 shallow scorelines.
After the right pieces were cut out, Tamiya extra thin cement was used to affix the parts together onto the rifle. The strength of the cement bonding is sufficient for this mod.


Scratch-building the wings
The back of the sword impulse gundam was retained. The hinges of the swords were modded accodingly to actual dimension prototpyes. I have decided to give the wing system, a 2 point articulation, so that the wings can be kept and deployed in various modes. After playing around with prototypes and bluetack, I gave the hinges a bevelled edge so that the wings can be depolyed to full range and making the wing system looks better. The determination of angle was by trial and error, quite a sloppy decision.
Tamiya Quick Putty was used to fill up empty spaces within styrene-made walls. Something to take note is to always fill putty in thin layers and let it cure completely, prior to next layering. Let the putty overflow when application, since when curing, the putty mount shrinks. The excess cured putty can then be trimmed with hobby knife and sanding/filing. Make sure to adpot 'wet-sand/file' to prevent sniffing in the toxic putty powder.


Having previously worked on the Destiny Impulse backpack, I am more confident of building T-junctions. Initially, with an idea of the Gouf Ignited backpack in mind, I tried out S/S rod as the pivot point, since it is thin. However, the smooth face of the rod makes the wing plates droopy. Friction is needed here. So I utilized spare tree. The pro is that spare tree being ABS can be cemented, but the con is that the tree is too thick. Holes of appropiate dimensions were drilled into the wing plates. A raw assembly is then performed. Should the wings be still droopy, putty was used on the spare tree rod (wing pivot spine).


Raw assembly to test the 1st point articulation. This articulation is the mini wing plate and main wing plate rotating about the pivot spine. The tired wing plate is affixed to the wing hinge. The remainder pivot spine was trimmed down and affixed to the free mini wing plate.


The nasty trimmed end of the cemented spine can be seen on mini wing plate. I neeed something to cover the nasty-looking spot. Four of these were made. I call them exhaust vents.


A final raw assembly of the wing and the 2 points articulation tested. The 2nd point is the hinge rotating about the sword impulse backpack. I have cemented and sanded most of the seams. But since the fitting was so perfect, I had some hard time squeezing out the cement. So some mild seamlines are still slightly visible. Notice that I have yet snap fit the head piece.


Painting
The head comes in 3 pieces, a great improvement in the NG 1/144 Seed Destiny kits. This feature allows the modeller to mask/paint the recessed eyes area with ease. Painting was done with Vallejo flat red, vallejo flat white and vallejo flat yellow.



Decal Application
Destiny Gundam decals from Sameul Decals and generic MW-1001 decals from MW decals, were used. MW decals was easier to use and were cleaner on application. Since Sameul decals do not come with trimmed edges for the decals, I need to trim it carefully before soaking. Sameul decals are also softer and post application, wrinkles and uneven trim marks were obvious. I would think Mark Setter is required to soften and help with the application of Sameul decals. Nevertheless, top-coating makes the decals blend in and makes everything looks neat. Shown here is prior top-coat.


It is obvious that the joints and hands are not painted yet. I have not done so because I am going to apply metallic paint on it and it has to be done only after flat coat.


Completed Impulse RED Gundam
After top-coat was applied, chrome was painted to the joints and hands. Metallic circuit rivets were applied. A thin green wire was affixed to the rifle and joined to the backpack.

More pictures are updated in MECHA:BASE.
(click on image below to access the gallery directly)

Pictured using Canon iXUS 40 with Harvest Studio setup