[OTHERS] "Gunpla Builders Den" 11/19 Meetup

The Cavite-based local gunpla group, Gunpla Builders Den, have started conducting meetups at the CityMall Anabu as a way for group members to socialize with one another aside from the online Facebook group, and this also works well in promoting and introducing the hobby to others. Meetups usually start around 11am and go on as long as there are members who want to stay up until the mall closes at around 9pm.

Gunpla building, and scale modelling in general, is commonly depicted as a solitary activity done in ones' home or hobby room. But thanks to social media and these kinds of meetups, Gunpla builders are given the change to socialize with one another and share their works and knowledge.



The meetups held by the Gunpla Builders Den gave the members an opportunity to meet others who they normally interact only through the groups Facebook page. Though these kinds of activities are not exclusive to this group or unheard of with other groups, I think this is the only one currently done in Imus/Cavite area.

CityMall was kind enough to provide the group an area with tables and chairs where members can go and build their Gunplas together.



Hopefully as time passes and as word spreads, more members will be encouraged to attend these kinds of meetups. Also the group is planning more activities like knowledge sharings to encourage not just the members but also invite regular, non-Gunpla people into the hobby.





Unfortunately I arrived late so I was only able to meet a bunch of them. I didn't bring anything to build but I bought some of my finished kits like the RG Wing Zero Pearl Version and the RG Sinanju.

It was fun being able to meet other Gunpla builders near me. And I could see myself being a regular in these kinds of activities.


Note: All pics are from Dexter Marcos.

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[WIP] Custom LED unit

Disclaimer: I don't claim to own this design. Credit goes to Steezy(you can look him up on Youtube or Facebook) for the design and specifications of the parts used.

Since this is my 100th post, I'd like to commemorate this event by sharing with you something that even you guys can do yourself quickly and easily.

Bandai's LED units are really expensive. And it's really hard to justify buying those specially for someone like me whose experienced with LED lighting and that I know how the stuff works. I do like to use one of these every once in a while, for my kits that don't really need to be/ aren't slated to be LED wired.

I've actually been trying to replicate Bandai's LED unit for quite some time. The main issue with this was the unit's size. The unit needs to have the same dimensions, if not smaller, than the original to fit inside the kits. I originally planned on replicating the the same design Bandai uses. Same batteries, same dimensions. Unfortunately, 3d printing or laser cutting isn't accessible to me and/or it's just too expensive for something like this.

After some research around the internet, I found Steezy's video on Youtube detailing how how build your own LED unit. Since this design is already very simple, only 4 pieces including the base that will contain the circuit, and I wouldn't want to reinvent the wheel, I went ahead and tried it myself.

The key to this whole design is the CR1220 button cell battery and its battery holder. I think this type is the closest size to Bandai's LED unit which uses 2 LR41 button cell batteries.

As I've said earlier, the design only uses 4 parts: The LED, switch, battery holder, and battery. The circuit can't get any simpler, one thing to note is to follow the polarity of the battery and the LED. Positive side of the battery connects to positive terminal of the LED, same as with the negative side. Putting everything together, Its even smaller than Bandai's LED unit. I plan on putting some hot glue around the circuit to protect the circuit from moving, thus breaking the circuit and also to give it some more bulk.

Another benefit of this custom LED unit is the choice of light color. Bandai's LED unit comes in 4 colors: red, blue, green, yellow. I like using white LEDs because I have the superbright ones and I can just paint them with any clear color that I want. Or you can also use any color LED that's available. 

And here's a shot of the custom LED unit in action. Since the custom LED unit is a bit too small, there were plenty of space for it to move around so I secured it with some blu tack.

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[REVIEW] Daban MG Jesta Cannon

Since I'm well on my way on finishing most of my projects, I decided to get back on the MG scene starting with this latest kit from Daban, the MG Jesta Cannon.

Though the box's design generally follows Bandai's design, Daban's box is different from Bandai's Full-lid lift top box. Daban uses a Straight tuck/ Slide open box. I think this kind of packaging is much more sturdier.

One notable thing here is the inclusion of an LED unit for the head of the kit. This one's a red LED unit. It appears that this is the only "difference" to the original Bandai kit.

Initial inspections shows satisfactory details in the parts. 

And still Daban's dreaded MG 2.0 hands. 

The kit also comes with waterslide decals, same as with the P-Bandai version.

Also, initial inspection will show a few duplicate runners. Something tells me this will have tons of extra parts. :P

Now on to the build itself. I wont be doing a detailed review of this since this appears to be simillar with the previously released Daban MG Jesta with a few more pieces added. I will just be showing a few things I've noticed throughout my build, mainly focusing on the kits' quality.

This being a bootleg kit, expect to see some imperfections in the details.

Aside from a few flashes, there are some minor misalignment though it will not cause any issue with the other parts.

Here's one of the major issues I got with the kit. the frame pieces are supposed to lock together but apparently they will not fit the armor part. To fix this, I just trimmed the frame pieces to fit the armor part.

Now on to the dreaded MG 2.0 hands. one of the reasons this review took a bit too long was because of this hands. You really have to take your time working with these since they are known to be a bit too fragile and break easily.

First, I tried to remove as much runner piece from the part itself, I did this with a regular side cutter. then trimming the excess runner pieces using a hobby knife, taking great care not to cut myself.

Once all the runner pieces have been removed, it's time to align the fingers. the most critical part here is to not stress the finger's ball joints in the knuckles. To do this, I use a long nose pliers to hold the finger at its base near the ball joint and move it little by little. I just move it around in all directions but DO NOT TWIST IT just yet. I do the moving first to loosen the ball joint so the ball joint twists with the fingers and not stress the finger. I had to take my time slowly and repeatedly moving the ball joint to make sure it loosens. As you move the fingers, you will feel less resistance from the ball joint, this will be the time you start trying to twist the fingers. If you have clear eyes, you can see if the ball joint is twisting with the finger. If you still get a bit of resistance when twisting the fingers, stop twisting and return to moving the finger around.

No, I'm not doing the middle finger pose.

Aside from a few minor flashes, there wasn't any issue building this kit. Even the tight/ loose pegs were minimal. Joints appear to be a bit loose but it will still be able to hold its pose.

Another issue I encountered was with the right hand connection. Though similar with the left hand which did not cause any issue, the wrist armor prevents the hand from fully inserting into the hand joint.

Even after filing and trimming the wrist armor, the hand still isn't able to fully insert into the joint so I opted to not use it instead. It isn't noticeable anyway specially while holding the rifle.

Another issue I encountered was the hip joints being too loose that moving the legs would disassemble the joints. to fix this issue, I just put some glue in the peg where the 2 halves of the joint to secure it.

We do get a lot of extras with this kit. Some of the new parts are just recolors of the existing parts so we get a few almost completely unused runners. It also appears that the other extra parts can be used to build the regular jesta, sort of like a RE1/100 Gusion Rebake.

Generally, this is a very good reproduction of the original Bandai kit. Expect details to be a bit shallow, a few minor flashes, edges to be a bit uneven, very few tight/ loose pegs, and I find the plastic quality a bit soft/ less dense. Whenever I examin the plastic quality of the kit, I get that feeling that the plastic expanded as it cooled during the casting which explains the loss in detail, some edges appear uneven and less crisp.

Personally, I'm satisfied with the quality of this kit. Issues are very manageable and can be fixed with minimal effort. Considering that the original kit is P-Bandai which makes it more expensive, I can say that this kit is worth its price. I don't have the Bandai MG Jesta but I feel the differences can be noticeable once a closer look has been taken. I will still advice buying original Bandai kits, thought if ever you really want to complete the Londo Bell tristars team, I suggest you get 3 Bandai MG Jesta's and just put the cannon parts on one of them. >:P

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[WIP] HG Shia Qan[T] WIP 2

Just a small update for this. 

I've already finished putting LEDs on the parts individually except the head. So here's some WIP pics of it.

Since the kit comes with some scrap pieces from the HG Qant specifically the head clear parts, I decided to use those so that lighting up the face would be easier.

After some cutting, I was finally able to fit the new pieces for the eyes, forehead, and lack sensors. I had to glue them in place since they really don't have anything to attach to.

Aside from cutting and fitting the pieces, the challenge here was to How to light up the pieces properly, and painting the eyes.

Now that everything's been wired up. All that's left is to put it all together.

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[WIP] HG Shia Qan[T] WIP 1

So I saw this kit, the HGBF Gundam OO Shia Qan[T], in one of the toy stores and those clear parts just kept calling to me. And since it was on sale, I decided to get one and try to light it up.

I don't plan on painting this kit, maybe just a flat coat afterwards, since I'm considering this as a minor project since I kind of feel exhausted with the ones I'm currently working on.(actually I'm just tired of thinking how to wire those kits... :P)

I started working on various pieces. I don't plan on finishing any specific section first. Just trying to wire up all pieces first.

One of the first pieces I worked on was the leg areas. I initially thought it would be easy and straightforward since there was plenty of space inside the lower legs but I found out there wasn't really any place behind the clear part to place the LED. 1.) The area behind the clear piece is occupied by the knee joint so there's no way I can place the LED there without sacrificing the knee articulation. 2.) I didn't want to place the LED directly behind the clear piece because aside from poorly lighting up the big clear piece, it would also create a bright dot that doesn't look well with the effect I wanted.

Instead of directly behind the clear piece, what I did was drill a hole, the same size as the LED, on the edge of the area covered by the clear piece. In this case, it's the edge of the foil sticker.

The effect was way better than I expected. Though I'm not sure why it appears that the foil sticker isn't reflecting any light towards the clear piece.

And since I'm already working on the leg area, I decided to finish working on the legs and work on wiring through the knee joints. The knee joint has a unique construction and luckily, there was enough room to pass through the wires

One of the tricky parts of this kit was the arm areas since there are 2 areas that need to be lit up and that there wasn't much space inside to work with. What made it much harder was that one of the clear pieces is on the joint itself.

Same with the leg piece, I placed the LED on the edge of the clear part so it light up from the edges.

This shot was taken with the low brightness setting to simulate how the piece would actually look like in personal. I guess it can't be helped with the bright spots where the LED is.

I've also finished working on the GN Sword. For this I used a 3mm LED filed ti fit inside the part.

Here's a shot of the rear skirt piece. I'm really liking the effect it gives on the blueparts. I'm only using white LED.

Next thing I worked on was the GN binder. This I think will be the hardest section of this kit.

Wiring the individual sections of the GN binder wasn't really hard. I just have to plan accordingly where the wires would be coming from to help prepare when putting them all together.

The GN sword bits would have to be the hardest part to light up. There are too many tiny pieces packed together. I may have found a way to light it up but I ended up having too much wires coming out of the part. I'll have to plan how to manage those wirings.

Since it appears that I'm done working on the lower body of the kit, I decided to assemble it for now to see how it would look like. And I'm really liking the effect on the blue parts. Hope it continues to look good throughout the project.

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