Assembling HG 1/144 Tieren Space Commander Type that was put on hold since early September.
Most of the components are quite similar to that of Tieren Ground Type, especially the arms, body and weapon, so I'm not exactly expected too much difficulties in assembling this kit. ^^
Parts for the left and right arms.
Major separable components of both arms.
Articulation of the arm is the same as Tieren Ground Type as well. Upper arm can turn, elbow can bend for a max of 90 degrees.
Minus the shield, the most notable difference between the arms of the Space and Ground Type is the upper arm.
Parts for the shoulder shields.
Decided to use the foil stickers instead of painting the 4 'discs' on the surface of the shield because of the silver line details on the foil stickers.
As I found out, bending the stickers around the disc wasn't that easy. The flaws on the end result are quite visible. ^^;
Shields completed.
Mounted onto the arms.
Way bigger when compared to the shield of the Ground Type.
Of course, that means a much closer resemblance to the shoulder shield on the original Zaku II from the world of Universal Century. ^^
Amazing articulation of the shield allowing a whole range of bending and positioning on the arm. ^^
Parts for the left leg.
Completed.
Comparison - Almost all the parts are different expect the front foot and ankle guard.
Right leg completed.
Knee articulation is the same as the Ground Type, despite the uniqueness of the leg design. ^^ The thruster behind the calf will limit the bending of the ankle to the back.
Very simple waist design.
Lower body of the kit done.
A whole plate of rear skirt armor is missing for the Space Type when compared to its ground counterpart.
The Carbon Blade is still included with this kit though.
Considering what I did for the head sensor of MG Infinite Justice with tiny foil stickers the other day, which was quite successful, it's quite an irony to me that the much larger foil stickers didn't turn out too well for the shoulder shields on this kit. Have to be more careful with the orange ones for the chest then.
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9 comments:
Every time you build/review a Gundam kit, the likelihood of that kit going on my to get list is +300%. Too bad the exchange rate from JPY to USD has gone down the crapper. Model kits have doubled in local shops, where do you get your loot?
Good comparison btw the space and ground type Tieren. Like the way you organize the kits into section within the box with nicely paper folder.
Interesting comparison between the Space Commander Type and Ground Type. I still find the eyes on the shields strange and intriguing ^^;
Foil stickers where one has to fold them over a round surface are often annoying. Others such as eyes/visors are fine though since they are easy to stick most of the time, and their foil lustre work well on those areas.
I wonder whether cutting around the outer rim of stickers which require folding and colour those area with Gundam Marker would be a better idea? :o
Hmm..pretty interesting conundrum, one that may never be answered, tho, lol. I like Q's idea of cutting the center part out and using paint for the edges. The other way would be to super glue the foil sticker onto some metal duct tape. It's pretty heavy stuff, so it would probably bent more. Also, since it's all metal and no paper, you could smooth it over with a toothpick. I get it at hardware stores. I also use it for scopes, since the chrome finish is so nice.
As for the Tierren's design itself...well, what can I say. 00 HGs have definitely ushered in a new age of gunpla engineering. Even though I know how incredible the joints are, I still geta pleasant surprise with every kit, Even the "old" ones such as this. But then again, I'm the type to look at a HG Akatsuki and Marvel at the shoulder joints. xD
>>Albert
I normally get them from Malaysian-based online hobby stores. So far I haven't seen the impact of the increase in exchange rate to the prices of Gunplas on those sites too much at the moment. Maybe it will come before the end of year. I'm not sure. ^^; We did suffer an increase in domestic shipping when the national postage fee increased. So the lowest shipping rate you can choose for your order is a little bit more expensive now, but that isn't an issue as big as the exchange rate problem I reckon.
>>Dennis
Putting the parts in paper boxes is something I've being doing for quite a while really. Helps me to organize all the parts according to their component on the model, and allows me to choose which one to work on every now and then when I have the time as well. ^^
>>Q
I thought about cutting off the out-most rim as well, since the real deal I wanted from those stickers are the silver ring and pattern on top of the sticker, but I wasn't too confident in getting a nice round cut-out from the stickers. So I didn't follow this plan. ^^;
>>KenshinBattousai374
I like the idea of using metal duct tape for targeting scope. Never tried using that on my kits before, but it sounds feasible. Thank you sir for sharing your idea. ^^
I agree that Gundam Double O does have a lot of unique MS design, and their Gunpla kits are capable of realizing those unconventional design. Tieren is a good example - the 1/100 scale version is fantastic. ^^ Union and AEU units like Flag and Enact are great designs as well. It's always fascinating to me how Bandai could design the kits to utilize either polycaps or just ABS joints or both to achieve the articulation of these Gunplas. There is a lot of consideration put into the engineering of the kits for us to like. ^^
You're absolutely right, the shipping is crazy these days. 6-10 years ago kits (real kits) in Chinatown hobby stores went 1 USD = 100 Yen. I'm used to seeing a HG Aile Strike go for 12 dollars and all I see these days is 25+ for any new HG. It only makes MGs ($50-60) that much more appealing. Looking at my MK2 ver. 2, don't know if I should go with the 2.0 Zeta or the Zeta HD Color.
That's a really interesting leg design.. I had no idea the tanks were such an intrinsic part of the frame - assumed they were just bolted to the front of the shins. Nice comparison to the ground type also!
>>Albert Lee
That's too bad to hear. Currency exchange rate is really something we can't change, and in this economy, it's really hard to say when things will turn to the better and the exchange rate will be favorable again. Just have to choose carefully on the ones we really like to make the actual purchase then.
>>James
Thanks. The design of the entire leg of the Space Commander Type is extremely brilliant. Very unconventional, but very cool. ^^
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