I found a magazine with a Gundam plastic model as a bonus, so I picked it up.
This is the first-ever kit of "Gundam-kun," the promotional and educational mascot character for Gundam plastic models
that also has a YouTube series with all 10 episodes of short films.
Unlike SD Gundam, this isn't a non-scale model—it's a 1/1 scale model.
And here's another world first: the material is LIMEX (Limestone-based plastic), marking the first Gundam plastic model made from this eco-friendly composite with reduced plastic content.
The whole frame is made from white runners that show off the material's natural color,
and while it's fun to build straight from the sprue, you can also paint it if you want.
So I decided to assemble and paint some.
Bottom Attack (Boot Attack)!
Oops—I accidentally painted it in Victory Gundam colors!
So instead, here's one I painted in RX-78-2 colors.
By the way, I ended up buying 6 copies of this magazine.
The ball joint head allows a decent range of motion, and it's nice how the expression changes when you pose it slightly differently.
One characteristic of LIMEX material is that it's heavier than regular plastic, so it has a nice substantial feel when you hold it.
While it's top-heavy with thin legs and a small contact area, it stands on its own without a base—as long as you don't put it in some extreme pose.
Another characteristic of LIMEX material is how smooth it feels to the touch—like the inside of a seashell.
If you want to enjoy that tactile quality, it's better to leave the head white in its molded color rather than painting it.
This is another build example.
I have an airbrush, but it was too much hassle to set it up, so I went with brush painting instead.
Thinking about the whole process—brush painting followed by multiple passes with 2000-grit sandpaper and water—the airbrush probably would've been faster in the end.
I was torn between silver and yellow for the inside of the verniers, but I went with yellow.
The hands and feet move forward and back (and slightly side to side), you can equip either hand with a beam rifle or beam saber, and the shield is attachable—so the play value is pretty high (in my opinion).
In the original source and the magazine's reference example, they didn't paint the beam rifle's targeting sight yellow, but I did anyway.
Addendum:
I added some blue paint to the chest to push it even further toward Victory Gundam aesthetics.
I'd already sharpened the V-shaped antenna when I took the photos above, but I did a bit more filing.
I'm being careful because if I mess up and break the antenna, I'd have to repaint the whole body in Gundam Easy colors.
I only painted the front of the antenna yellow—the top and back stay white.
This makes the antenna look thinner.
Once you start tinkering, it's hard to stop, so I'm calling this done.
This article is not something to be seen,
so you must not give it applause!!
I don't usually explain the jokes, but here goes.
The blue text above is a parody of "This DVD is not meant to be seen, so you must not buy it!!"—if you search for that, you'll find it came from the liner notes written by Director Tomino in the 2004 Victory Gundam DVD BOX.
But here's the thing: only purchasers can actually see that.
When you image search that phrase, you get pictures of those liner notes, and what's wild is that there's not just one image—there are tons with different angles and backgrounds.
Everyone bought it after all!