Tomorrow, June 9th (Friday), I have some unavoidable business, so
I'll be taking the day off.
I apologize for the inconvenience and appreciate your understanding.
Previously, there was a magazine supplement that included
a Gundam Kun made of LIMEX (limestone-filled plastic) material in pure white
(→here),
and now a Gundam Kun DX Set has been released for general sale
with some parts in color.
I pre-ordered four sets from Yodobashi,
but this isn't hoarding.
When I went to the actual store later,
they were just stacked and selling normally.
Also, this isn't for resale purposes.
I plan to assemble all of them eventually.
There's a difference in meaning between stacking them in the store
and stacking them at home after purchasing,
but let's not worry about that.
With the previous all-white LIMEX version,
the characteristic whitish tone from the limestone wasn't noticeable,
but it's scattered throughout the colored parts.
However, that's just the material's character, so don't worry about it!
So says Gundam Kun, establishing his position beforehand.
By the way, the previous magazine supplement's Gundam Kun was
the first Gundam Kun made of LIMEX material,
and this DX Set is the first colored Gundam Kun
made of LIMEX material.
↑The whiteness is especially noticeable on the red parts.
Besides white, the colors are blue, yellow, and red,
and since they've gone to the trouble of color-separating the parts,
I decided to add just a little touch to an out-of-box build
and assemble one.
The red is quite pale in color, whether due to the LIMEX or not.
As is, the inverted V-shape in the mask and
the ducts around the edges of the face would also be red,
and the out-of-box example is the same.
It's odd that the area around the eyes isn't black, so
a sticker for that area was included.
This is the only sticker in the Gundam Kun DX Set.
↑This is the out-of-box assembly example on the box.
The inside of the mask and ducts are red,
the shield is solid red, the beam rifle is solid blue,
and the beam saber is solid white.
I painted the area around the eyes and inside the ducts
with matte black.
I painted the inside of the mask with glossy black.
In hindsight, this color distinction might have been pointless.
Both could have been matte.
By the way, if this part were made in black,
applying a red sticker only to the sensor area at the top of the head
would make the out-of-box color closer to the intended color,
and it would be easier to apply the sticker (※), which seems good to me,
but I suspect that LIMEX black parts are difficult to produce,
so they went with red parts instead.
※I later realized that if it were all black, the line under the eyes
and the chin part would also be black, so sticker application
would actually be harder.
The pupil area and the vulcan cannon area on the temple
are yellow parts, but
the brush I use to paint the vulcan cannon holes black
is a disposable ultra-fine brush
(which can be reused multiple times as long as you use the same color),
so for another Gundam Kun,
I painted just this part while it was still on the sprue.
When I assembled all the head parts together...
↑it came out like this.
The LIMEX sprue cut points
remain whitish even after sanding.
However, once assembled, the sprue attachment points
are positioned where they're completely hidden
or barely visible, which shows thoughtful design.
The blue parts also show quite a bit of whiteness up close.
↑This is the part where the sole piece fits into the leg,
and if you don't sand it thoroughly,
this red sole piece
won't fit snugly without gaps.
This might be the hardest point if you're doing a nippers-only out-of-box build.
I assembled the torso and both legs.
The parts in this image frame are completely out-of-box.
The color separation in this section alone
is practically perfect.
By the way, regarding what makes this Gundam Kun DX Set "DX" (Deluxe),
it's that an option was added to recreate
"the state as mounted on the sprue within Gundam Kun's videos."
This isn't the sprue-mounted initial state,
but rather a display stand designed like a sprue.
Normal assembly and sprue-state assembly can't coexist—
you have to choose one or the other.
I considered assembling it in the sprue state,
but the showcase I keep my Gundam Kun collection in
is too short, so I couldn't fit it.
So I went with the normal assembly option.
By the way, anyone who reads "DX" as "Double X"
is a Twin Satellite Cannon believer from the After War era,
so be careful.
In the assembly example above,
the arms from the wrists forward, the backpack, and the beam saber blade
are naturally left in the molded white color,
but the box art shows them properly colored.
So
I painted these parts.
And assembled them...
And attached the head—basically complete.
Though he still isn't standing on the ground.
"This guy won't move!"
Compared to the all-white Gundam Kun,
the neck ball joint fit is tighter,
and moving the head has a somewhat stiff feel.
There's no paint on this area,
so the cause isn't from paint buildup.
The shield is connected to the sprue at three points,
with two of them being thick sprue connections,
so cutting right up to the edge risks gouging it.
I cut with some clearance first,
then sanded it down.
The beam rifle and shield
I'm leaving unpainted as-is.
I keep saying "out-of-box plus a little,"
but the more I think about details,
the more the "plus" part swells,
threatening to completely redefine what "out-of-box" means.
I compared it with the painted all-white Gundam Kun
I built previously.
As I've mentioned before,
a slight tilt of the head—up or down—
changes the expression, which is great.
When you look at him from below with his head tilted all the way up,
he takes on this "Sunrise/Sotsu Agency look"
that's just irresistible.
↑The "Sunrise/Sotsu Agency look" refers to
this face.
I assembled another one.
This one I'm making into
Gundam Mk-II in Titans colors.
The parts are split so thoughtfully for color separation
that it's really helpful.
When I shaved the beam rifle and shield shapes
to look right,
and painted them appropriately,
they end up looking right.
↑The back side painting looks like this.
The arms are Titans color up to the back of the hand,
with just the fingers in metallic black, which was tedious.
Up to here I used a digital camera,
and from here I used an iPhone,
but the color reproduction is closer to the actual colors with these.
Just changing the colors makes the face look villainous.
I'll be taking the day off.
I apologize for the inconvenience and appreciate your understanding.
Previously, there was a magazine supplement that included
a Gundam Kun made of LIMEX (limestone-filled plastic) material in pure white
(→here),
and now a Gundam Kun DX Set has been released for general sale
with some parts in color.
I pre-ordered four sets from Yodobashi,
but this isn't hoarding.
When I went to the actual store later,
they were just stacked and selling normally.
Also, this isn't for resale purposes.
I plan to assemble all of them eventually.
There's a difference in meaning between stacking them in the store
and stacking them at home after purchasing,
but let's not worry about that.
With the previous all-white LIMEX version,
the characteristic whitish tone from the limestone wasn't noticeable,
but it's scattered throughout the colored parts.
However, that's just the material's character, so don't worry about it!
So says Gundam Kun, establishing his position beforehand.
By the way, the previous magazine supplement's Gundam Kun was
the first Gundam Kun made of LIMEX material,
and this DX Set is the first colored Gundam Kun
made of LIMEX material.
↑The whiteness is especially noticeable on the red parts.
Besides white, the colors are blue, yellow, and red,
and since they've gone to the trouble of color-separating the parts,
I decided to add just a little touch to an out-of-box build
and assemble one.
The red is quite pale in color, whether due to the LIMEX or not.
As is, the inverted V-shape in the mask and
the ducts around the edges of the face would also be red,
and the out-of-box example is the same.
It's odd that the area around the eyes isn't black, so
a sticker for that area was included.
This is the only sticker in the Gundam Kun DX Set.
↑This is the out-of-box assembly example on the box.
The inside of the mask and ducts are red,
the shield is solid red, the beam rifle is solid blue,
and the beam saber is solid white.
I painted the area around the eyes and inside the ducts
with matte black.
I painted the inside of the mask with glossy black.
In hindsight, this color distinction might have been pointless.
Both could have been matte.
By the way, if this part were made in black,
applying a red sticker only to the sensor area at the top of the head
would make the out-of-box color closer to the intended color,
and it would be easier to apply the sticker (※), which seems good to me,
but I suspect that LIMEX black parts are difficult to produce,
so they went with red parts instead.
※I later realized that if it were all black, the line under the eyes
and the chin part would also be black, so sticker application
would actually be harder.
The pupil area and the vulcan cannon area on the temple
are yellow parts, but
the brush I use to paint the vulcan cannon holes black
is a disposable ultra-fine brush
(which can be reused multiple times as long as you use the same color),
so for another Gundam Kun,
I painted just this part while it was still on the sprue.
When I assembled all the head parts together...
↑it came out like this.
The LIMEX sprue cut points
remain whitish even after sanding.
However, once assembled, the sprue attachment points
are positioned where they're completely hidden
or barely visible, which shows thoughtful design.
The blue parts also show quite a bit of whiteness up close.
↑This is the part where the sole piece fits into the leg,
and if you don't sand it thoroughly,
this red sole piece
won't fit snugly without gaps.
This might be the hardest point if you're doing a nippers-only out-of-box build.
I assembled the torso and both legs.
The parts in this image frame are completely out-of-box.
The color separation in this section alone
is practically perfect.
By the way, regarding what makes this Gundam Kun DX Set "DX" (Deluxe),
it's that an option was added to recreate
"the state as mounted on the sprue within Gundam Kun's videos."
This isn't the sprue-mounted initial state,
but rather a display stand designed like a sprue.
Normal assembly and sprue-state assembly can't coexist—
you have to choose one or the other.
I considered assembling it in the sprue state,
but the showcase I keep my Gundam Kun collection in
is too short, so I couldn't fit it.
So I went with the normal assembly option.
By the way, anyone who reads "DX" as "Double X"
is a Twin Satellite Cannon believer from the After War era,
so be careful.
In the assembly example above,
the arms from the wrists forward, the backpack, and the beam saber blade
are naturally left in the molded white color,
but the box art shows them properly colored.
So
I painted these parts.
And assembled them...
And attached the head—basically complete.
Though he still isn't standing on the ground.
"This guy won't move!"
Compared to the all-white Gundam Kun,
the neck ball joint fit is tighter,
and moving the head has a somewhat stiff feel.
There's no paint on this area,
so the cause isn't from paint buildup.
The shield is connected to the sprue at three points,
with two of them being thick sprue connections,
so cutting right up to the edge risks gouging it.
I cut with some clearance first,
then sanded it down.
The beam rifle and shield
I'm leaving unpainted as-is.
I keep saying "out-of-box plus a little,"
but the more I think about details,
the more the "plus" part swells,
threatening to completely redefine what "out-of-box" means.
I compared it with the painted all-white Gundam Kun
I built previously.
As I've mentioned before,
a slight tilt of the head—up or down—
changes the expression, which is great.
When you look at him from below with his head tilted all the way up,
he takes on this "Sunrise/Sotsu Agency look"
that's just irresistible.
↑The "Sunrise/Sotsu Agency look" refers to
this face.
I assembled another one.
This one I'm making into
Gundam Mk-II in Titans colors.
The parts are split so thoughtfully for color separation
that it's really helpful.
When I shaved the beam rifle and shield shapes
to look right,
and painted them appropriately,
they end up looking right.
↑The back side painting looks like this.
The arms are Titans color up to the back of the hand,
with just the fingers in metallic black, which was tedious.
Up to here I used a digital camera,
and from here I used an iPhone,
but the color reproduction is closer to the actual colors with these.
Just changing the colors makes the face look villainous.