When the Spring theme for Build Club was announced, I looked over my backlog, picked out a kit, looked at the instructions for said kit, and changed my mind. On and off, this process took about a couple of weeks. Anyway, I’ve started working on the kit I finally settled on. It is…
HGBF Transient Gundam Glacier!
This mobile suit comes from the rather obscure Gundam Build Fighters Honoo Try, which was serialized in Hobby Japan and is a variant of Transient Gundam from Gundam Build Fighters Try (and yes, Transient Gundam is in my backlog). With its much darker color scheme and additional clear parts, Glacier is strikingly different from your typical Gundam revision. Still, it looks cool, and I thought it would be a good kit to get back into the swing of things.
Working roughly an hour at a time over a few days, I removed most of the pieces from their runners and did the first-pass trimming and filing; just a few optional hands, some backpack parts, and all of the weapon parts haven’t been touched yet. This whole process has been the same as usual, save for one addition: a DSPIAE handheld vacuum cleaner. I’ve been mainly using this vacuum to clean the dust off of my files, which it does a great job of, though I still have to use tape to remove those few particles that really get stuck. This vacuum has also been good for keeping my workspace a little bit cleaner. So far, I’ve gotten my money’s worth.
Right now, I’m in the process of wiping down the pieces with wet paper towels and testing some paint colors. Said tests are for the panel lines; for this kit, I wanted to do something out of the ordinary. I’ve tested six colors so far, including a green that I originally bought to paint Gundam eyes (and for this kit, it will stay that way), and a couple from the Gundam Marker Advanced set (both of which were too dark). I really like the yellow, but it would pop too much on Glacier, reducing the visual impact of the clear parts. That said, between the last two colors, light blue and light pink, I’m leaning towards the former, since it fits better with the “Glacier” name. I’m planning on doing a second round of color tests, though, to try and mix the nicest blue I can. Interestingly enough, there’s a teal listed in this Gunpla’s color mixing guide, although it seems to just be for one small detail on the top of Glacier’s head.
So, that’s where I’m currently at with Transient Gundam Glacier. In the following week or so, I plan to finish cleaning, do a final pass on filing and sanding (for the pieces that have already been trimmed, that is), clean some more, then start painting. Going to take my time with this one and hopefully do a nice job.