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Mirage C01-GAEA |
| Series | Armored Core |
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| Title | Mirage C01-GAEA | |
| Release Date | December 2005 | |
| Suggested Price (JPY) | 2,800 | |
| No. of Parts | ? Runners + 1 polycaps + 1 instruction manual | |
| Plastic Color | Metallic Blue, Gun Metal, Black Metal, Silver, Clear, Clear Orange | |
| Grade | Non | |
| Scale | 1/72 | |
| My Rating | Good | |
| Model Status | Completed (2006-06-17) | |
| Production Roll-Out# | #23 |
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Comment
This is a gorgeous, ultra-detail injection plastic kit from Kotobukiya featuring Mirage
C01-GAEA, from the ever popular PS2 game, Armored Core.
All runners are molded in color and coated with nice and shinny paint that is a waste to paint over it. In my opinion, the quality of the this plastic model is equivalent to Bandai's HG but not reaching HGUC standard. The parts division is not too well done comparing to a MG kit where joint lines and mold lines are visible all over. There are quite a lot of small details part so this is not going to be easy to build. No decals are provided.
This item was purchased online from HLJ.
Construction Process
I am checking this site stats and from the stats, I found out that visitors are much
more interested in unpainted model kit comparing to to my painted kit. This lead to two
possible conclusion. One, my painted kit sucks and not worth viewing (ouch!). Two, there are
tons of lazy people out there with the question "What if I don't do this, will my model look
good?" and then "Oh! This mad fella had done it and maybe I should try!".
I guess to answer the two statements, I am doing the next model without painting again. This round, I choose Armored Core Mirage because this kit comes coated so it should look nice without painting. This is is a bit harder comparing to my other MG RX-78-2 Gundam One Year War 0079 Version since this kit comes with ultra detail but at HG standard. I am expecting a lot of gaps and mold lines.
The model is built following the instructions. I have to use some glue for this kit to secure some tiny detail parts. This part is easy and it should only take about 5 - 8 hours.
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Electric Toothbrush Sander I am using a used brush here. The bristle is cut off and stick a blue tack on it. Next, a small piece sandpaper is cut and then stick it onto the brush. In 15 minutes, I got a new tool done. This is not a new idea. It is actually base on some modeling article and tons of people have tried it. The difference is that I am using blue tack instead of double sided tape to taper the sandpaper. I think blue tack is more economical in the long run and allow you to swapped / dispose your sandpaper with ease. |
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All parts are sanded this way but then this will leave some sanding mark on the plastic surface. No problem here. I took out my Tamiya Compound and rubbed the surface with it and you will get back your shinny plastic surface. Notice that parts sanded this way will leave a small area in flat comparing to the original plastic shine. The shoulder comes with a messy gaps. I use melted Tamiya Gray Putty with Nail polish remover to putty the gaps and then sand. This leave the puttied area in different color. This is not a problem. Just pull out your Gundam markers and paint the nearest color on it. The color difference should be covered in the next step. |
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Washing and Drybrushing
The kit got pesky lines, sanding marks and different color on it. I am using artist oil
to wash the kit. Same old procedure here where black oil and Zippo fuel are used. Wait for
it to dry and rubbed off the excess.
Next, I pull out my silver Gundam Marker and squeeze some ink out onto a piece of paper. While slightly wet, I use my favorite dry brush to applied the ink and brush it onto the model. Gundam Markers dry fast and I have to work very fast here.
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| AC Mirage built straight from the box before washing and detailing. Look nice but then still has the plastic look on it. | |
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| Zippo fuel used to thin oil. Wash the parts and let it dry. Clean up later. | ||
Conclusion
There is no airbrush involved here. I did not do coating her but I strongly suggest to
coat your model as the paint can be rubbed off easily. I am not doing it here because of
plastic crack and snap problems. This kit actually got both arm snapped off and it left knee
broken. It is fixed but no longer perfect. Plastic nowadays is unpredictable.
I believe more people should enjoy modeling without reason like not able to come out with a masterpiece. This kit demonstrate that only basic building, artist oil and Gundam markers are needed to make a self-proclaimed "Beautiful" model done. Don't kill yourself on your first few model and have fun some fun trying this.
Box Art and Manual Scans
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Document Date : 2006-06-20 |
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