Heyya! So, these past few months have been a little busy due to work - and I'm starting to appreciate my shifting/rotating schedule! I like how we have some day offs during the weekday, and the challenge of commuting. But work is not what we're talking about now, it's about my new found hobby!
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| Me at Gundam Caravan during GMKC 2017 @ SM North Edsa Annex |
Over the years I've always loved building stuff. From makeshift little houses (and a treehouse eventually), styrofoam spaceships, mouse-boats, shitty weapons, to a bluetooth-controlled car. I find joy in working with my hands. The amount of satisfaction you get when you finally finished what is going on on that very weird head of yours, is astonishing. Sometimes I just stare at my own works marveling at my mediocre skills and wondering how I could improve my skill set as a 'Maker'.
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Last May, I went to a mall to hopefully buy a hard disk enclosure for the hard drives I salvaged from our old computers. It was a good thing I brought them though, as I would have bought an enclosure for nothing. The hard drives were dud. So I wandered around the mall for a few hours and got into the toys section, Toy Kingdom. If you've seen my post about the Going Merry, then this is a continuation. I was just skimming through the Gundam Model kits when I saw a very attractive price. In malls, normally we see the prices of these kits to be at around P 1,100 ++, but what I saw that day, really caught my attention.
I steered away for a little while to check the SD Kits which only cost around P 350. Not knowing anything about gundams back then, I carefully looked at which kit I am going to get - then I grabbed the SD Unicorn. I held it close to me while I was still thinking of the kit I saw earlier. I got into the Star Wars section and I finally said to myself, "What the heck, I'll grab THAT kit." went back and saw that it was "apparently" the last stock. I returned the Unicorn and got that kit instead. It was the High Grade Iron-Blooded Orphans Barbatos Lupus, for a price of P 699.75. Nice deal! But I do wonder, Barbatos Lupus is one of the main mobile suits (MS) of the anime Iron-Blooded Orphans (IBO) but it's relatively cheaper than the grunt suits! The mall price for the other suits are at around P 850. What the heck?
After buying this kit, I eventually got more into the gundam universe. Not the anime, but the plastic models (PlaMo). Though I watched Gundam Seed and Gundam Seed Destiny as a child, I do not recall any other things from those animes besides the title.
Anyway, my exposure to the gundam community greatly affected my life. I joined some gunpla groups on FB, delved into the numerous amounts of model kits, learned so much about customizing and what not, and, last but not least - painting. I spent a great time researching about paints and the types of it. How to paint properly, how to thin the paint correctly, layering of paints, etc. And the reason I am drawn to this hobby is the customization you can do. It brings out your creativity. It allows you to express yourself artistically. It also stimulates your imagination. It gets me looking forward to the weekend. Haha. Specially now that I have a job, I need something to do to relieve some stress.
As of writing, I currently have 5 gundam model kits; 2 High Grades (HG), 1 Real Grade (RG), and 2 Entry Grades. The Entry Grade gundams are actually free - Gundam Philippines hosts this Gundam Caravan at certain events, and sometimes it is an event on it's own. The mechanics of the caravan is you get to experience building a gundam, and after building, you get the kit. Great, isn't?
12/15/2017 Update: Gave my 2 EG Kits (Exia and Strike) to my nephews.
I know I still have a lot to learn in this hobby. And a lot more to buy in terms of tools and accessories, but I do have a plan for the one HG I recently bought. I am planning to custom it into a certain robot which has a swag. I'm not telling yet who or what. We'll see in the future. All I know is, I'll learn a lot from kit-bashing to scratch-building after I'm done with that.
Well, this is just an introduction to my new found hobby. I hope you have a hobby, too. Keeps you fueled up and inspired despite the toxicity and stress from work. If you don't have one, don't be afraid to try new things. You'll never know what you might enjoy.
Alsooooo.... As I said on my previous post, I am migrating some of my posts here to another website. Currently, I have only migrated 2, one post is still pending for approval.
Update: Apparently, the site is offline.
Follow my twitter for more info/updates.
Follow @iknshane
I am currently making a Lunar Cue from Power Rangers Wild Force at the request of my nephew. lol
Check HERE for the updated content of my DIY CISS Installation on my printer!
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| ASW G08 Barbatos Lupus |
I steered away for a little while to check the SD Kits which only cost around P 350. Not knowing anything about gundams back then, I carefully looked at which kit I am going to get - then I grabbed the SD Unicorn. I held it close to me while I was still thinking of the kit I saw earlier. I got into the Star Wars section and I finally said to myself, "What the heck, I'll grab THAT kit." went back and saw that it was "apparently" the last stock. I returned the Unicorn and got that kit instead. It was the High Grade Iron-Blooded Orphans Barbatos Lupus, for a price of P 699.75. Nice deal! But I do wonder, Barbatos Lupus is one of the main mobile suits (MS) of the anime Iron-Blooded Orphans (IBO) but it's relatively cheaper than the grunt suits! The mall price for the other suits are at around P 850. What the heck?
 |
| GMKC (Gundam Model Kit Contest) 2017 |
Anyway, my exposure to the gundam community greatly affected my life. I joined some gunpla groups on FB, delved into the numerous amounts of model kits, learned so much about customizing and what not, and, last but not least - painting. I spent a great time researching about paints and the types of it. How to paint properly, how to thin the paint correctly, layering of paints, etc. And the reason I am drawn to this hobby is the customization you can do. It brings out your creativity. It allows you to express yourself artistically. It also stimulates your imagination. It gets me looking forward to the weekend. Haha. Specially now that I have a job, I need something to do to relieve some stress.
As of writing, I currently have 5 gundam model kits; 2 High Grades (HG), 1 Real Grade (RG), and 2 Entry Grades. The Entry Grade gundams are actually free - Gundam Philippines hosts this Gundam Caravan at certain events, and sometimes it is an event on it's own. The mechanics of the caravan is you get to experience building a gundam, and after building, you get the kit. Great, isn't?
12/15/2017 Update: Gave my 2 EG Kits (Exia and Strike) to my nephews.
12/30/2017 Update: This post is long due. I bought: 1 bootleg HG (Daban Unicorn Full Armor, snap built complete), 1 bootleg MG (Daban Nu Ver Ka, snap built almost complete.), 2 HGs (Barbatos 4th form and 6th form, recently bought)Bye Exia, Bye Strike. Haha. #GundamCaravan Kits pic.twitter.com/1PVdPfxE8R— Spookz 👻 (@iknshane) December 15, 2017
I know I still have a lot to learn in this hobby. And a lot more to buy in terms of tools and accessories, but I do have a plan for the one HG I recently bought. I am planning to custom it into a certain robot which has a swag. I'm not telling yet who or what. We'll see in the future. All I know is, I'll learn a lot from kit-bashing to scratch-building after I'm done with that.
Well, this is just an introduction to my new found hobby. I hope you have a hobby, too. Keeps you fueled up and inspired despite the toxicity and stress from work. If you don't have one, don't be afraid to try new things. You'll never know what you might enjoy.
Alsooooo.... As I said on my previous post, I am migrating some of my posts here to another website. Currently, I have only migrated 2, one post is still pending for approval.
Update: Apparently, the site is offline.
Follow my twitter for more info/updates.
Follow @iknshane
I am currently making a Lunar Cue from Power Rangers Wild Force at the request of my nephew. lol
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