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Below are some Gunpla I'm
considering perhaps building in the future. Some I may be considering a
little harder than others.
Top o' the list:
MG RX-0 Unicorn Gundam * * *  MG MSZ-006C1 Zeta Plus C1 Martin Wandering Custom Re-watching Zeta Gundam
recently has moved me to revisit the Zeta itself as a possible modeling
project. While I've always found the suit visually and mechanically
interesting, I never liked how its design was totally subject to its
transformation capabilities. This issue shows itself most clearly in
the original Zeta Gundam's ponderous wing armor, which just sits
uselessly on its back in mobile suit mode. This design issue combined
with my general disinterest in transforming mobile suits kept me from
thinking much about building the Zeta, even with a ver. 2.0 kit
available. Watching the Gundam Evolve animated short featuring three customized Zeta units rekindled my interest in the Zeta, and gave me the notion of building a custom unit of my own. (I am of course particularly fascinated by the Red Zeta's unique control system.) Enter the Zeta Plus, an improved mass-production unit manufactured for Karaba, the C1 variant being specifically designed for space use. Significantly, their transformation mechanics were reconfigured such that instead of carrying useless wing armor in mobile suit mode, the Zeta Plus units' wings deploy as wing binders much like the Type 100's, increasing maneuverability (as well as improving aesthetic quality). While these MG kits from Gundam Sentinel are fairly old, as near as I can tell they actually appear to meet a fairly high standard of quality in terms of flexibility and design. There appears to be a minimum of seam lines, and a surprisingly high degree of flexibility (no doubt partly due to the Zeta Plus' light armor overall, and especially minimal frontal skirt plates). Basically the only major shortcoming of the Zeta Plus kits are the old-style MG hands — and those might easily be replaced. The C1 comes in the pretty unattractive grey color scheme featured standard on Karaba's units. For my custom unit, I've been thinking about a brilliant white and silver scheme.  Ray Hamilton Custom This
was the next thing on my list when I left Taiwan. As I recall, its
release date was shortly after my return flight, so unfortunately I
couldn't pick one up and bring it back with me. This suit will be the final member of my prized Wolfgar Zaku squad, belonging to Ray Hamilton, whose Zaku II was represented as wielding some kind of mid-range artillery weapon in the old SNES game Cross Dimension. With some slight customization and a classic Zaku II paint job, this kit will make the perfect addition to a wonderful group of models.  MG MS-06R-1A High Mobility Type Zaku II Much
like I don't figure I'll easily be able to get my hands on the B-Club
conversion parts for the Gundam Pixie, I don't figure I'll be able to
find the parts to convert an old MG Gouf into the Efreet. Moreover,
with a base as old as that, I may as well scratchbuild an Efreet from a
ver. 2.0 Gouf. (Or hope that new conversion parts are offered, which is
perhaps marginally more likely than the release of a MG Efreet.) This
being the case, I began thinking of how I might complete the Wolfgar
Team if their leader's mobile suit isn't available in MG form.Henry Boone Custom At first I considered building Captain Boone a custom MG Kaempfer, a suit similar in many respects to the Efreet. However, the MG Kaempfer is a bit dated, and ultimately just isn't the right suit. I then turned to the idea of building the suit he would have piloted before being issued one of the eight Efreet prototypes. What little biographical information exists on the members of the Wolfgar Team tells us that Captain Boone once served as a bodyguard to Kycilia Zabi before being implicated in a plot against the Zabis which resulted in his demotion and reassignment to Earth to lead the Wolfgar Team, a unit composed mostly of criminals. From this fact, we can infer that Boone probably piloted a high-performance space-use Zaku II, perhaps the S-type. Moreover, since he was issued an Efreet — a suit designed for fast close-combat attack — it is reasonable to deduct that Boone favored high-speed melee combat. This being the case, and given his position close to Kycilia Zabi, he could likely have been using an improved high mobility MS-06R-1A before his reassignment to Earth. Since building a high mobility type would be more interesting than another S-type, I decided to entertain the possibility of building an MG MS-06R-1A painted in the colors of Captain Boone's Efreet, using the Shin Matsunaga Custom as the base kit. While this suit would only be something of a speculative placeholder for Boone's Efreet, I'd still like to have at least a sort of completed Wolfgar Team. Short of an MG Efreet, this may be the best I can do.  MG MSN-06S Sinanju ver. Ka.
I'm
still not sure what to make of Gundam Unicorn, as the story remains
less than accessible to us in the English audience for now, but I am
sure that this Sazabi-on-steroids will make a lovely Master Grade kit.
Looking forward to it's December release delicious redness.
 MG RX-0 Unicorn Gundam OVA ver.
Alright,
I'll do it. While I'm tempted by some of the fancy-looking pre-made
iterations of this suit which are presently making their debut, I
suspect this Master Grade version will still be the most satisfying.
Besides, Sinanju will need a playmate.I've decided to build the newer OVA ver. on account of its greater flexibility, which seems to be the only difference between it and the original ver. Ka. kit.  MG MS-06S Zaku II ver. 2.0 Martin Wandering Custom With my great love for the ver. 2.0 Zakus, it's only natural that I should build one to represent a Zaku of my very own.  MG LM312V04 Victory Gundam ver. Ka.
Victory Gundam
was an awful series, and probably the most depressing installment of
Universal Century storytelling to date. Nevertheless, I have a certain
pride for having endured it, and even a certain nostalgia for it as
part of the U.C. story. Moreover, I always did find the Victory
Gundam's design to be a clean and elegant expression of the classic
Gundam style. It was therefore exciting to hear this long-neglected
suit would be receiving the MG treatment.If I do build this one, it'll probably be in a custom paint scheme to make things a little more interesting.  MG MS-14S Gelgoog ver. 2.0 Char Aznable Custom Getting
to like the look of a Zaku was one thing, but a Gelgoog? Tempted as
I've been to consider this kit solely because it's a highly articulate
ver. 2.0, up until now I've refrained. However, the Char's Deleted Affair
manga gave me the idea of how to make this model more interesting.
Building it as the reconstructed custom unit Char uses at the very end
of the Battle of A Baoa Qu might be enough to convince me to overlook
my dislike of the Gelgoog.Having built Char's Zaku and the Hyaku Shiki, and with the Sazabi now in the works also part of the collection, I'm also a little drawn to add this suit to my Red Comet collection. In any case, the Gelgoog is definitely not one of my favorite designs, and I like as not won't actually build it. Nonetheless, never hurts to keep the possibility in mind.  MG RX-78XX Gundam
Pixie
Long ago in days of yore
Bandai's subsidiary B-Club made a resin conversion parts kit for the
Master Grade RX-79[G] Gundam Ground Type model. Of course, nowadays the
conversion parts are nigh impossible to come by, but I'm determined one
day to come by them.
Actually I've sort of come to despair of ever finding the parts, alas.
I also have my doubts regarding the quality of the base model, which
I'd say is decent at best.
I've become quite a fan of the short bit of original story from Cross Dimension, the old Gundam SNES game. I look forward both to the rare chance to build what may well be the most obscure gundam of all, and to the challenge the conversion will pose as a modeling project. If I ever can get my paws on that B-Club kit, I intend to go all-out in making this model, sparing no care and attending to every detail. If I ever have a pile of money and lots of time I might even build an Efreet and four Zakus to keep Pixie occupied. Ironically enough, it would seem I've gotten around to building at least the four Zakus in advance. |