First and foremost, Happy New Year! 2021 wasn’t the best year but I think many would agree that I was a lot better than the dumpster fire that is 2020. Let’s keep that momentum going.
Speaking of momentum, I started the dual build on the HG Gundam AGE-3 Normal and HG Gundam AGE-3 Orbital around mid-December since I wanted to build anything Gundam AGE before 2021 ended as it was the 10th anniversary of the series broadcast.
It looks like the holidays really gave me enough time to complete the two. So why did I build these two and leave out the AGE-3 Fortress? Well, I like Gundams in the gaudy tri-color scheme, and of all the AGE-3 variations, these two have the basic tri-color by design. In contrast, the AGE-3 Fortress has an additional ‘full armor’ dark purple color. So, whenever I decide to build the Gundam AGE-3 Fortress, I’ll probably have to repaint all those dark colors in the standard Gundam blue, making it the dominantly blue AGE-3 variant.
Painting the kits for color-correction was relatively easy, with the AGE-3 Orbital requiring more yellow applications for the vent areas while the AGE-3 Normal had a lot of tick lines. I guess that’s a Gundam AGE design thing.
Having finished these two, I was already set of taking the remaining days of 2021 off from building kits. But then it hit me. Why not build the Gundam that inspired the Gundam AGE-3 — the ZZ Gundam.
And so, I spent the remaining days of 2021 making the most for a HGUC ZZ Gundam double build. Yes, I’m doing a double build for this bulky kit because I don’t want to basically rip the kit apart just to transform it. I’m not exactly the fastest when double building these ‘parts-forming’ kits. The last one I did, the older HGUC Zeta Gundam, took a couple of years because I sandwiched a good period of hiatus in between. And upon opening the first bag of runners for these kits, I decided that I won’t take the same time to do this double build.
And it looks like I’m making good progress. For the one stuck in robot mode, I’ve already built the base mobile suit and only left the huge backpack. For the one in its variety of transformed forms, I’ve completed most of the components and I just needed to get some additional paints to move further with the build.
Speaking of painting, Bandai did an excellent job in providing black stickers for the insides of the vents, which the ZZ Gundam had a LOT of. Unfortunately, this was then offset by the need to paint the insides of other vents red, while keeping the center area in dark gray. This meant several hours spent on masking small parts. Not the easiest thing to do, that’s why I decided to deal with those first. Building this kit also allowed me to appreciate what sorts of inspirations were taken from the ZZ Gundam that made it to the Gundam AGE-3.
Making this post on the first day of 2022, I think it sets a good momentum for me as far as building kits go, especially since I’ll need that momentum in the next kit I’m planning to build. Or rather, the next kit I’m resuming the build.
