|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Serpent Custom |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Fans of the Gundam Wing series know of the OVA (video) finale, "Endless Waltz." Aside from the radical changes to the "W-boys" Gundams, a new Mobile Suit was introduced as an enemy suit. Based on Trowa's Heavyarms Custom, the Serpent was armed with two large gattling cannon on each arm, a beam cannon and bazooka, as well as missiles in the shoulders. For a "mass production," line suit, it's an impressive looking machine.
The Kit
This is the first 1/100 Gundam *anything* I've purchased. Getting the box was a suprise - for something that shouldn't seem that much bigger, the box is several times the size of the 1/144 Gundam kits. It's got a ton of parts in it, as well as figures of Marimaya and Relena (unpainted) in 1/35 scale. The parts are molded in several colors, using the Bandai "system injection" technique. If you want this model to really shine, though, you'll want to paint it.
I'd say, though, that the hardest part of painting is going to be the figures - to make them look good ("real" good or "anime" good) is going to take work, and I've never been much of a figure painter. We'll see how they turn out...
One other nice touch on this kit - instead of having to find some way of making the main, green "sensor eye" look good, Bandai provides you with an adhesive green "gem" to use instead. Thank you!
Passing along some other information on the colors used from the rec.arts.anime.modeling newsgroup:
| Color listed | Color mix given (www.1999.co.jp, 1/144 version) | Color equivalent, perhaps... | Grey-blue | 70% Indigo Blue, 20% Navy Blue, 10% White | Not sure. |
| Gray | 70% Field Grey, 20% Navy Blue, 10% White | Again, not sure, but this seems to be part of the Gatling cannon, so I'll be leaning towards Gun Metal and Burnt Steel colors. |
| Gray-violet | 80% Intermediate blue, 10% white, 10% Monza red | Might try RLM82 (I think) Braunviolet. |
| Navy blue | Navy blue | |
| Sky blue | 90% White, 10% Cobalt Blue | Might be able to use RLM74 Lichtblau instead. |
| Missile blue | 70% Intermediate blue, 20% Monza red, 10% White | Not sure, this is an oddball color. |
| Cold white | White with a small amount of blue | Sounds like a good mix, but not sure where it's used agian. |
| Midnight blue | Midnight blue | Dark Sea Blue |
| Darkish grey | 80% Neutral Grey, 20% Black | RLM66 Grey, perhaps. |
| Blue-grey | 50% white, 20% Daytona green, 20% Cobalt blue, 10% Yellow | Not sure. Need to see where this color is used. |
Again, this is just "this might work" at this point. I'll fix this data as I get into the kit.
From a first look, this looks like a *really* impressive kit. You can snap it together, sure, but I'll be treating it "like a model" - glue, seams, paint, and all. It really deserves it.