Activity

As soon as I picked the model up in the morning to check it the legs fell off. I realized the 00 backskirt is too short. It doesn’t even connect to the back of the universal hip bar, leaving everything exposed! This meant having to turn to the Kamiki backskirt, but did I have to ABANDON the 00 skirt? The answer, friends, is ‘glue, no!’ So after extensive fiddling I even added some of the condensers from Kamiki’s legs, ensuring the 00 skirt can still hold its beam saber handles.

The green GN drive fell off, so I had to cement it back on, which as it turned out, meant taking the armour piece back off of the back of the leg to help it fit. The condenser lens on the inside of the leg also fell off, so I cemented it back on and repainted it.

I also decided to add Kamiki Burning’s backpack to signify the inclusion of the complete RG System. It fell off once, but seems to be good now. I originally wanted to slip the scabbard between 00’s and Kamiki’s backpacks, but there’s not enough room, either between them or with the backskirt. I kept the clip for the scabbard on the backskirt, but as long as I’ll be using the GN Sword III or the 0 Raiser’s binders there’s always the threat of collision.

I almost resorted to asking for your opinions on where to mount the scabbard, but I still had one solution waiting: the binders. Construction was straightforward as I have built the 00 and the 0 Raiser before. Painting wasn’t a big deal either.

But it was for the GN Sword III. Not only did I have to change it to my Sonata’s trademark green, but I wanted to change the blade’s condenser-type green to blue to match the gundam’s new condensers. I used blue sharpie on the inside, and metallic blue gundam marker on the outside. I also painted the white covers gold, and the indented lines silver. Since I had built this GN Sword III before, construction was much faster. But I found the connection to the arm likes to pop off, because the condenser I added to the arm from the Kamiki gets in the way. The sword’s supporting shaft has some flex, but I don’t want to risk too much stress on the plastic, so I’m taking my time, being careful with it. That condenser piece is solid-stuck, ain’t going nowhere. Guess it’s a good thing I realized my mistake with the backskirt before it, too, was solid.

I also painted Kamiki’s sword and the scabbard. I wanted the blade condenser-blue here too. If the GN Sword is Sonata’s long- and mid-range weapon, the GN Katana is its short-range weapon. I kept most of the hilt white, but painted the inset silver and the guard and pommel gold.

Then we come to the Gun Blade Lance. I used the clear pieces and used my blue sharpie to colour them blue, again to match the condenser… and found that the Kamiki wrist has problems with the weight! I’ll figure something out.

Since this would have been created by members of Celestial Being story-wise, I added the included decals to the kit, the textless one on the Kamiki backpack to evoke a bit of the ‘rising phoenix’ imagery, and the other on the binder without the scabbard. I think that both helps, and breaks up the colours in the right places.

So here we are, my Sonata Scherzo nearly complete. I’ll check over the paint a few more times to make sure it’s as good as I’ll get it, figure out how to have it hold the Gun Blade Lance, and hash out some final issues before making my submission. Otherwise, though, it’s practically ready.