1/60 Unicorn Gundam perfect grade build

[eureka]

As per my other thread I acquired this 1/60 Unicorn Gundam perfect grade kit in a very unknown state.

 

After more than a few days of searching the parts & trying to match them up with the pictures of the fully populated sprues and using the sprues that were present to try to see if the marks where they had been cut off the sprues matched the sprues so I could identify the parts.

I had already quickly gone through the parts but this time I wanted to be as sure as I could be to identifying the parts. It took longer than expected and I still had a few question marks to say the least.

 

This is how the kit looked when I opened the box.

 

It is clear that all of the stand parts are missing, the shied is missing, some of the weapons are missing as are the LED lighting that is included with the kit. 

I had already decided that I wasn't going do any painting on the model before I was sure it is buildable.

I know I can get spares if needed but it isn't going to be easy with the parts having to come direct from Japan.

 

As with my previous gundam builds its all slot and clip together so I thought how hard can it be.

 

First stumbling block was a couple of parts that looked like the ones in the pictures on the sprue but looked nothing like the parts when being assembled.

I pretty much convinced myself that I had got them wrong and the parts were missing. It all got put away in the box> I decided to have another look as the parts from the sprue were a distinctive shape so was pretty sure I had the correct parts.

 

Turns out I did but was just not looking at the right angle.

 

The next few sub assemblies went together well (photos to follow when I get them uploaded).

So far got the feet, backpack and main part of body with armour done.

 

Quite a enjoyable build but tricky due to the Japanese only instructions.

 

[The Chief Smeg]

Looking forward to your piccies 

[mrpotatohead]

Eureka,

If you google search, "1/60 Unicorn Gundam perfect grade kit mech9" that should give you a result to the website www.mech9.com.    They have an English translation of the instructions there .

Hope that help.

Regards,

Paul

[eureka]

Thanks Paul that is a very useful website.

Looking at the translation I was pretty close with what I had guessed at the instructions.

 

Gives me a lot more ideas as to what I want to do when it comes to paint, so far so good with no missing or broken parts.

 

A couple of the movable parts are still proving a little tricky but that could be because I have used the left part rather than the right,

Its not been easy being certain which part I should be using due to most of the parts being in plastic tubs when I bought it.

I would still love to know what the person who bought it then took most of the parts off the sprues was thinking.

[eureka]

After so many delays and general life getting in the way I have got the main frame and armour of the unicorn more or less done.

For the £20 I paid I really didn't expect to end up with a built model without some sort of scratch building or modding taking place.

But surprise surprise the only bits missing are the shield, stand/base & a few bits of some of the weapons.

 

I will upload some of the build photos as & when. 

I was deciding if I was going to go down the paint or no paint route.

I had decided that it looks pretty good as it is so was going to add the decals and a bit of weathering to bring it to life as most of the frame is hidden anyway.

 

That's when the second surprise happened. Talking to neighbours son & the gundam kit gets brought up (asks if it was me that bought the robot kit and how I was getting on with it).

Turns out it belonged to his brother who moved away and has now decided he's staying away so everything else is being cleared out & he thinks there is something else I might be interested in.

Tells me he will bring it across later.

 

I didn't know what to expect. Maybe the missing shield & stand? Maybe some other gundam kits? I had no idea.

 

Turns out I was wrong on all counts as he was stood at the door with the "Full Armour unit" addon for the RX-0 Unicorn I had already bought.

Valuing the "full armour unit" addon was also a little tricky but unlike the Unicorn kit the full armour unit was still packed as it left the factory with all the sprues still sealed in their plastic bags.

Sadly still no sign of the missing stand or shield but overall with the addition of the full armour that wont be that noticeable at all.

 

Needless to say I bought full armour unit addon & am amazed at the size of the rocket boosters.

 

Its going to take quite a bit more time to get it all together but the add on full armour also comes with a couple of shields & I have got a aftermarket stand that with a little scratch building should work quite well.

 

Not exactly the route I was planning for the build but as the build has gone 100 times better than I thought I couldn't resist.

 

 

[Will Vale]

PG full armour must be ginormous! You'll need some angle iron or something for the stand

 

Will

[eureka]

The stand for the Unicorn was proving to be a bit of a stumbling block as all the aftermarket stands I have tried havnt been suitable at all.

 

Here's another weird twist to the Unicorn build. 

As per earlier in the thread the only major parts I still had missing were the stand and shield.

The shield isn't such a issue as there are two in the full armour add on.

 

I have a few weird automated searches set up on ebay. The main two are:- one is for scimitar GTE and the other is Bandai unicorn PG.

There was a seller selling a incomplete PG unicorn kit for silly money. I messaged the seller and asked if they had the stand parts.

Turned out they didn't have all the stand parts but did have the main part of the stand (already assembled) but didn't have the base part.

Sadly the seller wanted way too much. A few weeks later I received a message from the seller asking me how much I would offer.

 

Long story short I have the shield sprues complete and still sealed plus the main part of the stand already assembled just missing the base plate.

It was pointless me buying the rest of the parts the seller had for the odd couple of small bits I might have needed.

 

I am going to make a base plate for the stand from black styrene sheet so that I can use the genuine stand parts I bought & the unicorn will stand correctly with the full armour parts on display.

 

I will try and upload some photos this week & fingers crossed will be able to make a start on the full armour parts sometime soon. 

Kids are on holiday in a couple of weeks so hopefully will get some time while they are off school to make a start.