HG Harute WIP 1

It's time for a new project - Harute from the movie Gundam 00: A Wakening of the Trailblazer! Originally, I planned to work on the SD Stargazer, but because of Dan's contest, I had to push it back. Plus, I'm thinking of joining Plamocon's contest as well. The SD Stargazer will be pushed back for quite a while.

I've only done up to the mock build for now. I haven't had enough time to start painting it yet. I'm hoping to finish this by mid March at the latest.

Box Contents

9 runners total

Runner A

Runner B1

Runner B2

Runner C1

Runner C2

Runner D1

Runner D2

Runner E

Polycaps

Stickers

Runner A

Clear pieces from runner A

Runner B1

Runner B2

Runner C1

Runner C2

Runner D1

Runner D2

Runner E

Mock Build

Initial Thoughts

There are a total of 9 runners including the polycap runner. There is plenty of color separation, but if someone wanted to paint it as close to its original scheme as possible it's going to require quite a bit of masking. For example, the box art has some dark grey/black on the shoulder armor. However, on the actual pieces, the shoulder armor pieces are all orange or white. 

Additionally, there are some areas on several pieces that are sunk in that should be dark grey/black as well. These areas far too wide to be dealt with using panel lines only. They can be painted in using the reverse wash method or through masking. 

The huge pieces make up the backpack portion of the suit. The backpack, once completed, reminds me of the GN Archer. Since Harute's backpack doesn't transform into another suit, it can be considered as an entire mobile armor. With some detail painting, it will look pretty awesome. I couldn't attach it to the suit itself since the backpack was held together by masking tape, but having a mobile armor on its back will make it difficult to stand by itself. An action base seems necessary to make some cool poses.

The kit also comes with a handful of clear parts. Out of all the clear parts, my favorite would be the visor piece that you can install in front of the eye. I've just never seen a kit that comes with its own sunglasses, so it was interesting.

Speaking of interesting, the way the arms attach to the torso was new to me as well (pictured below). Instead of the usual polycap that only takes in straight pegs, the polycaps are those that you would usually use in the feet: ball joint polycaps. This is most likely because it's a transforming suit. It was refreshing to see this as it deviates from the normal Gunpla construction.

I'll be posting my full review of this kit once I'm completely finished. 

As for my paint scheme... it's a secret. It is for a contest after all. However, I'll still be posting my WIP of this kit, so it'll be slowly revealed. I have some ideas on how to  make this kit stand out, I just don't know if I can actually have it come out in the way that I want. Looks like it's time to hit the spoons!

Lastly, I got some new kits from Plamo. I actually got these a couple weeks back. I just didn't post about them. I'm looking forward to building the V-Dash as well as the Aegis. I wasn't really planning to get the AGE-1, but for $30 I thought I'd pick it up. 

Questions, comments, or advice are more than welcomed!

Thanks for reading!