ZeroEdge's Mods: Harute Otoha (04/01/17)

[Raiski]

:O

I need a minute to just stare at these in awe...

[Adventwings]

:O

I need a minute to just stare at these in awe...

May... May I borrow your expression...? I can't seem to find another that would better describe Nior's awesomeness...

[rubixbox]

May... May I borrow your expression...? I can't seem to find another that would better describe Nior's awesomeness...

Try "I'll be in my bunk."
The new scythe is nice, but I still think that you should make Noir a Rock Cannon.

[BlackJet]

ZeroEdge, I've been following your work over the past few weeks and I want to share my appreciation of your style and dedication to customizing your Shinki's. You have put a lot of thought and planning into each upgrade and its all very impressive. I was actually inspired to do start some of my own customizations based on your work.

On that note I was wondering if you could share a few photos of how you attach parts like the shoulder boosters to Noir's back? The photos you shared of how you made the arms and legs was very helpful, but I'm not quite getting how you make a platform to attach parts to the back and still have them work with the shinki peg style system.

Thanks in advance.

[ZeroEdge]

:O

I need a minute to just stare at these in awe...

:O

I need a minute to just stare at these in awe...

May... May I borrow your expression...? I can't seem to find another that would better describe Nior's awesomeness...

Lol, thanks if Noir impressed you!

Try "I'll be in my bunk."
The new scythe is nice, but I still think that you should make Noir a Rock Cannon.

Dunno, my scratch-building skills aren't up to par just yet, but we'll see...

I was wondering if you could share a few photos of how you attach parts like the shoulder boosters to Noir's back? The photos you shared of how you made the arms and legs was very helpful, but I'm not quite getting how you make a platform to attach parts to the back and still have them work with the shinki peg style system.

I knew I should have discussed this before... my bad.

This is a mini-tutorial on how I make mod gunpla backpack parts for shinkis. I won't claim rights or ownership of the processes done here, just that this is how I do stuff like this.

Usually, one would first try to visualize what he wants to build, but I approach things a little bit differently. I first check out what stuff I have on hand, or what is available to buy, before moving on to the visualization stuff. Besides, you can imagine all you want, but if you don't have the parts for it, you won't get anywhere, right?

First up, select a good backpack base. What you choose would depend on what the backpack is gonna look like and what you're gonna put in it (winged, weapon mounts, thrusters, etc.). Some shinkis have good reconfigurable backpack parts (Espadia and Lancamento), while some you have to make on your own from other sources (gunpla, LBX, etc.). Let's use Noir's current setup for an example...



Noir uses a 1/144 Gundam 00's backpack as a base (quite a bit of modding and sanding needed). Then, I drilled a hole in the center and stuck in a peg (from a shinki extra parts runner frame). Why only one peg, instead of the usual two? Well, it is a matter of preference. Besides, drilling a hole for one peg is easier than having to carefully align two holes for two pegs. The joint is sturdy enough that the backpack won't move unless I want it to. Well, I did mod in three pegs to the Stargazer backpack that Maya once used...



Here's another sample from 1/144 Gundam Unicorn D-Mode.

Do take note that the type of shinki back part plays a part in choosing what gunpla backpack part to use. MMS3rd back parts connect to the action base through a point located much lower down the shinki's back compared to an MMS1st. Using my examples, MMS3rd back parts can accommodate both 00's and Unicorn's, but due to it's design, the MMS1st cannot accommodate Unicorn. If you have both parts, you can compare them to get what I mean.



This is the 00 backpack on a MMS1st back piece, with a little mod that I made enabling it to hold four GN Drives instead of two.



Another view, this time with Noir and showing the hole where the O Raiser connects to. Only this time, I use it to connect an additional backpack (Unicorn).



Now we go to choosing what parts to connect to our selected backpack base. I wanted to use the GP02A shoulder thrusters because... it looks too damn cool! Luckily there is already a part where I can join it to the 00 backpack (although it looks like a polycap, it isn't, so be careful a bit when connecting them as it is a VERY tight fit). Now, how to add in the GN Drives? With this setup, there are no more points of connection available... so, make some! I drilled a couple of holes on the rear thrusters and glued in some pegs from a gunpla runner frame (should be the right size for the GN Drive's polycaps).



Here, I join the GN Drives to each peg.



Finally, connect the GP02A thrusters to the 00 backpack (don't mind the foot in the lower right of the pic, that's mine ). The two lower modded-in connectors are left free because, well... I kinda ran out of ideas on what to put in them.

You can be creative when making packpack parts for your shinkis, don't just limit yourself to only one type of mod. Example: I used a bunch of extra connectors to make Maya's (Oorbellen) backpack, and just added in parts from 1/144 Abyss and two Astray Red Frame Katanas. Another example is Laika (Howling) whose backpack isn't a backpack originally; it is the waist part of Verde Buster Gundam modded to mount thrusters and weapons (also from Verde Buster). I just added in an extra GN Drive I have lying around for good measure. You can check for yourself by looking through the pics along my thread.

There you have it... a mini-tutorial on backpacks and stuff. I hope I was able to help (or at least hope that you can decipher all my ramblings). Feel free to ask questions, I'll get to them as soon as can. Until next time!

[ZeroEdge]

Looking back at my previous post about backpacks, I finally noticed that Maya is the only one without a stable base backpack. I just used pieces of shinki connectors to join the parts together, and the result is far below our standards. Maya is a nice girl who didn't complain very much, but I think I owe her an upgrade...

So here is Maya's new and vastly improved gear. (Pics taken using my makeshift lightbox and ambient light from our veranda, don't have good enough light sources yet...)





Base backpack is from 1/144 Virtue with wing binders from Ahead. Wings are from Strike Freedom and cannons from Gundam L.O. Booster. I reused Bawoo's thrusters and Astray Red Frame's katanas.







Hmmm... the box is kinda small for shots like these...





Maya's liking her new gear, don't 'ya think?

Rina on the other hand doesn't need a backpack upgrade as it fits her so well. However, both are having weapons personalized; Rina has quite a few lined up but I'm still choosing what to give to Maya to complement those katanas (GN Sword III has a part missing, and she could use a big gun).

And on another note, I have to get some good lighting fixtures for that lightbox instead of just relying on ambient light...

[Shikaze]

Did you repaint her hair ? I find it a little too shiny compared to the usual hair shinkis have...

[ZeroEdge]

Did you repaint her hair ? I find it a little too shiny compared to the usual hair shinkis have...

Yes, I did. In my Custom Works thread (Creativity Corner), I molded some putty to make her short hair piece, and since I didn't have any paint to match her original color, I repainted all of her hair pieces. Too bad the result is kinda on the shiny side, but looks good IMO.

[royalpain88]

Oh wow. She is so nice looking.

[Takashi]

Maya is now a really deadly opponent!