I love build gathering for the simple fact that a ton of my goofy ideas result from build interactions with my friends. I’ve been struggling to work on projects for the past two virtual build gatherings. The Ford Mustang GT4 stagnated from frustration. And then I started on an RG Sazabi that I have an idea for, but the motivation for that kit just wasn’t there. I’ve managed to snap the legs and part of the waist in May and started back on it to finish off the waist and upper torso this past build gathering before just boxing the damn thing up and moving on to a more interesting project.
There is a little history for this project. And I have been known to take previously finished projects and just rebuild them. The Neograde Gouf Custom conversion for the MG gouf 2.0 kit was finished almost 10 years ago: Neo Grade Gouf Custom Build. This one is a little different, it was displayed at a local hobby shop and was damaged from a customer handling it. (I have no idea why a hobby shop would allow a customer to handle kits in their display case). But it happened several years ago, almost 5 years ago: Broken Neograde Gouf Custom. And since then, it has sat in a box. Well, not really, it was taken out and used as a reference for the Gouf Custom Zaku Exceed Head conversion and Bust kit I made; that is still available for purchase here: Gouf Custom Zaku Exceed Conversion kit and bust for sale!. But back out of the box and this time, really ripped apart.
More details for this “new” project after the jump.
Some time during the last half of June’s virtual build gathering, the idea to make an MS Gouf Custom Girl popped up. I went digging for a suitable figure kit to butcher and unboxed the damaged Gouf Custom. After looking at my collection of recasts and some originals, I picked 2 kits. Two original kits. An older Volks kit Hibachi from Rance that I’m taking the head and hair from to make a mold and cast a copy as I only need these three pieces. And a kit I got from Yahoo!Japan auctions back in 2008 from AB=Flug sculpting circle for their 1/6 scale *NSFW* Villetta Nu from Code Geass. The sizing and pose for these two kits look good enough for the Gouf Custom. So on to just cutting and resin removal. A very rough fit to see if we could even do this was done with some blue tack.
Most of the armor is just resin, so it is easy to remove the excess material to get a better fit against the curves of her body. I’ve got a semblance of a skirt from the Gouf and not too much material is removed for the fit; so this kit was perfect. A nude kit is almost the best choice in these kinds of bashes as there is much less material that needs to be removed from the original figure kit. But it’s all resin anyways, so a dremel with a sanding bit will cut though this in no time.
The Gouf’s chest piece was three pieces when I pulled it apart. I glued the three pieces together as it is much easier to work with as a whole piece. Lots of cutting and hollowing out to fit the new goufy bikini top. I also needed to do some reduction surgery, completely removing the nipples and changing the profile of the boobs to better fit the new bikini. Since I’m not planning on making the top removeable and I only have so much room on the Gouf side of things for material removal; this is a good compromise. Some areas on the Gouf chest were thinned down too much and I ended up making holes that will need to be filled.
Here’s a quick test fit with the new proportions and it is starting to take shape. I’m still holding things together with blue sticky tack; so those clearances will need to be checked later once I have the fit locations and such figured out.
The backpack will be just that. A backpack. I’ll add in straps and create an actual backpack for her. The fit wasn’t perfect here so the sanding bit did some work in slimming areas here and there for a better and more centered fit.
The original kit came with panties, and if you clicked on the link earlier in reference to the Villetta kit, you’ll have more insight into that naughty little bit. Cutting the panties in half, they fit well with the cut up crotch piece from the Gouf. Some glue and putty here will help the transition. This is still all very rough for the time being.
The other thing I started is to apply epoxy putty to the areas that I sanded down on the Gouf’s armor. Some vaseline applied to the body keeps the putty from sticking and pressing the parts together, I get a better transition from the armor to the main body. I will be doing this with all the armor pieces.
The putty used is tamiya’s 2 part quick type. I guess if I wanted a longer working time, I could use the smooth type which is softer and takes a lot longer to cure, but I have that much more time to work. The next pieces I will probably try out the smooth type and see how I like it. The putty is mixed together and pressed into place for the backpack and the rear skirt.
Excess putty is used to repair the over zealously sanded chest piece.
I’m pretty motivated for this project; much more so than the Sazabi idea; so finally a return to gunpla, of sorts. Hopefully motivation continues and I’ll have much more to update as I continue.
