exceed head

Read more about the article Labor Day Exceed Gouf Update

Labor Day Exceed Gouf Update

Slow progress, but I hit a decent milestone at the end of this past weekend with the first session of primer, so it’s time for a post. I have a couple of tool discussions here so this will be good for future reference as well. First up is the drafting compass. We’ve all used these in the past to draw circles on paper. There is precision with the wheel adjustment so here, I can use this to mark up an area on the kit for drilling a hole. The back of the head needs a attachment point for the Gouf’s cables. The compass comes in handy to accurately measure how how far from a point of reference to make the marks. And I can easily mirror the mark on the other side of the head so I have symmetry.

Once marked off, I have a guide for drilling in the holes that will eventually dock the head cables.

If I take the compass and use the needle end as a guide along the bottom of a plastic piece, I can run this line and effectively draw a parallel line to the edges of the parts to draw in a guide that I can then tape along and scribe in a parallel detail line.

More about the build and another tool after the jump.
(more…)

Continue ReadingLabor Day Exceed Gouf Update
Read more about the article RX-78 Gundam Exceed Model Head DONE!

RX-78 Gundam Exceed Model Head DONE!

This is easily one of my quickest projects to complete in the past 10 or so years. The tough part was figuring out how to take the damn thing apart, and you can check out the disassembly video here:

Naturally, I need to add lights to the thing so I built a light setup for the eyes and the mohawk piece. I also wanted to lower the light bleed below the eyes so I added some styrene to the face piece just under the eyes. The nose vents are just holes so I covered this area with some plastic as well. Styrene tubes are glued to the back of the eyes to focus the light as well as have a place to slide the eye light assembly.

The complete finishing steps after the jump as well as completed pictures. (more…)

Continue ReadingRX-78 Gundam Exceed Model Head DONE!
Read more about the article Tearing down the Gundam Exceed Model Head

Tearing down the Gundam Exceed Model Head

This past weekend, I saw a FB post from one of my local shops (Neo Happy Land Co) saying they had the RX-78 Gundam Exceed Heads in stock. They’re selling them there for $10. Which isn’t too bad a markup being that they’re gashapon items from Japan. I have a few of the Zaku Exceed Model heads from my own trip to Japan, so I definitely needed to get this one as well.

Also over the weekend, a modeler that goes by Marcogunpla post up pictures of his 3D designed neck piece for displaying the ’78 Head. He also posted the files up on Thingiverse. Marco printed it on a SLA printer in resin and the neck piece looks very nice. I downloaded the file and printed it on my FDM printer at .25mm and this took 3 hours. I did a print estimation for .15 and that would have taken 6 hours. I also ran a print estimation for an SLA printer (Formlabs preform software for the Form 2) and at .05mm the print would take about 8 hours. Still not too bad for the quality of print that I saw in the FB posts. The head unwrapped, the assembly is very simple. There is a chin piece and the V-fin that need to be assembled. The sides of the head pull out and you can grab the forehead piece to bring it up and the display is complete.

If you don’t build/paint/etc stop here. If you are a model builder and have picked one up or are planning on getting one to mod/paint/etc; read on!

(more…)

Continue ReadingTearing down the Gundam Exceed Model Head