HGUC RX-77-2 Guncannon

Happy July 4th everyone! Well, to my fellow Americans anyway. Today's Gundam is the HGUC 1/144 scale Guncannon - the first HGUC that I ever built (and first modern HG in general), and the first Gunpla that started my addiction to the Universal Century Series.

The HGUC RX-77-2 Guncannon and it's cardboard prison

This little guy was one of the Gunpla built during my transitional period between snap-construction and seam-filling. Thankfully, most of the major seams on the arms and the legs were well placed and thus hidden from view. However, you an still see many of the seams in the feet, the rifle, the cannons and shoulder pads and the head.

Painting this model was an exercise of pure beginner's luck. Using the el-cheapo Testor's enamel paints that I got at a local crafts store, I managed to coat this model in a layer of gunk that turned out to be pretty good. Rather than thinning my paints properly, I painted straight from the bottle, relying on the self-leveling properties of enamel paint to do the work for me. Although the model turned out to be alright, the damn thing took a good two weeks to dry, making the final assembly of this model a headache.

This was also the first Gunpla that I got to panel line with a proper tool, having received a set of the fine-tipped Gundam Markers from a friend. With most of the models before this one, I relied on a ball point pen that used a thin ink. After all was said and done, this Gunpla is sitting inside the display case alongside its 1/144 brethren. Now for some more photos of the completed kit:

Up close and personal

THIS THING KEEPS JAMMING!!!11!!1

Make my day

Drama queen pose

Up close, part 2

Great knee articulation allows for a marriage proposal!

The pose in the display case - shooting the targets down

As for the model's concerns, the parts were molded almost perfectly - no pinholes to fill, no real concern with parting lines, etc. When finished, it had great articulation, particularly with the double jointed knees. The only real quip I have about it is that I had to split up the front of the skirt armor so that its legs could do a crouching position without having both sides of the armor come up at the same time. Painting this thing was also a pleasant experience - aside from the head, which only consisted of two major pieces, proper parts separation made it easy to paint in even the smallest details. Now, for one last photo:

Until next time! Bye bye~