Kit Info
Manufacturer: Bandai
Scale: 1/144
Media: Injection Plastic
The Subject
The RX-77-2 Guncannon is the 2nd mobile suit (following the RX-75 Guntank) designed under the Earth Federation’s ‘Project V’ during the One Year War. The Guncannon is the first Federation suit that took on a humanoid look. Like its ‘Project V’ mates, it also uses the Core Block System with the FF-X7 Core Fighter.
With its twin 240mm shoulder mounted cannons, the Guncannon serves as a mid-range support mobile suit for the RX-78-2. Like the RX-78-2, it is also capable of firing a beam rifle. It however, lacks a melee weapon with only 2 head mounted machine guns for close support purposes. The RX-77-2 would also be the only mobile suit from the project to see limited mass production throughout the War.
Info adapted from Gundam Wikia
The Build
This version of the Guncannon is part of Bandai’s new HGUC Revive subline, where they upgrade the original HG version of previously released kits. The original HGUC Guncannon kicked off the HGUC line way back in 1999. The Revive Guncannon has been improved in all aspects compared to the original: parts breakdown that minimizes seamlines, improved poseability and much better proportions. The only things missing in this new boxing are the pair of spray missiles that replace the shoulder cannons.
Once snapfitted, it’s a no brainer to basically consign the original HGUC to the ‘never to be built’ pile. The only thing going for the HGUC is the price and the spray missiles. Otherwise, the Revive version blows the original out of the water. With 15 years of improved engineering, this kit is basically seamline-free with the most prominent being the one that runs the side of the head and (as always) the beam rifle. The poseability is also much improved with the Revive being able to be posed in very dynamic poses. However, as per modern Bandai kits, the kit requires a lot of sanding to get rid of sprue marks. One minor mistake I made was installing the visor. Once on, it wouldn’t come off. So I ended up masking it off before painting.
This kit looks excellent out of the box and so I finished it with no mods nor additional detailing. I used the following colors for the kit:
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I decided to go with the original color scheme with some changes. First, I added digital camo to break up the monotony of the solid red main color. I also decided make it more asymmetrical by only adding the camo on the right side. This was done first by spraying a darker shade of red (Insignia Red with one drop of Insignia Blue). Then I spent an evening randomly adding 1mm masking tape in a perpendicular pattern. I then sprayed the primer over the darker red before spraying Insignia Red as the main color. Unfortunately, it wasn’t perfect but I decided it was good enough to live with it and move on.
The other change was replacing the white color for the head with Vallejo Model Air Light Grey. The round mold on the pelvis and the chest vents were also changed from yellow to this color. They ended up being only very slightly lighter in color than the Dark Gull Grey I used for all the joints, hands, feet, backpack and cannons.
Some of the smaller parts or those that are a challenge to mask were simply handpainted. After that I coated the parts with Future and left to dry a few days to prepare for decals. I believe that ’09’ would depict this as Hayato Kobayashi’s machine from the One Year War. For me, when it comes to gunpla, less is usually more so nothing overboard with the decals. The markings were from some spare Bandai Decals and an ALPS printed sheet I got from Hobby Kulture in Singapore. I remember Bandai Decals to be quite good but the ones I have are quite old which is probably why they were very fragile. After a day of curing and a wipedown with a wet cloth, I handbrushed Future over the decals to seal them in.
Panel lining was next with Vallejo Model Wash Dark Grey. When it comes to panel lining for mecha, I’m still quite sloppy so they aren’t uniform and as solid as I would like. I chalk it up to learning experience and cleaned up as much as I can with a Windex soaked cotton bud.
The kit was then finished with a flat coat of Vallejo Polyurethane Satin Varnish. I only made a quick pass over the parts which left them semi-gloss. I liked how they looked so I left as is.
And that’s it! Normally it’s pretty much standard practise that gunpla is painted with enamel or lacquer paints as they dry stronger (they won’t chip off with posing of the kit) and tend to give the impression of a deeper and richer color. I completed this kit with nothing but acrylics though, even down to the primer and flat coats. Looks alright to me. 🙂