International Scale Modeller

Ok, here's my project for this SiG.

The 1/144 HG Iron Blooded Orphans Astaroth Origin.

I have never seen any of the tv shows, so I can't tell you anything about the character. I was just drawn to its cool looks and of course its name.
When I'm finished, this will probably not even remotely resemble the on-screen character anyway.



I don't have an exact plan in mind yet, but I do know that there will be some kind of base/diorama to go with it, most likely incorporating this:

Kit looks awesome! Putting it on that slab almost looks like it will be standing on the surface of a meteor or something!

Look forward to seeing the progress on this and seeing it come together

nice!, so you found a kit to match your avatar name? pretty cool. I would take a sledge hammer to the stone slab and play with the bits for the base.

anyway, enjoy yous build.

Jase

Lucky you! Still waiting for Bandai to release that High Grade Evil Carrot :p

Great choice! I almost went with a suit from Iron Blooded Orphans myself.

-frank

EvilCarrot wrote:Lucky you! Still waiting for Bandai to release that High Grade Evil Carrot :p

DUDE! So happy this has started, I'm dying to see an Astaroth Astaroth!

Lysus wrote:

EvilCarrot wrote:Lucky you! Still waiting for Bandai to release that High Grade Evil Carrot :p

DUDE! So happy this has started, I'm dying to see an Astaroth Astaroth!

Lol, hadn't seen it that way. I wasn't gonna buy that kit, but now I have to. :p

Ok guys, quick question:

While assembling this "practice-Astaroth" today I got the idea of incorporating it into my build. Seeing that I had already started it before the SiG I want to ask if anyone would object to that. I think it would contribute significantly to the general Astaroth-iness of the project. The main kit of this build is still unstarted of course.

If it's just an accessory to the build it's fine by me, no judging on this SiG so we can be a little more relaxed. Just won't count towards the finished build count

Lysus wrote:If it's just an accessory to the build it's fine by me, no judging on this SiG so we can be a little more relaxed. Just won't count towards the finished build count

Of course it won't count, it's still a single build after all. Thanks, man.

I'm glad someone building something similar, this my first one of these so I'll be watching and leaning
Pete

privatepete wrote:I'm glad someone building something similar, this my first one of these so I'll be watching and leaning
Pete

It's my first (and second) one, too. Seems like we'll be learning together.

I have ideas.

As soon as I have the second Astaroth assembled, I'll do a mock-up and show you.

Stay tuned.

Astaroth wrote:I have ideas.

As soon as I have the second Astaroth assembled, I'll do a mock-up and show you.

Stay tuned.

Will be watching with interest
Pete

Not quite ready for a mock-up yet.
Someone is still missing a waist.

Just this much for my plans: I will reinterpret both of them as 1/48, placing them at slightly larger than 6m. And they will be heavily modified.

Merry Christmas everyone.

It's diorama time!

I had to abandon the granite slab ... it was just not large enough. Instead I'll use a piece of MDF with the sides covered with styrene strips and some plywood as back wall.



What is he doing, you ask?

Those who know me well enough also know, that I really like to turn my projects into something unusual.
This will be no exception.

My plan is to build a sorcerer's dungeon, depicting a demon summoning gone wrong. Some of you may know
that Astaroth is one of the demons in European mythology, that association gave me the idea for this.

I will paint the gundams in different color schemes, one will be a "good" and the other will be an "evil" version.
And yes, to bring across the image that I have in mind, I will have to modify the figures ... a lot.

This is roughly what I want it to look like. The "sorcerer" will be made from a kneeling flight crew figure, that will
of course also have to be heavily modified. This small figure is also the reason, why this dio will be in 1/48 scale.



I hope I won't offend any Gundam purists here.

Rad! Shame about the stone but this still sounds amazing. Gunpla is freedom

I'd better pull up a chair for this one
Pete

And the granite slab has gotten its place in the build after all ... if only as a makeshift vice for cutting up the plywood.

And the scratch building begins!

I'm starting with the wings ... because every demon needs wings.

Drawn up in Inkscape and cut with my cutting plotter from 0.5mm sheet styrene.
It didn't cut all the way through, so I will have to do some clean up here and there.
And of course I will have to give them a skeletal structure.

Approves.

Nice idea the wings, looking good.
Pete

Lysus wrote:

Approves.

privatepete wrote:Nice idea the wings, looking good.
Pete

Thanks guys. And happy new year.

So, while thinking of a plan for how to best attach the wings, I did some initial abdomen-filling on the Origin.
I think that's one of the weak points of the Astaroths, the area between the chest and the waist is practically empty.

More to come ... much more.

Ok, new update.

First ... some spikes. Pete said, you can never have enough and I agree. As I don't have pre-made ones, I have to make my own.
The left one is carved from a piece of laminated styrene, the other one made with Apoxie Sculpt. Personally, I like the second one better.
Fortunately I don't have to sculpt more as I will be able to do molding and resin casting in the not too distant future.



Next up: some more modifications to areas I'm not particularly fond of on these figures.

A. Red's shoulders
Originally there are some huge flat wingy things attached to those shoulders. As I will be doing my own wings, I don't need those and the connectors they are attached to. So I used some sheet styrene to close up the big hollow space left after removing the connectors.
1. Original piece
2. Connector removed
3. I needed to carve out some material on top of the holes where the connector sat
4. I fitted a piece of 1mm and one piece of 0.5mm styrene in there


And here's the result after lots of sanding and putting some Mr. Surfacer 1000 on there.


B. Blue's big protruding waist bulge thingy
I really didn't like that look from the beginning. That's an easy fix however: one Tamiya razor saw and a bit of sheet styrene.


And the result after sanding it flush. Still needs a bit of filler but I'm quite pleased with it.

EvilCarrot wrote:

Lysus wrote:

EvilCarrot wrote:Lucky you! Still waiting for Bandai to release that High Grade Evil Carrot :p

DUDE! So happy this has started, I'm dying to see an Astaroth Astaroth!

Lol, hadn't seen it that way. I wasn't gonna buy that kit, but now I have to. :p

These things all look like they are wearing high heels to me
Cross dressing robots from planet AC/DC ????

Twokidsnosleep wrote: These things all look like they are wearing high heels

Iiiiiiiiiiii'm a Mobile Suit and I'm okay, I sleep all night and I work all day...

I'm glad you guys are having fun.

Astaroth wrote:I'm glad you guys are having fun.

Ya, sorry about that , will behave myself now

Ok, back to serious business.

I always felt like the weapons I got with the kits don't really fit the theme of my build ... so I took up blacksmithing and are now in the process of making my own swords.
I have to say that I really like scratchbuilding more and more.

So, here was the first attempt at a sword.


For this, I just laminated two pieces of 1mm styrene together, drew a sword shape on a piece of paper and glued that onto the styrene. Then I carved, sawed and sanded it until I arrived at that shape. Pretty boring process and it doesn't look that good either. It's way too short and the shape isn't quite right and there's no real separation between the blade and the cross guard like in a real sword.
Which brings me to my second attempt.
This time I (again) used my cutting plotter to cut out some blade shapes from 0.5mm styrene. Twice, actually, to laminate again.



On the far left is the first attempt for comparison.
Personally, I like the one on the far right the best and that is the one I started with.

Here it is together with the cross guard that I carved and sanded out of a piece laminated from three 1mm styrene strips.


And here's an image of me drilling a hole through the cross guard, maybe giving you some sense of scale.


I know it's not finished yet, I just wanted to show you what I'm doing at the moment and maybe get some input from you guys if I'm on the right track here.

The first sword is almost finished. The blade is fitted to the cross guard, it's now just missing its handle.



Here's an inside view of the cross guard that I had to carve out for the blade to fit in.

Hi I like youy sword making, very good.

privatepete wrote:Hi I like youy sword making, very good.

Thanks Pete. And now back to your builds. We won't accept you quitting.

This is really cool reminds me of Panzer World Galient anime from the early 80s. excellent stuff.

Stront75 wrote:This is really cool reminds me of Panzer World Galient anime from the early 80s. excellent stuff.

That is a very cool image, Stront.

There's news on that sword I'm making.
It's starting to look like a proper sword now. I finished fitting the blade to the cross guard. Then I worked on the handle and decided on a circular pommel. The handle is wrapped in a strip of electrical tape, which in my opinion is a good scale representation of leather. I also started grinding a groove in the blade and sharpening it, but that will only become apparent when it is painted up.

yay for the close combat carnage!! loving it Astaroth.

Jase

I finally got around to posting an update here.
The first sword is all finished up.
All the pieces were primed in black and then treated with metallic wax paste (similar to Rub 'n Buff or AK true metal) in silver and light gold.
The next update will be about the diorama base that I'm working on at the moment.

awesome big ass blade!!

Yassssss!

Love the sword and where the design is going.

Great sword construction indeed...they look real and awesome

Hi there, just a reminder that one month remains to complete your build in order to qualify for the prize draw! Hope all is well and we all look forward to seeing your work!

I mean, moving does eat up a lot of free time

Lysus wrote: ↑Sat Apr 01, 2017 6:59 pm Hi there, just a reminder that one month remains to complete your build in order to qualify for the prize draw! Hope all is well and we all look forward to seeing your work!

I mean, moving does eat up a lot of free time

I'm afraid there's no chance I will finish this in time. The big move is next weekend, so I'll have to pack up all my stuff soon ... and the new bench is not ready yet.

Astaroth wrote: ↑Sat Apr 01, 2017 7:19 pm

Lysus wrote: ↑Sat Apr 01, 2017 6:59 pm Hi there, just a reminder that one month remains to complete your build in order to qualify for the prize draw! Hope all is well and we all look forward to seeing your work!

I mean, moving does eat up a lot of free time

I'm afraid there's no chance I will finish this in time. The big move is next weekend, so I'll have to pack up all my stuff soon ... and the new bench is not ready yet.

Thought as much, but just needed to remind folks anyway

Lysus wrote: ↑Sat Apr 01, 2017 7:28 pm

Astaroth wrote: ↑Sat Apr 01, 2017 7:19 pm

Lysus wrote: ↑Sat Apr 01, 2017 6:59 pm Hi there, just a reminder that one month remains to complete your build in order to qualify for the prize draw! Hope all is well and we all look forward to seeing your work!

I mean, moving does eat up a lot of free time

I'm afraid there's no chance I will finish this in time. The big move is next weekend, so I'll have to pack up all my stuff soon ... and the new bench is not ready yet.

Thought as much, but just needed to remind folks anyway

Don't pressure me.

Astaroth wrote: ↑Sat Apr 01, 2017 7:30 pm

Lysus wrote: ↑Sat Apr 01, 2017 7:28 pm

Astaroth wrote: ↑Sat Apr 01, 2017 7:19 pm

I'm afraid there's no chance I will finish this in time. The big move is next weekend, so I'll have to pack up all my stuff soon ... and the new bench is not ready yet.

Thought as much, but just needed to remind folks anyway

Don't pressure me.

Lysus wrote: ↑Sat Apr 01, 2017 7:32 pm

Astaroth wrote: ↑Sat Apr 01, 2017 7:30 pm

Lysus wrote: ↑Sat Apr 01, 2017 7:28 pm

Thought as much, but just needed to remind folks anyway

Don't pressure me.