hey, I don't want all mobile suits to be like my ideal Heavy Arms.

just the Heavy Arms.

Looking for help. I have a 1/444 scale Deathscythe from Endless Waltz coming my way next week, and I haven't done any sort of models in years. Any tips would be appreciated.

I feel like I'm in the minority where every design is ok with me, some I like more than others, some I love more than I liked, but these negative comments are pretty intense such as the Exia arguments or Turn A that happened.

Not trying to pick any sort of fight or anything to be honest, just surprised there is some real passionate hate going around for certain Gundam Designs out there.

You're in for an experience. The 1/144 Wing kits are kinda rubbish, but with enough paint they can be made to look... OK. Pick up a pack of gundam markers (or if you prefer, some small brushes and acrylic paint), put on some epic music, and get painting. The most basic of panel colors will be there, but things like the v-fin, scythe, and any other small details are gonna need some work.

The Turn A is the only Gundam design I genuinely dislike. All the others range from "meh" to "holy crap, that's awesome".

in all honesty, I like the turn A's redesigns by other artists over the actual Turn A design.

mostly because they make the helmet look less bulbous and make the mustache work better.
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7164/6...42fe88ac_z.jpg

Exactly my sentiments. That right there manages to keep much of the uniqueness of the Turn A, without making it nigh unrecognizable as a Gundam.

Are those Real Grade kits still half off at Barnes and Noble? I'm thinking of picking up Strike Freedom or Destiny while they are cheap.

Blech. Terrible. People are obsessed with making everything homogenous. The entire damn point of the suit was to be different, but apparently one out of the hundreds of Gundams isn't allowed to break the mould. That just looks like a lame old Gundam head on Turn A body. Totally doesn't fit at all.

Just goes to show that people can't accept good, original design.

I don't mind it breaking the mold. the lightning gundam does the same thing. it has a different head and nobody complains about it

another reason I like the redesign is that it makes the Turn A's head look less bland. it gives that plain white more color. not just on the face but the helmet entirely.

Because it's otherwise so damn typical it's outweighed. It's missing the red on the chin and the double-Hitler-stache. But it's got the V-fin, and the body is totally typical angular overload.

it's still different, and while I don't like the body's design (I feel the calves-ankle proportions aren't my cup of tea) I still appreciate the Lightning's design.

hell, I don't like G-Reco but I sstill like the G-Self's differing design.

Yeah, the G-Self did a very good job of being a different Gundam, except for that bland Aile Strike wannabe of a backpack.

It's barely different, and hardly unique at all. Literally, tiny details aside, it's such a typical Gundam design. It's hardly fair or supporting your arguement of "Oh I totally like different" when it's absolutely the same monotonous Gundam aesthetic 90% of Gundams are.

And yet it's still pretty similar to the average Gundam, if just curved and given a different head. But it seems like it's just trying to be different, rather than actually creating something unique and artistic. It's the robotic equivelant of a hipster. :lol

Yes, but SOMETHING other than the name has to make it a Gundam. It's like if Toei did a super sentai series with one multicolored member - it would no longer be a super sentai, because it would be missing almost all of the defining elements that make it a super sentai. It wouldn't be definition be a bad show (heck, that's basically what KR is), it just wouldn't be a sentai.

The colours, weapons, and the fact that the face still vaguely evokes the Gundam look wasn't enough? The V fin exists, just move down, simultainiously evoking the red chin of classic Gundams while the red and white below the eyes successfully put the right colours in the right areas to evoke the face. The fin on the back of the head adds that detail the camera "mohawk" would have taken up, without being the cameras. And the green turn A puts that colour as a focal point in place of the camera. The moment you open your mind to new ideas the shear cleverness of the head really shines. It hits so many of the key points of the typical Gundam RX-78-style head without actually having any of those points.

I knew it was a Gundam the moment I saw it, before I was even into Gundams. Just because it's differnet doesn't make it an affront to the franchise. That small, limited thinking does more harm than good. It's that fear of leaving your comfort zone that causes most Gundams to be entirely generic.

Mock all you want, but Turn A will never be lost in the sea of samey Gundams, all copying eachother like insecure teens following a fad. It's incredibly unique, stylish, and heavily evokitive of the classic Gundam look without becoming the shallow parody of it most Gundams end up.

In semi-related news, I just paid for the HGUC Ez8 and Gouf Custom. In the interest of fairness, Ez8 is my example of different-but-typical done right. Helped by it's origin as a heavily-modified RX-79, it's got the typical Gundam face, but a totally unique helmet/head.

Yes, the Ez-8 is a good example of an unique gundam. And a (relatively) realistic one at that.

all I said was I didn't like how plain the top of the head was with all white.

>:/ don't go saying I'm not open to new ideas. I have every right not to like new ideas if I legit don't like them.

hell, I like the Ez8, and you shat on the turn a redesign because it had the same faceplate, when the faceplate on Ex8 is the Exact same thing, except the chin has a strap!

Like what, exactly? What "new" ideas are you open to?

The Ez-8 has an entirely different head design and body to go with it, though. The entire point of me slamming that garbage head redesign is how it basically ran contrary to everything else about the design it left intact. Ez-8's head works perfectly because it has a very bulky, utilitarian design. Turn A is all about the retro-futuristic sleak lines and minimal sculpted details. Puttign a normal Gundam mug on it sticks out like a sore thumb.

first off, lemme say this: I like the mustache, I like the fact the helmet is round, and I like the mohawk of the Turn A. what I don't like, is how the face looks scrunched up, and how theres NO COLORING on the helmet. it's too plain and I don't like it. that's all. I like the redesign because it makes the face look vertically longer and does SOMETHING with all that empty blank white of the Turn A downward from the mohawk. the redesign could have had a shitty smiley face drawn on it and so long as the face was vertically longer, I would have liked it! I don't care about the theme that Turn A has, I don't like it. I'm free to not like some of the design choices.

I like the Ez8 because it's bulky, yet feels like a natural militaristic evolution of the original gundam design.

Well Super Robots are awesome.

...Weren't you just complaining about how basic the Exia is?Not to mention all the recent gundam series have had basic aka *subtle* designs.

Hey, don't dis Gurren Lagann. I loved Gurren Lagann. GL was way more subtle that anything Gundam has been lately.

I am all for super robots in my gundam and gundam in my super robots.

in all honesty, I didn't like GL, if only because i don't like shows that start out over the top, instead of building up to it.

Honestly I prefer Gundams like Build Burning and Sengoku Astray because they are unashamably Super Robots.

Speaking of build fighters...I got my magazine add ons for the Vbrae and Wing Zero Hono:

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7622/...565419e9_b.jpg

Bought extras for customs, I gave the duplicate magazines to a friend.

Except for the red across the face, the giant red mouthplate, and the big green inverted A on the forehead.

Because nothing says subtle like sunglasses on a robot and fighting on top of galaxies.

Even from a writing standpoint GL was a brick to the head. The characters were less characters and more catchphrases for fans to repeat, and every single theme or undertone was blatantly explained with zero room for interpretation. The story was downright absurd and had no real plot until the very end where it seriously seems like they made it all up on the spot.

Basic is not subtle. Not even close. The simple fact that you can't make that distinction proves my point. People don't get subtlety anymore.

"Subtlety" is not the absense of substance, nor is being dramatic necesarily unsubtle. Subtlety is when something cohesive is established through minimal, almost missable details that aren't immediately visible and reward deeper thinking/scrutiny. More for less. Lengthy monologues or designs blatantly showing off their intent with overblown flare and excess is not subtle.

EDIT: Double post

Ok then what is subtle wiseguy?

I repeat: "Subtlety" is not the absense of substance, nor is being dramatic necesarily unsubtle. Subtlety is when something cohesive is established through minimal, almost missable details that aren't immediately visible and reward deeper thinking/scrutiny. More for less. Lengthy monologues or designs blatantly showing off their intent with overblown flare and excess is not subtle.

By that definition no Gundam has ever been subtle.

Not even close. But then again, as I said before, nobody can operate outside of extremes anymore. The fact that you claim "well nothing specifically matches that to a T so there exists no examples ever!" just puts you in the same boat as them.

Ez-8 and Turn A are both nice, reserved and subtle designs. Nothing really overtly flashing. But very compact, little bits of flare, but nothing gratuitous. Especially on Ez-8.

Wing Proto Zero is a good example of design subtlety despite being a dramatic Gundam. The design has lots of colour, big wings, big weapons, but it's subtlety lies in it's aversion to outright push those features to extremes. The wings aren't gigantic feathery wings like the EW version. They aren't even typical wings, the way they fold up etc. (but still resemble folded and unfolded wings, very cleverly) The gun is big, but not humoungous. More like two long rifles stuck together. Sheild is reasonably sized. It's details are large and well spaced so it's not a lot of tiny details clumped together, nor are they so sparse as to make it boring.

Build Burning is another great example design when it's not on fire. Colourful, just the right amount of detail, yet no gigantic wing pack or weapon. Then you have Gundams like Shining/God who aren't even trying to be subtle, and yet manage to be more thoughtfully designed and reserved than some later Gundams despite aiming for over-the-top flare.

I'm not talking about the face. I'm talking about the sides of the helmet. past the mustache and under the mohawk, its no color. I find it really boring.

Plenty of Gundams lack colour on the helmet. That's why they put so much colour on the face. Besides, there's so much line detail unless it's an unpainted model it's not like it's totally barren.

yes, but other gundams have shapes, panel lining, vents, SOMETHING in the cheeks and sideburn areas.

turn A just has plain white. it's just an egg.

No it isn't. Have you even seen the model? There's tons of lines and shit on the sides and back.

I'm talking about THIS area! http://i.imgur.com/zWt9RRc.jpg

One: That's not actually Turn A, but a BF repaint, and two: as a result, the animation model is of course simplified. Doesn't even have the beam sabers visible. How can you blame the design for lazy animators?

As someone who actually owns a Turn A model, there's a lot of line detail and various subtle and deep raised patterns along the back and sides. More than I thought, actually. Only about a quarter of the head is "smooth" and even then that quarter contains the inverted A and super-subtle raised forehead slope.

That's like saying all Gundam Wing designs are mushy and underdetailed because of the crap animation.

I'm not saying just that.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b2...IMG_2039-1.jpg
if it's actually supposed to be more detailed with just panel lining, i still like the redesign more because again, the fact that the face is vertically longer on the redesign.

also, the fact it has more than more detailed examples of the sides of the turn a head.

also, the detail in the turn a anime doesn't help your argument either
http://sdsandwiches.com/turnagundam-turna.jpg

:lol Ah yes, detail on the sides and back of the head will of course be visible in head-on views.

Speaking of head-on, it looks about as detailed there as, again, your average animation still for a Gundam series. Lots of detail on the face, prominent upside-down A and the big back-head fin. I'm not seeing this fabled lack of detail.

like, I'm not refereing to the scalp where the upside down A is.

I'm referring to the areas between that, and the mohawk.

You're splitting hairs hardcore and it's pretty weak.

"I know the head has plenty of detail, but there's no detail in between the detail!"

Like seriously, your arguement's almost as small as the space you mentioned betwen the A and mohawk.