Capital Area Modelers Society

I recently built the white A.E.U.G. Prototype Mobile Suit (Bandai 193) as a change of pace between projects. With some research, I learned there was another version of the kit in purple (Titans Prototype Mobile Suit, Bandai 194) and now have a battle plan for the two kits.

I originally bought the Titans Prototype to resolve a disappearance.

After cleaning the A.E.U.G. parts in my ultrasonic cleaner, I did some initial assembly. I spray painted all the parts and sub-assemblies using Mr. Hobby Aqueous Gundam Color. I used black India ink to accent the panel lines, then started final assembly. The front of the helmet was missing! After a diligent search, including vacuuming the carpet, no results. I assumed one of the cats carried it off.

I bought the Titans Prototype and used this kit’s part to mold a copy of the helmet in clear resin for the A.E.U.G. version. The copy came out nearly perfect, but for some reason it was just a shade smaller than the back of the helmet! With a lot of sanding and shaving and gentle persuasion, I got it into place and super-glued it on. I filled in the seam and painted and detailed the helmet and was done.

Now I had a purple version of the same kit to build. After some research into Gundam mythology (https://gundam.fandom.com/wiki/The_Gundam_Wiki), I found that the Titan (purple) version was first. A.E.U.G. (whoever they are) stole the plans and built the white version.

My plan is to pose them just beginning combat.

Back to the saga. I got the ultrasonic cleaner ready and took out the little parts basket. What fell out? The missing piece of the white helmet! I took the resin copy off, cleaned everything up, put the original part on and repainted the helmet. Done.

After cleaning up the Titan MX-178 and some initial sub-assembly, I painted the internal parts Metalizer magnesium, the black parts in Model Master gloss black, the red in Tamiya red and the yellow pieces in Mr. Color orange yellow. I gave all the purple pieces a base coat of Model Master gloss black, then several light coats of Turbo Dork Let Them Eat Cake, a water-based acrylic with a color shift between blue and purple. The effect is really cool, but getting the density the same across all parts takes lots of attention and the Turbo Dork can rub off with handling, so I added a coat of Alclad Aqua Gloss.

Assembly was going fine but working to get an arm together and in place, the ball broke off a shoulder joint! Now what? I tried just gluing it back on, but that didn’t work; it wasn’t going to be strong enough anyway. So, using the intact shoulder, I made a mold of just the ball. I inserted a short piece of very thin brass rod into the mold before pouring the resin. Once the resin cured, I had a perfectly shaped solid ball with a rod running through it. After drilling a hole in the broken shoulder, I inserted the rod and super-glued it in place. Solid and strong!

Okay, back on track. But then…. The helmet wasn’t going together. It was that A-1,28 again! Try as I might, it wasn’t going to fit; it was warped for some reason. Then I realized, this was the piece I’d used to cast a copy for the A.E.U.G. version. Apparently, I’d gotten the ComposiMold compound too hot and it had warped the piece! Now I had to take the white helmet off the A.E.U.G. and, being very careful to not overheat the ComposiMold, cast a NEW copy of the helmet.

It took three tries to get one without a bubble, but finally I got a good copy. I super-glued it in place, filled the seam and repainted the helmet. The final helmet details went in place and the head went on the body. Done!

This started out as simply something different to do between projects. It turned into a much bigger challenge than I anticipated, but, I’m pleased with the results. Now I can pose both figures engaged in combat with each other. I think it will look cool!