Let's Build Gundam Seed EX Model Archangel 1/1700 Scale
472This is a build pictorial for my 1/1700 scale Archangel model. It took me about a month to complete on and off. I would work on it for 2-3 hours at a time.
This was a "fire model." I bought this kit a long time ago and my house caught fire. Pretty much all I could salvage was the sprues. Luckily when I inventoried it all the parts were there. There were 2 major broken parts, half of the wing part that goes on the bottom and the top of the fuselage, I fixed them with plastic cement. With no manual I had to use small pictures from http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10039386.
This is not your typical Gundam model, as in the sprues are ALL white. So painting is required unless you want an all white Archangel. The parts are tiny 1/1700 scale. You get the sense its very tiny but when you put it together is quite large, like the size of a small shoe box. There are is NO coloring guide whatsoever. You have to look at the pictures and since I didn't have the box I wound up looking all over the internet for them. The parts just snap together so no glue is required. It does come with a stand that kinda just props it up and it comes with a Strike, Gunbarrel, and Buster but they're so tiny its near impossible to paint em so I didn't even bother. You also have the option of building the Dominion, basically the bridge and radar towers on the back are different. You could probably build the black one from Destiny if you wanted.
I started by airbrushing the sprues gloss white, I was going to spray it with an acrylic because I wanted to try acrylics out but I couldn't get my airbrush to shoot it so I wound up using Testors Gloss White Enamel. It came out great, there is not a part on this model that is not painted. I put it together and painted the part if necessary and then panel lined it. I did use Testors Acrylic paint for the yellow, red, and blue. Then I used Tamiya Acrylic paint for the black, gun metal, and sky gray. Everything went on great except the Sky Gray. I must've got a bad one because it was very soupy and it would paint on and rub off, very strange. I had to get it very wet.
I am totally satisfied with how it turned out, it was not easy to build. It will take a lot of time because of the painting. The plastic was very brittle one mine, I think it maybe because it was in a house fire, don't know. Also the panel lining was very difficult, apparently gundam pens don't work well on painted surfaces. I used the thicker one and wiped it off with a Q tip or eraser. Its too bad they don't make a 1/144 scale one so you can put your HG models on it =P.
There are a lot of weapons you can put on it, but its no action figure. You have to be very careful not to break it to put the weapons on and off. I starting taking pictures of it clean and then started putting weapons on and I just left them like that because I didn't want to break it. Hope you enjoy, the last picture has my 1/144 Perfect Strike which I will make a build pictorial for as well.