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TT Hongli MG 1/100 Exia Ignition Mode - WIP 01

So it was payday Friday and I will be working from home. Guess what that means?? Hihi, yeah, woke up early and went to the local shop to find a new haul! Can't stop the itch >.<

Spoils of victory:
TT Hongli MG 1/100 Exia IGNITION MODE!

Box


Unboxing! Surprised to see it came with free LEDs. SWEEEEET >:D
I also purchased a bunch of spray cans for this build. (From L>R) Flat Clear Top Coat, Metallic Silver, Yamaha Green (shouldn't have bought this since the orbs are pre-painted clear green), Honda Blue, White x2, Honda Red.


Nub removal and parts separation: Prep for painting



Spray painting: I decided to go with metallic red. I've been eyeing on the TT Hongli MG Sinanju for quite some time and this is my first time experimenting on how to achieve the metallic finish.

To achieve a metallic finish, spray the Metallic Silver first. Let it sit for about 10mins then spray the Honda Red (Clear Red for Tamiya spray cans).


There you go! An eye-CANDY for sure. Yummy!


TT Hongli's yellow sucks. I paint every yellow part Gold with a Gundam Marker and achieve a somewhat classy feel to my kits.


Onto the more serious stuff: Aside from my personal enjoyment in sharing my kits and taking pictures of it, I made this blog in hopes to guide the majority of TT Hongli-ers to assemble their kits as smooth as possible. Manufacturing defects are very prominent in bootlegs and you'll encounter fitting issues, loose joints, peg inconsistencies (most gruesome, saw some in others' review of RX-78-2), flimsy plastic etc..

Starting off, with the Exia I.M.'s head, shave of this peg to be able to snap it fully.


Another must-have when assembling a bootleg is a glue or a cement. Here, I use the ever so trusty Mighty Bond Super Glue. It's one of the best glues for plastic.

What I did here is glue Exia I.M.'s bunny ears. It keeps on falling off so glue the damn ears! You can use a toothpick (or the tip of a ball pen in my case) to control the ooze of your glue. Apply thinly.


The head especially his side vents IMO really look good



Shave off the male connector of the white part shown with a hobby knife or sand it with a low (rough) grit to thin it. It won't fit as smooth so..


No issue here. Just Setsuna waiting for his Gundam (oh wait, he IS Gundam) Exia to be asembled. Painted it with blue and some minor dash of red for his visor and chest.


Finalizing this WIP, here's what I have finished for today



The kit really is sturdy and solid compared to TT Hongli HG's I've had in the past. I've had no issues fitting the inner frame and hopefully assembly will be as smooth as silk from hereon (but I highly doubt that lol). Wrapping things up, I really feel this knock off Exia I.M. is pretty fun to build as I have NOT encountered major issues so far.
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Comments

  1. Kite CustomxNovember 23, 2012 at 6:55 PM

    cool!

    thanks to this post, my mind is now rest assured about buying this kit on my next pay day :D

    ReplyDelete
  2. carlsupersuaveNovember 23, 2012 at 8:56 PM

    hey glad to be of help! :)

    ReplyDelete

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