It’s time for my yearly roundup! Though admittedly this post is a bit rushed since I’m about to head off for some well-earned rest. Here’s 2019 in a nutshell for me.
The end of the great paint shortage of 2018
The end of 2018 was a pretty stressful time for me, as stocks of Mr Color and Gunze products started to dwindle. Almost six months had passed since the last restock and I was starting to panic as it’s my main paint of choice.
Eventually in about March the distributor finally got their shit together and landed more damn paint in the country, finally ending the great shortage.
Winning something
Normally I don’t enter a lot of group builds, but I entered one this year and managed to win some kits and paints! I also tried really hard on that Unicorn
Thanks to The Hangar Bay for providing the kit to build for this challenge!
That time I used the stickers for masking
About to try something real whack! pic.twitter.com/jlisL3UStY
— YJ (@TheSaintISM) March 3, 2019
Holy heck it worked! pic.twitter.com/wIf4vByUsU
— YJ (@TheSaintISM) March 3, 2019
When the kit you're working on doesn't have decals so you have to paint them on pic.twitter.com/mCIrOBlfNN
— YJ (@TheSaintISM) March 9, 2019
Gaianotes!
Due to the paint shortage mentioned above, I decided to import my own paint just in case. I dropped about 500USD on mostly Gaianotes and some Mr Color paint, enough to last quite a while in case something like that does happen again.
First lot of my Gaianotes arrived! pic.twitter.com/CKhfUg7b2L
— YJ (@TheSaintISM) April 8, 2019
The motherload of Gaia has arrived! pic.twitter.com/FKvHDrjdYl
— YJ (@TheSaintISM) April 29, 2019
Winning something, again?!
I bought some kits earlier this year, entered the Gunpla mid-year campaign, forgot about it and won an iPad! (which I immediately sold in favour of some new airbrushes)
I attended Model Expo 2019
I have some kits on display at Model Expo 2019 in Melbourne! If you're there please check them out 🙂 pic.twitter.com/Fgqk6Mz6za
— YJ (@TheSaintISM) June 9, 2019
T-shirts
My Etsy store is doing pretty well now having just passed 100 sales, if anyone is looking for some original Gundam-themed T-Shirts please do visit!
Trying something else
I finally stopped procrastinating and built some musume-type kits this year. Painting flesh colours was something I was quite afraid of, but I quite enjoyed it and hopefully will get to continue doing more next year.
Gunpla
This year I somehow managed to build 20 kits, which I think is a new personal best. I also managed to check off everything I set out in my 2018 post, including building some Frame Arms and Megami kits which I had been telling myself to do for some years now.
- 5 HG
- 1 RG
- 11 MG
- 1 PG
- 1 Frame Arms Girl
- 1 Megami Device
Games
Due to all the Gunpla work I was doing I didn’t have much time for games, but I did manage to play 3 key games, Resident Evil 2, Devil May Cry 5 and Shenmue 3.
RE2 exceeded all my expectations, DMC5 was great and brought some good closure to this arc of the story but admittedly I’m pretty bad at the game.
Shenmue 3 gave me mixed feelings. I was glad to be able to play it after waiting so long, in fact it’s almost a miracle this game exists. But the game is also really grindy, lacks and real memorable moments and doesn’t add much new to the story. The combat is also a bit clunky. Here’s hoping that if there’s a Shenmue 4 that these issues are addressed.
Special Thanks
I also wanted to say thanks to Joel at The Hangar Bay, who’s been supporting me throughout 2019 with some cool Premium Bandai kits. If you’re looking to buy some P-Bandai stuff please check out his newly opened webstore and use code SAINTISM06 to save 6% off your order!
Next Year
2020 is already looking to be a pretty great year in terms of Games and Gunpla. I’m looking forward to getting the following done at least:
FAZZ
Barbatos
Slash Zaku Warrior
More Megami Device/FA Girl kits
Earthtree Gundam + Variants
Mobile Doll May
In terms of Gunpla releases, I hope we see more Barbatos variants, 00 Season 1 suits, and maybe even something out of left field like a MG 00 Sky.
I say this almost every year, but I will try to attend GBWC in Australia in 2020.
It’s also going to be a crazy year for videogames, especially in March/April:
Final Fantasy 7
Resident Evil 3 remake
Cyberpunk 2077
Xbox Series X and PS5
Sadly there was no new Super Robot Wars game announced, but to be honest the series has been on somewhat of a decline since V. X was somewhat okay, but I felt that T was a bit of a letdown and I still have not finished it as of today.
Anyway thanks to all my followers, have a Merry Christmas, a Happy New Year and see you in 2020!
How many hours does each build typically take? I’m super impressed you managed to build and fully paint 20 kits this year.
An MG kit takes about 25-30 hours, while an RG/HG takes about 15-20. In order to build more kits you kinda need to have more than one project going at the same time.