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Arthur Ko
Hong Kong
Imagining a long-abandoned combat vehicle from the world of Mobile Suit Gundam, Arthur finished a Bandai 1/35 scale FF-X7 Core Fighter with missing panels that reveal scratchbuilt structural and interior details. “I rebuilt the cockpit with Evergreen styrene rod and sheet, including the frame of the seat,” he says. “Many of the surface panels on the fuselage were cut open with a Tamiya Handy Craft Saw. Then I put details back inside the fuselage with spare parts.” He cut and drilled engine panels to show more damage, and he replaced a section of the right wing with styrene strips assembled into a frame based on jet fighter designs. For the rusty patina, he applied layers of Tamiya and Vallejo acrylics in rust and navy blue shades with Vallejo Chipping Medium in between. “I’ve always loved building and customizing Gunpla, but I found that the Bandai 1/35 scale Hard Graph series does not get enough appreciation,” Arthur says. “I wanted to show that the kits from the series are worth the money.”