The Aile Striker and Skygrasper. Outside pics have stand removed.
The first time I took a Gundam with me mountain hiking it was the RX 79(G). Which was pretty easy to take considering how tiny it was. I was lucky enough to get a good shot with it.
This time around I brought the Aile Striker and Skygrasper with me and I wanted to try capturing both in flight. With the 79G there was no problem since it’s basically a ground unit. With The Striker and Skygrasper it was tougher to get in place for a shot that featured a good background that showed flight. But I did manage to get some shots of both in flight and snap a few test shots that I want to save later for a Gundam model project.
Skygrasper
The Skygrasper lightbox test shot.
With the Skygrasper I decided to do a test shot using a lightbox and methods I found online that other people have used getting great results. Super Rats over at Happy Soda has a few good tutorials about shooting figures and I took a few of his lighting techniques, rsnumber2’s lightbox tutorial at Goufy Shumi , and phamolous’s position tutorial, to produce the shot above. I like how it turned out. This is the best picture in terms of detail that I got with the Skygrasper, but I want to try to perfect it more.
The Skygrasper has to be one of my favorite aircrafts from the Gundam series and is only second to my Macross YF-19 fighter. It’s pretty light but really sturdy. You can do barrel roles with it and nothing falls off even with that gigantic flight system connected to it’s back.
The Skygrasper hovering over Shenandoah Valley. Both stands removed.
The stand the Skygrasper is on is outstanding! Skygrasper attack mode.
I was meaning to take some shots a few weeks ago with the Skygrasper but the stand that it came with isn’t really that great. It’s good for the Aile Striker and PG Strike, but you’re really limited on what you can do with the Skygrasper given it’s huge wingspan. I decided to order the 6 inch FlexiDisplay from Big Bad Toystore, both are fantastic! I also received the SHCM RX 78 from Big Bad and just waiting for the weather to clear up in D.C. for pics at the capitol.
Skygrasper lifting off from Terra Firma. Last shot taken on the mountain and the hardest! I used both stands and a really long rod with a clamp for the shot and airbrushed out the stands.
I really like the figher but one thing I found to be really annoying was the top wings connections to the main unit. It’s flimsy and at one point the connector broke off and I had to glue it back on. You really have to becareful with those two top wings and I don’t think I’ll be removing them at any point from the unit.
The Skygrasper has got a lot of stickers and detail added to it that I really like, kind of reminds me of the details on the Gundam Fix Figuration Figures. I’m hoping Gundam 00 has got an attack fighter in store for us this October.
Aile Striker w/PG Strike
Aile Striker lifting off. Along with removing the stand I also tried using a flash since the sun was in the back. I used the rod and clamp once again on it’s right leg and removed both stands and a small cliff.
Adding the Aile Striker to the PG is a great enhancement to the model. I think it looks much better with the pack than without. Although you can’t really see the system from the front the wings are clearly visible. With the Aile Striker I had a difficult time getting the pics this time around since the PG is so huge! I used a flash this time around and got a couple of good shots.
Gundam Aile Striker blasting off (after Hi-v pose). I left the stand since I really like how it looks on the ground.
Landing to attack. Mountain mistake turned into motion blur.
Aile Striker prepares for lift off. This was the easiest shot to get, I only used one stand as you can see here from a lower perspective.
The PG Strike was my first Gundam model and my favorite so doing this post was another chance to showcase it once more a bit with the addition of the Aile Striker and the Skygrasper.
Dark Capture over Rain Clouds. Gundam stand removed.
Gundam Spotlights. Test Prepartion shot.
My only regret is not painting it which leads me to my next project, getting the PG Strike Rouge and doing a custom paint job on it. All in all, my favorite Gundam model.
Gundam Flightscope 001: Skygrasper & Aile Striker
A video featuring both the Skygrasper and Aile Striker testing some of the effects on Windows Movie Maker and Adobe Photoshop CS3. I really like CS3, there’s so much you can do with it.
Posted in Aile Striker, Gundam, PG, Perfect Grade, Skygrasper, Strike Gundam
