Moving to new website

Hey guys,
It's been ages since I posted here, been super busy with life, plus after what Photobucket did, kinda lost my will to continue with the blog as all my pictures are ruin and the dummy I am, I'd forgot to make a backup...
Anywho,  I'm going to start up on blogging again, but after much research, I've decided to move onto wordpress for my blog.
The new address for the blog is:
https://www.darkshrine.net/

I just wanted to thank everyone who may have visited my blog over the years.
Thank you!

WIP: Dark Crystal Soul's of Darkness

Back in 2008 I added a post about the History of Dark Crystal, and want into detail about the project.
Well it's 2014 and I am still not done. In fact, it has been rework from the ground up and it is now a completely different game then it use too be. It is still a rpg, but it now has a new plot and heroes plus it is being made on RPG Maker VX Ace now, which it use to be RPG Maker XP.
I have done alot of work on this project so far and I am almost ready to release a demo of the game. I just got too finish my least favorite part which is the database and fixing up the scripts.
I won't go into much detail as I'll save that for the demo, but just wanted to share some of the things that I have got done so far.

*Note: Still in development, many changes may change in the final game.

MG GN-X Review

Here is my quick review on the MG GN-X from the Gundam 00 series. 

I have always had a soft spot for grunt units from the gundam series and the GN-X is one of them that I really enjoy the design of. I wish that bandai would make some more MG grunts and gundam type suits from the 00 series such as the Brave's and Masurao and etc.
Anywho, as for the model itself. I did put it together quite a few years ago, so there may be some dust on it still.
One problem I have with this kit is that it's joints in the lower half of its body is pretty weak, but should be fix once it is painted. I did have problems with it standing up, which is why I have it on a action base 99% of the time. 
Where I had problems with the lower half, I had no problems with the upper half. The hands are strong enough to hold it's massive gun with no issues at all.
The overall movement of this kit is alright, nothing compare to the newer MG now, but isn't limited like the old kits, so it is a happy medium. I do recommend putting it on a action base as you will be able to pose it better and will be more stable as well.
It does come with it's main gun and it also comes with the long barrel to make the gun into a massive rifle, which is just pain epic looking. It also comes with a shield and two beam sabers.
This kit does have room for two LED lights, but sadly doesn't come with them and will have to pay extra if you want them.
Anywho, if you enjoy cool looking grunt suits or the 00 suits in genereal I recommend picking this kit up as it isn't a bad kit and it does look sweet especially with its big gun equip. 

HGUC Dreissen Review

So yesterday after work I ended up heading to my local gunpla store and ended up picking up the HGUC Dreissen and HGUC Doven Wolf. If you are ever in Calgary and looking for a place to buy gunpla and other models and figures I highly suggest this place. The owner is a very friendly guy, and the prices their are really hard to beat. I would say they come close to places like Hobby Link Japan, plus you get to support the local guy at the same time. The only con is that it is really small inside and having more then 2 people at once feels very tight. The place is called Animodeling Zone and is downtown on the upper floor of Dragon Mall.
Anywho, as for this model itself. This will be my first HG kit that I have work on since I really got into gunpla. I plan on painting this guy right away, so expect a WIP coming up pretty soon.
It didn't take very long to snap build as I got it after work and finish it by the end of the night. If you have build a MG, PG or RG, you should know that the level of detail doesn't even come close, but isn't that bad for this being a HG after all and is less then half the price of a MG.
I was quite surprise to see that this kit does have some slight inner fame on the arms and legs. I did wish it come with a part for the mono eye other then a sticker, but I am planning on modding something for that.
The overall movement for this kit is not the best because of it's bulky armor, which limits it's movement quite a bit. But it is quite stable and has no problems standing or holding any of it's weapons.
It comes with it's Giant Bazooka, six Tri-Blades (3 of them open and 3 closed), Beam Lancer, Beam Tomahaw, the combine Beam Lancer and Beam Tomahaw together, Heat Saber, and the 3-Barrel Beam Cannon mounted on each hand.
This kit is pretty tall as it is almost the same height of units such as Kshatriya, making it almost as big as some of the smaller MG kits like those from the wing series.
Anywho time for pics:

News Update! (Feb 18, 2014)

Greetings my follow readers, I like to apologize yet again for the lack of updates on here. I've been pretty busy with life and dealing with some problems in life that I haven't had much of a chance to post many updates on here like my Elyn Kshatriya or had much time with building or painting in general. I have been working on models such as Elyn Kshatriya as the main body is now completed, which I may add some pictures of it soon. I just have the benders to complete and it is all put together.
Anywho, I just wanted to share what my plans for 2014 are going to be with building gunpla and models and life in general.

Elyn Kshatriya OOB WIP 1

I normally don't do WIP for non painted kits, but seeing how this is a special kit I figure I would do one to give people a idea on my experience of this kit.
Now just because the parts are already precut and put into trays doesn't mean no clean up is needed.In fact I am finding that almost every part sadly do still have some nub marks on them and on some parts their is a bit of excess plastic still on the part that shouldn't be there.
In terms of the overall construction, the kit does look nice and they did a pretty good job in covering up seam lines so there will be very little masking to none when painting. But that being said, I am finding that just trying to put this guy together is some what of a pain. There is alot of pieces that are not very tight when trying to put a section together like the arms and will fall apart until the whole section is put together making it much more stable.
I highly recommended that if you are going to be building this guy to have a some type of pin vise,  crazy glue, and cement and your basic cleaning up stuff like sandpaper, snappers, knife, etc.

Anywho here is what I got done so far:

Get used to working with these cables, because you will be doing alot of them for this kit and every time is a pain....

The cables barely fit which cause them to fall out very easy. So I got my pin vise and drill a deeper hole to hold the cable better.

How the cables look once in the arms before the rest of the outer armor is on.

Elyn Kshatriya Manual

Elyn Kshatriya Box Review

It's time for another Kshatriya, and this time it is the 1/100 Kshatriya made by Elyn. This Kshatriya is different then the SMS Kshatriya that I have been working on as this one isn't resin but is made form plastic like a normal Bandai MG kit. This kit is not made by Bandai but by a different company. I have heard that Elyn was having some legal issues with Bandai about this kit and I was alittle shock that I was able to still get my hands on it.
This kit is alittle different as the parts don't come on runners but has already been cut off and place into trays. I have notice that there is still nub marks on some of the parts so it will require some clean up just like a normal kit.
This kit does have a complete inner frame which most of it looks like it is already been put tougher just like a RG kit. I have took a look at the frame and from what I see so far it is really tight which is a good thing as I am hoping that it won't have any wight issues but seeing how massive Kshatriya is we well see.
Now for the design, it is not new as it looks like they completely copy the G-system 1/72 resin Kshatriya, so I would say it is a mix from the TV version and the SMS one I am working on.
For the box, it has some nice box art and pictures on the side showing off the completed kit and pictures of it's inner frame. It's manual also come all in color and is rather nice looking.
Inside the box, I got tons of goodies such as LED's, LED Beam Sabers, Metal stickers, Waterslide decals, and etc.

Sorry about the pictures, my camera died so I ended up using my phone.

RG Justice

Here is my review for the RG kit Justice gundam. This was my very first RG kit that I have put together and I am quite happy with it. For poeple who are not too sure what a RG kit is, it stands for Real Grade. The RG kits are 1/144 scale just like the HG line, but unlike the HG line the RG have much greater detail, almost on terms with PG's and they do have the inner frame just like the MG and PG but are in a smaller scale. Another different is that unlike the PG and MG, the inner frame comes together in sections like the arms, legs, wrist, and etc making so they is not need to put them together.
As for the kit itself, seeing how this was my very first RG kit I can't really base it on the other RG, so I will be basing this review on this RG alone.
This kit didn't take me too long to put together compare to your average MG as it was much smaller in size and having the frame already together speed things up pretty fast as well. But do be careful when handling the frame as it is pretty tight when you first cut it from the tree, so be careful when moving it around not to break it as some of the parts are very small and easy to break.
Because this is a RG kit, you may notice that it has many different shades to it giving it more depth and that if you hate masking this would be the perfect kit as the part separation is fantastic.
As for the overall movement and stableness, it does have great movement making it easy to pull off any pose you make like and it quite stable for the most part without its backpack on. But if you do have the backpack on and folded up it is too back heavy and will not stand up on it's own without a stand which is why Bandai added a extra part for the backpack to fix that issue. It comes with a little stand that go on the backpack which holds it up from the ground so it will not fall over.
Overall, I am very happy with this kit and if you love the design I would say pick it up.
Anywho here is the pics:

Liger Zero Jager Review

First of all I would like to say sorry for the lack of updates lately. As some of you may know I have move to a new city and I have been really busy work and stuff and haven't had as much time to work on my models as much.
Anywho, for you Zoids fans out there, I did mange to put together the Liger Zero Jager. This kit was a real treat to work on. The overall constructing of the kit is very nice. Unlike most HMM kits which are known to have parts falling off quite easy, I find this kit to be quite stable overall. I still do have the odd part come off, but nothing to drive you crazy.
As for poseable and movement, this kit is highly stable and has a good range of movements making it very easy to pull off any pose you may like.
The nice thing about these Liger Zero kits is that you could just buy the basic Zero kit and just buy the CAS kits which are much cheaper overall, but if you are like me and would rather have all three CAS out at once then your force to buy the complete kits.
Anywho, here are the pictures:

Calgary's Military Museum

First of all, sorry for the lack of updates. As some of you may know, I have just lately move to Calgary so I been pretty busy looking for work and a place to live so its been hard to work on models. I hope to start getting some more updates in about a month once I get all settled down here.
Anywho, this post is about my little trip down to the Military Museum here in Calgary. It's only $10 to get in for a adult and it is a pretty nice place for its size. It took us about 3 hours to look at everything, we didn't really go outside as it was a little cold at the time.
It was made up of sections such as WWI, WWII and other time frames. Each section took anywhere form 20-40 mins to complete and overall a nice place to check out if you are into military history.

Anywho, time for the pictures.
P.S. Tons of pictures!!!

MG Heavyarms

My first painted kit of the year. I was hoping to have this finish before the new years, but stuff came up and a bit of laziness got in my way........
Sadly this will be my last painted kit for awhile as I will not have my gear to paint anything for the next while. I still plan to snap build a few kits, so I will most likely do a few reviews on them when I get them build.
Anywho, on to Heavyarms. This is quite the nice MG kit, my only complaint would be the ammo thread going from the gating gun to the ammo pack. The ends would keep falling of the rubber wire making it super hard to pose, which I just used some crazy glue and glue them on fixing that issue.
This kit also does have some issues with the ankle like my MG Deathscythe did as they both have the same frame. The only different is that it falls backwards and not forward like Deathscythe.
As for the kit itself, I stay mostly true to the colors with some minor changes mostly to the gun and the ammo pack. I also added a bit of gold to the frame outside of the missiles where the missile are painted silver.
Other then that, I basically cover everything else in my early post on this kit. I plan on doing some snap builds on my Zoids kits next. So I should have some reviews on them in the next awhile.

Anywho time for the pictures:

MG Heavyarms WIP 3

Sorry for the long update. With the holidays and with me getting ready to head off to Calgary soon, I been pretty busy as of late.
Anywho, this is the final WIP for Heavyarms as all I got left to do is the flat coat and it is all finish.
There isn't much too add this time around as this WIP basically covers the panel lines and decals sections on the kit.
The panel lining was pretty straight forward, and for the decals I tried using the waterslide precut decal this time around. I must say that they where very nice to work with. They are a little thicker then the ones from Samuel, but they were much stronger and the fact that they were precut save me alot of time.
Other then that I don't have much more to say about this WIP other then picture time!

Far Cry 3: Path of the Hunter Rare Animals Guide

Here is a list of videos that I have made showing all of the locations for the rare animals in Far Cry 3 Path of the Hunter. There is a few that I didn't record as I wasn't going to make any videos at first, but had a change of heart. I do plan on getting the other three done, but for now I will just upload a image of the starting location for the first two. I hadn't been to the third location yet, and will upload the video when I get to that spot.

Update:
I made a new character, so I could do the other two hunts. I just rush to them as fast as I could, so I have very minimal skills and equipment on.

Warning:
These videos does have gore, blood and swearing in it as this game is Rated M. 

MG Heavyarms WIP 2

Time for another WIP for MG Heavyarms. At this stage I am basically all done painting now and just have a few touch up here and there to do like the eyes and the handles for the gating gun. I am hoping to have it decal and panel line within a week if everything goes well.
I did run into a small problem with the leg missile launchers. I had this great idea that it would look cool with red highlights on them. So I want and mask them all just to have the paint blend thou my masking job and ruin the paint job.......... So I ended up having to strip the paint off and repaint it again, this time with out the red highlights.
I also made a small mistake with the blade as well. I forgot to make sure to get all the dust off before putting the black gloss coat on, and didn't notice until after taking off the masking. I plan to try and get some of that dust off and just fix it up with some paint.
Other then that, everything else has gone very smoothly. I did make some minor changes to the color scheme, mostly the gating gun. I plan on having the body gray, with the handles the same orange on the body, with the barrel polished aluminum, and pale gold for the ammo thread and the end of the barrel.
I hope to have the final WIP for this kit up in about a week, which will be mostly the decal and panel lines done.

On the left was Mr.Color orange yellow, which was too yellow for my taste, so I ended up mixing in a bit of orange.

The red parts drying after a soapy bath. I already said it once, but the bare plastic colors are just perfect.

Kotobukiya Jehuty HD Edition Review

Here is the review of the model kit Jehuty HD Edition made by Kotobukiya from the game series Zone of the Enders.
For those who don't know what Zone of the Enders also know as just Z.O.E is. It is a fast pace action game which the player controls the giant mecha Jehuty also known as a Orbital Frame. It is made by Konami, which the first game came out in 2001 for the PS2.
I have always been a huge fan of the games, and always wanted to get this kit since it came out. Jehuty is my 2nd favorite design in the game with Anubis as my all time favorite. I am still hoping that Kotobukiya will make a Anubis model kit in the near future, but for the mean time I got this kit to work on. Their is also a model of the Vic Viper which I would love to get one day.

As for the kit itself, there are two versions of it. One is the normal one and the other is the HD one which has slightly different colors then the normal one and it also comes with the effect parts for the wings and the Option parts as well. The HD Edition is about $18 more then the normal kit, and if your a big fan like me I would recommend it, but if not I would say just pick up the normal Jehuty.
As for the overall detail and design of the kit itself, I would say that this kit is more like a HG in Gunpla terms. The color separating is quite good, only areas that is going to have to be painted is the hands and a  alittle spot on the bigger option parts.
It doesn't have that great of movement which was a little disappointing, and most of the joints are hold on by poly caps which I don't mind the hands, but I will replace the leg ones with some after market ball caps when I start to paint it.
As for seam lines, their is a few, but the way this kit was design they are very hard to notice and the ones that are noticeable are easy to fix.
One thing that really surprise me is that this kit can stand on it's own without it's stand. It was quite hard with it fully together, but is possible. It does come with a stand, so I would say just keep it on the stand as there is really no reason to have it standing on it's own other then to see it with your own eyes.
As for the stand, they look nice, but they are pretty bad. They have very little strength so I ran into the problem of it falling down all of the time. The manual does say to use a screwdriver to tightening the screw, but I found that this did not work at all for me. It could of been that I just got unlucky and just got a bad stand. Once you do get it into place, it will stay up, just don't touch it and you will be fine.
The normal kit runs about ¥4,800 JPY and the HD one is about ¥6,200 which is alittle on the pricey  side for this kit in my eyes. It is a great kit and if your a big fan of Z.O.E like me I would highly recommend picking this and the Vic Viper up. But if your not a big fan I would say to pass on this kit and only pick it up if you find a good deal on it.

Picture Time!

MG Heavyarms WIP 1

Here is my first WIP for Heavyarms. It took my a little longer to get started on this kit as I wanted to put together my new Kotobukiya Jehuty HD model first before I started painting this, which I will upload  a little review of the unpainted kit in a few days.
Anywho, back onto Heavyarms. This is mostly just a straight OOB build with a few color changes mostly to the Gatling gun and a few chrome and gold parts here and there.
I did make a tiny mod to the Gatling Gun so I wouldn't have to do as much masking. All I did was cut the pegs off of the barrel section and this allows it to slide in and out of the main part of the gun. I don't even have to glue it when I am done as the handle holds it in place just fine. I plan to paint the main part a dark gray and the barrels are going to be a chrome with gold on it.
Other then that, I haven't got that much more done. I have started washing the parts and have the orangish and the yellow parts prime, which I hope to paint tomorrow. Painting this kit wont take very long at all, and if I am up for it, should be able to get it done in a week. I am thinking about trying shading again on this kit, but I am not too sure yet.
This kit isn't very big, so I most likely won't have too many WIP for this. I may do three of them, this one as one and the others will mostly likely be it painted with the gloss coat on and the last one will be the decals and panel lines.

Anywho here are some pics so far:

Before the mod

After the mod, as you can see I cut the pegs completely off and sanded it down.

I didn't cut the pegs off in the main part as they help keep the barrel line up.

MG Epyon Review

Here is the MG Epyon Ver Ka from Gundam Wing.
For those you who watch the show would know that Epyon was design only for close range combat and lacks any type of range weapons on it. For it's weapons it only has two, the Beam Sword and the Heat Rod.
I love the design of both weapons on this kit, but I am a little disappointed with the heat rod. The heat rod was design so it can lock up in place or unlock and move it around, but I find that once I unlock it it becomes very weak and it is very hard for it to stay up in place. This problem is really bad at the area were the heat rod connects to the shield as even when it is lock in place it will not stay put. I am sure this problem will be fix once I paint this kit up as the paint will make the connections tighter.
As for the Beam Sword I just love it. It is connected to the main body by a wire that has a very tiny metal rod inside of it so it and not just a chuck of tubing which was very nice. It's beam effect part for the beam sword also looks very nice and it just pops in and out which it also stays in place very well.
As for the kit itself it is very nice. I just love the wings on this kit as they look great and also have the ability to spread open or close by pulling down or up on the wings and they can move up and down and back and forth so they have a wide range of movement.
One complaint about this kit is that alot of parts well fall off on this. I had problems with the front skirt armor coming off if you move the legs to high up. I also had some problems with the little fins on the side of the ankle armor and the boosters on the back popping off as well.
Overall if your a big fan of Gundam Wing, or just love the Epyon design or just looking for a good MG, I highly recommend this kit.

Here are some pictures of the kit unpainted:

MG Heavyarms Review

My next kit I plan on painting is going to be MG Heavyarms Ver Ka. I plan on just doing another OOB build with some slight changes to some colors, mainly the missiles and weapons.
This kit shouldn't take long to complete as their isn't too much too paint, but may be awhile before I do another update as I have another model coming in the mall which is the Kotobukiya Jehuty HD model which I want to build right away. So I may be working both on this kit and Jehuty at the same time.
For this kit itself,it is one of the newer MG kits out and it shows. Bandai did a great job on the part separating as the missiles and the outer areas are all different parts, so their is no need to mask them. The same goes for the blue lines on the chest which was a big win for me.
Another thing about this kit is the colors on the bare plastic which are dead on for the normal colors, so for people who don't paint their kits will be really happy with this kit as it looks really good unpainted.
There are a few seam lines on this kit that will need to be fix up if you plan on painting this kit. The big ones would be the main gun and the ammo pack on the back. This kit uses the new heads so you don't have to worry about the seam lines on the head like older MG.
The only bad things about this kit is the thread that connects to the ammo pack and the main gun is a pain to keep it in place as it keeps popping out of place for me. I will glue it into place once I paint this kit, but for now I just have it off. Another problem is that the hand cannot hold up the main gun that high as it will drop down a bit, but with both hands all wight issues are gone.
If you are looking for a good MG kit or a big fan of Gundam Wing, I highly recommend this kit.

MG RX-178 Gundam Mk.2

I am quite happy how this how this turn out in the end. When I first started putting this kit back together after being painted, I was really not liking the color scheme of the two blues together. But after putting the decals and the flat coat on, it looked much better then before.
For this kit, I mostly stay true to the titans color scheme, but made a few changes by adding more red in some areas and adding the bright blue on the color scheme. I also added in some chrome and gold in areas like the boosters and in some other some areas like on the back of the legs and the upper chest.
For mods, I did very little. Basically all I did was add some pla plate on the shoulder armor to give it a more heavy armor type look. I wanted to add more pla plate in other areas too, but due to mostly being lazy I ended up not doing that. I also cut out some tiny pieces of pla plate for the tiny cameras on the chest, the back of the head, and the rocket launcher.
The biggest change would be the two new added items I made for this kit. The first one would be the cloak, which a special thanks to Alex for helping me out with the cloak, and the second would be the custom made sword.

Anywho here is the final pictures: