MG Delta Epsilon

This kit has been a long time coming...

I bought the MG Delta Plus in May of 2012. Even though most reviews for the kit were negative I was still excited to build another transformable mobile suit. However after assembling the kit I quickly learned to hate it's instability. After a failed coat of primer and a few broken parts and some crappy kit bashing the it was shelved and forgotten about. Then several weeks back I rediscovered the kit while looking for an action base.

My Delta Epsilon was inspired by a lot of different designs (both canon and non) in it's current form it's somewhere in-between the Hyaku Shiki and the Delta Gundam.

Ultimately this kit isn't my best work, it's very very rough in many places and the paint isn't as smooth as it should be. However I learned a lot about kit bashing, modifying parts and puttying. 




Kit Bash Evolution:

The MG Delta Epsilon went through several kit bash versions:

Version 1.0:

It featured a modified head with the V fin and goatee from the MG Freedom Gundam. I'm actually very proud of how symmetrical the modded V fin turned out.

I kit bashed on the arms from a MG Rezel.

Adding the Rezel arms onto the Delta required a lot of work. It required removing much of the material from inside of the forearms. The 'elbow' joint on the MG Delta is about 2cm wider than the Rezel's so I needed to carefully grind the material down from each side until the the part fit.

The front skirt armor also comes from the MG Rezel I had to cut the ball joints off of the front skirts and remove material in between the the ball and the skirt to get a tighter fit to the crotch.

At this point in the build the plan was to leave the shield on the kit as part of a backpack.

Overall I was pretty satisfied with the kit in this configuration; but then I continued to meddle with the design, and I started to like it less and less.



Version 1.5:

These were mostly minor changes designed to 'enhance' the overall look of the kit some of the changes I kept, others I discarded.

I removed the bar between the front and rear armor.

I kept this mod, but discarded this rear thruster thing I was working on.

 Version 1.75:

This is where things started slipping, and I started losing interest in completing the kit.

I modded on the backpack and shoulders from the Hyaku Shiki.

In hindsight, the way the wings were attached, and the layered front skirts looked awful, and I'm glad I removed them.

At this point the kit was shelved and forgotten about for months. 

Version 2.0:

Unfortunately I neglected to take many photos of the kit before being painted. sufficed to say I made a few changes. The skirt armor was reverted to it's normal single layer configuration, the backpack was modified to accommodate the wings in their normal position and mount both rifles, the face was reverted to a 'goatee-less' configuration and several broken or modified parts were replaced with stock pieces from Gentei Kits.

I also needed to perform emergency face surgery to replace a large chunk of the visor that I accidentally ripped out while trying to remove the glued in place.

Paint:

This kit went through multiple color schemes and paint applications before I found a scheme that worked. I mixed several types of gold for the main body color, but ultimately I went for a very subdued titanium gold color. In hindsight, I probably should have gone with a darker frame color. Overall I'm satisfied with the finished look of the kit; and I'm happy to have it off of my work desk and onto my shelf.

Body Armor:
20% Gold
60% Titanium
10% Silver
10% Clear Yellow

Chest:
95% Midnight blue
5% black


Waist & backpack:
100% Dark Grey


Feet & Vents:

100% Bright Red

Frame:
100% Medium Grey



Eyes:

100% Bright Red

Thruster Exterior:
100% Star Bright Duralinium

Thruster Interior:
100% Bright Red 

Mobile Suit:

Details: 

Action Poses: