The Positives and Negatives of Gunpla (for me anyways)

Growing up I was never really good at either the fine arts or the performing arts. Gunpla hasn't really gone and magically made me any better at either, but it has proven to be a great way for me to express my personality. Even though someone else out there has built the same exact model kit as mine, the one I built with my two hands (with the help of some tools) is uniquely mine. No other one in the world exists. Each nub mark that gets filed away, each piece I happen to gouge, whether or not a seam line is removed, these are all decisions of how much I want to pour into the kit. At the end of it all, there's a small plastic robot staring back.

My first HG: 00 Gundam (complete with spray can custom colors!)

My family doesn't exactly understand Gunpla and they don't quite support my hobby, but they can't stop me. Every shipment I get gets met with a raised eyebrow silently asking, "again?" It also doesn't help that we're supposed to be moving soon and I don't have a dedicated space for building or the completed products. But I still build because I find a surprising sense of accomplishment from seeing all the work I put in actually amounting to something. Aside from all that, it's actually really fun to build. Of course there are those frustrating moments where everything just works against you (parts go missing, parts snap in the worst possible location, painting goes horribly wrong), but when I weigh the pros and the cons, I still find it in myself to continue building.

Collection of the 1/100 IBO line. (Full album of my backlog here)

It's been a long time since I've found a hobby/passion that pushes me to grow and continues to grab my attention. I am simply enamored by this new world. Every time I see someone's work, I feel inspired by the techniques and genuine creativity, the innovative uses of parts or figuring out a way to kitbash two unlikely/incompatible parts. I feel the motivation to build. My blood is boiling to get started, my mind is racing with potential ideas, my heart beats with anticipation of me getting to work.

I thought Mega Shiki parts would look great on the Graze. Decided against it in the end.

That is, until I actually sit down and the reality comes knocking. "My parts aren't as compatible as I thought, and I don't have enough experience with plaplate or putty (any actually). Am I really ready to dive in and make these cuts? What if I mess up? That kit was $XX.XX. This idea looks alike like what I saw on Instagram... " Doubt sinks in... I feel discouraged, and slowly pack up. We all have to start somewhere, but it's hard to get in there and potentially mess up kits. We've all done it. I have a collection of odds and ends from failed projects, but I'm constantly looking for a way to salvage the parts.

This is where I last left my Custom Mega Shiki. Not experienced enough to produce something I'm happy with.

I'm currently at the place in my building experience/career where I'm going back to the basics. Get a better feel for mecha designs to get a better idea of fluid kitbashes. Practice basic techniques over and over. Try new techniques slowly. Don't rush, and don't worry about messing up. It's all a learning experience as long as we can keep an open mind. Since I decided to start and Instagram, I've gained a lot more confidence in my own works, simple as they may be.

It's an oddly supportive form of social media, most likely due to there not being a dislike button, and the relatively low amount of comments. I do like getting comments and will always do my best to respond, even if it's just with "Thanks!" just to maybe connect with someone or create a zone where we can have discussions. I've been on reddit prior to this, but never felt completely comfortable posting there. Being new to building puts you in a weird place in that community (as great and supportive as they are). If you're doing amazingly detailed work, you'll get noticed; if you do great work as a novice, that's amazing; but if you do decent work and aren't a beginner, there's the grey area in which, I personally, have gotten very little feedback, positive or otherwise, understandably so, though.

Straight build w/ stickers of the 1/100 Gold Frame. Currently most liked pic on IG.

I know they don't mean any harm, but the way I saw/see it was, "It's nothing different enough to warrant positive, but it's not terrible to garner commenting. It kind of just... is." I always just felt that I was hitting a cap on my growth and that ceiling was much too low for my liking. Getting on Instagram though, even if it was a straight build, I'd read comments asking for my impressions or things to watch out for, or even compliments on a "clean" build. It was nice. I'm not going to lie, seeing a dozen likes on a photo was great, because it was more than what I was getting on reddit. Since I've started, I'm up to a little under 150 followers. I know that's such a minuscule number, but compared to the traffic I was getting through reddit, I'm glad people are "somewhat" interested.

Back when I was still GrazeYourFlag because I thought it was a great pun.

At the end of it all, I'm currently still very motivated to crank out builds "for my (non-existent) followers" and for myself. I refuse to believe that this is all I can accomplish and that's probably the biggest reason I ended up changing Instagram handles.

My latest project: 00 Raiser Custom Color. Masking needs work... Also just starting to learn how to use a DSLR.

It's "Goufing Around" because like always, Gunpla should be fun, and everyone building should remember to keep goufing around.