It has been a pretty busy week with outings almost everyday. Now, with things settled down I can finally do my birthday loot post!

I think these may very well be the most satisfying presents I have ever had in my 21 years on Earth! I got a Master Grade 00 Raiser, a mini Gundam building kit, and a copy of Gran Turismo 5! I want to take this opportunity to thank my friends for these wonderful presents, including M who contributed for the kit and GT5.

GRAN TURISMO 5

First up is Gran Turismo 5. I didn’t buy this game because I was afraid that it will be too racing wheel dependent. For the past three days I have been playing the game with a controller and I’m doing pretty well with it, though whether or not it will be the same for challenges and license tests is another story.

I’m really liking the packaging. It feels really slick and classy. Oh and it has colored manual which is an extra plus for me :D.

MG 00 RAISER

This is my first ever Master Grade so I’m very excited! So far I have completed the head, arms, and torso and I noticed the level of detail for the Master Grade is a big jump from High Grade. Now I’m afraid I will never be satisfied with anything lower than MG T_T.

The box is twice as big as my HG Cherudim box and it is still fully packed! This will probably take me a while to complete but I will enjoy every moment of it! I will be posting about it once I’m done, but for now you can follow me on Twitter to view my progress :).

GUNDAM BUILDING KIT

I was already considering getting this back when I was building Cherudim but now that I got this MG 00 Raiser, I decided to get a little more serious about this hobby and get the kit (M paid for it! Thanks!). I will be doing some panel lining too once the hobby shop near my house restock the Gundam markers. I did some research on different methods of panel lining and I think getting a Gundam marker will be more user friendly for a beginner like me.

From the left: nipper, tweezers, filer, screwdriver, separator

The nipper, being so small yet sharp, is really handy. Also the tip is angled, making it easy to trim off those small plastic parts that sticks out like a sore thumb.

I have not found any uses for the tweezers yet, but I’m sure it will come in handy some time.

The filer is one of my most used tool. If there are still some plastic left even after trimming, you can use this to finish up the job. It works really well, however it may leave scratch marks on the main parts if you are not careful. You can cover them up with paint or something, but if you do not invest in paint (like me) then try not to use it.

I think its very clear what the screw driver does, so I’m not gonna go into detail about it. For the MG 00 Raiser there is only one screw which is for the LED light battery compartment. There are no screws on the Gundam itself. The screwdriver should be more useful for Perfect Grade.

I was pretty skeptical about the separator at first because I have tried using something similar with the Cherudim and it was very difficult to separate the plastic pieces. Boy was I wrong. This separator works like a charm!

So this concludes my birthday loot post. Once again, I’d like to thank all my friends for getting these presents for me. You guys rock!