Science Fiction Flavour

Category: Collaboration

  • Mobile BuCue

    HG 1/144 Mobile BuCue — SEED × DUNE: A What-Should-Have-Been

    I have been working on Bandai’s 1/144 HG Mobile BuCue over the past few days, and what started as another modelmaking project gradually became something more personal.

    The BuCue is one of the more distinctive machines from Mobile Suit Gundam SEED: a four-legged, low-slung ground-combat Mobile Suit that looks less like a conventional humanoid robot and more like an armoured mechanical hound. Its desert-combat character made it particularly appropriate for an idea that had been sitting in my mind since 2024.

    I began the build in my usual way, soaking the runners in soapy water before using a toothbrush to rinse away the residue. After leaving the runners and parts to dry, I airbrushed the solid-coloured moulded parts with Mr Hobby Mr Colour No. 13 Neutral Grey.

    The red moulded parts were subsequently airbrushed with Gundam Colour UG10 MS Char Pink, over the Neutral Grey base. The yellow parts received Mr Colour No. 109 Character Yellow, also over the grey base. For the joint components, I used Mr Colour No. 8 Silver over the Neutral Grey, giving the mechanical areas a more metallic appearance.

    Once the paint had dried, I moved on to panel lining. The Neutral Grey surfaces received Tamiya Panel Line Accent Colour Pink-Brown, while the MS Char Pink areas and silver mechanical components received Tamiya Panel Line Accent Colour Black. After allowing the panel liner to dry, I removed the excess with cotton buds moistened with Tamiya X-20 Enamel Thinner.

    Then came assembly—and this was where the build started becoming distinctly my own.

    Some of the BuCue’s components have an aircraft-wing-like appearance, accompanied by engine-like compartments and sticker details. Instead of using the supplied stickers, I decided to highlight those areas with a gold permanent marker.

    While working on those parts, I also decided to inscribe the words “SEED” and “DUNE” onto the wings, taking inspiration from the typography of the Dune film logo.

    Why?

    Back in 2024, Gundam SEED Freedom and Dune: Part Two were promoted together in a special cinema collaboration. The official crossover artwork placed the SEED Freedom protagonists at the centre of the visual. My personal feeling was that a desert-themed SEED × Dune collaboration could have taken a different direction.

    Instead of focusing on the characters of SEED Freedom, I imagined the machines and characters associated with the desert operations of the original Gundam SEED taking centre stage.

    Hence the BuCue.

    This build is my little tribute to a “what should have been.”

    I wanted to take an actual desert-combat Mobile Suit from Gundam SEED and reinterpret it through the visual language of Dune. The BuCue seemed almost tailor-made for that idea: a quadrupedal machine charging across a desert landscape, looking more like some enormous mechanical hunting beast than a conventional Mobile Suit.

    I also decided not to use the supplied sticker for the BuCue’s monoeye camera.

    Instead, I cut a small piece from the leftover clear-pink plastic runner, shaped it and glued it onto the head as a physical optical element. The recessed area surrounding the camera was then shaded with a fine-tip black marker. The dark surround creates contrast against the translucent pink piece, allowing the monoeye to read more like an actual recessed sensor rather than a flat sticker.

    Toward the end of assembly came another choice. The kit provides the option of equipping the BuCue with either a twin-cannon turret or a multi-rocket launcher battery.

    Naturally, I tried both.

    I also tried the BuCue’s famous dual beam sabers once.

    With the two sabers mounted in front, the BuCue looks like a mechanical hound biting down on a double-edged sword and charging straight at its opponent.

    But after giving the configuration a try, I set it aside.

    My favourite is the rocket launcher.

    The rocket battery reinforces the BuCue’s identity as a desert assault machine. Low, wide and four-legged, it looks like something built specifically to race across hostile terrain while delivering a considerable amount of firepower.

    Which brings me back to the two words on its wings:

    SEED. DUNE.

    This isn’t an attempt to recreate an official Bandai or film collaboration. It is my own interpretation of one—a small-scale model that combines a machine from Gundam SEED with the visual language and atmosphere of Dune.

    And I deliberately wanted to finish it today, 22 September 2026.

    Today marks the release of Dune: Awakening on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S, bringing Funcom’s journey across Arrakis to console players.

    So there was something fitting about finishing a desert-themed BuCue on the same day.

    A machine from one fictional desert battlefield, reworked through my own SEED × DUNE interpretation, now marks the arrival of another journey across the sands of Arrakis.

    A little experiment in paint, markers, plastic and imagination.

    A little piece of “what should have been.”

    And, appropriately enough, it is finally complete on a day when we return to the desert.

    SEED × DUNE.

  • Nike Air Jordon 1

    Building the Bandai Nike Air Jordan Plastic Model Kit

    This project is a reinterpretation of the Bandai Nike Air Jordan plastic model kit, approached not as a clean display build, but as a subtly worn sneaker object. The goal was to sit between scale modelling and product design — capturing material depth, tonal variation, and light ageing without pushing the piece into an overly artificial or exaggerated weathered state.

    Design Direction

    The kit provides multiple colour directions across its runners, including a grayscale-based scheme and an alternate variant with beige-toned elements.

    For this build, I chose to focus on the grayscale direction to maintain a more unified visual language. This allowed the final piece to emphasise material contrast, weathering variation, and surface depth within a restrained palette.

    Base Preparation

    All parts were first airbrushed with Mr Hobby Mr Color No. 2 as a unified base coat. This created a consistent foundation across the different plastic tones and ensured that subsequent weathering would behave coherently across all surfaces.

    Weathering Approach

    Rather than applying a single universal weathering tone, I treated each injection-moulded colour as a different material requiring its own interpretation. The intent was not to simulate heavy damage or dirt accumulation, but to introduce subtle ageing — similar to how real sneakers develop uneven wear across different materials.

    Black Injection-Moulded Parts

    Weathered using Mr Color No. 13, producing a softened, slightly faded rubber-like appearance.

    Grey Injection-Moulded Parts

    Weathered using a custom mix of Mr Color No. 13 and No. 107, balancing contrast while maintaining a muted, dusty tone.

    White Injection-Moulded Parts

    Weathered using Mr Color No. 107 to create a lightly aged midsole-like effect.

    Panel Line Detailing

    After weathering, Tamiya Black Accent Fluid was applied to bring out recessed details and structural lines across the model.
    Once dried, excess fluid was cleaned using thinner and cotton buds, leaving definition in the panel lines while preserving surface softness.
    Unlike traditional mechanical model kits, the panel lines in this context function less as structural separations and more as stitched seams, material joins, and subtle shadow breaks within the sneaker design.

    Final Impression

    The overall aim of this build was to maintain a balance between fashion object and scale model. Rather than pushing the surface treatment toward a heavily mechanical or overly aggressive weathering style, the focus remained on controlled tonal variation and material realism.

    The result is a sneaker model that feels lightly worn and physically grounded, while still retaining the clarity and design language of its original form.

    Project Context

    Completed on 30 May 2026, the project coincides with the 55th anniversary of Blue Ribbon Sports being renamed Nike in 1971. The timing served as context for reinterpreting the Air Jordan silhouette as a scale model object shaped through material treatment, tonal restraint, and subtle surface ageing.

  • METEOR Unit and Freedom Gundam

    This HG 1/144 Bandai build pairs the METEOR Unit with the Freedom Gundam in a customised Ver. J theme. The parts were primed in dark tones and weathered with pink and gold accents to bring out a warm, stylised finish. Clear red paints were used on the optics for extra depth, and Phantaci decals complete the look. The project was finished to commemorate the 20th anniversary of Jay Chou’s November’s Chopin.