For any Gunpla builder worth their salt, the real fun starts after the snap-build. We're talking custom paint jobs, weathering, panel lining, and even full-blown dioramas to make a kit truly one-of-a-kind.
Recently, Japanese modeler Shoumatuya (@shoumatuya) dropped a project on X that's been blowing minds: a jaw-dropping diorama recreating the climactic showdown between the Gundam F91 and the Rafflesia from Mobile Suit Gundam F91. The ridiculously detailed build has been met with a thunderous wave of applause.
The diorama captures the final battle in Universal Century 0123, a life-or-death duel between Seabook Arno and Carozzo Ronah, aka Iron Mask. The scene, where the F91 uses its MEPE (Metal Peel-off Effect) to generate afterimages and bamboozle the Rafflesia, is legendary among Gundam fans.
Shoumatuya's build freezes that exact moment in time: the F91 zips between the Rafflesia's tentacles, leaving a trail of shed armor fragments that create the illusion of afterimages hanging in space.
Look closer, and you'll spot even more incredible details, like Cecily Fairchild floating in space and the crucial "Cecily's flower" that plays a key role in her rescue. It's a detail that will definitely make fans of the original movie smile.
So what sparked this ambitious project? Shoumatuya shared the hilarious backstory: "After the pandemic, everyone complained about how hard it was to buy Gunpla, but there are always those kits you see gathering dust in stores. The HG F91 was one of them."
Staring at the mountains of unsold F91 boxes, it hit him—the piles looked exactly like "afterimages with mass." That's when he knew he had to build the scene. A true modeler's epiphany.
With the plan set, Shoumatuya scooped up a bunch of HGUC F91 kits.
For the Rafflesia base, he started with the display stand that comes with the MG Gundam F91. Finding the one-piece mold a bit rough, he surgically removed the petal-like edges and replaced them with custom 3D-printed parts. He didn't stop there, either:
Enlarged thrusters
Added extra emblems
A complete, custom paint job
Used shiny beads from a craft store for the tentacles
The whole thing was basically overhauled from the ground up.
Another mind-blowing aspect of this build is the masterful play on scale.
The F91 is 1/144 scale, the Rafflesia and Cecily are 1/100, and the flower effect is around 1/50. The scales are intentionally mixed.
"The Rafflesia is piloted by Iron Mask, so the scale relationship is essentially 'Mobile Suit
Nailing the crucial "afterimage" effect took a ton of work. He noted that the paint looked completely different under his bright spray booth lights compared to regular room lighting, and he worried it was too dark. But he took advice from his modeling class instructor: "If the background is the blackness of space, a darker afterimage will actually appear more transparent." The final result is incredible, with the afterimages blending seamlessly into the void.
This masterpiece, which took about four months to complete, has already racked up tens of thousands of likes, with the comments section exploding with praise like, "The detail is so insane I can practically hear the sound effects and dialogue," and "Hiroko Moriguchi's theme song immediately started playing in my head."
In his post, Shoumatuya perfectly captioned the work with the iconic line from the movie: "Is this... an afterimage with mass?" For more of his awesome builds, be sure to check out his account on X!
via： X帳戶庄松屋