Hi World, Gunjap Interviews today with Lean Bacalzo !!!
Hi World, Gunjap Interviews today with Lean Bacalzo. Let’s Start!
[G: Gunjap]
[L: Lean Bacalzo]
G – Who is Lean Bacalzo in the Gunpla Modelers World? And where do you come from?
L – My name is Lean also known elsewhere as Crappystuff. I’m just some regular guy enjoying the Gunpla hobby as it is. I have no formal local Gunpla affiliation but I know a few of the guys from these groups. I came from the Philippines and was once a Tamiya Mini 4WD enthusiast that never really did an actual race.
G – When did you start building Gunpla?
And when did you made your first Custom?
L – The very first kit I built was the 1/100 HG Gundam Epyon back in 1999. I was 12 or 13 years old then. And was very reckless, thinking that a completed Gunpla model can be a toy you can play with. Later on I acquired my second kit: the 1/100 HG Wing Gundam Zero to have it pair with the Epyon. The two models were displayed on our shelf back then but they would consistently fall and break so I had to fix them. That was also the time I noticed that the models lack color details, so I tried painting them with poster paint which looks good at first but will look terrible as time goes by. I stopped at Gunpla at only two kits, Zero and Epyon. I then resumed collecting in 2010, starting with the MG Gundam Astray Red Frame Kai.
But the time that I started to use hobby-grade stuff was back in 2011, when I first attempted painting a Master Grade kit: the Wing Gundam. My friend Elvis taught me techniques on how to paint models. At that time, I hand-painted every part of the Wing Gundam and the process was very, very tedious. But I was very satisfied with the results.
So far I only have kits that are custom-painted. I only attempted on doing a custom Gunpla back in 2012 for the Philippine leg of the GBWC when I sculpted a flesh arm for my EVA-themed HG Gundam AGE-1 Sparrow. It turned out to look like crap, but I did learn that you really have to push your imagination to the limit (and be able to engineer it) when doing something that’s custom.
G – Do you have some inspiration for your creations?
L – I would normally paint my kits and just follow their default colors. But when I do custom paintjobs I look for military vehicles and other mecha units for color inspiration. I joined last year’s local Gundam Model Kit Contest and used an MG AGE-1 Sparrow painted in EVA Unit-01 colors.
Other modelers inspire me too. vegeta8259 — Henry’s work on converting the 1/100 HG Tallgeese III into a normal Tallgeese inspired me to do the same. zgmfxg does a lot of clean work and does it quickly. GMAC’s Vanz Hilario does a lot of good Gunpla modification. A lot of modelers inspire me to do better on this hobby, whether they do heavy modifications or custom paintjobs.
G – After you have finished snap-fitting a model, from where do you start to mod it?
L – I will shamelessly say that I hate sanding parts. But that is my first step after snap-fitting a model. After the snap-fit, I take the model apart and sand the parts away to thin them before painting and to remove the nub marks. I do two passes of sanding, one with a lower grit and one with a fine, wet sandpaper. Then paint it in its default color scheme. If I’m doing a custom paint job, I’ll look for a line art of that said model and color it in Photoshop to see if the custom color scheme I have in mind works.
G – What do you think about Gunpla in all the World? modelers, attitude, modelers behavior etc..
L – There are a lot of people across the globe that has passion for this hobby. What I admire about these people is that they take pride of their own work. I guess that’s one of the important factors of this hobby: that you’re proud of your work. I know there are some people divided between the Bandai products and the bootlegs, I’m not gonna touch on that though. But if there’s one thing that I consider an important attitude of people in this hobby is the contentment. When you’re happy with your work and inspire others to do the same, I guess there’s no other outcome but better stuff.
G – What do you think about GBWC Event?
L – It’s illustrious, prestigious even. It’s like the Super Bowl of Gunpla. Like the WrestleMania of Gunpla. It’s the biggest stage to showcase your work. I’ve been in this hobby for years yet I am not able to join the GBWC local contest. There’s a lot of guys here in the Philippines that do a lot better job than I do so I guess I won’t make it that far. But I do love to have one of those gold RX 78-2 trophies. 😀
G – Please some advices for modelers that wanna start building a gunpla for the very first time!
L – Patience. It’s vital not just in Gunpla but in everything that you do. But to put it in the hobby’s perspective: you don’t have to rush a Perfect Grade kit and have it completed in two hours. Gunpla brings excitement in some extent, but you need to be patient in order for you to achieve what you want to achieve with your model kit; be it a straight build or a custom build. Every project is a learning process so you take your mistakes from previous builds and turn them into pointers to follow.
G – Have you a Website/Blog to show your Works?
L – Unfortunately no, but I do post my stuff in Facebook. Maybe those people on my friends list would call me obsessed with my work, or maybe they’re getting annoyed but yeah it’s my Facebook page anyways. But I do plan in setting up at least a Blogspot website to post my stuff so that I will pester my Facebook friends less. I do have a logo for that site ready. Hopefully I get more free time to explore those options.
G – Future Projects?
L – I am currently working on a Real Grade kit that I’ll be using as an entry to the 2014 Gundam Model Kit Contest here in the Philippines this coming May. As of this writing I think I have 5 more weeks to finish it. I just completed the first pass of sanding. If time permits it I’ll have two High Grade kits as entries as well to accompany the RG kit. You might see the photos of those kits here on gunJap when I completed them!
I also look forward to doing a Delta Plus project, with a Master Grade and a Super Deformed Delta Plus in mind.
G – Many Thanks to Lean Bacalzo for this Interview 
See You soon for the next!
