Introduction by Metal Slime

The Gera Doga was developed after the Gryps warfare, and later was adopted to Neo-Zeon production line for lower level grunts, to counterpart UNT's mass produced, Jegan. It was a milestone in proving the ever evolving line of Zeon technology [human form mobile troops] which had started 14 years earlier with the well known MS-06 Zaku II. GD was designed with maintenance convenience in mind. All weapons and backpack settings are interchangeable (e.g. mine layer back pack or long range space operation). Among the loaded arsenal of Gera Doga includes:

- Beam Machine Gun (Grunt/Leader)
- Grenade Launcher
- Sturm Faust
- Beam Sword/Axe/Pick

For the Neo-Zeon core troop, there are 100 tailored made units, 82 for the main force, 10 for group leaders. One famous custom color scheme is the blue and black of Lezn Schneider.

The model

If you have the first Gundam Encyclopedia book, you'll probably recognize this model. From the prototype model by Inoue Masahito, it has eventually been cast into this model for sell at JAF-CON. To my understanding, this has never been released on a wide scale basis. Though I won't be surprise if in a few months B-Club'd decide to release it in full-action form, after they're done with the Z line of GK.

Constricting/Modifying

The kit is fixed-post, with the joints included being a block of square resin. After some consideration, I decided to modify it to be a fully poseable model. Utilizing ball joints and Wave's L-joints I had lying around. The process turned out to be a lot easier than I had anticipated. The trickiest part was to cosmetically cover up the knee joints (see pic). I carved a square plastic rod into a desired shape and place it over the L-joint with epoxy putty. I kept moving the joint every few hours while the putty is curing so the joint would still be movable after it has fully cured. Of course, this felt really silly...

Since it was intended as a fixed-post, there are some limitations that modifying by simply inserting new joints just won't do. For instance, the head is always forced to be in a look-down position because of the back pack. So some trimming has to be applied. The skirt armor plate was sawed open and reattach using 2mm coil spring.

Styling

For the overall look of the MS, I tried to emulate the feel of Kazuhiza Kondo's style from the-many models in his books. One of the most prominent elements of Kondo's MS is the rough, almost stucco-like texture on various armors. That was achieved by applying putty and roughen it with a large brush (you'll ruin that brush though). These textures make a good 'platform' for dry-brushing hence this model is another one of my 'dry-bush fest' which is always fun to do. The rivets on the MS are additional and so are the holes that form triangle on the body.