Hi World, Gunjap Interviews today with Alex [Gambit Customs] !!!
Hi World, Gunjap Interviews today with Alex [Gambit Customs]. Let’s Start!
[G: Gunjap]
[A: Alex]
G – Who is Alex [Gambit Customs] in the Gunpla Modelers World? And where do you come from?
A – Hi world! I am Alex of GambitCustoms from the Philippines. Most of my friends in the hobby know me for my fascination with Z’Gok and for some of my weirder works such as a bearguy-headed-astray (inspired by Jinno from Afro Samurai) and a customized GN-X. I am a novice modeler and I strive to be better by learning from the works of some of the great artists both in the Philippine gunpla community and abroad. I’d also like to thank GUNJAP for his dedication and contribution to the hobby. I have been to his site countless times specially to admire the awesome builds from all over the world and to be featured in his blog is a great honor.
G – When did you start building Gunpla?
And when did you made your first Custom?
A – I started building gunpla because I was in photography back then. I was very much into macro photography and my favorite subjects are mechanical and industrial objects. The intricate details of the gundam scale models attracted me and soon enough I was hooked on the hobby not just because they were great as subjects for a photoshoot but mostly because I really enjoyed building them. As a photographer I always strived to capture different shades of color so the next logical step was to play with painting and modifying gundams. The first modification I did was to paint my gundams using spray cans but I wasn’t satisfied so I got an airbrush and started doing custom paintjobs. The first real modification that I did was a kitbash of an NG astray red frame and an HG bearguy in order to create Jinno from the anime Afro Samurai. Since then I have made other works that are mostly inspired by things that I like such as steampunk art, abstract line drawings etc. To this day I’m still experimenting with different concepts in order to create my own style
G – Do you have some inspiration for your creations?
A – I am inspired by many things; popular culture, the works of other modelers, classical and contemporary paintings, music and random images from the internet. I mostly try to create something that is not usually seen. I usually start with an idea and work outward from there; the weirder, the better. Some of the modelers I look up to are Singlemedia (atan abenir-his works are some of the cleanest,most detailed,insanely resourceful builds i’ve seen), ver.Ed (Eday Ng-GBWC champ, I especially like his take on Seraphim gundam and his insane detailing of interior mechanicals), DC-23 (Don Suratos – his fearlessness in creating out-of-this-world textures, paint treatments and of course his signature dioramas and scenes) and my all time favorite modeler Toymaker (Kenny Lim – for his attention to detail, artistic interpretation and sheer genius specially when building masterworks such as his take on THE-O.)
G – After you have finished snap-fitting a model, from where do you start to mod it?
A – before modding anything, I look for inspiration first. To me, the concept is very important. There is no sense in doing insane amount of modifications, scratch builds, or kitbash if the concept is unclear. Doing a lot of things looks great at first, but without a definite concept backing it up, a build with too much modifications just looks like an incoherent mess (or as most hobbyist call it…clusterf*ck). I believe that a truly great modeler does not necessarily need to do too much in order to show skill. Most times, less is more; as a designer, I try to take into account this adage from the great Leonardo Da Vinci..
“Simplicity is the Ultimate Sophistication”
By having a solid concept, a modeler is guided and disciplined into not overdoing things. Instead of adding extra weapons or tons of additional armor, great modelers would instead just add a few scribed lines, a few armor separations, tiny metal details, and sometimes even just paint a part a few shades lighter instead and the outcome becomes an elegant piece of thought-filled art and not a mangled mess of unfitting parts and incoherent ideas.
Once you have that great idea conceptualized, then everything just flows naturally from there
G – What do you think about Gunpla in all the World? modelers, attitude, modelers behavior etc..
A – There are a lot of things that could be said about modelers, their attitude towards things and their behavior but it just seems irrelevant unless they do something unethical or deceitful. For me, gunpla is a hobby, it is an activity that helps us meet new friends and possibly form long lasting bonds with people who have the same interests. I am saddened by the amount of bickering, name-calling, deceit and cheating that is apparent in this hobby as it is in any other hobby but at the same time I am hopeful that in the long run hobbyists will be able to settle their differences and just focus on what really matters : creating innovative and successful builds through collaboration, mindful and constructive criticism, camaraderie and sheer respect and love for the things that we enjoy doing.
G – What do you think about GBWC Event?
A – It’s a great way to show the world what you can do as a modeler. I really enjoy joining in events even though I haven’t won anything hehe. I encourage beginners to try and join the competitions not necessarily to win (although it would be awesome to win!) but to experience the next level of the hobby and to meet the greats and learn from them. Winning a trophy is validation for your craft and skill but it is also not the only thing that affirms your place in the hobby. Being acknowledged by your peers and other hobbyists and finding your own voice and style in the hobby is something that I think people in the hobby especially the beginners should strive for more so than taking home a trophy. But then again that trip to Japan is pretty darn sweet too :p
G – Please some advices for modelers that wanna start building a gunpla for the very first time!
A – don’t be afraid to make mistakes and experiment. it is a bit expensive yes, but building a good kit requires a lot of practice and a novice is bound to make mistakes, heck even pros make mistakes and that’s ok 🙂
G – Have you a Website/Blog to show your Works?
A – you can find my work in facebook, just search GambitCustoms 🙂
https://www.facebook.com/GAMBITcustoms
G – Future Projects?
A – right now I’m doing my take on sazabi using a barnaby brooks 1:100 scale kit 🙂 wish me luck! and also i’m planning to finish my monster zogok for the end of year GBWC event 🙂
G – Many Thanks to Alex [Gambit Customs] for this Interview 
See You soon for the next!
