Zoids Parts
Gil Dragon
Base Kit
Hammerhead
Dorsal Engine Pods
Energy Liger
Shin Armor
HMM Schneider
Wing Engine Pods, Smash Cannon Armor,
Defense Gun Cowls, Tail Blade
Many Detail Parts
HMM Jaeger
Wing Missile Pods
NON-ZOID PARTS
Kotobukiya MSG ABS #03
Heel Talon Pistons, Improved Quad-Cannons
Kotobukiya MH-02
Talons, Smasher Barrels, Horns, Neck Armor
Kotobukiya Armored Core Weapon Set 014
Improved Gravity Cannons
Bandai Action Base 1
Grade-Up Port Armor
Gundam Arios
ECM Pods
GN-008RE Seravee Gundam 2
Thanos Megacannon
Raphael Gundam Dominions
Twin Graviton Oblivion Cannons
Gundam Mega Ride Launcher
Rear Knee Hydraulics
Struxx
Joints, Internal Structures
Bionicles
Heel Talons, Exhaust Details, Power Cable
Tail Joint, Wing Joints, Neck Joint
Klingon Bird of Prey
Wing Sensor Arrays
Ziploc Bag Zipper
Power Core Cooling Vents
Applesauce Pouch Caps
Booster Engine Bells
Rayon Chord
Power Cabling
Semiconductors
Detail (legs/torso/wings)
PCI Card Slot
Retractable Tail Thrusters
Brass Chain
Primary Torso Power Cables
Steel Chain
Tail Blade Cable
Steel Caps
Quad-Cannon Muzzles, Cable Anchors
Sheet Polystyrene
Wings, Horns, Head Armor
Aft Missile Battery & Cover
Tube Polystyrene
Defense Gun Barrels, Internal Structures
Heel Tallon Hydraulics, Cable Anchors/Guides
Vinyl Cap Screws
Aft Missile Pod
Hard Drive Dust Screen
Primary/Hip Intake Screens
HARDWARE
Screws
Head, Neck, Shoulders (wings), Knees
Washers
Shoulders (wings)
Steel Rods
Retractable Tail Thruster Hinges
Torso Cable Support
NO SPINELESS DRAGONS
After splitting the body of the Gil and piecing it all back together I saw a feature that left me feeling a little... empty. Specifically, an empty space that took form between the high ridge in the armor behind the wings and the power switch box. This area needed something to fill it, but it also needed to remain flexible. I could see more cables in my future.
NOT SO SMOOTH
Filling the empty space required some bits from my bins that added some nice forms but didn't take up too much space. The gold bits are cropped from the Gil's leg mechanics, the blue-gray bits are HMM Schneider, the small gray bits are extra from the MH-02's I used to make the talons, and the black piece is from my dwindling Asoblock supply. I placed another pair of cable anchors here as well. To fill in the unsightly hole at the back of the back pack I cropped a steel grill from an external hard drive case I saved from the scrapyard. Loving the result, it permeated several other places on the build.
BACK ISSUES
Originally I considered using Rayon cords for this portion, but at the last minute I found a lovely antiqued bronze chain at the thrift store that replaced them; the metal chains hang better and look heavier, which turned out to be a perfect choice. In the final image above you can see I cropped more of that metal grill for the huge chest intake. I originally wanted to make some kind of super cannon or weapon cluster to go there, but I ran out of time.
DRAGON GOT BACK
First it was time to work on that fanny pack. Originally I was going to place some kind of defense turret in place of the switch, but to make the guns effective required a complex armature that just looked gangly. There was also the idea that Gil Kaiserin is so fast that the need of yet another defense gun might be superfluous. Instead I opted for a heavy missile battery. I used a pair of Robart RC aircraft hinges and some sheet styrene to create the door and the floor of the system. The missiles are nylon screw caps I had left over from another project.
JUST THE TIP
I just didn't want to replace all of the guns on the Gil, but I always felt that the original weapons could use some improvement. I quickly added some spare joints from the MH-02 armatures to the ends of the quad gun battery, then capped them with a series of steel pieces I obtained from shredding a necklace (I honestly didn't know it would explode when I cut it... but I suspected it!) Ultimately, I would see this piece replaced with an articulated turret.
PRIME(D) DIRECTIVE
Finally built, wires spliced, and joints masked, it was painful to have to tear the entire custom apart into its base components and lay them out across the table of my workshop to prep them for painting. I decided to prime them in camouflage flat black to save time and a bit of effort (might as well have all deep creases and back sides of pieces in black, right?) In all, the Gil Kaiserin is constructed from 110 components parts.
IT ALL COMES TOGETHER
After more than 100 hours of cutting, drilling, shaving, gluing, digging through parts bins, and wiring, it was time to see how it all came together. This was the first time I saw all the pieces assembled. The silhouette was really striking and, thanks to the base components containing a lot of black and white, the additional pieces already matched quite well. It was also the first time I faced the reality of the sheer size of the build, and the realization that it could be quite difficult to ship. I placed my 1/72 fighter pilot near the foot to give a better sense of "real" size. The Gil Kaiserin is actually only about 2 meters short in length and wingspan from a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner (but it outweighs the plane by well over 100 tons).
I'M UNPAINTED, BUT I CAN TAKE YOU
To give a better sense of scale within the Zoids universe (and for my client's display cabinet) I took some pictures of the Gil alongside my Gojulas Giga. You can see that the two can bump nose to nose, which is saying a bit for the Gil since it is a quadruped! Also, note that the Gil's head is lowered in the first shot. The second and third shots are really telling; the Giga (less the dorsal cannons) can easily fit under the Gil's wing.
THE ANSWER FOR THE COMMON LOGO
I decided that the logo needed to stand out like the rest of the custom. The first step was that I cut out the arrowhead of the logo from a sheet of white decal paper. After applying it to the wing, I masked it, and then airbrushed my glowing lacquer over it. The fourth shot shows the sprayed on arrowhead under black light. I then applied the Kaiser logo decal atop the paint. The final product looks remarkably like the old stock glowing Guylos stickers.
BASE COAT
Photos don't very accurately portray the color scheme we had chosen; very stealth bomber gray. I made a custom dark gray paint with just a touch of blue, and it was airbrushed on leaving the black primer coat exposed around some details. You can see in these shots that I had decided not to paint the large guns gray; I liked the contrast of the flat black... the build needs some contrast without breaking up the overall look. The last frame (depicting the new Beam Smasher turret) shows another subtle addition I made in the scheme; the parts that appear gray here are actually an off-black metal... this shot caught my shop lights enough to discern it without having to physically manipulate the part. There are several places on the model where I incorporated this paint to give just another hint of interest and depth.
50 SHADES....
These shots do a pretty good job of showing that the base coat isn't merely a flat primer gray. The technique is simple but a little time consuming, but adds just a touch of interest that was much needed in an otherwise unimpactful color scheme (after all, it is a stealth Zoid in low-observable colors!)
A LITTLE HEAVY METAL
As an accent color we decided on a dark metallic bronze; almost an antique color. I mixed a custom color that combined several metals but kept the color desaturated for a more stealthy appearance. The color also has a heavy look to it, which makes the Gil just a touch more powerful feeling.
CUSTOM DECAL CHALLENGES
I've done custom decals, in one form or another, since my first custom build. I started with custom logos when I built Paladin, and moved on to designing printed labels when I moved on to Angstmorder, finally printing my own water slide decal sheets for Siobhan. This time, however, the experience was fraught with frustration. When designing Gil Kaiserin I felt that the stealth feel could be accentuated by reducing the labels to black on the dark gray and bronze surfaces. I wanted to try to maintain the regal appearance given by the ancient Zoidian runes scrawled across the Gil Dragon, but I knew that might be a tall order. In the end the black on gray did work, but I made a major mistake in the application; I attempted to apply the decals on the the final matte coat rather than to lay down a gloss coat first. Everything looked perfect until the Dulcote was applied, then a horrific amount of silvering plagued almost every decal on the custom. I had to resort to picking every decal and applying solvent solution through the holes in order to get the decals to set correctly. Lesson learned! The cockpit decals, however, I drafted in Adobe Illustrator, based on my work experience.
GIL KAISERIN's CUSTOM SEAL
When this project was started we knew that it deserved a custom logo. The logo turned out really well, but when applied it had the troubles I knew would require a change of strategy. The difficulty this time was in using transparent film for a logo on a dark surface; the logo colors appear transparent, so there was only one way to really rectify the situation. (Incidentally, the text around the arrowhead logo reads: "Gil Kaiserin - Guylos: the Eternal Empire." The circle of text atop the beam smasher cannons reads, "Hail Empress Guylos of the Eternal Dynasty ~ May she Live Forever ~ ")
VERY ILLUMINATING
The vast majority of the parts for Kaiserin had some amount of glowing on them; originally I had wanted to keep the glowing to thrusters and exhausts, but it eventually spread to all manner of grills, vents, sensors, and accents. Had this been my personal model, I would likely had dialed it back, but the important thing is that my client was included every step of the way, and he loves the final outcome.
STANDING TALL
After what seemed like endless hours of work, I finally had Gil Kaiserin completed. She dominated my workshop to the point where I had to break out my old Gen Con tradeshow booth curtains and rig them to hang around my table just to have a large enough backdrop to film the beast. While I'm not sure I would call her a masterpiece, I would call her my greatest custom to date. While the venerable Fusillade is longer, and even has some more complicated mechanics, Gil Kaiserin fits more ideally to the original vision I desired to create. Perhaps I will tear Fusillade apart someday and to rebuild him to fit a better vision of his original design.
THE BLUE AND THE GRAY
With the blue added into the mix, Kaiserin is looking like her deadly self. Ultimately it would have been great to have the blue appear even darker in normal light and only glow under black light, but we figured that most of the time the custom would be displayed under daylight conditions and wanted to give the blue some vibrancy.
PORTRAITS OF AN EMPRESS
Personally, I feel Gil Kaiserin cuts a striking figure. The one regret I have with her photos is that, somehow, they always seem to diminish just how large her wings actually are! I even thought of manipulating photos just so they look more like they do in real life. Rather than the stout, strong-looking form of Gil Vader/Dragon, Kaiserin appears to be quick and nimble; her limbs are longer, her body more tapered, her set of melee weapons far more intimidating, and her ranged arsenal much more imposing. At first I feared that our chosen color scheme would wash away details and reduce visual interest, but in the end it lends weight to the design.
SERENDIPITY #104
Following the glowing rubber caps can another unexpected treasure trove... GLOWING TALONS! Seems that the blades from good ol' Kotobukiya MSG part MH-02 are acrylic, and acrylic has some fantastic refraction/prismatic properties under ultraviolet light. Other modelers are probably well aware of this, but I've never worked with the material on a custom before. The effect appears as though each talon was perfectly lit from inside by a blue LED. Now I was especially glad I didn't go with my original plan of painting them solid bronze!
THE RETURN OF DEOCHALCUM
One other aspect of the design we knew we wanted to include was a return to the original Dark Zoid look, but with a new spin and a story to match. We changed the color of the Dark Zoid glow to blue to distinguish it from other Guylos units, but I also wanted this glow to represent a change in technology; namely, that Guylos had managed to purify their Deochalcum processes to reduce its deadly effects and increase its power output. The pics above show one of the model changes that evolved with the build. Originally I just wanted to paint the grate pattern of this piece but the paint was too thick to settle in the cracks; even when I had some success, the glow was too subtle for a major system. I decided to cut the steel grills from my external drive case and drop them over the completely painted vents... they look incredible!
GROWING UP (COMPARISON #1: GIL DRAGON)
Sometimes it helps to get some perspective on a project. Gil Kaiserin is a beast, dwarfing Gil Dragon in all aspects. The custom is 50% wider, 35% longer, 20% taller (to top of head; 40% taller to top of guns), roughly 50% heavier. There are several aspects of the build that I would yet improve upon, but time would not allow for it on this go around. One day, perhaps, I will build a version for myself and showcase all of the ideas I could not implement.
COMPARISON #3: ERADICATOR
This is the #1 requested comparison I am asked to present; Eradicator. In these shots I tried something new; Gil Kaiserin is standing on her hind legs to tower over her opponent (in reality, with very little help from her tail!) In physical combat, the advantages would all lie with Kaiserin; her solid-state sapphire maser talons offer faster blows and greater armor rending power than Eradicator's Magnesser-enhanced alloy jaws, and her wing blades alone can sever her opponent well before she is within reach of tooth, claw, or tail blade. Further, her emeraldite-infused, spent Deochalcum Dark Armor would only be strengthened by Eradicator's melee attacks. If it came to a shootout? Both monsters possess a long range, super-destructive technology: Kaiserin carries the Quantum Hyperflux Gravity Cannon as its standard armament, and the Typhon as its super weapon, and Eradicator carries the RiPPeR Cannon. However, the fight would again go to the Kaiserin. Its armor is not Zi-metal based, and, though untested, has a chance of surviving a direct hit from the RiPPeR. Further, Eradicator's sensors are not advanced enough to see through Kaiserin's stealth at long range; one cannot defend oneself against a foe that is unknown.
COMPARISON #4: SIEGE TORTOISE
Though the urban variant is depicted here, the most likely candidate to take on Gil Kaiserin would be the XZ-204-H Siege Tortoise; the Hybrid Artillery System (HAS) variant. While it does possess the range to counter the Gil, the HAS deals damage through a combination of super-heated plasma and a mass-driven kinetic penetration; both of these forces strengthen Kaiserin's infused Dark Armor. Further, even with an upgraded targeting suite and excellent gunnery the HAS tends to stray off course against distant targets due to the plasma shell damaging the kinetic shell en route. If the -M missile carrier variant were used, the Tortoise would have a better chance of causing damage, but not enough damage to kill the Kaiserin. There is no contest between any variant of the Siege Tortoise and talons of the Gil Kaiserin.
COMPARISON #5: STORM HERON
Seeing these two side by side was simply wonderful; I am quite proud of them both. While Storm Heron is much smaller, the build is arguable just as complicated. The surface details, paint, and labels on the Heron are more complicated and "accurate" than Gil Kaiserin, but the jointing and form factor of the Empress' Zoid trump those of Helic's Heron. In a hostile encounter the most likely scenario would be that Storm Heron would detect Gil Kaiserin and possibly avoid being detected in turn, being the superior electronic warfare machine. Its arsenal, however, is woefully inadequate to compromise the Gil. If anything, it would have to call in another unit to strike Kaiserin.
COMPARISON #2: GOJULAS GIGA
While not a titanic Zoid, Gojulas Giga is certainly on the large side. It makes a readily recognizable comparison piece next to Gil Kaiserin. In these shots she is quite clearly sitting down and towers over Giga in its "tall" mode. If not for those cannons, Giga would certainly fall short of the mark. As it is, the view out of his cockpit just manages to catch the bottom of Kaiserin's chin, and as broad as Giga is, she is broader. There in no comparison in length, and her wingspan barely fits in frame.
TRUE COLORS
While we knew we wanted a stealth theme, we also knew a flat gray or black Zoid would be pretty boring. Hey, this is sci-fi! I came across a picture of the Iron Man 3 "Shotgun" armor that we both liked. While it was a bit brighter than we wanted, being all raw metal colors, it was very close; I would replace the steel with "stealth" gray paint and darken the brass a bit. We also knew that we wanted to pay homage to the original Dark Zoid look, and I found some nice pics of Tron helmets inspiring. The third pic was my take on blending these looks. I then Photoshopped some of the primed pieces to get a better idea how the colors might come together.
A FIRST TIME FOR EVERYTHING
To make the glow distinctive, we needed some truly luminescent blue paint. After much searching, I realized the best solution would also be something I have never attempted before; mixing my own glowing lacquer from raw pigment. All of the glowing blue portions of the model were first painted white to achieve the brightest effect. The paint was truly beautiful, but a real pain to work with! In the future, I will use better techniques to create these effects, though they did turn out quite nice for my first try.
WELCOME TO THE GRID
Under the black light the color scheme really reminds me to Tron; especially the long lines of the wings and the eyes. In the future I would dearly love to cast pieces of the Gil in clear resin and illuminate the engines and exhausts with LEDs, but for now I think the effects turned out very well.
CAPPING IT OFF
With the model built and painted, there was one feature that had yet to be decided; out of all the available caps I managed to scrounge into sets, which would be the best choice for Gil Kaiserin? I managed to create five full sets of caps and gave my client the choice of which ones to use. Set "A" was the original Gil Dragon caps, which actually looked quite good. I would have painted over these with a darker bronze, but they did add some bright points of interest. Set "B" were the gray caps from a spare Blade Liger DSCJ; they managed to look a bit stealthy in gray but were light enough to add that interest level as the brightest spots on the custom. "C" were all black from a Salamander with the shoulder caps supplied by Gojulas Giga. From a stealth perspective I liked this set the best, but he felt that they blended too much into the dark scheme. The "D" set of caps came from my TDP Deathpion; the purple was reminiscent of both royalty and of the famed Gungylados (I shall never spell that right). This set was favored because it added just a splash of color and wasn't garishly bright. The last set I had were from the Konig Wolf I had built into Wolvereaver. The green paid homage to the original Dark Zoid line but didn't look right on Gil Kaiserin.
PURPLE PUNCTUATION
The final factor that decided the caps to use on Gil Kaiserin was entirely unforeseen in the design process. It wasn't until I was observing what different caps looked like under black light that I saw the uniqueness of the Deathpion caps. They GLOW under black light! Yes, of all the caps I have in my stock, only these reacted with the UV lamp, showing a bold blue/purple. Such a unique feature made them ideal for the custom, and I worked them into the story as well; the new caps are a part of the overcharged Deochalcum regulating system and glow when the Gil Kaiserin charges and fires the Typhon cannon. After all, in the story arc, the Zoid makes no attempt at stealth when that particular weapon is in use.
SIZING IT UP
How large would Gil Kaiserin be in the real world? Well, if we aren't extrapolating based on the super-oversized depiction of the Gil Dragon in the Zoids Genesis cartoon (which is literally the size of a flying battleship), Gil Kaiserin is almost identical in length and wingspan to a Boeing 787-800 Dreamliner; but also 20% taller (if you count to the cannon barrels in extended position).
ONE GOOD POSE DESERVES ANOTHER
One aspect of this custom that really impressed me was just how agile, versatile, and balanced the build was. I was also impressed with just how rugged and strong the model turned out to be. I was able to easily balance Gil Kaiserin on two legs (as a quadruped and as a biped), side-bend her until she could look in the same direction her tail was pointing (pretty remarkable considering the original kit had NO joints between the nose and tail tip!), have her sit like a giant doberman, lunge, crawl, and strut. I love seeing the wings folded back like a cape as much as extended to their maximum. Her head manages to look vicious, yet regal, destructive, yet distinguished, feral, yet intelligent. It was very hard to see her go.
DREAM COMP: FUSILLADE
There are some comparison photos I would love to take between my customs, but as Gil Kaiserin has flown across the country, I will have to rely on some terrible PhotoShopping. At some point, I may re-shoot some of my older customs and make some much more favorable comps, but this will do for now. I simply could not pull Fusillade out of storage and transport it over to my house to film it alongside Gil Kaiserin. Besides, in all honest, I have a woefully inadequate space to film the two giants. The two kits are 32" and 43" (81 and 109 cm) respectively, taking up more than six feet of table space!
DREAM COMP: WOLVEREAVER
Placing my first two commission customs together would have been ideal, but Wolvereaver was shipped away before the stock Gil Dragon kit even arrived at my shop. This image is a fairly close representation of the two if they faced off. The only thing that even gives the Wolvereaver the appearance of a chance is its massive HCPC. In a fight that gun would have an excellent shot at downing Kaiserin, so the imbalance falls again to stealth.
DREAM COMP: DARK EMPEROR
This one would make a lot of sense to photograph, as well; the former Guylos #1 command unit and the new supreme command unit. Who would come out on top in this match? Actually, that's a pretty tough call. Dark Emperor possesses the same infused Dark Armor as Gil Kaiserin; heavier, actually, as it is a ground unit. It lacks the stealth coating, however, and would be easier to target. A very interesting project would be a repaint of the Dark Emperor with a stealthy, low visibility coating, or the Gil Kaiserin lacking one (it would be shiny green rather than flat gray!) Dark Emperor's "Vorpal" Hyper-Focused Plasma Cannon delivers far more fusion damage than even infused Dark Armor can diffuse, and it would cut through Kaiserin's armor like a hot knife through butter at close range. This fight, however, would still differ to Kaiserin, however, as the improved gravity cannons would tear the Dark Emperor apart regardless of armor penetration. In reality, it would depend on which Zoid saw the other first.
DREAM COMP: KING GOJULAS
I do wish I could have brought my King Gojulas out of storage for a shot like this! After all of the additions I made to the Gil Dragon, the Kaiserin became far closer to the equal of the KG than the original Gil Vader did. Trying to decide which of the two would win head-on is very difficult because all references to the KG read as, "the King Gojulas is invincible and is ultimately powerful, because Hero Character!" It then erases a hundred Deathsaurers without a scratch to its paint and disappears into the mists of time. On a more practical level, Kaiserin has the edge on stealth but also on range. Further, even the impossible armor the mighty King Gojulas can be torn apart from the inside. In fact, the Quantum Hyperflux Gravity Cannon was specifically designed to counter the improved armor of the Helic/Guylos collaborative Supreme King Gojulas project. Due to this factor the Kaiserin would be the victor at range. Up close, though, the King Gojulas would rip Gil Kaiserin apart in moments.
FINAL THOUGHTS
As I put the finishing touches on this sprawling web page, I consider my accomplishments with this build, and what things I might have done differently. First, I am very pleased with how Gil Kaiserin turned out. Her silhouette, size, colors, and details all work together to make the model a worthy depiction of the future Queen of Zoids. She was a tough one to mail away to her new, hopefully ecstatic, owner. But I there are a number of things I would do better a second time around; I would be far more cautious on my painting procedures and seek and apply more advice sooner in the process.
Were I to build another Gil Kaiserin, whether for myself or at the request of another client, I would venture to make some improvements in the design, as well. I would add more wing area and possibly more wing articulation. As fabulous as this version looks, what I have in mind would be even more dramatic! I would wire the entire model, including all thrusters and pertinent weapons; even the control surfaces in the head. I would design some sleeker armor and remove more protrusions for a faster look. I would also reduce the number of glowing structures to more realistically reflect what I see as the nature of the Zoid and her technology, focusing the glows on vents and exhausts rather than intakes and scanners; the overall look would be even darker and more menacing. I would make some weapon changes, as well, again, featuring sleeker, more updated designs, but also articulating the chest and wing guns so they could be brought to bear on foes like those on a B-17 flying fortress.
If anyone would like to see such a beast emerge, track me down and we'll talk! Of course, it may cost twice as much to build, but it will be a ride!
BUILD NOTES
PHYSICAL MODEL
Gil Dragon Gil Kaiserin
Length = 24" (60.96 cm) Length = 32.5" (82.55 cm)
Wingspan = 20.5" (50.8 cm) Wingspan = 32" (81.28 cm)
Height = 8" (20.32 cm) Height = 10.5" (26.67 cm)
Shipping Weight: 6 lbs (2.72 kg)
Points of articulation: 95
Hours to create: 165
BUILD FIRSTS
First use of self-mixed luminescent paint
First use of Kotobukiya MSG kits
First use of Kotobukiha Armored Core kits
First use of "articulated" cable architecture.
