Dom Paratrooper

This build contained many firsts for me - my first time making a base for a kit, first time doing kit bashing that actually involved cutting apart parts from other kits to make them fit the build, and last but not least, the first time I used water slide decals. The base kit is the HGUC Rick Dom II.

The build was inspired by the Dom High Speed Type from MSV-R and the color scheme was my very amateurish attempt at the time to adapt the color scheme from the artwork to this kit.

The melee weapon is a Zaku heat hawk grafted to the end of the Dom's heat saber, and the Sturm Fausts are from the Ground War set and were attached to a Zaku I shield. The jet engines on the shoulders are actually Musai engine pods and the wings are from a HG Marasai shield. The boxy vents are the Zaku leg missile launchers in 1/144 on the shoulders and in 1/100 on the legs.

A Marasai backpack was used in place of the space backpack of the Rick Dom. This kit (surprisingly) won my first ever model making award at Tatsu Hobby, and is still on display there! A huge thanks to the community around that shop for inspiring me constantly with my model making.

 In some ways I consider this my first "serious" build, but a part of me also looks back at this one and sees mostly the mistakes and things I had yet to learn about at this point. It's a real testament to how awesome the model making community has been to me that I can look at this and think about all the amazing advice, knowledge, and constructive criticism I have received from people since I built this - a massive 'Thank You' is in order to everyone I have met via this hobby.