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The hobby of building plastic models of mobile suits from the various Gundam series is huge in Japan. With countless sizes and difficulties to choose from any Gundam plastic model (Gunpla) enthusiast can stay busy for a long, long time.

And for aspiring model builders, there may be no better hero than a Japanese artist using the handle Mumumuno53. Don’t just take our word for it though, and take another look at the image above. As indicated, this is not a drawing, animation cel, or computer-generated image; it’s a three-dimensional plastic model that was built and painted by Mumumuno.

You may still not believe it, which is understandable, so here are some making-of shots they posted on their blog.

As we can see in the image below, Mumumuno used a 1/100 scale RX-78-2 and painted it with hard black lines around the contours to give it virtual ink-lines.

After that all it takes is a steady hand and an impeccable sense of color and shading to make 3D into 2D. Only by some of the plastic weapons can we even get a hint that this is actually a Gunpla and not two-dimensional drawings.

This model is titled Nijigen Mokei Yukyu no Gundam (Two-dimensional Model Eternal Gundam) and was given the Gold Award at the 17th All-Japan Orazaku Championship. Mumumuno had also participated in the 13th All-Japan Orazaku Championship, but lost.

His Gunpla at that time titled Yomigaeru Gundam (Resurrected Gundam) showed the early concept of 2.5D painting perfected in Nijigen Mokei Yukyu no Gundam and received a lot of praise despite not winning. Thanks in part to that acknowledgement Mumumuno continued working at it.

▼ Yomigaeru Gundam (2012)

▼ Yukyu no Gundam (2014)

These are only some of the photos from Mumumuno’s blog which you can visit from the link at the bottom. With that success under their, belt we can only wait to see what they come out with next. Luckily, there is no shortage of models for Mumumuno to choose from as a starting point.

To see more of Mumumuno’s work visit Nijigen Mokei Mumumuno

Source: Kai-you, FG Site (Japanese)