EXM-H15Aα-130SE Acerby Type-A130 "Aviatrix" Alpha Unit EXM-H15Aς-A9a Acerby Type-A9a "Special Ops" Sigma Unit
Girlpla is back! I've finally gotten around to building one of the last Acerbies missing from my collection, the Acerby Type-A. Serving as somewhat of a sequel to my initial Acerby customisation with my Type-B Kappa and Type-C Gamma Unit, this was a double build, incorporating both a custom base Acerby Type-A as well as the event exclusive Special Mission Set Acerby Type-A.
There's not especially much to discuss regarding the overall build of these kits, given that the Acerby Type-A has a pretty much identical build to the Type-B, with only a different chest mould and the unique twintail hairpiece. A slightly thicker matte topcoat helps with the otherwise quite loose polycap parts (although I may have overdone it as the shoulder joints became extremely stiff).
For my Alpha Unit, I incorporated the Option Parts Set 13 (Leg Booster Unit/Wireless Weapons Pack), as well as some spare parts from my Espossito ϴ and leftover parts from my Type-E Mu Unit build. The Leg Booster/Wireless Weapons Pack are a uniform grey, and thus required a little bit of painted detail in various shades of pink and purple to tie them in to the standard Acerby Type-A's all-pink colour scheme.
The Leg Boosters attach to the knee c-clip and replace the Acerby's standard lower legs. They don't really have the ability to let the kit stand independently, so I used the extra c-clip on the back of the legs to add some spare Espossito feet and a ball joint that lets the feet fold up neatly behind the vertical stabilisers like landing gear. These parts are otherwise rather unremarkable, and look a lot more interesting with the kit posed in various flying poses.
To help break up the rather uniform pink colour of the kit, I used a lot of the unused Type-E parts from my Mu Unit build, giving the really nice impression of a flight vest and accentuating the kit "skirt" section.
For the Alpha Unit's weapons, I modified the base Acerby rifle with a spare twin-barreled rifle fromt my Espossito, as well as the triple missile pods. I love how the rifle turned out, although because of the extra power conduit the kit has to hold the rifle all the time as I glued the pipe part directly to the rear skirt. I painted each of the missile parts within the pods and I think it turned out really striking.
The Wireless Weapons Pack consists of a pair of large beam cannons on a simple backpack. I added some extra painted detail to these too, although I think some of the brighter pink ended up a little sloppy looking. The units can be posed as either static shoulder cannons, or detached from their c-clips to be posed as fin funnel-like remote weapons.
For a little extra detail, I added some gold accents, including over the flight visor (meant to evoke a fighter-pilot helmet) and around some rectangular details on the wireless beam cannons. I like how this kit looks, although I'm a little concerned that the mix of colour palletes makes it look chaotic and too busy.
For my other Type-A, the Sigma Unit, I tried to limit myself to parts from the (rather difficult to find) Acerby/Spinatio Special Mission Set. This set is an event-exclusive twin pack of the Acerby Type-A (with Type-B extra parts) and the Spinatio Army Type. There's a spare instruction set with a reccomended optional build that incorporates the various Spinatio Army Type parts onto the Acerby, but I decided to just improvise and kitbash my way to my own interpretation.
For the head, I used one of the 30 Minutes Sisters option hairstyle parts (which I was only able to find as part of the full set of four). Unlike with my Mu Unit, I copied @acerby's tutorial to attach the 30MS hair onto the Acerby's style of head, although I did go back and glue on the Acerby headband and one of the Leg Booster optional antennae onto this hair piece to give an overall more tactical look.
A lot of the incorportation of the Spinatio Army Type pieces involved some heavy modification, the lower legs in particular. The calved are actually the Spinatio's thighs inverted, and the ankles are the elbows glued into the ball joint to allow the ankle c-clip to attach and link to the feet. I love how this gives them an almost digitigrade and more robotic look. it reminds me of how some of the droid legs look from Star Wars, and definitely gives my Sigma Unit a more "all-terrain" look.
For the shoulder armour, I used one of the Acerby detail parts to attach the shield part to the left pauldron, giving an almost Zaku Warrior style shoulder shield. For the other side, I modified one of the knee armour parts so it could attach to one of the arm ring 3mm pegs. The Spinatio Army Type armour parts otherwise attach to the Acerby's 3mm hardpoints with no further modification.
The rifle recieved the most complex modfication. I cut off the Acerby rifle's scope, barrel, and beam dagger bayonet attachement, and carefully glued them onto the Spinatio's rifle. I used some of my spare option pipe parts to give the optic a more tactical look as well, which I think turned out great. I love how this modified rifle looks, with a long, almost sniper-like sillhouette, although it could've used a little more care in the clean up looking back at the photographs.
The Spinatio Army Type also includes a large machete-like knife, which can be neatly stored behind the shield. It's less sleek looking than the Acerby's beam dagger, but it looks super cool paired alongside it.
Overall I had a ton of fun putting these customs together, and it was great to get into some more elaborate kitbashing to make the builds work. I've been inspired to try out even more elaborate and complex modifications in future custom builds.
Unfortuantely, I don't think this set of photographs turned out to my usual standard. My white PVC backdrop somehow snapped when I was unrolling it, forcing me to use a black one that I think messed heavily with my focus and exposure. I've put in an order for a replacement, because I don't think the black one works as well, but at least I think the poses turned out to be super cool.
I have one more girlpla build to photograph, and then it's on to some UC and Build Divers builds I've been sittting on for almost 6 months. Keep an eye out!
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