RG Aile Strike Gundam

Poor old Strike got overshadowed quite quickly in SEED by tons of new Gundams, each one more ridiculous than the last one.
Anyways, I like to think of the Strike as a heavy-duty mobile suit, reason why it looks "dirty". The constant sorties have started to take its toll on the armor. After all, the notion that a machine oriented for combat will have a pristine look seems ridiculous to me.

I used the Tamiya Weathering Sets C and D to achieve this look. While I love the outcome this model is not without faults, as while it has awesome articulation, plenty of parts and pieces fall over very easily (skirt armors, backpack) but hey, this was to be expected for what is practically a mini PG! Too bad a lot of the stickers started to peel off right after the topcoat...

Whatever, the RG line is pretty cool and the Strike is a very pleasant model to work with. I wonder just how awesome the RG Freedom will be. Feel free to visit my blog for more pics of this model.