Giant Gundam Statue Recycles Model Kit Runners

When it comes to model kits, my love for Bandai's scores of Gundam toys really knows no bounds. They do have one weakness, though: waste. Unlike conventional action figures, the model kits leave behind some excess plastic in the form of "runners," which hold each model piece into place prior to assembly. Rather than simply discard or recycle by traditional means, one talented mobile suit fan has repurposed the pieces for a full-fledged Gundam statue.

The statue was sculpted by an enterprising modeler of unverifiable origins, who repurposed the extra plastic around his Gundam model kit pieces into a statue shaped just like the classic RX-78-2 mobile suit. Danny Choo caught the images via Japanese site FG, which I can't quite comprehend despite the use of an online translator. As soon as I can track down proper attribution, I'll update...with a vengeance!

It's not quite life-size like a certain traveling Japanese landmark, but the sculpture is definitely to scale and seemingly growing. With any luck, the sculptor will complete the entire mobile suit statue soon. I'd lend all of my runners to the cause if I knew where to ship them.

Check out some pictures from the process after the jump.

[Via Boing Boing]