Freedom Gundam
March 4, 2008 at 6:14 pm | In Master Grade | 3 CommentsTags: destiny, freedom gundam, kira yamato, Master Grade, SEED
This model was another put under the category ‘build n forget’. After months serving as a dust collector I decided to give some Justice (pun intended) to this kit. Several color schemes were considered (e.g. pink Rouge Freedom, salmon pink Char’s Freedom, military green freedom) before I decided to replicate the color scheme from this image:
Unfortunately I ran out of dark grey spray can, so I went to Tamiya and the closest color they had was mica dark blue. Also bought a can of mica red paint. The only noticeable modification was to the shield. Out goes the red thing in the middle and gaps were filled with epoxy putty. Also took the liberty to remove the beam rifle cover. [sarcasm] Did I mention how fun sanding & filing the wing beam cannons were? [/sarcasm] Also, I broke the white V-fin not once, but twice. Hopefully the glue stays on this time.
The most enjoyable part building this kit was applying the decals. I used dry transfer decals along with some Seed & Strike Noir water slide decals. Thinking about where & how to place them was somewhat gratifying. The spray paints used were glossy and in order to protect the decals I needed to apply some topcoat. Unfortunately only flat topcoat was available so I had to forsake the glossiness of the red & dark blue paints.
Please forgive the long rant for this might be the last MG I’ll be posting in a while. So then, enjoy the pics…
RX-78-2 Gundam ver. Ka
March 3, 2008 at 5:55 pm | In Master Grade | Leave a CommentTags: GFF, gundam, katoki, Master Grade, realtype, rx-78-2, ver.Ka
What? Not another RX-78-2 variant? Yeah, I’m a sucker for Bandai’s evil marketing strategy. Anyway, I got this cheap and i decided to paint it in the Real-Type color scheme after i found inspiration from an issue of Dengeki Hobby. No modifications this time, just plain ol’ assembling and painting. I used the same colors as the OYW version, except the red parts. For the green and gray parts, I applied some subtle darker-shaded strokes using a paintbrush to simulate military camouflages.
Not much masking to do, except for the bazooka. For the decals, I decided to follow the Gundam Fix Figuration (GFF) style of this same model. Using a combination of dry transfer and water slide decals for the RX-78-2 ver Ka, I tried to copy as precisely the decal placing from the GFF version. Some gray-colored dry transfer decals didn’t show up too nicely on the darker colored parts since they were originally intended to be used on the standard white color surface. The red colored parts turned slightly pink after I applied flat topcoat (red + white topcoat layer = pink). So that’s a lesson for being too generous with the flat topcoat.
RX-78-2 (One Year War ver.)
March 3, 2008 at 5:43 pm | In Master Grade | 4 CommentsTags: gundam, Master Grade, one year war, oyw, rx-78-2
In line with my gunpla philosophy, I was compelled to paint this kit in other colors instead of the standard red-white-blue-yellow (sounds like Jalur Gemilang) colors. After browsing the web and magazines for inspiration, I decided to go for a psuedo-Full Armor gundam color scheme.
Some detail parts were added on the shoulders, knees, chest and groin areas using leftover bits of this kit. Also I removed the yellow cross-star thing on the shield and filled the gap with putty. I painted the green parts with olive drab spray can (Tamiya).
(erratum) The thigh, upper arm and lower torso were sprayed with light gull gray while the chest, hip and knee areas were sprayed with german grey; both Mr Color spray cans
No heavy weathering but i indirectly applied some sort of dirty look when I cleaned up the excess brown color for the panel lining. Decals were mix-and-match from dry transfer and various water-slide decals.
It was a fun build, especially when applying the detail parts and decals, but I should’ve done better with the shield. Great articulation, especially the 5 movable fingers. The weapons included a beam rifle, bazooka and spiky ball & chain, which I didn’t bother to assemble and paint. I should have painted the head gray instead of green but it’s over and done with. So enjoy the pics…
Gundam Mk.II (ver. 2.0)
March 3, 2008 at 1:34 pm | In Master Grade | 1 CommentTags: gundam, Master Grade, mkII, spray can, titan's, ver.2.0
This is only my third MG I built myself. This Mk-II is actually the AEUG version. ‘But why go through the trouble painting it with Titans color when Bandai has already produced a Titans version?’ Well I bought this kit before Bandai released the Titans version, and I don’t think I can afford another Mk-II. On the plus side, it came with a stand, which the Titans ver doesn’t have. On the downside, it doesn’t have the rotating hips which they had in the Titans version.
This was basically an out-of-box (OOB) build. I sprayed the inner skeleton with Gunship Grey and painted some internal details with gold + silver paint. The leg + arm armour was sprayed with titans body color spray. For the chest + hip armour, I handpainted with midnight blue. The eyes were painted with clear green, with a reflective sheet (from used CD-R) glued at the back. For panel lines, I used brown accylic paint thinned with ethanol. Some slight mods included slicing a pipette tip and gluing them to the Vulcan Pod. I applied a mix of 3 types of decals: the original that came with the kit, Samuel’s decal (ordered online) and Bandai waterslide decals (for RX-78 ver. Ka use). Finally I applied a generous amount of flat coat.
I’m pretty satisfied with my work on this one. The only thing I regretted was separating the groin joint so that they move independently. Now they became too loose. Also, I accidentally broke the Vulcan Pod antennae. Luckily it can be glued back. Except for the hip, this kit has great articulation, until you put on the armour. The movements become restricted, especially at the shoulder. Overall, it’s well worth my time and money.
Zeta Plus A1
March 1, 2008 at 2:36 pm | In Master Grade | 1 CommentTags: anaheim, hummingbird, Master Grade, plaplate, spray can, zeta plus a1
This was actually the 1st MG I bought. Someone snap-fitted the kit for me and it has been sitting on my shelf for at least 3 years. I decided to paint this kit to kill time while doing my HGUC Zaku II, but I ended up finishing this kit faster (3x faster???) than the Zaku.
This kit was an experiment on detailing. It basically involved some plaplate, sliced tubing, extra panel lines, drilled holes and a pin. I actually had to take apart the kit and rebuild it. I broke the V-fin antennae in the process, but thankfully the kit came with a spare one.
As for the color scheme, I tried to follow the Hummingbird colors from the Gundam Sentinel series, using whatever colors I have available in a spray can. For the brown parts, I used sand color spray, but the paint came out in sputters, resulting in fine spots instead of a uniform layer. But after spraying multiple layers, it wasn’t that obvious anymore. I sprayed a layer of smoke on top of that to give it a darker color, but that too resulted in spots. Quite a lot of masking to be done too. Panel lining was done using black acrylic wash (still can’t find some enamel paints). For the decals, I used the ones that came with the kit and some extra water-slide ones. The dry-transfer decal didn’t really came off to nicely, probably because it’s been left for too long. In conclusion, this kit served as a practice-bed for future detailing/modifying projects.
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